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 just sprinted between Raul Bravo and Helguera, and had to stop when he heard the whistle. He first turned his head to look at the referee, and found that Oliva made an offside gesture, and then turned
I looked at the linesman on the sidelines and saw that the linesman had raised his flag.
He could only walk back helplessly, and when passing by Oliva, he defended himself, "I was not offside."
Oliva smiled at him and indicated that he would comply with the linesman's decision.
…
"From the slow-motion replay, we can see that this was a controversial penalty."
"When Aimar sent a through ball, Sudong started, and at that time his position should be the same as that of Helguera and Raul Bravo, and even Raul Bravo's position was a little behind.
"
"Of course, we are now conducting live replays, but the referee team cannot replay them on site."
"The game has just started. Valencia's first attack almost broke into 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 Su Dong, obviously dissatisfied with his excuse to the referee."
…
The game restarts.
Valencia played very actively after the start and did not take a defensive stance from the beginning.
This is also a strategy, hoping to suppress the opponent's momentum first.
If we blindly defend, it will only further increase Real Madrid's momentum in the end. After all, this is their home court.
Just two minutes later, Vicente from the left teamed up with Aimar and sent a cross.
In the penalty area, Su Dong was blocked by Helgra, but he still jumped up to fight for the top, grabbed the landing spot, and sailed the header to the right.
Unfortunately, Angulo failed to rush forward immediately, and the ball was cleared by Raul Bravo.
Valencia missed another opportunity.
The opening two attacks created some dangers, which also made the Bernabeu fans dissatisfied. They cheered the home team even louder and more violently.
Real Madrid's players also gradually adapted to Valencia's opening attack and gradually stabilized their position.
Beckham and Guti barely controlled the midfield and quickly created opportunities.
After Ronaldo pulled to the wing to receive a cross pass from the wing, he turned around and got rid of the entanglement of the defensive player and sent a direct pass.
As a result, Marchena missed the ball while defending, and the ball went directly through him.
Fortunately, behind him, goalkeeper Canizares reacted quickly and quickly abandoned the goal. He scooped the ball before Raul and resolved a crisis.
On the sidelines, Benitez yelled angrily, reminding Marchena to always be vigilant.
Although this Spanish central defender has a brave style and is a rare warrior, instability is also a persistent problem.
If we want to analyze this game based on the defensive players, Marchena is the one most likely to make mistakes.
However, as the head coach, Benitez is the least capable of dealing with players' mistakes.
In the final analysis, football matches still rely on players to play.
…
As the game unfolded, the two teams gradually got out of shape.
Vicente on Valencia's side was very active on the left. In the tenth minute, he suddenly crossed into the middle, and on the left side of the front edge of the penalty area, he received Su Dong's reaction after taking the ball with his back, and kicked it directly.
Volleyed, slightly wide of the goal.
But Real Madrid quickly retaliated. Taking advantage of a corner kick, Salgado suddenly stepped in and shot a cold arrow from the right, causing Canizares to take a shot. Fortunately, he was knocked out of the baseline again soon.
Four minutes later, Valencia once again launched a quick counterattack.
Aimar broke through in the middle and passed the ball to the left. Vicente diagonally inserted into the left rib, got the ball and headed towards the baseline.
This time Vicente did not choose to pass back, but reluctantly kicked off near the baseline, and the ball hit the side netting directly.
Su Dong had caught up in the middle, but he didn't get a pass from his teammate, and there was nothing he could do.
With continuous attacks, Valencia gradually exposed hidden dangers on the defensive end.
The most important thing is that Real Madrid's attackers are too strong, and they all focus on Marchena.
The advantages of 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, which slightly missed the post.
Then Ronaldo broke through Marchena and was fouled. He also won a free kick. Carlos volleyed hard and hit the wall.
Benitez also realized the problem and immediately signaled the players to appropriately shrink their defense and take a defensive stance.
This is also the game strategy formulated by Valencia before the game.
At the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, playing an offensive game against Real Madrid may be okay for a while, but if you want to maintain the whole game, that is suicide!
Valencia's shrinking defense also quickly reaped results.
Real Madrid had more than 60% of the ball possession and seemed to have a lot of momentum, but more of it was concentrated on the wings. There was basically no threat in the middle. There were many free kick opportunities, but there was also not much threat.
The position is relatively biased, making it difficult for free kick masters like Beckham and Carlos to score.
The stars were fighting on their own in the frontcourt. Although Valencia caused constant fouls, there were no rough moves.
Time passed slowly like this, Real Madrid continued to plan offensives, and Valencia was patiently waiting for opportunities.
…
The game reached the 42nd minute.
This is another free kick opportunity from the wing.
Figo's breakthrough from the right was tripped by Carbone, giving Real Madrid a free kick from the right side of the frontcourt.
Beckham ran over and took the free kick himself.
Valencia players did not dare to be careless and stared at each other, just like when defending free kicks in the past few times.
Marchena was in charge of Raul, and both of them were preparing near the forward point.
When Beckham was about to take the penalty, Raul tried to squeeze Marchena away with his body to seize a better spot for the ball, but the Spanish central defender was very strong and Raul couldn't squeeze him away.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Marchena put his arm on Raul's shoulders, which not only suppressed Raul and prevented him from taking off smoothly, but also facilitated his support of his center of gravity.
Just when Beckham quickly took the free kick, both men made moves.
Raul tried to push away Marchena, but Marchena also used his arm to hold Raul up. The two were entangled. When taking off, Marchena successfully "defeated" Raul, but the Real Madrid captain lost the
The balance fell in the penalty area.
This kind of defensive action is so common that it is repeated repeatedly in every game and every set-piece defense.
The referee almost never gives a penalty in this regard. After all, who can clearly tell who is right and who is wrong in the whole process?
Oliva obviously had the same intention, so he did not blow the whistle when Raul fell to the ground, but waited until Canizares broke the ball out of the sideline before the Real Madrid players rushed over. When he saw the linesman
Raise the flag and he will blow the whistle.
But a scene that shocked everyone appeared.
The linesman raised the flag to indicate a throw-in, and Real Madrid players would throw the ball. But for some reason, the referee turned around and pointed to the penalty spot after seeing the linesman raising the flag.
For a moment, everyone in the audience was stunned.
Even the Real Madrid players themselves couldn't believe it.
Penalty kick?
Are you sure this is a penalty kick?
The Valencia players were the first to react. Albelda, Baraja and others immediately rushed towards the referee Oliva, questioning why he awarded a penalty kick?
"The linesman raised his flag to indicate a foul ball, sir!" Albelda shouted excitedly.
"How could 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 the Valencia players almost went crazy.
Visiting the Santiago Bernabeu, facing an opponent like Real Madrid, it is no longer easy to defend, but you still have to be misjudged for a penalty?
So how can we play this game?
Alberda was very excited. At the end of the sentence, he even yelled at the referee and asked him why he awarded a penalty kick. Did he want to favor Real Madrid?
This earned him a yellow card.
…
"This is indeed an incomprehensible penalty."
"Looking at the slow motion, Marchena and Raul did have physical contact, which is very common in set-piece defense. Neither side violated the rules, but Raul fell to the ground after losing his balance, and even the referee himself
I didn’t realize it was a foul at first.”
"But a few seconds later, when the linesman raised his flag to indicate that it was a throw-in from Real Madrid, the referee suddenly pointed to the penalty spot. Is this understandable? The referee actually misunderstood the linesman's flag.
, thought the linesman raised the flag for a foul?”
"But by this time, it doesn't matter whether it is yes or no."
"The referee Oliva made a penalty kick, and he could not change his decision. Even at this moment, he knew in his heart that his decision was wrong, and he could not change it. He could only continue to insist on his mistake.
"
…
Valencia's players quarreled for a while, but in the end they had no choice but to accept the penalty.
Figo personally took the penalty kick, scoring the first goal for Real Madrid.
But in the stands at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid fans did not celebrate the goal too much.
Maybe they themselves knew that this goal was somewhat unattainable.
Benitez, who was on the sidelines, also quickly calmed down after getting angry and called out to the players, indicating that they must stay calm and stabilize their position and not give Real Madrid a chance to pursue the victory.
At this time, the morale of the Valencia army is unstable and they are most vulnerable to sneak attacks by their opponents.
Valencia players were in a bad mood, and Real Madrid players were also affected to some extent.
In the end, with Figo's penalty kick in the first half, Real Madrid temporarily took the lead 1-0.
…
Su Dong was also filled with frustration and felt as if he had been burglarized.
The first half should have been a draw, a 0-0 draw, but now we are 0-1 behind.
Around them, Valencia players kept shouting that there was something shady as they walked off the field.
It does seem to be full of shady stories!
"Did you see it?" Amar said angrily as he walked beside Su Dong.
"This is the secret of Real Madrid's complete victory at home this season! In this stadium, no one can win except themselves?"
