Phil Ball: Copa del Rey politics & Barca's ill-tempered win

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  • Phil Ball analyses a thrilling Copa del Rey final.

    What an extraordinary final!

    But first the data. Amazingly, given the history of La Liga, Barcelona’s League and Cup double was the first time it had been achieved in consecutive years since the Catalans themselves managed it in the 1951-53 period, and before that it had only happened once, served up by the great Athletic Bilbao team of the late 1920s.

    It’s difficult to remember a more controversial final, preceded by a political furor that went through the courts, after the Catalan independence flag, the ‘Estelada’, was banned by the PP government from being taken into the stadium, a decision then overruled by the High Court on the Friday before the game, on the grounds of freedom of expression. After last season’s controversy regarding the booing of the national anthem by two sets of supporters from the Basque Country and Catalunya, this year’s affair between Sevilla, from the Spanish heartlands, and Barcelona had become politicised in a different manner, affected largely by the shadow of the looming general election. The game was played at Atlético Madrid’s ground, the Calderón, and true to form, Tele 5, the channel televising the game, focused its cameras patriotically on King Felipe during the national anthem, with a quick take of the Spanish flags being waved by the Sevilla supporters. The Esteladas stayed predictably out of shot.

    Sevilla were playing their second final in a week, after their excellent dismantling of Liverpool in the second half of last week’s Europa Cup final, but the argument that Barcelona would be fresher hardly counts at this stage of the season. In many ways, it’s better to just be on a physical roll, and not to have cut the rhythm. The game certainly showed few signs of fatigue, with both sides trying to get on the front foot. Sevilla looked the more balanced side from the start, and the quick counters designed to get the excellent Kevin Gameiro in between Barcelona’s lines looked promising. Barcelona never looked comfortable , and in the 35th minute their evening was looking distinctly damp when the French forward got behind Javier Mascherano and had a clear sight of goal. The Argentine defender is an expert at these fouls, but this time it was just a little too obvious and he was sent for an early shower, without even protesting. Sergio Busquets did protest, however, but you had to wonder exactly what his point was. The foul was obvious, and Busquets should have been glad that the referee was also correct in signalling the foul as being outside the area. With Coke and Grzegorz Krychowiak in command, Sevilla pummelled Barcelona for the remaining ten minutes, but their inability to score was to cost them dear in the end.

    There was a point in the match, however, where it was just looking like a bad day at the office for Barcelona. Luis Suárez limped off in the second half after eleven minutes, and Leo Messi looked distinctly groggy after a clash of heads with Daniel Carriço. It seemed a matter of time before Sevilla would score, despite some brilliant defending from Gerard Piqué and some fine individual resistance from Andres Iniesta, always able to carry the ball and calm things down.

    Sevilla really have got a good thing going this season, marred only by their inexplicable away record. Some of their football has been really impressive, with a precise balance of aggression and imagination in midfield, and Gameiro rampant up front. Ever Banega, playing his last game, will be missed next season, but it was his lunge at the improving Neymar that eventually swung the game back in Barcelona’s favour, right at the end of the second half. It put the wind back in Catalan sails, and you could see Sevilla wilt, for the first time. The lesson has been clear for several seasons now – if you get on top of Barcelona you simply have to score. If you don’t, they’ll make you pay.

    In an increasingly ill-tempered but nevertheless attractive affair, Sevilla lost another man when Carriço took out Messi in the second half of extra time, and then earned himself a second yellow for over-protesting. By that time, Barcelona were ahead courtesy of a clever finish from Jordi Alba, running onto Messi’s pass and just getting in front of Vitolo before poking it past Sergio Rico. Luis Enrique, nervous as a kitten all night, appeared to self-combust with joy, and the Barcelona fans celebrated with equal gusto.

    It’s been a strange season for Barcelona, at times looking invincible, at others distinctly fallible. Despite the array of trophies, with only the Champions League truly missing, the only new element to emerge in the side has been Sergio Roberto, and he is no paradigm changer. The club’s interest in Gameiro is therefore no secret, with Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez also a target.

    Despite the successful season, some new blood to throw into the mix looks necessary. Sevilla, meanwhile, will need to replace Banega but will probably offload Fernando Llorente, their major disappointment of the season – although Gameiro’s brilliance was not his fault. They’ll try to hang onto the Frenchman of course, probably hoping that he prefers to play every week, as opposed to warming the bench at the Camp Nou.

    Whatever, this was a fitting curtain-call for the domestic season – fast, frenetic and fiercely competitive. Sevilla finished 7 th in the league, 39 points behind Barcelona, and yet on this evidence, the teams were evenly matched. In historical terms, the gap is clearer, with Barcelona having now won the cup 28 times, in comparison to Sevilla’s five. Now all that remains is to shift the focus to Madrid, and celebrate La Liga’s European monopoly next week in Milan.

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