Capítulo 269: Chapter 269: Semi-finals, Away to Bernabéu!
Chapter 269: Semi-finals, Away to Bernabéu!
Manchester City's home victory over Real Madrid could be seen as a small upset.
However, compared to the result of another semi-final match held on April 24th, where Bayern Munich unexpectedly lost 0-1 at home to Atlético Madrid, their upset seems minor.
This scoreline was beyond everyone's expectations before the match!
Although Real Madrid lost, they at least scored two away goals and didn't lose by much, so they can completely accept the result.
But Bayern losing at home is completely unacceptable.
If they lose at home, can they expect to win against Atlético Madrid away?
Therefore, after this match, the outside world is pessimistic about Bayern's chances of advancing, with hardly anyone believing they can reach the final.
At the same time, after defeating the powerful Bayern, Diego Simeone and his Atlético Madrid immediately gained huge fame!
Among these teams that have entered the Champions League semi-finals, if we count which team has the most stars and the highest market value, it would undoubtedly be Real Madrid.
And Atlético Madrid ranks last without any doubt!
Yet, it's this bottom-ranked team that managed to defeat Bayern Munich, who are also glittering with stars and high market value.
This is simply astonishing!
For a moment, the entire football world began to be curious about Simeone and his Atlético.
What magic does this coach have to lead such a relatively modest lineup to achieve such outstanding results?
While the spotlight shone on Simeone and Atlético Madrid, Pep Guardiola and his Bayern faced comprehensive criticism from all sides.
This season, Guardiola's Bayern exposed a serious problem: when facing strong teams, their performance was quite poor.
During the group stage, they had a draw and a loss against Manchester City, gaining no advantage.
Ten days ago, in the Bundesliga, they were defeated 3-0 at home by Borussia Dortmund.
Now they are defeated by Atlético...
Except for defeating a poorly performing Manchester United, Bayern seems to have no noteworthy achievements!
The players at Bayern are still the same, with few changes in the lineup.
But the team's tactical approach has changed a lot, so it's natural for the blame to fall on Guardiola.
And this time, no one from Bayern's club came out to defend him!
...
"Why not just come to Manchester City?"
Upon hearing that Bayern lost and after learning about the relentless criticism Guardiola faced, Lin Quan took the initiative to call and comfort Guardiola.
Guardiola was speechless for a moment, "Are you representing Manchester City to poach me?"
"Not at all, I'm just speaking for myself. You know our big boss; if he wants to poach someone, he'd just throw money at it!"
Guardiola thought of the scene where Mansour came to him with a contract to sign, and couldn't help nodding. That was indeed Mansour's style.
"Let's see how this season ends first. I still have two years left on my contract with Bayern, and I don't want to break it!"
Guardiola values his contract and doesn't want to terminate it prematurely.
And Bayern probably won't push him out either, especially after he just led the team to an unbeaten streak of 53 matches, the second-longest in European football history.
"And this summer, Barcelona is starting its presidential elections. I've used my contract as a reason to reject Laporta. If I go to Manchester City at this time, Laporta would definitely feel like I played him!"
Perhaps worried that Lin Quan might be disappointed or displeased, Guardiola explained.
He has a good relationship with Laporta and doesn't want to deceive him in such matters. Therefore, saying he won't leave this summer means he won't leave Bayern unless Bayern initiates the termination.
"Alright, but you won't have an easy time either. Atlético's home ground is tough to play at. This season, both Barcelona and Real Madrid haven't won at the Calderón!"
Simeone's Atlético is tough!
How tough?
The top two teams in La Liga this season haven't won against Atlético!
Real Madrid is strong?
This season, they were double-defeated by Barcelona!
Barcelona is strong?
They were shut out by Atlético!
So, regarding Bayern losing at home, Lin Quan actually wasn't too surprised.
Although Simeone's team lineup is indeed somewhat modest, his tactics are enough to implement his strategic style. If they were replaced by a group of famous stars, it might not work as well.
"Well, I've noticed that. Let's fight hard in the next match. Fortunately, we're not behind by much!"
Guardiola felt that Bayern's loss was somewhat unjust.
They had just set a record in the Bundesliga with the longest unbeaten streak of 53 matches, and to maintain this record, the players were physically and mentally exhausted, under immense pressure.
This pressure continued to accumulate, eventually overwhelming them, resulting in consecutive losses to Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund.
It could be said that during this period, Bayern Munich's morale was relatively low.
At this time, not to mention Atlético Madrid, they might struggle against any other strong team.
But once they adjust, if both morale and player form bounce back, a comeback is not out of the question!
The key question is whether they can adjust the team's condition before the next round of matches a week later.
Being one goal down is not much.
At least for the peak Bayern Munich, it's definitely not a daunting task!
...
On April 27th, in the 36th round of the English Premier League, the match kicked off.
Since Manchester City had already secured the title four rounds early, manager Pellegrini fielded many substitutes for this match.
Their opponent Crystal Palace is currently 11th in the league, safe from relegation and with no hope of European competition, a team that's quite indifferent.
As a result, the game was played rather peacefully, with Manchester City securing a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Navas and Jovetić.
After the game, the entire Manchester City squad flew directly from London to Madrid to prepare for the second leg against Real Madrid three days later.
Upon arrival in Madrid, Manchester City took over Getafe's training base.
Originally, they intended to rent Atlético Madrid's training base, but Atlético, preparing for their home match against Bayern Munich, refused Manchester City's request due to concerns about tactical leaks.
This was quite normal, as both teams currently had hopes of advancing. If both were to reach the final, having seen each other's tactical preparations ahead of time would leave no secrets for the final.
Moreover, due to Lin Quan and Guardiola's relationship, Atlético Madrid was also worried that Lin Quan might leak information to Guardiola.
Upon learning of Atlético's reason for refusal, Lin Quan was a bit speechless!
What did they take him for?
Would he really spy?
He wasn't that bored yet!
Besides, Guardiola didn't need him to provide intelligence!
As one of the top coaches in football, since Simeone's tactics had already clashed with Guardiola's, Guardiola couldn't possibly be unaware.
Thinking of this, Lin Quan silently cheered for Guardiola:
"Come on, Pep, let's both defeat Atlético and meet in the final!"
...
On April 29th, at the Bernabéu Stadium.
Just 16 minutes into the game, Real Madrid had already equalized!
"Ramos! He scored a priceless header!"
"The aggregate score between the two teams is now 3-3, but Real Madrid holds two away goals. If the game ends like this, Real Madrid will advance to the final!"
"Manchester City's situation is a bit dangerous now. From the start until now, they've completely lost control on the field, succumbing to Real Madrid's strong offense!"
At the moment Ramos scored, the Bernabéu Stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
Many of the Real Madrid fans attending the game were successful individuals from upper-class society. They held their identities with pride, so they didn't shout loudly like typical home fans; they restrained themselves, using applause to encourage the players.
But judging from the volume of the applause at the scene, these "gentlemen" were indeed quite excited.
Finally, finally they were about to storm into the Champions League final!
It had been 12 years!
Real Madrid and their fans had waited too long!
The hero of the goal, Ramos, was also excited, sliding along the sidelines to celebrate.
Although he wasn't a product of Real Madrid's youth academy, he had been with the club for 9 years, making him the player with the longest tenure at Real Madrid besides Casillas!
During his time at Real Madrid, after the initial period following the "Galácticos" era when the club's European performance gradually declined, Ramos and the team experienced failure after failure in the Champions League!
At the most difficult times, Real Madrid even fell in the Round of 16 year after year.
After enduring through that toughest period, Real Madrid finally ushered in a renaissance.
As a veteran of Real Madrid, having weathered so many years of ups and downs with the team, Ramos had deep feelings for Real Madrid.
As long as they could defeat Manchester City, they would return to the final after 12 years, aiming for their historic 10th Champions League trophy.
And this trophy, Real Madrid has waited far too long for it.
On the sidelines, Ancelotti appeared even more excited than the players.
At the moment of the goal, he raised his hands in excitement, running along the sidelines, not even noticing the gum falling out of his mouth.
On the other side, Manchester City's coach Pellegrini wore a deeply troubled expression, with a furrowed brow.
Given Real Madrid's formidable attacking prowess and Manchester City's current lead, Pellegrini opted for a defensive counter-attack strategy in the away game.
This tactical choice was very practical; with Real Madrid trailing, they would inevitably push forward.
As long as Manchester City seized their counter-attacking chances and scored a few successful counter-attacks, they could expand their lead and secure valuable away goals.
His calculations were good, but the game's situation was far from what he expected.
He anticipated that Real Madrid would attack, but he didn't expect their offense to be so fierce.
Playing at home, Real Madrid seemed like an entirely different team; their attacks were even more ferocious and unstoppable compared to the previous match.
What surprised Pellegrini even more was that the lone wolves on Real Madrid's wings in the last match were now cooperating.
Their partnership injected immense power into Real Madrid's attacks.
Ramos' goal from the corner kick was initiated by Bale passing to Ronaldo in the front, who then took the shot.
Defending against Ronaldo and Bale individually was already challenging for Manchester City.
Once they successfully combined their efforts, achieving a synergy where one plus one was greater than two, it became nearly impossible for Manchester City to defend against them!
Moreover, there was also Modric on the field.
In several of Real Madrid's attacks, it was often this diminutive Croatian who delivered the decisive blows!
To limit his impact, a strong defensive midfielder was needed!
However, Manchester City didn't have such a player in their lineup!
Thinking this, Pellegrini glanced at the team's substitutes.
After serving a ten-game ban within the team, Fernandinho was finally eligible to play again.
However, the Brazilian chose not to apologize to Pellegrini, even after serving the ban.
This left Pellegrini somewhat hesitant; should he put him on the field?
...
Seeing the team fall behind from the start, Lin Quan felt somewhat helpless.
During this period, even he had returned outside the penalty area to participate in defense, but Real Madrid's offense was just too intense.
They had too many scoring threats up front: Benzema, Ronaldo, Bale, Isco, Modric, plus two full-backs skilled in assists, one good at long shots like Xabi Alonso, and Ramos, who excelled at headers.
With so many threats to defend against, how could they possibly hold on?
The result of these ten-plus minutes proved that when facing a team like Real Madrid, a defensive counter-attack strategy was ineffective!
They weren't Atlético Madrid; they couldn't produce the same effect.
Therefore, they had to attack to defeat Real Madrid!
Although the aggregate score was the same, Manchester City was already trailing at this point!
So, their defensive counter-attacks naturally couldn't work anymore; after the restart, the players immediately launched a fierce counter-attack against Real Madrid.
However, Real Madrid's defense today was particularly robust. Having learned their lesson from the last encounter, they didn't give Lin Quan a chance to break into the penalty area.
Just as Lin Quan was approaching the penalty area with the ball, Pepe brought him down.
The referee awarded a free kick but didn't show a card, leaving Manchester City's players very dissatisfied.
Lin Quan discussed with De Bruyne; the distance was within shooting range for both of them.
"Go ahead, Kevin. Casillas was my teammate in the national team; he understands my shooting habits better!"
Lin Quan gave the opportunity to De Bruyne, who nodded and slowly stepped back, preparing to take the free kick.
After a run-up of seven or eight steps, De Bruyne struck the ball fiercely with a high-quality lofted shot.
However, true to his nickname "Saint Iker," Casillas not only guessed the direction correctly but also managed to palm away De Bruyne's shot with one hand.
This made Lin Quan furrow his brow!
Casillas had indeed studied the lofted shot!
Was this based on video analysis of his and De Bruyne's free kicks, or was it from sharing experiences with another master of the lofted shot, Ronaldo, within the team?
Regardless, next time he took a free kick, he couldn't use the lofted shot!
Lin Quan thought about the move he had learned from Ronaldo since childhood!
He wondered how effective that move would be?
(End of this chapter)
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