Chapter 191: The Second Battle with Lyon
After the holiday, the 28th round of La Liga matches resumed, with Real Madrid hosting Hercules.
With the Champions League Round of 16 second leg just four days away, Mourinho rotated his squad for this match. Fino, Alonso, and Khedira were on the bench, while Ronaldo and Carvalho were injured and did not play. Kaká, Lass Diarra, Granero, Albiol, and others received opportunities.
Despite fielding only half of their starting lineup, Real Madrid still secured a 2-0 victory over Hercules, with Benzema scoring twice and Casillas keeping another clean sheet.
On March 16, Real Madrid played their most important match of the month: the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, hosting Lyon.
This match is the highlight of the entire Round of 16 second leg. Real Madrid has been eliminated in the Champions League Round of 16 for six consecutive seasons, and everyone is waiting to see if they can finally shed that "Round of 16" label.
The media started hyping it up several days in advance, and the buzz continued to rise as the match date approached.
The Merseyside players kept putting pressure on the club, and Mourinho had already received a clear message from the club that if they couldn't advance to the quarterfinals, he would definitely leave at the end of the season and could start looking for a new club in advance.
When Mourinho signed with Real Madrid, the club had two main requirements for him: to gain the upper hand in the competition with Barcelona and to make a breakthrough in the Champions League.
The first requirement has failed so far. In the first leg of the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Real Madrid suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat. However, Real Madrid and Barcelona will face each other at least twice more this season, and Mourinho still has a chance to turn things around.
Whether the second requirement can be met depends on the results of today's competition.
Mourinho seemed to feel the cold gazes directed at him from the VIP box, but he paid them no heed, brimming with confidence for tonight's match. He scoffed inwardly; playing Lyon was nothing. Real Madrid already had a two-goal lead away from home—what was so difficult about that?
Instead of consolidating his lead by parking the bus and wearing down his opponents, as he usually prefers, he continued with the 4-2-3-1 formation, aiming for a fierce attacking battle at the Bernabéu against Lyon.
The starting goalkeeper was still Casillas. The four defenders, from right to left, were Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho and Marcelo. Khedira and Alonso formed the double pivot in midfield, Benzema was the lone striker, and the three attacking midfielders behind him, from right to left, were Di Maria, Fino and Ronaldo.
Lyon's starting lineup has also undergone some changes. Left winger Bastos is suspended due to yellow cards, Delgado has moved to the left wing, and the right wing has been replaced by Briand. The center forward has been changed from Gomis to Lisandro.
Back at their home ground, the Bernabéu, Real Madrid started strong. After the kickoff, a few simple passes found Ronaldo on the left flank.
Cristiano Ronaldo turned and showed off a backheel pass, with Fino making a run behind him, advancing along the left flank towards the Lyon penalty area. Just before crossing the penalty line, Fino passed the ball to Ronaldo, who was making a run down the left flank.
Because the defenders in the penalty area were too dense, Ronaldo dribbled back a few steps, passed the ball to Marcelo who was following behind, diverting the attention of some of the defenders, and then launched a high ball into the Lyon penalty area.
Benzema held off Lovren's header, but the ball was easily caught by Lyon's goalkeeper Lloris.
Lloris launched a long ball directly into Real Madrid's half. Khedira won the header against Delgado and headed it to Alonso inside the center circle. Alonso immediately passed the ball to the wing, where Marcelo surged forward from the backfield and sprinted towards Lyon's half.
As Marcelo dribbled across the halfway line, Shelstrom came up to meet him, but Marcelo didn't entangle with him. Instead, he passed the ball to Fino on the right front.
Because Lyon's defense was pushed very high, Fino deliberately retreated a few steps before Marcelo took a shot, to prevent a repeat of the offside incident from the first leg. After receiving the ball, Fino turned and dribbled towards Lyon's penalty area.
Reverend on the left and Lovren on the right sensed danger and both rushed towards Fino. However, before they could fully close in, Fino had already broken into the penalty area. But the two weren't entirely ineffective; under their pressure, Fino couldn't get a shot off and could only continue dribbling forward, giving goalkeeper Lloris an opportunity to come out and intercept.
Lloris ran towards Fino for seven or eight meters, then lunged forward and pushed the ball away from Fino's feet.
Lori's lunge was incredibly reckless, completely disregarding the risk of injury; Fino nearly stepped on his head. To avoid stepping on Lori, Fino could only take a large step forward, losing his balance and tripping.
However, Real Madrid's attack was not over. After Lloris made the save, Marcelo, who was behind Fino, ran to the vicinity of the ball's landing point and headed it towards the center of the goal.
At this moment, Lloris was still lying on the ground and had not yet gotten up when defender Chris rushed back into the penalty area and intercepted the ball, kicking it out of the penalty area.
The two teams began to battle for the ball outside Lyon's penalty area. Taking advantage of the chaos, Alonso took another shot, which went towards the bottom left corner of the goal. Lloris, who had already returned to the goal, quickly got down and pushed the ball out of bounds.
At this point, Real Madrid's attack was finally over, but according to the rules, Real Madrid was awarded another corner kick.
Alonso took the corner kick, and Khedira, inside the six-yard box, jumped to contest the ball and collided with Lloris, incurring a foul for colliding with the goalkeeper.
In Lyon's early attacks, none of them were penetrations from their own half forward; all of them were long balls kicked by goalkeeper Lloris into Real Madrid's half.
Under Mourinho's meticulous guidance, Real Madrid's defense has improved significantly, with excellent positioning that completely shuts down Lyon's ability to exploit the space behind their defense. Furthermore, Lloris's crosses are often dispossessed by Real Madrid players, leaving Lyon unable to regain possession and forced to watch as Real Madrid continues their attacks.
After several attempts, Lyon's head coach Puel realized this wouldn't work and signaled to his players to change their attacking style to a more ground-based approach.
In the 13th minute, after a failed attack by Real Madrid, possession of the ball fell to Lyon players.
With the ball in hand, Gourcuff dodged Alonso's sliding tackle near his own penalty area and launched an attack down the left flank. At this point, Real Madrid's players, preoccupied with the previous attack, were mostly concentrated in front of the Lyon goal and unable to track back in time, leaving Gourcuff with a clear path ahead.
After Gourcuff crossed the halfway line, Pepe came up from the backfield. At this time, Lisandro was waiting to receive the ball in the middle. Gourcuff prepared to play a combination with Lisandro, passing the ball to Pepe.
With his teammates unable to provide immediate support, Pepe made a tactical foul, charging head-on into Gourcuff and knocking him to the ground.
The referee blew his whistle, Pepe inevitably received a yellow card, and Lyon was awarded a free kick.
The free kick's location wasn't ideal, situated near the left flank, just past the halfway line, and not exactly close to the goal. Real Madrid players formed a loose wall near the penalty area line, believing Lyon were unlikely to shoot directly, and their focus was on marking free-kick combinations.
After the whistle blew, Gourcuff took a run-up from the left, seemingly intending to shoot directly or pass to his teammate standing on the right side of the wall. Real Madrid's wall then began to move to the right.
However, Gourcuff twisted his body the instant he touched the ball, sending it towards Sissoko, who was standing near the left sideline. This shot caught everyone off guard, fooling not only all the Real Madrid players but also Sissoko. By the time Sissoko realized what was happening, it was too late; he could only watch the ball go out of bounds past him.
Gurkuf: ? ? ?
Sissoko: ? ? ?
Lyon player: ? ? ?
Real Madrid player: Hahahahaha...
Gourcuff waved his little chicken hands, which he had brought back from studying in Italy, and began to excitedly communicate with Sissoko, who helplessly shrugged.
Generally speaking, the more crucial the match, the more cautious both sides play, which is why people often say "there are no classic matches in the finals." In this match, both teams, playing the same 4-2-3-1 formation, played an open and expansive game at a very fast pace, keeping the fans entertained.
"This match doesn't feel like a Champions League knockout stage game; it's more like an exhibition match," the commentator exclaimed excitedly. "You can see that both teams' players are very excited, attacking fiercely and defending sharply. This kind of intense clash is so exciting that it can get the audience hypnotized as well. You definitely won't hear the 'hypnotic' complaints you hear when watching some teams' matches."
The first goal came in the 36th minute.
After Khedira intercepted the ball in midfield, he passed it diagonally to Ronaldo on the left wing. Ronaldo dribbled forward for more than ten meters and crossed the ball to Benzema near the penalty arc. Under the pressure of several defenders, Benzema dribbled the ball from the center to the left wing along the outside of the penalty area line and then passed it to Ronaldo directly behind him.
Cristiano Ronaldo began dribbling inside, getting past Revue near the left flank, and then made a short pass to Fino in the middle before Lovren could make a tackle.
Lovren immediately turned and lunged at Fino.
At this moment, Chris was standing in front of Fino, with Toulalan close behind. After Lovren pounced, Fino was facing a situation where he was surrounded by three people.
Fino received the ball and immediately passed it back to Ronaldo, while continuing to move forward himself.
Lovren followed up possession and turned towards Ronaldo again. Ronaldo received the ball and continued to pass it forward to Fino.
Through four consecutive short passes with Ronaldo, Fino has approached Lyon's penalty area line.
Seeing that things were not going well, Chris, who had been lurking around Fino, immediately slid in from the right. Fino used his left foot to pull the ball back and avoid Chris's tackle. At this moment, only goalkeeper Lloris was left between him and the goal.
Toulalan, standing behind him, reached out and tugged at Fino's jersey, but Fino only swayed slightly before using his speed to get past Toulalan.
Fino didn't hesitate any longer and took a shot directly. It was a powerful low shot that headed straight for the bottom left corner of the goal. Lloris reacted quickly and parried the ball in the right direction, slightly changing its trajectory with his fingertips, but it didn't change the outcome of the goal.
1-0, Fino changed the score for Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, making the aggregate score 3-1.
Cheers erupted from the stands as Real Madrid moved one step closer to the Champions League quarterfinals after the goal.
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Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cheering emoji]
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