MADRID: Lionel Messi produced yet another masterclass as Barcelona marked the end of Luis Enrique’s Nou Camp reign by winning th Soanish cup.

Barcelona became the first team since the early 1950s to lift the cup three seasons running as Messi masterminded a 3-1 victory at the final game to be staged at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon home.

Messi set Barcelona on their way with his 54th goal of the season and Neymar and Paco Alcacer were also on target in the first half, with Theo Hernandez offering Alaves brief hope with a wonderful free-kick.

Alaves had waited 96 years to take their bow in a Copa del Rey final, and they did not disgrace themselves at the end of a season in which they finished ninth in LaLiga after winning promotion.

But, as is so often the case, they had no answer to the brilliance of Messi and, after a season in which Barcelona have fallen short of their high standards, the favourites ended with a trophy.

A ninth piece of silverware was a fitting end to Enrique’s three-year spell in charge of Barcelona.

In FRANCE Issa Cissokho’s stoppage-time own goal saw Paris Saint-Germain beat Angers 1-0 to win the Coupe de France while, in GERMANY, Borussia Dortmund ended a run of three successive DFB-Pokal final defeats with a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

################