February 13 at 21 sharp, Estadio Eprat in Barcelona, Spain.

In the 23rd round of La Liga, Espanyol hosted Real Madrid.

The race is about to begin.

Rafa Benitez stood in front of the visitors' dugout, gearing up for the upcoming game.

He and the whole team are full of fighting spirit and confidence.

Yesterday, Saturday evening, he travelled to France to spy on the military and watch the Champions League last-16 knockout match against Leon away to Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1, while Barcelona took on Sporting Gijón away.

As a result, what no one expected was that Barcelona was flat!

Over the past few months, Barcelona have won nine in a row since the derby at the end of November.

It's fair to say that Barcelona have been desperate this season, having played almost one of the most dominant seasons in La Liga's history, killing almost everything but the Century derby defeat to Real Madrid.

Yes, there are still more than a dozen rounds left in the league, but in fact, after watching Barcelona's such a stable performance, everyone's first reaction is that there is no suspense about the La Liga championship.

Reality is often more absurd and elusive.

No one would have imagined that in Sporting Gijón, Barcelona would suddenly suffer a draw.

1-1, Villa scored a goal to equalize.

This is a great opportunity for Real Madrid!

As long as this one more game is won, the points gap between the two sides will be further narrowed to seven points, and the suspense will appear again.

Because there is still a derby of the century between the two sides, and it is at the Bernabeu Stadium.

This morning, at Real Madrid's regular tactical meeting, a number of players, including Yang Yang, Ibrahimovic, Casillas and Ramos, have expressed their stance and regard this game as a life-and-death battle.

"Barcelona have fallen only a handful of times so far this season, they fell to Sporting Gijón last night, this is a godsend for us to close the gap on points, after this village there is no such shop, if this God-given opportunity is missed, then we deserve to lose the league!"

Yang Yang rarely preempted Casillas to express his position, he thought that the team should go out and fight with the Spaniards!

If you don't fight at this time, is it difficult to wait until you lose the league championship to cry?

Everyone in the team also has the same belief and determination, and everyone agrees with Yang Yang's judgment.

Whether it can reverse Barcelona is another story, but such an opportunity is in front of you, and it would be too much if you don't fight!

So in this game, Real Madrid was full of fighting spirit, and everyone was holding back their strength to kill the Spaniards.

As long as they win this game, the gap will be reduced to seven points, and then try to win Barcelona at the Bernabeu, and then there will be four points left.

Chasing four points in more than a dozen rounds of league games is not excessive.

…………

…………

When referee Mateu Lahoz blew the whistle for the start of the game, Real Madrid, who were playing away, kicked off first.

Real Madrid took the initiative to attack as soon as they started, pressing as a whole, trying to press Espanyol and attack directly into the opponent's frontcourt.

But soon, Real Madrid made a mistake in receiving the ball in front, and after the Spaniard got the ball, he quickly sent it to the back of the Real Madrid defense.

Callejon on the left cut in behind McConn and preceded Pepe to chase the ball away.

Casillas quickly abandoned the goal, rushed out of the penalty area, wanted to clear the ball with a kick, the two made moves almost at the same time, but Callejon stabbed the ball first, Casillas's plan failed, and he didn't have time to close his feet, and tripped Callejon lightly, as a result, the Spaniard winger rolled on the grass and rolled into the Real Madrid penalty area.

The referee quickly followed and blew the whistle for a foul.

All the players of Real Madrid also realized the seriousness of the problem and surrounded them, McCone shouted that Callejon was offside, but the linesman ignored it, and Pepe and Xavi Alonso were negotiating with the referee, saying that Casillas did not deliberately foul and Callejon was suspected of performing.

Indeed, the Spanish winger was wailing in the Real Madrid penalty area, rolling in place, looking in pain.

"Callejon's performance is indeed a bit exaggerated."

"Judging from the slow-motion replay, Casillas can't say that there are no problems, but he really didn't mean to foul and he did have a foot."

'Let's look at it from another angle, it's true that Casillas relented but still tripped Callejon, certainly not as much as he was in the penalty area, and the Spaniard is obviously asking for a red card now.

"Look at what the referee Lahoz does."

"Red card!"

"Casillas opened the game for more than one minute and twenty seconds, and was sent off directly with a red card!"

"The Real Madrid captain opened his hands and had a very incomprehensible expression, he didn't look like he could accept such a result."

"Let's look at the slow-motion replay again, Casillas's movement is not big, and he obviously retracted his feet, and it is really too serious to give a red card directly, and even I think it is not too much to give Callejon a fake fall, he performed too exaggeratedly."

"Also, let's look at the moment of the pass just now, Callejon was indeed offside, McCone raised his hand to signal that he was offside, but there was no referee to react, which allowed Callejon to rush directly to the edge of the penalty area."

"I have to say that it was a very bad decision indeed, the referee and the linesman made an unbelievable mistake and sent off Real Madrid's captain and main goalkeeper Casillas in the opening minute, so how can Real Madrid play this game?"

"With one less person than the opponent in the whole game, can you still hold on to such a game?"

This is not only the confusion of the live TV commentators, but also the doubts of the audience and fans, and the doubts of the players on the field.

A game, just started, and a goalkeeper was sent off directly, so how can it be played?

……

Casillas was so furious that he almost burst out.

He knew he was done when he saw referee Lahoz reach into his chest pocket and pull out a red card.

The whole team tried to shorten the gap before the game, but it was ruined because of this red card!

The Real Madrid captain was furious, he complained that he shouldn't have attacked, and at the same time complained about the referee's eyes.

Such a move, such a foul, it is enough to give a yellow card, why give a red card?

Even, he doubted that the referee was a Barcelona fan?

Taking advantage of Barcelona's loss of points, is it going to put Real Madrid to death?

He walked to the sideline in a huff, and walked straight to the players' tunnel, slamming the gloves in his hands against the wall at the players' tunnel, but then the assistant coach Yesterdam called out to him.

"Captain's armband!"

Casillas woke up in shock, only to find that the captain's armband was still on his arm, and immediately turned around, removed the captain's armband from his arm, and walked back to the sidelines.

At this time, Real Madrid's players were depressed, and the team's morale plummeted.

Casillas saw it in his eyes, ashamed and anxious in his heart, and at the same time remembered another question.

Who is this captain's armband for?

In the Real Madrid team, there has always been a tradition of captaining according to seniority, that is, whoever is the oldest in the dressing room is the captain.

This is true from Sanches and Hierro in the past to Raul and Guti in the future, and now Casillas and Ramos.

But tonight, with Sergio Ramos out in rotation and Casillas being sent off again, the captain's armband should have been given to left wing-back Marcelo, who joined the team in 2007 and is considered the oldest player in the team.

Does he dare to take it?

Casillas stood on the sidelines, clutching the captain's armband in his hand, waiting for his team-mate to come and take over.

……

Marcelo looked hesitant.

He is the oldest player on the pitch to join Real Madrid, he joined in January '07, followed by Robben, who joined in the summer of '07, and it stands to reason that the captain's armband should be taken by Marcelo in the past.

It's a long-standing tradition in the Real Madrid dressing room, and even Marcelo is now the team's third captain.

Of course, in the dressing room, both Marcelo and Higuain joked about each other, as both joined in January '07, with Higuain signing earlier but on January 11 and Marcelo signing a little later but on January 7.

Who is the third captain and who is the fourth captain, this has always been a confusing account.

But now, Higuain is not on the pitch and Marcelo is the one who deserves it.

Marcelo's performances over the past few years have been mixed, and even before '09, he was almost sold because his performances were not satisfactory, especially in defence.

Juan de Ramos asked him to play as a left winger, but he didn't show the sharpness that a winger should have.

It wasn't until Yang Yang joined that Benitez brought a stable defensive system that Marcelo gradually found his place in the team, but whether it was in the locker room or in private, it was difficult for Marcelo to regard himself as the big brother of the team, and he has always played the role behind Yang Yang.

He, like his Brazilian teammates such as McConn, Maxwell and Kaka, is very close to Yang Yang, and they all look to Yang Yang as the leader.

Now, the team is in dire straits, life and death at a critical juncture, it is not difficult to take over the captain's armband, but ......

Marcelo was apprehensive, uneasy, hesitant, and unconfident.

But at this time, Yang Yang on the side of the court suddenly walked over, came to Casillas, and reached out to take the captain's armband under the stunned gaze of everyone.

At this moment, all the Real Madrid players, coaching staff and staff on and off the pitch were stunned.

This is a dressing room tradition that Real Madrid has continued for many years!

Yang Yang: Is this going to break it?

Did he feel that Marcelo was not fit to be the captain?

Or does he want to take advantage of this opportunity to replace everyone else and become the captain of the team?

Benitez's face sank on the sidelines, and he was a little worried, because he realized that Yang Yang's move was likely to bring some discord to the dressing room.

Not everyone will obey him!

Of course, if he wants to be, no one can object.

He has the qualifications!