BARCELONA reached the Copa del Rey final in dramatic style with a 3-0 win over 10-man Sevilla at Camp Nou on Wednesday to advance 3-2 on aggregate after losing the opening leg 2-0 in Andalusia.

It took just 12 minutes for Barca to open the scoring in Catalonia with Ousmane Dembele finding the back of the net with a wonder strike from the edge of the box that gave Tomas Vaclik no chance in the Sevilla goal and conjured up memories of Ronaldinho in his pomp at Camp Nou.

The hosts could have been further in front at the break but a heroic piece of defending by Marco Acuna saw them thwarted on the goal line as Barca players were rampant at times while thoroughly dominating possession and dictating play.

Barca continued to push in the second half and went close through Jordi Alba’s effort, which came back off the frame of the goal but Ronald Koeman’s men had to wait until the death to level the tie through Gerard Pique from an Antoine Griezmann assist.

In fact, it could have been Sevilla celebrating as the side was awarded a penalty for an Oscar Mingueza foul on substitute Lucas Ocampos but the Argentina international was then denied from the spot by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

It got worse for Julen Lopetegui’s men as Fernando was dismissed for two yellow cards just moments before Pique’s leveler and the difference in manpower told early in extra time when Martin Braithwaite made it 3-0 for the home side.

Video Assisted Refereeing (VAR) denied Sevilla an extra-time penalty when Clement Lenglet appeared to handle the ball and Barca’s luck almost ran out when equalizing hero Pique looked likely to be forced off injured with what initially looked like a possible knee injury relapse.

Pique ultimately soldiered on to finish, but that was not the extent of the drama as Luuk de Jong joined Fernando in seeing red from the bench as Barca players seized further control on the night as they booked their place against the winner of Athletic Club and Levante’s tie.

(SD-Agencies)