The Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Real Madrid explained the season writ large for the two sides.

In terms of talent, Real Madrid is probably the most loaded in Europe. And for a while there in Seville, you thought that deep bench would make the difference against Barcelona, who had limited options to turn to when fatigue set in.

But Barcelona have something much more important. They have a deep trust in one another. A unity that allows them to persevere when the going gets tough. A belief that they can find a way through.

And once again, as their hopes were dimming, trailing late in the game, they kept fighting, and found a way back in.

Barcelona is not a perfect team. Hansi Flick is not a perfect manager.

Real Madrid outplayed them in the second half. Carlo Ancelotti got the better of his counterpart.

When the whistle blew for full time, neither team deserved to win more than the other. Barcelona definitively won the first half, Real Madrid the second.

But in stoppage side, something truly revealing happened. In fact, it was a sequence of two events.

First, Ferran Torres was taken down in the box in the 92nd minute, in what most neutrals would describe as a clear penalty upon seeing the replay. But the referee allowed play to continue on.

Minutes later, Raphinha was taken down in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. Upon VAR review, it was overturned, perhaps if we’re being honest, rightfully so.

In both instances, Barcelona were unlucky that the call didn’t go their way. This could have been the decisive moment of the game. Yes, you saw some frustration on the faces of the players and the manager, but they got over it quickly and moved on.

In contrast, coming into the game, Real Madrid world manufactured a scandal out of nothing, as they have been doing all season long. They tried discrediting the reputation of the match official, claiming he couldn’t be trusted to treat them fairly. Comically ironic given their history in La Liga.

Real Madrid is a team that is weak of mind. Their likely trophy-less season is a self-fulfilling prophecy. An act of self-sabotage.

Instead of working on themselves to become the best team they could be, they became fixated on finding excuses to explain their mediocrity.

Barcelona, on the other hand, became mentality monsters behind the leadership of the calm and steady Hansi Flick. He never let his players off the hook. He never let them blame anyone but themselves when the results didn’t go their way.

Their season could have been derailed heading into the new year. They were on a terrible run of form.

Instead of sulking, they got back to work on the field, and in a lot of ways they became a different team.

A lot of the intensity we saw in the early going was hard to replicate over the stretch of the long season across so many competitions. There were moments, in fact entire halves, when the players would go missing.

But they always stayed together, and believed even on their worst days, they could get results. In large part, this was possible, because they knew that if they were playing poorly it was their own fault. There was no one else to blame.

So even after Kylian Mbappé scored that free kick in the 70th minute, followed by the go ahead goal by Aurélien Tchouaméni just moments later, Barcelona were equipped to mount yet another improbable comeback.

They didn’t stop fighting. They knew that they would win or lose based on merit. They were accountable.

It doesn’t hurt to have Lamine Yamal who can pull a rabbit out of a hat. He did that twice in this Clásico. But that’s not how the title was won.

It was the gutsy defensive line.

It was the beautifully arrogant goal keeper.

It was the substitutes, like Eric Garcia, Ronald Araujo, and Fermín López, putting their body on the line to win balls.

It was because of an unexpected hero on the day in Jules Kounde, who refused to let the game go to penalties. Someone who has given everything to the team, game after game, doing much of the thankless work. This moment in the sun was earned.

Barcelona is a tired team, but they are also an energized team. Winning is a drug, and it gives you adrenaline.

Two trophies down, with the two biggest still up for grabs.

You can’t bet against them. They are a complete team. Talent is secondary.

In that respect, Barcelona has taught Real Madrid an important lesson that they would be wise to learn from.