Chapter 281
Cristiano missed both of Real Madrid's games.
In the second game, Zidane arranged for Cristiano to come on in the last twelve minutes of regular time to find his feel for the ball so that he could be ready for the next game.
Zidane made adjustments to the starting lineup without Cristiano, and the new signing Casemiro made his first start this season.
Real Madrid, without Cristiano, needs a better balance between offense and defense. Casemiro is exactly what Zidane needs in the midfield. He is like a thick and high wall, with a wider and tighter defense range. His excellent stealing ability and control of the overall space have already begun to take shape in a game.
Real Madrid did not lose points in these two games, but they only won by small margins, as if the 7-1 victory overdrafted their subsequent goals.
When Cristiano returned to the team again, all the fans cheered excitedly, and they were looking forward to Cristiano bringing them another big victory.
But no matter what, perhaps because of the two missed games, or maybe because of luck, Cristiano seems to be in a "goal drought".
The continuous lack of goals is in stark contrast to the beautiful performance of almost one goal per game before the injury, which seems to have spoiled the fans' tastes.
Even if other strikers failed to score in two or three games, it would not be considered a "goal drought", but for Cristiano it became an incredible nightmare, as if the Portuguese was born to score goals.
He provided beautiful assists and initiated attacks and goals, but these seemed to be non-existent in the face of zero goals.
Zidane felt that such criticism and talk was unreasonable, but he could not stop it. He could only find Cristiano, talk to the boy, and hope that his players would be affected as little as possible.
After all, their next league game will be an extremely important city derby. They will face Atletico Madrid, a team that has always had a 50-50 chance of winning against them.
The media interviews before the game could not miss the topic of Cristiano. They all turned the microphone to him, talking about his "condition" and "goal drought".
Zidane pulled the microphone in front of him and was about to interrupt the questions, but Cristiano took over the question.
He looked at the pairs of greedy, longing eyes in the audience. Those people wanted to tear him apart, to watch him suffer, to watch him feel frustrated, to watch him fall.
"I always say that scoring is like ketchup in a bottle. When it comes out, it all comes out at once. Just wait and see this moment." Cristiano curled his lips.
The injury on his eyebrow bone had almost healed, but even though the bruise had not yet faded, the purple area between his eyebrows was still clearly visible.
This made him look more fierce and sharp, and no one would underestimate his words.
Cristiano said and left.
When the game started, in the player tunnel where the two teams were quietly waiting to play, Griezmann frequently glanced at Cristiano. He had just moved to Cristiano's villa not long ago and became a neighbor of the Portuguese. During Cristiano's off season, he also visited him.
He sincerely hopes that Cristiano can recover as soon as possible, but not against them.
Cristiano noticed the gaze of his new neighbor, he turned sideways and hugged Griezmann: "Hey."
Griezmann hugged Cristiano back. He smelled the perfume Cristiano had sprayed on him and whispered, "You look good."
"Thank you, you too." Cristiano smiled, patted Griezmann on the shoulder, and then separated. He heard the announcement of their entry from outside the stadium.
In this match, Real Madrid faced Atletico Madrid at home, and Real Madrid's starting lineup was the first to appear on the field.
"The Madrid derby is being held at the Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid! Cristiano Ronaldo leads Benzema and Bale in the starting lineup! The Portuguese, who has failed to score in several games, seems to be out of form, but Zidane still chooses to use Ronaldo to face the Colchoneros!"
"It looks like this is going to be a tough battle!"
The commentators in the broadcast room were discussing the matter in a buzzing manner.
Cristiano's performance in the game has become the most talked-about topic at the moment. Everyone can comment on it and use it to gain more attention for themselves.
Less than seven minutes into the game, Real Madrid's goal was severely threatened by Atletico Madrid's midfielder's lob shot in front of the penalty area and Griezmann's shot from the far corner. Navas made a desperate save and knocked the ball away.
This kick made the fans break out in a cold sweat.
Immediately afterwards, Real Madrid launched a quick counterattack.
After midfielder Kaka intercepted the ball, he immediately dribbled forward and passed it to Marcelo. Marcelo chased the ball all the way to the baseline, turned around and shot towards the middle without almost stopping!
Cristiano suddenly flashed into the crowd like a rocket, then he jumped high and headed the ball into the goal without hesitation!
The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper almost knelt down to block the ball before he could react and held it in his arms.
Benzema and Cristiano were on the same side and saw the ball had crossed the goal line before being blocked by the goalkeeper. They immediately raised their hands to complain to the referee.
"Looking at the slow-motion replay, from this angle, the ball does seem to have crossed the goal line! But we can't see it clearly, maybe the ball didn't cross it completely? It depends on how the referee determines it!" The commentator took a breath, "But no matter what! Ronaldo's header was very good in terms of positioning, strength and angle! It seems that he is in great form in this match against Atletico Madrid!"
Soon, the referee made a decision.
"The goal is invalid! Ronaldo and Benzema's appeal is invalid! The game continues!"
Cristiano was shouting something in frustration and anger, and the Atletico Madrid midfielder pushed him out unceremoniously, hitting Cristiano's forehead, like two angry bulls butting against each other. They were quickly separated by the referee and each of them received a yellow card.
The man raised his chin provocatively at Cristiano: "Go find your referee father, Ronaldo, oh, he doesn't work, then cry, cry like a baby, maybe it will help!"
Cristiano sneered with narrowed eyes.
"There was a conflict between Atletico Madrid players and Ronaldo, and both received a yellow card!"
"Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke seems to be provoking Ronaldo! There is a lot of tension between the two..."
"It's a pity that Ronaldo may need another chance to break his goal drought."
And Cristiano didn't have to wait too long for this opportunity.
In the 27th minute, Real Madrid got a free kick opportunity.
Cristiano stood at the penalty spot, thirty-four yards away from the goal.
"Normally speaking, for such a long distance, the players would usually throw the ball into the penalty area..."
Before the guest commentator had finished speaking, another commentator on the side could be heard screaming excitedly: "But obviously Ronaldo chose to shoot directly!!! The ball went in!!! The ball bounced into the net near the goal!! The ball barely rotated in the air and fell rapidly in front of the goal! The goalkeeper had no way to stop it!!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo broke the rumor of 'goal drought' with his classic free kick! Real Madrid leads 1-0!!"
Cristiano suddenly raised his hand and roared as if to vent his anger, pointing at the beautiful tight muscles of his thighs, showing off to the fans in the stands, looking both crazy and proud.
The teammates on the Real Madrid side almost jumped up and cheered at the same time, while Atletico Madrid were silent. Especially Koke, who had just provoked, looked extremely embarrassed.
The Frenchman in the coaching area on the sidelines wanted to laugh. If the camera wasn't always scanning over him, he wouldn't have to try so hard to hold back his laughter.
Zidane touched his head and chin, trying not to make his smile too obvious. Look at Simeone next to him, the Atletico Madrid coach looked very bad.
"Ronaldo, who had just been provoked by Koke, immediately responded to the opponent's sarcasm with a long free kick! Real Madrid opened the score in the first half!"
As Cristiano said in his pre-match interview - the goal is like ketchup in a bottle, when it is poured out, it all comes out.
This is how Cristiano's goal was scored. In the injury time of the first half, Kaka made a straight pass from the backcourt to Cristiano, and the Portuguese made almost no adjustments and took another long shot from the wing!
"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!! Ronaldo scores again!!! Assisted by Kaka! The ball goes straight into the blind corner of the goal!!! Too fast!!!"
"In the first half alone, Real Madrid pulled the score to 2-0!!"
"Ronaldo has ended his goal drought! His time to score has come!"
After scoring the goal, Cristiano ran straight to the media cameras on the sidelines. In front of the long gun, he looked at the camera proudly, as if to say - "I still dominate the game."
Such a goal celebration undoubtedly angered Atletico fans. Cristiano turned around coolly, hugged his teammates who were running towards him, and raised his arms proudly and happily.
The halftime whistle sounded, and Ramos took Cristiano's shoulder and walked off the field, while jokingly covering his mouth: "You are amazing, thinking about so many celebration moves all day long? I'm afraid you will be the most hated player by Atletico fans in the next 20 years."
Cristiano raised his eyebrows: "Then hate me, I don't care."
As he was speaking, a piece of plastic bottles came crashing down onto the field. A small bottle cap hit Cristiano's head, causing him to hiss.
Ramos was still smiling, and when he saw Cristiano shrink his neck with an expression of pain, he immediately stretched out his hand to block Cristiano and pulled him behind him, then pointed at the fans' stands and complained loudly to the security guard.
"Look at you, it's not good to be too hated." Ramos turned and said to Cristiano.
Kaka ran up quickly, and Cristiano immediately squeezed himself behind Kaka. He curled his lips and snorted heavily: "That's all they can do? Then try again. I'm not afraid of them."
Ramos: "…It's not a question of being afraid or not, Cristiano!"
Kaka checked Cristiano's forehead, which was red from being hit. He frowned and blew on it.
Marcelo was shocked as he walked by: "Those fans are angry at your face."
“…”
After a halftime break, Real Madrid was in good shape, while Atletico Madrid quickly made adjustments amid Simeone's roar.
In the first half of the second half, Atletico Madrid seemed to have come back to its senses from a deep sleep and began to launch frequent attacks on Real Madrid's goal.
Griezmann's long shot was like a warning shot to scare the tiger, but the shot was very accurate, and Navas was like the wall of Real Madrid, blocking the ball accurately.
"Atletico Madrid's shooting button seems to have been transferred to Ronaldo's feet! Apart from Griezmann's shots which were of good quality, the other shots were too bad. If this continues, Atletico Madrid will probably be shutout!"
The long-term failure of shots in the frontcourt invisibly increased the pressure on the midfield and backcourt. The ball in the midfield was intercepted by Kaka again, and Casemiro and Kroos immediately coordinated to push the ball into Atletico's penalty area.
Casemiro passed the ball through the defender and into the penalty area. Cristiano rushed forward to catch up and immediately caught up with three defenders in front of him.
He ran too fast, as if he had gone too far, and then he kicked the ball back in front of him with his heel, and it swayed past the defenders in front of him.
"Ronaldo dribbles past the defense with his heel! Pushes the ball into the goal!!"
"Ronaldo again!!! Three goals in one game!!! Completely blew away the Atletico Madrid goal!!!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick against Atletico Madrid! A great result!! A perfect response to the 'goal drought' talk!"
The fans in the stands were divided into two distinct sides, one side sang Cristiano's name loudly, while the other side was silent.
The commentator in the broadcast room looked at the almost decided game on the field and shook his head. "Why did Koke provoke Ronaldo? I'm afraid it completely aroused that man's determination to score. 3-0, and all three goals were scored by the same person. This is really a shameful shutout."
"Provoking Ronaldo? That's the worst thing to do."
"This was a complete one-man show for Ronaldo."
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