Barça wins Copa del Rey against Real Madrid, second title of season

FC Barcelona's dream of potentially winning a quadruple this season is now halfway through after winning against Real Madrid in the 2025 Copa del Rey final 3-2 in Seville on Saturday.

The Catalan team now faces the most decisive weeks of the season ahead, with the UEFA Champions League semifinals' first leg against Inter Milan on Wednesday. As well as the last weeks of the Spanish La Liga season. The team already won Spain's Supercup in January.

Despite a tie that took the game to extra time, Barça won the final in the last 10 minutes of the game. Hansi Flick's team drew 2-2 during the first 90 minutes, but a goal by Koundé put an end to the final when there were five minutes left in the game.

Barça player Pedri scored the first goal of the night during the first half of the game. The Catalan team led the match until the second half, when Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni scored two goals in quick succession.

And when the game was almost lost for Barça, Ferran Torres scored in minute 83. A few minutes later, when the game was already drawn at 2-2, referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea did not give a penalty in favor of the Catalan team despite a VAR review.

Koundé scored in minute 116 and fans in Seville's La Cartuja did not stop celebrating until the end of the game.

The last time Barça won a King's Cup was in 2021 when Lionel Messi was still a player in the Catalan club.

Best player of the game, Ferran Torres, and top goal-scorer in the King's Cup tournament celebrated the victory as "it was about time to give some happiness to Barça fans, and it is now time to enjoy it, but not much as we have Champions' semifinals on Wednesday," he said after the game from the pitch.

"I am not sure if this is the start of a new era, but we are ready and full of energy to face what is coming ahead," he added.

Meanwhile, Catalan president Salvador Illa congratulated the team and all its supporters "for this well-deserved triumph, after a very fascinating game against Real Madrid," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Real Madrid referee scandal

Before the clock ticked to 10 pm on Saturday night in Seville, the major story was the threat made by Real Madrid CF against the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), VAR referee Pablo González Fuertes, and the lead referee Burgos Bengoetxea.

Real Madrid TV, the television channel of the Spanish football club, has been publishing videos criticizing the referees for what it considers a conflict of interest and a bias against the team.

Players from the Spanish capital and Ancelotti did not even train in Seville on Friday, nor did they attend the previous press conference before the final, showing their discontent.