On the evening of March 19th, Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In the 28th round of La Liga, Real Madrid faced Real Betis at home.
The first half of the game went into stoppage time, and the two sides were still 0-0.
In the stands of the Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid fans can no longer stand it, especially some radical fans in the south stand. They have even begun to boo the team in the stands, especially the head coach Gao Shen.
Many fans once again used slogans and slogans that criticized and even insulted Gao Shen.
They are venting their inner dissatisfaction.
But just when the patience of all the fans was about to be exhausted, the Real Madrid midfielder suddenly stole the ball.
After Graveson stole the ball, he quickly passed the ball to Guti in front.
The Golden Wolf, who replaced Zidane in the starting lineup, stopped the ball, took two steps forward, and sent a sharp through ball, which was accurately passed to the left side of the front edge of the Real Betis penalty area.
Negredo pulled away the defender, and Raul cleverly stepped in. Before the defender could get into position, he took a stab with his foot. The ball rubbed the bottom of the left post and went into the Real Betis goal.
In an instant, the entire Bernabeu Stadium was boiling!
Raul also turned around excitedly and rushed out of the stadium, racing around the stadium amidst the cheers of Real Madrid fans.
Since Gao Shen took office, he has been entrusted with important responsibilities, especially after Negredo was arranged to share the defensive pressure with him. Raul has been completely liberated. He has scored goals one after another and has overtaken Ronaldo to become Real Madrid's main player.
Season's leading scorer.
Tonight, it was Raul's decisive moment that gave Real Madrid the lead in the first half.
…
Gao Shen stood on the sidelines and jumped up with excitement after seeing Raul score.
After landing, he turned around and high-fived Lucas, Maqueda and others one by one, then stretched out his hand towards Buenaventura. When the fitness coach high-fived his hand, he pulled hard and gave the opponent a warm welcome.
of hugs.
Buenaventura heard deafening cheers mixed with deep laughter.
Raul's goal did not come easily.
Or it should be said that every goal scored by Real Madrid at this stage is hard-won.
After letting go of Buenaventura, Gao Shen turned around, exhaled heavily, and roared loudly, venting all the tension and pressure.
Tonight, Zidane and Beckham are not in Real Madrid's starting lineup, and the Frenchman is not even in the squad.
When the 18-man roster was announced, many people thought that Gao Shen was targeting Zidane after banning Ronaldo and Carlos. However, the main reason was that Zidane participated in the national team game in midweek.
Beckham's situation is different from Zidane's. It was mainly Buenaventura's idea to make him a substitute or even not let him play. He gave advice based on Beckham's physical condition.
So tonight, Real Madrid’s four-two-three-one, the goalkeeper is Casillas, the defense is Felipe, Woodgate, Ramos and Arbeloa, and the double midfielders are Gravesson and Borja.
In front are Raul, Guti and Cassano, with Negredo leading forward.
If nothing else, with such a lineup at home, and the fact that the team has been adjusting the team's training plan based on Buenaventura's plan in the past few days, the players are still working hard to adapt and adjust.
The downturn is obvious.
In fact, Gao Shen was mentally prepared for a draw at home.
Guti's fatal through ball was delivered just right, and Raul's late pass was also very well coordinated.
This made Gao Shen breathe a huge sigh of relief.
"I love the Fourteenth Master tonight!" Gao Shen was excited and laughed loudly.
Everyone knows that Guti is really a smart knife, and his biggest shortcoming is his instability.
However, Gao Shen has started him for two consecutive games, and has allowed him to play in Zidane's midfielder position, fully controlling the overall situation, without requiring him to participate in defense, and trying to maximize Guti's offense and creativity.
In the last game against Valencia, Guti's diagonal pass created Callejon's cross. This time it was even more crisp, and he directly sent a scalpel-like through ball, allowing Raul to score.
How can one not love Guti like this?
…
In the end, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Real Betis 1-0 with Guti's assist to Raul's goal at the Bernabeu.
Even though the game was won, the crowd was still booed when the final whistle sounded.
Real Madrid fans are still very dissatisfied with this kind of game because it is too dull and ugly.
Real Madrid did not seize much offensive advantage throughout the game, and even shot six fewer times than Real Betis. Real Madrid shot 13 times, while Real Betis shot 19 times. This means that Real Madrid is at a disadvantage.
The ball possession rate is 60% to 40%. Real Madrid has the advantage, but the number of shots is at a disadvantage. How can the fans accept this?
If you play a team in the relegation zone at home and play like this, how can you compete with Barcelona?
Also, why didn't Zidane and Beckham play? Ronaldo and Carlos were really stuck in the stands?
After the game, the Spanish media were also dissatisfied with Real Madrid's performance, especially criticizing Gao Shen's absence from the pre-match and post-match press conferences again, thinking this was a very unprofessional behavior.
On the contrary, Aspen editor-in-chief Alfredo took the initiative to defend Gao Shen in his column, believing that Real Madrid has been making progress, especially on the defensive end. The progress has been very obvious and has not conceded a goal in three consecutive league rounds.
"Although Real Betis had nineteen shots, they only had one shot on target. In other words, Casillas only faced one shooting threat in the whole game. This was unbelievable in the past.
.”
Alfredo said that the improvement of Real Madrid's defensive level is obvious to all, and the price paid is the weakening of offensive ability.
"According to the information we received from within Real Madrid, before the game, Gao Shen had a thorough discussion with Chairman Martin and Technical Director Butragueno. He even believed that the team was likely to be tied because during this period, Real Madrid had been
Focusing on physical fitness."
We will face Real Betis at home on the weekend, Zaragoza away in the middle of next week, Deportivo at home next weekend, Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals in the middle of next week, and Barcelona in the weekend of the next week.
National derby.
Alfredo listed Real Madrid's devilish schedule in his column, "If Barcelona's devilish schedule is in February, then Real Madrid's devilish schedule is in March and early April."
"Gao Shen believes that Real Madrid must have enough ammunition for the devilish schedule."
But Alfredo's rational voice did not receive much response amid the overwhelming boos and questions.
Especially after Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 in an away game, it caused panic among Real Madrid fans.
The end of the season is getting closer.
…
Amidst all the doubts, what Gao Shen was most concerned about was a piece of news from Aspen.
Ronaldo said in an interview with Aspen that he has no plans to transfer to Serie A and that he still wants to stay at Real Madrid.
The Brazilian alien clarified that he did not authorize an agent to contact the Serie A team, nor did he receive any invitation.
This is the first time Ronaldo has publicly opened up about the scandal after the scandal spread outside.
Gao Shen noticed the news more because he sensed it was a signal.
Ronaldo's attitude changed.
In fact, it's not surprising. In the past four games, he didn't even make the squad. How can he endure it?
Besides, now that Raul has scored more goals than him, can he endure it?
Real Madrid has won four consecutive games in these four games. If this continues, Real Madrid will really have nothing to do with Ronaldo.
He was arrogant before because he felt that the team needed his offense and his goals.
But now?
Gao Shen would rather play ugly, play conservatively, and score fewer goals to suppress him and marginalize him.
Ronaldo has only two options, either to continue to be marginalized and wait for his fate after the end of this season, or to surrender.
However, if we continue to be tough, Ronaldo's position in the Brazilian national team may be in doubt during the World Cup in Germany in the summer.
…………
…………
The overwhelming skepticism from the outside world did not disrupt Gao Shen's deployment and rhythm.
On March 22, Real Madrid once again visited Zaragoza’s La Romareda Stadium.
The last time Real Madrid came to this stadium was in the Copa del Rey, and they suffered a 1-6 defeat in that game. Now they are making a comeback. Zaragoza has nothing to ask for and plays very patiently at home.
Gao Shen learned the lessons from the Copa del Rey defeat, and the team was still adjusting and continued to make substantial rotations. This time, Raul, Graveson, Negredo and others were placed on the rest list, replaced by Baker.
Ham started the game and Zidane entered the squad.
Both sides played very patiently, but the game was indeed boring.
Gao Shen did not want to leave room for Zaragoza to counterattack, and attached great importance to oppression and pressing, which also curbed Zaragoza's offense.
The most threatening attack in the entire game occurred in stoppage time.
The first half was a counterattack from Zaragoza. Former Real Madrid midfielder Celades sent a direct pass. Everton passed the ball and Diego Milito followed in the middle and shot in front of the goal.
Woodgate defended at the critical moment and blocked Diego Milito's shot. After changing the direction of the football, Casillas saved the ball steadily and resolved the crisis of scoring.
In the stoppage time of the second half, Real Madrid created the most threatening attack in the game.
Beckham passed the ball diagonally from the right to the goal. Zidane, who came on as a substitute, quickly stepped in. Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Cesar decisively abandoned the goal and struck out. As a result, he collided with Zidane and neither of them could catch the ball.
In the penalty area, Soldado, who had a keen sense of smell, got ahead of everyone and swept the ball into Zaragoza's goal.
One to zero!
Real Madrid finally defeated Zaragoza 1-0 with Soldado's goal in stoppage time.
The game was still boring, Real Madrid still played poorly, and the fans and media were as dissatisfied as ever.
Especially in another game played at the same time, Barcelona defeated Getafe 3-1 at home with Eto'o's brace and continued to maintain its lead.
On one side, the game is overwhelming and exciting; on the other hand, it is full of dangers and the game is dull and boring.
Not to mention the media and neutral fans who turned to Barcelona, even many Real Madrid fans criticized the team, thinking that Gao Shen played too conservatively and was simply pursuing the Italian one-to-zero doctrine, which seriously violated the tradition of Real Madrid.
