Four of the European domestic cups titles were decided on Saturday 30th may 2015 and we take a look at what transpired.
The FA CUP
Holders Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 12th time on Saturday 30th may, outclassing Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley with stunning goals from Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez setting up victory.
Theo walcott-celebrates after scoring Arsenal’s first goal against Aston Villa
Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud were also on target as the Londoners sealed their biggest winning margin in a final of the world’s oldest knockout competition.
Arsene Wenger also became the most successful FA Cup manager of modern times, guiding his side to a sixth triumph in their 19th final.
The Coupe de France.
The only team from outside the top divisions, Auxerre, came up against Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France final.
The Ligue 2 side defended for their life and had some good attacks; though they were not good enough as they were eventually beaten 1-0 by PSG.
PSG celebrate winning the Coupe de France
Auxerre had not played any big side and it was a tough call to beat up the Ligue 1 champions in the final.
Paris Saint-Germain has been dominant in French football; particularly since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011going on to lift three Ligue 1 Titles to date.
Laurent Blanc’s side were not exactly dominant against Auxerre having had a poor start in the first half but went to win thanks to Edinson Cavani’s second half goal.
DFB-Pokal Final sends Kloop out with a loss.
The German Cup final in Berlin saw two of the best attacking sides in Bundesliga coming up against each other.
Wolfsburg who finished in second-place in the Bundesliga played against Borussia Dortmund who were in seventh place.
With Jurgen Klopp’s last match in charge, Borussia Dortmund was expected to win the cup for their manager against Wolfsburg.
The BVB team had a perfectly start after they took the lead over Wolfsburg in the first five minutes through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Wolfsburg however had other ideas as it took them only 17 minutes to equalize,then score two more goals going into halftime to give the DFB-Pokal final its 3–1 full-time score.
Wolfsburg celebrate winning DFB-Pokal Final
Dortmund experienced the same showings which have been ever present in their Bundesliga games of not killing off games.
They failed to contain Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost handing Wolfsburg the trophy and a sore sending off of their manager Jorgen Klopp.
Dortmund had hoped for a positive ending for Klopp, the manager that has brought much success and improved style of play, but things did not go as planned. Klopp earlier stated that this was his last season with Dortmund and that the time was right for him to leave.
Dieter Hecking’s Wolfsburg deserved the win with his side being one of the best attacking sides in Europe.
It’s the only trophy he has won as a manager since taking the Regionalliga Nord (German fourth tier) in 2002 with VfB Lübeck, it’s Wolfsburg’s first DFB-Pokal triumph and it’s the first time since 2011 a team other than Dortmund and Bayern Munich has won a domestic trophy.
Barcelona’s Treble chase still on in Luis Enrique’s first season
Barcelona outgunned Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final 3–1 in a battle of the Catalans against the Basques. Lionel Messi produced one of the individualistic goals this season and a good team goal capped by Neymar tap-in put Barça chances of a treble to just one game away from the treble in Luis Enrique’s debut season.
Barça played their full strength team and got a well-deserved 2-0 lead in halftime against a highly motivated Bilbao side.
Barcelona celebrate beating Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the Copa del Rey final
The second half saw Barcelona containing the game but Bilbao tried to play their way back
Messi ensured Barcelona got a win after he scored a third goal and Bilbao could just master a consolation goal from Inaki Williams.
With the attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez all fit for the Champions League final against Juventus on 6th June in Berlin,we wait to see who which team will take the trophy.