Chapter 732 The Opportunity Has Come

With a crisp whistle from the Swedish referee Jonas Ericsson, this world-renowned Champions League focus match officially kicked off.

When Benzema, who was standing in the center circle, passed the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo on the opposite side, he saw Southampton's frontcourt players immediately rushed over like wolves and tigers, with a momentum of invincibility.

The Portuguese had to turn around quickly and pass the ball back to the defense line.

"Sergio, be careful, hold on!"

Casillas, who was standing in front of the goal line, shouted at Ramos who was holding the ball.

Ramos did not look back, always keeping a close eye on the Southampton players rushing towards him, but he still waved behind him to indicate that he understood. As soon as he saw Ibrahimovic rushing towards him, he immediately passed the ball to the right.

When Carvajal got the ball, Hazard had already rushed in front of him, forcing him to be unable to move forward directly. He had to turn around to protect the ball and pass it back to the penalty area.

Casillas ran over, stopped the ball with his foot, and looked forward. Oh my god, Southampton’s full-court pressing was already in place. Isn’t this too fast?

How to transfer?

Whether passing the ball to the back line or the midfielder, there was obviously no confidence and the risk of losing the ball was high.

If we are not careful and they seize the opportunity to counterattack, the goal will be in danger.

Thinking of this, Casillas had no choice but to take a step forward. The Real Madrid players immediately understood that he was going to kick the ball.

Ancelotti on the sidelines also shook his head, "The Saints' pressing was too fast and too cohesive!"

Paul Clement also had a wry smile on his face. Who said it wasn't?

They pressed forward from the very beginning and didn't give Real Madrid any chance to breathe or prepare for the game. This was simply going to slow down Real Madrid's rhythm from the first minute of the game!

Casillas's long kick to the front court, but Varane overpowered Cristiano Ronaldo and headed the ball back to midfield.

Toni Kroos judged the landing point of the ball very accurately, stepped forward and passed the ball directly to the right.

Azpilicueta came up to receive the ball, saw Cristiano Ronaldo coming up to press, and passed the ball back to Varane's feet.

The French center back controlled the ball steadily, and when he saw Benzema approaching, he immediately passed it to left center back Javi Martinez.

The whole process sounds long, but it happens in an instant.

As soon as Javi Martinez got the ball, Real Madrid gave up pressing and oppressing the frontcourt.

It was obvious that it was impossible for three players to snatch the ball from Southampton's midfield and backcourt.

Besides, the three superstars in the front court are outstanding in terms of offensive ability, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are the best in the world, but their defensive enthusiasm is really disappointing.

Seeing that Real Madrid gave up pressing in the frontcourt, Javi Martinez decisively signaled the team to press forward.

When all three lines of Southampton pressed forward, the ball moved back and forth to the midfield and came to the feet of Toni Kroos. The German midfielder made a diagonal pass with his right foot, transferring the ball to the left.

Hazard blocked Carvajal with his body, stopped the ball, and turned around to cut inside.

The Belgian winger's move frightened Carvajal, Ramos and Xabi Alonso, who all became nervous and immediately surrounded him.

Seeing that there was no chance, Hazard immediately steadied himself and passed the ball to the left.

At this time, left-back David Alaba had quickly come forward, and after receiving the ball, he made a 45-degree cross.

The ball crossed most of the penalty area and fell into the right post.

Ibrahimovic was like a heavy tank. Even though Pepe was pulling him from the side, he still rushed into the penalty area.

"Danger!!!!!"

There were even many Saints fans at St. Mary's Stadium who couldn't help but stand up!

If we had scored a goal at the start, the game would have been much more interesting.

But at the critical moment, Casillas rushed out, got ahead of Ibrahimovic, and punched the ball out with both fists.

The ball did not fly far and landed in Marcelo's defense area on the left. The Brazilian left-back quickly kicked the ball out of the sideline, an out-of-bounds ball!

"call!!"

There was a noticeable exclamation throughout St. Mary's Stadium, followed by sighs.

If Casillas hadn't left the goal to attack, Ibrahimovic would have almost scored with a header!

"Real Madrid should be careful, Southampton's opening attack is quite sharp. If they are not careful and let the Saints score, then this game will be very difficult."

"This is Real Madrid's head coach Ancelotti, who seems a little dissatisfied with the team's defense just now."

"Southampton's Azpilicueta quickly sent the ball out of bounds, Suarez got the ball, had no chance, passed it back to Azpilicueta, then passed it back to the back line, stabilized it first, and reorganized it!"

"Although the Saints' attack was very vigorous, they played very steadily and efficiently. Whether it was defensive pressing or attacking, they all seemed very cohesive, which is also the consistent feature of Bielsa's team."

"Back and forth, Modric, beautiful, dribbled the ball away from the defender in the midfield, passed it to Kaka, passed it diagonally to the left, Hazard rushed to the bottom line and knocked it back, Ibrahimovic, good chance, kick it!"

"Oh, Ibrahimovic, the shot was very close, but Ramos blocked most of the shooting angle, so the shot was a little off target. This was a very good scoring opportunity!"

"Within three minutes of the game, Southampton had already had two pretty good scoring opportunities!"

"We have every reason to believe that tonight's game will be very exciting!"

"Casillas sent a goal kick, Benzema got the first touch, passed it to Di Maria, passed it again, beautifully, Azpilicueta intercepted the ball beautifully, and Cristiano Ronaldo counter-attacked and committed a foul."

"Southampton quickly counterattacked with a free kick, Toni Kroos passed the ball again, Kaka took the ball, went to the right, passed it again, to Suarez."

"There's no one guarding the Uruguayan striker, good chance, he moves forward, but no one from Real Madrid comes close to him, he enters the 30-meter zone, here comes Suarez, he suddenly kicks the ball!"

There was a very obvious muffled bang heard at the scene. Suarez suddenly made a long shot of more than 20 meters, and the quality was very high. Casillas came to the rescue and flew to save the ball at the critical moment. He blocked Suarez's long shot with one hand and barely resolved the crisis again.

"It's too dangerous! Real Madrid's defense gave Southampton too much space!"

"Marcelo just pressed forward to participate in the attack. After Southampton intercepted the ball, he did not retreat immediately, so Suarez was unguarded at the time. The quality of this shot was very high!"

"Casillas, he has made two crucial saves. It seems that the captain of Real Madrid is in very good form today."

"But Ancelotti must also think of a solution. If Southampton continues to attack like this, even if Casillas is in good shape, I am afraid that Real Madrid will be defeated sooner or later."

"We saw that Toni Kroos took a corner kick and Ramos cleared the ball immediately. The ball went out of the penalty area but was still at Southampton's feet. Real Madrid still retreated to the 30-meter area."

"Southampton's attack was very fierce after the start, and Real Madrid felt like they were being suppressed."

"But the Saints can't be careless. If they don't handle it well and Real Madrid steals the ball and then passes it out, the three offensive players in the frontcourt are waiting and could deal a fatal blow to the Saints at any time and anywhere."

Southampton obviously realizes this.

Real Madrid retreated the entire midfield and backcourt, especially the midfield, basically retreating to their own 30-meter zone to defend, but the trident was always cruising in front, ready to plan a counterattack at any time.

Relatively speaking, Gareth Bale will actively retreat to the midfield to participate in the defense on the left, but Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are basically at the front.

I don’t know whether this is due to Ancelotti’s arrangement or other reasons.

But with three superstars watching in front of them, Southampton dare not be careless.

Especially when they saw that the attack in front was unable to open up the situation for a while, Toni Kroos and Modric felt that they could not continue to press like this, so they began to use back passes and return passes to slow down the rhythm.

As the game slowed down, the Saints' overall formation retreated in an orderly manner.

"Southampton showed their maturity and stability. They controlled the ball and took the initiative. They knew when to advance and when to retreat. They were not the new team in the Champions League as many people had said. Instead, they looked more like a strong team."

"It is worth noting that although Southampton is participating in the Champions League for the first time in history, they have won the Europa League in the past two seasons, so they are not lacking in European experience."

"Real Madrid began to consciously strengthen the pressure and pressing in the midfield and frontcourt. After all, they are a top team. How can they allow their opponents to attack when they want and retreat when they want?"

So, as Southampton retreated, Real Madrid's offensive gradually improved.

But the Saints' defense was quite tightly organized, especially against Real Madrid's midfield pressure, which was done quite well and the players' execution was also strong. Kaka even retreated to the front of his own penalty area to defend, which was really a hard fight.

As Real Madrid pressed forward, flaws were inevitably revealed behind them.

When the game reached the 14th minute, Xabi Alonso tried to pass a through ball to Benzema, but Toni Kroos blocked the position in advance, intercepted the ball and quickly passed it to Varane.

There was no one pressing the French center back, so he stopped the ball and moved forward, then he looked up and saw an exhilarating scene.

Because he saw that as Carvajal moved forward to join the attack, Hazard's left was unguarded, and he was already close to Ramos!

What does this mean?

This means that as long as Varane can pass the ball behind Ramos, Hazard can get offside!

The French central defender did not hesitate at all. He was very confident in his long pass skills because he had to make many such long passes in almost every game. During normal training, launching long pass attacks from the backcourt was also a training program that Southampton had to strengthen every day.

So, Varane took a big step forward and kicked the ball.

There was a bang, and the ball was sent out from Southampton's backcourt like a Tomahawk cruise missile. The arc was very low, but the speed of the ball was very fast, and it fell behind the Real Madrid defense line with incredible precision.

Hazard, who had been lying in ambush, quickly passed by Ramos and headed straight for the goal.

The ball landed accurately in the designated area, and Hazard also arrived at this position in time. Behind him was Ramos who was chasing closely, Ibrahimovic and Pepe in the middle, and Suarez on the right had also followed quietly.

Three against two, the opportunity has arrived!