Barça beat Real Madrid 3-2 in a thrilling final of the Copa del Rey

FC Barcelona won its 32nd Copa del Rey title after beating their arch-rivals Real Madrid in a pulsating final full of tension, controversy and great goals.

In a match that featured stars of the caliber of Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Bellingham or Vinicius Jr., the hero of the night was none other than French defender Jules Koundé, who, in the 116th minute, bravely stepped up to intercept a delivery from Luka Modric and then scored from long and medium range to give the title to the blaugranas in an agonizing end to the match.

Before Koundé, Pedri (1-0, 28') andFerran Torres (2-2, 84')had put their own signature on the scoreboard for the Culés. Madrid, on the other hand, had reacted through two more French strikers: Kylian Mbappé (1-1, 70'); and Aurelien Tchouameni (1-2, 78').

The score and the two comebacks by both teams demonstrate what the match was like: a back-and-forth back-and-forth street where the squads had moments of dominance and disconnection, with Barça trying to amass with more pace and patience the ball, and Madrid quickly looking for the spaces left by the Catalans with their pressing high.

In the first half, in fact, Madrid barely managed their task. Thanks to some impressive Cubarsí, de Jong, Pedri and Yamal, Flick's team dominated at will, not only getting behind on the scoreboard, but subduing the white team and being able to take a more considerable advantage to halftime.

It was Cubarsi, Pedri and Yamal who scored the first goal of the match. Bellingham, perhaps one of the few Madrid players who showed holy fire all ninety minutes, played a deep pass to Vini Jr. who was going one-on-one, however, an attentive and intelligent Cubarsi intercepted the shot leaving Madrid in a bad position. Pedri and Yamal did the rest.

The Canary Islander sent a long ball to Yamal, who gathered three Madrid defenders around him and released a back pass to the edge of the box for the arrival of Pedri, who with the inside of his right foot sent the ball into the top right corner, leaving Courtois unresponsive.

Barça continued to dominate and generate chances, but Torres, Raphinha, and Dani Olmo were very imprecise, wasting many attacks and leaving Madrid alive.

Already for the second half, Ancelotti sniffed out where he was losing the game. First, he brought on Mbappé, who came on with just enough for the final, sending a decaffeinated and docile Rodrygo to the bench. Several minutes later, he sent on Arda Guler and Luka Modric, giving much more volume of play and quality to the engine room and stealing the ball from Barça for much longer.

Vinicius, Mbappé, Bellingham, and Guler started to play and Madrid automatically changed its face. Barça no longer dominated the actions and could only get close to Courtois through counterattacks, mostly poorly finished by Olmo or Raphinha, who played his weakest classic of the campaign

Vinicius had up to three chances to score. Mbappé, meanwhile, agitated and waited for his chance, which would come at 70', after heading towards the culé area and winning a free kick in front.

The goalkeeper Szczęsny, who had already made several good interventions, was now left to set up the barrier, leaving it too far to his right. He, for his part, positioned himself in the middle of the goal; and Mbappé, who had come on with a bang, drove the ball under the Polish goalkeeper's left post to make it 1-1.

Just minutes later, Madrid would turn it around, with a great cross from Arda Guler for Tchouameni's header, which made it 1-2 unthinkable until Ancelotti's changes. Madrid was smelling blood.

Barcelona, beaten, could not react. Later, he started to ask Yamal, who almost put the 2-2 from his own left foot, but Courtois intervened once again saving his team.

But the Belgian goalkeeper himself, just like his Polish opponent on the other side of the pitch, was to give an advantage: Yamal, again, sent the ball forward and deep for the diagonal of Torres, who had already eaten the back of Rudiger. Courtois, faced with this, decided to come out looking to cut wide. But the Spanish striker arrived first with plenty to spare, punctuated the ball and then scored into an empty net to send the game to extra time.

In extra time, the match was a heart-stopping affair, with both teams exhausted and looking for the winning goal before penalties. That's when Koundé emerged, anticipating and scoring a goal that will probably be the most important in his entire soccer career.

In this way, the blaugrana team defeated its greatest rival, achieved the first title of the season and kept intact the dream of the treble.