Lionel Messi, Barcelona shred Sevilla for fourth straight Copa Del Rey crown

Of the many silly Lionel Messi narratives, one of the silliest is that the greatest player soccer has ever seen doesn’t perform on the biggest stages. It’s a slight that gets peddled every four years, and intermittently in between. It ignores the fact that Messi, at least when wearing the garnet and blue of Barcelona, is as prolific as anybody when silverware is on the line.

And he was as good as ever on Saturday to prove that very point.

Messi equaled a Spanish record by scoring in his fifth Copa Del Rey final, and led Barcelona to its fourth King’s Cup triumph in a row. In the end, it was a convincing 5-0 rout. And Messi was the catalyst.

He was the catalyst just as he’s so often been in tournament finals throughout his career. He won his sixth Copa Del Rey, scored his sixth final goal, and tallied his fifth and sixth final assists. According to some statisticians, he won his 21st final in 27 tries overall. He scored his 28th final goal.

And on top of the statistics on Saturday, he made Sevilla look foolish without even touching the ball:

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