As the tension mounted, players from both sides squared off in a heated confrontation.
But from the stands of the Bernabéu came the fans' mocking chants:
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"If you don't fight, you're not Spanish!"
"If you don't fight, you're not a real man!"
"If you've got the guts, then do it!"
"Come on, all of you, bring it on!"
Hearing this, the Barcelona players' faces flushed crimson.
In contrast, the Real Madrid players gradually calmed down, smirking with mockery.
Yeah!
If you've got the guts, then swing.
Under the taunts of the Madrid fans, Barcelona's players, who had been shouting but held back from acting, finally lost their edge.
Most of them fell silent, their earlier noise fading.
They kept glancing at Su Hang—not because they feared him, but because they knew if tempers flared, he would be the first to get involved, and no one wanted the fight to escalate that far.
It wasn't that they lacked courage, but they understood that if things truly got physical, two or three players together wouldn't be enough to stop Su Hang.
So they chose restraint, and that hesitation gave the impression of backing down.
Eto'o, hot-tempered as ever, tried to charge straight at Su Hang.
But Xavi grabbed him.
Xavi: "No! Don't go! You'll just stir things up even more!"
The others rushed to restrain Eto'o as well.
With the referee stepping in, both teams gradually calmed down.
Puyol and Su Hang once again received stern warnings.
Ronaldinho stood at the penalty spot to take the kick.
Ten seconds later, the Barcelona players erupted in celebration.
Two-one!
Ronaldinho buried the penalty, completing his brace.
He single-handedly turned the game around, giving Barcelona the lead at the Bernabéu.
The small group of Barcelona fans in the stadium tried to celebrate, chanting the names of Ronaldinho and Messi.
After all, both goals had come directly from them.
They had silenced the Bernabéu!
Yet Barcelona's celebration looked… awkward.
They were happy about the goal, but the earlier memory of holding back against Su Hang lingered in their minds.
Every time they tried to cheer, that moment of hesitation resurfaced, taking some of the fire out of their celebration.
By contrast, Real Madrid, stung by shame, responded with renewed determination.
Their style of play suddenly grew much tougher.
In the 78th minute.
Barcelona tried to pass patiently from the back, hoping to cool Real Madrid's surging momentum.
But Madrid's "Rolls-Royce" trio pressed forward ferociously.
Even Ronaldo led the charge.
Barcelona's backline grew nervous.
Crash!
Su Hang timed his slide perfectly, bringing down Puyol along with the ball.
The Barcelona players immediately raised their hands, appealing for a foul.
But the referee gave no signal.
Su Hang's tackle was as clean and sharp as Cannavaro's!
Oleguer struck back immediately, lunging into a sliding tackle on Su Hang.
It was too dangerous—right on the edge of the box.
If Su Hang had adjusted and taken a shot, a goal would have been almost certain.
Smash!
Even as Su Hang lofted a chipped pass, Oleguer scythed him down.
The very next moment, Ronaldo stormed into the box, one-on-one with Valdés.
Valdés rushed out.
Ronaldo feinted left, then right—unleashing his trademark pendulum move!
Valdés was completely fooled, sprawling helplessly.
Ronaldo calmly rolled the ball into the empty net.
Two-two!
Less than five minutes after conceding, Real Madrid had drawn level.
The Bernabéu erupted.
"GOAL!"
"The Phenomenon is here! Valdés looked like a helpless child in front of Ronaldo!"
"That's Ronaldo's most unstoppable move—the pendulum move!"
"Of course, half the credit goes to Su Hang, who set up Ronaldo with that brilliant assist."
"Su Hang's tackle was deadly!"
"Puyol made a massive mistake, throwing away Barcelona's precious lead!"
"Wait—Su Hang isn't getting up?"
"Is Su Hang injured? The Real Madrid medical staff are on the pitch!"
Fortunately, after a quick check and treatment, Su Hang stood up, signaling he was fine.
Oleguer, however, was shown a yellow card for the foul.
Barcelona players seized on the moment to protest the referee's decision.
Just seconds earlier, Su Hang had slid into Puyol without a card.
But when Oleguer did the same to Su Hang, a card was shown.
Unfair, wasn't it?
Emotionally, it might have felt that way.
But by the rules, it was different.
Su Hang's tackle was clean.
Oleguer's was a foul.
And throughout the game, the referee's decisions had been consistent, applying the same standard to both sides.
So after the match, only Barcelona's players would see this as controversial.
Most fans watching accepted the referee's calls.
In the 81st minute.
The referee was getting a headache.
As time ticked on and the score stayed tight, tempers rose higher.
Tackles grew harder.
After Van Bronckhorst swung in a cross from the left, Eto'o—knowing he had no chance of winning the header—still leapt and slammed into Casillas, who already had the ball in his arms.
Both crashed to the ground.
Even then, Eto'o kept scrapping, rolling on top of Casillas.
That pushed Casillas over the edge.
He shoved Eto'o away.
Eto'o bounced up and charged right back at him.
The two nearly came to blows.
Luckily, teammates rushed in, hurling insults while dragging their own players back.
The referee quickly flashed yellow cards to Eto'o and Casillas, reasserting control.
Otherwise, if Su Hang and Puyol—the two enforcers—had gotten involved, the situation would have exploded.
In the 83rd minute.
Su Hang dropped back to receive from Raúl, then passed it back to him.
Raúl returned it once more.
Without stopping, Su Hang laid it off to Zidane.
Zidane lofted a precise ball over the top, straight into the box.
Ronaldo sprinted in.
But Oleguer's block made him miss the first bounce.
The ball popped high.
Ronaldo shielded Oleguer, waiting to volley as it came down.
Crash!
Puyol closed in, combining with Oleguer to sandwich him.
A brutal double challenge!
Ronaldo collapsed in the box.
His right leg—primed for the volley—was smashed by Puyol, with Oleguer pressing from behind…
The referee didn't even need to think—he blew the whistle and waved for the medics.
Come to think of it, in recent Clasicos, Real Madrid players always seemed to come away injured.
Barcelona's playing style really was… pure and immaculate!
...