In the early morning of January 13, Beijing time, the semi-final of the Western Super Cup was staged, and the two sides of the opponent were Barcelona and Real Madrid, which was the 15th time that the two sides had met in the competition. Barca trailed 2 degrees in regular time by 2 degrees to tie, but they eventually lost 2-3 in extra time to the final.
In the league, there is a clear gap between the two teams, and Real Madrid, as the top team in La Liga, has a 17-point advantage over Barca. At Barca, new signing Ferran Torres made his club debut, while veteran Alves set a new record for the oldest appearance in the national derby at the age of 38 years and 251 days.
On the Real Madrid side, the front field sent the attacking combination of Benzema, Vinicius and Asensio. In last season's Western Super League, Real Madrid lost in the semi-finals, and this time they face Barca, they hope to keep the winning streak. In the past four national derbys, Real Madrid have won four consecutive victories and have remained unbeaten in 5 games.
In the 25th minute of the first half, Real Madrid took the lead in breaking the deadlock. Benzema sent a straight pass after breaking the ball in midfield, Vinicius broke into the box with the ball all the way, facing Ter Stegen he calmly pumped the goal, the Galacticos took a 1-0 advantage. It is worth mentioning that this is the first goal of Vinicius's Career in the Western Super League and his second goal in the national derby.
In the first half of the game, Barca did not fall behind and they equalized before returning to the dressing room. In the 41st minute, Dembele's cross from the left was bounced into the net by Militan's kick at Luc De Jong's foot when he was released, and the two sides returned to the same running line of 1-1, and the Dutch veteran also won three consecutive games.
In the second half, Barca's two supernovaes Pedri and Fati made their debut under Xavi. However, in the 71st minute, Barca were once again behind. Carvajal's cross was blocked and Benzema's shot was re-fired to give the Galactics another lead. Two minutes earlier, Benzema had another mid-post hit.
In the ensuing time, Harvey continued to deploy his troops and equalized again in the 82nd minute. A tactical corner kick, Alba crossed from the flank, and substitute Fati's header broke the goal, pulling the two sides back to the same running line again. After 90 minutes of fighting, the two teams were tied 2-2, and the winner could only be decided through extra time.
In the 97th minute of extra time, Real Madrid once again scored through a classic counter-attack, and the goalkeeper Valverde held up his shirt to celebrate, recreating Ronaldo's classic moment at the Galaxy. In the ensuing time, Fati was brought down in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty.
After the match, Barca still lost the game 2-3 after chasing the score twice, and the national derby suffered 5 consecutive defeats, watching the opponent enter the final. Harvey's first trip to the national derby of his coaching career was ultimately informed by defeat.