Barcelona have defeated Alaves 3-1 in the final competitive fixture to be staged at the Vicente Calderon to win their third successive Copa del Rey crown.

A couple of goals late in the first half proved decisive in the Spanish capital, ensuring that the Catalan giants become the first side in more than 60 years to successfully defend the cup for a second time.

Following an otherwise disappointing campaign, which saw his side fall short in La Liga and exit the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, Luis Enrique now has reason to cheer as he bows out of the club with a ninth major honour in his three years there.

More than a quarter of the game had passed before the first real talking point arrived, with Alaves doing well to stifle their opponents until that point in proceedings.

Much like at Camp Nou in the opening weeks of the season, when picking up a shock 2-1 win, the Babazorros went with five along the back and were doing well to frustrate their opponents.

Barca, who lost makeshift right-back Javier Mascherano early on to a nasty clash of heads, managed to step things up and felt that they should have had a penalty when Lionel Messi appeared to be clipped by Theo Hernandez inside the box.

Thirty minutes in it was Alaves's turn to threaten, cruelly denied after Ibai Gomez's shot crept under Jasper Cillessen but somehow hit the post and trickled right across the goal line.

Moments later Barcelona were ahead through their leading marksman, as Messi exchanged passes with Neymar on the edge of the box and curled the ball out of Fernando Pacheco's reach for goal number 54 of another impressive campaign.

Hernandez, playing on the ground of his parent club, did not take long to get his side back on level terms when picking out the top corner of Ter Stegen's net with a sublime free kick.

Two quick-fire goals at the end of the first half swung the game in the Catalan club's favour, though, with Neymar tapping in from a Andre Gomes cross for his third successive Copa final goal, before Paco Alcacer - in for the suspended Luis Suarez - slotted past Pacheco following some fine individual work from Messi to pick him out.

Alcacer came close to sealing the win early on in the second half, forcing a fine stop out of Pacheco at the back post, but the chances again dried up at both ends of the field.

Alaves, competing in just a second major final in their 96-year history, were doing well to keep their opponents out but were struggling to create any clear-cut opportunities of their own.

A double change in personnel for the final 25 minutes helped spark some life into the Babazorros, though, creating a good chance for Ruben Sobrino at the end of a Deyverson knockdown which was well blocked.

Deyverson came even closer by finding the back of the net when a loose ball fell his way, only for the offside flag to deny him and his side a route back into the match.

With that came Alaves's best chance of ending their long wait for a major honour, as Barca held on for a 29th success in the competition in Enrique's farewell.