While You Were Asleep: Madrid top Barcelona 4-0 with Benzema hat trick, Man Utd back into EPL’s top four and Dortmund knocked out of German Cup

Barcelona entered the final “clasico” of the season with a chance of earning a fourth straight win against Real Madrid in the same season for the first time.
But when it was all over, it had endured one of its worst ever home losses to its archrival.
With another hat trick Karim Benzema, Madrid overturned Barcelona’s advantage in the Copa del Rey semifinals with a resounding 4-0 win at Camp Nou Stadium to reach the final for the first time in nearly a decade.
Madrid hadn’t beaten Barcelona four goals at Camp Nou since a 5-1 win in 1963.

📹 & 📹🆚 @FCBarcelona_es 0-4 @RealMadrid🏆 ¡ESTAMOS EN LA FINAL!#CopaDelRey | #ElClásico pic.twitter.com/6JyB9PFr5I
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) April 5, 2023
Vinícius Júnior also scored as Madrid advanced 4-1 on aggregate after having lost the first leg 1-0 at home. Benzema also had a hat trick in Madrid’s 6-0 rout of Valladolid in the Spanish league on Sunday.
“It’s obvious that after Karim improved, the team improved as well,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “When he is at his best, everything is better for us. And (Luka) Modric and (Toni) Kroos also had great games. In these types of matches, experience makes a difference.”
Madrid will face Osasuna in the May 6 final in Seville. Osasuna eliminated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in extra time on Tuesday in Bilbao, reaching the final for the first time since losing the title match against Real Betis in 2005.
Man United back into EPL’s top four beating Brentford 1-0
Marcus Rashford led Manchester United to its first Premier League win in six weeks as Erik ten Hag’s team overcame Brentford 1-0 to move back into the top four on Wednesday.
Winning the English League Cup in February underlined the progress overseen Ten Hag this season, but United has failed to win any of its three league matches since the victory at Wembley.

Three more points on the board ✔️👏#MUFC || #MUNBRE pic.twitter.com/TxCMOSeAqY
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 5, 2023
A meek defeat at Newcastle on Sunday led Ten Hag to once again publicly question his players’ hunger, but United showed more character three days later to edge out Brentford in the pouring rain at Old Trafford.
Rashford struck the first-half winner from the impressive Marcel Sabitzer’s knockdown, putting the hosts on course for just their fourth Premier League win in 10 matches.
Leipzig win 2-0, knock Borussia Dortmund out of German Cup
Defending champion Leipzig knocked Borussia Dortmund out of the German Cup with a 2-0 win in their quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Leipzig joined Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart in the semifinals thanks to a first-half strike from Timo Werner and injury-time goal on a counterattack from Willi Orbán. Leipzig defeated Freiburg in last year’s final for its first major trophy.
Led former Dortmund coach Marco Rose, Leipzig dominated from start to finish after losing its previous three games across all competitions.
“We didn’t deserve to win the game today,” Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt said. ”We were very lucky we survived even the first 10 minutes without conceding a goal.”

🔛 to the semis 🔴⚪️Great night at home ✨@DFB_Pokal @RBLeipzig pic.twitter.com/oxopbh0qQj
— Amadou Haidara (@doudouhaidara04) April 5, 2023
The visitors only had Gregor Kobel to thank for keeping Leipzig at bay early on, but the goalkeeper was finally beaten in the 22nd minute when Mohamed Simakan raced past Mats Hummels and crossed for Werner to guide the ball inside the left post. Simakan’s speed made all the difference against the lethargic Dortmund defense.
Werner should have made it 2-0 later when he only had Kobel to beat, but the Leipzig forward crossed for Konrad Laimer instead of shooting and the chance was gone. It was one of several missed opportunities for Leipzig, which had 14 efforts at goal compared to the visitors’ one in the first half alone.
Agency inputs- AP