Barcelona vs. Real Madrid live score: Copa del Rey final result, updates, stats as Pedri stunner puts Barca ahead

35 mins: Bellingham has the ball in the Barcelona net but knows he’s offside. Gerard Martin stepped out crucially before the Englishman finished tidily. A rueful grimace follows.

28 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Pedri!!!!!!

Oh my word, what a way to open the scoring in the Copa del Rey final! Pedri starts the move with a raking pass to Lamine Yamal. It ends up being a long one-two as he arrives to meet the return pass first-time outside the D, sweeping a majestic strike into the top corner.

23 mins: Vinicius gets his first proper look at the Barcelona back four but the move breaks down. Ceballos fouls Lamine Yamal to hault the counter and the Barca players ask for a booking that isn’t forthcoming.

21 mins: Kounde the target again for a Barca set piece and this is a better attempt that Courtois pushes over at full stretch.

19 mins: Ohhhh, close! Lamine Yamal lets fly from outside the box. He scuffs his effort but Courtois appears to be unsighted and doesn’t move as the ball skids just beyond his far post.

16 mins: Barca got flying down the left and Madrid are turned around and in trouble. Valverde comes tearing back to make an excellent challenge on Ferran. He also does pretty well to avoid handling the ball as he falls to the turf.

11 mins: Garcia gets scant help as Lamine Yamal goes right for him. Welcome to the cup final! Corner to Barca, which is dealt with.

9 mins: Madrid have barely been out of their half and Ancelotti’s gamble to start Mendy appeared to have backfired. He’s down with a thigh injury after a good challenge on Jules Kounde. Fran Garcia is ready to join us.

3 mins: Kounde gets up to meet the corner and heads well over. In truth, he should have done better with that.

2 mins: Ferran skips past Asensio into the box and a combination of Rudiger and Tchouameni are forced to scramble behind.

1st Half: Kickoff

Barcelona get us underway.

5 mins before kickoff: Senor Burgos Bengoetxea leads the teams out. A peseta for his thoughts. The players looking all business. Flick and Ancelotti embrace before the national anthem, which is predictably given a solid booing by the Catalan contingent. Barca have won this season’s Clasicos 4-0 and 5-2. Can Madrid avert another humiliation?

30 mins before kickoff: It wouldn’t be El Clasico without absurd referee-based build-up. Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea is the man in the middle tonight and gave an emotional news conference when he addressed being singled out by a piece on Real Madrid TV that inferred he favoured Barcelona with his decisions. Madrid responded by boycotting some of their pre-match obligations and issued a clubs statement to deny rumours the would pull out of the game altogether. Nice, normal stuff…

1 hour before kickoff: Here’s the Barca lineup, with nothing as dramatic as Mbappe being on the bench, Okay, it’d be very dramatic if Mbappe was on the Barcelona bench, You know what I mean.

Anyway, we already knew Robert Lewandowski was out and Ferran Torres leads the line as expected for the Blaugrana. There’s a show of faith in youngster Gerard Martin, who gets the nod at left-back with Alejandro Balde still out.

Robert Lewandowski is out for some time with a hamstring injury, leaving Ferran Torres to occupy the central striker position. Hansi Flick had decisions to make in the No. 10 slot behind Torres, with Dani Olmo getting the nod ahead of Gavi and Fermin Lopez.

Alejandro Balde has been unable to recover from his hamstring injury in time for this match, with Gerard Martin remaining at left-back. Balde is expected to return in time for the upcoming Champions League games in the near future.

Wojciech Szczesny will remain in goal the rest of the season, as Hansi Flick has decided not to turn back to Marc-Andre ter Stegen out of loyalty to the Poland international who came out of retirement for this role.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1, right to left): Szczesny (GK) — Kounde, Cubarsi, I. Martinez, Martin — de Jong, Pedri — Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha — F. Torres.

Injured: Balde (hamstring, doubt), Lewandowski (hamstring), Casado (knee), Bernal (ACL).
Suspended: None.

Real Madrid have Kylian Mbappe back for the Copa del Rey final, but the superstar forward is only fit enough for a place on the bench following his recent ankle injury.

In Mbappe’s absence, it looks like Madrid will revert to their attacking shape from last season, with Jude Bellingham playing as an attacking No. 10 behind Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr.

Midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who suffered a “complete tear” of his adductor against Getafe last time out and is done for the season. Ferland Mendy returns from his own lay-off and is preferred to Fran Garcia at left-back.

Real Madrid (4-3-1-2, right to left): Courtois (GK) — Valverde, Asensio, Rudiger, Mendy — Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos — Bellingham — Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr.

Injured: Camavinga (groin), Carvajal (ACL), Militao (ACL).
Suspended: None.

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid live stream, TV channel

Here’s how to watch the 2025 Copa del Rey final across selected areas of the world’s major regions: