Chapter 014: Straight Flush Against MSN

The Spanish national derby has received a lot of attention, especially as the strength of both teams has risen to varying degrees, coupled with the media rendering, it is inevitable that the players of both teams will have some excess emotions.

Players are also human beings and it's easy to go into a game with that emotion.

There may be players who have a strong ability to self-regulate their emotions, but at a certain point in time, with the stimulation of some factors, it will always explode.

Neymar helped Barcelona open the scoring on the road early, proving that it is normal to vent his emotions, the problem is that he is the wrong person to vent his emotions, and he should not be provocative in the South Stand, which is a die-hard Real Madrid diehard.

Although the clash was temporarily ended by the interference of referee Lahoz, the players on both sides were prone to some emotions in the frequent physical confrontations.

The problem that cannot be ignored is that the two sides of the game are currently competing for a position in the league, Barcelona is only two points more than Real Madrid and ranks first in the league, and the draw will bring the same points and position to each other, but it will bring an opportunity for Atletico Madrid to overtake behind them.

Of course, Barcelona who have had a fantastic start are likely to win the game, so there are no points to be dropped.

It is Real Madrid who are worried at home.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti, in particular, decided to change his formation before the game because of the big win in the Champions League, so he hopes that the national derby will also work wonders.

It worked well from the start, but Barcelona's luck was so good that a simple attack knocked on Casillas' goal.

The atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabeu became more frenetic with frequent physical contact between the two sides, and referee Lahoz's whistle sounded frequently.

In order to reduce the range of action of the players on both sides, the referee Lahoz took great pains, he first pulled the captains of both sides to give a verbal warning, and when the effect was not significant, he could only choose a tough measure - yellow card!

As the game entered the tenth minute, the two sides had already received five yellow cards for the first clash, three for Real Madrid and two for Barcelona.

If the game is based on five cards in ten minutes, then the game cannot be held out until ninety minutes and is forced to stop.

However, this is unlikely to be the case in the world-renowned Spanish national derby, after all, the players' intention is to focus on the game, and the emotional release is conducive to the next game, rather than the endless after one emotional release.

Fifteen minutes into the game, the emotions of both players were well controlled, and attention gradually turned to the all-important national derby.

In the seventeenth minute, Tang Zheng was conducting a casual continuous transmission with Modric, and suddenly passed the ball to his own side to attack the left rib.

Marcelo, who was actively involved in the attack, kept the ball and sent the ball directly to the near corner of the goal with the inside of his left foot, and Benzema rushed to the top before Mascherano did.

Goalkeeper Bravo reacted quickly to the football, but still did not touch the football.

"Oh, oh, oh-"

Just when the hearts of Barcelona fans came to their throats, a 'bang' sound suddenly sounded over the Bernabeu Stadium, and Real Madrid fans at the scene held their heads in their hands, as if they were swept in the door with an AK47, and let out a tacit sigh.

"What a pity!"

Yang 5 commentator He Wei subconsciously exclaimed: "It's just five centimeters away! Real Madrid almost equalized!"

Benzema, who missed the goal, looked up to the sky and sighed, venting the bad mood caused by his bad luck.

※※※

Although Benzema's header did not help Real Madrid equalise, the frenzy at the Bernabeu Stadium was revived and the cheers of the high-spirited Real Madrid fans rose higher and higher.

Real Madrid's players are getting better and better in the frenzied atmosphere at home, and the pass-and-possession football that Barcelona is proud of seems to be running smoothly at the Bernabeu Stadium, and even the ball-handling masters like Messi and Neymar will have problems with the ball from time to time.

Because Carlo Ancelotti's four-three-three formation can be turned into a four-five-one in defence, except for Cristiano Ronaldo who stays between Barcelona's two central defenders to find opportunities, James Rodriguez and Benzema will strategically shrink to two ribs to assist in the defense.

Marcelo and Carvajal are both very familiar with the technical characteristics of Messi and Neymar, and they can do more with less when defending, plus Tang Zheng, Modric and Toni Kroos take turns to help defend, and the defensive success rate on the defensive end is still very high.

Barcelona fans' hope that Messi didn't seem to play very high in the minutes before the game, and the number of times he accelerated the breakthrough with the ball was pitiful.

However, Neymar, who opened the scoring, was in good form, frequently receiving football and testing Carvajal's defensive state.

Of course, Messi's downturn is inseparable from Tang Zheng's focus.

Tang Zheng focused on Messi on the defensive end as usual, so Messi, who felt the huge pressure, did not dare to break through easily.

In the past, there were too many times when Tang Zheng was tackled with the ball, and the point is that many times the referee made firm judgments and decided that Tang Zheng's actions were right for the ball and not for people.

Messi has played against Tang Zheng many times, and he also knows in his heart that Tang Zheng's movements are very clean, and the physical contact behind is completely caused by inertia, in order to avoid being 'humiliated' by Tang Zheng's ability in front of fans all over the world again, Messi decided not to choose to break through for the time being.

Wait until the time is right to make plans.

Messi didn't play this point, and it was naturally difficult for Neymar to play the advantage of his skill at the left side of the attack.

With neither flanks able to create enough advantage, the midfielders were unable to find a chance, so Real Madrid were a rare force to keep Barcelona at bay.

Ancelotti's four-three-three formation is undeniably problematic on the defensive end, but the threat created on the offensive end is more obvious.

Half an hour into the game, Real Madrid's offensive could already be described as a drop of mercury.

Barcelona, including Messi, had to be in a state of passive defense, and the Catalan TV commentator was very dissatisfied with this, bluntly saying: "Luis Enrique's tactics are too conservative, our football is based on control, not a never-ending defense like now!"

Obviously, a 1-0 lead is not safe.

More goals are needed to take away a win at the Bernabeu.

It's not that Barcelona's attack is unthreatening, only that Barcelona's attack has not been able to put continuous pressure on the Real Madrid defence.

Another Real Madrid switch from defense to attack, Tang Zheng, Modric, Toni Kroos consecutive passes led the ball away from Barcelona's first wave of high pressing.

The high press failed to break the football, but it also slowed down Real Madrid's counterattack, and the fast attack turned into a positional attack.

Tang Zheng is a veritable midfield core of Real Madrid, and there are many Barcelona defenders who pay attention to him.

However, Barcelona's midfield defenders are limited, and apart from Sergio Busquets, who is a pure defensive midfielder, Xavi and Andres Iniesta play little role in defence, especially in the case of one-on-one defence, which is most obvious.

In the 32nd minute, Tang Zheng made a feint to forcibly accelerate after attracting the defensive attention of Busquets and Xavi, and then took advantage of the moment when Busquets and Xavi made defensive moves, and suddenly flicked the ball to the right with the outside of his right foot.

Toni Kroos, who was involved in the attack, took the ball and went forward, Busquets had no room to think in the process of retreating, only in front of Toni Kroos, after all, the safety of the area at the top of the arc of the penalty area can maximize the safety of the defensive end.

However, Toni Kroos didn't get the ball forward again because speed was not his strength.

Tony Kroos, who was broadcasting the footage, slammed the ball hard to the left with the arch of his right foot, and the ball rolled quickly to the left rib of the attack.

Tang Zheng, who had been running in a straight line, took the ball forward, and Alves, who was defending Cristiano Ronaldo, didn't know what to do.

Cristiano Ronaldo enters the box and Marcelo is eyeing the flanks again.

At this moment, Tang Zheng's decision made Alves make a passive choice.

Tang Zheng passed the ball to Marcelo on the left, and Alves had no choice but to defend his national team teammate Marcelo one-on-one.

As a team-mate in the national team, Alves is well aware of Marcelo's individual qualities.

Direct acceleration?

Cross?

Still is??

Marcelo crossed directly to Cristiano Ronaldo without stopping, Alves was too late to adduct the defense, and central defender Mascherano pulled out.

Chris, who was standing in the corner of the penalty area on the left side, had a wider vision of Ronnaldo, and saw Benzema diagonally in front of Pique, and already had a general passing route in his mind.

So, the inside of the instep of the left foot kicks the football.

Mascherano thought Cristiano Ronaldo would take advantage of the situation and shoot from a distance, but he was slow to pull it out with some reserve, and only accelerated again when he realised that Cristiano Ronaldo was crossing rather than breaking, losing his hands behind his back.

But...... Cristiano Ronaldo's pass was fast, Mascherano's retraction was half a beat slower, and the ball hit his right hand.

"Whoa—"

At the same time, the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu Stadium were agitated because the football hit Mascherano on his right arm was very obvious.

Cristiano Ronaldo was equally excited, and he quickly turned to look at the referee on duty, Lahoz, and slapped the back of his right hand with his left hand to signal for a handball foul by Mascherano.

As if nothing had happened, Mascherano cleared the ball that had fallen at his feet with his left foot out of the penalty area.

In the past second, Lahoz whistled, almost replicating Cristiano Ronaldo's hand movements, but the frequency of movements and expressions were much calmer.

Barcelona captain Xavi was not sure if Mascherano had committed a handball foul, and as the captain, he immediately complained to referee Lahoz, saying that Mascherano's hand did not touch the football.

Now the situation is in favor of Real Madrid, if you get a penalty to equalize, then the game will not be good!

But referee Lahoz was firm, smiling and rejecting Xavi's appeal, while pointing to his own eyes, indicating that he saw very clearly.

The replay given in slow motion also proves that the football did hit Mascherano's right arm, affecting the trajectory of the ball, and according to the rules of football, the penalty kick is an inevitable result.

※※※

Now that referee Lahoz's decision has been decided, Xavi and the rest of the Barcelona players have no choice but to pin their hopes on goalkeeper Bravo.

"Whoa—"

With the loud chanting over the Bernabeu pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo, who created the penalty, used the change in his body's center of gravity to force Bravo to make a judgment in advance, and the rest was no longer difficult for a player of Cristiano Ronaldo's level.

"Very high-quality penalty! In the 33rd minute of the game, Ronaldo helped Real Madrid equalize!" Yang 5 commentator He Wei said in an impassioned tone: "There are still more than ten minutes left in the first half, if Real Madrid's offensive quality can be maintained, it is very possible to reverse Barcelona before the end of the first half!"

With Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty, Bravo's La Liga record of 755 minutes without conceding a goal was set at 755 minutes, while the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo has also scored a staggering 22 goals in all competitions this season, including 16th in the league, and has scored in 11 consecutive games.

It was also Cristiano Ronaldo's fourteenth goal in the national derby.

"Whoa—"

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the goal, ran excitedly to the broadcast camera and made a classic celebration gesture, which caused the fans to erupt into even louder cheers.

The game restarted, and Barcelona, who had the advantage of kick-off, did not rush to attack, but found their preferred rhythm through patient passing.

The Real Madrid players who equalised were in high spirits and disrupted Barcelona's attacking rhythm by running widely.

Cristiano Ronaldo has the privilege of not having to defend under successive Real Madrid managers, but in the highly watched Spanish national derby, he often does his best, not daring to attack or defend.

Cristiano Ronaldo is actively involved in the defense, and the other players are too embarrassed to help?

In addition, modern football is changing very fast, the responsibilities of offensive players are no longer limited to attacking, and the responsibilities of defensive players are not limited to defense, so now football games are becoming more and more enjoyable, especially the top competitions of strong dialogue.

In the face of Real Madrid's aggressiveness, Enrique, who coached the giants for the first time, chose to signal the players to stand on defense first.

In addition, the attack should be more patient and give more football to the feet of Messi, Neymar and Suarez.

In the case of poor overall form, Enrique can only rely on MSN's individual ability.

It's a pity that the Real Madrid defenders were very focused under Tang Zheng's recklessness, united as one, and did not give MSN any chance, but the Barcelona backline played by Real Madrid's flush combination was messy.

For Enrique, the passively defended Barcelona was not without good news, and the score did not change until the first half, with both sides entering the dressing room with a score of 1-1.

Judging from the course of the first half, MSN and Straight Flush seemed to have their own performances.

In fact, really?