Chapter 197: Four Battles Against Barcelona
Following the Champions League quarter-final first leg home game against Tottenham, the next match was the 31st round of La Liga, where Real Madrid played away against Athletic Bilbao.
In preparation for the second leg against Tottenham four days later, Mourinho made significant rotations in this match, with players such as Fino, Alonso, Marcelo, Carvalho, and Ronaldo all on the bench.
After 90 minutes of intense play, Athletic Bilbao failed to score at home, while Real Madrid scored three goals to take three points. Kaká continued his good form in the Champions League, scoring two goals in a row, and Di Maria also scored a goal.
After a comfortable league victory against Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid faced Tottenham in the second leg. With Real Madrid already holding a four-goal lead, Mourinho deployed a three-defensive-midfielder formation in Tottenham's half, using solid defense to stifle Tottenham's attacks. Ultimately, Fino's second-half goal secured another victory for Real Madrid against Tottenham.
With home and away games combined, Real Madrid thrashed Tottenham 5-0, advancing proudly to the Champions League semi-finals.
The Schalke 04 vs. Inter Milan match was played at the same time as the Tottenham vs. Real Madrid match, while the other two quarter-final matches took place the day before. With Real Madrid advancing, the four semi-finalists of the 2010/11 Champions League season were all determined.
Besides Real Madrid, Barcelona defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate to easily advance to the Champions League semi-finals, Schalke 04 thrashed Inter Milan 7-3 on aggregate to eliminate the defending champions, and Manchester United defeated Chelsea twice to emerge victorious in the Premier League derby.
Based on the upper and lower bracket principle, the opponents in the Champions League semi-finals have been automatically matched. In the upper bracket, Manchester United will face Schalke 04, while in the lower bracket, it will be El Clásico.
The possibility of Real Madrid and Barcelona facing off four times within 18 days has become a reality.
Fino is very satisfied with the frequent clashes with Barcelona. Since his transfer to Real Madrid, he has played three El Clásico matches, all of which ended in Real Madrid's defeat.
Especially after that 5-0 defeat in the first half of the season, Guardiola's Barcelona was touted by the media as the best in the universe. Not only did they want to crush Real Madrid, who had won the Champions League nine times in history, but they also took a jab at peak AC Milan. Fino had been holding a grudge.
Now there are four battles to be fought within 18 days, which is a good opportunity to avenge the three previous defeats.
Mourinho was also satisfied with the schedule. He had prepared a three-defensive-midfielder tactic for Barcelona for almost half a season, and after practicing it so many times in advance, he could finally put it to the test.
With less than a month and a half left in the season, Real Madrid is in good form across the Champions League, Copa del Rey, and La Liga. They have reached the Champions League semi-finals and the Copa del Rey final. In La Liga, they are currently second in the standings with 82 points, just behind Barcelona with 84 points. Real Madrid will soon host Barcelona in the league, and if Real Madrid wins, their positions in the standings will immediately reverse.
Excluding the Champions League final, Real Madrid still has 10 matches to play, including 7 league matches, two Champions League semi-finals, and one Copa del Rey final.
The club has already shouted the slogan of "treble" to boost morale. Wouldn't it be even more satisfying to win the championship by stepping on the corpses of Barcelona in all three competitions?
He wanted to see how Guardiola's Barcelona, which had never won the Champions League, could continue to boast about being the best in the world.
With Fino and Mourinho eagerly anticipating the first clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the match was fast approaching.
On April 16, Real Madrid hosted Barcelona in the 32nd round of La Liga.
Fino gave his classmate a ticket, something he had promised beforehand, and he would never forget. Tickets for El Clásico are extremely difficult to obtain for ordinary people, but they are not hard to get for players, especially for Fino, who is the club's star player.
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez was present at the Bernabéu to watch the game, accompanied by Zinedine Zidane.
Florentino has always been a big fan of Zidane. After Florentino regained control last season, Zidane began to frequently visit Real Madrid, serving as the president's advisor and also as Real Madrid's ambassador.
This season, Zidane has played an even more important role at the club.
It all started with the struggle between Mourinho and sporting director Valdano.
In Real Madrid's club structure, the sporting director is responsible for managing the club and has much more power than the head coach, especially in matters such as transfers and contract renewals. Mourinho, on the other hand, is a manager who needs complete control of the team. He wants the status Ferguson had at Manchester United and Wenger at Arsenal, not just to formulate tactics and lead the players in matches.
In terms of football philosophy, Valdano championed artistic football and an attacking philosophy, believing that matches must be won beautifully and with "aristocratic flair," while Mourinho emphasized pragmatism, caring little about the aesthetics of the game, only about victory. When critics accused Mourinho's Real Madrid of not playing beautifully enough, Valdano not only refused to stand with Mourinho but also occasionally took advantage of the situation, which greatly annoyed Mourinho.
The power structure created an inherent conflict between the two, and their differing football philosophies made it impossible for them to agree on a unified stance in external affairs.
After Mourinho took over, he and Valdano were locked in a fierce battle. After Fino quietly helped Mourinho win the support of the dressing room, Mourinho gradually gained the upper hand in this struggle.
While Mourinho and Valdano were at odds, Zidane, with Florentino's encouragement, stepped forward and began to act as a bridge between the club's management and the dressing room. Zidane did a great job; the players liked him, and Mourinho also got along very well with him.
According to Mourinho, if a club must have a sporting director position, then he wants one who is completely aligned with him. Therefore, he has spared no effort in recommending Zidane to the club. Now, there are very reliable reports that Real Madrid will dismiss Valdano at the end of this season and hire Zidane as sporting director.
Therefore, after the winter break, whenever Florentino Pérez watches a Real Madrid match, Zidane will always be by his side.
In this match, Mourinho's 4-3-3 formation was more like a Christmas tree, with Casillas guarding the goal, the four defenders from right to left being Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho and Marcelo, Khedira, Fino and Alonso forming the three defensive midfielders, Benzema leading the attack, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká lurking behind Benzema on both flanks, more like two attacking midfielders.
Real Madrid will tighten their defense to the extreme in this match and play a defensive counter-attacking style. Ronaldo, Kaká, and even Benzema will have to drop back into their own half to participate in the defense when necessary.
With the referee's whistle, this top-of-the-table clash in La Liga officially kicked off.
After the kickoff, Barcelona, having gained possession, cautiously probed the midfield by slowly passing the ball around.
Even after a 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in the first half of the season, Barcelona did not underestimate Real Madrid. Guardiola had studied many of Real Madrid's matches in the past few months where they used a three-defensive-midfielder tactic. Whether Pepe was pushed forward or Fino dropped back, it was a tricky situation for attacking teams.
Fino's retreat, in particular, stirred up many unpleasant memories for Guardiola, reminding him of how Barcelona had failed in the Champions League in the previous two seasons.
In the 2009 Champions League final, Milan played a 4-4-1-1 formation with their attacking midfielder positioned deep, placing their playmaker in the midfield and defense to launch quick counter-attacks. In the 2010 Champions League semi-final, Inter Milan wore down Barcelona using a three-defensive-midfielder formation.
After Fino dropped back, Real Madrid directly combined the tactics of the two Milan clubs, with the attacking midfielder positioned deep and three defensive midfielders, the defense collapsing to the extreme, and Fino and Alonso, the two key players, both in the defensive midfield position, making long passes and launching quick counter-attacks.
This tactic is practically tailor-made for Barcelona, so Guardiola has to be cautious.
Under Real Madrid's tight defense, Barcelona's short-passing penetration was not smooth, and they could only slowly pass the ball around the halfway line. Iniesta and Messi attempted several dribbling breakthroughs, but they did not achieve good results under the combined interception of Khedira, Fino, and Alonso.
In the 6th minute, Barcelona finally found an opportunity for Real Madrid's defense to push forward as a whole, and they managed to exploit the space behind Real Madrid's defense.
Xavi launched a long pass from midfield, targeting the space on the left side of Real Madrid's penalty area. As Xavi passed the ball, Barcelona's left-back Adriano was positioned almost parallel to Real Madrid's defense. The instant Xavi took the shot, Adriano turned and sprinted towards the ball's landing point.
Seeing the situation was bad, Ramos and Pepe immediately rushed towards Adriano, while Carvalho, Alonso, and Khedira kept a close eye on Pedro and Villa, who had also come up to help.
Adriano got to the ball before Ramos could, leaving only the prepared Casillas between him and the goal.
Adriano didn't hesitate. After controlling the ball, he prepared to shoot. Just as he lifted his foot, Ramos rushed up and tackled the ball out of bounds from the side.
Ramos' tackle was brilliant. After clearing the ball, he immediately separated himself from Adriano, with almost no physical contact between them, giving Adriano no chance to feign injury.
Casillas was pleased and patted Ramos on the shoulder in appreciation as Barcelona prepared for a corner kick.
The corner kick for Barcelona was taken by Xavi.
Mourinho had prepared various plans for defending Barcelona's corner kicks, and Real Madrid had practiced them all in advance. At this moment, Real Madrid players performed their duties, with some marking the Barcelona players they were responsible for marking, while others stood in pre-arranged positions, protecting the goal completely.
Xavi couldn't find a suitable angle to cut in from the corner, so he simply passed the ball to Pedro, who was standing outside the penalty arc, and Pedro reorganized the attack in the attacking third.
After Xavi took the corner kick, Real Madrid players poured out of the penalty area, with Fino running towards Pedro first.
Pedro passed the ball to Adriano on the left rear, and Adriano once again launched a long pass behind Real Madrid's defense.
Messi broke the offside trap and made a forward run, but Carvalho headed the ball out of the penalty area first, and Alonso, who was standing on the left side near the penalty area line, got the ball.
The moment Carvalho passed the ball, Ronaldo, Benzema, and Kaká launched a three-pronged attack, heading towards Barcelona's half. Barcelona's defense, which had just pushed forward in attack, immediately followed suit.
Alonso crossed the ball to Fino, who dribbled while assessing the situation in the attacking third. After dribbling for four or five meters, Busquets came up to meet him.
Fino didn't engage with him, but instead launched a long diagonal pass to the left side of the Barcelona penalty area. At that moment, Ronaldo was making a high-speed run down the wing, and Fino judged that, given Ronaldo's speed, he could catch up with the ball.
Ronaldo did catch up with the ball, but was brought down by Pique while cutting inside, and Real Madrid's quick counter-attack ended in failure.
Ten minutes had passed in the match, and neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona had made any progress.
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Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cheering emoji]
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