Barcelona’s Copa del Rey heroes Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba have hailed the battling spirit showcased by the team after securing the trophy in Madrid on Sunday.
Goals from Alba and Neymar in extra-time, both coming via Messi assists, eventually gave the Blaugrana a 2-0 win; the Spanish champions had Javier Mascherano sent off in the first period and were on the back foot for long spells before Ever Banega was dismissed just before the end of normal time.
And Messi, who turned in another spellbinding showing in a big game, paid tribute to the fortitude on display on his Facebook page (h/t Josep Capdevila of Sport): “We fought hard, we suffered, but in the end we all won together.