Chapter 376 The Strength of the Leader of the Five Sacred Mountains
Chapter 376 The Strength of the Leader of the Five Sacred Mountains
Author: Ant who loves watching football
Everyone at Real Madrid knows that if they want to win against Chelsea today and have an advantage in the two-leg Champions League match, they must stabilize their position now.
Because Chelsea are attacking really hard now!
But the problem is that thinking is one thing, but doing it is another.
If every team could defend against every Chelsea attack, Chelsea wouldn't have the "notoriety" they have today - that is, they often massacre their opponents on the pitch.
Although Real Madrid would not say that its defense was overwhelmed, everyone felt the pressure.
Among them, the one with the greatest pressure is Real Madrid's ball-grabbing machine in the midfield today - captain Ramos.
After all, he is responsible for the most important cleaning task. If his task is not completed well, Chelsea's offense will only become smoother and smoother, and the threat will become greater and greater.
So under the pressure from Chelsea, Ramos frequently retreated to assist his teammates, hoping to stabilize the formation.
But it's really hard.
He even had a feeling of collapse, because Chelsea's offense came from all different angles and directions, and the shadows of blue jerseys were everywhere, as if they were more than eleven people at all.
Real Madrid was besieged everywhere, and Ramos could only be busy running around, constantly checking for deficiencies.
He felt that every run was draining away his strength, and he could hardly breathe, but Chelsea's players were still running all over the field.
"These bastards, aren't they tired?" He couldn't help but cursed again in his heart.
Ramos has always boasted of being physically fit, but in tonight's game, he felt like his whole body was being drained.
Look at the little kid on the opposite side, Kanter, coming up to intercept or dribble the ball, as if the game has just started one minute, showing no signs of fatigue.
At this time, their left back Marcos Alonso also began to move forward again shortly after recycling.
Chelsea seem to be focusing on attacking the right wing defended by Carvajal and Ronaldo recently.
If Ramos's physical strength has dropped significantly, then Ronaldo is definitely almost overdrawn!
Today Ronaldo worked very hard on both offense and defense, at the expense of huge physical exertion.
I don’t know why coach An Pang hasn’t made substitution adjustments yet, but Ramos can only do his job first.
If this continues, we may not be able to defend our right flank.
As soon as Ramos realized this problem, he immediately moved his range of activities closer to the right of the center, ready to rush to the right at any time.
He did not hesitate to use his physical strength and had only one purpose, which was to lead the team out of this horrific hell.
How much time is left?
Ramos looked up and glanced at the scoreboard.
The score was still one to zero, which was really exciting;
But the time... is still 77 minutes!
This made him a little disappointed.
It would be great if it were 88 minutes, or even 98 minutes.
He is really tired!
At this moment, Marcos Alonso once again crossed the 30-meter area and received Kanter's cross on the left.
This left wing-back, who has become famous this season, was quiet for a while in the full-back position after Pan Yi cut to the four-back formation, but now he has the opportunity to attack, and he immediately showed his fangs.
.
As soon as he received the ball, he immediately took it forward.
He is not a traditional fast fullback, so he did not choose to go all the way to the baseline. Instead, he quickly passed the ball diagonally to the center and accelerated to the left baseline.
Gnabry, who had already moved into the center, moved to the center with a tacit understanding, blocking Kroos behind him with his body, and then stopped Marcos Alonso's pass with his right foot.
ball.
As soon as the ball came to a stop, Gnabry's whole body suddenly froze, and Cross was so frightened that he also stopped abruptly.
Because he was worried about Gnabry passing the ball to Marcos Alonso, who was cutting in at high speed on the left, this could be seen to be a relatively obvious two-on-one that hit the wall.
But when Cross stopped, Gnabry did not pass the ball.
He suddenly took another step forward, just in time to extend the passing distance, and then used his left foot to make a curved ball and passed the ball into the penalty area.
At this time, Ramos also arrived, but he could no longer stop the pass. He could only shout to his teammates: "Be careful!"
Almost simultaneously with Gnabry's change of position to the center, Lukaku and Bamford in the penalty area also quickly ran back.
This confused Real Madrid's two central defenders Pepe and Varane.
At this time, should they follow the opponent's two centers out of the penalty area, or should they stand their ground?
Especially Varane.
Because today his and Pepe's responsibilities are different.
Pepe prefers zone defense. As long as someone gets near the penalty spot, he will go up to defend;
Varane, on the other hand, plays man-to-man defense, with the goal of completely freezing Lukaku.
But what to do now?
Just as Varane hesitated for a moment, Gnabry's ball had already been passed in.
Bamford and Lukaku, on the other hand, seemed to be controlled so precisely by a game controller, turning back and rushing into the penalty area almost at the same time!
Varane was shocked and was about to follow Lukaku to intercept, but at this moment, Bamford suddenly appeared beside him out of nowhere and blocked him intentionally or unintentionally.
And Lukaku smoothly passed by Varane.
At this time, both Pepe and Varane realized something was wrong.
Varane immediately wanted to throw Bamford away to intercept, but as soon as Lukaku got out of the distance, he was already at the landing point of the ball, and without hesitation, he volleyed with his left foot!
The ball was fast and urgent, with a thunderous momentum, it directly hit the inside of the upper left corner of the goal and bounced into the goal.
Casillas reacted and made a diving save, but was unable to save the goal from a blind spot.
The ball went in!!!!!
Chelsea equalized!!!!!
After Lukaku scored, he happily embraced and celebrated with Gnabry, Marcos Alonso, Bamford and others, but the entire Bernabeu stadium fell into a deathly silence in an instant.
Everyone watched in disbelief as the number on the scoreboard changed from one to zero to one to one.
At this time, the referee's whistle that the goal was valid was still floating in the sky.
Ancelotti's eyes widened as he watched everything happening on the court, still replaying the goal in his mind.
From Marcos Alonso pushing forward, to Gnabry pulling to the center and receiving the ball and passing into the penalty area, to Bamford and Lukaku retreating and then suddenly pushing forward, and Bamford's pick-and-roll cover.
, until Lukaku's shot in the end, the entire goal process was perfectly coordinated, without any lag.
"They must have practiced this routine on a daily basis." Ancelotti muttered to himself with a confused look on his face, "And they must have practiced it many times, they are so skilled..."
In the entire scoring routine, Real Madrid's defensive players were calculated by Chelsea's offensive players as if they had taken off their clothes, and they didn't even have a chance to block it.
What a desperate feeling!
The fans at the Bernabeu didn't show any reaction or expression, as if they were suddenly numb.
But if you look carefully, it is not difficult to find a hint of fear deep in their hearts from their faces and eyes.
This is the strength of Chelsea!
This is the horror of Pan Yi!
"You're not going to lose this game, are you?"
Such thoughts instantly popped into the minds of many Real Madrid fans.
One minute, they were full of confidence in victory, but now, one minute later, they are beginning to doubt whether the team they love can do it.
The current scene, the current score, especially the whole process of Chelsea's goal just now, make Real Madrid fans feel a little desperate.
Of course, not only the fans in the stands, but also the players in the stadium are full of anxiety and anxiety.
They all know that towards the end of the game, as their physical exhaustion becomes more serious, it will be harder for them to resist Chelsea's attack.
If there was a goal lead before that made them full of fighting spirit, now, Chelsea's goal not only equalized the score, but also gradually disintegrated their will.
The gap has obviously been pried open.
It's like a girl keeps rejecting you, so you may never be able to get her;
But as long as you can succeed once, there may be a second, third, Nth time...
Ancelotti obviously understands this truth.
He sees that the morale of Real Madrid players is declining now.
On the court, emotion is a very scary thing. It does not only affect one person, but may even affect those around him.
When Chelsea scored the equalizing goal, every player in Real Madrid felt a crisis.
They went from eager to win to worried about losing.
This kind of mentality is really terrible.
This is directly reflected on the playing field, that is, every Real Madrid player becomes cautious in passing, intercepting, and stealing, for fear that he will accidentally make a mistake, for fear that he will accidentally become the sinner of the team's tragic reversal.
But looking at Chelsea on the other hand, their morale was boosted after scoring a goal, and they began to launch waves of threatening offensives.
If they don't adjust, even though there are only ten minutes left, Chelsea still have the ability to score a few more goals.
If something like that really happens, then the two rounds of the semi-finals may become one round again...
So, Ancelotti finally made the decision to make a substitution.
Casemiro on, Ronaldo on the bottom.
Khedira enters, Ramos exits.
Enter Arbeloa, exit Carvajal.
Just change three people!
The goal of this substitution is also very clear, which is to strengthen defense, stabilize the situation, and stabilize military morale.
Ronaldo and Cajal actually performed very well in this game, making important contributions on both offense and defense.
But the price they paid was also obvious, that is, they exhausted their physical energy early, causing the right wing they guarded to become the opponent's main attack direction, so they had to be forced to substitute early.
The other player who was substituted was Ramos.
The Real Madrid captain performed admirably in the defensive midfield position today and worked very hard in the game, but as a result, his legs were already showing signs of cramping.
In addition, he already had a yellow card on his back, which also affected his defensive actions, so he had to leave the field first.
When defending, physical fitness is really crucial!
As for the three people who were replaced, except for Arbeloa who still stood at the right back position and was a counter-substitution with Carvajal, Casemiro and Khedira formed a new team with the original Kroos.
With a three-midfielder position, it can be said that he deployed heavy troops in the midfield defense.
After such substitutions and adjustments, Real Madrid also calmed down their emotions.
The important thing is that their combat thinking has also been unified - that is to strengthen defense and then wait for opportunities to counterattack!
In fact, it is really dangerous for Real Madrid to equalize the score at home like this.
Because at this time, many players will have different opinions. Is it offensive or defensive?
But Ancelotti quickly put out this dangerous flame.
This also made Pan Yi, his opponent on the sidelines, nod secretly:
"Fatty An is truly worthy of being a leader of the Five Sacred Mountains."
The so-called "Five Sacred League Leaders" are those who have collected the championship titles of the five major leagues.
At this point in time, no one can achieve this achievement.
Even in Pan Yi's previous life, even in 2023, only one person has completed this extremely difficult task - and that is Ancelotti.
Serie A, Premier League, French Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, and the Champions League all come together in one person. Really not just anyone can do it.
This fully demonstrates the adaptability of Ancelotti's tactics and also shows that he is definitely the top tactician in world football today.
"Do we also need to make some adjustments?" Scaloni did not hear Pan Yi's words, but he still asked his head coach nervously.
Although the game is still a draw at one to one so far, and although it is very beneficial for Chelsea to end with this score, if we continue playing like this, we might not get a draw.
Once Real Madrid solidified their defense, they counterattacked very fiercely!
Seeing Scaloni so nervous, Pan Yi smiled and shook his head.
After all, this guy is still in his first year as a coach, so he is too restless.
You really need to let him face it alone next year and practice hard!
He said to Scaloni: "Don't be nervous, isn't there still five or six minutes left?"
"Five or six minutes is enough for Real Madrid to score two goals!" Scaloni wiped his sweat.
Chelsea this season is famous for its "Pan Yi time" after 70 minutes, and why is Real Madrid not the same?
If they hadn't encountered Chelsea's "mad dog team", they really wouldn't have lost to anyone in terms of physical fitness.
Real Madrid games often score goals at the last minute, which is extremely exciting.
This is such a phenomenon that Real Madrid fans laugh at themselves and just watch the last twenty minutes of a Real Madrid game to avoid getting angry in the first seventy minutes.
Of course Pan Yi also understood what Scaloni meant.
But he understands better that the current situation is still slightly different.
Chelsea pressed Real Madrid a little uncomfortable today. Real Madrid is now more defensive than offensive, and in most cases will not risk sending too many troops into the frontcourt.
Just like the previous Real Madrid attack, when Cross got the ball, only Ronaldo was rushing forward quickly, and no one else tried hard to keep up.
Even Bell cautiously stayed in the midfield.
Chelsea, who had the advantage in numbers in the backcourt, also easily cracked the opponent's counterattack.
Therefore, Pan Yi is not very worried about Real Madrid's last-minute offense.
As for Chelsea, getting a draw at the Bernabeu Stadium is acceptable in itself, and Pan Yi is happy to maintain the status quo until the end of the game.
It's just that there is still a substitution spot on hand, and if you don't substitute, it will be for nothing.
Just let Lingard come on and replace Hazard.
Today's kick-ball king didn't play well. Whether it was on the left at the beginning or after switching to the right, he failed to play his explosive role.
Maybe it's because Hazard's performance at Chelsea this season has been so impressive that he has already attracted everyone's attention, and they will all conduct special research and marking on him.
This is normal, and it is also the only way for every player to go from ordinary player to star to superstar...
For players of the caliber of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in which game are they not closely watched?
Only by being able to perform at a high level under such restrictions can you truly stand out from the crowd and become a superstar!
"The game has reached the 89th minute and is about to enter injury time, but at this time Chelsea still completed a substitution. Hazard came off and Lingard came on."
"Maybe this was just a tactical substitution to delay the game."
"Game time is coming soon and Chelsea are obviously satisfied with the current score of 1:1."
"As long as they can keep this tie and then return to Stamford Bridge next week, there is a great chance... Wait, let's watch this ball!"
On the field.
As soon as Lingard came on the field and ran to the right, he received a pass from Matic.
After receiving the ball, he took advantage of the situation and made a low pass with his right foot, sending the ball directly to Lukaku's feet in the penalty area.
The Belgian center caught the ball with his back, stopped his feet firmly, and then stuck his butt out.
Why stick your butt out?
Because Varane is standing behind Lukaku at this time, and Pepe is also helping to defend, both of them feel like they are facing a formidable enemy.
After all, it was this Black Tornado who just scored the equalizing goal! Of course, we must guard him well.
After Lukaku used his butt to push out a little space, he passed the ball sideways.
Varane hurriedly followed, fearing that he would be thrown away.
But at this time, Lukaku actually took another step back, as if he wanted to lead out of the penalty area.
This time, Varane was afraid that he would turn around and get rid of him, so he did not dare to stick too close to him.
Unexpectedly, Lukaku suddenly turned around and faced Varane.
Both Varane and Pepe were shocked. The former immediately moved forward to block Lukaku's shooting angle. Unexpectedly, Lukaku gently flicked the ball to the right twice.
It was these two shots that confused Varane and Pepe, making them mistakenly think that Lukaku wanted to control the ball and then seek opportunities to pass the ball.
Even everyone in the audience, including Pan Yi on the sidelines, felt this way.
But all of a sudden, Lukaku suddenly moved forward without any warning!
After taking this big step, he accelerated to catch up and started to volley!
The whole process happened in an instant, and neither Varane nor Pepe could react in time.
The ball quickly passed by Real Madrid's two defensive centre-backs and hit the upper right corner of the goal.
Only then did Casillas react, but it was already too late.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"
"The 90th minute, my God, it's the 90th minute! Suddenly Lukaku took a shot and the ball went in!"
"This is definitely a reflection of the player's personal ability. We really can't believe that when Varane, Pepe, and Casillas behind them seemed to have blocked all shooting angles, Lukaku suddenly hit
It’s a blind spot.”
"This goal is very similar to his goal just now in terms of shooting angle. Both times were dead ends. It's just that the technical content of this goal seems to be higher, and it better reflects Lukaku's skills and explosive power!"
"Ah, should I also praise Pan Yi for this goal? He just replaced Lingard, and the first time he touched the ball on the court, he got an assist..."
Lukaku excitedly ran to the sidelines to celebrate, and his teammates behind him also swarmed up and hugged him.
No one would have thought that suddenly, the goal would come just like that.
Pan Yi was also dumbfounded and surprised.
If the previous goal was the result of teamwork and daily training, then this goal is really Lukaku's personal ability.
Now he is really versatile!
And when the game was about to end, he dared to anal the opponent's two world-class central defenders, making such a world-wide impact that even Pan Yi was impressed by him.
It can also be seen from this that after this season, Lukaku has not only improved by leaps and bounds in ability, but his self-confidence has also increased a lot.
"He really is like a template for a perfect center." Scaloni also praised.
A high center forward like Lukaku who has physical advantages, now has impact power and foot skills, and his role in the game is indeed quite large.
The moment he stopped the ball with his back to Varane just now, it was very stable. His strong body made it impossible for Varane to push away and seize the position.
Then Lukaku's butt thrust is also the essence, which directly creates a little space for the horizontal belt.
After that, he turned around very quickly, and then suddenly stepped forward, and he was able to catch up and hit the door directly, which greatly exceeded Varane and Pepe's expectations.
Is this the silly Lukaku?
It is simply a combination of strength and wisdom!
It can only be said that facing a player like Lukaku is definitely a nightmare for defensive players.
——
After Lukaku scored, the game was basically over.
Real Madrid also fought tenaciously until the moment the whistle sounded at the end of the game. Many players collapsed on the grass after the whistle sounded.
They have exhausted their last bit of strength, but they still can't change the outcome.
"Congratulations, Pan Yi."
After sending away his players one after another, Ancelotti walked towards Pan Yi in a graceful manner, with a helpless expression and a tone full of unwillingness: "You win again."
In one sentence, all the sadness accumulated over the past two years was expressed.
Last year was the best time for Real Madrid to win the tenth championship in team history. After all, the opponent in the final was "rookie" Hamburg.
But what I didn't expect was that the rookie team led by Pan Yi pecked Real Madrid hard, causing the "horse" to run around blindly, and finally lost the game.
Today, Real Madrid also has a good chance of winning. It can be said that Ancelotti tried his best and made Pan Yi suffer;
But in the end, Pan Yi's on-the-spot change of formation worked again, and Chelsea still won!
Considering Stamford Bridge's horrific almost undefeated record this season, Ancelotti really feels a bit frustrated.
"You are really outstanding, and your team." Pan Yi also said to Ancelotti very sincerely, "This of yours really shocked me."
Ancelotti nodded, but then shook his head: "Didn't I lose to you in the end? Your hand changes are amazing."
Pan Yi burst out laughing: "Are we bragging about each other's business?"
Ancelotti also laughed.
Finally, he patted Pan Yi heavily on the shoulder: "If we really can't enter the finals, then I still hope you can win the championship."
"Why?" Pan Yi asked curiously.
"Haha... Compared to Barcelona or Bayern, I certainly hope that my old club Chelsea can win the championship..." Ancelotti winked his eyes a little mischievously, and finally added:
"Of course, as a football lover, I also hope that the best coach and the best team can win the championship!"