 TheVicente Calderón Stadium inMadrid hosted the final | |||||||
| Event | 2015–16 Copa del Rey | ||||||
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| Afterextra time | |||||||
| Date | 22 May 2016 (2016-05-22) | ||||||
| Venue | Vicente Calderón,Madrid | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) | ||||||
| Referee | Carlos del Cerro Grande | ||||||
| Attendance | 54,907 | ||||||
←2015 2017 → | |||||||
The2016 Copa del Rey final was afootball match played on 22 May 2016 to decide the winner of the2015–16 Copa del Rey, the 114th edition ofSpain's premier football cup since its establishment (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). It was played at theVicente Calderón Stadium inMadrid.
It was won by defending championsBarcelona, who defeatedSevilla 2–0 after extra time to achieve their record-extending 28th title.[1][2]Andrés Iniesta was named man of the match despiteLionel Messi's two assists in both of Barcelona's goals.[3]
As Barcelona won both the2015–16 La Liga and theCopa del Rey, the2016 Supercopa de España was also held between Barcelona and Sevilla.
Barcelona had previously played in 37 Copa del Rey finals, second only toReal Madrid's 39, and had a record 27 victories. They were the reigning champions, having defeatedAthletic Bilbao 3–1 inthe previous year's final at theirCamp Nou.[4]
Sevilla had been to seven finals, winning five, most recently in2010 when they defeatedAtlético Madrid 2–0 at the Camp Nou. Their last defeat was in1962, 2–1 to Real Madrid. The 2016 final was the first between the two sides.[4]
It was the 13th such final at theVicente Calderón Stadium inMadrid, home ofAtlético Madrid. Barcelona previously won the final at the ground in1968,1981 and2012, and lost in1974 and1986. It was Sevilla's first final at the stadium, although three of their victories came elsewhere in the Spanish capital.[4]
The two teams began the season against each other in the2015 UEFA Super Cup inTbilisi on 11 August, which Barcelona won 5–4 after extra time.[5]
Both teams had victories by wide margins on their way to the final; Barcelona scored 25 goals and conceded five in eight games, while Sevilla scored 22 times in their eight matches, conceding only two goals in the second leg of their semi-final.
| Barcelona | Round | Sevilla | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Legs | Opponent | Result | Legs | |
| Villanovense | 6–1 | 0–0 away; 6–1 home | Round of 32 | UD Logroñés | 5–0 | 3–0 away; 2–0 home |
| Espanyol | 6–1 | 4–1 home; 2–0 away | Round of 16 | Real Betis | 6–0 | 2–0 away; 4–0 home |
| Athletic Bilbao | 5–2 | 2–1 away; 3–1 home | Quarter-finals | Mirandés | 5–0 | 2–0 home; 3–0 away |
| Valencia | 8–1 | 7–0 home; 1–1 away | Semi-finals | Celta Vigo | 6–2 | 4–0 home; 2–2 away |
Barcelona, ofLa Liga, entered the tournament in the last 32, againstVillanovense of theSegunda División B. The first leg inVillanueva de la Serena, on 28 October 2015, was a goalless draw, with managerLuis Enrique fielding a young and inexperienced side.[6] In the second leg on 2 December at the Camp Nou, however, Barcelona triumphed 6–1.Dani Alves opened the scoring with a long-range strike in the fourth minute, andSandro added ahat-trick andMunir a brace.[7]
In the round of 16, Barcelona played city rivalsEspanyol in theDerbi barceloní. They opened on 6 January 2016 with a 4–1 home victory with goals fromLionel Messi (2),Gerard Piqué andNeymar, after the visitors had taken the lead throughFelipe Caicedo in the ninth minute.Hernán Pérez andPape Diop were sent off for Espanyol late on, the latter for dissent.[8] A week later on their trip to theRCDE Stadium, Barcelona won 2–0 with a Munir goal in each half; the young Spaniard started the game due toLuis Suárez's suspension for his part in the post-match skirmish from the first game.[9]
Barcelona met Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, a repeat of the last year's final. On 20 January at theSan Mamés, they won 2–1 with first-half strikes from Munir and Neymar. A week later in the second game, the Basques took the lead throughIñaki Williams, but Barcelona replied in the second half with Suárez, Piqué and Neymar's goals.[10]
In the semi-finals, Barcelona metValencia and won 7–0 in the home game on 3 February; Suárez scored four times and Messi three.[11] A week later, in the second match at theMestalla, the hosts took the lead throughÁlvaro Negredo andWilfrid Kaptoum equalised late on, stretching Barcelona's unbeaten run to 29 games.[12]
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Sevilla, also of La Liga, entered at the same stage against a third-tier opponent,UD Logroñés. In the first leg inLa Rioja on 2 December 2015, they won 3–0 through goals byCoke,Michael Krohn-Dehli andCiro Immobile. Two weeks later, at theRamón Sánchez Pizjuán, they won 2–0 through goals from Immobile and captainJosé Antonio Reyes.[13]
Like Barcelona, in the last 16 Sevilla met theirmunicipal rivals,Real Betis. They travelled away for the first game on 6 January 2016, winning 2–0 with a strike in each half by Krohn-Dehli andGrzegorz Krychowiak.[14] Hosting the second leg, they won 4–0; Reyes andAdil Rami struck in the first half and FrenchmenKevin Gameiro andGaël Kakuta in the second.[15]
In the quarter-finals, Sevilla drewMirandés, the onlySegunda División team remaining. On 21 January, they won 2–0 in the home leg;Steven Nzonzi scored in the first half andVitolo secured the score in added time. A week later inMiranda de Ebro, Sevilla extended their lead with a ninth-minute penalty byVicente Iborra, and added later goals byJuan Muñoz and Coke.[16]
Sevilla were tasked with in-formCelta Vigo in the semi-finals. Hosting the first game on 4 February, Rami headed theAndalusians ahead at the end of the first half, and Gameiro, who had earlier missed a penalty, scored two goals in the space of three minutes. Ex-Celta player Krohn-Dehli later confirmed a 4–0 win.[17] A week later atBalaídos, Celta scored twice through former Sevilla strikerIago Aspas, but the contributions ofÉver Banega andYevhen Konoplyanka confirmed a draw, despite the late dismissal of Nzonzi.[18]
There had been a ban on displays of theEstelada, the flag of Catalan independence, at the match for "operational and security reasons". A Madrid judge overruled the ban after Barcelona complained, citingfreedom of expression;Carles Puigdemont,President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, would have boycotted the game if the ban remained. Before the ban was repealed, Catalan nationalists planned to give out 10,000flags of Scotland, equating the British constituent country with their region.[19]
Javier Mascherano was sent-off for Barcelona in the 36th minute for dragging downKevin Gameiro by the shirt as he ran towards the penalty area.[20]Éver Banega also received a red card in injury time for a foul that deniedNeymar an obvious goalscoring chance. There were no goals in the 90 minutes, with the match going into extra-time.Jordi Alba scored the opening goal for Barcelona in the 97th minute with a low, left-footed finish from six yards across the goalkeeper after he ran onto a pass fromLionel Messi from midfield.Neymar made it 2–0 in the last moments of the match with a low finish from the left after a short pass from Messi.[21]Daniel Carriço was sent off for Sevilla in stoppage time at the end of extra time when he received two yellow cards within 30 seconds, first for a tackle on Messi and the second for insulting the referee. Although Messi provided the two critical assists for both Barcelona's goals in the extra-time, it wasAndrés Iniesta who was named man of the match for his overall performance.[3]
          Barcelona |  Sevilla |
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Assistant referees: | Match rules
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