Jules Kounde’s powerful extra-time strike gave Barcelona a 3-2 victory over rival Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey Clasico final.
The Catalans won the first major trophy of Hansi Flick’s tenure as coach on Saturday in a dramatic manner, aiming for a quadruple this year.
Barcelona equaled with two Real Madrid goals in seven second-half minutes, scored by Pedri and scored by Pedri at La Cartuja.
However, Kounde fired home in the 84th minute to make it a winner for the LaLiga leaders after Ferran Torres scored to make it a winner in extra time.
Antonio Rudiger, a substitute for Antonio Rudiger at Madrid, was shown the yellow card in the final seconds for making an appearance to throw objects onto the field in front of the referee.
After suffering an ankle injury, Madrid started with top scorer Mbappe on the bench. Left-back Ferland Mendy suffered a thigh injury, which set him up for the first six weeks of play.
Fran Garcia was hired by Carlo Ancelotti to hang Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s dazzling teenage winger, in place.
As Barca kept getting closer to Thibaut Courtois’ goal, the 17-year-old Spain star, who dyed his hair blond for the game, burst past him quickly.
The Catalans controlled the ball, which won the LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup the first two times this year and scored nine goals in the process.
After 28 minutes, Pedri drilled the ball into the top corner with precision and power from the edge of the box.
A clever Pau Cubarsi interception in his own half gave the offence.
Yamal cut inside and held the ball up until the Canary Islander reached the box with a sight of goal as Pedri spread the play out to him on the right.
Barcelona’s opener broke Madrid’s defense, which had already been a goal, and also allowed Mbappe to recover from the bench to warm up.
Vinicius Junior would have won a penalty if Jude Bellingham had started and finished a strong move but he was offside as a result of Inigo Martinez’s hacked him down and he had also sped off in the build-up.
With Dani Olmo’s corner evading several players and bouncing off the far post, Barcelona could have doubled their lead, but Cubarsi was unable to reach him as Dani Ceballos held him back.
Madrid referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea was lenient with some heated tackles, perhaps as a result of Friday’s drama, in which the Spanish champions wept at his pre-game remarks criticizing the club’s television channel’s conduct.
At half-time, Madrid sent Mbappe for Rodrigo Goes, and they soon started working on Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, with Vinicius and Mbappe coming close.
In the 70th minute, Mbappe almost equalized for Madrid.
Frenkie de Jong brought the striker down on the edge of the box after he advanced forward. Mbappe fired a low effort into the post after taking the free kick on himself.
Tchouameni found space for himself to head home from Arda Guler’s corner past the helpless Szczesny after seven minutes as Madrid took the lead.
When Yamal played a delicious pass over the top to Torres, which attracted both Courtois and Rudiger, the Spaniard got there first and headed home.
Overheating causes tensions.
Unsurprisingly, conflict appeared before the game entered extra time.
When Rudiger appeared to have brought down Torres, Barcelona clamored for a penalty before Raphinha’s pressure-assisted penalty fell to Raul Asencio, who was then awarded one last time in stoppage time.
However, the Brazilian was given a diving penalty by the referee after VAR called to review the incident.
Barcelona gained momentum as they searched for a potential winner in extra time.
When Kounde intercepted a strangely loose Luka Modric pass and beat Courtois with a powerful low effort from outside the box, which sparked wild celebrations, they eventually discovered it.
The teams meet again in LaLiga in May in a match that could decide the title race because of Rudiger’s dismissal and Madrid’s pre-match histrionics regarding the refereeing team.
Source: Aljazeera
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