Alex Kirkland
Rodrigo Fuzz
April 26, 2025, 08:51 PM ET
SEVILLA, Spain – Jude Bellingham, Antonio Ludiger and Lucas Vazquez were all shown red cards in the dramatic closing stages of a 3-2 extra defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.
Madrid fell behind Pedri’s first half strike, then placed them in front of Killian Mbappe’s free kick and Olen Chuameni header before Barca’s Ferran Torres forced them out of the way.
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Jules Kaunde scored the winning goal in the 116th minute, then Ludiger and Vazquez, both already substituted, were rejected as Madrid pushed the equalizers desperately.
German International was sent to protest against the decision of umpire Ricardo de Burgos Bengotoxa by awarding a foul against Mbappé in the final seconds of the game, denying Madrid’s last chance to launch an attack.
Rüdiger had to repeatedly be restrained by many teammates and staff after throwing objects from the bench onto the pitch and being shown a red card.
Vazquez also challenged the referee’s decision and was rejected for entering the field of play.
Jude Bellingham was one of three Real Madrid players sent at the end of Copa del Rey’s final defeat. Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images
The referee’s report confirmed that after the match, Bellingham was sent to “become “an aggressive approaching the referee and being held by his teammates.”
“We don’t know what happened, we need to see,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said at a post-game press conference. “You can say that Rudiger played a great game. He continued as much as he could. [before being substituted]. He was tired and couldn’t do it anymore, so I can only say that I am grateful for the effort he put in. ”
Ancelotti said Mbappé started on the Madrid bench – featured at halftime – because he had not fully recovered his fitness after spraining his ankle in a Champions League defeat to Arsenal 10 days ago.
“Mbappé couldn’t play 90 minutes so after the rhythm went down a little, I preferred to put him in the second half,” Ancelotti said. “He played very well.”
Madrid’s loss is the third time he was beaten by Barcelona this season after falling 4-0 at Lariga and the third time at Spain’s Super Copa.
They still have a chance to win a league title and are currently sitting at Barca’s four points, with five games remaining, including another Classico on May 11th.
