21st April, 2018
Barcelona cruised to their fourth consecutive Copa del Rey title on Saturday evening as they beat Sevilla 5-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Ernesto Valverde’s men are halfway to a domestic double – also sitting 12 points clear at the top of the La Liga table – and Luis Suarez opened the scoring 14 minutes into the game before Lionel Messi added the second 15 minutes later.
Suarez (40) scored another just before the break, with Andres Iniesta (52) making it four seven minutes after the restart before Philippe Coutinho rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot in the 69th minute, Sky Sports reports.
Sevilla offered little in reply as Barcelona lifted the Copa del Rey trophy once again, becoming the first team to win it four times in a row since 1933 when Athletic Bilbao achieved the same feat.
It took just 14 minutes for Barcelona to take the lead and it was a simple goal as Jasper Cillessen lofted a superb long ball down the field which picked out Coutinho. He drove towards goal before lifting the ball over the oncoming David Soria at the near post and allowing the waiting Suarez to tap home.
But Sevilla did test the La Liga leaders briefly after going behind, with Joaquin Correa slicing a volley wide before a driving cross from Jesus Navas found the boot of Steve N’Zonzi, but the midfielder could only flash the ball wide of the far post.
Iniesta went close for Barcelona in the 28th minute as his deflected shot hammered against the crossbar, but they did have their second goal just three minutes later. Jordi Alba played a neat one-two with Iniesta, before putting a superb backheel into the path of Messi who hammered the ball high into the roof of the net.
A brilliant first-half performance from Barcelona continued to get better as Suarez scored his second of the evening with five minutes of the first half to play. Messi threaded a lovely ball through the middle of the park for his team-mate, who raced onto the pass before firing home past Soria.
Barcelona continued their dominance seven minutes into the second half with a superbly taken goal from Iniesta in what could be his last cup final for the club. He was slid in down the right of the area with a lovely pass from Messi, before rounding the goalkeeper and scoring on a tight angle.
On the other end of the spectrum, it was a dream first Barcelona final for Coutinho as he scored the fifth goal in the 69th minute. He had an initial strike ruled out after Clement Lenglet was penalised for a handball, but the ball was given to him for a second chance – despite Suarez being able to score his hat-trick – and he did not waste it, sending Soria the wrong way.
Barcelona saw out the game with relative ease – a few long-range shots from Sevilla easily dealt with by Cillissen – and Iniesta received a standing ovation from around the ground when he was substituted in the 88th minute before going on to lift the Copa del Rey trophy alongside his team-mates.