How to Shut Down Messi?

Real Madrid visited Racing Santander in the thirtieth round of La Liga.

Having just battled Manchester United in midweek, Benitez rotated and adjusted his starting lineup.

In the twenty-third minute, Yang Yang dribbled into the penalty area from the left and won a penalty.

To everyone's surprise, however, Yang Yang did not take it himself. Instead, he gave it to Sneijder.

Only the Dutch midfielder knew what was really going on, so he did not hesitate. He calmly sent the penalty into Racing Santander's goal to make it 1–0.

Canales, the young player highly regarded by Real Madrid, started that night and performed very well.

The hosts, Racing Santander, also put up a tenacious fight and gave Real Madrid few chances.

It was not until the second half that Raul replaced Sneijder. Guti, who came on for Granero, played a precise through ball into the penalty area. Ibrahimovic received it with his back to the defender, turned, and scored one-on-one to make it 2–0.

Just four minutes later, Ibrahimovic pulled out to the left to receive the ball and chipped it toward the center. Unmarked, Yang Yang pushed the ball into the net from the edge of the six-yard box to make it 3–0.

Real Madrid ultimately crushed Racing Santander 3–0 away from home.

At another stadium, young Bojan scored a brace, while Messi added a goal to help Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4–1 at home and continue applying pressure to Real Madrid.

After thirty rounds of La Liga, Real Madrid continued to lead by five points, with Barcelona close behind.

The two teams had already pulled far ahead of the rest of La Liga. Barcelona were even twenty-one points ahead of third-placed Valencia and twenty-nine ahead of fourth-placed Sevilla.

It could be said that Real Madrid and Barcelona