Topics: Real Madrid, Barcelona, La Liga, Spain, Copa Del Rey, Carlo Ancelotti
Real Madrid players were extremely excited to find they were given the day off work, after they beat fierce rivals Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
Having lost to Barcelona twice recently, including the first leg of the cup semi-final, and finding themselves 12 points behind their rivals in the league, there might not have been too much hope around the Real camp on Wednesday night.
However, having needed to come from behind in all of their Champions League knockout ties last season, before going on to be crowned European champions again, there's clearly a lot of belief in Carlo Ancelotti's team.
Vinicius Junior equalised in injury time in the first half, before Karim Benzema did Karim Benzema things by scoring a second hat-trick in a number of days, and earning his side a final next month.
Advert
After the match, Ancelotti told his players that they'd earned themselves a day off, and the players reacted like school kids being told it was a snow day, as you can see in the video below.
Certainly the mood in the away dressing room at full time contrasted the one that the home team had on the pitch during the 90 minutes.
Barcelona's players seemed like they couldn't control their emotions as they once again threw away a lead in a cup game, something they've become famous of doing it.
First Gavi lost his head, with the teenage midfielder clashing with both Rodrygo and fellow Brazilian Vinicius, despite the pair doing very little, if anything, wrong.
He wasn't the only one to get frustrated with Vinicius, with the forward getting pushed to the ground late in the match by Ronald Araujo.
It's unlikely that life in the Barca dressing room would have been quite as buoyant as the Real players were feeling, especially once they heard the noise.
The Copa del Rey could be Ancelotti's last hurrah as Real boss, although they could obviously reach the Champions League final once again.
He is expected to leave in the summer, despite the fact he has another year left on his contract at the Bernabeu, and he has been heavily linked with the Brazil national team.
Real would then be in the market for a replacement and would join the rush with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for the most elite managers around.
One boss the Premier League pair won't get their hands on is Arsenal gaffer Mikel Arteta, who is reportedly wanted by the Spanish giants.
