Real Madrid

 

Real Madrid has a chance to win both the league and cup with Benzema, even though Barcelona may be cruising towards the LaLiga championship.

At Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday, Karim Benzema scored his second straight hat-trick as Real Madrid destroyed Barcelona 4-0 to advance to the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna.

With three goals in the second half, Benzema—who also scored three goals against Real Valladolid at the weekend—quieted the home audience of over 94,000 and guaranteed Madrid a spot in their first domestic cup final since 2014.

After Barcelona's razor-thin 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Copa semifinal last month, Vinicius Jr. scored earlier to tie the match on aggregate.

Rapid response

1. Madrid breaks a Clasico streak to advance to the final

Despite missing four of their important players due to injury, including Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Ousmane Dembele, Barcelona had won the previous three encounters between the two teams and had a strong start to the game. They were good at moving the ball around, but in a match that occasionally looked like it might get out of hand, they lacked a punch in the closing third. A heated first half nearly resulted in a fight between Gavi and Vinicius.

At left-back, Alejandro Balde posed a danger, and it was his cross that almost resulted in the game's first goal. However, Thibaut Courtois turned aside Robert Lewandowski's accurate strike, and Madrid took the lead after 30 seconds. Vinicius shattered and fired after gathering the Jules Kounde tried his best to keep the ball out, but Benzema's ball managed to slide over the goal line.

Madrid had the upper hand on the evening, but the game was tied overall. After the break, the boisterous home crowd, which had previously chanted Lionel Messi's name amid speculation about a potential comeback, attempted to motivate their team. Barca, however, disintegrated, so it had little impact. The second goal by Benzema was assisted by Luka Modric, and the tie-breaking goal by the Frenchman came as a result of a tackle on Vinicius by Franck Kessie.

The third goal by Benzema came in the waning moments as Barca frantically searched for something. As a result, Madrid will face Osasuna in the championship in Seville in May. Given that it has been nine years since they last won this competition, they will be heavy favourites going into that contest.

2. Benzema fuelling hopes of a cup double

 Real Madrid's loss to Barcelona just before the international break in LaLiga put Los Blancos 12 points behind them in the league, fueling expectations of a cup double thanks to Benzema. No one would contest that the league championship will return to Camp Nou for the first time since 2019—almost definitely.

However, after it had seemed to be shifting in support of Barca, this victory maintains a relatively even balance of power between the two Clasico rivals.

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But more importantly, it keeps Madrid on pace to win both cups. They are still in the race for the Champions League in addition to the Copa del Rey final. Next week they face In an effort to win back the trophy, Chelsea played well in the first half of their quarterfinal match.

They cannot be ruled out with Benzema in this condition. His second in four days and first hat-trick against Barcelona indicate that his form is peaking at the ideal time. He currently has 25 goals across all categories, and Vinicius, a brilliant player, assists him. With his goal here, the Brazilian joined Mohamed Salah as the only players from Europe's top five leagues to have at least 20 goals and 10 assists this season across all categories.

On Wednesday, Barca occasionally turned into their own worst adversary. They gave up right before halftime when perhaps they should have been concentrating on maintaining their advantage from the first leg going into the break. Then, in the second half, they disintegrated in a manner reminiscent of some of their most recent defeats in Europe.

3. Will LaLiga success be enough for Barca?

Although LaLiga is prioritised over the Copa del Rey and is seen as being much more important by Barcelona, being eliminated by rival Real Madrid -- and doing so so convincingly at home -- will be very painful. Barca supporters won't even want to consider Madrid finishing the season with another European trophy, especially if Madrid goes on to win the tournament.

It modifies the storyline on their championship achievement. While they are on track to win their first local championship in four years, they have now been eliminated by Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Manchester United, and now Madrid in the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Copa del Rey.

Although the Super Cup victory over Madrid and LaLiga performance indicate improvement, there is still much space for growth and introspection before the following year.

Top and bottom performers

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema is the best.

He scored a second hat-trick this week, putting on yet another clinic in taking opportunities.

Best: Real Madrid's Luka Modric

took some time to get rolling but in the second half took over the midfield. Define the second objective.

Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid, is the best.

Despite not having much to do, he controlled his area well, collected crosses, and made a crucial save on Lewandowski that allowed the opening goal to be scored on the break.

Raphinha, Barcelona, worst

could not defeat Eduardo Camavinga and lacked even a fraction of his danger from their previous meeting two weeks ago.

Marcos Alonso, Barcelona, is the worst

was not anticipated to be at the wounded person's level In addition to replacing Christensen, he made far too many elementary mistakes.

Sergi Roberto, Barcelona, is the worst

Brushed off too easily by Modric for the second Madrid goal, and he was a worse option without De Jong and Pedri.