Chapter 188 Champions League Knockout Stage
Upon returning to Madrid from Zurich, Fino and his teammates immediately threw themselves into intensive training.
Before the Champions League resumes in late February, Real Madrid has six league matches to play, as well as a Copa del Rey fixture.
Fino's Ballon d'Or win seemed to bring Real Madrid good luck as well. In the last six league matches, Real Madrid won five and drew one, accumulating 16 points and raising their total to 63 points, preventing Barcelona, who lead the table with 65 points, from widening the gap. With 14 rounds remaining in the league and one more direct match between the two sides, this two-point gap is not a major issue.
In the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid first defeated their city rivals Atletico Madrid twice in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, and then defeated Sevilla twice in the semifinals to successfully reach the Copa del Rey final.
After the semi-finals, the Copa del Rey competition will be temporarily suspended, with the final scheduled to begin on April 20. Real Madrid's opponent in the Copa del Rey final will be Barcelona, the other participant in the "Spanish duopoly".
Coincidentally, Real Madrid and Barcelona will face each other twice in the second half of the La Liga season, in the 32nd round, on April 16th. This means that Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet twice in just four days.
The fact that these arch-rivals are facing off in the league and cup competitions is incredibly newsworthy. The huge amount of discussion surrounding this topic propelled it to the top of the trending searches on the Spanish internet, and even the Real Madrid dressing room was buzzing about this coincidence.
"Great, we can get our revenge twice in a row." Fino chuckled, arms crossed. "I hope they can last a while in the Champions League and not get eliminated before we face them. I want to get my revenge again in the Champions League, that would be truly satisfying!"
Fino's words instantly silenced the previously lively discussion in the locker room.
The humiliating defeat in the first half of the season was still fresh in their minds, and even knowing that Real Madrid was playing better now, the teammates didn't share Fino's confidence. They were practically praying to meet Barcelona as late as possible in the Champions League, ideally in the final, and even better if Barcelona were eliminated by another team along the way!
But what he was thinking remained just that—thinking. No one dared to contradict Fino. After all, his teammates were full of confidence and ready to take revenge, while he was filled with fear. What kind of talk was that? He couldn't very well admit that he was a coward, could he?
Ramos chimed in, echoing Fino: "Well said! There's no such thing as too little revenge. Whether it's twice or three times, it's still a fight. The best we can do is beat Barcelona so badly they can't even lift their heads!"
Fino gave Ramos a thumbs up, his eyes full of admiration.
"That's right, let's do it!" Ronaldo rubbed his hands together, eager to get started. "Our squad is no worse than Barcelona's, our tactics are becoming more and more refined, and our teamwork is getting better and better. It's our turn to win!"
Yes, they're no worse than Barcelona now, so what's there to be afraid of?
Led by Ramos and Ronaldo, the atmosphere in the locker room gradually returned to its lively state.
After El Clásico, Mourinho frequently practiced the three-defensive-midfielder tactic in matches. He first added Lass Diarra to the Khedira + Alonso defensive midfield combination, and later used Pepe. After Kaká's return, the last position in the three-defensive-midfielder formation gradually became Fino.
Real Madrid started playing like Milan, who played like a Christmas tree, with the attacking midfielder positioned deep. Fino not only had to fulfill the role of organizing and orchestrating the attack in the defensive midfield position (alongside Alonso), but also had to take on a large part of the defensive work.
Fino is perfectly fine. He never shies away from defensive work; he's always been very proactive in tracking back. Now he's just developing a more systematic partnership with Alonso and the others. Moreover, in the defensive midfield position, he'll often be up against the opponent's attacking linchpin. Just thinking about going one-on-one with Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, and others excites Fino.
After Fino retreated, Kaka was the happiest.
In Mourinho's meticulously crafted 4-2-3-1 formation, Kaká's most suitable position was the central one among the three attacking midfielders. However, Kaká was injured after the World Cup, and by the time Mourinho took over at Real Madrid, Kaká hadn't even had a chance to showcase his abilities to Mourinho.
With Kaká sidelined for at least half the season, the club couldn't afford not to make signings in the same position, a fact Kaká was well aware of. While recovering from his injury, he kept a close eye on Real Madrid's transfer activity. Although he wasn't afraid of competition, he always wanted to understand his team's rivals beforehand.
To Kaka's surprise, Mourinho, unable to find suitable players, actually had Fino withdraw.
Kaká knew Fino would do well because, back in Milan, Fino often filled in for him as an attacking midfielder when he was injured. But Fino did so well that Mourinho was reluctant to let him return to the forward line.
In Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 formation, Fino was the undisputed central attacking core, while Kaká, after his return from injury, could only play on the wing.
Last season under Pellegrini, Kaká played on the wing for a period, but his performance there was far inferior to his central role. However, he had to follow the instructions. That's how Real Madrid is; the competition for the starting position is fierce, and teammates are all eyeing it. If you can't adapt to the position assigned by the coach, there are plenty of teammates who can replace you at any time.
Even on the flanks, Kaká is not a guaranteed starter; he has to compete with Ronaldo or Di Maria for playing time.
But Fino's retreat was different.
With Fino dropping deeper, Real Madrid played like AC Milan in the 2008/09 season, but with a more solid defensive midfield. Fino essentially replaced Pirlo in the 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-1-2 formations, giving up Kaká's favorite attacking midfield position.
...
As February drew to a close, the Champions League Round of 16 matches began, with Real Madrid facing Benzema's former club, Lyon.
The first leg of the match was played at Lyon's home ground, the Stade Gerland.
When the draw results came out, Real Madrid fans already felt UEFA's deep malice towards them.
In the past five seasons, Real Madrid and Lyon have been drawn together three times in the Champions League: twice in the group stage and once in the round of 16. In six matches across all competitions, Real Madrid have drawn three and lost three, never managing a victory. At the Stade Gerland, Real Madrid have lost all three matches without scoring a single goal.
Lyon can be considered a Real Madrid killer.
In this match, Mourinho did not use the three defensive midfielders tactic he had been using recently, but instead returned to the 4-2-3-1 formation.
The starting goalkeeper was still Casillas. The four defenders, from right to left, were Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho and Arbeloa. Khedira and Alonso continued to partner in the defensive midfield, while Fino returned to the attacking midfield position. The two wingers were Di Maria and Ronaldo. New signing Adebayor, who was on loan in the winter transfer window, became the starting center forward.
Lyon also used a 4-2-3-1 formation in this match, and the player playing the same position as Fino was Gourcuff, Fino's teammate during his time at Milan.
Gourcuff is two years older than Fino and joined Milan in 2006, a few months earlier than Fino was promoted to the first team. During his two years at Milan, Gourcuff didn't get many playing opportunities, only occasionally appearing as a substitute.
Eager to become a regular starter, Gourcuff chose to go to Bordeaux to seek opportunities. In his first season on loan at Bordeaux, Gourcuff showcased his talent to the fullest, helping Bordeaux win the 2008/09 Ligue 1 title.
Thanks to his outstanding performance at Bordeaux, Gourcuff was named French Footballer of the Year in 2009 and received an offer from Ligue 1 champions Lyon.
Fino and Gourcuff were teammates for less than two years in total, and rarely played together. Their relationship wasn't deep, but there were no conflicts either. It was like a classmate you didn't talk to much in school. You might not keep in touch after graduation, but you could still say hello if you bumped into each other on the street.
As they lined up to enter, they smiled, gave each other a high five, and chatted briefly.
Feeling the envious glances from his Lyon teammates, Gourcuff was filled with emotion, realizing how amazing the trajectory of fate truly is.
Four years ago, he and Fino were both young men waiting for their chance on the Milan bench. Four years later, they had both left Milan and met in the Champions League knockout stage.
In the past four years, his own development has been very smooth, but Fino's career path is obviously more legendary. Serie A, Champions League, World Cup, Golden Boot, Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player of the Year, Fino can be called an honor harvester and has become an existence that most players have to look up to.
The match officially began with the referee's whistle.
Just three minutes into the game, Lyon gave Real Madrid a shock when defender Reweier tackled Alonso, who was holding the ball outside the penalty area, leaving both of them stranded.
Perhaps because the match had just started, the referee didn't want to issue cards too early and affect the course of the game. Faced with this obvious yellow card, the referee made no call, which made Real Madrid's players somewhat dissatisfied.
"Xavi, how are you?" Fino helped Alonso up.
Alonso pulled down his socks to check, and after confirming there was nothing wrong, he shook his head at Fino, indicating that Fino could rest assured.
Reweier's tackle was a microcosm of Lyon's performance in this match. The home team Lyon players were very aggressive and their physical contact with Real Madrid players was quite aggressive.
Real Madrid players, of course, were not to be trifled with and immediately retaliated.
In the ensuing match, players from both sides clashed repeatedly, and the atmosphere on the field became increasingly tense. Under the intense pressure, the offensive rhythm of both sides became inconsistent and was frequently interrupted. More than ten minutes had passed, and neither side had managed to mount many effective attacks.
In the 17th minute, during Lyon's attacking opportunity, Shelstrom passed the ball diagonally from the center to the left wing. Delgado received the ball and broke through all the way to Real Madrid's penalty area from the left wing. Ramos, who was in his position, cleanly tripped Delgado outside the penalty area.
The referee issued the first yellow card of the match, sternly instructing Ramos to be mindful of his actions and awarding Lyon a free kick.
The Real Madrid players are furious. When Reweez tackled Alonso, you didn't seem to be issuing cards much, and you were blind to all the conflicts earlier. Why did you suddenly start enforcing discipline on the field when Lyon suffered a loss?
Isn't this blatant home-field advantage? Real Madrid players immediately surrounded the referee.
Upon seeing this, the Lyon players also gathered around.
For a moment, French, English, Spanish, and other languages buzzed in the referee's ears.
The referee was completely bewildered.
Heaven and earth can bear witness, he really wasn't a home-field whistle; he just blew his whistle a bit too loosely at the beginning, which caused the situation to get a little out of control, and that's when he started to enforce discipline. If it had been a Lyon player who fouled a Real Madrid player, he would have given them a yellow card too.
However, he couldn't voice these thoughts to the players on the field. He could only urge them to resume the game quickly, otherwise he would have to continue dealing cards.
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Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support! [Laughing]
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