The 2021 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the

2020–21 Copa del Rey The 2020–21 Copa del Rey was the 119th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The winners are assured a place in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage. Both the winners and the runners-up ...

, the 119th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played on 17 April 2021 at the

Estadio de La Cartuja Estadio La Cartuja (), officially known as Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in the Isla de la Cartuja in Seville, Spain. It is used mostly for football and it is commonly referred to as simply 'La Cartuja'. It ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) 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 Peninsul ...

between

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ...

. Barcelona won the match 4–0 for a record 31st Copa del Rey title.

Background

The tournament was played amidst the backdrop of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

which resulted in no crowds being allowed to be present in the stadiums. Barcelona's progress was characterised by narrow victories and dramatic comebacks, including being taken to extra time by part-time neighbours Cornellà after failing to score from two penalties, finding the net twice in the last 20 minutes to overcome second-tier

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La ...

, and recovering from a 2–0 deficit with just three minutes remaining against

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, taking the tie to extra time which ended in a 5–3 victory. They gave themselves a mountain to climb once again in the semi-final against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) 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 Peninsul ...

(a repeat of a recent final in

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and the only round of the competition with two legs), going down 2–0 at the

Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium ( es, Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán; ) is a football stadium in Seville, Spain. It is the home stadium of Sevilla Fútbol Club, and is named after the club's former president, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán ( ...

. In the return at

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barc ...

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. Dembélé began his career at Rennes before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He w ...

scored early and

Marc-André ter Stegen Marc-André ter Stegen ( ; born 30 April 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Barcelona and the Germany national team. Regarded as a highly promising player in his youth, he has since established ...

saved a penalty to keep ''Barça'' hopes alive, but they were still behind with 90 minutes played;

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piq ...

equalised in the fourth and last minute of

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

to level the tie on aggregate, and in extra time

Martin Braithwaite Martin Christensen Braithwaite (; born 5 June 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Espanyol and the Denmark national team. He plays mainly as a forward, but he can also play as a winger. Having begun his car ...

found the winner to take his side into their 42nd final. Athletic Bilbao's route to the event was comparably uncertain: they came from behind to overcome third-level Ibiza 2–1 with a last-minute goal, required a late winner again against

Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1928 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games in ''Estadio El Collao'', with a 4,850-seat ...

(who had eliminated

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

from the competition), and scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time minute to take their quarter-final against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

to extra time, before advancing with a perfect conversion rate in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In the semi-finals against Levante they fell behind in both legs but found an equaliser (through

Iñigo Martínez Iñigo Martínez Berridi (; ; born 17 May 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao and the Spain national team mainly as a centre-back. He spent most of his professional career with Real Sociedad, playing 238 m ...

in the first match and a Raúl García penalty in the return) to again force extra time; the winner came from a deflected Álex Berenguer shot with eight minutes of the extended period remaining, reaching the final for the 39th time (one back in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

was never played and the cup awarded to the

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

side in a

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over") is awarded to the opposing team/player etc, if there are no other players avai ...

). At the time of the clubs qualifying for the 2021 event, the

2020 Copa del Rey Final The 2020 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2019–20 Copa del Rey, the 118th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played at the ...

between Athletic Bilbao and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

was still to be played, with its rescheduled date of 3 April 2021 giving the

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...

club a unique opportunity to win the competition twice inside a fortnight The delay also meant their current head coach

Marcelino Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). *San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zamb ...

was the most recent manager to win the competition, having defeated Barcelona in the 2019 final while in charge of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. That was the sixth consecutive final for the ''Blaugrana'', and the first defeat for the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citiz ...

since

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

; the sequence of finals is an outright record and the run of wins is a shared record along with Real Madrid in the 1900s and Athletic in the 1930s. When the 2020 final was eventually played, Athletic fell to a 1–0 defeat. Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao had played each other in eight previous finals of the tournament; Barcelona won in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

, 1953,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and the most recent in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, and Athletic in 1932 and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

. Their 2021 meeting made the fixture the most played in the history of Copa Del Rey finals, breaking a tied record with Athletic v Real Madrid (the third pairing of the trio, ''

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every ...

'' between Madrid and Barcelona, has been played seven times). The sided had also met frequently in

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

finals; indeed all of Athletic's four appearances (

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) in that competition were against Barcelona. The most recent of these was exactly three months prior to the Copa del Rey Final and played at the same venue ( behind closed doors due to the pandemic), with Athletic winning 3–2 after extra time to claim the trophy with a winning goal from

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 350 first-team appearances f ...

. By reaching the Copa del Rey final, both teams were assured qualification for the four-team

2021–22 Supercopa de España The 2021–22 Supercopa de España was the 38th edition of the Supercopa de España, an annual football competition for clubs in the Spanish football league system that were successful in its major competitions in the preceding season. After la ...

, giving Athletic the chance to defend their title. In the

2020–21 La Liga The 2020–21 La Liga season, also known as La Liga Santander due to sponsorship reasons, was the 90th since its establishment. The season began on 12 September 2020 and concluded on 23 May 2021. The fixtures were announced on 31 August 2020. Re ...

meetings between the clubs (both played in January 2021 due to scheduling issues, two weeks either side of their Supercopa match), ''Barça'' had the edge with two wins (3–2 at San Mamés, 2–1 at Camp Nou,

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

scoring three of the goals) though the close scorelines in all three matches demonstrated the narrow margins between the sides overall.

Road to the final

Key: (H) = Home; (A) = Away

Match

Details

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copa del Rey Final 2021