Chapter 207
The King's Cup final against Barcelona has begun.
This battle means whether Real Madrid can win the first trophy so far this season. It is also a key competition after their regretful withdrawal from the Champions League. Whether they can win back the hearts and forgiveness of the fans, and whether they can win back the confidence and opinions of the club's top management, all depends on this game.
Mourinho watched the game with great seriousness.
"It's another head-to-head confrontation between Barcelona and Real Madrid! Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are sharing the green field once again!" The game has started. Neither team is impatient or reckless. Instead, they play in an organized and steady manner, so the two commentators also started chatting.
"People inevitably compare these two football players. Cristiano has scored 8 goals in the Champions League this season, and Leo Messi is currently one goal away from being tied with him. However, Barcelona still has one final, so it is still unclear who will win the Champions League Golden Boot." The commentator listed the two people's data in full, as if he knew them all.
His partner nodded slightly and added: "But in the league, Leo Messi currently has two more goals than Ronaldo."
"That's true. Leo Messi has been a hard worker this season, playing in every game, and currently leads the league's scorer list with 37 goals. Ronaldo missed a few games due to injury, and is two goals behind." The commentator followed the situation on the field and echoed his partner. He smiled, "But I remember that in the last La Liga game after the King's Cup final, Real Madrid played against Barcelona again?"
His partner nodded. "What a coincidence, isn't it? It's hard to draw a conclusion on either the Champions League or the league's scorer list. The two are both neck and neck in terms of goal tally."
"This is a battlefield without the smoke of gunpowder... Come and see this round of attack!" the commentator suddenly exclaimed.
Barcelona's captain Puyol turned defense into offense, intercepted Raul's ball, and immediately passed the ball to Iniesta in the middle. Iniesta turned around and used his body to take on Marcelo's defense.
"Iniesta passed the ball to Messi! Messi dribbled the ball through Ramos' defense! Real Madrid's defense is in danger again!" the commentator said loudly.
Cristiano started to speed up a second before Iniesta passed the ball and retreated quickly, as if he had predicted that the ball would fall to Messi's feet.
"Ronaldo chased from the front of Barcelona's penalty area to the front of his own penalty area! What a fast way to kill him!" the commentator exclaimed.
Both teams were wearing their home jerseys, with the red and blue silhouettes and white silhouettes on the field quickly overlapping into a single frame.
Messi was concentrating on the ball at his feet. Before he could bring the ball closer to the penalty area, he suddenly felt a sense of tension instinctively.
His whole body was clamoring as if a threat was approaching, and he involuntarily quickened his pace, as if he wanted to escape from this area that gave him an instinctive alarm.
But he didn't get a chance for more than a few seconds. The next moment, a white figure suddenly rushed forward from behind him like lightning. Then, his body staggered forward as if it were a reflex. When he came to his senses, the ball under his feet had been shoveled out of the field.
Messi subconsciously looked back and saw Cristiano in a white jersey jogging towards him, panting slightly to adjust his breathing, kicking the ball to the side. After noticing his gaze, he also glanced over and nodded slightly as if to say hello, but before he could react, the Portuguese turned and walked away again, as if he was not the one who had just stolen the ball without any explanation.
"Ronaldo rushed up like a rocket! He cleanly and neatly shoveled the ball away from Messi's feet!! He saved Real Madrid's defense!" The commentator said loudly while holding his breath, "At this moment, it seemed as if he was a central defender!"
His partner couldn't help but nod in agreement. Cristiano's tackle was so beautiful and accurate! The only contact point was the football, and he didn't even touch the player at all. Messi just jumped forward instinctively to maintain his balance.
At such a high speed, whether it is the predictive analysis ability or the control of the foot feel, the level shown by Cristiano is unparalleled!
Cristiano's substitution interrupted Barcelona's attack. Ramos and Pepe both breathed a sigh of relief. Ramos took a breath and patted Cristiano's waist when he walked past him, saying softly, "Well done, Ronnie."
Cristiano's eyelids jumped, and he almost asked the Spaniard what he called him.
But thinking of Ramos's often barking personality, he glanced at the other party and just reminded him while panting: "Guard your line."
"Of course." Ramos responded.
At the end of the first half, neither side scored a goal. During the half-time break, the fans in the stadium sang the players' names and club songs loudly until the players walked out of the player tunnel and came to the field again.
The second half of the game begins.
After the two sides exchanged goals, Cristiano and Van Nistelrooy missed two consecutive shots in the penalty area, which drew strong boos from Real Madrid fans in the stadium stands.
Fanny looked up at the stands on this side. He grinned but didn't laugh, just took a deep breath.
Real Madrid fans have always been more demanding and harsh than fans of any other club he has ever seen. The overwhelming boos are not only directed at their opponents, but also at their own players, like now.
He has been in Real Madrid for several seasons and still can't get used to these things. He really wants to tell these fans that their boos will not help at all and will only increase their pressure.
Cristiano's ball hit the crossbar of the goal with such force that the entire goal shook violently. Only Valdes, who was standing under the goal, knew how powerful this kick was.
If it wasn't for a bit of bad luck, the height of this kick would have made the goal unstoppable!
Valdes withdrew his gaze thankfully. He looked at the young Portuguese man in front of him with the number nine on his back, and couldn't help but become more alert and vigilant.
Cristiano shook his hand away in frustration. He wiped his face, which was covered with sweat and flushed from intense exercise, and his ears were filled with angry roars.
As Van Nistelrooy ran past him, he quickly reached out and covered his ears, signaling Cristiano to concentrate. Then he patted Chris on the shoulder and quickly ran back to his position.
Mourinho was angrily directing his players to pass the ball back and reorganize the attack from the coaching booth on the sidelines. After the ball was intercepted by the opponent, the Portuguese coach gestured excitedly.
"Come back!! Van Nistelrooy! Come back! Cristiano!! Damn it!! Run!!" he yelled.
Cristiano looked across the crowd at Kaka, who was striding across the pitch, intercepting the pass from midfield.
Seeing this, Cristiano quickly crossed over, interacted with Kaka, got the ball again, and turned around to launch an attack towards the opponent's frontcourt.
"Kaka passed the ball directly to Cristiano! Cristiano was very fast and chased the ball straight into the penalty area! Kaka increased the speed of this counterattack!" The commentator said excitedly when he saw this. The game was about to enter the final countdown, but the score on the field was still zero to zero.
Cristiano is very fast, while Barcelona's defense is like a shark.
"Ronaldo broke through the interception of two Barcelona midfielders in succession! Puyol can't let him get any closer to the goal! Ronaldo is famous for his shooting range within half the court!" The commentator became nervous.
Just as he said, Puyol was determined to stop Cristiano at all costs.
He rushed up quickly, made a flying tackle, and his boots touched the ball first, sending it out of bounds. His outstretched calves hit Cristiano's shin guards heavily, causing Cristiano, who was running at high speed, to lose his balance and fall out!
Cristiano was aware and on guard when he saw Puyol rushing towards him, but at that speed, even if he had known this would happen, it would have been difficult for him to maintain his balance.
After he fell, he rolled quickly to relieve the force of the impact, which helped him protect himself and did not suffer too much pain. However, the friction between his elbows and legs still made him frown in pain. He sat on the grass, hugging his arms and calves, breathing heavily.
Kaka and Van Nistelrooy quickly ran over, Van Nistelrooy immediately rushed to put pressure on the referee, and Raul also joined in.
Cristiano sat on the ground, gasping for breath, looking up at the referee.
"What are they talking about?"
Cristiano whispered to Kaka.
"Asking for a free kick." Kaka listened and replied, his eyes fell on Cristiano.
Cristiano always likes to wear white long-sleeved jerseys. Kaka guessed that this was because the opponent always suffered the most violations, and long sleeves could at least protect the exposed skin more.
Chris's elbows and the jersey behind his waist were all covered with grass and mud. He didn't know how many times he had been tackled.
He pursed his lips and checked Cristiano's injury.
"You probably can't get it." Cristiano knew it very well. He stretched out his hands towards Kaka, and Kaka saw this and pulled the boy up from the ground.
"Are you okay?" Ramos noticed the commotion here and ran out from the circle of people denouncing the foul and asked.
Cristiano shook his head and waved his hands.
Sure enough, the referee only gave Puyol a verbal warning.
Van Nistelrooy and Raul both turned away dissatisfied, but they couldn't argue any further, lest they each receive a yellow card warning.
The game was wasted minute by second, and until the end of injury time, the score remained unchanged.
"Real Madrid and Barcelona have entered extra time!!" the commentator announced. "This is a more difficult challenge for the players on both sides, both physically and mentally!"
Mourinho returned to the locker room and angrily fired back: "I want to see your powerful and threatening pressing!! And chasing back after being intercepted!! Do you understand?! Chase back! Don't hang around!! "
His eyes were serious and sharp like ice. He swept across several forwards, reprimanded all of them severely, and reiterated the core tactical principles before asking the players to return to the field.
"After a short break, overtime begins!"
Cristiano is still the sharp offensive end of Real Madrid, and Benzema takes on the function of wingman from the flank to share the firepower with Cristiano.
Ramos targeted Puyol, and as soon as he saw Puyol get the ball in the midfield, he approached him without hesitation. When something happened, he immediately made a big tackle without worrying that he would get a yellow card.
"At the moment, it is indeed more important to interrupt the attack. There are less than twenty minutes left in the game! If it drags on any longer, the only option will be a cruel penalty kick!" The commentator said quickly with a twitch of his mouth after seeing Ramos tackle Puyol.
Puyol was tackled several times by Ramos and felt that he was being targeted. He got up angrily and pushed Ramos away. Immediately, the tension between the two sides was about to explode!
"Don't tell me, why do I feel that since Cristiano was tackled by Puyol several times in the second half, the defenders of Real Madrid seem to be targeting Puyol?" The partner spoke suddenly, touching his chin with a puzzled look on his face.
"The main point is, whoever tackles Ronaldo, I'll tackle him?" The commentator chuckled when he heard this, and then quickly said, "Maybe this is Mourinho's new order after returning to the locker room. We have to make the opponent's defense suffer a little."
The partner nodded. This was easier to understand.
The referee ran over and gave Puyol a yellow card, and also gave Ramos a verbal warning.
Ramos shrugged his shoulders and looked unconcerned.
The second half of the overtime became more and more intense. No one wanted to take a cruel penalty kick when they were exhausted.
Kaka and Cristiano exchanged glances, and Kaka gestured to Marcelo for the ball.
"Kaka asked for the ball! We all know that Kaka is also a very good offensive midfielder with certain shooting ability! Maybe he intends to add some different spice to Barcelona's goal?" The commentator said curiously.
Marcelo made an accurate long pass to Kaka, who immediately took the ball and faced two Barcelona defenders in front of him.
Kaka didn't use any clever moves to get past the defense, but simply relied on his strong and sturdy body to take on the two defenders and break through.
Cristiano was like a cheetah lying in ambush in the grass. When everyone's attention was focused on Kaka, he ran quietly and inconspicuously to the middle.
Seeing that Cristiano was already in place, Kaka did not stick to the ball. Just when everyone thought he would choose to dribble into the penalty area and shoot, he unexpectedly made a sideways pass to Cristiano.
"This pass is a bit too high! Puyol! Puyol jumped in the air again to try to block the ball! But it was no use! The ball brushed his head and changed its direction a little bit! Ronaldo took two quick steps to get the ball!"
"Ronaldo grabbed the ball and started straight away, intending to eat Barcelona's defense alive!! He is too fast!!"
"Ronaldo's energy pool is so abundant!!" The commentator gasped, "The game reached the last minute of overtime, and he still had such explosive speed! Barcelona looks dangerous!"
"The only way to stop Cristiano is by fouling him!"
Now it was Zambrotta's turn. He had to use a tactical foul to stop Cristiano who was sprinting at full speed outside the penalty area.
Cristiano fell quite hard this time. He was knocked to the ground hard and his head was a little dazed for a while.
"Oh! Zambrotta fouled Ronaldo!! Real Madrid's attack was interrupted again... What a pity." The commentator said regretfully.
"But it looks like they can get a free kick upfield," said the partner.
Ramos and Pepe also caught up and angrily pushed Zambrotta away: "What the hell are you doing?!"
Zambrotta glanced at the yellow card raised by the referee and said nothing.
"A free kick!" The commentator noticed the referee's signal and immediately announced it loudly.
Duck -
蓰－
Cristiano stood up, waved to the team doctor to indicate that he was fine, then carried the ball to the position circled by the referee.
A wall of people formed in front of him. He looked up and took a deep breath.
The shouting in the stadium stopped at this moment, and all the fans stared at the field nervously - the game entered the final countdown stage, and this was the last ball.
The commentator's partner in the broadcast room said: "Ronaldo's free kick conversion rate in this position is not high. Occasionally one of his free kicks will fly to the top corner, which seems to be luck..."
Before he could finish his words, Cristiano put the ball down, took a run-up, and shot directly! ! !
The ball went directly into the net at an incredible speed!
Valdes even jumped high and stretched out his arms a second before Cristiano kicked the ball, but the ball still brushed past his gloves with such force that he lost his balance and fell to the ground! !
"But this is one of them!!!!!" The commentator suddenly interrupted his partner's unfinished words and stood up in disbelief.
He pointed at the big screen and shouted excitedly, "I can't believe it!!! Cristiano Ronaldo scored a great free kick!!! The ball went straight into the dead corner!!!"
"Ronaldo once again scored the winning goal in a crucial tournament!! In the final!!!!! And the only goal!!"
His partner said: "This is like a gift from God..."
"This is definitely not just luck, my friend. This is already the double-digit free kicks Ronaldo has scored so far!! Luck is not calculated like this. I remember he also scored an unstoppable free kick in England! It's definitely not luck to replicate this! Few other players can do this!"
Cristiano pulled off his jersey and roared with excitement. Kaka, Benzema and Pepe rushed towards him quickly.
"The game is over! Congratulations to Real Madrid for defeating Barcelona 1-0 and winning the King's Cup trophy!!"
"The championship belongs to Real Madrid!!!"
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