Copa Del Rey Final 2015: Score and Reaction for Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona

Barcelona completed the second part of a potential treble on Saturday, as they were crowned Copa del Rey champions after beating Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at the Camp Nou.

In a hugely dominant performance from the Catalan giants, stunning first-half goals from Lionel Messi and Neymar effectively wrapped things up after 45 minutes.

The Argentinian completed his brace in the second half to secure the victory, before Inaki Williams scored a late consolation goal for Athletic.

ESPN FC confirmed the result on the final whistle:

In front of a buzzing crowd, both sides started the encounter at a blistering pace.

Brazilian Neymar found the back of the net in the 10th minute, brilliantly volleying home from Messi's lofted cross, but it was correctly ruled out for offside.

Nine minutes later, the Athletic goal was breached as Messi made it 1-0 with one of the great Copa del Rey final goals.

The superlative Argentinian skipped through three players on the right touchline before driving into the box, beating two more Athletic defenders and swerving a shot home at the near post.

Bleacher Report UK appropriately illustrated most people's reaction to the quite stunning effort:

In the wake of Messi's goal, Barca were rampant, and only the heroics of goalkeeper Iago Herrerin kept Athletic in the game. He saved an effort from Neymar at point-blank range after Luis Suarez squared the ball into the box, and the 'keeper also tipped away a powerful Gerard Pique header. 

Having squandered another chance when he shot wide after some brilliant control in the box, Neymar made it 2-0 with 10 minutes until half-time, finishing off a sublime team move.

Ivan Rakitic and Messi exchanged passes on the edge of the box before the Croatian picked out Suarez in space behind the defence. The Uruguayan then squared to Neymar to fire home into an empty net.

Athletic almost responded minutes later, as Williams fired a superb volley goalward, but the strike skimmed the crossbar as it went over.

Herrerin was then called into action once again as he palmed away Messi's free-kick, which was on its way into the top corner.

Athletic went in at half-time 2-0 down, having put in a perfectly decent performance. Barcelona were simply too good to handle, per football writer Cristian Nyari:

Barca were slightly less flamboyant when play resumed, happy to hold on to their two-goal cushion, while Athletic were more controlled.

In the 56th minute, Xavi was introduced into the action by manager Luis Enrique for his final appearance at the Camp Nou ahead of his summer move to Al Sadd. The Barcelona legend was applauded by all in attendance, per Andy Mitten of the National:

Neymar almost put the final nail in the Basque coffin in the 67th minute, skipping past two players to create space before shooting wildly wide of the target.

But seven minutes later, Messi did put the game to bed. He pounced on Dani Alves' cross to turn home with the outside of his left boot, beating two napping Athletic defenders to the ball.

Alex Caparros/Getty Images

Williams claimed a consolation for the losers as the game ticked into its final 10 minutes. The striker outmuscled Sergio Busquets for position in the penalty area and headed home a cross from the left.

Some late showboating from Neymar was not well received by the Athletic players, and the final ended in a somewhat acrimonious atmosphere.

However, it was a joyful performance in the main from Barcelona, and they were fully deserving of their 3-1 victory.

Having added the Copa del Rey to their La Liga title, Barca now head into next weekend's Champions League final against Juventus on the verge of a historic treble. On the basis of Saturday's performance, the Serie A champions—also chasing their own treble—could have their work cut out in Berlin.  

Reaction

The departing Xavi, who lifted the Copa del Rey trophy with Andres Iniesta, paid tribute to Athletic's competitiveness after the match and highlighted the performance of Messi, per barcastuff:

"

Xavi: "Athletic competed well, but we're in the winning spirit..." #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) May 30, 2015"

"

Xavi: "Messi? There was man-marking, but he can deal with everything. It's a privilege to have the best player in the world in the squad."

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) May 30, 2015"

"

Xavi: "I wanted to lift the cup with Andres, happy we could do it." #fcblive

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) May 30, 2015"