3 Reasons why Barcelona beat Real Madrid

It's official, Barcelona are still on course for the third treble in their history, as the club breezed past their eternal rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu to progress to the final of the Copa Del Rey, where they are set to meet either Valencia or Betis in a tie slated for 25 May at Betis' stadium.

Barcelona would be confident of retaining the trophy they have won on each of the last four occasions, with their emphatic 3-0 thumping of Real in their own backyard enough to give them extra motivation.

In scenes reminiscent of the match which cost Julen Lopetegui his job, Barcelona ran riot at the Bernabeu, ending all hopes Real had of lifting their first ever treble and with a second El Clasico set to take place over the coming weekend, Los Blancos would be wary of seeing a repeat performance.

The defeat would put further pressure on Santiago Solari, as his side have not been in the best of forms of late, with the manner of the loss and the rivals involved sure to raise further scrutiny. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Barcelona embarrassing win over their arch-rivals.

#3 Suarez the menace

In the aforementioned 5-1 defeat of Real Madrid by Barcelona which cost Julen Lopetegui his job, Luis Suarez was the architect of that victory, rising to the occasion in the absence of talisman Lionel Messi and putting Real Madrid to the sword with a well-taken hat-trick.

The Uruguayan has faced criticisms in recent times which is justified, considering that he has been beneath his usual high standards and his laborious displays in the first half were in line with his performances in recent weeks.

However, the half-time break seemed to rejuvenate the 32-year-old, as he was on hand to turn Ousmane Dembele's well-timed pass in the 50th minute into the back of the net to open the scoring on the night and grant Barcelona their much-needed away goal.

That seemed to spark Suarez into life, as he continuously proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the Madrid backline, constantly hassling the Real Madrid defence, which ultimately led to Raphael Varane turning into the back of his net in the 69th minute to double Barca's lead.

Just four minutes later, Casemiro bundled the former Liverpool poacher in the box, with referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez having no option but to point to the spot.

Suarez dusted himself off from the floor to score his second and Barcelona's third on the night. His decision to take the penalty with the cheeky 'Panenka' chip was the most humiliating end to the night possible.

Suarez's brace took him to 11 goals from 13 appearances against Real Madrid (which makes them his favourite opponents). Not even Messi has scored that much since the Uruguayan arrived in 2014 and you can be sure that Real Madrid fans are tired of the sight of Suarez.

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#2 Real Madrid's missed opportunities

For the entirety of the first half, Real Madrid were the dominant team in the match, bossing possession and dictating the tempo of the game, fashioning chances while their visitors were haplessly all over the place and failed to get to grips with the match.

Vinicius Jr, in particular, was the most lively of Real Madrid's attackers, keeping to his great form of late. However, for all of the times he got the Bernabeu crowd off their seats, he was sure to get them back in it with exasperation as he and his fellow forwards failed to make the most of their chances.

Barcelona put up one of their most lifeless performances in recent memory in the first half and were there for the killing, only to be let off the hook by poor finishing by Real Madrid and some superb goalkeeping by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Real Madrid failed to make the most of their chances in the first half when Barcelona was down and out and this came back to haunt them as Suarez changed the narrative in the second half and this profligacy in front of goal cost Los Blancos a place in the final of the Copa del Rey.

#1 Real Madrid's excessive attention on Lionel Messi

While Suarez might be the new enfant terrible for Real Madrid fans, there is a teammate of his who has been tormenting Los Blancos for well over a decade.

Ever since getting his first goal and hat-trick against Real way back in 2007, Messi has been a constant thorn in the flesh of the capital club.

With 26 goals, he is the highest goalscorer in the history of this illustrious fixture, while his status as one of the greatest players in history is without a doubt.

On his day (which is pretty much almost all the time), Messi has the key to unlock any defence in the world and as such, it is usually imperative for clubs to keep an eye on him (which they most times fail at spectacularly).

On the night, Solari sought out to neutralise Messi's impact, ensuring the 31-year-old was crowded every time he had the ball and Real succeeded in their mission, as the Argentine failed to make any sort of meaningful impact on the match, with the game passing him by as a relative spectator.

However, Barcelona have a plethora of world-class players with incredible abilities who can cause damage to any team and in a twist of events, Real's success in effectively shackling Messi proved to be their undoing, as it opened up space for other players to harm them.

Suarez, in particular, was the major beneficiary of this and he needed no second invitation to make the most of the chances afforded him due to the excess concentration on Messi.