Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior scored two goals in extra time to turn Real Madrid's deficit into a 3-1 victory over ten players of arch-rivals Atletico Madrid, advancing to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
On a bitterly cold night at the Santiago Bernabeu, where all tickets were sold for Real's first match in 77 days following the World Cup break, Real started slowly as Atletico led several dangerous counterattacks.
Atletico Madrid's captain Koke sent a brilliant pass to Nahuel Molina, who escaped defensive marking and assisted Alvaro Morata, a graduate of Real's academy, to tap the ball into an empty net in the 19th minute.
Eder Militao wasted a golden opportunity to equalize in the 32nd minute after a perfect cross from Toni Kroos. Real Madrid improved after the introduction of Dani Ceballos for the injured Ferland Mendy late in the first half.
Ceballos injected energy into Real, who became more aggressive after the break. Benzema missed two significant chances, and Federico Valverde shot wide from outside the box.
Substitute Rodrygo equalized with an individual skillful effort just 11 minutes before the end of regular time, dribbling past three defenders and finishing with precision.
Real took advantage of the numerical inferiority of their neighbors for most of the extra time after defender Stefan Savic was red-carded in the 99th minute for receiving a second yellow card for fouling Eduardo Camavinga.
Just five minutes later, substitute Marco Asensio delivered a low pass that Vinicius failed to deal with, allowing it to reach Benzema, who scored an unstoppable shot. Vinicius confirmed the victory shortly before the end with a stunning solo effort after running half the length of the pitch and hitting a low shot towards the net.
Ceballos said, "We fell behind too early after Mendy's injury, and the whole team had to rebuild, but we rallied and played well after the break." He added, "They played better than us in the first half, but the coach corrected many things, and we controlled the ball and reached the net, then the red card made everything easier."
The semifinals were completed with Athletic Bilbao winning 3-1 against Valencia today, joining Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Osasuna.
