Karim Benzema destroyed Barcelona’s defence as Real Madrid won 4-0 at the Nou Camp to reach the Spanish Cup final. The only doubt left by his blistering performance is whether he scored three or four. He looked to have touched the first after it had crossed the line but there was no doubt about goals two, three and four.
Barcelona fans chanted Lionel Messi’s name on 10 minutes but this showing a 35-year-old forward is not what this team leads to winning the big knockout matches – even if he is the greatest in history.
They were slow all over the pitch. Robert Lewandowski offered almost no threat – he has three more years left on his contract. Sergio Busquets looked even more off the pace as an energetic and fired-up Madrid ran riot in midfield.
They were missing Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele. And there was also no Andreas Christensen but this was evidence once again that for all that they have admirably crafted an excellent league campaign that will leave them as Champions, they have fallen woefully short all season in big cup games in Europe and at home.
This Madrid has plenty of miles on the clock too but the engine still revs menacing when it matters most and they were deserving of the emphatic scoreline having come into the game 1-0 down from the first leg.