Even with Neymar and Suarez, the 29-year-old Messi is still the backbone of Barcelona.
At critical moments, he still needs to step forward.
In the first thirty minutes, the Spaniard's performance was not much worse than Barcelona.
Barcelona played well, had a lot of ball control, and their passing and cutting were entertaining to watch.
But the Spaniard's simple style of active running, fierce pressing, quick counterattacks, and fatal blows is also very good.
The performance of both sides is not bad, what is being compared is the ability to seize opportunities.
The Spaniard is ahead in the score. This does not mean that Zhao Yang is better than Barcelona's superstar.
It's that the Spaniards are more familiar with the long-established Barcelona superstars, while the Barcelona players don't know Zhao Yang very well, not to mention that Zhao Yang has also signed a new skill.
After Messi scored, Barcelona's morale was high, and with the cheers of 100,000 fans, Barcelona played more oppressively.
The Spaniards' morale was frustrated and they no longer dared to be as proactive as in the previous counterattack, so they spent more energy on defense.
Even Zhao Yang and Caicedo, who mainly focused on offense, also retreated to help defend. It can be said that everyone is united.
The Spaniards run aggressively and make big moves. Barcelona's matchup with the Spaniards is like a scholar meeting a soldier, but it is difficult to fully display his superb skills.
In the past, it was not easy for Barcelona to beat Espanyol. The reason why the winning rate is extremely high is because Barcelona has many superstars and has strong ability to seize opportunities.
Even the best defensive team in the world cannot deny its opponents a chance. With Barcelona's strength, as long as Messi and other superstars break the deadlock and take the initiative, the Spaniards will naturally have no choice but to sit back and wait.
Now the time and number of goals scored by Barcelona against Espanyol are considered normal. The only abnormal thing is that Espanyol also has Zhao Yang who is excellent at seizing opportunities.
Under Barcelona's fierce attack, the Spaniards defended with all their strength and seemed to have no power to fight back. However, the Barcelona people never dared to press forward with their entire army and had to leave two defensive players behind.
This is the huge deterrent power that Zhao Yang brought to Barcelona after scoring the goal.
Under the Spaniard's united defense, Barcelona did not create many shooting opportunities in the remaining fifteen minutes of the first half. Their most threatening shot was a long shot from Iniesta.
The Espanyol goalkeeper did not react, but Iniesta missed the shot and the ball flew close to the goal post and flew out of the baseline.
As the referee Gonzalez blew the whistle, the first half of the game ended. Barcelona, which had the advantage, trailed its derby opponent Espanyol at home 1:2.
This score is indeed unexpected. Considering the current ranking of the Espanyol team, such a score is not excessive. Moreover, the game is not over yet, everything is possible.
The Spaniards have not won at Camp Nou for 6 years and have only scored one goal. Now at halftime, they lead 2:1. Both the fans and the players are very excited.
The Espanyol fans were even more excited than the Espanyol players. Many fans even secretly ran to the top of the tunnel, shouted Zhao Yang's name and blew kisses to Zhao Yang.
Barcelona's players and fans are not depressed because they are lagging behind. They are very optimistic. The gap is only one goal. Their historical record and current ranking make them believe that they must be the ones who have the last laugh.
visiting team locker room
Head coach Sergio personally stood at the door of the locker room to greet the players, shook hands with them one by one, and praised their outstanding performance in the first half.
It's no wonder that Sergio was excited. Even if he lost this game, he was also the best coach in these derbies based on his performance in the first half and Zhao Yang's two goals.
Sergio was originally a firefighting coach. Regardless of the team's high ranking now, once the Spaniard's performance declines in the second half of the season and he fails to enter the European competition, he may be dismissed at any time.
But this derby battle is definitely a bonus. If this game is won, it is almost certain that as long as the Spaniard is not relegated, Sergio will be able to secure his position as coach.
After playing so well in the first half, there was naturally no need for big adjustments. Sergio boosted morale and let the players rest.
home team locker room
Barcelona coach Enrique is certainly not as relaxed as Sergio.
The Spaniard, who has been rubbed on the ground by Barcelona, is now leading the score, which shows that there must be something wrong with Barcelona's tactics or mentality.
Enrique must solve this problem during the halftime break, otherwise, no one can guarantee a comeback in the second half.
Enrique believed that there was a tactical problem in falling behind in the first half, but it was not a big one, because Barcelona has always played with me as the main player. No matter who the opponent is, whether they are strong or weak, Barcelona always penetrates with short passes.
The biggest problem behind falling behind is mentality.
Barcelona didn't pay enough attention to their opponents, and they were quite impatient in attacking, thinking they could kill their opponents in one go.
Before the game, Enrique also said that we should pay attention to our opponents. The Spaniards are very fierce this season, but Barcelona's record against the Spaniards is too good. No matter what, it is difficult for the players to pay attention to them.
In fact, even Barcelona's coaches do not regard the Spaniard as an opponent on the same level as themselves.
Now that the players and coaches have personally experienced the power of the Spaniard, Enrique once again talked about paying attention to his opponents. The players obviously accepted it and no longer dared to look down on their opponents.
Enrique then made tactical adjustments. Because the Spaniards attacked Alba's side in the first half, Enrique asked Alba not to be so aggressive in assists and pay attention to the balance of offense and defense.
Finally, Enrique once again emphasized strengthening the defense against Zhao Yang.
A player who has scored so many goals must have emphasized strict defense before the game. However, after the first half of the game, Enrique believed that the tactics formulated before the game to defend Zhao Yang were not enough.
"We must defend Zhao Yang as if he were Leo! You all know how other teams defend Leo."
This is Enrique's final conclusion.
Now the players all know that they need to use fouling and killing tactics. This is how other teams defend Messi.
Zhao Yang obviously didn't know that Barcelona had once again adjusted its defense level against him.
At the beginning of the second half, the Spaniard's strategy did not change. He was still pressing hard and making big moves. He hoped that through this strategy, he could break Barcelona's passing rhythm, seize the opportunity to steal the ball, and complete the counterattack and score.
Barcelona also still relies on short passing penetration and the personal breakthroughs of superstars.
After Barcelona kicked off, Alba crossed to Suarez. Suarez knocked back Iniesta, and Iniesta passed it to Messi. He knocked the ball into the penalty area without stopping, tearing apart the Spaniard's defense.
Suarez inserted into the penalty area and took a shot, but the ball hit goalkeeper Lopez.
The Spanish defender made a big-footed clearance. Zhao Yang rushed over to grab the point, but Alves rushed over and knocked him to the ground.
In fact, Alves had little hope of grabbing the spot. His move was just to give Zhao Yang a blow.
Zhao Yang was no longer a rookie, so of course he understood. He was not afraid and just grinned at Alves.