Barça’s Copa del Rey win shows Madrid have more to worry about than referees

SEVILLE, Spain — Jules Koundé was Barcelona’s unlikely hero as they came from behind to beat Real Madrid 3-2 after extra-time at La Cartuja on Saturday to win the Copa del Rey after a gruelling Clásico battle.

With penalties looming, Koundé intercepted a stray pass in the 116th minute and fired a low effort into the bottom corner to seal what Barça hope will be the first trophy of a possible treble this season.

Madrid had earlier come from behind themselves, with substitute Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni each scoring in seven second-half minutes to cancel out Pedri’s first-half opener.

However, Ferran Torres rounded Thibaut Courtois in the 84th minute to send the game into extra-time, although not before referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea had overturned his original decision to award a stoppage-time penalty for Raúl Asencio’s challenge on Raphinha.

Barça hope LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League will follow, although Madrid may have something to say about the league. The teams meet again at the Olympic Stadium on May 11 in a match which could potentially decide the title.

Ref drama peaks with 96th-minute penalty call

There was only one guarantee going into this final: that referee Bengoetxea and VAR Pablo González Fuertes would be subjected to an unprecedented degree of scrutiny and scepticism, from a Real Madrid perspective. That much was assured by Friday’s pre-game hysteria, when De Burgos’ news conference tears — and more importantly, González’s warning of “measures” to be taken by referees over Real Madrid TV’s videos — were followed by Madrid’s skipping of the pre-match formalities, and suggestions they were considering boycotting the final itself. Madrid later denied those “rumours” but slammed the “hostility and animosity” they said the officials had shown towards the club. So naturally, from the moment De Burgos stepped out onto the pitch at La Cartuja — and González into the VAR booth — every decision, whether controversial or not, was viewed through that prism.

In the first half, there were no huge, match-turning refereeing calls; but as always, there were a number of decisions fiercely contested by both sides. In the 16th minute, the ball struck Federico Valverde’s hand inside the box. De Burgos waved away Barcelona’s penalty appeals. Barcelona were unhappy when Dani Ceballos wasn’t booked for a challenge on Lamine Yamal, and when Tchouameni got a yellow card, rather than a red, for a foul on Dani Olmo. Ceballos went unpunished for a clash with Yamal, and then was fortunate again in the 43rd minute, when no action was taken for a shirt pull on Pau Cubarsí.

But all that was just a prelude to what happened much later, in added time. In the 96th minute — seconds left on the clock — Raphinha appeared to be brought down by Raul Asencio. Penalty. Barcelona’s players and fans were ecstatic. Here was the chance for the winner, with no time for a reply. But then, a long VAR check. González Fuertes called De Burgos across to take another look at the incident on the pitch-side monitor. After moments of unbearable tension, De Burgos signalled for the award to be overturned. In real time, it had looked like a spot kick; replays suggested Raphinha had gone to ground easily. Here was that potentially match-defining moment, and it had gone in Real Madrid’s favour.

Koundé’s extra-time winner meant the outcome was unchanged, and Madrid’s players ended the final angry at De Burgos, anyway. Rudiger — substituted minutes earlier — was dismissed for throwing an object onto the pitch, Lucas Vázquez was red carded too, while staff had to prevent Jude Bellingham and others from confronting De Burgos. One key decision going Madrid’s way won’t change anything. Too much has been said and done, and Madrid’s demands for root-and-branch reform of refereeing in Spain won’t go away.

Flick’s Clásico domination

Barcelona lost all three Clásicos last season. They have won all three under Hansi Flick this year — and there’s one more to come in two weeks. This was not the 4-0 rout of the Bernabéu in October or the 5-2 hammering in the Spanish Supercopa final in January, but it may have been all the more sweeter for the way it unfolded.

As they have done repeatedly this season — against Benfica, Atlético Madrid, Celta Vigo last week — Barça showed resilience to battle back from a losing position to win the match. That Madrid were so close only to have had it snatched away from them made the celebrations among the 26,000 Barça supporters who had travelled to Seville extra special.

Barça dominated the early exchanges and were good value for their lead, given to them by Pedri’s sublime strike from the edge of the box in the 28th minute. They struggled under some intense Madrid pressure at the start of the second period, while they also missed some chances to kill the game off, but they responded well to going behind.

Flick identified the weak links, removing left-back Gerard Martín and injecting more energy through Gavi, and Barça were the better side in extra-time. Torres came close to a second and Fermín López also had a chance to clinch the victory, but the honours, just as penalties seemed a given, belonged to right-back Kounde, who wrote himself into history by scoring the goal which won Barça’s 32nd Copa del Rey trophy.

It’s been quite a remarkable turnaround from Flick, given how it was Madrid dishing out the hammer blows in Clásicos last season with late goals. There is a belief streaming through this Barça team, who have lost just once in 2025, and you felt it among the fans in Seville, too.

Flick has said “it’s OK to dream” and they are certainly dreaming of a third treble since 2009. Next up is the first leg of their Champions League semifinal against Internazionale, while they have a four-point advantage over Madrid at the top of LaLiga.

Off the bench, Mbappé changes the game

Walking into La Cartuja pre-match, just off the Madrid team bus, Kylian Mbappe looked anything but happy. His movement was tentative, his facial expression solemn. This was not the body language of a player excited to be taking part in their first Copa del Rey final. Real Madrid’s starting XI had already been announced, and Mbappé wasn’t in it, judged not to have recovered from a sprained ankle suffered 10 days ago.

In his absence, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti picked Vinícius Júnior as a lone forward, with Bellingham behind him, and Rodrygo out wide. And in the first half, Madrid offered very little attacking threat. They had just one shot, Fran García’s blocked effort, for an xG (expected goals) of 0.06. Just once, not long before half-time, Vinícius got in behind, and was brought down in the box, only for the offside flag to save Barça. By then, Mbappé was already warming up on the touchline. He continued during the break, and when the teams were back out for the second half, Mbappé was among them.

Madrid improved immediately. They soon had their best chance of the game, Vinicius denied by Wojciech Szczęsny. Five minutes later, Mbappé had his first sight of goal, twisting the Barcelona defence in knots before Szczesny — who had quickly closed him down, narrowing the angles — saved again. But there was no saving Mbappé’s free kick in the 70th minute. It came after the game had opened up, Madrid committing more players forward — Ancelotti introducing Luka Modric and Arda Güler — and the team was much less cautious about leaving Barça space to exploit. In that environment, Mbappé was thriving. In on goal after a clever nutmeg, fouled by Frenkie de Jong, he stepped up to score the first direct free kick of his career.

Madrid have played in four finals this season: the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the Spanish Supercopa and now the Copa del Rey. Mbappé has scored in all of them. He might not have delivered when it mattered in the Champions League, and in many ways, his addition has unbalanced this team. But he remains an elite player with extraordinary talent who — in the right system, in the right circumstances — can be a success at Real Madrid, even if this season ends in disappointment.

Barça’s fearless youngsters

Barça defender Ronald Araújo said before this game that he has been surprised by the fearlessness the young players in the squad have shown since stepping up to the first team. That nerve was once again on show in Seville. If anyone thought they may wilt when these decisive games came around at the end of the season, they were once again proven wrong.

The first half was controlled by 22-year-old Pedri. He fed 17-year-old Yamal, sporting a new, blond hairstyle for the occasion, and then raced to the other end of the pitch to get on the end of Yamal’s pull-back to open the scoring. It was his sixth goal of the season, but his first since the semifinal first leg against Atlético Madrid back in February. He could not have timed it better. Pedri struggled a little bit with the physicality after the break and was taken off, exhausted, in extra-time, but it was another performance to strengthen the growing whispers of a Ballon d’Or win.

Barça’s first goal had actually been born from a fine interception from 18-year-old defender Cubarsí. He was superb with and without the ball, while his old youth team teammate Yamal set up two of the three goals. The Spain winger has now clocked up 24 assists this campaign.

At 25, Torres may feel like one of the veterans of this team at times. But he also has years ahead of him. This has been his competition in many ways. His goal was his sixth goal in the Copa, more than anyone else, and with Robert Lewandowski missing with a hamstring injury he was again proved a more than capable replacement through the middle.

What next for Real Madrid?

Madrid’s defeats to Barcelona have, in many ways, defined their season. The 4-0 league loss in October meant Barça had an early upper hand in the title race. The 5-2 Supercopa thrashing in January was a wake-up call and confirmation that, in a head-to-head contest, Barça were on another level. But Saturday’s meeting was different. Madrid responded well in the second half, taking the lead, and staying in the game all the way until Koundé’s winning goal in extra-time. The team’s attitude was impressive. There was no feeling of inertia, no suggestion of a season slipping away. Madrid were still in the fight. But ultimately, missing out on the trophy is another disappointment, coming just 10 days after being knocked out of the Champions League.

There’s still a league title race to conclude. Madrid are four points behind Barcelona with five games left, and one last Clásico to come on May 11. This second-half performance was encouraging, although it remains to be seen if the team can pick themselves up once again and produce in LaLiga, starting with a tough game against Celta Vigo next weekend. If, as looks most likely, Madrid fail to overhaul Barcelona in the league, they will end the season without a major trophy. And at Real Madrid, doing that invariably leads to the manager being fired. Ancelotti has insisted that any decision will be made at the end of the campaign, but losing this final — almost regardless of the performance — is another argument in favour of change.