Lionel Messi was not able to lift a winning trophy this time at Copa del Rey.
Instead, the star of Barcelona had to lift the runner up plate from the Spanish King Felipe VI following Barcelona’s 2-1 loss against Valencia in the Copa del Rey’s final on Saturday night.
With this loss, Barcelona’s effort to lift another consecutive domestic trophy with their fifth Copa del Rey trophy in a row ended.
This was the disappointing end for the season for not only Messi but for the coach of Barcelona Ernesto Valverde and the player in question named Philippe Coutinho who once again did very little to help Messi in his attack.
With this loss, the season ends for them in a frustrating manner considering how they were lined up for treble a few weeks ago.
Valverde said, “We were not able to meet the expectation that we had created for our fans. One month ago, we were celebrating a league title and fifteen days ago we were considering that we had a chance at the treble. And now after a few weeks, we have come up short on both Champions League and Copa del Rey.”
This was Barcelona’s first defeat since 2014 which is followed by their Champions League semifinals defeat against Liverpool by 4-0, 2 weeks ago.
Like their loss against Liverpool, defensive lapses were again the cause for their defeat against Valencia that had them at a 2-0 deficit by the halftime.
As for Valencia, this is their 8th Copa del Rey title as well as their first since 2008 which was a nice addition to their 100th founding anniversary celebration.
With a season starting out slow for them, they set a club record with 17 wins in a row to clinch the 4th pace at the Champions League. Earlier they also made it to the semifinals of the European League.
Related Content
