Just four days after the end of the Champions League match, Real Madrid ushered in the world's attention at home.

Spanish National Derby.

Currently, Barcelona leads the standings with 68 points, followed by Real Madrid with 65 points.

If Real Madrid can beat Barcelona in this game, it will not only be able to tie the points, but also squeeze Barcelona out of the top of the table because of the relationship between the two teams this season.

This game is very important for both teams.

Even if there is a Champions League second leg in the middle of next week and the rotation needs to be adjusted, the two teams still want to play a good game, and the main players are all playing.

Real Madrid starters:

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois.

Defence: Marcelo, Varane, Ramos, Carvajal.

Defender: Casemiro.

Midfielders: Rossi, Modric, Toni Kroos, Bale.

Centre-forward: Benzema.

Barcelona starters:

Goalkeeper: Ter Schgent.

Defence: Alba, Umtiti, Pique, Mecedo.

Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong, Busquez, Artur, Rakitic.

Forwards: Messi, Antoine Griezmann.

While the two sides were still warming up, the Bernabeu was flooded with nearly 80,000 Real Madrid fans.

At the 81,044-seat Bernabeu Stadium, the visiting Barcelona fans are only around a few thousand.

This is definitely another mastery of the atmosphere of the game at the top.

Before the game, Barcelona officials hoped that Real Madrid could allocate more tickets to Barcelona fans.

But Real Madrid's attitude was very decisive, with only 800 tickets.

You do the first year of junior high school, I do the fifteenth, no one blames anyone.

Many Barcelona fans get tickets through other channels, and the prices are naturally prohibitively high.

The Real Madrid fans at the scene were full of voices and loud voices, creating a home atmosphere that made Messi, who was used to seeing big scenes, also stunned.

Rostrum.

Real Madrid President Florentino, accompanied by the club's top management, stood up to greet the Barcelona president.

Bartomeu is a controversial chairman with mixed reputations.

In the early stages of his tenure, Enrique was appointed as head coach and key players such as Suarez, Rakitic, Bravo and Ter Stegen were brought in, helping Barcelona win the second treble in team history.

But then he was heavily fined by FIFA for violating the rules of youth recruitment, and Neymar's transfer scandal and other incidents made him lose his heart.

In order to save the crisis of confidence, Bartomeu spent 400 million euros in the past two summer windows to sign Coutinho, Dembele, Griezmann and De Jong and other stars, hoping to lead the team out of the predicament.

But in the first leg of the league, Barcelona lost 1:3 at home, which has been criticized by fans.

If he loses this game again, he will be beaten by his arch-rival Real Madrid in the season, which will be an important basis for Bartomeu to be slammed by his rivals.

The Barcelona players also know that this game is not only about the league title, but also about the honor and face of the club.

It's a game you can't lose.

In the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 final four days ago, Barcelona drew 1-1 away to Napoli, seizing the initiative to advance and allowing them to better prepare for this game.

And the media also unanimously believe that Barcelona, which has relatively little pressure in the Champions League and the league, can get out of the Bernabeu.

Led by referee Laos, players from both sides walked into the Bernabeu stadium to the deafening cheers of more than 80,000 fans.

It was also the first time Rossi had played in a national derby at home.

Zidane walked to the away team's dugout and shook hands with Barcelona's new manager, Setien.

Former manager Ernesto Valverde was sacked after losing to Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup.

Since Setien took over, Barcelona have maintained the top of the standings, but this does not reflect the level of coaching of the Spanish coach.

Because of Barcelona's own strength, it is very strong in the entire La Liga.

First in the league, nothing to be proud of.

If you can win against Real Madrid, the head coach is the real cow.

As soon as the whistle blows, Real Madrid kicks off.

Barcelona, which is playing away, has chosen a midfield composed of four technical and veteran players to escort Messi.

Because of this, Barcelona abandoned the speed of the wing and adjusted the focus of the attack to the middle.

Coincidentally, Zidane's arrangement in this game also abandoned the speed on the wing, trying to penetrate Barcelona's defense by mastering the midfield.

In previous seasons, the two teams fought on the side to speed up the block, which was very ornamental and impactful.

In this game, the middle lane became the main battlefield of the battle, and it became a fierce Shura field of bayonet fighting.

Perhaps for the Champions League next week, or perhaps out of caution, neither team pressed high, but kept looking for opportunities in advance and possession.

When Real Madrid defended, Kroos would press the ball forward, and Bale and Rossi would recycle to participate in the defence, so that Barcelona could not find opportunities on the flanks, and could only try to find opportunities in the crowded middle.

In the 12th minute, Griezmann took the ball on the left rib, and after distributing it to Messi in the middle, he spared most of the circle and attacked the weak side to concentrate Real Madrid's defense in the middle.

Messi keenly observed the open space on the wing and immediately distributed the ball to Alba, who was inserted in the back.

The latter swept the ball straight to the goalkeeper without stopping and gave it to the outflanked Antoine Griezmann.

However, Real Madrid gathered a lot of players in the middle, and it was difficult for the ball to pass through the ground, and Ramos cleared it to defuse the attack.

The ball is converted and Real Madrid attack.

Since Barcelona is indeed a speedy player in the front, Real Madrid boldly pushed the formation forward and forced Messi to move away from the Real Madrid goal.

And even if Barcelona breaks the ball, Real Madrid will have enough time to defend as a whole.

Real Madrid pressed hard and pushed the ball forward along the flank through a number of one-twos in the middle.

Marcelo didn't get back to the starting line-up because Zidane wanted him to push forward desperately.

Instead, he used his passing coordination to improve the flow of the midfield.

In the 14th minute, after Real Madrid retreated from Benzema, he broke through Barcelona's defense from the middle and distributed the ball to Bale on the right side under the continuous tandem of the midfield.

The Welsh star was the driving force behind Real Madrid's counter-attacks on the wing, and in the competition with Alba, he made a quick stop, kicked back, knocked horizontally, and swept the ball into the middle of the penalty area.

At this time, Rossi, who had already arrived at the outflanking point, was surrounded by two Barcelona midfielders, turning, pulling the ball, and doing it back, and the whole action was very smooth and fast in a small and threatening space.

Kroos, who rushed to attack, aimed at the bottom right corner of the goal, and at the same time, he directly pulled the rod to push the ball.

The ball arcs and goes straight to the corner.

Goalkeeper Ter Schgent had his vision blocked, and when he reacted, the ball had already left the arch of Toney's foot, and he rushed to the ground to save the ball.

After the ball swiped through his fingertips, Ter Schgent turned backwards the moment he fell to the ground, ensuring that the ball was always in his sight.

This is the knee-jerk reaction of a first-class goalkeeper every time he saves the ball.

The advantage of this is that if the ball bounces off the post, the goalkeeper can control the ball as soon as possible, avoiding the embarrassing situation of concentrating his back and bouncing into the net.

Fortunately, Kroos's push shot was aimed at avoiding Barcelona's defenders, resulting in a drop in accuracy and flying off the line against the post.

But this attack also really made Barcelona break out in a cold sweat.

Inside the Santiago Bernabeu, the players were given a roaring round of applause after the attack.

Afterwards, Real Madrid fans raised their hands, raised white scarves, waved white flags, and sang the team song.

The classical and noble melody, the passionate and surging power, make the whole scene extremely shocking.

This is the hall of honour that players aspire to, home to the best teams in the world.

Santiago - Bernabéu!!

(End of chapter)