Football: Real Madrid wins Copa del Rey

MADRID 

Real Madrid won this season's Copa del Rey by defeating their archrivals Barcelona in the final match played on Wednesday in Valencia's home stadium, Mestalla.

 Real Madrid, nicknamed "Los Merengues" (The Meringues), scored the opening goal of the match with their Argentine winger Angel di Maria in the first half, however, their opponents Barcelona came back with their 23-year-old centre-back Marc Bartra scoring a header in the 66th minute. In the last minutes of play, Real Madrid's Welsh star Gareth Bale scored the winning goal of the game after dribbling the ball almost 50 meters from Real Madrid's half and clinching victory for Los Merengues.

 Real Madrid has won the Copa del Rey for the 19th time in their history. After the cup ceremony in Mestalla Stadium, the team returned to Madrid to continue celebrating their triumph unabated until 4 a.m. with their fans who had been waiting for them for hours in Plaza de Cibeles (Cibeles Square). 

The celebrations in Cibeles Square took on a festival fever with the players on an open-top bus waving to their fans and displaying the winning trophy. Cheers of "Yes, the cup is here" and "champions" resounded around the square. 

 'Los Merengues' captain Iker Casillas, who made a brief statement to the correspondents, said that he believes that the team will be jubilant again at the end of the season. 

As part of the celebrations of Copa del Rey, the Real Madrid squad will visit Madrid's Municipality at noon on Thursday.

englishnews@aa.com.tr