The moment Ronaldo turned in Di María's cross, the entire Bernabéu seemed to explode.
Nearly 80,000 Real Madrid fans sprang from their seats, roaring at the top of their lungs and venting the sudden surge of joy in their hearts.
This is the charm of football.
It can bring you torment, endurance, even pain for a long time.
But when the goal comes, everything turns into excitement and exhilaration.
It makes you feel that everything you invested was worth it.
Countless fans were cheering and shouting wildly.
Gao Shen clenched his fists tightly in front of the home dugout.
Before this goal, Di María had already swapped positions with Ronaldo, which is common in Real Madrid matches. Sometimes Di María and Ronaldo even play on the same side to create a local overload.
But this goal reflected something more.
It highlighted Barcelona's problem.
Sensing an opportunity, Gao Shen walked to the touchline as the players jogged back after celebrating. He signaled them to keep playing this way, to push a little harder and try to score another.
As it turned out, the chance came again.
…
After the restart, Real Madrid continued with their previous tactics.
They still massed numbers near the halfway line to squeeze Barcelona's passing and ball control.
Once Barcelona stabilized possession, they tried a quick long pass from the back.
This time it went straight for Neymar on the left, but Pepe got there first and headed it clear.
The ball crossed the halfway line, Busquets headed it back toward Real Madrid's half, but Xabi Alonso headed it the other way.
Modric took it with his back to goal, turned to the right and played it to Carvajal.
Real Madrid's right-back stepped forward quickly, received and immediately clipped it in behind the defense.
Ronaldo burst through at full speed, used his body to fend off Alba, and after bringing it under control on the right side of Barcelona's box, he paused, feinted several times, then drove to the byline and crossed.
Benzema arrived to meet it with a header from the middle, but it sailed just over.
A collective groan rippled around the Bernabéu.
On the touchline, Gao Shen shook his head helplessly.
This is Ronaldo's value.
Many might say his technique is not as good as Messi's, that his talent is not as good as Messi's, or even that he wastes too many chances.
But Ronaldo is the kind of player who seizes opportunities consistently.
If that header had fallen to Ronaldo just now, it probably would have gone in.
But Benzema failed to take it.
He mistimed his leap and got his position wrong.
It is these tiny details that decide success or failure.
If that had gone in, the match would have become easier.
…
Real Madrid's two consecutive counters created danger in front of Barcelona's goal.
Even if Martino reacted late, he could see there was a problem, especially in attack.
Neymar, Agüero and Messi were too isolated from one another.
This situation is common, even very common, in South American leagues.
Because there, the pressure from defenders is not as intense.
Often, after receiving the ball, players can still take their time and engage the opponent.
But in European leagues, especially in big matches like this, that is clearly not the case.
The defending is tight, giving the opponent almost no time to breathe, let alone bring the ball under control.
The most typical example was Neymar going down under a challenge from Carvajal. The Brazilian winger fell in pain, but the referee did not even blow, signaling play on.
This is considered the most basic level of physical contact in Europe's top four leagues.
Martino suddenly realized he was another Neymar in this scenario.
Neymar has to adapt to the defensive intensity of European leagues, and so does he.
He also recalled that before the match, Roura and Rubi had come to him and, in a roundabout way, said a lot. Looking back, they were reminding him that the defensive strength in La Liga and the Champions League is very different.
With that in mind, Martino quickly walked to the touchline and called out to Xavi, signaling him to manage the team's rhythm and to pull the front three closer together to combine.
But he still did not let go of the medium and long passing.
This was his reform of Barcelona.
If Barcelona continued to play the same way as before, what would be the point of Martino coaching them?
There would be no need for him. Wouldn't it be enough to let Roura take over directly?
Or Luis Enrique, who had competed with him for the job?
Besides, Martino had anticipated that reforming Barcelona would encounter difficulties even before he took over.
Not only him, but Barcelona's executives and Messi had discussed it with him.
The reason Messi was willing to return to the right was that he wanted to actively cooperate with Martino's reforms.
Reform brings pain, but once the pain is over, new life follows.
Martino believed his direction was correct.
The premise was to find the right path.
He looked toward the home dugout again and saw Gao Shen back on the touchline, gesturing repeatedly to his players, constantly urging them to push forward.
Martino did not understand exactly what Gao Shen was shouting, but he felt it was not an instruction to press high and attack.
It was more like urging them to be quick and bold when deploying on the counter.
What a troublesome opponent.
Martino thought.
…
Another long pass from Barcelona, trying to hit Real Madrid's penalty area.
Goalkeeper Casillas came off his line decisively and claimed it in the air.
The Real Madrid captain held the ball in one hand and signaled for calm with the other.
Then suddenly, Casillas drove it long.
The ball cleared the halfway line and dropped on the right side of Barcelona's half.
Benzema won the first header, cushioned it down, then pounced on the second ball and slipped it to Modric.
The Croatian stepped in to receive, immediately played Di María on the right, then continued his run.
By then the Argentine had drifted back to the right and returned it to Modric with the outside of his left foot.
Pressed by Busquets, Modric laid it back at once, then kept moving to stretch the defense.
Di María killed the ball with the outside of his left foot and started to cut in.
Everyone knew Di María's inside pass was a major threat. Busquets immediately left Modric, turned and rushed at Di María, and he and Alba double-teamed him.
But Di María was very quick and was about to break through.
In a hurry, Busquets stuck a foot in.
The moment he did it, he knew he would not win the ball, but he could trip Di María.
The referee blew sharply, walked over, showed Busquets a yellow card, and awarded Real Madrid a set piece near 30 meters out, on the right side of the attacking third.
Busquets did not argue. He knew what was coming and slowly backed away.
Xabi Alonso and others ran over, helped Di María up, and started discussing the free kick.
It was a little far out, so a direct shot was out of the question.
Ronaldo waved it off, indicating he would not take it. It would be better for him to stay in the box and look to score.
Just now, he had been lurking on the left side of the box, waiting for Di María's pass.
If Busquets had not committed the tactical foul, that might have been the chance.
Ramos and Pepe also came up and entered Barcelona's box, ready to attack the dead ball.
Toni Kroos and Xabi Alonso stood over it.
The position was not bad, just a bit far.
Real Madrid quickly settled on a routine.
When the whistle went, Toni Kroos sprinted forward.
The German merely feinted, and Xabi Alonso followed with his run-up. A dull thud echoed around the ground.
The Spanish midfielder whipped a precise free kick with a lovely arc.
It flew like a guided missile, dropping into Barcelona's penalty area, then rapidly dipping in front of the six-yard box. This is a hallmark of Xabi Alonso's free kicks.
In Real Madrid's set-piece drills, reading and judging Xabi Alonso's dip is a skill that several of their aerial targets must have.
As the delivery came in, chaos broke out in Barcelona's box. Defenders were trying to mark, while Real Madrid's attackers were doing everything to shake off their markers.
In that melee, Ramos suddenly rose, before anyone else, and got the slightest touch on Xabi Alonso's free kick. The ball glanced on and flew into the left side of Barcelona's goal.
Valdés dived, but he was a fraction late and the ball hit the net.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
"Ramos!"
"Thirty-seventh minute of the first half, Sergio Ramos!"
"Real Madrid lead 2-0!"
After landing, Ramos leapt again and sprinted to the corner, waving his arms and urging the Real Madrid fans to turn it up.
The Bernabéu responded with even louder applause.
"Sword guard!"
"Ramos's headers have always been a powerful weapon in Real Madrid's set-piece tactics."
"Barcelona's set-piece defending failed to track Ramos, and he was the only one rising in the area."
"It was definitely a mistake in their set-piece defense."
"No one from Barcelona even challenged Ramos for the header in time."
"From the slow-motion replay, you can see Xabi Alonso's delivery had a pronounced late dip, which caught Barcelona's defenders off guard and led to a misjudgment."
"While they were still searching for the drop point, Ramos was already in the air."
"That is understanding."
"2-0!"
"Real Madrid have been excellent tonight."
"In terms of possession, 44 to 56, Real Madrid are not too far behind Barcelona."
"In terms of effective threat, Real Madrid's shots and entries into the penalty area are clearly higher than Barcelona's."
(To be continued.)