Real Madrid crushes FC Barcelona to reach Copa final
Real Madrid will face Osasuna in the final of the Copa del Rey after beating FC Barcelona (0-4) on Wednesday at the Spotify Camp Nou, coming back from 0-1 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Karim Benzema’s hat-trick against a Barcelona side that was perhaps a little better in the first half but was wiped off the map by the Whites in the second half. Real Madrid will play the final of the Copa del Rey in Seville against the Navarrese side, who eliminated Athletic Club on Tuesday. The two clubs with the best cup records, Barcelona and Athletic, fell to give way to a less expected and unprecedented final. Real Madrid, a fan of great comebacks, pulled off yet another one to embarrass Barceona in front of their home fans.
A clear victory for Real Madrid
Barcelona will not be able to fight for a domestic treble -they won the Spanish Super Cup and have almost won LaLiga- and the streak of three Clasicos in a row won by Xavi Hernandez’s team was broken. This time, with a result that may have been too big for what was seen until well into the second half, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid won clearly and deservedly to return to a cup final. Something they had not done since 2014, when they beat Barcelona.
A clear victory for Real Madrid Great game by Karim Benzema
Real Madrid, motivated by the goal in extremis with which they closed the first half, came out more lively on the pitch and 5 minutes after the restart Karim Benzema, this time it was him, gave Carlo Ancelotti’s team the lead in this semifinal. Luka Modric came in from the right and gave a precise pass to the Frenchman, who scored the 0-2.
Un vendaval blanco
This current gained strength and carried Barcelona away from their home ground. The blaugranas were lost, overwhelmed by the thrust of a Real Madrid that went on to score the 0-3, a penalty committed by Kessié to Vinicius Jr, a work of Karim Benzema. Raphinha and Araujo had chances earlier, but the same situation as at the end of the first half happened again. Barcelona warned, Madrid scored. The score was not higher because Rodrygo failed to finish a good cross from Modric after a gift from Marcos Alonso, in the 60th minute. And in the 78th minute, Marco Asensio (first white refreshment) tested Ter Stegen after a counterattack. This time, the German could have prevented the 0-4, but he failed to do so shortly after, when Karim Benzema scored another hat-trick (after the one against Valladolid in La Liga) in a brilliantly finished counter-attack.
Rodrygo, Benzema and Vincius, Ancelotti’s trident
Carlo Ancelotti was brave, right from the start, to place Rodrygo on the right wing, to form a trident with Benzema and Vinicius Jr. With this, Valverde returned to midfield alongside the untouchable Modric and Kroos and, the other surprise, was to see Camavinga at left back, suffering but playing at a good level against Raphinha, whom he ended up ‘drying out’. Xavi, on the other hand, was more cautious. He made no changes to the system or names. What he had was what he put in. And, despite not looking for a surprise, Barcelona knew how to set the pace of the match at the start. They claimed a penalty for a handball – denied by Munuera and the VAR – right at the start and had more chances, but without the aim that Real Madrid had to put ‘spark’ into the duel and end up setting fire to the Camp Nou, which surely lived its last Clasico.
Another final eludes FC Barcelona
Barring a setback, Barcelona will play next season at Montjuic while the Barcelona stadium is being modernized. So maybe the last Clasico will have such a bad memory. The one of letting a cup final slip away against the eternal rival and being overwhelmed in game and result. Madrid will go to La Cartuja on May 6 and Barcelona will have to recover to avoid a comeback in LaLiga. That would be to sink, more than with this 0-4.
