After being at the mercy of Fraikin Granollers in the first half, Barça returned with an exorbitant fury after the break to prevail with authority by 30-26 in the presence of President Joan Laporta and add at a stroke their ninth consecutive Copa del Rey and the 26th in total against a rival who will play in Europe and who once again demonstrated that they are getting closer to the best.
PUB
GRA
BARÇA, 30
(11+19): Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (p.), Thiagus Petrus (2), Ludovic Fàbregas, Dika Mem (2), Timothey N’Guessan (8), Aleix Gómez (7, 5p.), Ángel Fernández ( 2) -starting seven-, Luka Cindric (4), Blaz Janc, Haniel Langaro (1), Yussef Benali (2), Domen Makuc, Ali Zein and Melvyn Richardson.
FRAIKIN GRANOLLERS, 26
(15+11): Rangel Luan (l.). Pol Valera (7, 1p.), Esteban Salinas (6), Antonio García (4), Chema Márquez (8), Sergi Franco, Adrià Martínez (1) -starting seven-, Oriol Rey, Joan Amigó, Jan Gurri and Edgar Perez.
REFEREES
Andreu Marin and Ignacio García (Catalans). They excluded Haniel Langaro (16:44), Ali Zein (40:44) and Blaz Janc (49:21), from Barça, for two minutes; and Antonio García (6:19), Joan Amigó (9:01) and Esteban Salinas (28:00) from Fraikin Granollers.
MARKER EVERY FIVE MINUTES
1-2, 3-4, 7-7, 9-10, 10-12, 11-15 (rest), 15-17, 17-18, 21-18, 23-19, 26-23 and 30-26 (final).
INCIDENTS
Final of the men’s Copa del Rey handball played before more than 2,500 spectators at the Fernando Argüelles Pavilion in Antequera (Málaga).
In the first part Vallesana superiority was absolute in all facets of the game. In goal, the Brazilian Rangel Luan could first with Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (he started very well) and then with Leo Maciel in the last five, in defense with a great center formed by the ex-azulgranas Oriol Rey and Joan Amigó, and in attack with Chema Márquez, Antonio García and Esteban Salinas in front.
A Timothey N’Guessan getting better and better took advantage of the strong marking on Dika Mem and Luka Cindric to score four of the first five goals of the champions of the eight previous editions in a very even duel (min. 12:07).
Aleix Gómez put Barça ahead for the first time (7-6, min. 13:33), but far from assuming a change in trend Antonio Rama’s men regained control with a partial 0-3 thanks to a header from the aforementioned ‘big three’ (7-9, min. 16:59) .
Barça was confused in attack, committed some haste and between Chema Márquez and the talented Pol Valera they placed Fraikin Granollers clearly ahead (10-14, min.27:54). And it could have been worse, since the Argentine Leo Maciel the ‘Hispano’ player stopped the last pitch of the first half with 11-15 on the marker.
Granollers annulled Cindric in the first half
| EFE
The grand final of the Copa del Rey was more than alive and, whatever happened, the team led by Antonio Rama had already earned the admiration of all handball fans for their bravery, their competitiveness and for a game in which they were far surpassing the huge favorite.
The break took effect and Barça was anotherthat of the great occasions also in part due to the fatigue of a Vallesan team in which until then only the left winger had rotated with Adrià Martínez and his substitute Edgar Pérez.
With a great defensive center with Thiagus Petrus and Ali Zein, Barça needed a little less than 12 minutes to turn the score around and go 21-18 after Aleix Gómez’s fourth penalty goal, who was saved by Rangel Luan.
Dika Mem, in an action of the final
| FCB
A Petrus from another galaxy he kept the defensive line closed and even scored two goals. In addition, Pérez de Vargas also appeared and Barça went on to win 22-18 after an 11-2 run that left the final with a clearly Blaugrana forecast.
At 25-20 after a goal from Cindric, it seemed that the final was beginning to be doomed, but Fraikin Granollers was willing to die with their shoes on and with a 0-3 run (two from Chema Márquez and one from Esteban Salinas) he came close to two goals (25-23, min. 54:40).
A decisive goal by N’Guessan (the eighth) and another by Cindric prevented the attempts of a Vallesan team that ran out of time. In the end, 30-26 after a final timeout by Carlos Ortega. Barça deserved the victory, but had to suffer until the end against the best Granollers of the last five years.