Barcelona wins Copa del Rey in Luis Enrique’s last game
Third straight title for Barcelona
The Luis Enrique era in Barcelona came to an end with the coach lifting one last trophy.
The coach raised the Copa del Rey after Barcelona defeated Alaves 3-1 in the final on Saturday.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Paco Alcacer scored in the first half as Barcelona won its third straight copa and 29th all-time.
Luis Enrique capped his three-year stint with the club with his ninth title out of a possible 13.
He celebrated by waving his winner’s trophy and singing the club’s anthem in front of the Barcelona fans who traveled to the final in Madrid.
“We finished the season how we wanted to finish it,” Luis Enrique said. “I leave with the feeling of mission accomplished.”
It was the final competitive match at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon Stadium, which will be demolished to give way to a housing complex. Atletico moves into a new venue next season.
Alaves, the minnow Basque Country club promoted to Spain’s top flight this season after 10 years in the lower divisions, was playing in the final of a major tournament for only the second time in its 96-year history. The other was the UEFA Cup 16 years ago, when it lost to Liverpool 5-4 in extra time.
Barcelona dominated and opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a well-placed shot by Messi from just outside the box after a pass by Neymar.
Alaves, which beat Barcelona in the Liga, equalized three minutes later with a superb free kick shot by Theo Hernandez.
But Barcelona regained control with a couple of goals just before halftime. Neymar scored after a pass by Andre Gomes in the 45th and Alcacer added to the lead from inside the area after a great slalom run by Messi three minutes into stoppage time.
Alaves almost opened the scoring when Ibai Gomez struck the post after a blunder by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique just before Messi’s goal.
“There are mixed feelings,” Alaves coach Mauricio Pellegrino said. “We are disappointed with the result, we had high hopes, but we are happy for what we did the entire season.”
It was only the second title for Barcelona in a relatively disappointing season. It was eliminated by Juventus in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and lost the Spanish league title to Real Madrid in the final round last weekend. Its other title was the Spanish Super Cup.
Luis Enrique, who made the surprising announcement in March that he was leaving Barcelona so he could get some rest, never lost a Copa del Rey homeand-away series since he took over the club, a run of 12 straight triumphs ahead of the final.
Defender Javier Mascherano had to be substituted less than 10 minutes into the game with a head cut after colliding with an Alaves defender. He also injured his right knee on the play, and was on crutches during the title celebrations.
Barcelona played without striker Luis Suarez because of a suspension.
Before the game, five members of a radical group of Barcelona supporters were arrested after they allegedly robbed and trashed a small store in the Spanish capital.
Barcelona’s victory meant Athletic Bilbao will earn the final spot from Spain in the Europa League. Athletic finished seventh in the Spanish league, outside of the automatic qualification spots, but it earned a berth because Barcelona will play in the Champions League. Alaves needed to win the Copa del Rey title to qualify.
Arsene Wenger’s turbulent year ended with a third FA Cup success in four seasons after Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to deny the English Premier League champion a double on Saturday.
Aaron Ramsey was the match-winner, just like in the 2014 final, restoring Arsenal’s lead in the 79th minute shortly after Diego Costa leveled for 10-man Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.
Just as the season reached its climax, Arsenal turned in the type of tenacious display lacking so often, and against a side so commanding in the Premier League in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge. And it might just be enough to stem the tide of protests against Wenger, as the record 13-time FA Cup winners are yet to announce a new contract for the 67-year-old Frenchman for next season.
“There’s a board meeting on Tuesday,” Wenger said on the pitch before collecting the trophy. “Wednesday or Thursday will be clearer.”
Wenger became the competition’s most successful manager with a seventh title in his 21-year reign, triumphs that have papered over some of the cracks as Arsenal has repeatedly come up short in the Premier League and Champions League.
“I’m happy for the manager,” Ramsey said. “Hopefully he will be here next season.”
For once, this was a day when so much went right for Wenger, even with a patched-up injury-depleted defense featuring captain Per Mertesacker making his first start in more than a year.
PierreEmerick Aubameyang scored a cheeky penalty for Borussia Dortmund to win the German Cup final over Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in what could have been his last game for the clubon Saturday.
Aubameyang, the Bundesliga top scorer this season with 31, chipped the ball straight down the middle as Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky dived, giving Dortmund the title at the fourth attempt after losing the previous three finals.
He has been the subject of transfer speculation linking him with a big-money move away from Dortmund in the summer.
Ousmane Dembele got Dortmund off to a great start in the eighth minute when he eluded Jesus Vallejo on the right and curled the ball inside the far post.
Police made an appeal to Dortmund fans not to celebrate with pyrotechnics after more were lit behind the west-end goal. The final had kicked off under a cloud of smoke after flares were lit among Dortmund fans.
Frankfurt gradually worked its way back into the game - Haris Seferovic and Ante Rebic both went close - before Rebic equalized in the 29th. Marco Fabian won the ball in midfield, played Mijat Gacinovic through, and Gacinovic squared the ball for Rebic to beat Roman Buerki in the Dortmund goal.
Backed by outstanding support behind the eastend goal, Frankfurt kept pushing. Seferovic hit the post after playing a onetwo with Rebic.
Dortmund was forced into two changes at the break: Christian Pulisic came on for the injured Marco Reus (right knee) and Gonzalo Castro replaced Marcel Schmelzer (left thigh).
Fabian rescued Frankfurt with a goal-line clearance from Aubameyang’s overhead kick off Dembele’s dinked cross.
But Aubameyang, who’d had a quiet game, cheekily scored the winner midway through the second half after Hradecky brought down Pulisic to concede the spot kick.
Frankfurt brought on “football god” Alexander Meier for a defender in response but he was unable to get the side out of the jam.