BARCELONA are into the Copa del Rey final after a crazy game at the Nou Camp.
- Final score (after ET): Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla (3-2 on agg)
- Goals: Dembele 12′. Pique 90′, Braithwaite 95′; Ocampos missed pen 73′
Follow ALL the reaction with our live blog below…
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THAT’S ALL FROM BARCELONA
Barcelona made it through to the Copa del Rey final after beating Sevilla 3-0 at the Nou Camp (3-2 on aggregate).
Barca’s resurgence kicked off after just 12 minutes thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s magnificent curling shot from the edge of the box.
The Catalans almost saw their hopes getting dashed in the second half when Oscar Mingueza brought Lucas Ocampos down inside the box and the referee gave a penalty.
Ocampos took the spot-kick but his poor shot was easily saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who lunged to his right to deny Sevilla a precious away goal.
Barcelona tied the aggregate in the fourth and final minute of the second half when Antoine Griezmann’s marvellous cross from the left wing found Gerard Pique, who beat goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik with a header.
Sevilla had to play at extra-time with a man down after Fernando’s red card in the final few minutes of second half.
Barcelona took advantage of their strength in numbers and completed their comeback on 95 minutes when Jordi Alba’s cross from the left found Martin Braithwaite completely unmarked inside the box.
Braithwaite’s header sent the ball between Vaclik’s legs and to the back of his net.
Sevilla also saw Luuk de Jong being shown the red card while sitting on the stands and protested for a penalty when Clement Lenglet appeared to have handled the ball inside Barcelona’s box.
That’s all from us here at Barcelona, have a lovely evening!
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TER STEGEN REACTS
Barcelona star goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen revealed what he was thinking before Lucas Ocampos’ penalty, which he denied with a crucial save.
Ter Stegen said: “We had the patience and intensity to believe in ourselves. We scored the first goal quickly, but the second did not come.
“We had the patience to continue and insist until Pique’s goal. We are very happy. We are in a very important final. Let’s hope now to continue in LaLiga. We will not stop believing in what we do.
“I had the feeling that Ocampos was going to throw me there and I made the right decision. I knew that if they scored a goal for us it would complicate everything.
“For me it is always good to help the team, although the penalty is always a lottery”
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RAKITIC REACTS
Sevilla star and former Barcelona ace Ivan Rakitic claims the visitors are “very angry right now” after the way they lost their advantage on aggregate.
Rakitic said: “We are very angry right now, starting with ourselves. We were very excited to play the final. We have fought to the end, now we have to regain strength to continue forward in La Liga.
“It is complicated, but if there are so many cameras and so many aides, it is difficult to explain those decisions. That has marked the game and the pass to the final.
“We cannot find an explanation, no one is clear about the regulation. Especially when those decisions are repeated against in the same game. We apologise to the fans, they had the same illusion as us.
“Playing a final in our city would have been incredible, we wanted to give it to our people. We have fought for it, but we will never give up. We are going to get up even stronger to give a lot of joys and forget this”
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TOP PIQ
Barcelona star Gerard Pique’s goal was perhaps the most critical of the night as that’s the one that tied the aggregate.
Pique has scored a total of 49 goals for Barca across all competitions.
Tonight marked his 20th header throughout his 13-year stint at the Nou Camp.
More below:
WHAT’S NEXT?
Barcelona made it through to the Copa del Rey final after winning 3-2 on aggregate.
Barca lost 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan last month thanks to goals by Jules Kounde and former Blaugrana star Ivan Rakitic.
But Ousmane Dembele, Gerard Pique and Martin Braithwaite all found the net to turn things around at the Nou Camp.
Ronald Koeman’s men are now set to face either Levante or Athletic Bilbao in the final on April 17.
Bilbao and the Frogs are playing on Thursday at the Ciutat de Valencia after a 1-1 draw at San Mames.
The Copa del Rey seems to be Barcelona’s best chance of winning a trophy amid a turbulent season that sees them second in the table with five points behind table-toppers Atletico Madrid and a game in hand.
The Catalans also lost 4-1 to Paris Saint-Germain at the Nou Camp in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 encounter
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STATS
Barcelona dominated 67.7 per cent of possession throughout this dramatic encounter.
Barca produced a staggering 22 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to Sevilla’s six, half of which were on target.
The Catalans continued to dominate in the air after winning 67.7 per cent of aerial duels.
This was a very intense encounter that led to six yellow cards, evenly shared between the two sides, and two red cards for Sevilla that were shown to Fernando and Luuk de Jong, who was on the bench at the time
FT: BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
Barcelona have made it through to the Copa del Rey final thanks to a sensational comeback against Sevilla at the Nou Camp.
Barca’s resurgence started after just 12 minutes thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s incredible shot from the edge of the box.
Sevilla almost ended the Catalans’ hopes of a late surge in the second half when Oscar Mingueza brought Lucas Ocampos down inside the box.
Ocampos took the spot-kick but his poor shot was saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen who lunged on to his right to deny the visitors a goal.
Barcelona tied the aggregate at the death when Antoine Griezmann’s incredible cross found Gerard Pique, whose header beat Tomas Vaclik.
Sevilla played with 10 men at extra-time following Fernando’s red card in the closing minutes of the second half.
Barcelona took advantage of their strength in numbers and turned things around on 95 minutes when Jordi Alba found Martin Braithwaite completely unmarked inside the box.
Braithwaite headed the ball past the Sevilla goalkeeper and sent his team to the Copa del Rey final.
The Andalusians complained for a penalty when it appeared like Clement Lenglet had handled the ball inside Barca’s box at extra time
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PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND THAT’S FULL-TIME IN BARCELONA!!!!!!
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
120 Sevilla have just one minute of added time to score a goal.
Desperation mode is well on!!!
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
119 YELLOW CARD
Trincao gets booked for a foul late into the match
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
119 CHANCE!
Kounde produces a beautiful shot from the edge of the box but the ball goes straight to Ter Stegen.
Sevilla are still pushing for a precious goal that would steal qualification from Barcelona
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
116 Five more minutes left until full-time and Sevilla need more of the ball.
Fatigue has taken over the visitors who have been struggling to create something after Braithwaite’s goal
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
116 Pique continues to limp on the pitch…
But it looks like he wants to brave it out
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
115 CHANCE!
Trincao dribbles past three Sevilla defenders and tries a shot that gets deflected.
Barcelona are very comfortable on the ball now, Messi is practically walking on the pitch
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
113 Barcelona are moving the ball around comfortably.
This is the first time in this match that the hosts feel absolutely calm on the pitch
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
110 Good news so far for Barcelona…
Pique makes his way back onto the pitch
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
109 Pique is getting treatment in the sidelines and looks like he’s in a lot of pain.
Koeman looks worried…
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
108 Sevilla are down to 10 men after losing Fernando to a red card in the second half.
De Jong is also shown a red card on the bench for protesting.
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
106 SUBSTITUTION
Sevilla bring on Munir in Jordan’s place.
Lopetegui is not giving up!
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND OFF WE GO IN THE SECOND HALF OF ADDED TIME!!!!!
HT: BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
Barcelona have completed a comeback thanks to Martin Braithwaite’s goal.
Braithwaite picked up a cross from Jordi Alba on the left and headed it between Tomas Vaclik’s legs to give Barca the lead on aggregate.
Sevilla protested for a penalty as it appeared like the ball hit Clement Lenglet’s hand inside the box.
The visitors need to score a goal that would take them through on away goals.
As it stands, Barcelona are going through
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PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND THAT’S THE FIRST HALF OF ADDED TIME!!!!!!
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
105 One more minute of added time to go.
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
105 CHANCE!
Messi whips in a fine free kick from right flank and Pique gets another touch with his head.
But Vaclik reads it right and punches the ball away
BARCELONA 3-0 SEVILLA
103 A great moment for Barcelona…
But a goal by Sevilla would turn this whole thing around, and they came close with that penalty appeal on Lenglet as it did seem like the ball hit his hand…
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
