Barcelona managed to perform a thrilling remontada against Sevilla on Wednesday to book their spot in the Copa del Rey finals against Athletic Bilbao. Many thought that Lionel Messi and co. would struggle to qualify after losing the first-leg 2-0 but the comeback was on from the first minute till the last.
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French superstar Ousmane Dembele took matters into his own hands, or in this case feet, as he scored a brilliant 12th-minute stunner to initiate the comeback. Sevilla, however, parked the bus for almost the entirety of the match, especially during the last minutes to deny Barca the equalizer.
With 4 minutes added to the final whistle, Sevilla were desperate but managed to get a red card in the 92nd minute. Barca continued their assault against the 10-men Sevilla, with Gerard Pique finding a header off of Antoine Greizmann’s brilliant cross in the final seconds of the normal time.
Barca continued to push hard and Martin Braithwaite scored the only extra-time goal to send Barca to the tournament’s final. Unfortunately, Brathwaite’s goal was not the only exciting moment in the extra time with Sevilla’s bench and coaching staff receiving a number of yellow cards and 2 reds for talking on the referee’s decisions.
Sevilla’s sporting director, Monchi, was also seen talking to Ronald Koeman during the match. The bad blood between the two men started in the first-leg when the Dutch coach called for a penalty on the foul committed on Jordi Alba. While Barca did receive a free-kick, the foul was committed inside the penalty box and thus should have been awarded a penalty instead.
Lionel Messi clashes with Monchi
Monchi replied to these claims by stating that Koeman is a ‘crybaby’ but ironically was seen insisting the ref to give Lionel Messi a second yellow card for a minor foul committed during the match. After the match, the Argentine maestro made sure to speak up for himself and his coach as Cope reports that Messi had a quarrel with Monchi in the tunnels.
🚨 Noticia @partidazocope
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) March 4, 2021
💥 Informa @juanmacastano
🗣️ Leo Messi, a Monchi, anoche en el túnel de vestuarios:
🤬 "¡Monchi! ¡La concha de tu madre!" (en repetidas ocasiones)
🤫 "¡Monchi! Ahora no dices nada, ¿eh?"
📻 #PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/DFfNrxemut
Marca also reported that Messi was seen clashing with Sevilla players as they were heard saying,
"“You always win in the same way,” implying referee favoring Barca with Messi replying,“You’re going home angry tonight.”"
The reports, however, do suggest that Monchi was seen later apologizing to Koeman for the ‘crybaby’ comments while also explaining himself to Messi.
Will Barca manage to beat Bilbao in the finals?