Copa del Rey win 'very special' for Messi

“It is very special to be captain of this team where I have spent my whole life, and very special to be able to lift the cup.”

Leo Messi was speaking after a 4-0 defeat of Athletic Club won him his 35^th major trophy in a blaugrana jersey – and in which his two goals make him the top goalscorer of all-time in Spanish cup finals. That’s nine he has now.

“We knew Athletic always play the same way, 4-4-2 and working on the counter attack, and that they have very fast players” he continued. “We had the patience to keep the ball and create space. We moved the ball about a lot of the first half and in the second Athletic’s pace dropped off and we could create more chances.”

“It’s very strange not to be able to celebrate it with people and the family, but that’s the situation we live in right now. But it’s a shame because finals are always special. We have two sets of fans who are used to experiencing finals like this, but I’m sure they enjoyed watching from their homes.”

“It has been a difficult year so it’s very important to have won the cup and to still be in contention win the league. It’s been a year of transition, with a lot of young players. We found it hard to get going at first, we dropped points through being naïve, because of lack of experience, but the team got stronger and got back into the fight. We didn’t get a good result the other day but we are still in there and there are plenty of games still to be played.”