SEVILLE, Spain -- Valencia beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, ending the Spanish champions' four-year winning streak in the competition and denying them a domestic double.
Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno struck first-half goals to give Marcelino's dominant Valencia control of the final in Seville's sweltering Benito Villamarin stadium.
Record 30-times Cup winners Barcelona struggled without injured forwards Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele but Lionel Messi pulled the Catalans back into the game with a close-range finish.
Goncalo Guedes missed a gilt-edged chance in stoppage-time for Valencia but they held on to win their first major trophy since last lifting the Cup in 2008.
"I'm so happy because for me, my family, it's incredible," said Valencia captain Dani Parejo. "A club like Valencia deserves a lot more joy like this. I don't have the words, it's incredible.
"We've made history in a really significant year, our centenary year."
Valencia finished fourth in La Liga after a strong second half of the season, reaching the Europa League semi-finals and ending an impressive campaign with this victory.
By contrast, Barcelona's campaign collapsed in the last fortnight as they threw away a three-goal Champions League semi-final lead to be eliminated by Liverpool before letting the Cup slip out of their hands.
Barcelona were bidding to lift themselves from their humiliation on Merseyside by securing the ninth domestic double in their history, but despite Messi's efforts they were over-run by a determined and well-drilled Valencia side.
Gerard Pique was forced to clear Rodrigo's effort off the line before Gameiro blasted Marcelino's side ahead in the 22nd minute after good work from Jose Luis Gaya.
The Catalans failed to create openings and Rodrigo nodded home the second after Carlos Soler whipped a ball across the face of goal.
Messi struck the post with a delightful outside-of-the-boot effort before slotting home the rebound when Jaume Domenech saved Clement Lenglet's header for his 51st goal of the season, but it was not enough.
"Valencia are worthy champions and it's also been a good year for us," said Pique.
"It's always a good year when you win La Liga but the expectation was to have an even better year and that's not been the case. The season ends with a bittersweet feeling, because it could have been better.
"We aren't worrying about the manager's future, we must analyse ourselves and try to improve. The other decisions aren't in our hands, but we've said more than once that we would like him to stay on."
(Reporting by Rik Sharma, editing by Ed Osmond)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BARCELONA - Real Madrid and Atletico each slipped 10 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after an intense Madrid derby finished goalless and the Catalans picked up an 11th victory in 12 games by winning 3-0 at Leganes.
Atletico forward Angel Correa wasted a glorious chance to open the scoring in the first derby at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium when he was through on goal in the third minute, while Toni Kroos missed Real's clearest opportunity.
Raphael Varane rescued Real by heading away Kevin Gameiro's chipped shot in the second half. At the other end, Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak made two late saves to thwart Cristiano Ronaldo and Kroos as Real finished stronger in the first league derby to finish 0-0 in more than 12 years.
Barca striker Luis Suarez snapped a goal drought spanning five games by scoring twice in his side's 3-0 win at Leganes, while substitute Paulinho poked in the third goal in stoppage time.
Barca lead the standings on 34 points from 12 games, seven clear of Valencia who visit Espanyol on Sunday, while Real are third on 24, level on points with Atletico in fourth. Sevilla are fifth after coming from behind to beat Celta Vigo 2-1 at home.
The intense rivalry between Real and Atletico could be felt throughout the game, with Correa booting a ball at Karim Benzema's face when the French striker was on the floor or when Stefan Savic cynically hauled down Kroos.
Towards the end of the first half Lucas Hernandez kicked Sergio Ramos in the face as the captain tried to land a diving header, an incident which could have led to a Real penalty and saw Ramos taken off with a fractured nose.
Atletico fans booed Antoine Griezmann off the pitch when he was substituted following a lifeless performance from the France striker, who has not scored for his club since Sept. 27.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane said his side deserved more from the game, the fifth occasion in which they have dropped points this season.
"Sometimes the ball doesn't want to go in. I can't explain why," he told reporters.
"The good thing about tonight is we played well. Of course we're struggling to score, but we know we will. We need to stay positive, which we are. We need to keep on working because this is football and things change very quickly and I'm sure we'll be fighting for the title until the end."
Atletico coach Diego Simeone said: "We were playing against the best team in the world. We played as we wanted to, we could have lost this game but we also could have won it."
SPURNED CHANCES
Earlier at Leganes, Barca striker Suarez reaped the benefits of two weeks rest after being left out of Uruguay's internationals and pounced from close range to give Barca the lead in the 28th minute, after Leganes goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar failed to hold a shot from Paco Alcacer.
Leganes offered Barca little space going forward and strikers Nordin Amrabat and Alexander Szymanowski both spurned chances to score before the break, the latter being denied by the left hand of an outstretched Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
"Perhaps the result implies we dominated the game more than we actually did," Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told reporters.
Suarez doubled Ernesto Valverde's side's lead on the hour by sliding to send another rebound beyond the hapless Cuellar while Brazilian Paulinho struck his fourth goal of the season.
There was one negative for Barca, however, as defender Gerard Pique picked up a fifth yellow card of the season and is suspended for next week's top-of-the-table clash at Valencia.
(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
