The only club that makes Real Madrid nervous did it again. He repeated it. He pissed him off. Again. While other teams prove that their legs tremble in front of the whites and they can even lose a 2-0 win at Anfield and concede five goals, Barcelona seemed to enjoy the survival exercise at the Bernabeu. The 98 minutes that were played were made troppo brevi. They did not live long at all, which they were. Eleven blaugrana resisted with unusual mettle.
Guess who's coming tonight. The arrival of Barça in Chamartín is usually a martyrdom for the locals. The Madrid that scored five against Liverpool could hardly test the shot against Ter Stegen. While Ancelotti's men were desperate, Xavi's men dominated the stage. No stage fright.
Barcelona arrived with no more than half of the lead, without the preferred midfield and with Christensen's loss at the last minute. Real Madrid thought it was the ideal occasion to return Riyadh's display in the Super Cup final. Even Xavi gave him favoritism. But the Barcelona fans competed as they are less used to.
He even played not to play. Xavi, who again saw a yellow card for protesting, made changes. Few, only two. He didn't have many more wickers. When Sergi Roberto had to enter the confusion was made. It seemed that the replaced was Ferran Torres. Then the Valencian was surprised. He was actually touching Kessié. The Ivorian did not leave the field of play until he had said goodbye to the referee. All between whistles of the respectable.
Barça, led by Messi, have scored beautiful goals at the Bernabeu, which in its day even applauded Ronaldinho. Yesterday he won with an ugly goal, on a rebound, at his own goal. All this increased the tension on the white side, which tried everything, increasingly powerless.
The accumulated tension had been unleashed in the 24th minute when Vinícius grabbed Frenkie de Jong by the neck and threw him to the ground, almost like in a judo hold. The Brazilian saw the yellow and was outraged. Converted by a sector into the champion of an athlete, the stands became inflamed, following the protests of their striker. "Corruption in the Federation", shouted the public. It was not the first time it was heard. Already in the prolegomena, the Madrid fans remembered the Enríquez Negreira case and the payments made by his great rival to the vice president of the referees. It was his way of verifying a collusion of the collective with the Blaugrana team. Madridismo, always well related to power, now walks with the fly behind its ear. It must be remembered that Madrid was capable of turning around and appropriating as if it were their own the chant "Thus, thus, this is how Madrid wins" which was born precisely for the opposite, as a complaint.
Laporta agitated the masses in the electoral campaign with a canvas just 100 meters from the Bernabeu. Eager to see you again, he read himself. The president's face appeared on some fake purple 500-euro bills that the Madrid fans created by imitating the real ones, which were discontinued in January 2019 on suspicion that they were used in shady deals.
The president of Barcelona is a recurring target. But if there is a player who has taken the measure of the whites it is Gavi, the hero of Riyadh. He is the Bernabeu's Sidney Poitier. More than Araújo's marking of Vinícius, the Andalusian midfielder's competitiveness is proof that Barça has the ability to drive Real Madrid out of their boxes. Perhaps the only one that competes on an equal footing.
