With Xavi coming on, Barcelona reassembled their midfield's iron triangle of possession.
This should have been the final performance of Barcelona's golden midfield trio. After the season ended, Xavi would officially leave Barcelona and head to the Middle East to play, and the golden possession triangle would fall apart.
By this stage of the season, Rakitić had basically replaced Xavi as the team's starting midfielder.
But at this moment, Louis Enrique sent Xavi on, clearly hoping to strengthen the team's control of the midfield.
For Barcelona, possession was the most reliable way they could control a match—more dependable than defending, because their back line was actually unstable, and could even be described as terrible.
After Xavi came on, Real Madrid found themselves trapped in a dilemma.
They wanted to push forward and attack, but were worried about being hit on the counter. Barcelona's front three had remained stationed right in front of Real Madrid's defensive line, sharpening their blades. Judging by their stance, all they needed was one opportunity to create another goal.
But if Real Madrid continued to hold their shape and defend, Barcelona would gladly accept that as well, since they could slowly run down the clock.
Two-one. Barcelona had seized the key turning point of the Champions League Final.
Real Madrid launched a spell of pressure, but Barcelona hit them on the counter. First, Neymar's long-range shot from outside the box was parried by Courtois. Ramos failed to clear it far enough, and when Cristiano Ronaldo headed the ball from the right side of the goal, he sent it straight onto the roof of the net. He failed to score, but the chance was frightening enough.
On the pitch, Barcelona calmly controlled possession, the tempo, and the situation. Real Madrid, meanwhile, remained hopelessly trapped in a