I don't know whether it's because they lost at home last time or because it's so close to winning the championship, but Barcelona are particularly excited today.
After the kick-off, Barcelona pressed forward crazily. Three minutes later, Barcelona's defense line pressed directly into the center circle and launched a half-court siege on the Spaniard.
The Spaniard also arranged an offensive lineup today.
Barcelona attacked hard and the Spaniards' defense became very difficult.
In the 4th minute, Mascherano suddenly dribbled the ball forward from the center circle.
The forward Caicedo in the center was chasing after him but failed to catch up.
Mascherano passed Asensio and continued to advance.
If Mascherano continues to advance, the Spaniard's defense will be disrupted.
Espanyol midfielder Perez ran from the left and gave Mascherano a sliding tackle from behind.
Mascherano was unable to dodge and was tackled to the ground by Perez.
The referee immediately took out the yellow card and warned Perez for the shovel.
Less than five minutes into the game, a Espanyol player received a yellow card.
This is Espanyol's home ground, and Espanyol fans are very angry.
"Black whistle! Black whistle!"
The fans shouted and put pressure on the referee.
At this time, Mascherano was still rolling on the ground, and medical staff outside the field rushed to the scene and carried Mascherano out on a stretcher for emergency treatment.
The Barcelona players were dissatisfied that Perez only received a yellow card and came to put pressure on the referee.
The referee ignored the pressure from Espanyol fans and Barcelona players and calmly signaled that the game would continue.
Barcelona's free kick was far away from the goal and could not be shot directly. When Messi took the penalty, Barcelona sent players to the penalty area to fight for the header.
The free kick was taken, but Pique, the only high-altitude threat, failed to grab the landing spot. The ball was struck by Spanish goalkeeper Arlauskis.
Arlauskis quickly threw the ball to launch a counterattack.
Barcelona's defense was very compact. The ball was thrown into the midfield. Before a few passes, the ball was intercepted by Rakitic. Barcelona continued to besiege the Spaniard.
At this time, there was a commotion from the Barcelona fans area in the stands.
Some fans shouted that Atletico Madrid had scored a goal.
It turned out that in another championship game that started at the same time, Atletico Madrid scored in 1 minute and led Levante 1:0.
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have the same points. If Atletico Madrid wins, they will surpass Barcelona in the standings.
Barcelona's players also heard the news and attacked even more fiercely.
In the 7th minute of the game, after continuous passes outside, the ball reached Messi's feet.
Messi received the ball, "Matthews dropped his shoulders", then turned around, deceived Diop who was marking him, and went straight into the penalty area with the ball.
Diop was passed too easily, and the Spanish center back had no time to surround him. Alvarez had to intercept Messi himself.
Messi dribbled the ball and continuously changed directions, quickly approaching the penalty area line.
From the front of the penalty area, Messi's shooting efficiency is very high.
Alvarez had to stay close to Messi to prevent him from shooting suddenly.
Messi saw Alvarez approaching, flicked the ball and rushed into the penalty area.
Alvarez quickly moved sideways to intercept.
Messi spiked the ball and changed direction, overtaking Alvarez from the other side again.
Alvarez could no longer move his body, but he couldn't watch Messi rush into the penalty area. In desperation, he reached out and grabbed Messi's jersey.
Messi's jersey was pulled, but he still tried hard to move forward, trying to get rid of the defense.
Alvarez's grip was so tight that Messi was pulled directly onto his back on the turf.
This is an unquestionable yellow card action!
Messi lay on the ground and spread his arms, indicating that the opponent had committed a foul and that he was wronged.
Although the Spanish fans saw Messi being pulled down, they still shouted, "Fall!"
The referee is a very assertive person and ignored the external pressure. He warned Alvarez with another yellow card and awarded a direct free kick.
This free kick was almost 267 meters away from the goal, and was within Messi's shooting range.
Although Messi has the absolute right to take penalty kicks under Barcelona, Messi is very humble. He went over first to ask Suarez whether he wanted to take the kick.
Now not only does Barcelona have to compete for the championship, but Suarez also has to compete with Zhao Yang for the top scorer.
As a compatriot and close friend, Messi naturally hopes that Suarez can win the top scorer.
However, Suarez did not agree. He wanted to compete for the Golden Boot, but Barcelona's competition for the championship was more important.
Suarez did not take the free kick, but left the ball to Messi, who was more confident.
Messi stood in front of the ball, backed up to measure the running distance, waited for the Spaniard to line up the wall, and waited for the referee's whistle to blow.
Beep!
The referee's whistle sounded.
Messi ran up to the ball, lightly kicked a curve ball with his left foot, bypassed the jumping wall, and went straight to the upper right corner of the goal.
Spanish goalkeeper Arlauskis judged Messi's intention correctly, but the angle of Messi's shot was too tricky and it was an absolute blind spot.
Arlaukis failed to touch the ball, and the ball flew into the goal against the angle between the crossbar and the post.
After scoring the goal, Messi opened his arms and celebrated enthusiastically with his teammates around him.
1:0
In the first 7 minutes, Barcelona took the lead against Espanyol with Messi's free kick.
"Messi! Messi!" On-site commentator He Wei also had to sigh: "Beautiful free kick! Messi's free kicks are getting better and better! Such a great genius is still making continuous progress!"
Fang Jian said with emotion: "This is so lifeless! I made this free kick and scored it myself! This is my personal ability! Simply, it was not scored by Suarez."
He Wei said objectively: "Although Zhao Yang has scored the most goals, compared to Messi, Zhao Yang's ability is still far behind."
Fang Jiandao: "Zhao Yang is still young, and he is constantly making progress."
Since the Spaniards have no performance pressure, Messi's goal has no impact on them. The Spaniard fans in the stands did not boo, but when the Barcelona fans cheered, they shouted, "Zhao Yang! Score one! Zhao Yang! Score one."
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Zhao Yang heard the shouts of the fans. He also wanted to score one. Two would be better, but Barcelona controlled the ball and the Spaniard had very few offensive opportunities.
And because Barcelona's defense is pressed very far forward, the defense is even more aggressive, making it difficult for Zhao Yang to get the ball.
After Barcelona scored, they continued to dominate the offense on the field.
The Spaniard was still forced to defend in his own half.
The 10th minute of the game.
Messi pulls to the right and cooperates with Alba.
Messi moved to the wing, and the Spanish defensive force moved to the wing.
Messi alertly saw the emptiness in the Spaniard's center, and he immediately sent a through ball to find Suarez.
Suarez went straight into the penalty area and hit the goal from a small angle with the inside of his right foot.
This time, Espanyol goalkeeper Alejandro performed well and stretched his legs to block the ball.
Iniesta followed up with a follow-up shot and was blocked again.
Rakitic then succeeded in making a supplementary shot in front of the goal, but the referee ruled that Rakitic was offside and the goal was invalid.