It was all too easy. Barcelona have an incredible record in the Copa Del Rey, winning the last four iterations of the competition. Facing off against Real Madrid in the semi-final of this year's tournament, they would have been more determined than ever to keep that run going.
After a relatively dull draw in the Camp Nou in the first leg of the tie, they travelled to the Spanish capital with the score tied at 1-1. Despite their patchy form this season, many fancied Los Blancos to finish the job off in their home stadium. Things didn't exactly go that way.
After a scoreless opening half, Barcelona would take the lead just after the restart. Ousmane Dembele showed great pace to get down the side of the Madrid defence, before expertly pulling the ball back for Luis Suarez to finish off.
The home side came so close to grabbing an equaliser, Lucas Vasquez's header ford a stunning save out of Marc-Andre Der Stegen.
Barcelona should have had a penalty when Sergio Ramos brought down Ivan Rakitic, but the Madrid defender somehow got away with this one despite VAR being on hand.
They would eventually double their lead with 20 minutes left on the clock, with Raphael Varane unfortunate to turn this Dembele cross into his own net.
They would add further gloss to the scoreline in the closing stage, when Luis Suarez was brought down in the penalty area by Casemiro. This one was probably less of a foul than Ramos' earlier, but the Uruguayan would make no mistake in tucking away the resulting sport kick.
This result served to further drive home the gulf in quality between the two sides at the moment, with Barcelona superior in every aspect of the game. Currently nine points off the summit of La Liga, Madrid's season will likely come down to the Champions League once again.
Of course, they will have the opportunity to close that gap this weekend, when the two sides face off once again for the second El Clasico in the space of three days.
