Chapter 514 The Bernabeu, the Holy Land of Football

Author: Sanjingshou

Chapter 514 The Bernabeu, the Holy Land of Football

Just four days after the Champions League game ended, Real Madrid ushered in a focus game at home that attracted worldwide attention.

Spanish El Clasico.

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

If Real Madrid can defeat Barcelona in this game, it will not only tie them in points, but also push Barcelona out of the top spot due to the winning-loss relationship between the two teams this season.

This game is very important for both teams.

Even though there will be a Champions League second-leg match in the middle of next week and rotation adjustments are needed, the two teams still want to have a prosperous battle and all the main players will play.

Real Madrid starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Courtois.

Defense: Marcelo, Varane, Ramos, Carvajal.

Midfielder: Casemiro.

Midfielder: Rossi, Modric, Toni Kroos, Bale.

Center: Benzema.

Barcelona starts:

Goalkeeper: Ter Schgent.

Defense: Alba, Umtiti, Pique, Mecedo.

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong, Busquets, Arthur, Rakitic.

Forwards: Messi, Griezmann.

While the two sides were still warming up, nearly 80,000 Real Madrid fans poured into the Bernabeu.

At the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, which has a capacity of 81,044, there are only a few thousand fans of the away team Barcelona.

This is definitely another example of the top management controlling the atmosphere of the game.

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

But Real Madrid's attitude was very decisive and they only had 800 tickets.

You are in the first year of junior high school and I am in the fifteenth year of junior high school. Don’t blame anyone else.

Many Barcelona fans obtained their tickets through other channels, and the prices were naturally prohibitive.

The Real Madrid fans at the scene were very loud and the noise was overwhelming. The home atmosphere created made Messi, who was used to seeing big scenes, stunned.

rostrum.

Real Madrid President Florentino, accompanied by the club's senior officials, stood up to greet the Barcelona President.

Bartomeu is a controversial president with mixed reputations.

In the early stages of taking office, he appointed Enrique as the head coach and introduced key players such as Suarez, Rakitic, Bravo, Ter Stegen, etc., helping Barcelona win the second Triple Crown in team history.

of brilliance.

However, subsequent incidents such as the FIFA ban on youth training violations and the Neymar transfer scandal made him lose popularity.

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

However, in the first round of the league, Barcelona lost 1:3 at home and has been criticized by fans.

If he loses again in this game, he will be beaten by his arch-enemy Real Madrid in a season double defeat. This will be an important basis for Bartomeu to be severely criticized by his competitors.

Barcelona players also know that this battle is not only about the league championship, but also the club's honor and face.

This is a game that absolutely cannot be lost.

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

The media also agreed that Barcelona, ​​which is under relatively little pressure in both the Champions League and the league, can escape from the Bernabeu unscathed.

Under the leadership of referee Raos, the players from both teams entered the Bernabeu Stadium and faced the deafening cheers of more than 80,000 fans.

This is also the first time Rossi has participated in a Clasico match at home.

Zidane walked to the visiting team's coaching bench and shook hands with Barcelona's new coach Setién.

Former coach Ernesto Valverde was fired after losing to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals.

After Setien took office, Barcelona has maintained its lead in the standings, but this does not reflect the Spanish coach's coaching level.

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

First place in the league is nothing to be proud of.

If you can beat Real Madrid, the head coach is really good.

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

Barcelona, ​​playing away from home, chose a midfielder composed of four technical and veteran players to protect Messi.

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

Coincidentally, Zidane's arrangement for this game also gave up wing speed and tried to penetrate Barcelona's defense by controlling the midfield.

In the past few seasons, the scenes of the two teams battling each other on the wing and speeding up the game were extremely entertaining and impactful.

In this game, the center has become the main battlefield for fighting, and it has become a Shura field of fierce bayonet fights.

Perhaps for the sake of the Champions League next week, or perhaps out of caution, neither team engaged in a high-position press, but continued to look for opportunities while advancing and controlling the ball.

When Real Madrid defended, Kroos pressed forward to press the ball carrier, and Bale and Rossi returned to participate in the defense. Barcelona could not find opportunities on the wings and could only try to find opportunities in the crowded center.

In the 12th minute, Griezmann took the ball on the left rib, passed it to Messi in the middle, and after letting it go for half a circle, he attacked the weak side and concentrated Real Madrid's defense in the middle.

After Messi keenly observed the space on the wing, he immediately passed the ball to Alba who came in behind.

The latter swept the ball directly in front of the goal without stopping, and passed it to Griezmann who was outflanking him.

However, Real Madrid gathered so many players in the middle that it was difficult for the ball to pass through the ground. Ramos cleared the ball and defused the attack.

The ball is converted and Real Madrid attacks.

Since Barcelona does have fast players in the frontcourt, Real Madrid boldly moved the formation forward, forcing Messi to stay far away from Real Madrid's goal.

And even if Barcelona steals the ball, Real Madrid still has enough time to defend as a whole.

While Real Madrid pressed hard, they pushed the ball forward along the wing through multiple one-twos from the center.

Marcelo returned to the starting lineup not because Zidane wanted him to push forward and attack.

Instead, he uses his passing coordination to improve the smoothness of passing and running in the midfield.

In the 14th minute, after Benzema retreated and continued to connect with the midfielder, Real Madrid broke through Barcelona's defense from the center and passed the ball to Bell on the right.

The Welsh star was the driving force behind Real Madrid's side counterattack. In the competition with Alba, he made sudden stops, kickbacks, and horizontal knocks, and swept the ball toward the center of the penalty area.

At this time, Rossi, who had already arrived at the outflanking point, was flanked by two Barcelona midfielders. He turned around, pulled the ball, and returned. The entire movement was very smooth and quick in a small and threatening space.

Kroos, who rushed to attack, aimed at the lower right corner of the goal, met the ball and directly pulled the lever to push.

The ball drew an arc and went straight to the blind corner.

Goalkeeper Ter Schgent's sight was blocked. When he reacted, the ball had already left Teacher Tony's arch, and he hurriedly fell to the ground to save the ball.

After the ball passed through his fingertips, Terschgent turned his body backward the moment he fell to the ground to ensure that the ball was always within his sight.

This is the subconscious reaction of a top goalkeeper every time he saves the ball.

The advantage of this is that if the ball rebounds from the goal post, the goalkeeper can control the ball immediately and avoid the embarrassing situation of concentrating on his back and rebounding into the net.

Fortunately, in order to avoid many Barcelona defenders, Cross's push shot was less accurate and flew close to the post and flew out of the baseline.

But this attack really made Barcelona break into cold sweats.

In the Bernabeu Stadium, after this attack, the players were given roaring applause.

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

Classical, noble melody, passionate and surging power made the whole venue an extremely shocking scene.

This is the hall of honor that players yearn for and the home stadium of the best team in the world.

Santiago Bernabeu!!
Chapter completed!