Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has spoken positively about the performance of Luis Suarez following the Blaugrana’s 3-0 win at Real Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. The Catalan giants were tied at 1-1 following the first leg at the Camp Nou but they managed to make amends with a comfortable triumph at the Bernabeu despite managing just two shots on target.

Luis Suarez scored a brilliant brace in the second half and in between his strikes, Raphael Varane scored an own goal with a mistake. Following the game, Valverde was full of praise for the Uruguay international and was impressed with his scoring record against the European champions over the years.

He said: “I don't think there are many players capable of scoring three times against Madrid twice in the same season. Oddly, in Lyon, we had 25 shots with this same team, we didn't score and there was talk of a crisis! We had two different halves [against Madrid]. In the first, they were better, and we weren't doing well because they pressed us in certain areas and our pace was very slow. We couldn't get to their goal. In the second half, we played with more determination.”

“Suarez has netted five times from the past three meetings versus Los Blancos this term and this“ has taken his overall tally to 11 goals from as many appearances against the same opposition. Next up, the Spanish champions have another away El Clasico against Real Madrid in the league and they will be hoping to keep up “the recent momentum with“ another triumph.

Barcelona are currently top of the league standings with a nine-point gap over third-placed Real Madrid, and they can potentially put them out of the title race by inflicting another damaging defeat on the road.