Barcelona hosted Real Madrid in their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg on Wednesday, with the visitors coming out on top 4-0 (4-1 on aggregate).
Fans were treated to the fifth meeting between these two rivals this season as Los Blancos dug deep to overturn their 1-0 deficit despite the Blaugrana winning the last three Clásicos in a row.
As expected, it was a tussle at Camp Nou, and Xavi’s side looked the better of the two during the opening moments, with Raphinha and Gavi causing headaches for Real Madrid.
Thibaut Courtois was eventually called into action, but Sergi Roberto’s shot didn’t cause too much of an issue before it was time for Carlo Ancelotti’s side to threaten.
Temper flared as usual over time, with Gavi and Vinicius getting into a heated argument and each seeing yellow cards as a result. Then a blistering 20 seconds eventually led to the breakthrough.
Courtois made a huge stop on Robert Lewandowski from point-blank range before Madrid hit on the counter. Vinicius’ shot then had just enough power to turn things level on aggregate.
Coming out into the second half, Madrid’s momentum eventually carried over and they turned it around against the run of play when Luka Modrić teed up a wide-open Karim Benzema for 2-0.
Barcelona, however, almost hit back immediately when some slick close control skills from Araújo beat Fede Valverde in the box, yet he dragged the shot wide. The rest of Xavi’s attack remained flat-footed.
And within the blink of an eye, Vinicius created another opportunity for the visitors after inviting a clumsy challenge from Franck Kessie. Benzema then scored the subsequent penalty before securing his second hat-trick in two games late on.
The Frenchman is now two goals behind the joint-leaders Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo Di Stefano as Madrid’s top Clásico scorers (18).
Notably, he is also the first player to wear the white kit and score three goals in Barcelona since 1963.
Real Madrid will now face Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final.