Chapter 247 No one can win except Real Madrid!
Beep! The referee Tristan Oliva blew the whistle, and the battle for the top spot that had just begun came to an abrupt end.
Su Dong had just sprinted past Raul Bravo and Elguera, but had to stop when he heard the whistle. He turned his head to look at the referee and found that Oliva made an offside gesture. He then turned his head to look at the linesman on the sidelines and found that the linesman had raised the flag.
He could only walk back helplessly, and when passing by Oliwa, he defended himself by saying, "I'm not offside."
Oliva smiled at him and indicated that he would obey the referee's decision.
…
"From the slow-motion replay, we can see that this was a controversial decision."
"When Aimar made the through ball, Sudon started, and his position was equal to that of Elguera and Raul Bravo, and even Raul Bravo was a little behind."
"Of course, we are now replaying the live broadcast, but the referee team cannot replay it on the spot."
"The game had just begun and Valencia's first attack almost entered Real Madrid's penalty area."
"This also requires Queiroz to cheer up and pay attention to the defense in the backcourt."
"The fans at the Bernabeu booed Sudon, obviously unhappy with his argument to the referee."
…
The game starts again.
Valencia played very aggressively after the opening and did not take a defensive stance at the beginning.
This is also a strategy, which is to suppress the opponent's momentum first.
If we just keep defending, it will only further boost Real Madrid's momentum in the end, after all, this is their home ground.
Just two minutes later, Vincent from the left cooperated with Aimar and sent a cross.
In the penalty area, Su Dong was blocked by Elguera behind him, but he still jumped up to compete for the header, grabbed the landing point, and headed the ball to the right.
Unfortunately, Angulo failed to rush forward immediately, and the ball was cleared by Raul Bravo.
Valencia missed another good opportunity.
The first two attacks created some dangers, which also made the fans of the Bernabeu dissatisfied. They cheered for the home team louder and more fiercely.
Real Madrid players gradually adapted to Valencia's opening attack and gradually stabilized their position.
Beckham and Guti barely controlled the midfield and quickly created chances.
After Ronaldo moved to the wing to receive the cross pass from the wing, he turned around to get rid of the defensive players and sent a straight pass.
As a result, Marchena missed the ball while defending and the ball went straight through him.
Fortunately, behind him, goalkeeper Cañizares reacted quickly, left the goal quickly and cleared the ball before Raul, thus defusing the crisis.
On the sidelines, Benítez yelled angrily, reminding Marchena to always be vigilant.
Although this Spanish central defender is brave and a rare tough player, instability is also a long-standing problem for him.
If we analyze the defensive players in this game, Marchena is the one most likely to make mistakes.
However, as the head coach, Benítez has no way to deal with the players' mistakes.
When it comes down to it, a football match still depends on the players playing on the field.
…
As the game progressed, both teams gradually got into their stride.
Vicente of Valencia was very active on the left side. In the tenth minute, he suddenly cut diagonally to the middle, and on the left side of the penalty area, he received the pass from Su Dong who took the ball with his back, and shot directly, but the ball went slightly wide of the goal.
But Real Madrid quickly retaliated. Taking advantage of a corner kick, Salgado suddenly came in and shot a cold arrow from the right, causing Cañizares to lose the ball. Fortunately, it was quickly hit out of the baseline.
Four minutes later, Valencia launched another quick counterattack.
After Aimar broke through the middle, he passed the ball to the left. Vicente cut diagonally to the left rib and rushed to the baseline after getting the ball.
This time Vicente did not choose to pass back, but instead kicked the ball barely near the baseline, and the ball hit the side net directly.
Su Dong had already caught up in the middle, but he couldn't do anything as he didn't receive the pass from his teammates.
After continuous attacks, Valencia gradually exposed its defensive risks.
The main reason is that Real Madrid's attackers are too strong, and they all target Marchena.
The advantages of the players' personal abilities allow Real Madrid players to frequently get free kick opportunities on the wing.
First, Beckham took a direct free kick from 28 meters away, which just brushed the post and went wide.
Ronaldo then forced a breakthrough and was fouled by Marchena, winning a free kick. Carlos' powerful shot hit the wall.
Benítez also realized the problem and immediately signaled the players to shrink their defense appropriately and take a defensive stance.
This was also the game strategy formulated by Valencia before the game.
At the Bernabeu Stadium, playing an offensive battle with Real Madrid might be okay for a while, but if you want to maintain it throughout the whole game, that would be suicide!
Valencia's defensive contraction soon paid off.
Real Madrid had more than 60% of the ball possession and looked very powerful, but it was more concentrated on the flanks. There was basically no threat in the middle. There were many free kick opportunities, but they were also not very threatening.
The position was relatively remote, so it was difficult for free kick experts like Beckham and Carlos to score.
The stars fought on their own in the frontcourt, and although Valencia committed constant fouls, there were no rough actions.
Time passed slowly, Real Madrid continued to plan attacks, and Valencia was patiently waiting for opportunities.
…
The game was in the 42nd minute.
This is another free kick opportunity from the wing.
Figo broke through on the right, but was tripped by Carboni, giving Real Madrid a free kick on the right side of the frontcourt.
Beckham personally ran over to take the free kick.
The Valencia players did not dare to be careless and they kept watching each other, just like they did in the previous free kick defenses.
Marchena was in charge of Raul, and both of them were preparing near the front point.
When Beckham was about to take the penalty, Raul tried to use his body to push Marchena away and grab a better spot for the ball, but the Spanish center back was very strong and Raul couldn't push him away.
Marchena put his arms on Raul's shoulders, both to hold him down and prevent him from jumping smoothly, and to support his own center of gravity.
Just as Beckham quickly took the free kick, both of them made a move.
Raul tried to push Marchena away, but Marchena also used his arms to hold Raul back. The two men were entangled together. When jumping, Marchena successfully "defeated" Raul, but the Real Madrid captain lost his balance and fell in the penalty area.
This kind of defensive action is very common, and it is repeated in every game and every set-piece defense.
The referee almost never gave a penalty, after all, who could tell who was right and who was wrong in the whole process? Oliva obviously planned to do so, so he did not blow the whistle when Raul fell to the ground, but waited until Cañizares rushed over before the Real Madrid players rushed over and kicked the ball out of the sideline, and then he saw the linesman raise the flag, and then he blew the whistle.
But a scene that shocked everyone appeared.
The linesman raised the flag to indicate a throw-in, and it was up to the Real Madrid players to throw the ball, but for some reason, after seeing the linesman raise the flag, the referee actually turned around and pointed to the penalty spot.
For a moment, everyone in the audience was stunned.
Even the Real Madrid players themselves couldn't believe it.
Penalty?
Are you sure it's a penalty? The Valencia players were the first to react. Albelda, Baraja and others immediately rushed towards the referee Oliva, questioning why he awarded a penalty.
"The linesman raised his flag to indicate an out-of-bounds ball, sir!" Albelda shouted excitedly.
"How can this be a penalty? Are you mistaken?"
"God, how could it be so wrong? Is this going to be a penalty?"
No one could accept such a result, and Valencia's players were almost going crazy.
It was not easy to defend against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, but a penalty was wrongly awarded? How could the game be played? Albelda was so excited that he even yelled at the referee at the end, asking him why he awarded the penalty and whether he wanted to favor Real Madrid.
This earned him a yellow card.
…
"This is truly an incomprehensible decision."
"From the slow-motion replay, Marchena and Raul did have physical contact, which is very common in set-piece defense. Neither side violated the rules, and Raul fell to the ground after losing his balance. Even the referee himself did not realize it was a foul at first."
"But a few seconds later, when the linesman raised his flag to indicate that it was Real Madrid's throw-in, the referee suddenly pointed to the penalty spot. Is it understandable that the referee actually misunderstood the linesman's flag and thought it was a foul?"
"But at this point, whether it is or not is no longer important."
"The referee Oliva made a penalty decision. He cannot change his decision. Even if he knows in his heart that his decision was wrong, he cannot change it. He can only continue to insist on his mistake."
…
The Valencia players made a fuss for a while, but in the end they were helpless and were forced to accept the result of the penalty.
Figo took the penalty kick himself and scored in one go, opening the scoring for Real Madrid.
But in the stands of the Bernabeu, Real Madrid fans did not celebrate the goal too much.
Perhaps they themselves knew that this goal was somewhat unpresentable.
After his rage, Benítez on the sidelines quickly calmed down and called on the players to stay calm, hold their ground and not give Real Madrid a chance to press on.
At this time, Valencia's military morale was unstable and they were most vulnerable to a surprise attack by their opponents.
Valencia players were in a bad mood, and Real Madrid players were also affected to some extent.
In the end, Real Madrid took a temporary lead of 1-0 with Figo's penalty kick in the first half.
…
Su Dong was also filled with frustration, as if he had been robbed.
The first half should have been a draw, a 0-0 draw, but now we are trailing 0-1.
All around, Valencia players walked off the field, shouting that there was something fishy going on.
It really seems to be full of shady dealings! "See?" Aimar said angrily as he walked beside Su Dong.
"This is the secret of Real Madrid's undefeated home record this season! In this stadium, no one can win except themselves?"
(End of this chapter)
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