When Carvajal poked the ball away in front of Iniesta, Di María, who was standing not far ahead of him, reacted the fastest. Almost by reflex, he stretched out his left foot and swept the ball across the penalty area.
Benzema was waiting on the right side of the box. When he saw Di María's pass, he turned his body to let the ball roll past him, then chased forward and was about to shoot.
Thiago Motta got into position in time, blocking Benzema's left-footed angle. Alba quickly caught up from behind, trying to shut down the shot on Benzema's right.
Goalkeeper Valdés had also closed the angle at the near post, which made Benzema realize instantly that he had no shooting window.
The French center immediately controlled the ball, spun quickly, and used his body to hold off Alba.
The Barcelona left back is not tall, and when he bumped into Benzema it was like crashing into a wall, he could not move the Frenchman at all. After Benzema shielded the ball skillfully, he saw Busquets rushing from the edge of the area, so he quickly laid it back.
Carvajal, who had just muscled Iniesta aside and recovered the ball, appeared on the right side of the penalty area. Without waiting for Benzema's pass, he stepped in first and nudged it past Busquets with his right foot, leaving him behind.
After dribbling past Busquets and cutting inside to the D, he saw Xavi stepping across to cover. Real Madrid's right back stayed calm and gently rolled the ball to the left side of the penalty spot.
Two tall figures surged toward it, Pogba and Ronaldo.
Pogba was more central, Ronaldo closer to the far post.
Pogba got there first, arriving behind Xavi on the right side of the penalty spot, and struck it with his right foot, sending the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Valdés could not reach it.
"Goallllllllllllllllll!!!!!!"
"In the 14th minute, Pogba breaks the deadlock for Real Madrid!"
"1-0!"
The young Frenchman burst out of himself with excitement and kept sprinting in celebration.
Ronaldo and the other Real Madrid players chased after him to hug and celebrate.
In fact, if Pogba had left it, Ronaldo could also have scored.
But in the end, the French midfielder arrived first and buried it.
In the past, Ronaldo might have been a bit unhappy, thinking his goal had been taken. Now he had no such issue, because he had already scored enough this season.
At least in both the Champions League and La Liga, his goals tally firmly suppressed Messi's.
That was enough.
…
Gao Shen was on the touchline. The moment Pogba scored, he jumped up, pumping his fists and cheering.
He calmed quickly and ran through the situation in his head, especially what came next after the goal.
The whole world knew Martino was not strong with in-game adjustments, so Gao Shen wanted to use this opening, a God-given chance created by their high press, to form immediate front-foot suppression, launch a burst of fast attacks, and completely pin Barcelona back.
Scoring again would be ideal, but even if not, they had to crush Barcelona's morale.
Once the morale snapped, Barcelona would be finished tonight.
"How is it?" Gao Shen turned to Carlos Vargas.
He had just told the analysts to keep eyes on Thiago Motta.
When Benzema spun to protect the ball, Motta clearly did not react quickly enough to cover the left channel. His reaction speed had dropped a lot.
There was a reason.
Back when he played under Gao Shen at Napoli, he hit the best form of his career. After moving to Barcelona, he was not trusted, even pushed to center back.
Under Guardiola he still got many chances, stayed in good shape, and was relatively young. Now, at 31, it was different.
In the past two or three seasons, his minutes had dropped sharply, which led to Barcelona no longer valuing him.
Previously, Thiago Motta was even listed on Barcelona's summer clear-out by Daily Sports.
But Barcelona really had no center backs. With Puyol in poor form and more injuries, Motta was at least usable.
Who could ask a 31-year-old veteran, lacking continuous match rhythm for a long time, to maintain peak standards?
As expected, Vargas reported that Motta was not active tonight.
In other words, not sharp enough, not in good enough condition.
That was already fatal in a heavyweight clash like El Clásico.
So Gao Shen strode to the touchline, shouting for Modrić and Xabi Alonso, signaling them to keep pushing up, keep attacking, and try to finish Barcelona off in one go.
"Keep pressing high and choke Barcelona," Gao Shen gestured with his hands.
At the same time, he signaled to Xabi Alonso and Modrić to shade left and let Pogba actively join the left-side attacks.
Marcelo could also push higher.
When Marcelo went, Ramos would pick up Neymar.
Xabi Alonso, of course, needed to be alert to the cover in transition.
Real Madrid's players did not need an expert to tell them what to do. They knew.
…
Barcelona restarted.
Under Real Madrid's high press, it was difficult for them to progress.
In the end, Messi had to drop to receive.
As Xabi Alonso followed him, he slid decisively. He did not win it off Messi, but he delayed his burst. The timing was perfect.
That is the value of an experienced veteran.
Pogba dropped from higher up to replace Xabi Alonso and harassed Messi, forcing the Argentine to move right and play to Neymar. Marcelo had already recovered.
Xabi Alonso and Marcelo combined to double Neymar, forcing him to pass back to Alves.
Barcelona then went through Xavi and Fàbregas to find Iniesta on the left.
Real Madrid's defense was flexible and adjusted quickly. Under Carvajal's pressure, Iniesta was forced to pass back to Piqué because Di María was tight on Alba.
This excellent collective defending drew warm applause from the Bernabéu.
Under Gao Shen, Real Madrid's defensive structure was still very sound, especially the organization built by movement and cooperation. Even Barcelona could not easily cut through it.
By the time Barcelona crossed halfway again and found Messi, Real Madrid had already set a pincer on him from front and back.
Ramos stepped in first and lifted it clear, finding a teammate.
Pogba, with his back to goal, volleyed the dropping ball straight to Modrić in space.
The Croatian threaded a through ball to Di María.
The Argentine carried it along the right channel, surged to the edge of the area, feinted beautifully at Busquets, skipped inside him, and slipped it to Benzema at the D.
The French striker took it on the edge, evaded Motta, and struck with his right.
Valdés claimed it.
The whole Bernabéu sighed.
Gao Shen kept signaling on the sideline to push up and keep the squeeze.
Valdés quickly rolled it to Alves and Barcelona tried to build, but as soon as it reached midfield, Xabi Alonso jumped it and fed Marcelo.
Marcelo is very dangerous when carrying on the left. One key reason is that he can weave inside or cut across. His best weapon is not shooting, but passing.
Just like now, after a quick interchange with Pogba, he cut inside toward the half-space while Pogba worked outside.
Drawing defenders, Marcelo slipped it left.
Pogba took a touch and accelerated. One-on-one with Alves on the wing, he worked the ball with both feet, feinted past the Brazilian right back, then suddenly burst through, threading between two Barcelona defenders into the left side of the box.
The young Frenchman's dribble drew screams from the Bernabéu.
Motta quickly left his man, Cristiano Ronaldo, and rushed to Pogba to block the angle. Pogba reacted fast. Before the three Barcelona defenders could collapse on him, he suddenly cut it back with his left.
Tall but nimble, Pogba wriggled clear and squared to Ronaldo.
The Portuguese did not try to bring it under. Reading the path and speed, he met it, planted on his right, and struck first time with his left.
The most terrifying thing about Ronaldo is that he can turn a half-chance into a goal.
Just like this. In Barcelona's box, a control touch would have killed the chance. A first-time left-foot strike is hard to control as well.
But Ronaldo had the method and the quality to wrap his left foot around it and fire it into the bottom corner.
"Goalllllllllllllllll!!!!!"
"Clinical finish!"
"From Cristiano Ronaldo!!"
"In the 18th minute, Real Madrid score again!"
"Goal from Ronaldo!"
"Pogba's dribble was brilliant, and Ronaldo's finish was assured, calmly taking the chance created by his teammate."
"This is a superstar."
The Bernabéu exploded, everyone roaring for Ronaldo's goal.
Real Madrid's players sprinted to the touchline to celebrate again.
2-0.
Real Madrid had extended the lead.
(To be continued.)