In the thirtieth round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Racing Santander away.

Having just beaten Manchester United in midweek, Rafael Benitez has made changes to his starting line-up.

In the twenty-third minute of the game, Yang Yang burst into the penalty area with the ball from the left side and created a penalty opportunity.

What is surprising is that Yang Yang did not personally take the penalty, but gave it to Sneijder.

Only the Dutch midfielder knew in his heart what was going on, so he didn't give in and calmly converted the penalty into the goal of Racing Santander, 1-0.

Real Madrid's favourite Canales started tonight and performed well.

Racing Santander, which played at home, also showed great tenacity and did not give Real Madrid too many chances.

Until the second half, Raul replaced Sneijder, and substitute Granero came on Guti with a through ball into the penalty area, Ibrahimovic received the ball with his back to the defender, turned and scored a single goal, 2-0.

Just four minutes later, Ibrahimovic pulled to the left to receive the ball, picked up a cross to the middle, and the unguarded Yang Yang pushed the goal from the edge of the small penalty area, 3-0.

In the end, Real Madrid beat Racing Santander 3-0 away.

……

At the other stadium, teenager Bojan scored a brace and Messi scored a goal to help Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at home to keep the pressure on Real Madrid.

After 30 rounds of La Liga, Real Madrid continue to lead by five points, followed by Barcelona.

Both teams are already well ahead of the rest of La Liga, with Barcelona even 21 points clear of third-placed Valencia and 29 points above fourth-placed Sevilla.

It's fair to say that Real Madrid and Barcelona have been too eye-catching this season for no one to doubt the dominance of the two giants in La Liga, but everyone is also well aware that neither Valencia nor Sevilla will be able to shake the Domination of La Liga.

What's more, Valencia, who are currently third in La Liga, are about to fall apart this summer, and many players in the team are facing transfer decisions, which is bound to lead to further tears in the overall landscape of La Liga.

In the scorer list, Yang Yang is far ahead with 34 goals, and he also has 22 assists, and he has created 56 goals alone, accounting for most of Real Madrid's goals this season, which represents his importance to this Real Madrid team.

Messi, who ranks second in the scorer list, currently has 27 goals, although the performance is also quite outstanding, but there is still a little gap from Yang Yang, almost everyone believes that as long as the current performance continues, it is very possible for Yang Yang to break 40 goals again this season.

Messi is followed by players such as Ibrahimovic, Villa, Forlan and Soldado.

And after the thirtieth round of La Liga, everyone has their eyes on the century derby a week later.

……

'I believe we can win the derby of the century and then the league title.'

After the match against Racing Santander, Yang Yang expressed his confidence in the upcoming match, "Because the game at Camp Nou let us know how to beat Barcelona, and also made us believe that we can beat Barcelona." ”

What Yang Yang is talking about is undoubtedly the 5-0 away win, which is a classic battle that has been recognized by countless media and Real Madrid fans as going down in the history of the club.

Regarding his performance in La Liga this season, Yang Yang said that he was very satisfied and very happy.

'I have a very good group of team-mates who are very supportive and I am very happy to be part of Real Madrid, and I will always keep my head high and win one victory after another. We have the quality to win and we're going to keep pushing forward, that's the consensus of everyone in our dressing room. ”

Yang Yang's statement undoubtedly proves the unity and determination of the Real Madrid dressing room.

He also mentioned that the breakthrough in the Champions League results has brought great confidence to the team and made everyone start to believe in their own strength, which is also a great help to La Liga.

"That's where our confidence comes from!" Yang Yang smiled confidently.

As for his only 99 shots in La Liga this season, four fewer than Messi, but he has scored 34 goals, seven more than Messi, and the efficiency is very amazing, Yang Yang said that he still needs to continue to work hard.

'The fact that my team-mates created a lot of chances for me and they were happy to give me the ball and that showed their trust in me, so I take every shot seriously and I'm happy to pass the ball to my team-mates who are in better positions.

The media also affirmed Yang Yang's words, because his assists reached 22 goals, while relatively speaking, Messi's assists were only nine goals, which is a considerable gap.

Yang Yang denied what the media said that he had supported the face of Real Madrid's sky-high army, and he repeatedly emphasized that the team was able to get to where it is today and completely depends on the joint efforts of the whole team.

"There is only one Yang Yang, Real Madrid will never be able to go today, we need everyone to work together to win the game."

Yang Yang affirmed that the team has been performing better and better since the winter break.

'We've solved some of the problems that have arisen before, and we've been more positive about every game, which I think is a key factor in the team being able to perform well and keep going where we are today.'

For the next derby of the century, Yang Yang said that no one is the favorite.

'Both teams are clearly at their best and I think it's a very fitting time for the Century Derby to come because there is no Champions League this week, we will be more focused on the game and I am 100 per cent sure that we will have a good matchup and a win against Barcelona!'

……

Yang Yang's post-match interview after playing Racing Santander encouraged the team and cheered up all Real Madrid fans around the world, as they were eager to see Real Madrid beat Barcelona twice.

It's going to be something that fans have dreamed of but never been able to achieve in years.

What's more, after beating Barcelona, Real Madrid will basically lock up the La Liga title.

But what outsiders don't know is that the day after the Santander game, after the team returned to Valdebebas, Benitez held another tactical meeting and set a theme for this meeting.

"How to target Messi?"

Before the discussion began, Benitez let everyone watch the footage of Barcelona's home game against Arsenal.

In this game, Messi staged a big four and performed quite well.

In a competition level such as the quarterfinals of the Champions League, it can be said that it is quite an amazing thing to stage a big four, and it can also be seen how good Messi's state is at this moment.

How to limit Messi?

How to suppress Barcelona's midfield passes?

Real Madrid players discussed the issue, and many of them mentioned their defensive strategies when they met Messi in the past.

Arbeloa took the initiative to ask for help, feeling confident that he could limit Messi.

"I've played a few fights with him and he hasn't taken the slightest advantage of me so far." The Real Madrid academy said with a bang.

Whether it is in Liverpool or Real Madrid, Arbeloa's defense of Messi can be said to be very successful.

If he could, Benitez would have chosen it the same way.

In the first leg of the Century Derby, Arbeloa started at left wing-back, but this time it may not work.

Pepe missed the season early due to injury, and in the central defensive position, apart from Vermaelen and Ramos, there is only one Metzelder left, but the problem is that Benitez does not trust Metzelde.

He believes that the tall German centre-back will suffer greatly against a small and agile Barcelona.

Letting Arbeloa play on the left when there is no one on the right will result in an empty right flank.

Las Diarra, on the other hand, has come up with a different idea, feeling he can play at right wing-back as he has played in the past.

But in this way, two of the four positions in the back line have been changed at the same time, which is very risky.

Especially considering that Barcelona's left side Pedro and Thierry Henry are also very good.

It should also be noted that Pep Guardiola's use of Messi this season is very different from before, often putting him in the middle of the field and adopting a strikerless tactic, which is undoubtedly something that Real Madrid needs to pay attention to.

The reason why Benitez did not consider Metzelder was because he was worried that Messi would appear in the middle.

Real Madrid are also well prepared for Messi's situation in the middle, such as how the team can limit Messi's range of movement and space, reduce the connection between him and his teammates, and make it impossible for Barcelona's passers to pass the ball to Messi's feet.

As long as Messi can't get the ball, then it is useless for him to behave bravely.

It can be said that limiting Messi is the top priority of Real Madrid's defense against Barcelona.

And the same path, I believe that at this moment, Barcelona must be in full swing to formulate a strategy on how to limit Yang Yang.

Yang Yang and Messi, the number one stars of Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, as long as they are frozen, the attacking power of these two teams will be greatly affected.

The difference is that Barcelona's overall passing and control system is better, and the overall coordination of the players is stronger, which requires Real Madrid's defensive players to maintain concentration, ensure the defense in place, ensure the defensive strength, and at the same time try to avoid making mistakes in defense and maintain a compact and orderly three-line position.

Benitez also mentioned another issue, which is that they must not concede goals in their own half.

"As soon as you grab the ball, kick it forward and the target is Ibrahimovic!"

The Swedish giant is the fulcrum of Real Madrid in the frontcourt, as long as he can grab the ball, then Real Madrid's counterattack will be settled.

So, to some extent, in this derby of the century against Barcelona, Real Madrid's real test is defense.

As long as they can hold on, with the strength of Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic, the attack will definitely be able to create a threat.