3 Reasons why Barcelona beat Real Madrid | Copa Del Rey 2018/19

#1 Real Madrid's excessive attention on Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was quiet in the match

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.