Chapter 175 New Season

On the evening of August 16, Real Madrid officially concluded their third China tour and departed for Madrid.

On August 25, Real Madrid's official website announced that Benzema had officially joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of 35 million euros, which was also Real Madrid's last signing this summer.

After the La Liga transfer window officially closed, Real Madrid announced their 25-man squad for the 2010/11 season.

Goalkeepers: 1-Casillas, 13-Antonio Adán, 25-Jerzy Dudek

Defenders: 2-Carvalho, 3-Pepe, 4-Ramos, 12-Marcelo, 17-Arbeloa, 18-Albiol, 19-Garay

Midfielders: 5-Gago, 6-Mohamed Diarra, 8-Kaka, 10-Fino, 11-Granero, 14-Alonso, 15-Matheus, 16-Canales, 21-Pedro León, 22-Di Maria, 23-Lass Diarra, 24-Khedira

Forwards: 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 9-Benzema, 20-Higuain

After observing the players throughout the summer training camp, Mourinho has made preliminary plans regarding their positions and arrangements.

Captain Iker Casillas is the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper, with Adán, who also came from Real Madrid's youth academy, and 37-year-old veteran Jerzy Dudek as substitutes.

In defense, Carvalho and Pepe are the starting center-backs this season. Carvalho is experienced and can not only provide the defensive toughness that Real Madrid needs, but also play the role of a veteran in passing and dribbling. Pepe is active and aggressive in tackling, which can intimidate the opponent.

Marcelo, who is fast and has strong attacking ability, will be the starting left-back, while Ramos, who also likes to make attacking runs, will be the starting right-back. Ramos can also play as a center-back.

Arbeloa, a versatile defender who can play both left and right full-back positions, along with the two young players Albiol and Garay, are effective additions to the defense.

In the midfield and forward line, Fino and Alonso form Real Madrid's front and back duo. Alonso is the core of the team's attack and defense transitions, while Fino is responsible for organizing the attack and breaking through the middle.

The three defensive midfielders are Khedira, Lass Diarra, and Mohamed Diarra. They compete for the position and are mainly responsible for intercepting and sweeping in midfield, and also need to make forward runs to support when necessary.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria are responsible for the attacks on both flanks, while Higuain and Benzema are competitors for the striker positions.

Granero and Pedro León are ready to rotate as key players, while Gago, Mateos, and Canales are also reinforcements in the midfield and forward lines.

Kaká is destined to miss half a season of matches, and when he returns, Mourinho will need to reassess his condition before making any further arrangements.

Mourinho is fairly satisfied with this lineup.

The club has two main requirements for him this season: first, to make a breakthrough in the Champions League and absolutely not continue the shame of being a "round of 16" in the Champions League; and second, to gain the upper hand in the competition with Barcelona.

For Mourinho, achieving a breakthrough in the Champions League is not difficult, even though Real Madrid has been drawn into a super group of death.

Yes, in the Champions League group stage draw a few days ago, Real Madrid was drawn into Group G along with AC Milan from Serie A, Ajax from the Dutch Eredivisie, and Auxerre from Ligue 1.

This is the second consecutive year that Real Madrid has faced AC Milan in the Champions League group stage, and UEFA is still hyping up the story of Fino and Kaká's feud with their former clubs.

In this group, apart from Auxerre, a small club destined to "visit" the group stage, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Ajax are all powerhouses in their respective leagues. Together, these three teams have won a total of 21 Champions League titles, and it is possible for any two of them to advance.

After the draw results were announced, Mourinho cursed UEFA for several days in a row.

Another requirement for the club is to gain the upper hand in the competition with Barcelona, ​​which requires careful planning.

Although Guardiola's Barcelona team was repeatedly defeated by the Milan clubs in the Champions League and failed to win the trophy, their performance in Spain was very strong, making Real Madrid look bad.

This is an extremely challenging task, and Mourinho is eager to try. He still has a score to settle with Barcelona. He suffered a great loss in the "CD scandal," and even though he kept Barcelona out of the Champions League final last season, he was still not satisfied.

Moreover, Mourinho wants more than just what the club asks for. His announcement in the locker room that he wants to win three titles is not just talk. As long as the players can execute the tactics well and the team can control injuries, winning three titles is not impossible.

On August 29, in the first round of La Liga, Real Madrid traveled to Mallorca, the island team, to face Mourinho's first opponent since taking over.

Mallorca was not a strong opponent, and Mourinho experimented with a 4-2-3-1 formation using a lineup of half starters and half substitutes. New signings such as Carvalho, Canales, Di Maria, Khedira, and Benzema all got opportunities, while Fino sat on the bench for the entire game.

Real Madrid did not perform well in this match. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both missed one-on-one opportunities. In the final moments of the game, the Mallorca team began to waste time, and the mascot refused to throw the ball back onto the field after it went out of bounds. Mourinho, who expressed his dissatisfaction, was shown a yellow card.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw.

A draw has put Mourinho's Real Madrid under intense scrutiny, especially given Barcelona's easy 3-0 victory over Racing Santander, making the draw all the more glaring.

Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 formation has also been criticized by fans. Merlin fans do not like this relatively conservative formation; they prefer exciting attacking football, and Mourinho's defensive philosophy does not fit their aesthetic.

At this time, Mourinho's boastful remarks when he first entered the Real Madrid dressing room were also revealed: "Treble winners," "I am the boss of the dressing room," "Only one voice is allowed in the dressing room"...

The more arrogant they were then, the more they've been proven wrong now.

The media doesn't care whether Real Madrid is playing with half their main squad, whether they are scouting new players, or whether they are practicing new formations. A loss is a loss. The media is particularly adept at using this as an excuse to kick someone when they're down and gloat over their defeat.

Especially the pro-Barcelona Catalan media, absolutely not wanting to miss such a golden opportunity to smear Real Madrid and Mourinho, added fuel to the fire by reporting Real Madrid's defeat on their front page for several consecutive days, even bringing up the "CD scandal," and bluntly stating that Mourinho, such a despicable person, is unworthy of playing artistic football like Barcelona...

The media frenzy had little impact on the players, as the first round of La Liga ended during the international break, and the players returned to their national teams. The South Africa World Cup had just concluded, and the 2012 European Championship qualifiers in Poland and Ukraine had officially begun.

Mourinho was furious with the media, not only because of his feud with Barcelona, ​​but more importantly because his words in the Real Madrid dressing room were completely leaked, word for word.

Mourinho has come to the conclusion that there is a mole in the Real Madrid dressing room!

If you dare to leak the head coach's remarks today, will you leak the tactics and roster tomorrow?

He has to find the mole!

This offensive against Real Madrid and Mourinho lasted for more than 10 days, only ending after the results of the second round of La Liga matches were announced.

In the second round of La Liga, Real Madrid hosted Osasuna. Under pressure from fans, Mourinho used a 4-3-3 attacking formation in this match. After 90 minutes, Real Madrid won by a single goal thanks to Carvalho's goal.

The 4-3-3 formation did not meet the expectations of Real Madrid fans. Even though they won 3 points, Real Madrid fans were not happy because the victory was not beautiful, elegant, or dominant enough.

Boos even came from the home fans in the Bernabéu stands, which made Mourinho's face darken.

Mourinho felt extremely frustrated, like a newlywed bride in a feudal society, enduring grievances to please her wicked mother-in-law, who not only didn't appreciate it but also imposed rules on him.

This is outrageous!

Even someone as arrogant as Mourinho hasn't suffered this kind of humiliation in a long time!

Given the usual behavior of the Spanish media, this should have been a major story, but they don't have time to pay attention to Real Madrid right now because Barcelona were defeated 0-2 by newly promoted Hercules at Camp Nou.

This could be seen as a way to save Barcelona by sacrificing them for Real Madrid. Spanish media swarmed around Barcelona like flies that smelled the scent, while the Catalan media, which had been particularly vocal in criticizing Real Madrid, finally shut up.

After two rounds of league matches, the Champions League schedule began.

Real Madrid's first opponent in the Champions League group stage is Ajax, a strong team from the Netherlands.

Ajax is the most successful club in the Netherlands, especially renowned for its excellent youth academy, which has produced many great stars such as Cruyff, Rijkaard, and Van Basten. Ajax has won the Champions League four times, and at its peak, it was considered one of the top clubs in Europe.

After the Bosman ruling was introduced, Ajax, which had a strong youth academy, suffered a major blow. Many of the outstanding players they produced were poached by big clubs from the top five leagues, and Ajax's performance in European competitions began to decline.

Although Ajax remains a top team in the Dutch Eredivisie, they have not achieved any success in European competitions since 1995.

Despite facing a fallen powerhouse, Mourinho showed no sign of underestimating them.

In the early stages of his coaching career, Mourinho worked as a fitness coach, assistant coach, and head coach translator. From 1998 to 2000, he served as a translator and assistant coach for the renowned Dutch coach Louis van Gaal at Barcelona for three years. Van Gaal's coaching career began at Ajax.

Mourinho learned a great deal about modern football theory from Van Gaal, so he naturally wouldn't underestimate Ajax.

In this match, Mourinho ignored the fans' chants of "Attack! Attack! Attack!" and continued to use his carefully designed 4-2-3-1 formation, fielding Real Madrid's strongest lineup available.

Casillas, wearing the captain's armband, guarded Real Madrid's goal. Pepe and Carvalho partnered at center-back, Arbeloa replaced the injured Ramos at right-back, and Marcelo started at left-back. Alonso and Khedira formed the double pivot in midfield, and the three attacking midfielders from right to left were Di Maria, Fino, and Ronaldo, with Higuain leading the attack as the lone striker.

On the evening of September 15, the battle between Real Madrid and Ajax officially kicked off at the Bernabéu.

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Author's note: In reality, Benzema joined Real Madrid last season, but since Real Madrid bought Fino, there was no need to buy another center forward.

This season, Kaká's position was filled by a Turkish-German midfielder, the kind whose name would elicit disgust if you said it out loud. Now that Fino has moved back, it's a good time to bring Benzema back.

The veracity of the "CD scandal" cannot be guaranteed, but it was after this that Mourinho began to strongly oppose Barcelona. Opinions may vary.

Thank you everyone for your support! [Laughing]