Although Real Madrid won 2-0 away from home thanks to Lu Wenbin's two free kicks, their chances of advancing to the final in the second round increased greatly.
However, Chelsea's muscular jungle defense still caused Real Madrid to suffer some losses.
Ramos received another yellow card in this game and will be suspended in the second leg due to accumulated yellow cards, while Xabi Alonso and Benzema were both injured in fights with opponents.
Although it was not discovered during the game, post-match examinations revealed that both players had suffered minor injuries and would have to rest for at least two games and would not be able to participate in the second round of the Champions League semi-final.
As a result, Mourinho's deployment of troops seems a bit stretched.
On April 21, there was a league match between the two Champions League semi-finals, the 35th round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Barcelona away. The sixth Spanish national derby of the season was a severe test for Real Madrid.
League points are of course insignificant because Real Madrid is so far ahead of Barcelona.
If Real Madrid wins just one of the remaining league games, it will be enough to win the championship in advance. Barcelona cannot pose a threat to Real Madrid's league title this season.
The key is that this is the Spanish national derby, a game that cannot be given up.
Even if the opponent is far behind, we must give it one more step.
And if Real Madrid wins this game, they will win the league championship three rounds in advance. Of course, if it draws, Real Madrid will also win the championship in advance.
But when facing a mortal enemy, those who can win will naturally not end up in a tie, and those who can win big will naturally not win small.
It is undoubtedly a great happiness to be able to defeat our arch-rivals at their home ground and win the championship in advance.
Finally, there is another reason. Real Madrid won all the first five Spanish national derbies this season.
If Real Madrid continues to win this sixth national derby, it will complete a sextuple victory over Barcelona in the Super Cup, King's Cup and League in one season, not just a double victory.
Being able to leave such a shameful record of six kills to Barcelona is definitely the dream of every Real Madrid player.
Even President Florentino specifically found Mourinho before the game and asked Mourinho to win the game, complete the unprecedented single-season six-kill record against Barcelona and win the league championship ahead of schedule in the opponent's stadium.
This puts Mourinho under great pressure.
With the next game being the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Mourinho is having a difficult time making a decision.
Fortunately, Barcelona also played in the Champions League semi-finals, and lost 1-2 to Bayern Munich away, which is a more serious situation than Real Madrid.
Mourinho believes that with no hope of winning the league title, Guardiola will not fight to the death with Real Madrid at the Nou Camp, but instead hope to turn the tables in the second round of the Champions League semi-finals and eventually win the title.
If there is any championship that Barcelona can compete for this season, it is only the Champions League.
Therefore, Mourinho bet that Guardiola would give up the league and focus on the Champions League.
Therefore, in the 35th round of La Liga away game against Barcelona on April 21, Mourinho sent out a lineup of half main players and half substitutes.
Except for Lu Wenbin, Ronaldo, Khedira, Casillas and Ramos who started, everyone else was rotated.
However, Mourinho made the wrong bet.
Guardiola is a player from Barcelona, not a coach who took over halfway. His feelings towards Barcelona are different from Mourinho's rationality.
Although he knew it was unwise to fight hard against Real Madrid in the league, Guardiola would not allow his team to be humiliated by Real Madrid in a single season.
With a record like that, even if he wins the Champions League, he will probably be nailed to the pillar of shame.
Therefore, Barcelona played all their main players in this game and fought hard with Real Madrid.
Real Madrid's defense, which rotated most of the team, lacked tacit understanding.
In the 5th minute, Messi dribbled past three players in the penalty area and shot into the near corner amid the cheers of Barcelona fans, giving Barcelona a 1-0 lead at home.
Fortunately, in the 17th minute, Lu Wenbin also used a wonderful pass in a counterattack to assist Higuain to score the equalizer.
However, the entire Barcelona team played really well today, of course, that was also because Real Madrid did not have all their main players on the field.
In the 33rd minute, Barcelona scored again.
After breaking through Diarra's defense outside the penalty area, Messi used a fake move to create an angle with Ramos, and then assisted Villa in the flank of the penalty area, and scored directly with a shot without stopping the ball.
Barcelona took the lead again.
After that, neither side scored any more goals in the rest of the first half. Both sides entered the halftime break with a score of 2-1, with Barcelona temporarily leading by one goal.
Being behind at halftime is a rare experience for Real Madrid this season.
But Mourinho definitely doesn't want to lose.
Even without talking about the historical grievances between the two teams and the pressure from Florentino, the fans and the media, his own hatred for Barcelona alone would not allow him to lose to Barcelona.
Even if losing this game does not affect his league title, he does not want to lose and wants to win even more.
Therefore, during the half-time break, Mourinho made a desperate move and replaced three players in a row, including Pepe, Khedira and Ozil, who were originally scheduled to stay until the second round of the Champions League semi-finals.
Real Madrid also fielded all its main players.
After Pepe, Khedira and Ozil came on the pitch, Real Madrid improved a lot in both defense and offense.
On the one hand, individual strength is improved, and on the other hand, the tacit understanding of the main lineup is improved.
In the 53rd minute, Ozil, who had just come on, made a cross from the bottom of the wing. Lu Wenbin jumped high in the penalty area, overpowering Puyol and Pique to get the first point and headed the ball into the goal.
The ball flew past Valdes' fingertips and went into the goal.
Lu Wenbin finally scored a goal and equalized the score for Real Madrid.
Next, Barcelona continued to attack and Real Madrid continued to defend and counterattack, and neither side scored again until the end of the game.
Even if the game ends in a draw, Real Madrid will win the championship three rounds in advance at Barcelona's home ground.
The Spanish Football Association has brought the championship trophy to the Camp Nou, and Barcelona's players and fans definitely don't want to see Real Madrid celebrating with the trophy in their stadium.
Therefore, even when the game was nearing its end, Barcelona did not give up and continued to attack, hoping to defeat Real Madrid.
But sometimes things don’t go as planned. When you want to kill your opponent, your opponent may also be waiting to kill you.
In the 91st minute, the time had entered injury time, Barcelona made a comeback, and Messi dribbled the ball towards Real Madrid's penalty area.
In front of him were Real Madrid's two defensive midfielders Khedira and Diarra.
As the game was coming to an end, Messi's mentality was a little broken.
Faced with the interception of two defensive midfielders of Real Madrid, Messi actually wanted to break through.
As a result, Khedira, who came on in the second half, made a precise and decisive tackle and cleared the ball from Messi's feet.