"Real Madrid's pressing is very aggressive. Busquets can't turn to pass, and Suker always manages to follow up with perfect pressure. Xavi has dropped back — it's a forced choice."
Seeing Xavi retreat, Suker turned his head and shouted:
"Di María!"
Di María immediately charged toward Xavi's front. As he pressed forward, he tilted his body slightly to the left.
This was a warning to Xavi — don't try to pass forward, especially not directly to Messi.
"Really annoying!" Messi cursed silently and had to retreat even further.
"Barcelona's midfield has been compressed backward!"
González widened his eyes, staring at the pitch.
This truly was the Spanish national derby. Right from the start, both teams showed no hesitation — it was straight-up combat.
Swish!!!Alonso suddenly slid in and nudged the ball with his toe to Diarra nearby. Diarra immediately passed it back.
"Charge! Press hard!"
Messi shouted.
Real Madrid is known for their high pressing.
Barcelona would do the same!
Just as Messi planned to rush forward, a loud shout came from behind:
"Messi! Back off! Don't rush!"
Xavi pointed loudly to the left: "Suker is about to make a sneaky run!"
Suker was about to make a diagonal run into the middle, but Xavi's call drew sharp attention his way.
"Eyes like hawks!"
Suker couldn't help but mutter.
Real Madrid had intended to use Barcelona's high pressing to launch a fast counterattack.
But Xavi saw through this.
Barcelona didn't press forward aggressively, leaving too little space for Suker to make diagonal runs.
"Take it slow!"
Suker moved toward the center circle, shouting.
As Suker ran, Xavi kept turning his head to check his position.
During his instructions, three out of every five sentences mentioned Suker.
Because of Xavi's repeated reminders, Barcelona players constantly monitored Suker's positioning.
Even on defense, Suker was tightly marked by both Busquets and Milito.
Even if the ball reached Suker's feet, he passed it away immediately.
Mainly because Barcelona could instantly form a surrounding net around Suker; if Suker slowed even slightly, they would trap him.
Suker didn't want to lose possession, especially against Barcelona, where any turnover could lead to a dangerous attack.
And given Barcelona's offensive capability, they could seriously threaten Real Madrid's goal.
So even if there was a chance, for safety's sake, Suker wouldn't take risks.
Bang! Bang! Bang!Barcelona's passing and infiltration were sharp and smooth.
At the slightest chance to break through, they would decisively attack.
For example, Xavi passed directly to Pedro, Pedro returned the ball, Keita crossed to Messi, who dribbled past Diarra like a fried meatball.
Just as he was about to cross, Garay suddenly shoved him with his hand.
Messi's pass went awry, and Ramos took the opportunity to slide the ball to Alonso.
Alonso turned and received the ball. Instantly, Real Madrid switched to counterattack mode.
Suker sprinted forward.
Alonso noticed Suker's running path and launched a long pass toward the left-back space.
Once the passing route was confirmed, Suker accelerated again.
"What a fast transition! Suker! Can he get the ball?"
Busquets tightly followed Suker, both arriving at the landing spot together.
Suker stretched his right foot to control the ball, but Busquets suddenly shoved him.
Both teams' players had rough hands in this match.
Suker stepped back to adjust but flicked the ball toward himself with his toes.
"Can he really control that?"
Busquets was shocked and immediately increased pressure, sweeping his foot to kick the ball away.
But Suker's right foot appeared in front of the ball — it wasn't his supporting foot and was slightly off balance.
Busquets' ankle caught Suker's foot. Without hesitation, Suker fell backward.
"Ah~~~!!!"
Suker screamed.
Busquets panicked.
He immediately raised his hand, hurriedly saying, "I didn't foul! That wasn't his supporting foot!"
Players from both sides crowded around.
Suker saw the referee talking into his headset and eventually gave Busquets a verbal warning.
Busquets felt it was unfair.
Suker had leaned in himself, and it wasn't the supporting leg — how could that be a foul?
But the decision was made.
Real Madrid won a frontfield free kick in a good position.
"Up! Come on! Win the header!"
Suker adjusted his sock and shouted to Ramos behind.
Ramos rushed over to contest the header.
This was the moment to keep up the pressure.
Alonso stood on the penalty spot, eyeing his teammates' positions, contemplating whether to shoot directly or pass indirectly.
Finally, Alonso chose to shoot.
He trusted himself!
Bang!Alonso's free kick.
The ball cleared the wall and dipped sharply but the angle was off, and it landed right into Barcelona's goalkeeper Valdés' hands.
"Fall back!"
Suker shouted and turned to sprint.
Valdés stepped forward to throw the ball but was briefly distracted as Benzema casually slid past him.
This caused Valdés to hesitate and fail to throw quickly.
"Hey!"Valdés immediately complained to the referee.
The referee shook his head, signaling no obstruction.
Benzema hadn't blocked the throw, just ran diagonally to apply pressure.
"Benzema is experienced — he knows he can't let Barcelona launch a quick counterattack, so he used a little trick."
González smiled.
But his face soon darkened.
He felt tension growing.
Sure enough, after Suker was "fouled," Real Madrid launched a retaliation.
Messi had just received the ball when Ramos and Alonso violently slid in from both sides, sending Messi flying.
Messi hit the ground hard, his face twisted in pain.
Whoa!!!!!!
The crowd erupted.
Barcelona fans were furious.
They wildly blamed Ramos for his violent actions.
But Ramos got up casually, didn't even glance back, and walked away.
Teammates formed a protective wall around him.
However, Ramos still received a yellow card.
After fouling Messi, Real Madrid suffered retaliatory fouls when attacking.
Alves slid in and knocked Benzema out of bounds along with the ball.
His sock was torn.
A second yellow card appeared.
Then Suker fouled Busquets.
Pedro fouled Alonso.
Besides Suker, Pedro also got a yellow card.
After three consecutive yellows, the referee called both captains over for a warning talk.
This was a red card warning.
If the fouling continued, the referee wouldn't hesitate to show red.
This warning calmed both sides a bit.
At this point, only 15 minutes had passed.
Shhh~~~~~~~!!!
"Son of a b****! Real Madrid!"
"Go to hell, Suker!"
"Disgusting ugly play! This damn Real Madrid!"
Spanish curses flew, showing how furious Barcelona fans were.
"Calm down! Calm down!"
Guardiola shouted loudly on the sideline.
The game rhythm became chaotic due to continuous fouls.
This was not what Guardiola wanted.
Barcelona's attacks required stability, not chaos.
In this respect, Real Madrid had the advantage!
Sure enough, as the chaos grew, Real Madrid's attacks started threatening Barcelona's goal frequently.
First, Benzema used his constant dropping to activate Di María on the wing.
Then, after Suker drew defenders, Marcelo continuously overlapped forward on the flank.
With both wings active, Real Madrid repeatedly contested headers inside Barcelona's box.
Xavi tried to stabilize things, but Real Madrid's high press kept the pace high.
"Disrupted!"
Laedep clenched his fist.
The effort paid off!
Despite the disorder, chances were equal — it was all about who seized them better.
In this, Laedep was confident. With Suker, Real Madrid had the advantage.
Suker kept running, dragging defenders' attention.
Even in chaos, Barcelona never relaxed their defense on Suker.
His runs were tightly tracked and limited.
"Let's switch!"
Suker ran beside Benzema.
They alternated dropping back.
But Suker's drops failed to open space, so he wanted to stand as the striker, where chances were better.
Benzema agreed immediately, giving up his spot.
Suker stood right next to Puyol.
Now Barcelona's backline was under much greater pressure.
Meanwhile, Benzema took over Suker's previous role, distributing passes toward the wings.
"Right side! Pass to the right!"
Suker reminded Benzema.
On the right was Di María!
At critical moments, the 'Angel' was clearly effective.
So far, Di María had threatened Alves' defense several times with dribbling.
Benzema started passing right.
Di María's runs kept creating chances.
Alonso observed the changing situation.
He noticed Di María's impact but still couldn't break the deadlock.
"I must open an attacking channel for him!"
Alonso swapped positions with Diarra.
"Draw them over!"
Alonso shouted to Benzema.
Benzema passed back to Alonso.
Alonso returned it; Barcelona's red-eyed players rushed forward.
Seizing the moment, Alonso pushed higher and waited for the pass.
Garay passed to Arbeloa.
Arbeloa sent a straight ball down the flank to Di María.
As Di María waited to receive, Alves pressed up.
Di María immediately passed and sprinted.
Alonso lightly flicked the ball.
The ball flew over Alves' head, landing behind.
"Through!"
Suker's eyes lit up; he started to accelerate.
Next to him, Puyol closed in.
Suker pushed forward, watching Di María.
After laying off the ball, Di María made a lateral run, pressing in front of Alves, disrupting his rhythm.
With Alves off balance, Di María looked up.
Suker stared intently.
"Come! I'll be your wall!"
Di María passed directly to Suker while sprinting toward the open right side.
Suker suddenly leaned back, spreading his arms to shield Puyol, then used his right foot to flick the ball to the right gap.
"Di María through ball, Suker sets it up! Di María!! Shoot!!"
Di María reached the ball and struck powerfully.
The ball headed toward the near post.
Before goalkeeper Valdés could save, the ball already slipped into the net.
Swish!!!
At 25 minutes, Real Madrid took the lead!
"Gooooooooooooaaaal!!!"
"Angel Di María!! Brilliant counterattack!! Oh my God, what a performance!"
"Continuous passing started from the back. Real Madrid's counterattack was decisive — six passes then a shot!"
"This goal is mostly thanks to Di María — his one-twos with Alonso and frontcourt cooperation with Suker created it!"
"Angel! Just like his name, the Argentine angel descended onto the Nou Camp."
"Real Madrid leads Barcelona 1-0! The decisive counterattack worked! Barcelona is behind — will they face their previous predicament again?"
The entire Nou Camp fell silent.
All fans stared in disbelief.
Real Madrid's wing counterattack made them nervous, but they hadn't expected a goal.
In fact, when the ball was passed to Suker, everyone thought:
Suker would shoot!
But Suker passed!
No! He set up Di María!
Who the hell would expect that?
Not just the fans — even Puyol probably didn't expect it.
At the time, Puyol clearly tried to stop Suker from turning, blocking his space.
But he never imagined Suker would set up Di María.
Real Madrid scored first; they were behind!
"Well done!"
Suker rubbed Di María's head hard.
This was a big-game player!
This was clutch!
From Arbeloa's successful ball retrieval, through Alonso's one-two with Di María to breach the defense, Suker knew what to do.
Real Madrid tore open the right flank.
Alonso created the lane for Di María, and Real Madrid benefited by scoring.
Barcelona was thrown off!
Real Madrid reaped the rewards.
So all the provocation was deliberate — to stir Barcelona's anger.
When people lose control, mistakes happen easily.
Di María was excited.
He had torn through Barcelona's goal.
His performance was excellent.
And with this lead, the team could play with more confidence.
Real Madrid's players finished celebrating and retreated.
Suker felt a little regret.
No jersey celebration.
But at that moment, it was the best choice.
If he forced a celebration, Puyol might have disturbed him, and even a forced shot might not score.
After this goal, Barcelona would definitely try to counterattack.
Real Madrid also wanted to counter!
Opportunities remained!
Suker licked his lips.
The match rhythm was going smoothly.
"The development surprised us — Barcelona is trailing at home.
Their runs and overlaps can't threaten Real Madrid's defense much.
In midfield battles, Real Madrid's aggressive running restricts Barcelona's passing channels.
Of course, there's the question — how long can Real Madrid sustain this style?"
González knew well this was a risky move.
They used intense running for higher pressing and attacking aggression.
But it also drained stamina fast.
If it didn't work, Real Madrid was basically surrendering.
Especially in the second half — how many players could maintain such running?
At least aggression would decline.
Fortunately, Real Madrid scored, allowing them to play more comfortably.
But Barcelona's offense was waking up.
Conceding was a wake-up call.
They realized previous fouls and conflicts were Real Madrid's attempts to disturb and counterattack.
They had cooperated obediently, making them unhappy.
Now one goal behind, all they could do was equalize or overturn.
Barcelona had confidence.
But they had to keep calm!
Bang!!
Alonso's long pass flew over midfield toward Suker.
Suker wanted to start, but Puyol blocked him.
After a tussle, Suker tried to run around the side.
Goalkeeper Valdés rushed to the edge of the box.
As the ball entered the box, Valdés jumped lightly and caught it.
Suker sighed softly.
He looked at Puyol, who stared with caution.
Suker knew he had to shake off Puyol or drop back for space.
He couldn't be pinned immediately.