Barça 3-2 Madrid (AET): Recap
A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES!!!!!!!!!!!
Barcelona have taken the first step towards a third men’s Treble in club history by winning their 32nd Copa del Rey title thanks to an epic 3-2 comeback victory over Real Madrid in extra-time on Saturday’s Final at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville. After dominating the first half and taking the lead the Blaugrana were overwhelmed in the second half and found themselves down 2-1 after 85 minutes, but found a way to equalize and force extra-time where Jules Kounde scored a goal for the ages to give Barça a victory in El Clásico that they’ll never, ever forget.
FIRST HALF
After all of the controversy prior to the game, it was not a surprise to see just how much pressure Real Madrid put on the referee. One of the two main stories of the opening period was the relentless protesting by Los Blancos after every single call, and their physicality was allowed to go overboard without much punishment, with Dani Olmo being singled out and constantly fouled hard by Madrid’s defensive players, including once in a tackle by Aurélien Tchouameni that resulted in a yellow card that could have very easily been a red.
The second story of the half was Barça’s response to Madrid’s shenanigans: the Catalans were remarkably poised and composed, focused solely on playing football and controlling the game from start to finish in the period with calm and patient possession and very good defensive work as their offside trap negated Madrid’s very few moments of danger.
They created very good chances and Jules Kounde forced Thibaut Courtois into a brilliant save, but the Belgian goalkeeper couldn’t stop the brilliance of Pedri as The Wizard received a pass from Lamine Yamal at the edge of the box and curled an absolutely sensational shot into the top corner to put Barça ahead.
The Blaugrana continued to play and create, and almost found the second on a corner that was deflected by Antonio Rüdiger onto the post. Madrid’s only moment of true danger came when Jude Bellingham found the back of the net on a counter-attack, but he was denied by the offside flag.
The halftime whistle came to end a tense period that featured only one team playing football, but the game was still far from over and Madrid were going to continue pressuring the officials and somehow find their way back in the contest in the second half.
SECOND HALF
Kylian Mbappé came on at halftime and Madrid looked a lot better instantly, with the Frenchman finally offering a threat in behind the Barça defense and giving new life to Vinicius who had a partner up front and was no longer isolated. Los Blancos dominated the start of the period and created huge chances, and Wojciech Szczesny was forced into some huge saves including a monster double stop against Vinicius.
Madrid also took more risks defensively by pressing higher up the pitch, and Barça did find opportunities to play balls in behind and found a ton of space to run against the center-backs. Raphinha had two huge chances in prime scoring position, but dragged his shots wide twice and we reached the hour mark still at 1-0 and with the game very much up for grabs.
Mbappé continued to cause a ton of problems getting in behind the Barça defense, and that led to the equalizer as he was fouled by Frenkie de Jong at the edge of the box and fired the ensuing free-kick into the net off the post to equalize with 20 minutes to go.
Los Blancos had all of the momentum and kept creating tons of danger on the counter whenever they won the ball back with Mbappé and Vinicius running with purpose at the Barça backline, and they seemed poised to complete the comeback and take the lead, which they did with 15 minutes to go when Tchouameni headed home from a corner by Arda Güler.
Barça had very little to try and find an equalizer, but they kept fighting and got back in the game with five minutes remaining as Yamal played a pass over the top and Ferran Torres got to the ball ahead of both Antonio Rüdiger and Courtois and passed it into an open net to bring the Catalans back to life.
Hansi Flick sent on Ronald Araujo and Gavi off the bench to help his team get to the finish line and force extra-time, but Barça should have had a chance to win it in the 95th minute when Rüdiger kicked the back of Ferran’s leg inside the box but somehow neither the referee or VAR saw a penalty.
Barça did get a penalty a minute later when Raphinha went down under the challenge of Raúl Asencio, but the referee was called to the screen that time and reversed his decision and gave Raphinha a yellow card for simulation. The final whistle came soon after to end regulation, and we were headed for extra-time after a very controversial finish.
EXTRA-TIME
Barça took the initiative to begin extra time and had most of the ball and the momentum, and Ferran had the best chance of the first half of the period but dragged a left-footed shot wide of the mark.
The Blaugrana remained on the front foot and almost took the lead twice to begin the second half, but Ferran had a goal disallowed for offside and Fermín López had a deflected shot go just over the bar with Courtois completely beaten.
Carlo Ancelotti made a bold substitution with 10 minutes to go replacing Rüdiger with Endrick to try and give his team some semblance of an attacking threat in the dying moments, but neither side could create a real chance and it looked as though we were headed for penalties.
Then Jules Kounde happened: the full-back made spectacular defensive read, anticipating a bad pass from a Madrid player and winning the ball back at the edge of the box before firing a rocket into the bottom corner to put the Catalans ahead at the 116th minute right in front of the Barça fans, who went into an absolute frenzy.
All the Blaugrana had to do was manage the end of the game and not allow Madrid to create a late chance, and they almost gave away a penalty to Mbappé but were saved by the offside flag. But that was the only scare, and the final whistle came to end a Clásico for the ages.
Barça’s fighting spirit to resist a second half collapse to equalize late and win it in extra-time is truly remarkable, and this one will never, ever be forgotten. The Blaugrana are 32-time Spanish Cup winners, and this might truly be their greatest ever Copa title win.
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Martín (Araujo 85’); De Jong (Gavi 85’), Pedri (Eric 98’); Yamal, Olmo (Fermín 65’), Raphinha; Ferran (Víctor 115’)
Goals: Pedri (28’), Ferran (84’), Kounde (116’)
Real Madrid: Courtois; Vázquez (Modric 55’), Asencio, Rüdiger (Endrick 110’), Mendy (García 12’); Tchouameni; Rodrygo (Mbappé 46’), Valverde, Bellingham, Ceballos (Güler 55’); Vinicius (Brahim 89’)
Goals: Mbappé (70’), Tchouameni (76’)
Red Card: Rüdiger (120+3’, on bench)
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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