Chapter 509 Manchester City vs. Real Madrid, the Champions League final begins, Zidane’s horror!
Although the game had not started yet, when the fans at the scene saw the players from both teams warming up on the court, they could no longer contain their excitement and began shouting the players' names loudly.
On the Manchester City side, there are a total of more than 20,000 people traveling with the team. They are all wearing Manchester City's sky blue jerseys, which looks spectacular.
Real Madrid has just as many fans, even more, and their momentum is no less than that of Manchester City.
The two sides started fighting early as if they were at home.
As for Real Madrid fans, they have already started singing the team song in unison.
As for Manchester City, they took turns shouting the names of their players on the team, and always interrupted the Real Madrid fans when they were singing to a climax, making the Real Madrid fans very uncomfortable.
Real Madrid fans were no pushovers either, and they quickly learned to give the other a taste of their own medicine.
When Manchester City fans started singing the team song, they also started doing this to disgust Manchester City fans.
It seems that they knew that the highlight of this game was the duel between Ronaldo and Lin Quan, so when Real Madrid fans shouted the names of their own players, Ronaldo's name was shouted three times in a row! The noise made by so many people made it impossible for the players on both sides who were warming up on the court to pretend not to hear it.
When Ronaldo heard the fans shouting his name, he stopped training and waved towards the stands where the Real Madrid fans were.
He likes this feeling of being surrounded by stars! The fans' love and support make Ronaldo feel more motivated and confident to defeat Lin Quan.
On the other half, Lin Quan was also a little surprised.
C Ronaldo played for Real Madrid for six years, but did not win many honors for Real Madrid. The only significant trophy he won was a La Liga trophy.
But even so, looking at the fans' admiration and support for him, his prestige and status in the hearts of Real Madrid fans are not low!
If you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.
Although Ronaldo has not won many honors in Real Madrid, he has dedicated all the golden time of his career to Real Madrid. This alone is worthy of the love and respect of Real Madrid fans.
Furthermore, for the picky Real Madrid fans, Ronaldo has the skills, strength, and outstanding appearance and temperament. Isn't such a top star the one they admire and want the most?
Real Madrid fans of this period attached great importance to the players' appearance and looks.
…
The half-hour warm-up time ended quickly, and players from both sides returned to the locker room one after another.
The head coaches of both teams did not continue to emphasize tactical play or the like, but instead began to mobilize the players before the game, especially providing psychological counseling to the players to reduce the pressure they were carrying.
Compared to Real Madrid, Manchester City, which has reached the Champions League final many times, has obviously less pressure on its players.
They have been successful in the past two finals, which has given them tremendous confidence and courage, allowing them to face challengers with a calmer mindset.
But for Real Madrid, this is the first time they have reached the Champions League final in 14 years.
Among the players in their team, except for a very few players like Cristiano Ronaldo who have experience in the Champions League final, the rest of the players are rookies and have no experience in this area at all.
Therefore, before the game started, the mentality of Real Madrid players was obviously more nervous.
In fact, it was not just the players who felt nervous, their coach Zidane was also very uneasy.
Finally making it to the finals was not easy.
He didn't want to miss this great opportunity. If this was his only chance in this life, if he failed today, he would probably live in regret for decades to come! "Hey, guys, listen!"
Zidane clapped his hands, interrupting the whispers of the players in the locker room.
"I think the importance of this game cannot be emphasized again!"
Hearing these words, the expressions of the Real Madrid players became more solemn.
“Yes, our opponent is very strong and is the defending champion, but so what?”
"Our name is Real Madrid - the only team in the history of the Champions League to win five consecutive titles. We have nine Champions League trophies!"
Real Madrid is not a nouveau riche without any background. On the contrary, they can be regarded as one of the clubs with the deepest foundation in Europe.
Zidane said this to tell his players not to put themselves in the shoes of a challenger but rather the defender.
Including Manchester City, all European teams are challengers to Real Madrid! Because as long as they win this trophy, they will be the only team in Europe to achieve ten championships!
The other teams are still far from this goal! Zidane's words had a very good effect. When the Real Madrid players thought about their team's profound heritage and glorious history, they couldn't help but straighten their chests with pride and felt proud of their team! Seeing that his words had an effect, Zidane continued to work hard:
“So, forget who the opponent is. When we get to the field, we should focus on ourselves, let go of all the psychological burdens, and play out what we usually train!”
“Can you do this?”
"able!"
"Very good, remember the feeling you have now and keep it. Ninety minutes later, I hope to be able to lift our Real Madrid's tenth championship trophy with you!"
…
Zidane was boosting morale, while Guardiola was urging the players to calm down: "Although Real Madrid's defense is not as strong as Atletico's, don't expect to break them down in one go."
"After the opening, stabilize the rhythm first, find out the opponent's tactics, and then organize the attack. Pay attention to the backs of the flanks on both sides and don't give the opponent too much space. Real Madrid is very good at using the flanks to launch counterattacks!"
The players nodded one after another, and each of them was eager to try.
Real Madrid, right?
Let us test your quality, shall we? ...
The players of both teams were ready. They left the locker room and appeared in the player tunnel, waiting to enter.
Although many players from both teams know each other, in this situation, no one would say hello to each other, or even look at each other.
However, Ronaldo glanced at Lin Quan, his eyes flashing with a strong fighting spirit.
Feeling the other person's gaze, Lin Quan also looked over. Their eyes met in the air, and they each felt the seriousness and determination in each other's eyes.
They will go all out in this game!
The referee at the front took a look at the time, then took the lead and walked out, picked up the football in front of him, and walked into the field.
Click, click!
A large number of reporters gathered at the entrance of the player tunnel and quickly pressed the shutter button to take a series of photos of the players of both teams.
Seeing that the game was about to begin, the fans at the scene began to get excited.
Having entered the stadium several hours in advance, many of them had already exhausted their energy in the previous "battle" with the opposing fans.
However, at this moment, when they saw their own players coming out, they seemed to be revived and instantly became excited. Even if their voices were hoarse, they would continue to shout at the top of their lungs! "Haha, the fans at the scene are very enthusiastic!"
"Yes, according to official statistics, the number of people attending this game exceeded 80,000!"
“Eighty thousand fans in attendance is truly a rare event!”
On the CCTV commentary stand, the commentators quickly introduced the starting lineups of both teams and then started chatting before the game started.
"Haha, a match of this magnitude is something that fans who support both teams will definitely not miss. Let alone 80,000 tickets, even if we add another 20,000, I'm sure they will be sold out in seconds!"
Europeans are very passionate about football, and for many people, football is an integral part of their lives.
So even if the tickets for the finals are expensive, or they even have to travel to another country to watch the game, they are willing to do so.
With the referee's whistle, the game officially began.
"The game has started. Let me introduce today's opponents to the audience again. The team wearing blue jerseys attacking from left to right is Manchester City, and the team wearing white jerseys attacking from right to left is Real Madrid."
In the coin-guessing session before the game, Manchester City chose ball possession and Real Madrid chose half-time.
Lin Quan kicked the ball to Aguero, who then passed it back to Kante.
On the Real Madrid side, Benzema and Ronaldo quickly rushed forward and pressed Kante who had the ball.
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Kante was not in a hurry and continued to pass the ball back to Kroos who was in a deeper position.
Kroos took a few steps and didn't see any good options for passing the ball, so he continued to pass it back to Van Dijk.
At this time, Real Madrid's forwards had already rushed to the front of Manchester City's penalty area.
Benzema accelerated and rushed towards Van Dijk, as if he wanted to steal the ball from under his feet.
There was a cry of surprise at the scene, and Manchester City fans couldn't help but start to worry.
Real Madrid started the game with great momentum and played so proactively?
Aren't they afraid of Manchester City's counterattack? Compared to the worried Manchester City fans, Real Madrid fans couldn't help but cheer for their team when they saw their team playing with such momentum at the beginning.
What they feared most before the game was that Real Madrid was afraid of Manchester City's reputation and played timidly on the field, ultimately losing both the game and face.
Fortunately, judging from the current situation on the field, the scene they were worried about did not occur.
Although Van Dijk is young, he is very experienced.
Instead of passing the ball to Kompany who was closer to him, he passed it back to the goalkeeper.
Seeing Van Dijk made such a choice, Ronaldo, who was sprinting towards Kompany and intending to intercept him in advance, couldn't help but sigh and started to slow down in advance.
When Benzema saw Van Dijk pass the ball, he abandoned him and continued to rush towards Manchester City's goal.
Although the probability of him successfully grabbing the ball is very low, he always has to give it a try.
If the opponent's goalkeeper's psychological quality is not up to standard and makes a mistake under heavy pressure, then such a scoring opportunity will be wasted! To Benzema's disappointment, Navas did not make such a low-level mistake.
After receiving the ball, he passed it back to Van Dijk. After Van Dijk completed the pass, he had already moved in advance and came to a relatively safe position to receive the ball.
Although Real Madrid attacked aggressively at the beginning, they did not have many players in the frontcourt and were unable to block all of Manchester City's passing points.
After Navas passed the ball back to Van Dijk, Van Dijk took two steps to the sidelines and then passed it to Kroos.
After Kroos got the ball, he saw De Bruyne retreating from the middle, so he passed the ball to him.
De Bruyne felt the opposing defender behind him and took no risks. He slowed down and passed the ball back to Kroos.
Manchester City played very patiently and did not launch attacks easily. Instead, they kept passing the ball back and forth in the midfield and backcourt, pulling Real Madrid's formation and testing the strength of Real Madrid's defense.
During this process, the ball was firmly under their feet and no one from Real Madrid touched it at all.
There were bursts of boos from the scene, which was a protest of dissatisfaction from Real Madrid fans.
The game had been going on for three minutes and the ball had been rolling under the feet of Manchester City players. Although Real Madrid pressed them, they failed to get anything.
The three front players who pressed most aggressively were taken for a walk like dogs.
This made Real Madrid fans feel very angry. Manchester City, are you wasting time on the ball and preparing for a penalty shootout? Seeing Real Madrid fans' incompetent rage, Manchester City fans laughed out loud.
"Haha, let's play like this and let them see the power of our Manchester City's passing and controlling tactics!"
"Haha, didn't they say the other side was a galactic battleship? How come they can't even grab the ball?"
"I think Real Madrid is just a name, otherwise, how could they not have reached the Champions League final in 14 years?"
"That's right. Atletico Madrid next door is better than them. At least Atletico Madrid made it to the finals once, and they didn't have to be treated like dogs by us like this!"
In the coaching seats of both teams, Guardiola sat calmly in his seat with a very relaxed expression.
It can be seen that he is very satisfied with the players' performance.
On the Real Madrid side, Zidane is not as patient as Guardiola.
Seeing Manchester City's tactics, he couldn't help but frowned.
Why does it feel like the opponent's style of play is trying to lure the enemy deeper?
As the pioneer of passing and controlling football, Guardiola will play passing and controlling football, which was actually expected by Zidane.
As for how to deal with passing and controlling tactics, Real Madrid is very experienced in this regard. After all, Barcelona, another giant in La Liga, is a leader in passing and controlling football.
However, Manchester City's passing and controlling feel is very different from Barcelona's! When Barcelona plays passing and controlling, they always like to press forward and launch a pressing attack in the opponent's half.
Once the opponent's defense makes the slightest mistake and Barcelona seizes it, it is very likely to turn it into a goal.
However, the consequence of pressing the formation too far forward is that the backcourt will be empty, and once encountering a team with extremely high counterattack speed and quality, it is easy to get into trouble.
Real Madrid during Mourinho's time used this trick to cause Barcelona a lot of trouble.
Zidane originally wanted to copy Mourinho's tactics and use this trick against Manchester City.
But judging from the current situation on the field, it seems that this path is simply not feasible.
Manchester City's formation did not press forward, but Real Madrid had to press forward in order to disrupt the opponent's back pass.
Huh? Wait, our formation is moving forward?
Could it be? Zidane seemed to have thought of something, and his pupils suddenly contracted!
(End of this chapter)