Real Madrid thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday to reach the Copa del Rey final, with a 4-1 aggregate win over their Clasico rivals.
Having lost the first leg at home last month, Karim Benzema’s second-half hat-trick completed the rout after Vinicius Junior’s goal just before half-time.
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Madrid had lost their previous three meetings with Barcelona and trail Xavi’s side by 12 points in La Liga, but they go through to face Osasuna in the final on May 6 thanks to a stunning victory.
Here, The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan, Tomás Hill López-Menchero and Mark Carey pick up the game’s big talking points.
The Karim Benzema Show
It has been a season of contrasts for Karim Benzema. Too often he has been hampered by injury and poor form, although he could hardly be expected to match his goalscoring exploits of last season, when he scored a remarkable 44 times in 46 appearances for Real Madrid.
The Frenchman scored a La Liga hat-trick in under seven minutes against Real Valladolid on Sunday, but critics might have argued that was against weak opposition (Valladolid are 16th in the 20-team table). Not so here against league leaders Barcelona, where Benzema showed his nervelessness in front of goal once again with another hat-trick. Though this one did take him four times as long.
It seemed as if the game might pass him by in the first half, but he played a key role in Vinicius Junior’s opening goal of the night just before the interval.
Then he produced a stroked finish from Luka Modric’s pass in the 50th minute to stun Barcelona and put Madrid ahead on aggregate, before converting from the spot eight minutes later following a clumsy challenge by Franck Kessie on Vinicius Jr. His third and final goal was deftly lifted over Marc-Andre ter Stegen after a brilliant pass from Vinicius Jr.
Benzema’s hat-trick – the first by a Real Madrid player against Barcelona at the Camp Nou since Ferenc Puskas in 1963 – means only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo Di Stefano have scored more than his 16 goals in Clasico history. Madrid will be delighted to see the Frenchman flying when they need him most.
Tomás Hill López-Menchero
Madrid – knockout football experts
Real Madrid’s domestic season might have tapered off as they sit 12 points behind Barcelona in the league with 11 games to go, but is there any team in European football you trust more in a knockout tie?
Think about it. On so many occasions in the Champions League last season, they looked certain to exit the competition. Two-nil down to PSG on aggregate with half an hour of the second leg to go? Cue a 17-minute Karim Benzema hat-trick.
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Five-three behind against Manchester City in the semi-final’s second leg after 89 minutes? Another three-goal turnaround in a matter of minutes.
Liverpool then dominated the final in Paris, but the final scoreline? One-nil to Madrid, of course.
Madrid’s ability to weather any storm is unparalleled, particularly as the importance of the game at hand increases.
With Barcelona a goal up from the first leg and dominating the first half here, Ancelotti’s men could have gone into their shells. But with the pace of Vinicius Junior, the experience of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, plus the deadly finishing of Benzema, there is never an occasion where you feel you can write Madrid off.
They don’t need to dominate for long periods in every knockout game. They have special players for special moments.
And that’s what wins you trophies.
Mark Carey
The Camp Nou longs for Messi
The last Clasico at the old Camp Nou, before it is partially demolished this summer as part of the club’s €1.5billion Espai Barca rebuild, saw plenty of heat and noise both on and off the pitch.
The almost-full stadium was rocking during the game’s early stages, with Barcelona’s aggression and high press giving them control. They committed the first seven fouls of the night, while coach Xavi was booked for his complaints about referee Jose Luis Martinez Munuera’s decision-making.
Up in the stands, minute 10 — matching his Barca shirt number — brought orchestrated loud chanting of “Messi! Messi!”. Barcelona sporting director Mateu Alemany was non-committal when asked pre-game about the possible return of Lionel Messi this summer after two years with Paris Saint-Germain, but tens of thousands of fans made their views clear.
And there's the hat trick!! ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Karim Benzema bags his third of the night and Real Madrid's fourth as they run riot over Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou! 👀 pic.twitter.com/dWykmsMRHR
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 5, 2023
Minute 30 then saw chants of “Gavi! Gavi!”, just after the midfielder had been booked for a scrap with Vinicius Junior. As with Messi earlier in the match, 30 is the teenager’s shirt number; he did wear No 6 but had to change due to a stand-off with La Liga over budget rules, one of many off-pitch battles Barcelona are currently involved in.
In the second half, with Madrid now in control of the tie, the frustration in the stands saw play stopped as the match officials recovered a cigarette lighter thrown onto the pitch.
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Next season’s Clasicos in Barcelona will be played across the city at the Estadio Olimpico Lluís Companys — but club president Joan Laporta claims to have “guarantees” that Barca will be back playing at a remodelled Camp Nou by November 2024.
That remains to be seen, due to many questions hanging over the project, but the vast majority of Barcelona fans remain behind Laporta’s charismatic leadership.
Dermot Corrigan
More frustration for Lewandowski
It was still 0-0 on the night when the clear chance opened up for Robert Lewandowski — 10 yards out, with half-time looming…
The shot was not badly struck, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved superbly, but it was a great opportunity to put Barcelona 2-0 up on aggregate, especially for someone widely recognised as a world-class striker.
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Within 20 seconds, Madrid had counter-attacked and levelled the tie at 1-1, and Lewandowski was suffering another frustrating night.
When Barcelona were on top early in this second leg, he also had one half-chance blocked, another taken off his toe by team-mate Raphinha and got clattered in the back by his marker Eder Militao.
Once Madrid’s three quick goals put them in control, Lewandowski’s only notable contribution was being penalised for raising his arm in an aerial challenge with Eder Militao.
Over the 90 minutes, the Pole had 38 touches in total, but he won just two of 13 duels, and lost possession eight times.
The former Bayern Munich player has 27 goals in 35 appearances in his first season with Barca, scored as Madrid were beaten in January’s Supercopa final, and is almost certain to collect a La Liga champion’s medal in June.
But another pretty poor game, especially compared to opposite number Karim Benzema’s decisive contribution, was further evidence of how the 34-year-old’s form has trailed off after an explosive start at the Camp Nou.
Dermot Corrigan
A big win for Ancelotti, but is it enough?
This was a statement win for Madrid and head coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian had lost his past three meetings with Barcelona counterpart Xavi — going back to the Supercopa de Espana final in January — but his side turned the tables in style at the Camp Nou.
Those losses hurt for Madrid fans. Ancelotti’s team were comprehensively outplayed in that Supercopa final, stunned by Barca at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of this semi-final and then virtually lost their La Liga title at the Camp Nou on March 19. But this was a victory to stand alongside Barcelona’s 4-0 demolition of their rivals at the Bernabeu last season.
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Beating Osasuna to lift the 2022-23 Copa del Rey next month is unlikely to save Ancelotti’s job — everyone knows Real Madrid would prefer a record-extending 15th Champions League title in Istanbul in June — but winning this competition for the first time since 2014, and only the third time in 30 years, would still be significant.
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Madrid will go into the Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Chelsea next Wednesday confident in their powers of recovery, having embarrassed their biggest rivals in their own back yard.
Tomás Hill López-Menchero
Balde is bold, but Barcelona are blunt
Barcelona’s approach was much changed from that first leg at the Bernabeu, which saw them have just 35 per cent possession — their lowest share of the season in all competitions.
Despite the eventual scoreline at the Camp Nou, Xavi’s men dominated the first half with 59 per cent of the ball, regularly pulling Real Madrid from side to side with switches of play — but it was their left side in particular that caught the eye.
The effervescent Gavi started nominally from that wing, but would often drift inside in his typical manner, picking up spaces and drifting into pockets — forcing right-back Dani Carvajal to remain tight to his centre-back Eder Militao to plug any gaps.
This allowed Alejandro Balde to storm forward from left-back, and the 19-year-old was a constant out-ball for Barcelona. With the blistering pace that he offers, Balde was able to have a high starting position to join the attack.
It was from Balde’s cross that Barcelona had one of their biggest chances of the game, just before the break, with a fantastic Thibaut Courtois save from Robert Lewandowski allowing Madrid to counter-attack for the night’s opening goal.
There was a clear intention from Barcelona to isolate Balde on the left side of their attack, but unfortunately for them, they simply couldn’t sustain it in the second half.
Mark Carey
(Top photo: Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)