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Updated April 18th, 2021 at 14:35 IST

A week after El Clasico debacle, Messi regains his mojo with a brace in Copa del Rey final

Lionel Messi was hailed by one and all after scoring a match-winning brace for Barcelona against Spanish rivals Athletic Bilbao in the final of Copa del Rey

Reported by: Karthik Nair
(Image Courtesy: @FCBarcelona)
(Image Courtesy: @FCBarcelona) | Image:self
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Lionel Messi became the talk of the town after he scored a brace against Athletic Bilbao in the final of Copa del Rey at Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla in Spain on Saturday as FC Barcelona outclassed their Spanish rivals by 4-0 and this win also gave Ronald Koeman his first title as coach of the Catalan club.

All eyes were on Leo during this contest and he did not disappoint as he lived up to the expectations of the fans. The Argentine megastar was forced to opt for a change of kit during the second half of the El Clasico blockbuster against arch-rivals Real Madrid last week which was played out in heavy rain. Messi was seen shivering helplessly on the touchline as he even removed his jersey which was drenched and asked for a dry one while the play was in progress. Barce went on to suffer a 0-2 loss in that contest.

As the Barcelona captain succeeded in proving his naysayers wrong by rediscovering his lost mojo, the passionate football fans came forward to hail him on social media. There were many who gave special mention to the 2008 Olympic gold medallist by saying that he is not a human being.

Here's how Messi regained the fans' confidence in a week:

Coming back to the contest, Messi scored two goals in the 68th & 72nd minutes respectively as Barca ended up gaining complete control of the proceedings. In what was indeed a one-sided contest, it was Barcelona all the way right from the word 'Go'. French forward Antoine Griezmann broke the deadlock in the 60th minutes, while the second score of the grand finale was scored by the Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong three minutes later.

By the virtue of this win, Barca won their first title since winning the Spanish league in 2019. Barcelona has won the Spanish cup a record 31 times, including four straight from 2015-2018. Athletic Bilbao on the other hand have now lost two Copa del Rey finals this month at La Cartuja Stadium in Seville. Bilbao lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad just two weeks ago when they met in 2020 final that had been postponed due to the pandemic.

(Image Courtesy: @FCBarcelona)

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Published April 18th, 2021 at 11:37 IST

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