Real Madrid made light work of crosstown rivals Atletico to progress into the Copa del Rey final with a crushing 5-0 aggregate victory which could exert added implications in damaging Atletico’s increasingly fragile confidence for the La Liga title run-in.
The victory was assured by two early penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo, with Real’s astonishingly easy progress only marred when Ronaldo was struck on the head by a lighter thrown from the crowd as he headed towards the tunnel at half-time.
Although the Portuguese star was able to continue after treatment, the incident left a sour taste in Real’s mouths and could result in disciplinary action against the hosts.
Diego Simeone fielded a virtual second-string starting XI and they were never in the contest, irrespective of Madrid’s 3-0 advantage from the first leg.
Ronaldo’s first penalty came after just seven minutes, when he raced into the penalty and was clearly tripped by a reckless challenge from Atletico’s deputy right-back Javier Manquillo.
The Portuguese star dusted himself down and fired a ferocious spot-kick into the bottom left corner, giving back-up home goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia absolutely no chance.
Now needing four goals to progress to the final, Atletico came close to giving themselves the faintest glimmer of hope when Jose Sosa broke into the box and released a clever pass to Raul Garcia, whose curling shot crashed against the right-hand post with Iker Casillas well beaten.
But the tie was wrapped up for good two minutes later as Real earned their second penalty.
This time Gareth Bale was the catalyst, surging inside from the right wing before being felled by a reckless challenge from Emiliano Insua.
The outcome was inevitable as Ronaldo fired the penalty into al-most exactly the same spot as his first, further deflating the already subdued Vicente Calderon crowd.
Predictably, those two early penalties took the sting out of the game, although Atleti striker Raul Garcia seemed intent on coercing Sergio Ramos into a yellow card that would have ruled him out of the final.
Real enjoyed full control of possession, passing the ball with the easy confidence befitting a team who knew they were already in the final.
Atletico, in stark contrast, were left to chase shadows and looked utterly dispirited.
There was drama as Ronaldo left the field for the half-time whistle with a yellow lighter thrown from the stands striking him on the head but the Portuguese returned for the second half.
With the outcome already assured, very little happened of note in the second period as both sets of players went through the motions, clearly wishing for the final whistle to hurry along as quickly as possible – a sentiment that appeared to be shared by many of the home fans.
Bale’s long-range free-kick, pushed aside with relative comfort by Aranzubia, was one of the few pieces of goalmouth action in a second half that more resembled a gentle pre-season friendly than a local derby and a cup semi-final.
Ronaldo had a shot blocked by Aranzubia’s chest and Mario Suarez headed narrowly wide from a cor-ner, before Casillas saved well from Sosa to preserve his clean sheet.
