Chapter 273
Cristiano was still completely unaware of what was happening outside the locker room.
After Zidane left, he went to the bathroom to wash off the grass clippings on his body. The sweat and mud and grass clippings on the grass mixed together and stuck to his body, making him uncomfortable.
What was even more frustrating was of course the narrow defeat away from home, but facing Atletico Madrid, this newly formed team was indeed lacking something, but they somewhat regained their feeling in the final minutes of the second half.
They still have a chance at home, Cristiano thought quietly under the sound of water, this is not an irreversible problem.
They've been in worse situations than this, but they've overcome them.
///
In the second round of the King's Cup, Real Madrid faced Atletico Madrid at home. With a proud victory first and a new coach in Real Madrid, in the eyes of the outside world, Atletico Madrid had a very good chance of winning.
The same is true in the eyes of Atletico Madrid fans.
The entire perimeter of the Bernabeu Stadium was filled with fans of the two teams confronting each other and holding up flags.
This match has undoubtedly become the most difficult match for Zidane in his new coaching career so far. Whether Real Madrid will be eliminated early in the King's Cup has become a highly anticipated match in the entire La Liga tournament.
As the head coach, Zidane is naturally under a lot of pressure.
As the biggest star in the team, Cristiano Ronaldo, whose transfer fee has never been broken, is under tremendous pressure. Countless fans are waiting for him to fall along with the Real Madrid giant.
Before the game started, Zidane came to the locker room.
He glanced around the locker room. Most of the players were gathered in groups of three or four, joking and showing off their muscles, or checking and sorting out small equipment such as shin guards and wristbands.
Only Cristiano stayed quietly in front of his closet, and no one bothered him. Perhaps it was because everyone knew what Cristiano would face, and they almost gave Cristiano a vacuum environment.
"Don't bother him." Zidane heard Ramos say this to Coentrao as he just walked into the locker room.
He glanced at Ramos and agreed that the young defender already had some of the calmness of the Real Madrid captain, but it was not enough.
He strode towards Cristiano, who was sitting on the bench putting on his shin pads.
Zidane glanced at the Portuguese's shin guards, which were covered with photos of children. He smiled and then looked away.
"Cristiano." He called the Portuguese, and saw the Portuguese raised his face and looked at him obediently. He met his eyes, and those eyes seemed to speak - I will win.
Zidane somewhat understood what Ancelotti said to him before he left.
[I may have made some mistakes, but one thing you can trust is——]
[Cristiano. If there is a tough battle to be fought, the most important thing you need to make sure is that he is with you]
Zidane could see the ambition and determination in Cristiano's eyes, but he also knew very well how much pressure this was for a player. Cristiano was like a tight string. He didn't know if the other party would ever relax, but he was more worried that the string would break one day because it was too tight.
He patted Cristiano on the shoulder: "Chris, relax."
"I'm fine." Cristiano smiled and narrowed his eyes when he heard it. He thought the other party came over to tell him something tactically related, but he didn't expect it to be this.
Zidane squeezed the other's shoulder. Cristiano took good care of his body and built it up well. His beautiful, firm muscles were clearly defined and full. Under the lights in the locker room, they looked like honey and elastic.
Zidane knew that this body was not only beautiful, but also had strength and attacking power.
He did not start paying close attention to Cristiano until he took over as coach - even earlier than the 2006 World Cup - he noticed this young man in the 2004 European Cup. Even though he was as young as a child at that time, he helped the team win the Delaunay Cup.
He was present at the game where he scored the equaliser that sent Portugal into extra time, that unparalleled free kick.
Perhaps others noticed the ball going into the net, but he was observing Cristiano, he was observing a shooter. Even though the young Portuguese was in midfield at the time, he could tell from his expression and posture that he was a natural shooter.
After that game, it became normal to pay attention to Cristiano's growth, because the entire football world was paying attention to this young man. He was like an asteroid that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and detonated the football world.
He had seen enough miracles created by the boy, and his teammate, Luis Figo, always liked to mention the little Portuguese in front of him, so he was familiar with the name.
Even before he coached Cristiano, deep down in his heart, he may have already developed a strong trust in Cristiano.
"That's good." Zidane nodded in response, "Go play your football, you will be the player who makes the difference."
Cristiano blinked, a little surprised that Zidane would say this to him. He had always told him the same thing before - "Take a break, Chris, because you are the one who will change the game." - but at that time they had worked together for a longer time, and he deserved such trust from the other party. He deserved it.
And today? It surprised him that they had only been together for so short a time.
He smiled and gave the man a big hug: "Thank you."
Zidane was caught off guard by Cristiano's hug, and he staggered forward slightly - because Cristiano was sitting on the bench, the height of the hug only reached his waist, and he almost fell forward because of Cristiano's hug.
He grinned and patted Cristiano.
Today's starting lineup is still Cristiano, Benzema and Bale in the frontcourt, Kaka, Kroos and Modric in the midfield, and Coentrao, Marcelo, Pepe and Ramos as defenders.
In the player tunnel, Griezmann glanced at Real Madrid across half of the tunnel wall.
He noticed that Cristiano was leaning over to Kaka and talking about something with a smile, and he couldn't help pinching the other's ear, as if he was not nervous at all.
It was obvious that Real Madrid was behind in this game.
Griezmann pursed his lips. He even felt that he was more nervous than Cristiano.
Oh yes, he still didn't get to change into Cristiano's game jersey because after the game, Cristiano went back to the bus early. I heard that it was their head coach's request for this arrangement.
If he were to say, Zidane's policy of protecting superstars off the field is a bit too much.
The game begins.
A group of people in white broke into the Bed Sheet Legion's position.
Real Madrid still has problems in midfield.
Due to Alonso's transfer to Bayern Munich, Real Madrid's midfield dependence and need for Alonso had to be transferred.
But they need such a role to share the pressure of the midfield. For this reason, Real Madrid's front trident must participate in the retreat and frequently support the midfield under Zidane's tactics.
Such a change is a big change for players who are used to the original style of play.
Cristiano took the lead in the team and implemented this into the game.
"Ronaldo obviously increased the frequency of retreating to support the midfield in this game! This really made Real Madrid's midfield connection and defense better than in the first leg!"
The commentator analyzed the situation on the field. It was obvious that in this game, the offensiveness shown by Atletico in the previous game was suppressed. In the first twenty minutes, Atletico did not get many effective offensive opportunities.
On the contrary, Real Madrid——
"Ronaldo retreated to midfield and made a long pass with the outside of his foot!"
"Ronaldo's long-range pass appears again! This time it's Bale!"
The commentator exclaimed, the game was only halfway through, and Real Madrid quickly got a chance to score!
However, Bale missed the ball in front of the goal, causing strong dissatisfaction and boos from the fans in the stands.
Bell also lay on the ground in frustration.
Seeing this, Cristiano raised his arms and applauded Bale. Bale met Cristiano's gaze and did not see similar annoyance and depression, which made him feel a little better.
"Bale missed this great shooting opportunity in front of the goal! What a pity!"
After Bale's mistake, Atletico Madrid immediately launched a counterattack.
Cristiano quickly retreated to his own penalty area with the team. Atletico Madrid made a cross into the penalty area, but Cristiano intercepted the ball and immediately pressed forward. He kept defending until the opponent kicked the ball out of the sideline.
"Ronaldo resolved this round of offensive crisis! We can see that Ronaldo retreated very deep this time and obviously increased his running!"
Zidane was standing on the sidelines watching, and in the following half that was nearing its end, he felt more clearly that Bale and Benzema's retreats and runs on the field had increased significantly, and their connection with the midfield had become closer.
He is very aware that this is closely related to Cristiano.
The front trident consisting of Cristiano, Benzema and Bale is Real Madrid's strongest offensive weapon and the spiritual symbol of the team. The core leader of this group of spiritual symbols is undoubtedly Cristiano Ronaldo.
Therefore, when Cristiano took the lead in the team to increase running and defense, the operating efficiency of the entire team increased, and the input of other players also quickly showed results.
This is a positive, active and huge influence that only Cristiano can bring to the team!
"There were three minutes of injury time in the first half, and Real Madrid got a corner kick opportunity!"
Kroos stood in the penalty area. He glanced in front of the penalty area and saw Cristiano alone on the outskirts of the crowd. Benzema and Bale rushed to the front of the goal and were closely watched by Atletico's defensive players.
Kroos pursed his lips, without thinking too much, he went straight to Cristiano.
Cristiano quickly adjusted his running position, turned around to get rid of the interception of the player in front of him, immediately stopped the ball, and shot a low shot directly at the goal with almost no pause!
The ball went into the blind corner of the goal!
"Ronaldo scored a goal in injury time in the first half! Real Madrid 1-0!"
Real Madrid finally scored a goal in the final countdown at the end of the first half!
The pressure to score in the second half of the game was immediately relieved.
Griezmann watched the ball go into the net, and suddenly a bad feeling arose in his heart.
It's Cristiano again.
He took a deep breath. They still had time and chance. Don't be nervous and don't over-deify that person. That person won't always score goals - Griezmann said this to himself in his heart.
The whistle for the second half of the game blew.
As the connection between the entire team and the midfield became closer and more tacit, Atletico Madrid's offensive space was compressed more and more, and their offensive pressure in the frontcourt was almost equally converted into pressure on the back line.
"Kaka and Modric cooperated in the midfield to organize an attack! Modric made a large-scale transfer and passed the ball to Kaka on the left!"
After getting the ball, Kaka immediately strode towards Atletico Madrid's frontcourt. The ball was less than one meter in front of him, but he had the ball firmly under his feet, and the Atletico defenders had no way to snatch it away.
His eyes quickly caught up with Cristiano, and the two were almost on the same level, their eyes meeting at the same time.
Both of them were running at high speed, and Atletico's defensive players were also chasing them hard.
"Kaka and Ronaldo are too fast! Atletico Madrid's defense has been thrown into disarray. We have to speed up as much as possible to catch up with them!"
While the commentator was speaking, Atletico Madrid's defensive players were also speeding up. However, no one expected that in the next second, Kaka and Cristiano suddenly slowed down almost at the same time.
After an abrupt stop, Kaka made an extremely precise cross pass, passing the ball across half the field, passing past the Atletico players who were accelerating forward, and passing the ball to Cristiano behind him.
Cristiano seemed to have guessed Kaka's plan in advance, and his movement perfectly matched the trajectory of the ball.
Nearly twenty yards outside the penalty area, Cristiano took advantage of the moment when the ball rolled and bounced on the grass and suddenly shot the ball!
"It's in!!! Ronaldo's long-range shot!! The ball hit Atletico Madrid's goal unexpectedly!"
"A great assist from Kaka! Let's take another look at how the ball went into the goal!"
"Amazing tacit understanding! Whether it's Kaka or Cristiano, they seemed to have predicted each other's predictions long ago! It's terrifying!"
"Ronaldo scored twice! Real Madrid is 2-0!"
The entire Bernabeu Stadium erupted in loud cheers, while on the contrary, the Atletico Madrid half of the stands was as quiet as death.
No one could believe what was happening on the court at that moment.
The fans who were arrogantly waving cigarette bombs, cheering for Atletico Madrid and booing the Portuguese in the previous second, suddenly became silent in the next second as if their vocal cords were deprived by a witch.
They opened their mouths wide, or covered their faces, in disbelief at Cristiano's shot.
It was so neat, so unexpected, and so perfect.
There was no unnecessary adjustment in each kick. The entire team's counterattack after stealing the ball was like a shark fin hidden under the sea, drawing an inverted triangle-like wave, and Cristiano Ronaldo was the fatal blow that rushed out again after the shark fin was completely submerged under the water.
The game was still going on, Cristiano grabbed the ball and quickly returned to the field.
Zidane has returned to his seat. The mountain of pressure on his shoulders has completely disappeared. This game is enough for him to regain support.
And as Ancelotti said, no matter what, Cristiano is on the field and Cristiano is on his side, which is the most important thing.
He is the king on the pitch, he dominates the game on the pitch, and at the same time, he dominates Real Madrid.
— those players will follow him.
Zidane looked at the Portuguese on the field. He was like a flame that would never go out, and such a bright and burning spirit was quickly infecting the entire team.
The game came to the final moment.
Zidane replaced the players with two young players who had just been promoted to the first team this season - Morata and Vazquez, and the substitutes were Bale and Pepe who had just recovered from injuries some time ago.
Vazquez played as a full-back and made two beautiful blocks to beat back all of Atletico's attacks.
At the same time, he passed the ball that was about to go out of the sideline back to the middle. With Kroos's advancement, Real Madrid once again penetrated into Atletico's frontcourt and penalty area.
Morata was very excited when he was warming up on the sidelines. This was his first appearance for Real Madrid's first team. After receiving the ball, he did not stick to the ball too much. He almost immediately found Cristiano's position and then passed the ball to him without any hesitation.
Cristiano accelerated to grab the ball and Atletico's defensive players immediately surrounded him. A shoulder push and a knee strike immediately made Cristiano, who was running at high speed, lose his balance and fall forward. At the same time, the opponent stepped on his shoes without any hesitation.
Morata saw Cristiano fall in front of him, he screamed, jumped up and signaled to the referee.
Cristiano fell to the ground, turned his head to look at the referee, gasped for breath, and pulled up his socks - his socks had fallen below his knees after several falls.
And his sneakers, Cristiano was almost laughing because his sneakers were stepped off by the opponent, and the kick got stuck on his shoelaces.
He waved his sneakers at the referee, who gave him a look, and then he put them back on obediently.
The referee did not respond immediately, perhaps listening to the opinions and decisions given by the assistant team in the headphones.
Kaka walked to Cristiano's side and pulled Chris up.
He noticed that there were obvious footprints on his lover's sneakers, and one of the white shoelaces was half broken by being stepped on.
Kaka paused and looked at the Atletico players who were surrounding the referee and trying to appeal. Ramos and Coentrao were there to put pressure on him, so he didn't need to do anything.
He bent down and brushed the grass off Cristiano's socks, then squatted down and re-tied his lover's shoelaces.
"Kaka?" Cristiano almost jumped back, his eyelids twitched violently, and he felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.
"Shoelaces," Kaka said. He grabbed Cristiano's ankle and moved it in front of him. His palm could easily wrap around Cristiano's ankle, which was too thin. "It's about to break. It will come apart after running for two steps. I'll tie it for you again."
The broken shoelaces were cut into large sections. Cristiano's fingers were not very dexterous, at least they were definitely not as flexible as Kaka's when it came to handling the shoelaces that were cut into large sections.
He touched the tip of his nose, smiled at Kaka, and tacitly agreed to his lover's act of tying his shoelaces for him.
"The referee gave a penalty at the last minute!"
"Take a look at this replay! The action is indeed not very obvious, but the nature of the stepping on the foot and the knee strike is too red line!"
"Ronaldo made an own penalty!"
"What is Ronaldo doing here? It seems like Kaka is tying Ronaldo's shoelaces?"
"...Maybe the foul just now caused his shoelaces to come undone? Ronaldo just showed the referee his shoes that were stepped on, haha. He looked so speechless, I'm afraid if the referee doesn't give a penalty, he will give a luxurious eye roll!"
"It seems like the shoelaces were broken. That's really... a pretty harsh step. I should change my shoes."
Kaka tied Cristiano's shoelaces and patted his ankle to indicate that it was ready.
Cristiano nodded.
"Ronaldo comes to the penalty spot!"
He looked calmly at the goal, at goalkeeper Courtois, then kissed the ball and placed it steadily on the white spot.
Courtois stretched his limbs and waited calmly.
"approach!"
“Hit the door!!”
The ball did not fool Courtois, who astutely guessed Cristiano's direction before the ball was even kicked.
However, this does not change any results.
In the face of huge power and speed, even if Courtois guessed the direction correctly, the ball still slipped out of his fingertips. The huge force made the change in the curve insignificant, and it still hit the net straight!
"GOAL!!! Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick!!! 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid!!"
"A home victory that turned the tide! Atletico Madrid can only regrettably end their King's Cup campaign early! Congratulations to Real Madrid!"
"Ronaldo scored three goals against Atletico Madrid! He completely stunned Atletico Madrid!"
Griezmann wiped his face vigorously, staring blankly at the large electronic screen showing the score on the field. Cristiano's three goals were also clearly recorded under the huge number "3", like an incredible nightmare.
He actually did it. Griezmann thought to himself, but quickly comforted himself that they were only leading by one goal - even though the fans' previous excitement seemed as if victory was a foregone conclusion.
This is just the beginning of the showdown, they will have more clashes, Cristiano is by no means invincible, he can always beat him once, and always make Cristiano willing to exchange jerseys with him in front of him.
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