BARCELONA wanted a trophy to ease its Champions League heartache but instead fell to another shock defeat as Valencia pulled off a thrilling 2-1 victory to win the Spanish Copa del Rey final Saturday.

Chasing a record fifth consecutive triumph, Barca was undone by a relentless and gutsy Valencia side, who hung on after Lionel Messi pulled a goal back to set up a dramatic finish in Seville, Spain.

By then, Valencia was already two up, with Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo scoring twice in 13 frantic first-half minutes after the latter spurned a golden early chance that could have spared them a nerve-shredding last 17 minutes.

Messi drove the comeback effort and Goncalo Guedes twice should have wrapped it up for Valencia, missing a one-on-one and then an open goal before the final whistle blew.

Valencia’s coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, who might have been sacked when his team was four points off relegation in January, raced around the pitch in a frenzy. Barcelona’s players sank to their knees.

“We always had faith,” said Marcelino. “Beating Barcelona to win the cup is very special. We deserved to win.”

Messi admitted Friday his team had still not recovered from the “hard blow” suffered against Liverpool and certainly, they seemed too easily disheartened, finding their fight only once it was too late.

Winning its first trophy since 2008, in Valencia’s centenary year, completes a remarkable comeback campaign that after 15 games had it languishing in 15th.

Also on Saturday, Robert Lewandowski’s brace helped Bayern Munich to round off the season with the domestic double after beating Leipzig 3-0 in the German Cup final at outsold Berlin Olympia stadium.

Two goals from Robert Lewandowski and one by Kingsley Coman were enough to secure Bayern’s 12th domestic double and their 19th German Cup title.(SD-Agencies)

Leipzig caught a bright start and had a promising chance in the opening period when Yussuf Poulsen’s header forced Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into action with 11 minutes played.

Bayern grew into the game as the clock ticked and shocked Leipzig with the opener against the run of the play in the 29th minute after Robert Lewandowski headed home David Alaba’s cross into the box.

Bayern dictated the pace to produce goal scoring opportunities in the closing period of the first half as Kingsley Coman and Mats Hummels came close.

Ralf Rangnick’s men started well into the second half and they should have leveled the scores in the 48th minute when Emil Forsberg was unable to overcome Manuel Neuer following a one-on-one.

Both sides exchanged attacks at each end of the pitch as Lewandowski tested Leipzig goalie Peter Gulacsi before Niklas Suele blocked Timo Werner’s shot on target on the goal line.

However, Bayern increased the pressure and doubled the lead in the 77th minute when Coman slotted home from inside the box into the far post corner to take the wind out of Leipzig’s sails.

The “Bavarians” were still not done with the scoring and put the result beyond doubt in the 85th minute through Lewandowski, who wrapped his brace.

“Leipzig is a tough opponent. They gave us a hard fight in the opening period of each half but the bottom line is: we secured a deserved win,” Bayern Munich’s head coach Niko Kovac said.

“Of course we are disappointed now as we hoped for different outcome of the game. However, I think we played a great season overall and should not forget that,” Leipzig’s CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said.

(SD-Agencies)