Barcelona 1-2 Valencia : 4 talking points from the 2018/2019 Copa del Rey final
The 2018/2019 footballing season in Spain officially came to an end on Saturday evening, with Valencia triumphing over Barcelona in the 117th Copa del Rey final at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
The Blaugrana came into the match as heavy favorites and having already won La Liga, they were looking to make it a double in consecutive seasons.
Their shambolic performance at Anfield in the second leg of their semifinal clash in the Champions League which led to their elimination meant that it was expected that the club would use victory in the Copa del Rey as consolation to end the season on a high.
However, that proved to not be the case as Valencia ran out 2-1 winners. In this piece, we shall be highlighting four talking points from the enthralling Copa del Rey final.
#4 Lionel Messi magic fails to inspire Barcelona
Having won the Pichichi award for a sixth time, as well as extend his record-breaking European Golden Shoe tally to six, Lionel Messi came into the fixture looking to inspire Barcelona to the trophy which would have been his 35th major honor since he made his debut and second as club captain.
In the absence of Luis Suarez, the goalscoring burden fell on Lionel Messi and the Argentine icon seemed determined to make his mark, taking the game to Valencia and trying to spark a comeback.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner hit the left-hand post just before the hour, before hitting the back of the net with a tap-in from Clement Lenglet's rebounded header off the post to become the first man to score in six different Copa del Rey finals.
This however proved to not be enough, as Barcelona paid dearly for the subpar performance of their other forwards, most notably Philippe Coutinho, and how they must have wished Luis Suarez was available.