Modric felt a little confused. The number of players on the field was obviously the same for both teams, but why did he feel like he was always surrounded?

No matter where he received the ball, there would be no less than two Manchester City players defending him! Even once he came to the middle and approached Manchester City's penalty area, four or five burly men would instantly appear around him, trapping him in the middle and making him unable to move.

Even though Modric has experienced countless games, he still can't understand Manchester City's defense.

How many midfielders does the opponent have? On the surface, it seems that there are only David Silva, Lin Quan and Kante, but those who defend him in the middle are often Stones, Fernandinho and other people who should be on the back line.

This is so weird!

Fernandinho is fine, after all, he used to play as a defensive midfielder, so his appearance in this position is relatively not surprising.

But Stones is a central defender. What are you trying to do by leaving your defensive area and running to the middle? Manchester City only has two genuine central defenders. Once you leave, only Van Dijk is left. You know, there is the BBC trio in front of Modric!

Can Van Dijk alone withstand the impact of so many people? The problem that Modric can think of is naturally also thought of by Manchester City coach Guardiola. The strength of Real Madrid's front three is too strong. It is almost impossible to completely keep a close eye on them.

Therefore, instead of investing heavy troops to mark the BBC combination on the opponent's front line, it is better to completely cut off the connection between the opponent's midfield and front line.

As long as we prevent Real Madrid's midfielders from passing the ball to the three BBC players, we can still curb Real Madrid's attack.

And through previous games, Guardiola has completely confirmed that the main battlefield of this game will be in the middle.

Whoever controls the midfield controls victory.

If you cannot control the midfield, not only will you be unable to organize your offense, you will also be unable to hold your defense. The opponent can take advantage of the midfield and launch attacks from multiple directions on the flanks and center, making your defense exhausted.

On the contrary, if we control the midfield, then it may be the opponent who is running around.

Manchester City's purpose was too obvious, and Real Madrid coach Zidane quickly saw through Guardiola's intention.

He held his chin, frowned, and thought seriously: Should we replace an offensive player on the front line with a midfielder to further strengthen the midfield? But doing so will definitely weaken Real Madrid's offensive strength. Among the BBC trio, if they really have to change, Ronaldo must not be moved. Between Bale and Benzema, he prefers to keep Benzema and replace Bale.

Bale, who had consumed too much physical energy and lost his threat on the wing, was now mainly responsible for defensive work on the field and did not provide much help in the offense.

And there is a Carvajal behind him. Even if Bale is replaced, Carvajal can still move forward to participate in the attack, which will not have much impact on Real Madrid's situation on the right side.

But in this case, Real Madrid's defense on this side will definitely be weakened.

Once the opponent finds an opportunity, it is easy for them to take advantage of it and score a goal, which is something Zidane does not want to see.

Therefore, Zidane was somewhat hesitant about whether to make a substitution immediately.

Zidane glanced at the bench, his eyes passing over Isco, Morata, Willenson, Nacho, Kovacic and others.

If he really needs to make a substitution, only Kovacic can meet his requirements.

Isco is better at attacking than defending. He is good at offense, but he is not very helpful in defense.

As for another midfielder Rodriguez, he has long been excluded from Real Madrid's roster.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will leave Real Madrid this summer.

The Colombian supernova who was snatched from many giants at a high price has not performed well in Real Madrid in recent years, and it can even be said that his performance has been getting worse and worse.

Zidane had long lost patience with him and had not given him many opportunities to play this season, let alone arrange for him to play in such an important game as the Champions League final, so poor James Rodriguez didn't even make the 18-man roster.

Seeing the head coach's eyes sweeping over, the players sitting on the bench couldn't help but sit up straight, shouting in their hearts: Choose me, choose me, let me play! This is the stage of the Champions League final, and no one doesn't want to appear in such a game.

Especially since the team is in a favorable leading position, not only can he become familiar to the players by playing on the court, but he may even win the trophy with the team with a high probability.

The substitutes were really looking forward to this game, which was both prestigious and a championship! Morata was very eager, but when he saw that the coach's eyes did not stay on him for even a second, he suddenly felt disappointed.

Come to think of it, Ronaldo and Benzema were both on the field and in good shape. As a substitute for the two, how could he have a chance to play?

The team's wing performance is not very good. Will the coach want to replace a winger? Thinking of this, Morata looked at his compatriot Marco Wilensson Asensio, who is four years younger than him, with some jealousy.

Although this guy is young, he is highly regarded by the club chairman and head coach.

Maybe there will be a chance for me to be sent on the field!

Looking at himself, as long as the two mountains above him do not move, he will have very few opportunities. In Real Madrid's forward selection, Morata can only be ranked third. The two in front are too strong and he can't squeeze in at all.

Morata felt very sad when he thought about sitting on the bench for most of this season at Real Madrid.

His performance in Real Madrid is actually quite good. Throughout the 2016-17 season, Morata made 43 appearances in all competitions and scored 20 goals, averaging nearly 0.5 goals per game. His efficiency is really not bad, especially since he came on as a substitute in many of those games and his playing time was seriously insufficient. The fact that he was still able to score so many goals is enough to show that he is not only desperate enough, but also has strong strength.

Especially in La Liga, Morata appeared to have 26 appearances, but 12 of them were as a substitute.

In a total of 1,334 minutes of playing time, he scored a total of 15 league goals. Both the number of goals and goal efficiency are second only to Ronaldo, and higher than Benzema and Bale.

But unfortunately he just can't squeeze out the two big guys above. He can't replace Bale's position. Benzema is indeed better than him as a center forward and has a better understanding with his teammates. This is something Morata cannot shake in a short time.

Thinking of this, Morata began to want to leave, although when he was wandering in Serie A, he was dreaming of returning to Real Madrid.

But after sitting on the bench for a year in Real Madrid, he felt that Real Madrid was not so attractive anymore. Compared to sitting on the bench in his favorite team, Morata wanted to play as a starter.

Just when Morata was daydreaming, Zidane actually called out Asensio's name.

But more than one person was named: "Asensio, Kovacic, you two go warm up!"

Although Zidane can respond to changes with the same attitude, since Real Madrid is leading in the score, Zidane actually has the initiative.

But he didn't want to be too passive, so he made preparations for both scenarios.

If Real Madrid can maintain its lead and the opponent's attack cannot threaten Real Madrid's goal in the short term, he may replace Kovacic.

Kovacic is not a typical defensive midfielder. He also has good offensive ability and can take on part of the offensive organization work. This can increase the hardness of Real Madrid's midfield while minimizing the weakening of the team's offensive strength after Bale leaves the field.

But if the situation on the field cannot be maintained and Manchester City quickly equalizes the score, then Real Madrid must strengthen its offense, and sending Asensio on the field is the best choice at this time.

After making all the preparations, Zidane felt relieved and watched the game seriously.

He wanted to know how Manchester City's attack would unfold after Guardiola made large-scale adjustments?

…

In the frontcourt, Mbappe was a little uncomfortable staying in the striker position.

He always habitually runs to the familiar position on the wing, but his teammates and even the head coach don't deliberately correct him.

This left Real Madrid's central defenders a little at a loss.

Has the opponent turned into a strikerless formation?

Who should I guard then? Should I guard the opponent's attacking midfielder?

Not only did the Real Madrid players on the field feel strange, but the players from both teams in the stands also felt strange.

Manchester City's formation is very strange. There is no main center forward in the middle, but there are wingers on both sides. As a result, the two sides of Manchester City's formation are bulging and the middle is lagging behind, like a concave shape.

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Affected by the opponent's formation, Real Madrid's formation also became a little strange.

In order to support the attack in the middle, their central defenders went further forward than the full-backs, and the space exposed in the middle was even larger than that on the wing.

If the team is in a defensive state, then it is okay, and the overall defensive formation can be leveled.

But once the team was in an offensive state, the disconnection of the overall defense became obvious, and the huge gap in the middle was too conspicuous. Whenever the opponent broke through the defense, Real Madrid would pay a heavy price.

But the midfields of both teams were experiencing a fierce battle at this time, and it was difficult for either side to hold the ball, let alone send out threatening passes.

In this case, Real Madrid's defense did not receive much attention, especially when the opponent did not have a center forward. Even if someone could break through Real Madrid's defense, there was no player in front to respond! From the 70th minute, both sides were already fighting in the midfield.

Steals and being intercepted, pressing and counter-stealing occurred frequently, and the fight between the two sides was so fierce that even Lin Quan, who had top-notch ball control and ball protection abilities, could not hold the ball in this situation.

If you take the ball for just a second longer, you'll either be surrounded and robbed or be fouled.

And it wasn't just Real Madrid that committed fouls. Manchester City also used rough fouls against the opponent's midfield.

In the 73rd minute, Kante tackled Kroos and received the seventh yellow card of the game. Three minutes later, Casemiro was also given a yellow card warning by the referee for consecutive fouls on David Silva and Lin Quan in a short period of time.

The referee has already smelled the tension and is trying to control the game and prevent it from getting out of control.

But his yellow card doesn't seem to have much deterrent effect.

Just one minute after he showed a yellow card to Casemiro, Fernandinho also received a yellow card for a malicious foul on Modric.

Seeing the referee so busy, constantly taking out cards and recording, some fans joked that the referee should just change his name to the card dealer master.

Including Fernandinho's yellow card, he has issued 9 yellow cards in this game.

The referee on the field was busy pulling out cards to warn the players on both sides who committed fouls. On the sidelines, the head coaches of both teams protested and complained to the fourth official at the same time, asking the fourth official to remind the referee to take care of the opposing players.

"Look, what are the Real Madrid players doing? Are they playing football? They are clearly trying to kill people!"

Seeing Lin Quan being knocked down again, and from behind, Guardiola was so angry that he rushed to the fourth official again and complained to him.

Zidane was standing next to the fourth official and was immediately unhappy when he heard Guardiola's words:

"That was clearly a clean tackle. The ball was knocked down before it hit the person. You should figure it out. Sometimes you should look for your own reasons instead of blaming everything on others!"

Guardiola saw the referee showing a card to Real Madrid center back Varane for the foul, glanced at Zidane and said sarcastically: "I didn't expect Mr. Zidane's eyesight is so good. He can see more clearly than the referee standing on the sidelines. It's a waste of your talent if you don't become a referee!"

Zidane's face looked very ugly. He was slapped in the face in public and he became angry and embarrassed.

However, only two minutes later, after seeing Ronaldo screaming and jumping high, and falling in Manchester City's penalty area, Zidane couldn't help but jump up:

"Foul, penalty! This is definitely a foul. The referee should give the opponent's No. 24 a red card. This is not playing football at all. He is committing murder!"

After hearing Zidane's words, the fourth official hadn't spoken yet, but Guardiola on the side was unhappy:

"Stones's tackle was very clean, and the foul happened outside the penalty area. Your player didn't jump into the penalty area like diving, so it must have been a foul inside the penalty area. Besides, did the referee say it was a foul?"

As soon as Guardiola finished speaking, the German referee Brüch took out another yellow card and held it high towards Stones.

"Oh!"

Zidane sneered. Although he did not mock, this sneer alone was enough to make Guardiola feel ashamed.

He also felt the feeling of Zidane being slapped in the face just now!

The slap in the face came so fast like a tornado...

Although the referee showed Stones a yellow card, he rejected the Real Madrid player's request for a penalty.

He saw clearly that when Stones committed the foul, Ronaldo had not yet entered the penalty area.

He jumped into the penalty area in a very exaggerated way at the moment Stones committed a foul.

This made the referee hesitate at first, not sure whether Stones had really committed a foul, or whether someone's old illness had relapsed and he started diving again.

Apart from anything else, if Real Madrid really gets a penalty, and this penalty is scored, the suspense of the game may be killed, and Real Madrid will get to hold the Champions League trophy as they wish! (End of this chapter)