The “El Classico” as it is rightly called, is always a stellar showcase between two of the strongest and most respected football clubs in the world, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Their rivalry and matches have always garnered widespread media attention and is always amongst the most viewed club football matches in the world. And this time was no different!
March 5, 2023, saw both these football giants lock horns for the 2nd leg in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. Barca here were seemingly the crowd favorite, having already won the previous three Clasico matches this season, now looking for the 4th straight win over their rivals, this time in front of the home crowd at Camp Nou.
Barcelona, in all fairness, had the highest of odds here as Real Madrid was under pressure due to their 1-0 loss in the Copa del Rey semi final leg 1 last month at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Having faced a narrow defeat at home, Real Madrid was clearly looking for redemption as they straightaway tried entering attack mode after the initial whistle. But Barcelona maintained control over the ball and the situation, dominating ball possession with quick passes through the gaps, not allowing Real to have the ball for too long.
There were some scoring opportunities but none of them could get converted, thanks to some well coordinated defense by the Real Madrid defenders and the Goalie. However, Karim Benzema’s side was quickly able to break through the shackles as they scored the first goal of the match, thus opening the scorecard for Real Madrid.
Vinicius converted a slick pass from Kounde following a killer combination of passes and coordinated counter-attack involving Bini himself, Rodrygo, and Karim Benzema during extra time to give Real Madrid the early lead they needed. As the referee blew the whistle, the scorecard at the end of first half read 1-0 in favor of Real Madrid.
Even though Barcelona did dominate the first half, it didn’t matter in the end as the visitors got the better of it and scored. There on, the match started to become completely one-sided as the Real Boys were going out all guns on the hists.
Karim struck thrice in the second half, scoring a shocking and much needed hat-trick for his team, which included a penalty stroke in the 57th minute.
Just 5 minutes into the second half, Benzema struck his first goal of the match as he smashed the ball past Stegen to double the leas for his team in the 50th minute.
Goal number 3 for Real Madrid came in the 57th minute when Vinicius was fouled. The referee awarded the visitors a penalty, much to the dismay of the home crowd. Benzema took the shot and struck the ball into the bottom corner to get his second goal of the night.
The match the went on as Barcelona desperately tried to get into the match, making valiant yet futile attempts to score, only to again be struck in the back by the visiting side as Benzema scored third goal in the 80th minute following another counter when he fired over Ter Stegen. This pretty shattered any hopes of revival that Barcelona had in this match.
With this MASSIVE victory, Real Madrid are now through to the Copa del Rey final after beating Barcelona 4-0 in the second leg and 4-1 on aggregate.
Both teams appear to attack each other and try to score goals. Barca did well initially as they dominated the first half, but found themselves behind at the break after Vinicius’ shot was helped over the line by Kounde following a quick break.
Benzema’s hat-trick further sealed the deal for his side, as Real Madrid bagged a thumping 4-0 victory over their arch-rivals and league leaders Barcelona, thus reaching the finals of the Copa del Rey final in dominating fashion.
