Speaking of La Liga, most people will come up with two teams: Barcelona and Real Madrid. These two teams are not only the symbol of La Liga, but also stand for the top-class soccer in the world. Needless to say, every game between them is historical, worth watching. Soccer fans call it the National Derby, which means the game between the best two teams in a country (Spain).
The National Derby has a long history in Spain. Real Madrid usually symbolizes the central government of Spain, while Barcelona embodies Catalonian. Catalonian has always had a strong desire to become an independent country, which makes it conflict with Spain government. Sometimes, sport games serve as the substitution of the wars between two power. That’s why National Derby is so meaningful.
(http://www.lesports.com/news/151402733015362.html)
The last national Derby took place on Dec 23rd, 2017. At that time I was in hospital after a surgery on my leg. But I watched it using my laptop, which got rid of my pain for a while. (It sounds ambiguous that my leg was broken due to the soccer, but I still utilized it as a way to kill my pain.) Personally I’m in favor of Barcelona, for many of my good friends are Barca fans. Before the game, people anticipated a lot about it. Will C. Ronaldo, who just won the Golden Ball, destroy the Barcelona in Nou Camp Stadium? Will Messi play as the king of Nou Camp?
(http://sports.sina.com.cn/g/laliga/2017-12-23/doc-ifypxrpp3584903.shtml)
(http://sports.sina.com.cn/g/laliga/2017-12-23/doc-ifypxrpp3584903.shtml)
At the beginning of the game, the white colored team was in a dominant position. The created many opportunities in the box of Barcelona. It seemed that C. Ronaldo deserved the Golden Ball Award, who performed actively in the front. However, Real Madrid’s series of attacks didn’t get any outcome. It was funny that C. Ronaldo even once missed the ball from his feet, which was a rather low-level mistake. Barcelona could barely threaten the goal of Real Madrid. It was noticeable that the only great chances of Barca in the first half was created by Paulinho , a midfield player transferred from Chinese Soccer Super League.
In the second half, the situation changed significantly. At the 54th minute, Rakitic crossed the midfield fast and passed to Roberto, who then assisted Suarez to score the goal. At the 64th minute, Carvajal used his hand to stopped the ball, which led to a red card and a penalty. Messi then changed the score to 2:0. At the 93rd minute, Vidal completely killed the game, making the final score 3:0.
It is quite surprising that in the second half, Barcelona had such an overwhelming advantage. The first reason is that, Barca was more durable than Real Madrid. Real Madrid didn’t act as actively as the first half in the second half, so they lost the dominant state. The second reason, in my opinion, is the performance of players. C. Ronaldo almost disappeared after the first 20 minutes of the game, while Messi, Paulinho kept running to the box until the last minute.
After this game, Real Madrid has less chance to achieve the La Liga Championship. It is time for Zidane to reconsider his strategy. Real Madrid need to make a change, or they will lose more.