Karim Benzema bagged a hat-trick as Real Madrid cruised to a commanding 4-0 victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday.

Benzema scored a hat trick in the second half as Carlo Ancelotti’s team staged a remarkable comeback from a one-goal deficit in the first leg of the semi-final. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring just before halftime.

After scoring three goals on the weekend against Real Valladolid in La Liga, Benzema repeated the feat to humiliate Barcelona in front of nearly 95,000 distraught fans on a difficult night for coach Xavi Hernandez.

Los Blancos trail their rivals by 12 points in La Liga and were defeated by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in January, but they won this match to advance to the Copa final for the first time since 2014, where they will face Osasuna.

“It was a complete game — when you play a complete game, you win 4-0 like that,” said Ancelotti.

“This is the most important moment of the season and when we’re at the right temperature (like this), we’re good.”

Madrid eliminated the record-setting 31-time cup champions with a muscular performance on a tense night in Barcelona, where they also ended a demoralising streak of three consecutive Clasico losses.

Sergi Roberto of Barcelona stated that allowing Vinicius’ goal on the stroke of halftime was a devastating setback.

“Their goal at the end of the first half killed us, we didn’t deserve to let in that goal. I think we were better in the first half,” the midfielder told RTVE.

“We created more chances that we didn’t put away, and that goal hurt our morale. In the second half they scored the second and we couldn’t play our game.”

The Catalan stated that Barcelona’s bid for the title in the final weeks of the season would not be affected by a loss.

“Now we have a considerable points distance, it will not affect us, we have to continue and go for the league,” he added.

Photo by EPA/Enric Fontcuberta