
THE COPA DEL REY FINAL

There are few competitions that capture the imagination of all Spanish clubs like the Copa del Rey. "The King's Cup" is Spain's domestic cup competition, with teams all the way down in the Spanish Segunda Division B being entered up against Liga BBVA giants. Now, in the final, two of those giants remain; FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid.
Barcelona has had a very tough road to the final. After a simple first round against Ponferradina, Los Cules have had to outmaneuver Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, and archrivals Real Madrid in a tricky two-legged semifinal in order to reach this final and get a shot to improve their record of 26 competition wins.
Atletico Madrid have had it surprisingly easy to get this far. They put 6 past Numancia, 5 past Malaga, 9 past Levante, and 5 past Celta to cruise into this final. Michael Laudrup and his men know their opposition won't just roll over, however; Lucho Enrique's Blaugrana are ready for a scrappy fight to take home this trophy. Here's how the teams lined up:
Atletico Madrid Team News
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Moya; Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Siqueira; Koke, Gabi; Turan, Correa, Griezmann; Mandzukic
Substitutes: Oblak, Gamez, Ansaldi, Saul, Garcia, Cerci, Destro
FC Barcelona Team News
Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Bravo; Montoya, Pique, Vermaelen, Mathieu; Samper; Adriano, Busquets, Rakitic, Rafinha; Messi
Substitutes: Masip, Hummels, Iniesta, Munir, Pedro, Bartra, Neymar
Many fans were shocked to see Barcelona put out such a weakened team. With the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Adriano, Sergi Samper, and Rafinha starting while Mats Hummels, Andres Iniesta, Pedro, and Neymar sat on the bench, nobody could really explain Luis Enrique's team selection, and pundits were suggesting Los Cules could pay for this selection big time.
Just eight minutes in, Atletico started their punishment. Spanish starlet Koke picked out a beautiful through pass into the right side of the box for Arda Turan to go one on one against Jeremy Mathieu. The Frenchman made a mess of it, though, bumbling over the Turkish midfielder and giving away a clear penalty. Guilherme Siqueira buried the penalty with ease, giving his side an early 1-0 lead.

Guilherme Siqueira's early goal gave Atletico the perfect start. The fullback has scored nine goals now this year, eight of them from the penalty spot.
Los Colchoneros controlled play, dictating possession and creating a few solid chances throughout the first half. The best fell to striker Mario Mandzukic on the end of a cross from fullback Juanfran, but the Croatian hit-man's volley was smartly denied by Claudio Bravo. The two sides went into halftime with Laudrup's men leading.
Just after the break, Lionel Messi nearly found the equalizer. Gerard Pique put the little Argentinian through on goal with a great ball over the top, but the superstar managed to somehow put his one-on-one chance with Miguel Moya well wide of the net, leaving him with his head in his hands.
Atletico continued to dominate the game, peppering Bravo's goal with shots, but could not get that all-important second goal to seal their lead. Thus, with a few minutes remaining, Barcelona began throwing everything forward, desperate not to let this trophy slip through their fingers. Midfielder Pedro played a delightful give and go with Messi in the dying moments, but embarrassingly misfired his shot well over the crossbar.
The final whistle blew, and Atletico were Copa del Rey champions via a 1-0 win over FC Barcelona. Half of the incredible 80,000 fans in the packed Santiago Bernabeu erupted into cheers as their side lifted the trophy for the 11th time in their history, and the second time in three years. Nobody could say the Mattress Makers didn't deserve it; with 63% possession and 21 shots, they had taken the game to Barcelona and emerged triumphant.

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