The Camp Nou in downtown Barcelona was abuzz with an electric atmosphere.
The stadium, capable of holding 100,000 spectators, was packed to capacity, and the fervent cheers and shouts surged like a tidal wave, impacting everyone's nerves.
People focused their attention on the big screen, where they could see both teams lined up in the player tunnel, ready to enter the field at any moment.
Barcelona was led by Xavi, who stood at the very front, his face stern and his expression extremely solemn.
Suker was the captain for Real Madrid in this match.
Suker had worn the captain's armband many times; when Ramos was unavailable, Suker was Real Madrid's rock.
The camera panned across the players of both teams, lingering for a while on Neymar, giving him some close-ups.
With a slightly unkempt airplane haircut, darker skin, and a relatively slender physique, he had, in this period, already conquered many local fans with his unparalleled dribbling and passing.
Originally a talented prodigy who rose to fame in Brazil, he continued to perform at a high level after joining the Spanish giants, even integrating into the team very quickly.
Because of this, many Barcelona fans were also looking forward to Neymar's performance in this match.
Neymar's poor performance in the Spanish Super Cup before the League was understandable.
After all, he had just joined Barcelona and was not particularly familiar with the tactics and system, and it was difficult for him to find his own position, so naturally, it was hard for him to perform.
But now, several months had passed, and Neymar's adaptation speed was also very fast.
Furthermore, with his excellent performance, his teammates were also willing to pass him the ball, which led to Neymar's performance getting better and better with each game.
Neymar is now an indispensable part of Barcelona, providing great support to Barcelona in terms of vertical breakthroughs.
"Neymar needs to be wary!"
Ancelotti also said slowly, looking at the big screen.
Zidane: "His style is more of a native Brazilian style, with many feints and a great ability to get past defenders, but the key is his acceleration and flexible use of technique in the game."
Ancelotti nodded: "However, we still need to watch out for Messi!"
Zidane nodded again, agreeing with Ancelotti's view.
No matter how excellent Neymar's performance, Messi is the most threatening key point.
This is like Real Madrid; no matter how excellent Bale's performance, other teams will only focus on Suker.
At the core of the tactics and system, it is still Suker/Messi who dominates!
"Get ready to enter!"
With the Referee's words, the faces of both teams' players suddenly tensed up.
They followed the Referee's steps, entering the field one by one.
As they walked out of the player tunnel, the cheers of tens of thousands of people instantly erupted, shaking the entire stadium.
Of course, for Real Madrid, there was only a sky full of boos.
Cheers and boos intertwined, and the entire pre-match tension reached its peak.
"This is the 2013/2014 La Liga El Clásico, a crucial match on Christmas Eve!"
"Barcelona home against Real Madrid!"
"In the past few seasons, Barcelona, when facing Real Madrid, always encountered many surprises and ultimately failed to win the match, and their highly trusted core player, Messi, was also the key target for Real Madrid, unable to utilize Messi's vertical breakthrough ability, Barcelona often had to rely on Iniesta for breakthroughs, but this also led to a decrease in midfield control, and Real Madrid could use this to further strengthen their midfield control!"
"But in this season's summer window, Barcelona made a transfer choice that was enough to shake the football world; they acquired the Brazilian prodigy Neymar, becoming the final winner in the competition among many European giants."
"Neymar's arrival enriched Barcelona's tactical options and playing style, and also gave them another option when facing difficulties."
"Therefore, for Real Madrid, in addition to Messi, they also need to be careful of the breakthrough threat from Neymar."
"...For Barcelona, I think the most important psychological factor they need to overcome is that due to their poor performance in these past few seasons, they have missed out on a victory, which will inevitably leave a shadow on their psychological state."
"They must overcome this mentality to perform normally in the match, and also need sufficient calmness; only then can they find a way to defeat Real Madrid!"
As he spoke, the starting lineups of both teams had already appeared on the big screen.
Barcelona (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Bravo.
Defenders: Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba.
Midfielders: Xavi (Captain), Alexandre Song, Iniesta.
Forwards: Messi, Perroti, Neymar.
Real Madrid (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Diego López.
Defenders: Srna, Varane, Pepe, Marcelo.
Midfielders: Casemiro, Kroos, Kaka.
Forwards: Bale, Benzema, Suker (Captain).
The Referee called the two captains together.
Suker shook hands with Xavi and exchanged pennants.
They were old rivals, so there was no sense of unfamiliarity, more of a formulaic smile and handshake, but once the match started, they would give it their all!
During the coin toss, Real Madrid won the kick-off.
Barcelona, on the other hand, chose the left side of the field.
The tactical game between Real Madrid and Barcelona had already begun from the kick-off.
Both teams are very particular about details, so after winning the kick-off, they could gain the initiative at the start of the match, and their playing style would also be different.
Suker and Benzema stood at the center circle, waiting for the kick-off.
Suker was still bouncing around, warming up, and the camera gave him a close-up.
However, when Suker's image appeared on the big screen, the boos from the entire stadium were incessant.
Suker turned a deaf ear to it; he was more than used to being booed at Camp Nou.
On Barcelona's half, Messi's expression was serious, while Neymar looked eager to try.
In the tense atmosphere, the Referee ran out to the center circle and blew his whistle.
At the moment the sharp whistle sounded, Real Madrid decisively kicked off.
The entire match began!
"The match begins! The match begins! Barcelona home against Real Madrid, this La Liga focus match has finally started!"
"In the first half, Real Madrid kicked off first. Real Madrid, wearing white jerseys, played quite cautiously after the kick-off. Barcelona, perhaps playing at home, played more aggressively."
On the field, Barcelona's high pressing was intense.
They constantly pursued and intercepted Real Madrid's ball-carrying players, trying to force Real Madrid to pass forward as quickly as possible.
Real Madrid, for their part, was not ambiguous.
They could not adopt the same tactics as Chelsea when facing Barcelona, playing a passing and control style with them; they would not even know how they died.
"Go up! Press up!"
Neymar was very excited, even directing his teammates to press forward.
But before he could rush up, Xavi immediately shouted from behind: "Come back! Stick to your tactical position!"
Xavi noticed that Suker had already moved towards the wing and was in a stance to receive the ball.
If Neymar in that position couldn't retreat in time, Xavi would have to face Suker's impact directly, and he alone wouldn't be enough to handle Suker.
And if Suker managed to get to the defensive line, it would be truly dangerous.
Neymar was also very obedient and immediately retreated to his position.
Seeing this, Suker couldn't help but curl his lips slightly, moving a little inward to a better position for passing and receiving.
Only then did Xavi breathe a sigh of relief.
He truly didn't dare to let Suker play freely, after all, for so many years, they had been tormented enough by Suker.
Marking Suker absolutely required 120,000% of their spirit; only then could Suker's performance be limited to the lowest extent.
But even so, they couldn't say they completely restricted Suker.
After all, so far, no team dared to say that they could successfully restrict Suker; if they could, Suker wouldn't be a century-old problem in football.
At the beginning of the match, both sides were more engaged in probing attacks, and the pace of the game was relatively slow.
Neither side accelerated the pace of the game, maintaining this steady progression.
Soon, Real Madrid lost possession!
Under interference, Bale was dispossessed by Alexandre Song and Alba, but Real Madrid didn't pay too much attention.
When playing against Barcelona, they wouldn't overly insist on possession.
Barcelona would control more of the ball, but in contrast, Real Madrid's counterattacks would be more intense.
And once Barcelona gained possession, their progression also changed.
Previously, they always attacked down the right side, which was Messi's side.
But this time, Messi began to tuck inside, giving up the flank and playing more of a transitional role.
Messi passed the ball horizontally to Neymar.
After Neymar received the ball on the flank, Casemiro and Srna also arrived in time.
"So fast!"
Neymar looked up and, with just one glance, saw the unfavorable situation for him, immediately passing the ball back to Xavi to maintain control.
"Neymar is very cautious; he didn't risk a breakthrough but sought a more stable way of handling it.
Facing the combined defense of Casemiro and Srna, he really needs to be careful!"
"In this match, Real Madrid changed their usual single defensive midfielder formation to a double defensive midfielder setup, with Casemiro and Kaka each occupying a side.
This allows Casemiro to focus more on marking Neymar!"
As the commentator said, Real Madrid's tactical move was to counter Barcelona's two-wing interference from Neymar and Messi.
It proved that Ancelotti's tactics were indeed very meaningful.
Barcelona's Coach Enrique, on the sidelines, looked calm, but he kept rubbing his index finger and thumb together, showing a hint of unease.
Just at this moment, Messi once again proactively moved into the center.
This time, Messi moved closer to the central axis and feigned a forceful breakthrough.
This move attracted Casemiro's attention; to prevent Kaka from being beaten, he positioned himself closer to the center and closer to Messi's direction.
And Messi, in the process of turning, also noticed this scene.
Before he had even completed his turn, he had already used the instep of his left foot to smoothly push the ball to the left, which was in front of Neymar.
This time, Neymar received the ball completely unrestricted, with only Srna in front of him.
"Here he comes!"
Srna looked serious and immediately stepped forward to press, with Varane also following suit, standing in a more secure position.
Real Madrid's defense was interconnected; getting past Srna didn't mean getting past the entire defense.
But danger would still exist.
After receiving the ball, Neymar dribbled along the flank all the way to the byline.
Srna didn't rashly stick out his foot but followed closely, forcing Neymar to go wide.
And the moment Neymar stopped, Casemiro also arrived.
The two stood in front of Neymar, defending tightly.
"Neymar failed to break through, what will he do?"
At that tense moment, Neymar suddenly surged forward, as if to dribble past.
Casemiro and Srna also rushed forward.
Just as they were about to engage in a confrontation, Neymar made a tiny pause and deftly slipped the ball through Casemiro's legs.
Casemiro instinctively closed his legs but failed to block the nutmeg.
Neymar saw that he had succeeded and immediately turned his body to evade Srna's interference.
At the same time, he forcefully overtook from the byline!
"Neymar!! Here he comes! He beat two players at once, forcefully overtaking on the byline, can he get this ball out?"
Neymar was being held by Srna, but Srna was half a step behind, making effective interference difficult.
Getting closer and closer to the ball!
Neymar pushed the ball with the instep of his foot!
"This ball has—"
The commentator almost shouted, but in the next second, a figure suddenly slid in from the front, sweeping past and intercepting the ball out of bounds.
"Oh~~~~ My God!! Suker!!"
The commentator suddenly exclaimed, "How did he appear here?"
Suker watched the ball being cleared out of bounds, then stood up and patted his shorts.
But the white shorts were already stained green, which couldn't be patted off, so he just ignored it.
"I told you to be careful!"
Suker said to Srna.
Srna grimaced, "I really didn't expect this guy to actually try to dribble past here."
Two-man defense!
Perhaps only players of Suker's or Messi's caliber would do that, after all, they have enough confidence in their own skills and aren't afraid of taking the blame.
In response, Suker rolled his eyes.
Srna had underestimated Neymar a bit.
He thought the guy was just a rookie who had just entered La Liga; of course, he was vigilant, but not to a certain extent.
In his original timeline, Neymar was called the third person of the Messi-Ronaldo era, originally the most threatening player to challenge their status.
His ability was evident!
And Srna hadn't thought about it that way at all, almost causing a problem.
"Why did you fall back?"
Suker: "I saw Messi proactively move to the center, and I had already returned to our half.
When the ball was distributed to Neymar's flank, I directly sprinted at full speed."
Speaking of which, Suker turned to look at Kroos, Kaka, and Casemiro.
The three midfielders immediately averted their gaze.
Suker had already fallen back to defend; they hadn't arrived, so whoever was embarrassed knew it.
Suker patted the captain's armband on his arm: "I'm wearing this thing, after all.
If I don't run more, am I waiting for you guys to mess up my game as captain?"
Srna gave an awkward laugh.
However, Suker's retreat and successful interception put more than a little pressure on the defense and midfield.
As Real Madrid's number one star and core player.
He had sprinted back to defend; where would they still have thoughts of slacking off or being lazy?
Just fight!
Ancelotti couldn't help but smile, pointing to the field and saying, "Don't you think Suker being captain is also a good thing?"
Zidane also smiled and nodded; "Suker gives pressure, never just by talking, but by setting an example.
Whenever he serves as captain, he shows even more active performance, whether in attack or defense."
Ancelotti smiled; "But he should still attack; he is most threatening in the attacking third.
Of course, I don't object to his active performance in the match."
Suker intercepted a crucial Barcelona attack and also set an example for Real Madrid players.
I can fall back from the attacking third, so shouldn't you all run more?
And indeed, after this retreat, the morale and intensity of Real Madrid players were greatly boosted.
First, Varane headed the ball away in an aerial duel.
Facing a challenge for possession with Iniesta, Kroos didn't back down at all; they fought for the ball so fiercely they almost came to blows.
This also triggered a series of conflicts, and the tension began to rise.
The stable pace of the game only lasted for ten minutes, and the tension in the match was already very thick.
Both sides were competing, neither giving way to the other, back and forth.
The pace of the game began to accelerate, and the intensity of the game also continuously increased.
Confrontations and fouls also became more frequent.
Bang!
Marcelo was directly sent flying; he was knocked out of bounds by Alves.
"Good heavens!"
Suker turned to see this scene, and he was about to start running over.
The next second, a roar.
"Bastard!"
Pepe sprinted at full speed towards Alves.
His fierce look was as if he was going to skin Alves alive.
Suker, out of necessity, could only turn around to stop Pepe.
Sometimes it's quite helpless.
Being captain is just a job of holding people back.
At Real Madrid, Suker didn't even have a chance to stand out because he was calm enough, at least calmer than Pepe and Ramos.
Pepe was the type to just go for it without thinking!
Ramos was a bit different; before he wore the captain's armband, he would go for it with Pepe.
Now wearing the captain's armband, he's slightly more restrained, but he can still easily lead his teammates to go for it.
So, Suker, being the calmer person, didn't even get a chance to fight.
He was either holding people back!
Or on his way to hold people back.