Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
The precise free kick of the goal. AFP photo
In the early hours of the 11th Beijing time, the much-anticipated Spanish National Derby came to an end with Real Madrid defeating Barcelona 2:1. With the La Liga nearing its end, a three-team battle for supremacy has taken shape, and the importance of this matchup cannot be overstated. In the end, Real Madrid won this fierce battle and moved to the top of the table with 66 points with Athletic Madrid, who played one less round, while Barcelona is in the third place with 65 points.
The match was also a battle between two world-class coaches. Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane relinquished possession at home, focusing on restricting Messi and adopting a defensive counter-attacking strategy, while Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman continued to pin his hopes on Messi, expecting him to energize the whole team, especially front players Dembele and Pedri.
However, Zidane was clearly better. His tactical arrangement was very successful and the players executed it quite well. In the 13th minute, Real Madrid first broke the deadlock, Lucas Vazquez sent a precise pass from the right side of the penalty area, Benzema on the edge of the penalty area with his heel cleverly sent the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, this is his 19th goal in La Liga this season. In the 28th minute, Kroos took a free kick from the edge of the box, Dexter and Alba tried to block the ball, but could not prevent the ball from flying into the net, Real Madrid ended the first half with a 2:0 lead.
It was certainly a fatal blow for Barcelona. In the rain, they were desperate for an equalizer, but the slippery pitch was even more detrimental to the attacking side. It wasn't until the 60th minute that Alba sent in a cross from the left and Minguessa side-stepped the ball into the net in the middle of the pitch to bring the score to 1:2 for Barcelona. late in the game, Barcelona missed a chance for an absolute equalizer when Moriba's penalty hit the crossbar and the camera lenses caught Lionel Messi shivering in the cold rain. In the past three seasons of the national derby, Messi made seven appearances, including five La Liga and two Copa del Rey games, accumulating a total of 567 minutes of playing time, but failed to score goals and assists. Messi's last goal in a national derby was back on May 6, 2018, when Crowe was still at Real Madrid.
