Karim Benzema inspired a famous 4-0 win for Real Madrid ove Barcelona at Camp Nou to secure his team's place in this season's Copa del Rey final.
Los Blancos booked their place in the final alongside Osasuna on Wednesday evening, coming from 1-0 down on aggregate thanks to goals from Benzema and Vinicius Junior
Barcelona were the much, much better team in the opening exchanges, with Alejandro Balde causing the Real defence a huge amount of problems. Balde's keenness to get forward did however create some space for Madrid in behind - space which they almost exploited in the 12th minute.
Rodrygo stormed down the right flank and drilled a lovely low ball across goal and seemingly right into the path of Vinicius, but Ronald Araujo was on hand to side in just before Vini could connect with the ball to stop what would've beena a certain goal.
The game descended into a 1980s-style Clasico for most of the rest of the first half, with both teams deciding to just kick lumps out of one another for the hell of it.
El Clasico finally became a football match again in added time at the end of the half. In the space of one minute, Robert Lewandowski's brilliant volley from a Balde cross forced Thibaut Courtois, then Real immediately raced up the other end to make it 1-0 and draw level on aggregate.
Vinicius would break the deadlock on the night after latching onto a low Benzema cross to stab the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen and just past Jules Kounde - who nearly cleared the ball off the line.
Real took the confidence from that goal into the second half with them, and within five minutes they'd taken the agregate lead in the two-legged tie though Benzema (who else?). The 2022 Ballon d'Or winner was squared the ball by fellow Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric before sweeping the ball beautifully into the bottom right corner of the net.
Barca stormed forward in search of an important goal after that, as Balde forced Courtois into a smart save with a solid strike from the edge of the penalty area, and then Raphinha fired just over bar from a tight angle.
In the 55th minute, Araujo would come within a whisker of making it 2-1. The defender stormed into the box with real intent, before toe-poking narrowly wide of the post.
Barcelona were made to rue that flurry of missed chances soon after when Franck Kessie clumsily tripped up Vinicius in the penalty area. Up stepped Benzema to take the resulting spot kick, and he (obviously) made no mistake with his effort, side-footing casually into the corner of the net.
The home side's heads completely dropped after the third went in, and it really got quite ugly for Xavi's team in the final 15 minutes.
After spurning a few good chances, Benzema finally bagged his third following a quick counter attack led by Vinicius, who coolly slid the Frenchman in on goal and he made no mistake with his subsequent delicate finish.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK - Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 3/10 - Could do nothing about any of the goals and his distribution was terrible.
RB - Ronald Araujo - 4/10 - Usually has Vini's number, but didn't have it on Wednesday night.
CB - Jules Kounde - 3/10 - Sloppier than usual.
CB - Marcos Alonso - 2/10 - Not a centre-back and not a centre-back who had any hope of containing an in-form Benzema.
LB - Alejandro Balde - 6/10 - Barca's best player from an attacking sense.
CM - Franck Kessie - 0/10 - In a word: hopeless. In two words: utterly hopeless.
CM - Sergio Busquets - 2/10 - Looked his age in the second half. The game passed him by.
CM - Sergi Roberto - 3/10 - Worked hard but he just doesn't possess the quality that either Frenkie de Jong or Pedri do.
RW - Raphinha - 2/10 - Off his game.
ST - Robert Lewandowski - 4/10 - Forced Courtois into one fantastic save.
LW - Gavi - 4/10 - Up for the fight but didn't show much quality on the ball.
SUB - Ansu Fati - N/A - You wouldn't have known he came on.
SUB - Ferran Torres - N/A - See above.
SUB - Eric Garcia - N/A - See above, above.
Real Madrid player ratings (4-3-3)
GK - Thibaut Courtois - 6/10 - Made a stunning save which would lead to the opening goal.
RB - Dani Carvajal - 6/10 - His jaunts up the park in the second half made a huge difference for his side.
CB - Eder Militao - 7/10 - Dealt with Lewandowski well throughout.
CB - David Alaba - 6/10 - Real Madrid are a much better team when Alaba is at the heart of their defence.
LB - Eduardo Camavinga - 8/10 - A very good midfielder, sure, but at left-back Camavinga looks like a world-beater. Great showing again.
CM - Federico Valverde - 5/10 - The quietest of the midfield trio. Hasn't been particularly great recently.
CM - Toni Kroos - 7/10 - Kept the ball ticking over well as he always does.
CM - Luka Modric - 8/10 - Quiet in the first half and then went full Luka Modric in the second. One of the greatest footballers we've ever seen.
RW - Rodrygo - 6/10 - Sparked a few dangerous counter-attacks.
ST - Karim Benzema - 10/10 - As always, he came up clutch. This time with an assist and two goals. He's a ridiculous footballer.
LW - Vinicius Junior - 9/10 - Bagged home the opener at the end of the first half, won a penalty and an assist in the second.
SUB - Marco Asensio - 6/10.
SUB - Dani Ceballos - N/A.
SUB - Aurelien Tchouameni - N/A.
SUB - Nacho Fernandez - N/A.
