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Barca bags 30th Copa del Rey

April 22, 2018
Barcelona’s players pose with the trophy after winning the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) final against Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid Saturday. — AFP
Barcelona’s players pose with the trophy after winning the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) final against Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid Saturday. — AFP

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 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 it its 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 champion 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 has 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 was simply sharing the goals around.

For Sevilla, defeat was always the most likely scenario but this was a whitewash.

Sitting eighth in La Liga, even Europa League qualification now looks an outside bet and there may be repercussions for coach Vincenzo Montella and some of his players in the summer.

Amid ongoing political unrest between Catalonia and the Spanish government, Barca fans whistled during the national anthem before kickoff, with King Felipe VI watching on.

Monaco toppled by Guingamp

Florian Thauvin and Kostas Mitroglou scored two apiece to propel Champions League hopeful Marseille to a 5-1 thrashing of relegation-threatened Lille as 10-man Monaco came badly unstuck 3-1 at Guingamp in Ligue 1 Saturday.

The deposed champion travelled to Guingamp anxious to draw a line under last weekend’s humiliating 7-1 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain.

But Jemerson’s 22nd minute red card for stopping a Marcus Thuram shot with his arm, with Jimmy Briand converting the ensuing penalty, left Monaco there for the taking.

Etienne Didot doubled the host lead after the half hour and Thuram put the game beyond reach two minutes after the restart to ensure Monaco’s battle for second place would go down to the wire.

Monaco, who got a consolation goal with Almamy Toure’s 63rd header, remain in second on 70 points, but Lyon and Marseille are now snapping at their heels for the automatic Champions League berth just one point adrift.

Lille, which won a domestic double under Garcia in 2010-11, dropped into the bottom two after falling below Troyes on goal difference.

On Friday, Lyon captain Nabil Fekir scored a superb goal in a 5-2 win at Dijon as Bruno Genesio’s team claimed a sixth consecutive league victory. — Agencies


April 22, 2018
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