Courtois frees Real Madrid

Barcelona had 53 percent of the possession and eleven shots on goal, while Real Madrid only had nine. The Blaugrana’s statistical dominance was even clearer in the first half, whose last action explains the historic 0-4 with which the Whites sealed their ticket to the Copa del Rey final. Thibaut Courtois appeared with the defense of those who bring victories, and the counterattack activated two of the most determined footballers, Benzema and Vinicius. From the break they offered a Show in total.

The Belgian goalkeeper is an exception in the volleyball family, and once again he showed that his coaches in the youth center of Genk did not make a mistake when they switched him to the goal from the left side. Paying tribute to his parents and brothers, Thibaut stretched to clear Robert Lewandowski’s corner and those with a talent for carrying the ball sewn to his leg built 0-1 with spaces. Brazilians Rodrygo and Vinicius ran out, and already in the penalty area, Benzema froze time to bring it back to 20. Koundé was close to clearing, and Benzema hit the net just in case, but the goal was on the far left.

Perfect scenario for Ancelotti

Barcelona planned to play the game calmly. He made a 0-1 save in the first leg and, confident of his good defensive level, tried to slow the game down, having no problem hitting balls from time to time to link up with Lewandowski. The slogan was to avoid losses. But during their initial dominance, Xavi Hernández’s side generated little more than Gava’s cross in which they claimed a penalty for David Alaba’s handball. When they finally executed a good option, a very confident Courtois appeared in the 90th minute and the counterattack changed the whole plan.

While the Catalans were forced to take a step forward and hardly had the opportunity to shake up the game from the bench, Carlo Ancelotti’s students found space to take the second leg of the cup semi-final for themselves. In this context, Vinicius and Benzema ruled.

From insignificance to everything

Vinicius Júnior, paired again with Ronaldo Araúja and Karim Benzema, struggled to find their place in the first 45 minutes. Everything changed in the second sequel where they offered a recital.

The French striker headed the ball home after scoring a hat trick and his Brazilian partner was in almost all of White’s best attacks. The omnipresent Luka Modrić again contributed to the first goal of 9, with a subtle right foot from the front, but the left side made it easier for him to score the other two goals. First he took a penalty off the dribble towards Kessié and then he put the captain in alone against Ter Stegen in another good transition. Just before that, the German goalkeeper stretched to keep out Marco Asensi’s shot in Vinicius’ second start, whose continued link-up with rivals does not prevent him from using his I play nice.