Barcelona clinch Copa del Rey in feisty battle against Real Madrid

Barcelona clinched the Copa del Rey trophy in a feisty battle against arch-rivals Real Madrid in Seville, beating them 3-2 in extra-time.

According to the history behind the competition, since the first final between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, 122 single-match finals have taken place.

The win extends Barcelona’s dominance in the competition to 32 wins – the most for any team in the Spanish top flight.

Barcelona worked Madrid out from the outset with a quick string of passes, holding onto possession for most parts of the game until the opening at Seville’s La Cartuja Stadium.

Yamine Yamal found Pedri in acres of space to stroke home into the top-left corner from outside the area in the 28th minute – the stage was set. In response, Madrid did very little to threaten the Barcelona defence, who looked completely unfazed in the first half.

Kylian Mbappe’s introduction after half-time brought life back into the game for Los Blancos, with his runs through the middle causing trouble for Hansi Flick’s backline. Across the run of play, Vinicius Jr robbed Pedri and hit one past the post as they started to threaten.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men gained a little momentum with Mbappe’s clever movement, as he got fouled by Frenkie de Jong around the area, and curled a shot from the resulting free-kick off the left bottom corner of the post for an equaliser, 1-1 game on.

Barcelona lift the 2024/25 Copa del Rey trophy beating Real Madrid 3-2 in extra-time (Image credit: Getty Images)

Aurelien Tchouameni then headed Real ahead from Arda Guler’s corner in the 77th minute to give them the lead for the first time in the game.

Within a 7-minute interval, Barcelona levelled when Ferran Torres latched onto Yamal’s long ball and rounded goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before slotting home in the 96th minute, 2-2.

Across the run of play, Barca thought they had a chance to win it in injury time when they were awarded a penalty by referee De Burgos Bengoetxea for a Raul Asencio tackle on Raphinha, but the decision was overturned after a long video assistant referee check.

That meant the game went to extra time, when Kounde’s fourth goal of the season was the difference, but before then, both teams had goals ruled out for offside.

Kounde made a spectacular defensive read, anticipating a bad pass from Luka Modric, and won the ball back at the edge of the box before firing a rocket into the bottom corner to put the Catalans ahead at the 116th minute right in front of the fans.

Former Bayern Munich boss Flick has now won all three Clasicos since taking charge of Barca in the summer. The first one was the Spanish Super Cup final, but this counts as his first major trophy with the Catalans.

The Copa del Rey win puts Barcelona in contention to win the much-talked-about treble this season. They lead the same La Liga opposition by four points with five games each to play.

That puts them a step ahead of bitter rivals Madrid in their quest to lift the La Liga as well.

They will now focus on Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals as they stay on course to mount a strong case for the historic treble – the last time they did so was in 2015 under former coach Luis Enrique.