News Desk
\nSEVILLE
\nValencia beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, ending the Spanish champions\u2019 four-year winning streak in the competition and denying them a domestic double. Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno struck first-half goals to give Marcelino\u2019s dominant Valencia control of the final in Seville\u2019s sweltering Benito Villamarin stadium.
\nRecord 30-times Cup winners Barcelona struggled without injured forwards Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele but Lionel Messi pulled the Catalans back into the game with a close-range finish. Goncalo Guedes missed a gilt-edged chance in stoppage-time for Valencia but they held on to win their first major trophy since last lifting the Cup in 2008.
\n\u201cI\u2019m so happy because for me, my family, it\u2019s incredible,\u201d said Valencia captain Dani Parejo. \u201cA club like Valencia deserves a lot more joy like this. I don\u2019t have the words, it\u2019s incredible. \u201cWe\u2019ve made history in a really significant year, our centenary year.\u201d
\nValencia finished fourth in La Liga after a strong second half of the season, reaching the Europa League semi-finals and ending an impressive campaign with this victory.
\nBy contrast, Barcelona\u2019s campaign collapsed in the last fortnight as they threw away a three-goal Champions League semi-final lead to be eliminated by Liverpool before letting the Cup slip out of their hands.
\nBarcelona were bidding to lift themselves from their humiliation on Merseyside by securing the ninth domestic double in their history, but despite Messi\u2019s efforts they were over-run by a determined and well-drilled Valencia side.
\nGerard Pique was forced to clear Rodrigo\u2019s effort off the line before Gameiro blasted Marcelino\u2019s side ahead in the 22nd minute after good work from Jose Luis Gaya.
\nThe Catalans failed to create openings and Rodrigo nodded home the second after Carlos Soler whipped a ball across the face of goal. Messi struck the post with a delightful outside-of-the-boot effort before slotting home the rebound when Jaume Domenech saved Clement Lenglet\u2019s header for his 51st goal of the season, but it was not enough.
\n\u201cValencia are worthy champions and it\u2019s also been a good year for us,\u201d said Pique.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s always a good year when you win La Liga but the expectation was to have an even better year and that\u2019s not been the case. The season ends with a bittersweet feeling, because it could have been better.
\n\u201cWe aren\u2019t worrying about the manager\u2019s future, we must analyse ourselves and try to improve. The other decisions aren\u2019t in our hands, but we\u2019ve said more than once that we would like him to stay on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk SEVILLE Valencia beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, ending the Spanish champions\u2019 four-year winning streak in the competition and denying them a domestic double. Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno struck first-half goals to give Marcelino\u2019s dominant Valencia control of the final in Seville\u2019s sweltering Benito Villamarin stadium. Record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n