Santiago Solari Pleased With 'Serious' Performance Against Girona to Reach Copa Del Rey Semi Finals

Santiago Solari claims his side were deserved winners, praising their 'serious' performance after beating Girona 3-1 on Thursday to record a 7-3 aggregate victory and book their place in the last four of the Copa del Rey.

Karim Benzema's brace and a late Marcos Llorente strike was more than enough to see Los Blancos put their name in the hat for the semi finals, where they could face one of either Barcelona, Real Betis or Valencia.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Solari claimed his side took nothing for granted following the 4-2 victory they recorded in the first leg, yet was pleased with the professionalism his side showed against La Liga's 14th place side.

"To win a very good team, which plays very well, which has a different system than most of the teams, we had to be serious and solid and the team came out concentrated," the Argentine said, via AS.

"They made a great elimination, it is the only way to face these matches and that corresponds to the way of understanding Madrid's football, it is a strong team at home, we had to be serious, that is the merit of the players, who gave everything. We take that result deservedly."

Benzema's 208th and 209th goals for the club saw the Frenchman become Madrid's sixth all-time leading goalscorer, with Solari taking a swipe at the striker's critics who have failed to acknowledge the 31-year-old's contribution during his near 10-year stint at the Bernabeu.

Solari added: "I am sorry for those who discovered Benzema last week, they are still on time, they can tune the matches and also go to the court and they can enjoy it now, it is a great player in a great moment of form".