Barcelona ensured that they waved goodbye to both their season and Luis Enrique with a 3-1 Copa del Rey final win over Alaves on Saturday evening, with Lionel Messi being the key man.
The Argentine chipped in with a goal and an assist on the night, with Neymar and Paco Alcacer popping up with the others, while Theo Hernandez replied for El Glorioso via a free kick.
The favourites were able to close out the second half in fairly comfortable fashion, meaning that Luis Enrique lifted another trophy, while Athletic Bilbao profited from Alaves’ failing by securing a Europa League spot.
(All players are rated out of 10)
Barcelona
Jasper Cillessen - 7
Made a couple of good saves and could do absolutely nothing about Theo Hernandez’s wonderful free kick. Quick off his line to make a couple of rushed clearances.
Javier Mascherano - 6
Forced off on a stretcher early on, following a horrible clash of heads with Marcos Llorente that left Barcelona’s makeshift right-back bloodied.
Gerard Pique - 7
Bailed Samuel Umtiti out of trouble on a couple of occasions, and was a generally firm presence at the heart of a defence that was pushed and probed quite a bit in the second half.
Samuel Umtiti - 6
Not the Frenchman’s most confident outing in a Barcelona shirt. Looked a bit nervous in the first half, but soon eased into it after the break. Very unfortunate to pick up a yellow card.
Jordi Alba - 7
Full of energy and was always keen to rush to the left-hand byline in an attempt to get in behind Kiko Femenia. Defensively, the former Valencia man wasn’t asked all too many tough questions.
Ivan Rakitic - 7
Went close with a couple of ambitious shots, but kept possession ticking over in central midfield adequately. No-thrills performance, but the Croatia international worked hard.
Sergio Busquets - 6
Sat at the base of midfield, but did get the license to go for a wander later in the evening. Didn’t do anything flashy and kept things simple as Barcelona controlled possession.
Andres Iniesta - 6.5
Drifted into some pockets of space in between the lines well, but couldn’t quite add a finishing touch to his performance. Received some rough treatment and committed a couple of bad fouls himself.
Lionel Messi - 9
Tucked home a lovely finish to open the scoring, before playing a vital role in the build-up play to the second. He set up the third with a lovely pass in behind Alaves’ lines, wrapping up the trophy and a man-of-the-match performance.
Paco Alcacer - 7.5
Tucked home a powerful finish to make it 3-1, and could have grabbed a second but for some good goalkeeping from Fernando Pacheco. Full of running and linked up in the front three rather well.
Neymar - 7.5
Stabbed home the game’s third goal, with what was potentially his simplest goal of the season - but he may have been in an offside position. Assisted Messi’s opener with a neat one-two and should have earned his side a penalty.
Substitutes
Andre Gomes - 7
Very good performance from the Portuguese substitute, who did well in a fairly alien position of right-back. Made some blocks and picked out a lovely assist for Neymar’s goal.
Aleix Vidal - 6
Made his return from injury about two months ahead of schedule. Didn’t have much time to make an impact on the field, but the fans gave the Spaniard a lovely reception.
Alaves
Fernando Pacheco - 7
Made a couple of very good saves to deny both Iniesta and Alcacer to ensure that the scoreline didn’t get to an embarrassing figure for Alaves. Could do little about all three goals.
Kiko Femenia - 6
His crossing was rather lacklustre, with the underdogs running out of ideas and quality a little bit when they got into the final third. Jordi Alba got in behind him quite regularly in the first half.
Carlos Vigaray - 6
His long throws didn’t manage to force any mistakes from Barcelona late on, but at both centre-back and left-back, Vigaray was tenacious and then looked to get up field whenever he could.
Rodrigo Ely - 5
Struggled to get tight to any of Barcelona’s front three, looking a little bit clumsy at times. Forced Cillessen into a good save with a close-range shot, too.
Zouhair Feddal - 5.5
Struggled to deal with the quality that Barcelona had on offer. Kept his shape well and worked hard as part of a unit, with the Moroccan having no problems aerially either.
Theo Hernandez - 7
Fired home a beautiful free kick to equalise in the first half, picking out the top-left corner with a swirling strike. Didn’t perhaps get as involved as he may have liked in the final third.
Edgar Mendez - 6.5
Full of energy and running. Caused problems for Barcelona on the break, earning a fair amount of fouls and free kicks for his side to profit from. Lacked any kind of cutting edge, however.
Marcos Llorente - 7
Worked tirelessly in the middle of the park and read the game very well. Always looked to turn possession over and then keep the ball moving. Very sharp and perceptive.
Manu Garcia - 5.5
Struggled to deal with the quality that Barcelona had at times, with the experienced captain forced to make a lot of cynical tackles. Complained a lot to the referee, but enjoyed his big night.
Ibai Gomez - 6.5
Struck the post in the first half. Had his effort trickled in, the game could have panned out entirely differently. Never afraid to take on his man or shoot from range. Won the free kick that Theo scored from.
Deyverson - 6
Worked very hard as an isolated striker. Battled to provide knock downs for a couple of his teammates, but didn’t have many chances fall his way despite plenty of running and battling.
Substitutes
Ruben Sobrino - 6
Had a couple of chances to try his luck from just inside the penalty area, with his pace and fresh legs definitely ruffling a few feathers on the break late on.
Victor Camarasa - 6
Very powerful and purposeful on the ball, and almost picked up an assist when Ruben Sobrino missed a good one-on-one opportunity that Camarasa had crafted for him.
Oscar Romero - 5
Had one long-range effort go a long way wide. Did get on the ball a little bit, but didn’t manage to pick any telling holes in the Barcelona defence.
