Athletic Bilbao 0-4 Barcelona
Barcelona are Copa del Rey champions once again as they crushed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in the final in Seville. Barca were dominant throughout, and their barrage of four goals in a span of 12 second-half minutes – capped off by a Lionel Messi brace – put the final completely to bed.
The Catalans have now won a record 31 Copa crowns, and this is their fourth title in four finals against the Basques over the last 13 years.
The Copa del Rey 2021 betting odds did not see much hope of an Athletic win, especially after they had fallen to fierce Basque rivals Real Sociedad in the 2020 Copa final held earlier this month. And so it proved that Messi and Barcelona were too much for them once again.
Highlights of the game
Barcelona made a strong start to the final and were very nearly up after just five minutes. Messi got in behind the Bilbao defence and set up Frenkie de Jong for a shot, but the Dutchman’s effort struck the post.
Five minutes later, Messi combined well with Antoine Griezmann and unleashed his first shot which was blocked and went out for a corner.
Athletic Bilbao finally got their first chance to threaten the Catalans’ goal on 12 minutes. Alex Berenguer delivered a dangerous free kick which defender Inigo Martinez got a foot on but could not quite direct on target.
Despite their strong start, Barca could not find the breakthrough in the first half, although they came close just three minutes after the break. Messi again was involved as his pass released Sergino Dest, who then squared the ball to Griezmann waiting in the six-yard box. But the French forward was unable to supply the finishing touch as his effort was saved by Bilbao keeper Unai Simon.
Simon would have to make a couple more crucial saves in quick succession as Barca continued to pile on the pressure. First, he tipped a long-range Pedri shot away for a corner. Then, he made a brilliant stop to deny Busquests from point-blank range.
However, Barca would finally breach Simon and Bilbao’s goal on the hour mark as de Jong sent in another great ball to Griezmann, who put away the chance with aplomb.
Barca would then double their lead just three minutes later. This time, de Jong did the finishing as he headed home Jordi Alba’s cross.
And to the surprise of no one, Messi was on hand to put the finishing touches on the Barca win with two goals of his own.
Messi’s first goal will surely go down as the best of the Copa del Rey 2021 highlights. He began his marauding run from well inside his own half, and after a couple of 1-2 passes with de Jong, Messi finished the move himself by slithering through the Bilbao backline and slotting the ball home with his magical left foot.
Messi’s second goal wasn’t quite as spectacular, but it was still another excellently worked goal. Jordi Alba got free on the left wing and cut the ball back to Messi, whose left-footed shot was too much for Simon to keep out.
The last 18 minutes of the match were a mere formality at that point as Barca saw out the match and secured another piece of silverware.
Key statistics
It was yet another dominant performance by Barcelona. They controlled a whopping 77 per cent of possession and had 14 shots (eight on target) to Athletic’s seven (one on target).
SBOTOP’s preview of this Copa del Rey final highlighted the success Messi and Griezmann have had against Athletic Bilbao over the years, and the two stars haunted the Basques yet again.
For Messi, he has now scored in all four Copa del Rey finals over Athletic. Meanwhile, Griezmann added another goal to his tally against Bilbao. He has now scored 12 goals in 25 games against the Basques, the most goals he’s scored against any club in his career.
What’s next?
With one piece of silverware secured, Barcelona will now set their sights on reclaiming the La Liga title. After their setback in El Clasico, they will look to keep the pressure on Atletico and Real Madrid when they take on Granada next weekend.
As for Athletic Bilbao, they will look to put their back-to-back Copa del Rey defeats – and six-match winless run in all competitions – behind them when they return to Sevilla to face Real Betis, who are currently in sixth place and are right in the hunt for a Europa League spot.
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