Messi Breaks Another Record As Barca Win Copa del Rey Final
- Scores brace to humiliate Athletic 4-0
Argentine legendary forward, Lionel Messi reached another impressive milestone in his career as FC Barcelona cruised to their first trophy of 2020-21 season.
With his second-half brace on Saturday night in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Athletic Club, Messi moved passed Telmo Zarra as the all-time leading Copa del Rey final goalscorer
The pair of strikes took him to 10 goals in the competition’s final and he has now won the tournament seven times.
The new look Barcelona now have their first trophy of the campaign and will try to add a La Liga title to their cabinet by the end of this football season.
At present, the Catalan side are battling hard to navigate the end of a three-horse domestic Spanish La Liga race with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. They are sitting one point behind rival, Real and two points back of Atletico with eight matches to go in this year’s league season.
In addition to breaking the Copa del Rey final record, Messi also scored his 30th goal in all competitions this year, a mark he’s reached 13 times in a row.
Team-mate Ilaix Moriba, who came off the bench Saturday, was four years old the last time Messi failed to score at least 30 goals.
How did Messi score?
Messi’s goals came in quick succession. The first was in the 68th minute, as he played a give-and-go with Frenkie de Jong and chopped inside to open up a window to roll the ball past goalkeeper Unai Simon. Four minutes later, he beat Simon with a first-time finish to the near post.
What was said?
“Today is a very happy day. It’s special to be the captain of this team where I’ve been playing all my life,” Messi told Barca TV.
“It is a very special cup because this year is different, as a transition year with so many young players. The team is growing and we are also fighting for La Liga.”
In his post-game press conference, head coach Ronald Koeman expressed his desire to see Messi stay at Barca beyond this season.
“Messi is a winner. We have to talk about all our players because they deserve this title. But Messi makes the difference. All of us want Messi to stay here,” Koeman said.
Barca president Joan Laporta added to Telecinco: “Messi is the best player in the world and we will do all we can to get him to stay.” – Goal.com reports
