Barca hammer Sevilla to win 30th King’s Cup title
MADRID: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez inspired Barcelona to what will surely be the first part of a domestic double this season as they thrashed Sevilla 5-0 on Saturday to win the Copa del Rey.
Messi had scored once and Suarez twice before even the half-time whistle had blown at the Wanda Metropolitano, with the sublime Andres Iniesta and Philippe Coutinho later compounding Sevilla’s humiliation.
Barca’s exhilarating display earns them their 30th triumph in this competition and fourth in a row, having reached the final in each of the last five years.
But, despite hugs and high-fives at the end, the real celebrations will be put on ice until next Sunday, when victory over Deportivo La Coruna will confirm Ernesto Valverde’s side as La Liga champions too.
Even a clean sweep of the domestic trophies, perhaps polished by La Liga’s first ever unbeaten season, will not eradicate the lingering disappointment from Barca’s Champions League exit to Roma.
But this performance, as easy on the eye as it was emphatic, will certainly serve as a counter-point to those that believe Valverde’s team have been efficient, rather than exciting this season, and overly reliant on Messi.
Messi was, of course, superb again on Saturday but this was not a one-man show. Suarez scored his 31st and 32nd goals of the season while Iniesta delivered one of those effortless displays, in which at times he was virtually unplayable.
If this is to be the 33-year-old’s last Barca final before departing for China, it was a fitting farewell, with only goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen absent from the 10-man huddle that engulfed the Spaniard following his shimmying fourth.
By the time Coutinho converted his penalty in the 69th minute, Barca were simply sharing the goals around. For Sevilla, defeat was always the most likely scenario but this was a whitewash.
INIESTA HINTS AT BARCA EXIT
Barca captain Andres Iniesta hinted he may have played his last final for Barcelona after Copa del Rey final. Iniesta said he would reveal his future plans “this week” as the 33-year-old weighs up an offer from China that would take him away from his boyhood club.
“This week I will make my decision public but we will always have days like today,” Iniesta said.
Asked if this was his last final with Barcelona, Iniesta added: “It’s a possibility. In a few days I’ll make it public and nothing more. Today is a very special and emotional day.”