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Barcelona suffocated Real Madrid from the outset as they outworked and outplayed the men in white in the opening exchanges. The forward line harried the Madrid defence relentlessly which crumbled and submitted to the persistent pressure. Barcelona held the majority of possession and it was only a matter of time, just under half an hour, before they took the lead.
Pedri fed Lamine Yamal, who stood Fran Garcia up before laying back to the midfielder in acres of space to stroke home into the top-left corner from outside the area. Madrid never looked like threatening the Barcelona defence which looked completely assured throughout the first half.
Mbappe was introduced at half-time and Los Blancos threatened immediately. Vinicius robbed Pedri and flashed one past the post, before Mbappe’s runs through the middle started to cause problems. The Frenchman, fouled by Frenkie de Jong, swept the resulting free-kick off the left post and in to equalise. The Madrid attacks continued to flow and when Aurelien Tchouameni headed in Madrid's second from a corner, they looked set to become champions.
But Yamal had other ideas, sending Ferran Torres through, who rounded Courtois and passed into the gaping net. With the score at 2-2 and seeming destined to be heading to extra-time, Raphinha jinked past a lunging Asencio and collapsed to the floor - winning a penalty. However, after a VAR review, the decision was overturned and the game went to extra-time.
If fans were expecting the fireworks of the second-half to continue then they would be disappointed. But with both sets of players looking exhausted and the affair starting to peter out, Kounde stole ahead of Brahim Diaz to intercept and fire low and into the bottom corner. Just when Barcelona thought they had won it, Gavi fouled Mbappe in the box but was saved by an offside in the build-up. The seconds eventually trickled away and Barcelona were the Copa del Rey champions.
GOAL rates Barcelona's players from La Cartuja...
