When Real Madrid's players tossed Benitez high into the air beside the Mestalla pitch, the entire world was reporting on this landmark victory.
Ever since Florentino had made his high-profile return to the Bernabéu last summer and invested heavily in assembling a brand-new Galácticos side, the whole world had been looking forward to Real Madrid and Barcelona battling for dominance in Spanish football. Since then, El Clásico had drawn the attention of fans and media around the world every year.
But the result was unbelievable. For two years, Real Madrid had completely suppressed Barcelona in both honors and results.
Last season, Barcelona had ended up empty-handed, while Real Madrid had won both La Liga and the Champions League to claim the Double Crown. Its impact had even surpassed Barcelona's Double Crown in the summer of 2009, because Real Madrid's double consisted of the league and the Champions League, while Barcelona's had been the league and the Copa del Rey.
This season, Real Madrid had fallen into crisis. Yang Yang had been injured for more than two months, and the team had fallen far behind early on. Everyone had concluded that Barcelona would be reborn this season, completely suppress Real Madrid, and some Catalonian media had even prematurely declared that Barcelona would win the treble and once again trample its sworn enemy beneath its feet.
But now, after losing the second league El Clásico, Barcelona's situation had become precarious. Then Yang Yang had cruelly killed them off in the Copa del Rey final, and the beautiful dream of a treble had completely turned into a fantasy.
Even the commentator from National Television Station, which had broadcast the Copa del Rey final, concluded after the match that if Guardiola failed to deal quickly with the impact of two El Clásico defeats, Barcelona