Real Madrid passed the first of three massive tests in flying colors, after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win over rivals Barcelona, thanks largely to two big goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, to move into the final of the Copa Del Rey.
A brace from Ronaldo and one from Raphael Varane helped Real Madrid to a 4-2 aggregate victory in the semi-final and they now await the winners between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who play the second leg of their last-four tie Wednesday.
This match at the Camp Nou was billed yet again as a duel between two of the world's greatest players - Lionel Messi and Ronaldo; and in reality it was a no contest on the night as the Real Madrid man did everything right and Messi suffered yet another disappointing game in the space of seven days, following Barca's loss to AC Milan in the Champions League.
The game panned out exactly as expected as Barca, with their patient tiki-taka style of play tried to penetrate the Real backline, while the away side relied on their counter-attacking prowess, which on the day was absolutely devastating.
The game might have been different, had Messi's early strike, created by his own artistry, nestled into the back of the net rather than flying narrowly wide. Instead it was Real who opened the scoring in the 13th minute.
Gonzalo Higuain played a nice ball to Ronaldo, who brought out his wide repertoire of trickery to befuddle Gerard Pique into bringing him down inside the box. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, amid much protests from the Barca defender, although it was clearly a foul.
Ronaldo himself stepped up and drilled home the ball into the bottom corner, sending goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto the wrong way.
Barca pressed and probed, but found the Real backline as stubborn as the one in Milan, with Messi coming the closest yet again to finding the equalizer just before halftime, via a freekick which rustled the side netting.
The second half bore the same pattern of play, and it really was just a matter of time before Real struck a lethal blow on another counter.
This time Angel Di Maria found acres space on the left, before driving into the box, leaving Carles Puyol for dead, and forcing Pinto into a save. The rebound fell kindly to Ronaldo, who had time to take a first touch before calmly slotting it into the back of the net with his left foot in the 57th minute.
Barca now needed three goals to move into the final, but the game was put to bed by yet another Real goal eleven minutes later.
Raphael Varane, who scored the equalizer in the 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Bernabeu, rose high to head home off a corner, before Jordi Alba scored a consolation goal late on to reduce the deficit and nothing else.
The two giants now meet in a league game Saturday, with Jose Mourinho expected to rest several key players, keeping in mind the big Champions League game against Manchester United on Tuesday, and the fact that they lie 16 points adrift of Barca in the league standings.