Luis Suarez scored two goals and was instrumental when Barca crushed his big rivals to qualify for the Copa del Rey final. ">
Luis Suarez scored one goal and Ousmane Dembele collected two assists while Barcelona beat his Clasico rivals Real Madrid 3-0 at Bernabeu to qualify for the final of the Copa del Rey, 4-1 in total. The victory was also historic since the Barca became the first team in the history of the Copa to reach six consecutive finals.
The result will be extremely frustrating for Real, given the strength with which he started the match, who scored no goal until halftime. They dominated the game in terms of shots, with 12 against 4 for Barca, but found themselves on the wrong side of an impressive score.
The young winger of Real, Vinicius Junior, was the story of the first half, except for all the bad reasons given his extravagance in front of goals. The former Flamengo striker was guilty of spoiling a few chances during the first period: after 18 minutes, he was scratching a shot out of range of 15 meters after a good action by players Sergio Reguilon and Karim Benzema.
Five minutes later, Vinicius lost another golden opportunity. After releasing Benzema on the flank and taking the position to score the goal of the pass, he could only mobilize a small effort directly against Marc-André ter Stegen.
Barça threatened through Dembele, Suarez and Lionel Messi, but the biggest failure of the first half came back to Vinicius. His shot away from the goalkeeper's 38-minute score was one of the most distressing.
In the end, the breakthrough came on 50 minutes for visitors. Jordi Alba left room for Dembele to exploit in the bottom left and the center of the French found Suarez in the area, the Uruguayans ending powerfully under the pressure of Sergio Ramos.
Barca's second goal would end the fight. Messi and Dembele combined again, but it was Raphael Varane, not Suarez, who ended up pocketing the center in the net. That would be the end for Real since three minutes later, Casemiro doubled Suarez to score the easiest penalty. Suarez advanced and calmly beat the ball past a defenseless Keylor Navas.
The men of Ernesto Valverde will now face Valencia or Real Betis, currently tied 2-2 overall after their first leg, in the final on May 25 in Seville. The next match for Barca is their second La Liga Clasico of the season as Real Madrid welcome them Saturday at Bernabeu.
