Yang Yang won the Golden Ball Award for the seventh consecutive year!
Barcelona drew yet another match, while Real Madrid's lead had grown to eight points!
With these two pieces of good news arriving one after another, the entire Real Madrid camp was filled with celebration.
The lively atmosphere in Real Madrid's dressing room before training early the next morning made it clear that everyone on the team had felt a powerful surge of confidence and was filled with hope for the season ahead.
Barcelona were now even one point behind Atletico Madrid, sitting in third place.
Today, almost every media outlet, large or small, was asking the same question: What on earth had happened to Messi?
It was a difficult question with no easy answer.
Even Barcelona Head Coach Martino might not know the answer. Otherwise, Barcelona would never have ended up in this situation.
Everything had looked fine at the start of the season. The Trident's coordination had steadily improved, and Barcelona had been unstoppable. So how had they suddenly become what they were now?
Yang Yang was a player who loved thinking and was especially good at analyzing things. While everyone in the dressing room was gleefully celebrating Barcelona falling behind, he was pondering a question: What crisis had Barcelona encountered? And how had Ancelotti led Real Madrid to where they were this season?
It was a fascinating tactical question, because the two teams had clearly started differently. Barcelona's start had been far better than Real Madrid's, especially that 7–0 victory in the opening round, which could practically be called an offensive storm.
By comparison, Real Madrid's start had been plagued by setbacks. First Xabi Alonso was injured, then Isco produced a spectacular run of form, forcing even David Silva onto the bench. Meanwhile, Robben's position had