2016 Copa del Rey final

Luis Suárez scored five times in Barcelona's run to the final, including four goals in their 7–0 win over Valencia.

Barcelona, of La Liga, entered the tournament in the last 32, against Villanovense of the Segunda División B. The first leg in Villanueva de la Serena, on 28 October 2015, was a goalless draw, with manager Luis Enrique fielding a young and inexperienced side.[6] In the second leg on 2 December at the Camp Nou, however, Barcelona triumphed 6–1. Dani Alves opened the scoring with a long-range strike in the fourth minute, and Sandro added a hat-trick and Munir a brace.[7]

In the round of 16, Barcelona played city rivals Espanyol in the Derbi barceloní. They opened on 6 January 2016 with a 4–1 home victory with goals from Lionel Messi (2), Gerard Piqué and Neymar, after the visitors had taken the lead through Felipe Caicedo in the ninth minute. Hernán Pérez and Pape Diop were sent off for Espanyol late on, the latter for dissent.[8] A week later on their trip to the RCDE Stadium, Barcelona won 2–0 with a Munir goal in each half; the young Spaniard started the game due to Luis Suárez's suspension for his part in the post-match skirmish from the first game.[9]

Barcelona met Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, a repeat of the last year's final. On 20 January at the San Mamés, they won 2–1 with first-half strikes from Munir and Neymar. A week later in the second game, the Basques took the lead through Iñaki Williams, but Barcelona replied in the second half with Suárez, Piqué and Neymar's goals.[10]

In the semi-finals, Barcelona met Valencia and won 7–0 in the home game on 3 February; Suárez scored four times and Messi three.[11] A week later, in the second match at the Mestalla, the hosts took the lead through Álvaro Negredo and Wilfrid Kaptoum equalised late on, stretching Barcelona's unbeaten run to 29 games.[12]

José Antonio Reyes captained Sevilla on their run to the final, scoring twice.

Sevilla, also of La Liga, entered at the same stage against a third-tier opponent, UD Logroñés. In the first leg in La Rioja on 2 December 2015, they won 3–0 through goals by Coke, Michael Krohn-Dehli and Ciro Immobile. Two weeks later, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, they won 2–0 through goals from Immobile and captain José Antonio Reyes.[13]

Like Barcelona, in the last 16 Sevilla met their municipal rivals, Real Betis. They travelled away for the first game on 6 January 2016, winning 2–0 with a strike in each half by Krohn-Dehli and Grzegorz Krychowiak.[14] Hosting the second leg, they won 4–0; Reyes and Adil Rami struck in the first half and Frenchmen Kevin Gameiro and Gaël Kakuta in the second.[15]

In the quarter-finals, Sevilla drew Mirandés, the only Segunda División team remaining. On 21 January, they won 2–0 in the home leg; Steven Nzonzi scored in the first half and Vitolo secured the score in added time. A week later in Miranda de Ebro, Sevilla extended their lead with a ninth-minute penalty by Vicente Iborra, and added later goals by Juan Muñoz and Coke.[16]

Sevilla were tasked with in-form Celta Vigo in the semi-finals. Hosting the first game on 4 February, Rami headed the Andalusians ahead at the end of the first half, and Gameiro, who had earlier missed a penalty, scored two goals in the space of three minutes. Ex-Celta player Krohn-Dehli later confirmed a 4–0 win.[17] A week later at Balaídos, Celta scored twice through former Sevilla striker Iago Aspas, but the contributions of Éver Banega and Yevhen Konoplyanka confirmed a draw, despite the late dismissal of Nzonzi.[18]

Javier Mascherano was sent-off for Barcelona in the 36th minute for dragging down Kevin Gameiro by the shirt as he ran towards the penalty area.[20] Éver Banega also received a red card in injury time for a foul that denied Neymar an obvious goalscoring chance. There were no goals in the 90 minutes, with the match going into extra-time. Jordi Alba scored the opening goal for Barcelona in the 97th minute with a low, left-footed finish from six yards across the goalkeeper after he ran onto a pass from Lionel Messi from midfield. Neymar made it 2–0 in the last moments of the match with a low finish from the left after a short pass from Messi.[21] Daniel Carriço was sent off for Sevilla in stoppage time at the end of extra time when he received two yellow cards within 30 seconds, first for a tackle on Messi and the second for insulting the referee. Although Messi provided the two critical assists for both Barcelona's goals in the extra-time, it was Andrés Iniesta who was named man of the match for his overall performance.[3]

22 May 2016 (2016-05-22)

21:30 CEST

Barcelona	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Sevilla
Alba 97' Neymar 120+2'	Report

Vicente Calderón, Madrid

Attendance: 54,907

Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande

Barcelona

Sevilla

GK 1 Marc-André ter Stegen RB 6 Dani Alves  90' CB 3 Gerard Piqué CB 14 Javier Mascherano  36' LB 18 Jordi Alba  87'  120' CM 4 Ivan Rakitić  46' CM 5 Sergio Busquets CM 8 Andrés Iniesta (c)  90' RW 10 Lionel Messi LW 11 Neymar  89' CF 9 Luis Suárez  57' Substitutes: GK 13 Claudio Bravo MF 7 Arda Turan MF 12 Rafinha  57' FW 17 Munir MF 20 Sergi Roberto  120' MF 22 Aleix Vidal DF 24 Jérémy Mathieu  46' Head Coach: Luis Enrique

GK 1 Sergio Rico RB 25 Mariano  80' CB 6 Daniel Carriço  120+1'  120+1' CB 3 Adil Rami  73' LB 18 Sergio Escudero  104' CM 4 Grzegorz Krychowiak  92' CM 8 Vicente Iborra  90+5'  106' RW 23 Coke (c) AM 19 Éver Banega  90+2' LW 20 Vitolo  75' CF 9 Kevin Gameiro  114' Substitutes: GK 31 David Soria MF 10 José Antonio Reyes FW 11 Juan Muñoz MF 14 Sebastián Cristóforo DF 21 Nicolás Pareja MF 22 Yevhen Konoplyanka  102'  80' FW 24 Fernando Llorente  106' Head Coach: Unai Emery