Madrid and Barça threw to feet (And what feet!) who would lead the persecution of Atlético in a match that started modest and ended up in agony, in the midst of a brutal storm that drenched everything in epic. It was an extreme, exhausting Classic that made Madrid the leader of the loyal opposition. Barça kept the ball and that has not been enough for a long time. Madrid were the office and Vinicius, a projectile as imprecise as unstoppable. He suffered until the end his victory for not being concrete in the cons, but He got into the makeshift leader bed.
The classics produce vertigo. There is plenty of data, although that study is still pending publication in scientific journals. And it is that what they enclose is not only written in the classification, but in the memory: the 'little hands' back and forth, Guardiola's set, Camacho's marking to Cruyff, Raúl's 'to shut up', the attempt Messi for hanging his shirt in the background at the Bernabéu, the flying pig, Pep's “fucking love”, the “why?” of Mourinho, the deafness of Figo … So the weight of the game is carried forward until what works. Zidane came from beating Liverpool with Asensio and picked up cable against Barça with Valverde to double the guard on Alba, Messi's preferred communication channel. He got it right.
And Koeman, who had triumphantly repeated lineup in four games, also picked up candles: Araújo in the central troika (after faking with Piqué, who would sign up for this event infiltrated or amputee), De Jong at the midfielder and Griezmann on the bench. That little bit of extravagance when he visited Madrid was already brought as standard by the first Cruyff. It is unknown if it is a Dutch custom. It did not come out.
Gold heel
The previous questions were resolved soon. The advance pressure was mutual and the ball was left to Barça. Its eternal rondo is the beginning of sedation. Sometimes it sneaks in and sometimes it doesn't.
The fact is that this extreme vigilance in any area of the field created an oppressive, closed atmosphere of maximum tension. But among the academic, the unexpected always ends up sneaking in. And there came a play from another game. Valverde broke, by cylinder capacity, from the center, opened Lucas and his low delivery to the near post was solved by Benzema on the fly with a precise heel strike, with art and science. A major goal and an award that until then had not deserved any. The repertoire of French has become infinite. There are not nine in the world that, outside the area, keep all their properties intact.
The game was no longer the same. Barça acquired new obligations and only Pedri, a fantastic 'old man', assumed them. And Madrid gave more field for their own benefit. This was stealing and killing. Kill with Vinicius, whose speed dismantled the Blaugrana behind. The Brazilian is on the loose. Ask Mingueza. The young Barça central defender could only stop almost on the line of the area one of those accelerations. What happened next was half white fortune half Barça nonsense. Kroos hit the free kick without much conviction, Dest, a meter from the barrier, deflected the shot and Alba, over the line, put her head in without success.
A movie ending
The Barça was in a labyrinth and Madrid, in his sauce: two lines that balonmanized the attack culé, Benzema of pitcher and Vinicius in supersonic version. The Brazilian started the bike again shortly after to give a great pass to Valverde. The Uruguayan's shot hit the post (the first of the four in the duel). Zidane had put Valverde in to blind Alba and it was Alba who lost track of the Uruguayan. Whoever had the ball was not right. However, Messi had his explosive minute: he was on the verge of the Olympic goal (the crossbar avoided it) in a non-existent corner and Courtois covered a shot that the VAR would have invalidated by previous hand.
With everything lost, Koeman turned around. Griezmann for Dest and 4-3-3 against a Madrid victim of the umpteenth setback: Lucas Vázquez's injury. Barça had no choice but to live on the edge of the impossible under a hurricane. With two open ends and two assault sides, any against Madrid seemed to have poison. Zidane's team was convinced that it was better to penalize than to command. And the party began to offer him great opportunities. Two went to Benzema before Mingueza changed the course of the game by putting his shin into a Jordi Alba center that passed before the beards of many and no one touched. Zidane then put Asensio in, seeing that Barça moved on the wire. Araujo deflected a Vinicius cross to his post. Jordi Alba, who was asking for passage in the game, had the tie, but Courtois was providential.
The game had been very agitated and Zidane understood that wear and tear was beginning to kill his own. He undermined the team a lot by retiring Kroos, Benzema and Vinicius. Koeman hit more wood in midfield with Ilaix. The final bet was going to be physical. There was still time for the refereeing mess due to a very slight contact from Mendy on Braithwaite. Koeman set up a circus for a set that didn't deserve it (then he was followed by Piqué, who's going with that march). Then Casemiro looked for two yellow cards in one minute to make the end more agonizing for Madrid. The game ended with a shot to the crossbar by Ilaix and Ter Stegen in the white area. A monument to football.