Ruthless Barca makes Madrid pay in Bernabeu blowout

MADRID - Real Madrid couldn't put Barcelona away when it had the chance, and ended up being dealt a hard blow by its biggest rival on Wednesday.

In the first of two consecutive games between the Spanish powerhouses at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Barca weathered a dominant first half by Madrid and then scored three times after the break for a 3-0 win and a spot in the Copa del Rey final for a sixth straight season.

"I have to admit that we didn't play very well in the first half," Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said after his 100th match at the helm.

"We scored three goals but didn't have that many chances. It happens sometimes."

Luis Suarez scored twice as Barcelona advanced 4-1 on aggregate after being held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the semifinals at Camp Nou three weeks ago.

The Catalan club also benefited from an own goal by Madrid defender Raphael Varane.

"They were a lot more efficient than we were," Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari said. "We created many chances but couldn't score. They scored with their first shot on goal, and then with their second shot on goal.

"They hurt us when they had their chances."

Suarez said Barcelona lived up to the team's reputation as insatiable trophy collectors after reaching the Copa del Rey final for an astonishing sixth straight season.

Barca has won the last four editions of the competition, but coach Ernesto Valverde has heavily rotated his squad this season in the Cup and the team had to overturn first-leg losses to Levante and Sevilla to reach the last four.

After a timid first-half performance that saw Madrid miss a slew of chances, Barca was ruthlessly clinical after the break.

"You have to live up to the reputation of this club, which is the best in the world, and overall we did that tonight," Suarez said.

"This is another demonstration of how good this team is. People keep saying that we don't care about the Cup, but we have shown that we always want to win every trophy.

"We knew that coming to Bernabeu would be difficult, but we were aware we had a great opportunity to play in another final."

Valverde said his side could have fallen behind on numerous occasions but welcomed the efficient nature of the victory after his squad drew a blank in a Champions League game at Lyon.

"It was not a resounding display from us, we have to recognize that, but we scored three times without creating many chances. Sometimes it's the other way round," he said.

"Sometimes football is a little random. In Lyon, we had 25 shots and we couldn't score with any of them and people said we were in crisis."

Defender Jordi Alba said he believed Barca was a worthy winner, and he emphasized the importance of their triumph.

"We were the better team against magnificent opponents, which is very difficult to do in their stadium, and we won by a big margin.

"We had to suffer to win, but overall we played well," he said.

"We really appreciate the Copa del Rey - and Real Madrid wanted to win it too. A lot of their fans arrived early to create a huge atmosphere, so we will not accept the excuse that this is a minor trophy."

Barcelona will be trying to win an unprecedented fifth straight Copa title in the May 25 final in Seville.

Madrid hasn't made it to the Copa final since it won its last title in 2014, and hasn't defeated Barca in five matches in all competitions since the Spanish Super Cup in 2017.

It was the second of three matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona in less than a month. The rivals will also play each other on Saturday in the Spanish league, with Barcelona nine points in front of Madrid.

Another setback against Barca will practically end Madrid's title hopes in the league, leaving the Champions League as the only competition in which it can succeed in its first season without Cristiano Ronaldo in nearly a decade.

After conceding at home, Barcelona needed to score away to have any chance of advancing, and it didn't look good for the Catalan club as it was outplayed by Madrid throughout the first half. However, young Brazilian Vinicius Junior was profligate in front of goal - first, failing to get a shot off in a one-on-one situation and then firing over from close range.

"Vinicius will keep improving as he plays more of these types of games," Solari said.

Looking ahead to the next match, Solari said: "We hope that some of the shots we missed today go in on Saturday.

"In football you have to get back on your feet immediately because the next game is going to cause us problems too."

Agencies