Chapter 195 Kaka, the Son of God

Kaka played very hard in this match, running actively and cooperating well with his teammates. He couldn't wait to find his former invincible self.

He came to Real Madrid with the aura of the Ballon d'Or winner and was the center of attention, but with repeated injuries, his status at Real Madrid was gradually marginalized.

Especially this season, Real Madrid has a new captain. Fino, Ronaldo, and Alonso, who joined Real Madrid in the same year as him, have all become more and more outstanding under Mourinho and firmly occupied the starting positions. Di Maria, Khedira and Benzema are even Mourinho's own protégés and are highly trusted by Mourinho. Only he, at the critical moment of winning the coach's favor, was injured and missed half a season, losing the advantage.

By the time he recovered from his injury, the starting positions in the midfield and attack were already largely secured, and his situation at Real Madrid immediately became awkward. He had a great reputation, but couldn't secure a starting position, much like those big-name stars nearing the end of their careers.

He's not even 29 yet, not old enough to be retiring on the bench. Besides, his body has just recovered to its best condition, which is when he can fight and run hard.

After his return, Mourinho gave him several opportunities, which he seized, earning him more playing time. But that wasn't enough; he had to prove to Mourinho that he could still be the one to dominate the game, not just a rotation player.

Kaka was one of the first friends Fino made in AC Milan's first team. Kaka witnessed his rise from obscurity to fame and success, and Fino understood Kaka's thoughts as well.

Fino didn't say anything more; he would show his support for Kaká through his actions.

As it turned out, Mourinho was absolutely right in the opening minutes of the game; while Tottenham's defense wasn't exactly paper-thin, it was nothing more than a facade.

The two wingers struggled to create chances in attack and offered little defensive support. Sandro, the right-sided defensive midfielder, was repeatedly exploited by Ronaldo and Marcelo, while Modric, the left-sided defensive midfielder, was primarily an attacking player and constantly drifted centrally, leading to Tottenham's left flank being torn apart by Fino and Kaká.

The two center-backs were particularly weak points in the defense, as Real Madrid players frequently cut inside from the byline to break through Tottenham's front line. Only the two full-backs, Corluka and Ekto, performed reasonably well, but even they couldn't hold the line alone.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Real Madrid's attack never stopped, and Tottenham could only defend passively. Under the repeated shots from Real Madrid players, Tottenham goalkeeper Gomez was exhausted from making saves.

The game was somewhat one-sided, but Tottenham were not entirely without a chance.

In the 38th minute, Gomez caught the ball and launched a long ball towards Real Madrid's half. The incredibly fast Bale intercepted the ball and dribbled towards Real Madrid's penalty area.

Pepe and Carvalho, who remained in the backfield, were on high alert. Bale was too fast; although he was running alone, he had the momentum of a thousand troops.

Pepe and Carvalho both rushed forward to double-team Bale, and the moment Bale broke through with the ball, Pepe made a decisive move and chose to foul Bale to keep him in the game.

This was a clear tactical foul. Pepe had no intention of injuring anyone and did not cause any harm to Bale, so the referee did not issue a card and only awarded Tottenham a free kick.

The free kick was positioned in the middle, less than 10 meters from Real Madrid's penalty area, a very good position. Tottenham's free kick was taken by Rafael van der Vaart.

To avoid obstructing Casillas's view, Real Madrid's wall was positioned loosely, leaving the center open.

Van der Vaart put his hands on his hips, studied the ball for a moment, and then chose to shoot low and straight at the goal. The ball passed through the gap in the Real Madrid wall, skimming the grass, and Casillas knelt down to collect it.

After possession was transferred, Casillas didn't launch a long ball, but instead passed it to Marcelo on the left. With Tottenham's defense in poor form and them playing with only 10 men, Real Madrid could easily advance the ball from the ground and maintain control.

As Modric rushed over to press, Marcelo passed the ball back to Casillas in the penalty area. Modric then lunged at Casillas, who then passed the ball back to Marcelo.

At this point, Modric was still some distance from Marcelo. Marcelo made a low pass to the right front to Alonso on the left flank. Alonso continued to pass to the right front, aiming for Fino inside the center circle.

After controlling the ball, Fino quickly glanced around at his teammates and, before Sandro could close in, passed it across to Khedira on the right, who then dribbled forward down the right flank.

Khedira dribbled the ball for more than ten meters on the right flank before passing it to Kaká on the right. Kaká cut inside before Ekto could meet him and then took a shot near the penalty arc, the ball passing between Tottenham's two center-backs.

Gomez punched the ball out of the penalty area with both hands. Fino, who had made a run forward, headed the ball across the goal. Kaká continued to head the ball, but it bounced in front of Gomez, changing its trajectory and grazing Gomez's shoulder before going into the left side of the goal.

2-0, Kaká extended Real Madrid's lead.

"Gooooal! Kaká's shot was saved, Cabrini headed the ball on, and Kaká scored on the rebound!" the commentator exclaimed excitedly. "This is Kaká's long-awaited Champions League goal. He looks really good today. We look forward to him bringing us more surprises in the future."

In the 42nd minute, after Gomez once again blocked Real Madrid's shot, he immediately threw the ball to Hector on the left. Before Ramos could intercept, Hector crossed the ball to Modric, who, without hesitation, received the ball and immediately passed it to the left front.

The instant Modric passed the ball, Bale accelerated forward, past Alonso near the halfway line, and charged straight into Real Madrid's backfield.

At a distance of about 15 meters from the penalty area, Bale caught up with the ball and continued to dribble forward. At this time, Ramos, who was in his position, had not yet returned from Tottenham's half, and Bale had no obstacles in front of him.

From Modric's pass to Bale's dribble towards Real Madrid's penalty area, only two seconds had passed, and Bale's speed drew gasps from the Bernabéu stands.

Speed-type players are highly entertaining to watch when they run, possessing a sharp and beautiful quality that is like lightning speed and cutting through the sky. When Bale sprinted, not only were the Real Madrid fans in the Bernabéu stands stunned, but even Florentino Pérez in the VIP box was somewhat excited.

However, this beautiful moment was quickly ruined when Pepe rushed over from the middle and slid in to trip Bale, sending the ball rolling out of bounds.

The referee showed Pepe a yellow card and awarded Tottenham a free kick.

Pepe walked to the goal wall without arguing, and he deserved the card.

Tottenham's free kick hit the wall and posed no threat to Real Madrid.

Mourinho directed from the sidelines, signaling to Ramos and Marcelo to pay attention to timely defensive retreat and not to get lost once they push forward. Pepe and Carvalho were under a lot of pressure when Tottenham launched quick counter-attacks.

After Crouch left the field, Tottenham's tactics became very clear: the overall defensive line was further tightened, using dense defense to block Real Madrid's attacks, while counter-attacks mainly relied on the speed of the two wingers Lennon and Bale, especially Bale.

If Real Madrid can keep Lennon and Bale firmly in their grasp, this game will be a sure win. The next thing to consider is how to break through Tottenham's defense and score a few more goals at home so that the players can play with less pressure in the second leg away game.

At the end of the first half, Real Madrid had 62% possession and far more shots and shots on target than Tottenham, but Real Madrid did not extend their lead under Tottenham's tight defense.

In the second half, Real Madrid did not make any substitutions, while Tottenham replaced Lennon, who had been relatively inconspicuous on the right flank in the first half, with Defoe, hoping to revitalize the right flank during counter-attacks.

Following Mourinho's instructions at halftime, Fino controlled the pace of the attack, moving the ball more through the middle and using the advantage of being one man down to play positional warfare against Tottenham.

Under Fino's direction, Real Madrid executed several brilliant passing combinations, causing Tottenham's defense considerable trouble.

Fino was fairly satisfied with his teammates' teamwork, but the only thing that bothered him was Ronaldo. Ronaldo's desire to shoot was too strong; once the ball reached his feet, it was difficult to pass it out, as he preferred to find opportunities to shoot himself.

Tottenham's manager clearly noticed this and made special arrangements. Right-back Corluka started the second half by sticking to Ronaldo, following him wherever he went, pulling and tackling him to prevent Ronaldo from getting the ball comfortably.

In this situation, Fino simply let Ronaldo go, pushing forward through the middle and linking up with Kaká and Ramos on the right wing. As for the left wing, let Ronaldo spend his time entangled with Corluka!

In the 60th minute, Real Madrid made a substitution, replacing Khedira with Lass Diarra. This was a like-for-like substitution, allowing Khedira to rest and conserve his energy for the rest of the game.

Taking advantage of the substitution opportunity, Fino hooked his arm around Adebayor's neck, covered his mouth and gave him a few words of advice, hoping that he could hold off Dawson in the penalty area and create an opening for his teammates' shots.

Adebayor listened attentively with his head down, nodding frequently.

After coming on, Lass Diarra quickly joined Real Madrid's attack on Tottenham, perfectly replacing Khedira's role.

In the 71st minute, Real Madrid launched another attack through the middle.

Fino, Kaká, Alonso, and Lass Diarra passed the ball around, penetrating into Tottenham's half. When Fino brought the ball to within 12 or 13 meters of the penalty area line, he glanced at the Tottenham penalty area. Most of the defenders were standing near the penalty area line. Inside the penalty area, apart from goalkeeper Gomez, only Dawson and Adebayor were sticking together.

Fino glanced at Kaká, who instinctively ran down the right flank. Fino, with his back to goal, passed the ball back to Alonso, prompting Ector and Sandro to simultaneously rush towards Alonso. Alonso touched the ball and immediately passed it back. Fino turned with the ball and passed it to Kaká, who had already run to the right corner of the penalty area.

After receiving the ball, Kaka strode into the penalty area. Gallas, who was standing on the edge of the penalty area, was furious and rushed forward to block him. Kaka easily got past Gallas with a change of direction.

At this moment, Dawson was being tightly blocked by Adebayor inside the penalty area, leaving only goalkeeper Gomez between Kaká and the goal.

Gomez took the initiative and lunged at Kaká's feet, but Kaká flicked the ball toward the goal as Gomez landed, then leaped over Gomez and disappeared into the net with the ball.

After the whistle blew to confirm the goal, Kaka pointed both fingers to the sky and ran along the sideline.

"Gooooal! Kaka scores twice, extending Real Madrid's lead to 3-0!" the commentator exclaimed excitedly. "It's like time has turned back four years! We've seen the Kaka who was a god in the 2006/07 season again! Kaka announces his return to glory with these two goals!"

3-0 was not the final score of this match.

In the 82nd minute, Fino and Alonso combined from the middle to break into Tottenham's backfield. Fino went forward and Alonso went back. Gallas cut between Fino and Alonso from the left, trying to cut off their connection. Fino cut diagonally from behind Gallas and entered the penalty area. At the same time, Alonso passed the ball, aiming directly at Fino.

At this moment, Dawson was marked by Adebayor in the penalty area, and Fino received the ball and had a one-on-one opportunity. As Gomez lunged at Fino, Fino saw out of the corner of his eye that Kaká had already shaken off Hector and entered the penalty area.

In a flash, Fino followed his heart and passed the ball to Kaká on his right rear. Kaká met the ball with a powerful shot and poked it into the empty net.

4-0, Kaka completes his hat trick.

There was a moment of silence in the stands at the Bernabéu, followed by deafening cheers as "Kaka's" name echoed throughout the stadium!

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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support~ [Let me see...]