With the whistle of referee Mejuto, witnessed by more than 80,000 fans at the Bernabeu, this world-renowned focus game officially kicked off.

Real Madrid, playing at home, kicked off first.

Rafael Benitez lined up in a back three tonight, with Iker Casillas in goal, a combination of Maxwell, Vermaelen, Ramos and Arbeloa at the back, and Mascherano, Xavi Alonso and Las Diarra in midfield, with Sneijder in the middle and Yang Yang and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in front.

Barcelona still played in the familiar four-three-three formation.

The goalkeeper is Valdés, Abidal, Gabriel Milito, Pique and Puyol at the back, the midfield trio is Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Xavi, and the front is Pedro, Messi and Alves.

What has changed from the past is that Pep Guardiola put Messi in the middle of the game and pushed the original right wing-back Daniel Alves to the right wing, which was also a very unexpected adjustment.

Judging from the arrangement of the two sides, Barcelona let Puyol play right fullback, obviously wanting to restrain Yang Yang, the left winger of Real Madrid, and at the same time use Alves to suppress the left fullback of Real Madrid.

Real Madrid targeted the formation of three back waists, and also significantly lowered their posture.

……

The game had just begun, and after Real Madrid kicked off, it quickly passed to the right wing.

After Las Diarlara went to the side to receive the ball, he just crossed the halfway line and made a long pass directly to Ibrahimovic in front, but after the Swedish center grabbed the first landing point, he quickly fell into the entanglement of the Barcelona defenders.

The ball is lost.

But after the Barcelona players grabbed the ball, they looked ahead, only to find that the Real Madrid players had quickly returned to their positions.

The back four, the back three, and Sneijder have all returned to the 30-metre zone and are heavily armed.

This came as a big surprise to the Barcelona players.

Xavi raised his hand near the halfway line and his team-mate quickly passed the ball to his feet.

The Barcelona midfielder stopped the ball and turned around without any interference, and when he looked up, Real Madrid's defensive formation was very neat.

Xavi first took a few steps to the right side of his side, that is, the left side of Real Madrid, and immediately found that the overall formation of Real Madrid was also moving to the left, although it was very slow, but the experienced Xavi knew very well that as long as he passed the ball, Real Madrid would immediately form a suppression, and he could not penetrate it at all.

So, Xavi dunked the ball to his left and dribbled to the left.

But soon, Real Madrid's overall formation also moved to this side, and the two lines remained compact and orderly.

Xavi couldn't help it and quickly passed to Iniesta.

He stopped the ball and tried to get forward, trying to make a dash, but was soon tangled up by Las Diarra and forced to pass the ball back to Sergio Busquets and then Xavi.

After a circle, left and right, the ball returned to square one.

Xavi was a little angry, and he didn't expect that Real Madrid would set up the defense so tightly at his home stadium, and even made it clear from the beginning of the game that the horses would play defensive counterattacks.

You know, it's the Bernabeu!

Could it be that Benitez can ignore the emotions of the Bernabeu fans?

Messi retreated from the front to respond, and then immediately led to the right side to find Alves to cooperate, but Real Madrid's defensive position quickly tilted to the right, quickly cutting off the connection between Messi, Alves and Xavi, forcing Barcelona to quickly pass the ball back.

No one expected that Real Madrid's defensive counter-attack would be so resolute, especially the back three, which is a very conservative strategy, but it is very effective in containing Barcelona's passing and possession.

Because, in the Champions League final last season, Benitez's Liverpool used a back three to kill Barcelona.

With the shadow of the previous game, coupled with the 0-5 in the first derby of the century this season, the Barcelona players began to become more cautious, but fortunately, this team has always been known for passing the ball, playing very patiently, not hurrying and not rushing at all.

It made the start of the game look a bit dull, as Barcelona had been on the ground in central midfield.

It wasn't until the sixth minute that Messi pulled back to get the ball, suddenly dribbled forward, quickly rushed to the edge of the penalty area, and was tackled to the ground by Mascherano to win a free kick opportunity in a good position for Barcelona.

At critical moments, Barcelona still relied on the individual strength of the stars to solve the battle.

However, this free-kick up front failed to pose a threat and ended with Xavi's long-range shot from almost 30 yards out.

Barcelona couldn't break Real Madrid's defense for a long time, and could only create a threat through the player's individual ability and long-range shot, and Real Madrid didn't even have a chance to shoot on goal after the opening, and there was not even a real threatening attack, which also made the fans at the scene feel a little depressed.

If you look at it purely from the field, Barcelona really has an overwhelming advantage, especially the possession.

Where is this like the performance of La Liga first and Champions League semi-finals?

But just when the fans were a little breathless, Barcelona suddenly made a mistake.

When Pedro cut inside on the left, Ramos decisively grabbed the hand and tripped Pedro, but the referee did not whistle for a foul, Real Madrid quickly counterattacked, Sneijder received Ramos's pass, and picked up a pass to the halfway line.

Ibrahimovic blocked Pique with his body, stopped the ball with his right foot, turned and picked up a cross with his left foot.

Real Madrid's counter-attack was played very quickly, from the break to Sneijder to Ibrahimovic, the whole process took place in the blink of an eye, and by the time everyone reacted, the Swedish centre-forward's cross had already crossed the Barcelona backline.

Yang Yang was like a sharp arrow off the string, sharply piercing Barcelona's defense and chasing the ball.

The emotions of the fans throughout the Bernabeu Stadium were completely aroused, and everyone erupted with enthusiasm.

But at the critical moment, the linesman raised the flag, and the referee blew the whistle to signal Yang Yang to foul.

After Yang Yang heard the whistle, he had to slow down, and when he saw the linesman's flag and the referee's penalty, he felt very innocent, spread his hands, and walked towards the referee Mehuto.

"Sir, it wasn't an offside at all, I promise!" Yang Yang is very sure.

Because Gabriel Milito was on par with him at the time, he shook off the Argentine central defender and Abidal at the moment of starting, but the linesman may not have been able to keep up with the speed of Real Madrid's counterattack, and it caused a miscalculation anyway.

'I'm sorry, my assistant is pretty sure it was an offside position. Mehuto replied with a smile.

It's his work ethic.

Whether it was a misjudgment or not, he had to uphold the authority of the referee team and take care of his assistants anyway.

Yang Yang also shook his head helplessly and walked back.

……

"Judging by the slow-motion replay, it was really a miscalculation."

"The moment Yang Yang started, Milito was the last defender to be dragged behind, and the moment Ibrahimovic turned around to pick up the pass, everyone saw that Yang Yang was parallel to Milito, and he was always paying attention to his position."

"But it's a pity that both the referee and the linesman thought it was offside."

"Real Madrid missed a great opportunity to open the game, if not, it should have been a one-on-one shot, and with Yang Yang's ability, it is definitely possible to score a goal."

"But that's football."

"Maybe, Real Madrid should slow down their counter-attack next time, haha......"

……

Pep Guardiola was furious on the sidelines.

Especially when he saw Yang Yang quickly slanting behind him, his whole body jumped up.

He knows better than anyone how big Yang Yang's threat is, and if he really gives him a single knife, Barcelona will fall behind.

Once behind, such a game is a nightmare for Barcelona.

It's a final you can't afford to lose!

"Gerard is too close to Ibrahimovic." Pep Guardiola tilted his head and shook his head.

'In the pre-match tactical meetings, I have already stressed to him again and again that Ibrahimovic likes to use his body against the centre-back, to catch the ball close to the centre-back, and I told him to avoid physical contact with him as much as possible, but he stuck to it.

Assistant coach Vilanova smiled wryly, and that's where Ibrahimovic is smart.

In fact, many people misunderstand Ibrahimovic as a traditional centre-forward when they see him as tall and strong, but in reality, the Swedish giant's biggest threat is the ball and possession on the edge of the box.

A tall, strong centre-forward with delicate footwork and the ability to provide a consistent pick up point on the edge of the box is a terrible thing to do.

Barcelona took a fancy to him at the beginning, that is, they took a fancy to this characteristic of him.

And it is not easy to defend against such a player, the first thing is to have the right tactical arrangement.

Pep Guardiola has made extremely meticulous preparations before the game, including how to freeze Yang Yang and how to contain Ibrahimovic, and has a clear plan, but the problem is that the pitch is changing rapidly.

Say, it's very simple, but if Pique doesn't touch Ibrahimovic, the Swedish center won't take the initiative to find him?

That's where the trouble comes in!

In a way, Ibrahimovic's style of play is unique in European football.

And any strong team needs to have some killer features that others can't resolve, which can be the individual performance of the players, or the combination of player characteristics.

The forward combination of Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic has become a killer feature that all Real Madrid's opponents will find difficult to contain.

These two players not only have super individual ability, but also cooperate very well, and their characteristics are very different.

What's more, they're very good friends and they're very selfless to each other on the pitch, which is crucial.

……

Pep Guardiola still walked quickly to the sidelines, reminding the players on the pitch to pay attention to the protection behind them, especially the central defenders, to pay attention to limiting Ibrahimovic, and also signaled the midfielders to pay attention to pulling away and try to turn the ball upside down as fast as possible.

However, Real Madrid's defensive formation is like an impregnable wall, and Barcelona have never been able to cut through it.

And not long after Guardiola's adjustment, Real Madrid once again succeeded in breaking the ball at the back.

Mascherano, with the cooperation of Sneijder, stole the ball at Alves' feet and quickly launched a counterattack.

Sneijder took the ball himself and rushed forward.