Chapter 613
Champions League Final, Lin Feng Appears
On match day, the local temperature in Rome was 23 degrees Celsius, and the humidity was around 70%, which was perfect for the game.
The final attracted 62467 spectators, including King Juan Carlos of Spain, Prime Minister Zapatero, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, Prince William of the United Kingdom, and UEFA President Platini, among other dignitaries and celebrities.
However, the fans at the scene were not there for them. After spotting them, they only gave a token applause. But when the two teams in the final came out, the scene erupted in a deafening roar of cheers.
"Look, who's that?!"
"Lin Feng!!"
"It really is him. Has his injury healed?"
"I knew he would come. It was worth spending a lot of money to get tickets to watch the game live!"
"Hehe, Ronaldo vs. Lin Feng, this match is getting interesting!"
"These tickets were totally worth it! I have to call my best buddy and brag about it. That guy said before that it wasn't worth buying tickets for this year's finals without Lin Feng. I want to see what he has to say now."
Lin Feng's appearance took everyone by surprise.
He alone stole the show from the entire opposing team, receiving more cheers than the entire string of political figures who had come before him.
"Damn it, we got tricked by that old bastard Mourinho!"
When Ferguson saw Lin Feng on the field, he was so angry he almost twisted his nose.
So all the news that Spanish media had previously reported was just a smokescreen, a tactical deception?
Although he was very unhappy, Ferguson had to admit that if this was the other party's goal, then the other party had indeed succeeded.
Lin Feng's sudden appearance completely caught the Manchester United coaching staff and all the players off guard; they had already excluded Lin Feng from their tactical plans.
But now the opponent has suddenly appeared, forcing Manchester United to scrap their tactical arrangements and start all over again.
The Manchester United players also noticed Lin Feng's figure. Park Ji-sung seemed to recall a painful experience he couldn't bear to look back on, and couldn't help but shiver.
Rooney abandoned his nonchalant attitude, and his expression became noticeably serious.
Carrick frowned, already thinking about how to limit Lin Feng once the match started.
Scholes, meanwhile, looked toward his own coaching bench, seemingly wanting to confirm with Ferguson whether to stick to the previous tactics.
Compared to the head coach's tension and his teammates' sense of impending doom, Ronaldo's emptiness vanished upon seeing Lin Feng, replaced by a completely ignited fighting spirit.
Hearing the cheers and applause from the fans, Lin Feng smiled and waved to the fans in the stands, which resulted in an even more enthusiastic response from them.
Hearing the deafening cheers from the stands, Prince William, whose hair was already starting to thin, smiled and said to UEFA President Platini:
"Compared to me, he seems more like a prince!"
Platini said ingratiatingly, "He is the prince on the football field, while Your Highness is the real prince."
Everyone agreed with the first half of the statement, feeling that Lin Feng deserved such a title.
However, the flattery in the second half of the sentence was selectively ignored.
……
In fact, Ferguson misunderstood Mourinho. Mourinho did not know beforehand that Lin Feng would participate in the game, and there is also talk of deception.
Mourinho only learned of the news two hours before the match, at the very last minute when Real Madrid was about to announce their squad.
At first, Mourinho was very skeptical, thinking it was a joke.
Because he had actually seen the doctor's diagnosis, which clearly stated that Lin Feng's injuries would take at least six weeks to recover, but only three weeks had passed.
But when Lin Feng arrived at the hotel where Real Madrid was staying, and after the Real Madrid team doctor carefully examined his injury, Mourinho's doubts turned into ecstasy.
Although he was not sure how Lin Feng had managed to recover from his injury in such a short time, he was very clear about how much Lin Feng's return would boost the team.
The madman, who had been quite apprehensive and felt insecure before, suddenly felt confident.
Manchester United, laughable, laughable! Watch how easily I take them down!
After a 30-minute pre-match warm-up, the players from both teams returned to their locker rooms to make their final preparations for the game.
During the players' departure, UEFA and the event organizers held a brief but grand performance.
Jupiter, the king of the ancient Roman gods, draped in lightning, rode in his chariot to the tune of a war song sung by Italian tenor Boccelli, bringing the Champions League trophy, the highest honor in the competition, to the stadium and placing it on the podium at the entrance to the players' tunnel.
After the trophy was placed in place, Jupiter and his chariot were lifted by a helicopter and flew away from the stadium.
This scene brought a great visual shock to the fans at the scene and in front of the TV. The exclamations and screams were almost non-stop. The fans at the scene had brought the pre-match atmosphere to the extreme, just waiting for the two teams to take the field and fight!
At 19:45 p.m., the highly anticipated Champions League final officially kicked off with the referee's whistle.
On the pitch, Manchester United, wearing red jerseys, are attacking from left to right; Real Madrid, wearing white jerseys, are attacking from right to left.
Ferguson found Mourinho's starting lineup very strange:
Now that Lin Feng has recovered from his injury, why didn't Mourinho put him in the starting lineup?
Could it be that his injury hadn't actually healed, and that bringing him to the finals was just a psychological game against himself?
This kind of thing is unlikely to happen to most other people, but it's entirely possible for Mourinho, because he doesn't like to play by the rules.
Ferguson carefully recalled the pre-match warm-up, and Lin Feng didn't seem to do much on the field. He just practiced receiving and passing with his teammates, and then practiced shooting and free kicks on his own.
This seems to confirm his guess: Lin Feng's injuries have not fully recovered!
Many fans also noticed that Lin Feng did not start the game. Some fans who turned on the TV to watch the game after hearing the news couldn't help but feel disappointed when they saw this.
Without Lin Feng, Real Madrid appeared very passive on the field.
Manchester United launched a fierce attack on Real Madrid immediately after kickoff.
Just one minute into the game, Ronaldo tested Casillas' form with a long-range shot from the left flank.
Compared to last year, Cristiano Ronaldo has become more well-rounded this year.
His shooting skills improved further, and his shooting arsenal was also significantly upgraded.
That 33-meter long-range shot, executed with the unpredictability of a free kick, veering left and right, made it very difficult for the goalkeeper to judge its trajectory. If it weren't for Casillas's experience, an average goalkeeper might have fumbled the save or misjudged the shot, leading to a goal!
Seemingly spurred on by Lin Feng's appearance, Cristiano Ronaldo was in excellent form today and showed a strong desire to perform.
In the 5th minute, it was Ronaldo again! After cutting inside from the wing, he unleashed a powerful shot from 30 meters out from almost the same spot.
The angle of the shot was even more tricky, almost aiming for the top right corner of the goal.
Unfortunately, he was too focused on the angle, and the ball went slightly wide of the right post.
If that ball had hit the target area, given Casillas' height, it would have been almost impossible for him to save it.
They dared to attack right from the start, and the quality of their shots was so high.
Cristiano Ronaldo's performance impressed fans both at the stadium and watching on television. Currently, the two most outstanding players in football are widely recognized as Lin Dan and Mei Lanfang.
However, based on Ronaldo's performance in the league and Champions League this season, many people feel that he should be placed in the same tier as Lin Mei.
Even if he is slightly inferior to these two, the gap is not significant.
Manchester United launched a fierce attack in the early stages, and Real Madrid's formation was suppressed, forcing them to retreat to their own half.
Seeing this, Manchester United pressed forward aggressively, frequently looking for shooting opportunities near the penalty area, utilizing Rooney and Ronaldo.
In the 9th minute, Park Ji-sung and Giggs combined before Park crossed from the left. Ronaldo chested the ball down on the left side of the penalty area and unleashed a half-turn volley from 13 meters out, but it went just wide.
Ronaldo's shot looked both fluid and elegant; if it had gone in, it would have earned him a round of applause. It was just a little off in terms of angle.
Compared to Manchester United's all-out attack, Real Madrid's tactics were very pragmatic. While stockpiling a large number of players in the backfield to do a good job of defense, they deployed the Benzema and Robben duo in the front line.
Utilize Robben's speed and Benzema's ability to get into position and create chances, and make plays through counter-attacks and crosses from the flanks.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of a key midfielder to accurately deliver passes to his teammates in attack, Real Madrid's counter-attacks, though impressive at the start of the game, posed little threat to Manchester United's goal.
Van der Sar didn't even make a single proper save; compared to the busy Casillas on the other side, he seemed to be on vacation.
The passivity on the field made Real Madrid fans who were watching the live broadcast of the game very worried, and the TV camera also focused on Real Madrid's bench, locking onto Lin Feng's handsome face.
Sitting on the bench, Lin Feng watched intently, carefully observing the situation on the field, analyzing the opponent's tactics and the players' individual characteristics, and thinking about how he would break the deadlock if he were on the field.
Manchester United is a team with very distinct technical characteristics. They don't play the possession-based style of football, nor do they care about Mourinho's pragmatic counter-attacking style.
They favor attacking football, but due to a lack of top-class midfielders, Manchester United's attack relies heavily on the flanks.
Flanking attacks are Manchester United's most effective attacking tactic, and also the most lethal attacking method for opponents.
In this match, Manchester United's right flank, the side where Ronaldo plays, posed a significant attacking threat, causing chaos on Real Madrid's left side.
In the first half, almost all of Manchester United's threatening attacks originated from his side. However, during this period, Manchester United's attacking style mainly relied on Ronaldo's own shots, with relatively few crosses from the wing.
However, Lin Feng felt that this phase would not last long. Ronaldo is not a reckless player. Once he realized that it would be difficult to break through Real Madrid's goal with long-range shots alone, he would definitely change his strategy.
Real Madrid's defensive strategy today was very targeted, separating Ronaldo and Rooney to prevent them from easily connecting.
Both of them are very threatening, and if they were to combine on the field, Real Madrid's defense might not be able to hold on.
As for how to defend against Ronaldo, Mourinho has devised a targeted tactic based on his experience leading a team against Manchester United in the Premier League:
Focus on key targets and launch a multi-pronged attack; compress space and restrict breakthroughs.
When Ronaldo dribbles down the wing, Real Madrid will immediately deploy multiple players to surround him and simultaneously cut off his connection with other Manchester United players.
Cristiano Ronaldo has strong dribbling skills, but because of his height, he cannot easily get past opponents with extreme changes of direction like Messi. Ronaldo's breakthroughs mainly rely on speed and explosiveness.
To limit this, a defender needs to be assigned to stick close to him and not give him too much space to sprint.
However, this tactic is not 100% effective. Ronaldo's footwork is not bad, and his ability to perform stepovers and quick changes of direction is among the best of the wingers.
In addition, he has a strong physical ability, so when the defender is at a disadvantage in physical confrontation with him, it is easy for them to not be able to stop him.
Therefore, in addition to assigning left-back Marcelo to mark and limit him, Mourinho also had Mascherano come over to help defend.
However, this approach also has drawbacks, namely, it leaves the middle lane wide open.
In the 15th minute, Scholes seized an opportunity, taking advantage of the gap left by Mascherano's defensive shift on the wing, receiving a pass back from Ronaldo, and suddenly accelerating near the center circle, dribbling the ball towards the attacking third.
His movement attracted the attention of another Real Madrid defensive midfielder, and when the opponent stepped forward to intercept, Scholes quickly switched the ball to the left wing.
Here, Manchester United captain Giggs was already ready. The moment he received the ball, he used his speed to get rid of Sneijder's interception, then dribbled all the way down the wing, cut past Ramos' block and passed the ball into the penalty area.
Rooney, the chubby boy, used his body to block the ball's trajectory and leaped into the air the instant it flew towards him, completing a spectacular bicycle kick.
Unfortunately, the ball went way off course, turning his expected applause into gasps and sighs.
"Real Madrid is in a very passive situation on the field!"
"Yes, judging from the game, this match is similar to the first leg between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Real Madrid needs to step up their attack. If they continue to be so passive, they are likely to concede a goal."
Defense is a very mentally and physically demanding task that requires players to be highly focused and not to be careless for even a moment. The slightest mistake could result in punishment.
Clearly, this high-load state cannot last long.
The solution to this passive situation is simple: use your own attack to threaten the opponent's goal. Once the opponent feels the pressure, they will naturally stop pressing forward so recklessly.
However, Real Madrid's midfield was simply struggling.
Sneijder has decent footwork and passing ability, but with Carrick and Park Ji-sung limiting him, he had almost no room to operate and couldn't unleash his full potential.
Real Madrid fans are starting to miss Lin Feng again. If he were on the field right now, Real Madrid wouldn't be in such a passive position. (End of Chapter)