Four goals in 12 minutes from Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong and Lionel Messi gave a rampant Barcelona a 4-0 win over Athletic Club in the final of the Copa del Rey
The Basque side faced their second cup final this month after defeat to Real Sociedad in the final of the 2019/20 edition of the competition two weeks ago and Barca made sure it would be another disappointing night for Marcelino and his players
Gerard Pique returned to the Barca starting lineup after a number of weeks out through injury while Marcelino made no fewer than nine changes to the Athletic Club team that drew at home to Alaves last weekend
Barcelona enjoyed the better of the first half possession and struck the woodwork within the opening 10 minutes when De Jong hit the base of the post with a low finish after being set up by Messi.
The breakthrough was finally made when Griezmann slammed a finish past Unai Simon from a de Jong square pass into the middle with the Dutch midfielder scoring a goal of his own soon after, heading home a Jordi Alba cross to the back post.
Messi scored the pick of the bunch just moments later to put the final beyond the reach of Athletic Club, bursting into the box following a one-two and a piece of trickery to finish into the far corner.
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And Messi completed a 12-minute blitz of the Basque side with a low finish past Simon, who got a hand to the strike, from an Alba cut back to make it 4-0 with Griezmann having a fifth chalked off for offside. Ronald Koeman’s side will now turn their attention back towards the title race at the top of Liga with Getafe up next on Thursday.
