Barcelona impose traumatic defeat on Real Madrid in historic Copa del Rey final | OneFootball

In a historic final filled with memorable moments at the Estadio de la Cartuja, Barcelona confirmed their favoritism over Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory in the Copa del Rey final to win their second title this season.

Barcelona took the initiative in attack and totally controlled possession during the first half, reaching almost 80% at times. Meanwhile, Real Madrid's marking swung to the sides in search of spaces, but these were severely limited by Barça's midfield, which completely controlled the action.

Despite their defensive system reacting very well to Barça's strong pressure, Real Madrid had a lot of trouble creating chances and ended up conceding a great goal from Pedri. In the move, Barcelona's young prodigy was given total freedom in a counter-attack on the edge of the area and hit a firm shot with no chance of a save for goalkeeper Courtois.

Real Madrid v FC Barcelona - Spanish Copa del Rey | Soccrates Images/GettyImages

However, the introduction of Kylian Mbappé in place of Rodrygo at the start of the second half saw Real Madrid take the lead in the match, dominating the attack. After Arda Guler and Modric came on, Real improved even more with a constant presence on the pitch and a lot of intensity against a Barcelona side that was showing enormous fatigue.

The moment of greatest impact in the second half came in the 68th minute, when Kylian Mbappé made an excellent individual run and was only stopped by a foul on him on the halfway line. From the spot, the Frenchman scored a stunning goal, finding very limited space to slot the ball home and level the scores.

There was plenty of excitement in the second half as Barça put Real under pressure again, while the pressurized referees needed the help of the VAR to cancel out a penalty simulation committed by Raphinha in the last minute.

Barcelona used their strong mentality to beat Real Madrid

FBL-ESP-CUP-BARCELONA-REAL MADRID | PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/GettyImages

As expected in many extra-time games in the finals of club or national competitions, there was a considerable drop in intensity in the teams' performances. Barcelona had a great chance to score, with Ferran Torres spinning around his marker to hit the ball into the box, but his shot sailed wide.

The pace of the game remained low in the second extra time and everything pointed to a penalty shootout to determine the champion, but a fatal mistake proved decisive as Real Madrid saw their chance of winning a title in the 2024/25 season in Spain slip through their fingers. Brahím Díaz misplaced the ball and Koundé intercepted the pass to advance with freedom and strike low into Courtois' corner to secure Barcelona's deserved title.

What did the Copa del Rey final mean for the teams?

For Barcelona, the title means greater morale and a consolidation of confidence to reinforce their favoritism to win LaLiga and especially the UEFA Champions League, with the semi-finals against Inter Milan starting in the next few days. On the other side, Real Madrid showed a lot of resilience in the final and need to turn that into strength to keep fighting for the league title.