Valencia celebrated its Copa Del Rey triumph. (Image via: News18)

Valencia Wins Copa Del Rey

SEVILLA - It was like David and Goliath. Valencia was not favored at all to be the winner of Copa Del Rey. However, they proved to be an additional nightmare to Barcelona. As Barca was trying to alleviate its pain from being eliminated from UEFA Champions League, Valencia decided to pour water to Barca’s burnt area. They surprisingly beat Barca 2-1 to snatch Copa Del Rey trophy.

Had they won, Barca would have been prolonging their fifth undisputed reign over Copa Del Rey. But, now Barca could only satisfy themselves by winning La Liga.

At the beginning, Valencia started off with 4-4-2 defensive formation, against Barca’s balanced 4-1-4-1. Barca was at the upper hand, and everyone was cheering for Barca. In semifinal, Barca thrashed Real Madrid. It would have been no surprise, if Barca had won. However, how the table had turned.

In the first half, Barca was already 2 goals behind Valencia, due to Kevin Gameiro’s low shot at 21st minute and Rodrigo’s header at 33rd minute. Honestly, nobody saw it coming, especially Cillesen. Barca definitely underestimated Valencia, by putting Cillesen instead of Ter Stegen under the goal post.

In the second half, Ernesto Valverde decided to substitute Nelson Semedo and Arthur Melo for Malcom and Arturo Vidal, in order to strengthen their offensive power. Barca had a dream to duplicate Liverpool’s comeback. This was proven by Messi’s attempts that finally resulted in a goal at 73rd minute. Nonetheless, the GOAT could not bolster his team alone.

As the referee blew the final whistle after 6 additional minutes – anything could have happened in that 6 minutes -, the whole Valencia’s team went crazy, and the whole Barca laid on the pitch in disappointment.

Valencia is currently sitting in 4th place in La Liga ranking, meaning that they got the chance to go to group stage in UCL next season.