Barcelona did exactly what was needed of them on Wednesday evening at Camp Nou, pulling off a 3-0 victory against Sevilla to secure their place in the final of the Copa del Rey. Sevilla had won the first leg 2-0, but Barcelona, buoyed by their 2-0 defeat of Sevilla in La Liga this past weekend, got the job done.
Ronald Koeman kept with the three-at-the-back system that served him so well at Sevilla, electing to bench Antoine Griezmann for the third game straight and give prominence to his countryman, Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman paid his coach back in the 12th minute, leaving Tomas Vaclik still as a statue between the posts with a true golazo. Sevilla then had a golden chance to draw level in the second half, but substitute Lucas Ocampos saw his weak penalty kick easily saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It was a mistake they’d rue, as Gerard Pique scored Barcelona’s aggregate equaliser to take the game into extra-time in the 94th minute, an additional disadvantage for Sevilla given they were down to ten men following Fernando‘s red card moments before the goal. Martin Braithwaite then put Barcelona in the driving seat with a third goal, connecting well with Jordi Alba’s cross to confirm a stunning comeback.
The clash led to several spicy off-pitch altercations, notably a clash between former team-mates Julen Lopetegui and Koeman in the aftermath of Pique’s equaliser, where the latter, according to a report in Diario AS, was heard cursing toward the former. Lionel Messi and Monchi also had heated words in the tunnel post-game, while Carles Puyol and Suso traded barbs on Twitter afterwards. Given it was the fourth time the two sides have met this season, it could be labelled a case of familiarity breeding contempt.
