What happened in the last Clasico Copa del Rey final?

If he spearheads Real Madrid’s attack against Barcelona on Saturday, Kylian Mbappe will be following in the footsteps of fellow superstars by experiencing his first Copa del Rey final as a Clasico.

Neymar and Gareth Bale were both in their debut seasons in Spain when the clubs last met in the final, and both made their mark during the closing stages on the last occasion when the game was held at Valencia’s Mestalla on April 15 2014.

The teams have met four times in the semi-finals since then, with Barca winning twice, one draw and a 4-0 victory for Madrid in the last episode in 2023.

101GreatGoals.com takes a look back at how that final played out 11 years ago, some of the key subplots and what happened next to the familiar rivals.

The last time that Barcelona and Real Madrid met in a Copa del Rey Final, Gareth Bale scored THAT match-winning goal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿⚪

The Welsh wizard grabbed all the headlines on that night in 2014, but who will rise to the occasion for their side in tomorrow’s Clásico? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/r6pEH8EeeL

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) April 25, 2025

Copa del Rey final: Madrid champions

Barcelona’s build-up to the final holds parallels with Madrid’s missteps during the run-in to their current campaign, with the Copa del Rey final arriving a week after Gerardo Martino’s side were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid and four days after a surprise 1-0 LaLiga defeat at Granada.

Madrid had reached the Champions League semi-finals despite losing the second leg of their quarter-final at Borussia Dortmund, and they set the tone for the showpiece by taking an 11th-minute lead with a superb counter-attacking goal completed by Angel Di Maria, who was in his final season at the club before joining Manchester United.

Marc Bartra headed a 68th-minute equaliser but Bale’s electric run and finish six minutes from time gave Madrid a deserved victory and their first Copa del Rey title since Cristiano Ronaldo’s extra-time goal beat Barcelona three years earlier.

FT: FC Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid (68’ Bartra | 10’ Di María, 85′ Bale). COPA DEL REY CHAMPIONS!!!!! #FinalCopa pic.twitter.com/kleI0MIvIc

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 16, 2014

Gareth Bale goal: A new Madrid hero

Reigning Premier League Player of the Season Bale had joined Madrid for a then-world record £85.1 million before the start of the campaign, and his performance showed why his new club had been willing to pay so much for the Wales talisman.

It would be impossible not to feel at least retrospective sympathy for Bartra, who was left with little chance as Bale steamed forward in typically blistering fashion from the halfway line, played the ball beyond the centre-back on his way inside the penalty area and lifted a delicate finish past goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto.

Bale’s winner was his first goal of the season in the Copa del Rey and one of 22 in 44 appearances in all competitions, as well as 19 assists.

Scoring crucial goals in finals works wonderfully as a way to endear yourself to new fans, and Bale struck even later to put Madrid ahead for the first time in the Champions League final that May, netting in the 110th minute against Atletico Madrid.

Some say Marc Bartra is still chasing Gareth Bale for his Copa del Rey-winning goal 11 years later 👋

They meet again for the first time since in a Copa del Rey final in 10 days…

(via @RealMadridEN)pic.twitter.com/O4tDEZEvjq

— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 16, 2025

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Icons overshadowed

Messi still shone in the most forgettable collective seasons of his Barca career, and this was no exception: he contributed 41 goals and 14 assists in 46 appearances.

His dry spell, unsurprisingly, coincided with extinguished trophy bids, failing to score in either game against Atleti, the costly loss to Granada and the final.

Barcelona’s tactics, curiously, appeared to give their most dangerous player as little chance as possible of affecting the game at times, and the isolated Messi might have wished he had joined Madrid’s Ronaldo on the sidelines.

The man who would become Madrid’s all-time top missed training with knee and thigh muscle problems in his left leg days before the final, causing his manager, Carlo Ancelotti, to decide against risking his top scorer.

In characteristically demure style, Ronaldo joined his team-mates on the bench and celebrated on the pitch with the trophy in a black and white suit and cap at the end, even finding time to console Messi after the final whistle.

Ronaldo comforts Messi after last night’s Copa del Rey final. pic.twitter.com/EW0e7LqGd4

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 17, 2014

Neymar: Clasico goals run ends by the width of a post

Already prolific for Brazil at 21, Neymar had been coveted by Madrid before joining Barcelona for almost £49m the previous June, explaining that “money is OK but happiness takes priority”.

The future Selecao all-time top scorer was directly involved in goals in each of his first six starts for the club and had produced three assists and a goal as Barca completed a Clasico league double, but his Copa del Rey final debut was a relatively quiet one.

Neymar was convinced he should have had a penalty for a foul by Sergio Ramos shortly after Madrid’s opener and was booked alongside Fabio Coentrao after accusing the Portuguese of pushing him in the face.

That might have been the most memorable moment of Neymar’s involvement until the 88th minute, when his shot from inside the box hit a post and rebounded kindly for Iker Casillas. Fine margins.

Final Copa SM El Rey 2014

Real Madrid 2-1 Barça

El gol de Ángel Di María que abrió la final.

📹: Todas las tomas de TV. pic.twitter.com/TBq3nwl9Cz

— ▪️ Macroski ▪️ (@MMacroski) April 24, 2025

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: What happened next?

The losers of the 2024/25 final might see the setback as an opportunity for rebirth, given how the teams fared in the seasons immediately following the game.

The 2013/14 Liga was an unusual one as Atleti became the first team in 10 years to end Barca and Madrid’s monopoly on the title, but Barca would be champions in four of the next five seasons and won the Copa del Rey in each of the next four.

Under Luis Enrique, who is hoping to become a European champion again this time around with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi’s side won the treble in 2014/15, although Madrid still managed a 3-1 Clasico away win.

Madrid were trophyless aside from the Super Cup and Club World Cup in 2014/15, spelling the end for Ancelotti’s first spell in charge.

Their next significant silverware came under Zinedine Zidane two years later, starting a run of three successive Champions League triumphs under the France icon. Only Ancelotti, with five titles, has won the competition more as a manager.