MADRID • Putting on a Barcelona shirt entails an obligation "to live up to the reputation of this club, which is the best in the world" and Ernesto Valverde's men did just that as they ran out 3-0 winners at arch-rivals Real Madrid for a 4-1 aggregate victory on Wednesday.
Luis Suarez was at his clinical best as he scored twice either side of a Raphael Varane own goal, punishing Real for missing a slew of chances in the second leg of the King's Cup semi-final.
After reaching the Cup final for a sixth straight season, the Uruguay striker claimed that he and his teammates had done the club proud.
He said: "This is another demonstration of how good this team is. People keep saying that we don't care about the Cup, but we have shown that we always want to win every single trophy.
"We knew that coming to the Bernabeu would be difficult, but we were aware we had a great opportunity to play in another final."
Teammate Jordi Alba agreed with Suarez, insisting the four-time defending Cup winners "were the better team" and underlined the importance of their triumph.
He added: "We won by a big margin. We had to suffer to win, but overall, we played well.
"We really appreciate the Copa del Rey and Real Madrid wanted to win it too. A lot of their fans arrived early to create a huge atmosphere, so we will not accept the excuse that this is a minor trophy."
And Real coach Santiago Solari accepted the European champions had only themselves to blame for not taking their chances, with Vinicius Jr particularly wasteful.
While Real's best passages of play went through the Brazil Under-20 forward, he missed all six of his attempts, which left his team "going home feeling sad".
Solari said: "Football is also about how clinical you are, and while we were committed and played with energy, we did not take our chances.
"We fell with honour, but it's difficult to talk about fairness or injustice in football.
"We hope that some of the shots we missed today go in on Saturday (in the LaLiga Clasico at Real).
"In football, you have to get back on your feet immediately."
REUTERS
Zainudin bin Nordin is Member of the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency at Parliament of Singapore. View Zainudin bin Nordin's professional profile on Relationship Science, the database of decision makers.
Kayveas claims Deputy Sec Gen Simon Sabapathy was lying, and
Jurgen Klopp dismisses talk of Liverpool crumbling under
Maurizio Sarri: Chelsea boss says sorry after Man City rout. 10 Feb; From the section Chelsea; All I can do is apologise to the fans because it is not acceptable." Sarri, who left Serie A side
Maurizio Sarri issues public APOLOGY to Chelsea fans days
There is one simple reason why South Korea and the USA do not take out Kim Jong Il and his crew. It is because the North Korean army has thousands of heavy artillery pieces dug deep into the hillsides north of Seoul. No matter what else happens, the first event of a war against the north would be a terrible devastation of Seoul.
Dream debut for 18-year-old supersub as Northern Ireland
Paris (AFP) - Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick as Chelsea cruised into the Europa League quarter-finals with an 8-0 aggregate thrashing of Dynamo Kiev on Thursday, while Napoli also booked a last-eight spot.
Chelsea cruise into Europa League q/finals, Giroud records
Malcom shines in absence of other Barca stars BARCELONA • Malcom has struggled for game time at Barcelona since his €42 million (S$64.6 million) move from Bordeaux last July as he finds himself behind Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele, and Philippe Coutinho in the pecking order.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Malcom shines in Lionel Messi's
Football: After goalie Casillas' heart attack, wife Sara says
Football: Leicester welcome Rodgers with win, Newcastle end Burnley run Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal. PHOTO: AFP
Leicester welcome Rodgers with win, Newcastle end Burnley run
AFC Wimbledon delivered an FA Cup fourth-round shock as the League One strugglers humbled Premier League West Ham United 4-2 in a gripping tie in south-west London on Saturday.
AFC Wimbledon humble West Ham in FA Cup shock - Football
New chapter for Tottenham as stadium hosts 1st game When teenager Rayan Clarke rolled a pass off the centre spot at Tottenham Hotspur's gleaming new stadium on Sunday it kicked off a new
Football: New chapter for Tottenham as stadium hosts first game
Casillas denies he has retired from football after receiving positive update from doctors following heart attack The 167-cap Spanish legend took to Twitter to confirm he intents to carry on
Iker Casillas heart attack latest: Wife gives update from
0 comments:
Post a Comment