A Lionel Messi masterclass salvaged some silverware to end Barcelona’s season and gave coach Luis Enrique a victorious send-off as the Catalans retained the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 win over Alaves on Saturday.
Messi opened the scoring then helped tee up Neymar and Paco Alcacer to lead Barca to a record 29th Cup triumph after Theo Hernandez’s brilliant free-kick had briefly brough Alaves level.
Victory means Enrique bows out after three seasons in charge with nine trophies to his name, including the Cup in every year of his reign.
Messi saw a free-kick of his own beaten away by Fernando Pacheco, whilst Ivan Rakitic drilled a low shot just wide as Barca immediately reacted to conceding.
Fittingly, Messi was involved once more when Barca did regain the lead as he received Neymar’s pass before playing in Gomes and the Portuguese’s low cross was tapped home by Neymar at the back post as he scored for the third consecutive season in the Cup final. Barca then put the game to bed in first-half stoppage time when Messi again pulled the Alaves defence apart and his reverse pass freed Alcacer to smash the ball beyond Pacheco into the far corner. The two nearly combined again five minutes into the second period, but this time Pacheco repelled Alcacer’s effort on the stretch from Messi’s teasing cross. Alaves battled bravely as the second period wore on, but any hope of a fightback was extinguished by the offside flag when Deyverson fired home from close range 20 minutes from time.#ForeverLucho
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 27, 2017
Thanks @LuisEnrique21
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