The 2015 Copa del Rey final was an
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
match on 30 May 2015 to decide the winner of the
2014–15 Copa del Rey
The 2014–15 Copa del Rey was the 113th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The winners assure a place for the group stage of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
Real Madrid were the defending c ...
, the 113th edition of
Spain's premier football cup since its establishment (including two seasons where two rival editions were played).
It was played between
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, at the
Camp Nou
Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...
, the latter club's home stadium. Barcelona won the match 3–1, achieving their record-extending 27th title in the competition.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
and
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...
gave Barcelona a 2–0 lead at half time. Although Athletic replied with a goal by
Iñaki Williams
Iñaki Williams Arthuer (born 15 June 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao and the Ghana national team.
Developed at Athletic Bilbao's academy, he has made over 450 first-team appearances ...
, Messi scored another goal late on to confirm his team's victory and was named
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...
. This was the second part of Barcelona's
treble, with the team going on to win the
2015 UEFA Champions League final
The 2015 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion ...
a week later.
Messi's first goal, in which he ran past a number of opponents, was the runner-up in the
FIFA Puskás Award for the year's best goal. Neymar was criticised for his
showboating in the final minutes of the match, with Barcelona manager
Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.
A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...
excusing his Brazilian striker for cultural reasons. Both teams and the
Royal Spanish Football Federation
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid.
RFEF organizes the natio ...
were given fines by the nation's government for security breaches and allowing separatist demonstrations at the match. As Barcelona won the
2014–15 La Liga
The 2014–15 La Liga season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 84th season of the premier association football league in Spain. The campaign began on 23 August 2014, and concluded on 24 May 2015.
Barcelona won its 23r ...
, Athletic qualified automatically as the cup representative in the
2015 Supercopa de España
The 2015 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Association football, football match-up that was played in August 2015 between Athletic Bilbao, runners-up of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, and FC Barcelona, Barcelona, the champions of 2014–15 La Lig ...
.
Venue
Before the semi-final second leg, Barcelona's board requested the final be held at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...
, home of their
fierce rivals Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
, as it is the largest stadium in Spain apart from their own
Camp Nou
Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...
.
At the same time, according to Barcelona-based newspaper ''
La Vanguardia
' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper.
Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...
'', the president of the
Royal Spanish Football Federation
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid.
RFEF organizes the natio ...
(RFEF),
Ángel María Villar
Ángel María Villar Llona (born 21 January 1950) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
After having represented Athletic Bilbao for one decade (appearing in more than 350 official matches and scoring 11 goa ...
, wanted the final at the
San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao.
[ That decision would have given Athletic Bilbao home advantage, but could have been challenged by potential finalist Espanyol, whose team bus was vandalised on their last visit there.][
On 25 March, the RFEF confirmed that it would be held at Barcelona's Camp Nou.] Real Madrid refused to let the final be played at their stadium, and the Camp Nou was chosen at an RFEF meeting ahead of the San Mamés, with Sevilla
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville ...
's Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium and Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
's Mestalla Stadium
Mestalla Stadium ( , ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia and has a capacity of 49,430 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium in Spain, and the largest in the Valencian Community. The stadium's name o ...
eliminated in an earlier round of voting.[
]
Background
Barcelona had previously played 36 Copa del Rey Finals, a record bettered only by Real Madrid with 39. However, Barcelona had won the competition a record 26 times.[ Their most recent appearance in the final was the previous year's edition, in which they lost 1–2 to Real Madrid at the Mestalla in ]Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
.[ Their most recent win was in 2012, beating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 at the ]Vicente Calderón Stadium
The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907. It was located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, Spain.
The ...
in Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
.[ Their only previous final at the Camp Nou was a victory in ]1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
.[ The last team to play a Copa del Rey Final at their own ground was Real Madrid, who lost in 2013 to ]Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
and 2002 to Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...
at their Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Athletic Bilbao had previously played in 35 finals, winning 23, with only Barcelona winning more.[ Their most recent final was in 2012, and their most recent victory in the tournament was in 1984, beating Barcelona 1–0 at the Bernabéu.][
Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao had played each other in seven previous finals of the tournament. Barcelona won in 1920, ]1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
, 1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, 2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
and 2012, and Athletic Bilbao won in 1932 and 1984.[
The two teams played each other twice during the ]2014–15 La Liga
The 2014–15 La Liga season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 84th season of the premier association football league in Spain. The campaign began on 23 August 2014, and concluded on 24 May 2015.
Barcelona won its 23r ...
season. In the first instance, at the Camp Nou on 13 September 2014, Barcelona won 2–0 with two goals from Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...
in the last 11 minutes of the game. On 8 February 2015 at Athletic Bilbao's San Mamés Stadium, Barcelona won 5–2. Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
and Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...
gave them a 2–0 half-time lead. Four goals came between the 59th and 66th minutes: Mikel Rico scored for Athletic, his teammate Óscar de Marcos scored an own goal
An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net.
In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...
, Neymar achieved a fourth for Barcelona and Aritz Aduriz a second for Athletic. Later on in the game, Xabier Etxeita
Xabier Etxeita Gorritxategi (; ; born 31 October 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Club career
Born in Amorebieta-Etxano, Biscay, Etxeita finished his development within Athletic Bilbao's prolific y ...
was sent off for the hosts and Pedro
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...
netted a fifth for the visitors.
The final was jeopardised due to a dispute over the sharing of television revenue between Spanish clubs, with all football in the country due to be suspended from 16 May. However, two days before the intended suspension, this action was deemed unlawful by the Spanish High Court, and the season continued.
Route to the final
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao, of La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
, entered in the last 32 against a Segunda División B
Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...
team, Alcoyano. In the first leg away at the Estadio El Collao
Estadio El Collao is a Stadium located in Calle Oliver in the city of Alcoy (Alicante), Spain. It is the home ground of CD Alcoyano
Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of the ...
on 2 December 2014, they drew 1–1; Francis
Francis may refer to:
People and characters
*Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025)
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Francis (surname)
* Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
opened the scoring for the hosts while Borja Viguera equalised in added time. Sixteen days later at the San Mamés Stadium, Viguera's first-half strike was enough to win the match.
In the last 16, the club faced top-flight club Celta Vigo
Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...
, and began with a 4–2 away win at the Galician club's Balaídos on 6 January 2015. Defender Mikel San José headed Athletic into an early lead, only for Álex López to equalise for the hosts six minutes later, and Aritz Aduriz to restore the visitors' lead four minutes after that. In the second half, Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
made it level again, but a Markel Susaeta goal and a late penalty from Aduriz gave Athletic the win. Celta won the second leg 2–0 via a Xabier Etxeita own goal and a Fabián Orellana contribution, but Athletic advanced on the away goals rule.
Athletic's quarter-final began on 21 January with a goalless draw at the La Rosaleda against Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, but eight days later in the second leg Aduriz scored three minutes into the second half to send them into the semi-finals. The semi-final against Espanyol began with a 1–1 home draw, Aduriz putting Bilbao ahead on his 34th birthday and Víctor Sánchez equalising ten minutes before half time. On 4 March, Athletic travelled for the second leg at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat and won 2–0 to reach the final, with first-half goals from Aduriz and Etxeita.
Barcelona
Barcelona, also of La Liga, entered the tournament in the last 32 against a Segunda División B club, Huesca
Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...
. The first leg was in Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
at the Estadio El Alcoraz
Estadio El Alcoraz is a association football, football stadium in the city of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It serves as the home ground of the city's foremost professional football club, SD Huesca. It was named after the battle of Alcoraz which took pla ...
on 3 December 2014, and Barcelona won 4–0 with goals from Ivan Rakitić
Ivan Rakitić (; born 10 March 1988) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for HNL club Hajduk Split.
Rakitić started his professional career at Basel and spent two seasons with them before he was signed by Schalke ...
, Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...
, Pedro and Rafinha. Due to the large advantage, Barcelona rested key players for the second leg but nonetheless won 8–1 for a 12–1 aggregate. Pedro scored a hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
among further goals from Sergi Roberto and Iniesta for a 5–0 half-time lead, while Adriano and substitutes Adama Traoré and Sandro Ramírez added more goals in the second half; Carlos David scored a late consolation for the visitors.
In the last 16, Barcelona met top-flight opposition in the shape of Elche
Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants, , but won 9–0 on aggregate. They hosted the first leg at the Camp Nou
Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...
on 8 January 2015 and won 5–0, with two goals from Neymar, a Lionel Messi penalty and contributions from Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba. A week later at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...
, Barcelona defeated the Valencian Valencian can refer to:
* Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain
* Something related to the city of Valencia
* Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain
* Something related to the old Kingdom of ...
club 4–0, starting with a free kick from defender Jérémy Mathieu
Jérémy Mathieu (born 29 October 1983) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back or a left-back.
Mathieu made 172 Ligue 1 appearances across seven seasons, split equally between FC Sochaux-Mont ...
followed by a long-range strike by Roberto, a penalty by Pedro and an added-time goal by Adriano.
On 21 January, Barcelona hosted the first leg of the quarter-finals, and defeated Atlético Madrid 1–0. Sergio Busquets
Sergio Busquets Burgos (, ; born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. A deep-lying playmaker capable of directing gameplay through short and calm passe ...
was fouled, giving Barcelona a late penalty. Messi took it and it was saved by Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak
Jan Oblak (born 7 January 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Atlético Madrid and captains the Slovenia national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Oblak signed ...
, but Messi scored the rebound. A week later at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, the hosts made the aggregate score level in the first minute through Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...
; in the ninth minute, Neymar put Barcelona back into the lead. When Javier Mascherano
Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...
fouled Juanfran, Raúl García's penalty gave the advantage back to Atlético, but Barcelona scored two more goals in the first half from a Miranda own goal and Neymar to win 4–2 on aggregate. Atlético captain Gabi was sent off at half time for arguing with the referee, and his midfield partner Mario Suárez was also dismissed later on.
Barcelona hosted the first leg of their semi-final on 11 February, and defeated Villarreal
Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain.
The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...
3–1, with a half-time lead from Messi. Within the first five minutes of the second half, Manu Trigueros equalised with a long-range strike but Iniesta gave the advantage back to Barcelona, which was extended by Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation.
Initially a talented student athlete at Barcelona's La ...
later on despite Neymar missing a penalty. They won by the same scoreline again in the second leg at the Estadio El Madrigal on 4 March with a brace from Neymar and a goal by Suárez, despite former Barcelona player Jonathan dos Santos equalising at one point.
Match
Summary
Athletic kicked the game off, and had an opportunity after five minutes, when Mikel Rico crossed for Aduriz, but he was prevented from making contact with the ball by Jordi Alba. Five minutes later, Barcelona launched a counter-attack starting with goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen
Marc-André ter Stegen (; born 30 April 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the German national team and captains La Liga club Barcelona. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he is known for ...
and ending with Neymar volleying the ball into the goal, but it was ruled out for offside. Soon after, Iago Herrerín saved from Messi. In the 20th minute, Messi scored the first goal of the game, taking possession on the right-hand side of the pitch and beating four defenders before finishing with a near-post shot. Barcelona had more chances after this, with Herrerín making saves from Neymar. In the 36th minute, Neymar scored the second goal of the game, finishing from close range when set up by Suárez, after earlier work by Messi and Rakitić. Near the end of the first half, Andoni Iraola set up Iñaki Williams
Iñaki Williams Arthuer (born 15 June 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao and the Ghana national team.
Developed at Athletic Bilbao's academy, he has made over 450 first-team appearances ...
, whose volley missed the target. Piqué and Iraola received yellow cards at the end of the first half, for fouls on Aduriz and Suárez respectively.
Ten minutes into the second half, Andrés Iniesta was substituted for Xavi Xavi () is a Catalan given name, usually used as a nickname for Xavier. Notable people with the name include:
Football
* Xavi Hernández (born 1980), Spanish football manager and former player
* Xavi Andorrà (born 1985), Andorran footballe ...
, who took over as captain for his 766th Barcelona appearance, and last one at the Camp Nou. Soon after, Athletic substituted Iraola in his final match, replacing him with Susaeta, while Mikel Balenziaga was booked for his foul on Messi. In the 74th minute, Dani Alves co-operated with Neymar before setting up Messi to put Barcelona 3–0 up. Six minutes later, Athletic gained a consolation goal from Williams' header. In the closing stages of the game, Neymar showboated around opposition players, and was pushed over by Unai Bustinza, starting a melée between both sets of players. After play restarted, Neymar received a yellow card for fouling Balenziaga. In added time Susaeta fouled Neymar, and Busquets was booked afterwards for dissent; the foul earned a free kick from which Xavi hit the post.[
]
Details
Post-match
The conduct of Neymar, who performed tricks with the ball in the closing stages of Barcelona's victory, was a talking point after the match. His opponent Iraola decried Neymar, saying that his actions were unsporting, while Barcelona manager Luis Enrique said that Neymar's actions were common in Brazil, even though frowned upon in Spain, and would have to change. However, Neymar himself did not apologise and said that he would repeat his behaviour in the future.
In July 2015, the Spanish Sports Council levied fines against both clubs and the RFEF, with all three entities deemed to have taken insufficient action against security breaches and planned protests of Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
and Catalan separatist supporters who jeered the Spanish national anthem
The (; ) is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only four national anthems in the world – along with those of National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Inno Nazionale della Repubblica, San Marino and Anthem o ...
and King Felipe VI
Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...
. Barcelona were laden with a €66,000 fine, Athletic with €18,000 and the RFEF €123,000. Barcelona claimed that the fines were punishment of freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
.
Lionel Messi's first goal was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or. It finished as runner-up to a bicycle kick by Wendell Lira for Goianésia
Goianésia () is a municipality in central Goiás, Brazil. It belongs to the Immediate Geographic Region of Ceres-Rialma-Goianésia and, since 2024, has been part of the Integrated Development Region of the Federal District and Surrounding Areas ( ...
in the Brazilian third division.
Barcelona had already won La Liga, and concluded their treble a week after securing the Copa, with victory over Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final
The 2015 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. They became the first European club to win the national league, national cup and continental cup in one season on two separate occasions.
As Barcelona won both domestic tournaments, Athletic were the cup entrants in the 2015 Supercopa de España
The 2015 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Association football, football match-up that was played in August 2015 between Athletic Bilbao, runners-up of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, and FC Barcelona, Barcelona, the champions of 2014–15 La Lig ...
, in which they defeated Barcelona 5–1 on aggregate for their first trophy since their double in 1983–84. Athletic also entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League
The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played between Liverpoo ...
, but their status as beaten cup finalists no longer granted a place (unlike the seasons following their losses to UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
-qualified Barcelona in 2009 and 2012) as the rules were changed from 2015 onwards; instead they qualified via their 7th-place league finish.
See also
*Athletic–Barcelona clásico
The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Football in Spain, Spanish football competitions.
The two clubs are among the oldest in the country, and have participa ...
References
{{Athletic Bilbao matches
Copa del Rey final
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
Copa del Rey Final 2015
Copa del Rey Final 2015
2010s in Barcelona
May 2015 sports events in Spain
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
2015 in Catalan sport