FULL-TIME! Athletic 1-3 Barcelona
BARÇA WIN THE COPA DEL REY! Part two of the treble has been completed thanks to more Lionel Messi brilliance, ably assisted by Neymar in a game where Athletic gave it their all but ultimately came up short. Thanks for reading. Bye!
90 min +3: One final minute to go and Barça are killing the game, refusing to give Athletic a touch.
90 min +1: Xavi takes it instead but his dream finale is denied by a post! His curling right-footed attempt beats the wall, looks to have beaten Herrerín but the woodwork gets in the way.
90 min: Now Susaeta is booked for taking Neymar down from behind after the Brazilian passed to Xavi. Busquets gets involved for a bit of arguing afterwards before getting booked himself for dissent. It all ends with a free-kick in Messi territory.
88 min: Neymar is then booked for taking down Balenziaga when play restarts.
87 min: It’s all kicking off. Neymar tries some cheeky showboating, flicking the ball over his head, and Bustinza comes over, shoves him. San José gets involved, the bench are on their feet and furious. Then the other players get involved and there’s lots of shoving.
84 min: Pedro is cleaned out by a late and naughty Bustinza. Deserved a yellow card but only a free-kick is given.
82 min: Athletic deserve some reward for their performance tonight but Barça really are in a different league. Gómez has a potshot from range – it’s powerful but straight at Ter Stegen
GOAL! Athletic 1-3 Barcelona (Williams)
80 min: Williams has pulled one back! A cross is sent in from the left and the Athletic striker proves too strong for Busquets, heading into the bottom right corner from around 12 yards.
Remember when people were questioning if Suárez would work in this Barça side?!
76 min: Xavi splits the defence with a first-time right-footed dink. Suárez is in but Herrerín is out quickly to hack clear. Mathieu and Pedro are on for Alba and Suárez.
GOAL! Athletic 0-3 Barcelona (Messi)
74 min: Of course his next piece of action is a goal. Alves plays a great one-two with Neymar, skips forward and plays a low ball across goal. Messi catches a pair of Athletic defenders napping, nips in front of them and finishes easily. Good night!
Updated
72 min: Pass, pass, pass. Barça are in no rush now and spend a couple of minutes playing it about in midfield before – shock! horror! – Messi mishits a pass that runs out of play.
70 min: That free-kick leads to a corner. That is sent towards Piqué but he cannot control and there is no real danger of a third.
68 min: Dani Alves is taken down on halfway by Berñat. A free-kick is given but the Barça defender is unhappy.
“Why are they playing the final at the Camp nou and not a neutral venue?” asks Amoako Rockson – scroll down to the earlier entries and you shall see exactly why!
66 min: Xavi puts in Neymar on a rapid counter. The Brazilian cuts in from the left side of the box, skips past a couple of retreating defenders but delivers a wild shot which is closer to being a throw-in than ending up on target.
65 min: You get the sense that Barça are protecting themselves now ahead of next Saturday’s Champions League final. Athletic continue to push forward without much end product but this game was over once Neymar scored the second. So why make an extra run or a needless challenge?
62 min: The game is becoming quite stop start, lots of needless fouls and the ref is a little whistle happy.
58 min: Susaeta is replaced by Iraola, who is said to be off to the US. Balenziaga is harshly booked for fouling Messi – it was not even a foul.
56 min: Alves dribbles in from the right, works it to Suárez who is denied by another super Laporte stop just as he is about to pull the trigger. He concedes a corner which is cleared.
55 min: Iniesta makes way for Xavi, and puts the armband on. His 766th game for the club.
54 min: Xavi is about to come on for his final Nou Camp appearance!
53 min: Athletic are beginning to commit more men forward but, lost among the attacking brilliance, this Barça defence is so mean.
50 min: Rakitic picks up possession on the edge of the area but he cannot find the killer pass. Then Neymar attacks, puts in Messi but Laporte is across to make a very good challenge on the edge of the area.
49 min: They do have a corner. Berñat takes it, Dani Alves gets in the way and picks up an accidental boot in the face from San José.
48 min: The Athletic fans are still making one hell of a racket but their team have been lacking in every department so far. Then again, could any defence stop Messi when he’s in this form?
We've restarted
46 min: Barça restart, they are 45 minutes away from the domestic double and moving a step closer to the treble.
Updated
I’ve just watched a replay of Messi’s goal again. And cannot stop smiling at it. So, so good.
Some more of your emails – and a tweet
“I’m driving - drop us an email with the result of Barca game - thanks,” writes Andy O’Shaughnessy, who I most certainly will not be emailing.
JR in Illinois asks: “Could you explain the thought process that Dani Alves went through to end up with a hairdo like that? Thanks in advance.”
Michael Cosgrove: “Bonne soirée from France, and it’s quite the day for cup finals isn’t it? I’m watching the final of the Coupe de France whilst simultaneously following this, and it’s Auxerre 0-0 PSG after 60 minutes.” Also, Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmund farewell did not go to plan – they lost the German Cup final to Wolfsburg.
@alansmith90 Barcelona looked like Sunderland town centre today with all the red and white shirts wandering about :)
— Philip Rowell (@philiprowell) May 30, 2015
Updated
HALF-TIME! Athletic 0-2 Barcelona
It’s half-time but you have to say it’s pretty much game over.
43 min: Iraola booked for hacking down Suárez 25 yards out. Messi takes, it’s heading for Herrerín’s top right corner but the keeper is across quickly to make an excellent save. The resulting corner is taken short and it’s tiki-taka time.
40 min: This was their chance to get back into it! Iraola sends an inch-perfect pass over the Barça defence and Williams volleys it first time after watching the pass come over his shoulder but it grazes the top of the bar and goes out of play.
39 min: Athletic are shell-shocked. They have a free-kick near halfway, Beñat’s delivery is too long and it bounces out for a goal-kick.
GOAL! Athletic 0-2 Barcelona (Neymar)
36 mins: You cannot defend against this. A succession of mesmerising, dizzy passes sets Neymar up for a tap in. Rakitic and Messi exchange passes before the former sets up Suárez, who is left in too much space, and he cuts it back to Neymar who passes it home. Delicious.
Updated
31 min: To outline their dominance, Barcelona have had 77% of the ball so far. A second will kill Athletic off completely but at present it’s hard to imagine the Basque team coming back into it even at 1-0.
30 min: Barça are irresistible but this is a game which should be put to bed by now. Messi – again! – plays a teaser across the box. Alba takes it down and squares it but Suárez, the goal at his mercy, fails to finish.
29 min: Respite for Athletic and they win a free-kick on the left. Beñat sends it in but it fails to trouble Ter Stegen and his defenders.
Truth!
Watching Barcelona is liking watching our top teams but with the fast forward button pressed down permanently.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) May 30, 2015
27 min: Another Herrrerín save! A deep free-kick is pumped forward and Piqué heads goalwards, but the keeper is there to turn it over his bar. Rakitic’s corner is cleared as far as Alves, who sends it forward with the outside of his right boot. Neymar takes it down but shoots into the side netting.
25 min: Huge save from Herrrerín denies Barça a second. Messi feeds Suárez on the right side of the box, he squares across goal to Neymar but the Athletic goalkeeper is out quickly and blocks the effort. Barça are going for the kill.
23 min: He’s involved again. On the right once more, he picks out Suárez with a second stunning cross but the Uruguayan cannot control.
20 min: He picks up possession on the right touchline but has three Athletic players surrounding him. It looks like there is no way through but he feints, rolls the ball forward and in the blink of an eye clear of all three. He advances forward, cuts in, beats another Athletic defender before tucking a swerving effort in at the near post. A moment to leave the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Amazing.
GOAL! Athletic 0-1 Barcelona (Messi)
20 min: We have run out of superlatives to describe him but this is one of the greatest cup final goals you will ever see.
Updated
19 min: Suárez is unhappy after being judged to have fouled Laporte after a nice pass from Dani Alves looked to have set him away.
18 min: San José fouls Neymar on the right flank, who makes the most of it. Free-kick. It comes to nothing.
16 min: Barça dominating possession now but struggling to find a way to penetrate the Athletic defence. Messi, apart from that exquisite ball to Neymar, is being managed well by Balenziaga.
12 min: Now Barça are piling on the pressure. Suárez, played in by Rakitic, is denied by a very good same from Herrerín. And Iniesta’s rebound is blocked.
10 min: Williams almost pickpockets Ter Stegen in possession but the Barça keeper is not punished. The ‘home side’ break. Messi is given a yard of space and sends a delicious left-footed pass over the Athletic defence to Neymar who volleys into the net but it’s given offside! Just! There are inches in it.
7 min: He’s likely to fade considering the high intensity role he has for the night, but Aduriz’s work rate has been the most impressive facet of an otherwise tame opening few minutes.
5 min: Half a chance for Athletic. Rico crosses from the left and Aduriz, under pressure from Alba, cannot time his leap well enough. The ball trickles out for a throw-in.
4 min: Barça continue to fizz the ball along the deck in midfield but Athletic, full of intensity, are pressing them immediately.
3 min: Mascherano wins a soft free-kick under pressure from Aduriz near the Barça goal.
2 min: Barça immediately on the front foot, spraying it about nicely in midfield. Every Athletic player is inside his own half and when Messi gets his first touch, there are three players in red and white stripes around him.
Kick-off
1 min: Athletic get us underway, playing from right to left as we watch it
That was slightly uncomfortable for those in the posh seats, including Vincent del Bosque, who donned a shocked expression. Anyway, formalities are almost done with – let’s have some football!
The national anthem is being booed quite audibly!
Simon MacMahon has chipped in as part of the trebles discussion.
Evening Alan. In 1967 Celtic won everything in Scotland and were up against Helenio Herrera’s Inter in the Big Cup Final. I don’t know if they had won the Italian league and cup but anyway, the point of this email is that the only Scottish team to beat Jock Stein’ s all conquering Celtic that season were the world famous Dundee United FC who did it not once but twice, home and away in the league, 3-2 both times. Get in!
What a sight!
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) May 30, 2015
Both United and Bayern were on course for trebles in 1999, which United won of course, writes Johnny Peace.
Indeed they were but Bayern had only won the Bundesliga at that point – and subsequently went on to lose the DFB-Pokal final after their Champions League heartbreak.
Jake asks via email: “On what grounds did the Bernabéu refuse to host?” There is a long-standing gentlemen’s agreement that the desired host venue volunteers itself but after both Athletic and Barça wanted it there, Real did not offer their services so there was a federation vote to decide the venue and the Camp Nou won.
Mark Lee has been in contact via email, too.
Hi Alan, I happen to be in Bilbao today and the town is completely swathed in red and white. However I did see two people with Barca shirts on. I surprised they had the gall, but the red and white legion that is the good folk of Bilbao seemed to be ignoring them. Going to watch the game in my hotel bar. I’ll report in later if things turn ugly.
You should have gone to San Mamés …
San mamesen #DenokBatera pic.twitter.com/mnxnBTEblY
— Jon Ander Montero (@latimontero) May 30, 2015
A good question from Kevin Lee …
If Barca win the Copa del Rey today, then both Barca and Juventus have the chance to complete trebles of league, domestic cup and European Cup victories. I wonder how often the European Cup final has featured two teams seeking trebles? I think Mourinho’s 2010 Inter Milan defeated Bayern Munich, which had won the Bundesliga and domestic cup.
Answers on a postcard via email or Twitter
The cast
Athletic: Herrrerín; Bustinza, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga; Iraola, San José, Beñat, Rico; Williams, Aduriz. Subs: Iraizoz, Iturraspe, Clemente, Gómez, Susaeta, Gurpegi, Aketxe.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar. Subs: Xavi (!), Pedro, Rafinha, Bravo, Bartra, Adriano, Mathieu.
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo.
But the Barça fans will provide plenty of their own colour inside the ground, too.
Athletic fans have taken over Barcelona. Around 50,000 have made the trip – thousands, of course, are ticketless and will be watching it in a fan zone near the Olympic Stadium.
Celtic – 1967, Ajax – 1972, PSV – 1988, Manchester United – 1999, Barcelona – 2009, Internazionale – 2010, Bayern – 2013. And Barcelona – 2015?
Only seven teams have managed the ultimate treble of league title, domestic cup and European Cup. Can Barça be the first club to do it twice? After hoisting the La Liga title last weekend this is part two; next weekend they head to Berlin to face Juventus in the Champions League.
On paper, and considering home advantage, they are overwhelming favourites to secure the King’s Cup without too much trouble. But Athletic, who finished midtable, are capable of an upset – just ask Real Madrid what it was like in San Mamés when they were beaten 1-0 in March.
Speaking of Real, this game was meant to have taken place at the Bernabéu but Real Madrid refused to host it. Hence why Barça have what must be considered an unfair advantage – though Athletic have been drawn as the home team, which means occupying the home dressing room. There may well be political ramifications, too. Both fanbases what independence from Spain and rumours abound that the national anthem will be jeered by fans.
Kick-off is 9.30pm in Spain, 8.30pm BST.
