In recent years, one of the focal points of the rivalry in European football was Chelsea and Barcelona. It was not known whether it was fate or the UEFA pushing the story of the Champions League behind the scenes. Chelsea and Barcelona met again in this season's Champions League group stage.
On the same day that Real Madrid and Steaua Bucharest played, Chelsea and Barcelona met again.
Real Madrid did not pay attention to Barcelona's progress in the Champions League group stage. If they did not meet each other, Real Madrid would hardly pay attention to Barcelona's Champions League record, unless the other side's title overshadowed Real Madrid's glory.
In the game between Barcelona and their new enemy, Chelsea, the African cheetah, Eto 'o, was injured!
When the news came back to Spain, the media in the Real Madrid camp cheered!
Eto 'o would be absent in the upcoming El Clásico, the battle of the century!
This was definitely good news.
Qin Xiong played a 30-minute game in the middle of the week and felt in good condition. It was considered a warm-up for the weekend's game. After returning to Madrid to rest for a day, he returned to the training ground. Capello deliberately let him train alone to avoid high-intensity training with the team. He was also afraid that Qin Xiong's strong dedication would be exhausted in training.
He did not say it, but he knew in his heart that Qin Xiong was needed for the El Clásico!
Although Real Madrid's Galactica era was over, the El Clásico was still the most watched competitive rivalry between clubs in European football and even the world football.
On the day of the El Clásico, Qin Xiong had been followed by reporters since he left home, as if to record this unusual day.
Sports media from more than 100 countries and regions would broadcast the game, and the number of live broadcast teams at the scene was also astonishing.
Qin Xiong prepared for the game step by step, and his heart was full of expectations.
The game would be scheduled for 9 p.m. local time in Madrid.
The atmosphere in the club was a little dignified. Barcelona's strong attack put a lot of pressure on everyone.
In particular, Barcelona was also very good at the beginning of the season. They had five wins and one draw in their first six games and had not tasted defeat.
When everything was ready, Capello deliberately emphasized the tactical arrangement of the game in his pre-game speech. He needed the team to fully implement his tactical ideas!
There was no opposition within the team because they had been suppressed by Barcelona in the past few years and stole the limelight. Barcelona's strength made Capello's tactical strategy of defensive counterattack, even in Bernabéu, everyone felt that it was natural to accept it.
In the players' tunnel, Real Madrid and Barcelona's starters.
Qin Xiong's expression as usual, but many players' eyes's players would lock their eyes on Barcelona.
Among them was the Argentinian genius Messi, who had gotten rid of his supernova status at the start of the new season and officially stepped into the ranks of first-class star players.
What happened in the Champions League final a few months ago was still vivid in his mind. Messi missed the final, and he could only watch from an inconspicuous corner after the game as Qin Xiong and Arsenal climbed to the top of Europe.
It was not a good feeling. For them, playing Real Madrid was the battle of the century, and it was also a battle for hatred. With Qin Xiong joining Real Madrid, the hatred was mixed with the unwillingness to take revenge!
As the referee team walked into the Bernabéu stadium, the loud noise in the stadium bombarded the nerves of every player!
"Welcome to the Bernabéu stadium, the 230th Spanish National Derby is about to be played here!
It was also a battle for the top of La Liga!
Barcelona had five wins and one draw in six games in the new season, leading the table with 16 points. The brand-new trident was talked about by the fans. The attacking group formed by Ronaldinho, Eto 'o, and Messi was powerful, but the bad news was that Eto' o was injured in the Champions League game against Chelsea in the middle of the week. Today, the Icelandic national player, Gudjohnsen, would replace him in the starting lineup, which would definitely reduce Barcelona's offensive firepower slightly.
Real Madrid's performance in the new season was still up and down. After winning the first four rounds of the league tournament, in the next two Madrid Derbies, they drew with Atlético Madrid and lost to their little brother Getafe, which led to them now being three points behind Barcelona.
However, in the Champions League game in the middle of the week, Real Madrid paid tribute to the battle of the century with a big victory. But what would happen in the game, whether Real Madrid could continue their good form in the middle of the week or be beaten back to square one, was unknown.
Today, Real Madrid started 4-5-1.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Fullbacks: Ramos, Helguera, Cannavaro, Carlos.
Midfielders: Reyes, Diarra, Qin Xiong, Emerson, Raúl.
Striker: van Nistelrooy.
Barcelona started 4-3-1.
Goalkeeper: Valdés.
Fullbacks: Zambrotta, Thuram, Puyol, Silvinho.
Midfielders: Xavi, Deco, Iniesta.
Strikers: Messi, Gudjohnsen, Ronaldinho.
The kickoff ceremony will be over soon. Let's enjoy the 230th game of the Spanish National Derby! "
Capello and Rijkaard stood on the sidelines to supervise the game. The two managers' faces were quite dignified. Everyone's team had problems, but they were not sure which team could play better.
The game began, and Barcelona took the lead to kick off. Real Madrid players retreated to defend, except for van Nistelrooy who stayed in the midfield. The danger zone 40 yards in front of the goal was the main defensive zone to resist Barcelona's attack.
Barcelona's control in the midfield was very strong.
Xavi, Deco, and Iniesta were all players who had the ability to control the ball and had excellent passing and running awareness. It was almost an impossible task to intercept their offense in the wide range of the midfield.
They could only wait for the opponent to attack to the forefront. Real Madrid could only resist the opponent's attack when more defensive players filled the danger zone and formed a joint defense environment.
At the beginning of the game, Barcelona passed the ball back and forth in the midfield to shape the offensive situation.
They looked very patient, and they started the attack with Ronaldinho, who was on the left side of the front field, as the core.
In the third minute, Iniesta passed the ball to Ronaldinho from the left side of the front field. The latter was full of confidence in front of Ramos.
The last time he came to Bernabéu, Ramos was the best supporting role through and through. He broke through Ramos once in each of his two goals.
But those two breakthroughs were completed when he had a lot of room to break through.
This time, he wanted to repeat the same trick. He swerved the ball horizontally in front of Ramos and used the explosive acceleration to crush Ramos.
He succeeded!
But Diarra, who took the initiative to help defend against Ramos, decisively blocked the ball and did not let Ronaldinho pass!
Real Madrid's defense was successful!
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