Three things we learned from Barcelona’s Copa del Rey win over Real Madrid

Barca go from wasteful to clinical

Barcelona have been wasteful in attack in recent games and were guilty of missing chances against Lyon, Real Valladolid and Athletic Bilbao.

However, it was a different story entirely at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid suffered in front of goal, while Barcelona were absolutely ruthless.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

The visitors only managed two shots on target throughout the entire 90 minutes but scored three times as they displayed a cutting edge that has been missing recently.

Ousmane Dembele still looks to be searching for his pre-injury form but came up with two great assists, while there was no debate at all about the penalty won by Luis Suarez.

It was a stark contrast to Vinicius and Karim Benzema who threatened throughout but simply could not find a way past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barca goal.

Luis Suarez just loves El Clasico

Luis Suarez has been written off plenty of times this season but came up with the goods yet again to secure the win for Barcelona.

He opened the scoring with a great finish, forced Raphael Varane to net an own goal for the second, and best of all scored a deliciously cheeky penalty to put the tie out of Madrid’s reach.

So cheeky in fact, it deserves another look:

It also means his record against Real Madrid is pretty unbelievable.

He’ll be back again on Saturday. Can he maintain his record against Los Blancos?

Barcelona’s Copa del Rey dominance continues

Barcelona’s victory over Real Madrid sees them into their seventh final in the last eight years. The Catalan giants are now on course to lift the trophy for the fifth year a row.

In fact it’s now been nearly five years since Barcelona were knocked out of the tournament.

It’s an incredible record, even more so when you compare it to their rivals. Real Madrid have won the tournament just twice in the last 25 years.

The competition’s critics will downplay the importance of the trophy, but Jordi Alba is having none of it.

“We have given value to the Copa. Real Madrid wanted it; many people were focussing before the game to liven it up,” he said.

”The excuse that it’s an insignificant trophy doesn’t cut it. We have suffered. In general, we’ve been good.”

Source | Marca

Barcelona will now face either Real Betis or Valencia in the final. The two teams play the second leg of their semi-final at Mestalla on Thursday with the tie set at 2-2.

The final will be held at Real Betis’ Benito Villamarín Stadium, Barca are yet to visit in La Liga this season but will need no reminding they won 5-0 there last year.