Reality is often stranger than fiction.
The "war" on the football pitch is never as exciting as the stories off it.
After the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, the home team won 2-0.
Spanish media speculated that Real Madrid and Barcelona meeting in the Copa del Rey final was "destined."
Obviously, behind every "destiny" there is a story.
Real Madrid's 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid was reflected on the pitch in their sophisticated selection and strategic planning, especially in daring to rotate the team's top star, Cristiano Ronaldo, in such an important game.
More importantly, Real Madrid won.
After the match, AS editor-in-chief Alfredo immediately updated his column, saying that for Real Madrid this was a game that did not look very impressive, but was of great significance.
"It further establishes that Real Madrid is a collective team, not just a group of stars."
If Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid was convincing both on and off the pitch, then Barcelona's 2-0 win over Real Sociedad was particularly embarrassing.
Referee Gonzalez's three decisions completely changed the course of the game.
The first came in the 35th minute, when Barcelona could not break down Real Sociedad for a long time and were frequently threatened by the visitors' counters. Puyol committed a tactical foul on striker Carlos Vela when stopping a counter in the attacking third. He was shown a yellow card instead of a red, which caused considerable controversy.
But the biggest controversy came in the 43rd minute when Carlos Vela received a teammate's pass and headed straight toward Barcelona's goal. Puyol gave chase, trying to halt the Mexican's run, and there was contact along the way.
Carlos Vela also played smartly, using his hands to protect himself and giving Puyol no chance. But upon entering the penalty area, Puyol had no choice but to clamp Carlos Vela's arm, causing him to lose balance and his shot as he fell lost its threat.
From the reactions on the pitch, even Barcelona's players sensed danger. Camp Nou fell silent, and it felt like the minimum would be a yellow card and a penalty.
But Puyol already had a yellow.
Even so, Gonzalez said nothing and signaled play to continue.
This caused great indignation among Real Sociedad's players.
Both decisions were clearly biased, beyond an ordinary mistake.
Taking advantage of Real Sociedad's confusion, Barcelona quickly scored the opener, but even more damaging was what followed. While Barcelona's players celebrated, Real Sociedad center back Ingor Martinez protested to the referee, believing the decision was unfair.
This time, Gonzalez was decisive, showing a straight red and sending Ingor Martinez off.
After these three decisions, the game lost all suspense.
Real Sociedad head coach Artest blamed the referee afterward, saying the officiating was a disgrace.
Artest said that playing at Camp Nou is already difficult, but tonight was even harder.
"There is no doubt Barcelona were once a team to be admired and they achieved great things, but now, tonight, they have been incredibly disappointing."
Artest even said that if a team playing like this could win La Liga, it would be a tragedy for the entire league.
Compared with his earlier praise for Gao Shen's Real Madrid, the implication was obvious.
In the title race, he supported Real Madrid.
…
One win was deserved, the other was not.
This sparked a huge reaction after the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
It was not the first time Barcelona benefited from a red card at Camp Nou, and it once again drew public attention.
Even Barcelona's mouthpieces, Sport and Mundo Deportivo, had to admit that Puyol's second foul was a very obvious error.
Many Spanish professionals, especially former international referees, spoke up. Most believed that the first tactical yellow could barely be defended, but failing to give even a yellow or a penalty for Puyol's second foul was definitely an amateur mistake.
Some media also pointed out that Barcelona urgently needed a trophy, and the Spanish Football Federation was trying to "help" Barcelona through the current public opinion crisis.
Because just two days before the match, the controversy over Barcelona's signing of Neymar finally broke out. Several dissenting board members took Rosell to court. Former president Laporta also voiced support, demanding that Neymar's transfer terms and the destination of the funds be made public.
Rosell could not withstand the pressure and resigned. First vice president Bartomeu took over as Barcelona president.
This caused an uproar in Barcelona and across Spanish football.
Combined with the controversy from this Copa del Rey semifinal, everyone was disappointed with Barcelona.
Even Sport published that Camp Nou attendance continued to decline.
Barcelona's mouthpiece listed detailed data, showing that this season's attendance at Camp Nou had hit a record low.
Take the Copa del Rey as an example. In Barcelona's match against Real Sociedad, only 38,000 attended.
At the Bernabéu, more than 80,000 Real Madrid fans attended, more than double Barcelona's figure.
Sport felt this comparison might not be entirely objective, so they compared the two quarterfinal home games.
Real Madrid hosted Espanyol with over 78,000 at the Bernabéu, while Barcelona hosted Levante with only 25,000 at Camp Nou, less than one-third of the Bernabéu's attendance.
And Camp Nou's capacity is much larger than the Bernabéu's.
Sport felt the Copa del Rey comparison alone was not convincing enough, so they compared the Champions League group stage and La Liga this season, finding that so far Barcelona's average La Liga attendance was under 60,000.
What about the Bernabéu?
Every match was sold out.
How bad had Camp Nou's attendance become?
Barcelona's star Alves once publicly criticized Barcelona's fans, saying those who did not come to watch were not as loyal to the Blaugrana as they claimed.
"Sometimes, I even feel like I am playing away."
It was clear that Camp Nou's attendance had reached an embarrassingly low level.
Although Barcelona found various reasons for this, including kickoff times and others...
After Sport published a questionnaire, fans gave two answers. First, Barcelona's results were falling behind Real Madrid, and they might not even be able to win at home.
Second, Barcelona's football was getting increasingly boring.
"The players clearly lack motivation. They are getting bored and cannot find the drive to play. Every match is carried out step by step. On the pitch, they just complete tasks mechanically, lacking excitement and thrill."
"Everyone sees the ball circulating, but no one is excited anymore because it poses no threat."
"The team also lacks an overall plan and a vision that inspires excitement and anticipation."
Sport made a pointed comparison with Real Madrid and the Bernabéu.
"The Bernabéu is always packed because fans know a strong team can surprise them at every home game."
"Just like against Atletico Madrid, they sustained a high-intensity, fierce contest for dozens of minutes, then suddenly erupted, making everyone feel football's passion and excitement again."
"They can watch the younger generation, like Pogba, Verratti, Casemiro, Varane, Jese, Morata, and others at the Bernabéu, follow their growth and progress, and even look to the future through their mistakes."
"They can also watch Gao Shen command from the Bernabéu dugout. They can see the world's top coach setting lineups and making plans, doing his utmost to bring victory, and they can look forward to the unprecedented treble Gao Shen has promised, and that great era belonging to Real Madrid."
"In comparison, we have nothing. Even our head coach, Martino, seems like a mediocre bystander in front of the dugout."
"Although we had expected him to bring more changes to the team."
Mundo Deportivo believed Barcelona fans had completely lost confidence in the team's football.
This was not only erased by Barcelona's football itself, but also defeated by Gao Shen and Real Madrid.
There is no harm without comparison.
It was precisely because Real Madrid's performance was so amazing and so strong that Barcelona looked mediocre, and naturally could not draw fans to Camp Nou.
Sport also raised a question.
Two days ago, the world-renowned sports magazine World Football published a ranking of players' annual salaries.
Surprisingly, of the top ten earners in world football, four were Barcelona players, namely Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and Neymar.
What about Real Madrid?
Only Ronaldo.
Mundo Deportivo believed this should draw the attention of Barcelona's new management.
Although Barcelona's revenue reached 480 million euros, second among world clubs, Real Madrid's revenue exceeded 600 million euros, first among world clubs.
Florentino even said at a recent members' meeting that Gao Shen's coaching and the outstanding results he delivered had strongly promoted the globalization of Real Madrid's business, and it was expected that in 2013-14 revenue would exceed 650 million euros.
While Barcelona's revenue was far below Real Madrid's, their wage bill far exceeded Madrid's, which was absolutely unhealthy.
Sport believed that if Barcelona's management did not make a decision on this and exercise control and restraint, Barcelona would sooner or later suffer a major setback due to player salaries.
It could even drag the team into an irretrievable financial crisis.
That would be Barcelona's real catastrophe.
(To be continued.)