26-year-old Barcelona defender enters a very exclusive list in the Blaugrana club’s history after his strike in Copa final | OneFootball

FC Barcelona added another major trophy to their cabinet last night as they won the Copa del Rey after an intense fight against Real Madrid in the final in Seville. This is the 32nd time the Catalans have won the cup.

The two teams were all square with a 2-2 scoreline when the referee blew his whistle for full-time. As a result, the game went into extra time, and it was only in the last few minutes of this phase of the game when Jules Kounde scored to give his side the lead and ultimately the victory.

In addition to getting his team a trophy, this strike also caused the Frenchman’s name to be written in the Blaugrana history books. As Mundo Deportivo has noted, this goal adds Kounde’s name to the very exclusive list of six defenders whose goals proved to be decisive in finals for Barcelona in its history.

Jules Kounde celebrates after scoring the winner for Barcelona [Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images]

The members of this list are as follows:

Jose Ramon Alexanko

Alexanko was the defender who made the difference for his side in the Copa del Rey final in 1988. The Catalans were clearly the underdogs in this match, as they faced Real Sociedad, who were placed second in La Liga, behind Real Madrid, at that time. This was a difficult time for the Blaugranes, right during the Hesperia Mutiny, and winning the Copa remained their chance to salvage the season.

Alexanko scored a goal in the 16th minute of the match, taking advantage of a rebound that came from Gary Lineker’s saved shot, and this remained the only goal in the match, giving the Catalans the win.

Luis Maria Lopez Rekarte

One of the players who ended up on the losing end of this Copa 1988 final, Luis Maria Lopez Rekarte, soon joined Barcelona and the left-back proved to be pivotal for the Blaugranes as he scored the second goal for his side in the 80th minute in the Cup Winners’ Cup final against Sampdoria in Bern. This was the first trophy of Johan Cruyff’s tenure as a manager.

Ronald Koeman

The Dutchman scored one of the most memorable and important goals in the Catalan club’s history as his thunderous free-kick in the 111th minute of the European Cup final against Sampdoria proved to be the winner for Barcelona and won them their first European Cup.

Juliano Belletti

It was another defender, Juliano Belletti, whose strike proved to be decisive for the Blaugranes in their UEFA Champions League final against Arsenal in 2006.

The current Barcelona U-19 coach fired a tremendous shot from a very difficult angle to beat Manuel Almunia and make the scoreline 2-1 in his side’s favor, after previous goals from Sol Campbell and Samuel Eto’o. This was Belletti’s only goal for Barcelona.

Yaya Toure

The Ivorian scored a stunning goal from outside the box to score the first goal for his side that started the comeback that ultimately resulted in a 4-1 victory for the Catalans in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Club in 2009, and won them the first trophy before they would go on to win the treble.

Toure was not naturally a defender but had played this game and the ensuing UCL final against Manchester United as a centre-back.

Jules Kounde

The Frenchman now joins this illustrious list after having scored the decisive final goal against Real Madrid in extra time of the Copa del Rey final last night. As was the case with Toure’s goal, this might just be the precursor to Barcelona winning another treble this season.