Chapter 633
Overnight, Real Madrid became the public enemy of the football world.
Although it was just a minor warm-up match, and because the opponent was too weak, Real Madrid didn't have the chance to show their full strength.
However, this match still attracted widespread attention from the outside world.
Millions of people watched the live broadcast of this warm-up match, which was held in China, on ESPN's pay-TV cable channel.
Before the match, many Spaniards were discussing Real Madrid's starting lineup online, as all indications suggested that the starting lineup for this match would likely be the same Real Madrid starting lineup for the Super Cup.
In addition to ordinary fans, many media reporters also came to the scene to watch and report on the game.
This includes several mainstream European media outlets, such as those from Spain and the UK.
The reason this match has garnered so much attention is not complicated.
This is Cristiano Ronaldo's first match representing Real Madrid since joining the club.
The outside world is very curious about what kind of sparks he will create with Lin Feng, the world's best midfielder, after joining Real Madrid.
Judging from the outcome of this match, the chemistry between the two seems to be quite good.
Both players were in excellent form and together accounted for all five of Real Madrid's goals in the first half.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in this match, both of which were assisted by Lin Feng.
Although there are still some issues with the two's understanding, and they made mistakes in their coordination on several occasions.
But thanks to their exceptional individual skills, the two created even more scoring opportunities, making it impossible for the opponent to defend against them, and they didn't even know who to guard.
Real Madrid already had a superstar like Lin Feng, which was enough to give their opponents a headache. Now, with the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo, it's almost impossible to keep an eye on both of them with limited resources.
Trying to limit both means failing to limit either one; if either is missed, it poses a fatal threat to the defender!
So after watching this match, Real Madrid fans have already started celebrating wildly, as if they can already see Real Madrid lifting the Champions League trophy again, and taking revenge on Barcelona in the league to reclaim the league title.
Real Madrid's two mouthpieces, Marca and AS, also gave the match high praise.
They believe that Real Madrid's current lineup has a very high ceiling and will definitely surpass last season's performance once they are fully integrated.
Moreover, Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo are both young, unlike the original Galácticos, which faced the risk of aging and falling apart as soon as they were built. As long as Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo do not suffer any major injuries that will affect their careers, Real Madrid's lineup can be used for a long time.
Now, the pressure is on Barcelona.
How should Barcelona respond to the formidable Real Madrid?
……
Mourinho was not affected by the outside situation and continued to carry out his training plan step by step.
On August 8, Real Madrid moved to Beijing and played their second friendly match against Beijing Guoan at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.
Compared to their opponent in the previous warm-up match, Beijing Guoan's strength in this match is significantly greater.
Moreover, Beijing Guoan clearly places greater emphasis on the game.
They not only fielded their strongest lineup, but also assigned as many as three players to contain Lin Feng during the match.
The head coach of Beijing Guoan has a simple idea: Lin Feng is the brain of Real Madrid. By marking him closely, they might be able to contain Real Madrid's attack.
Conversely, if Lin Feng is left unattended and energy is wasted on limiting Real Madrid's forwards, it may be a futile effort.
After all, Lin Feng himself has a strong scoring ability. Even if the forwards are marked, he can still score on his own.
Lin Feng, who was being targeted, was both amused and exasperated.
It feels strange to play football at home but be treated like a foreigner by a team in your own league.
When Barcelona played a friendly match against Beijing Guoan during their China tour, Messi probably received the same treatment.
Although assigning three people to limit Lin Feng is a bit abstract, Guoan's tactic still had some effect.
Lin Feng, who was heavily targeted, had a mediocre performance, scoring only one goal and providing no assists.
But simply limiting Lin Feng was not enough. After Lin Feng was targeted, Xabi Alonso, who plays in the defensive midfield position, stepped up and took over the command of the game.
With his long passes and Modric's link-up play, Real Madrid's attacking firepower remained unstoppable.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, and Raul all scored goals in the match, while Lin Feng also scored a goal from a free kick in the second half.
Despite giving it their all, Beijing Guoan could not escape defeat and suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat to Real Madrid at home.
Although Beijing Guoan lost, they conceded half as many goals as Guangzhou Pharmaceutical.
Losing to Real Madrid by four goals isn't too shameful to say.
After all, they are the reigning Champions League champions, a force to be reckoned with in the world of football.
The only regret is that because Real Madrid didn't hold back in this match, Beijing Guoan couldn't find any scoring opportunities at all.
Throughout the match, Beijing Guoan only had 30% possession and managed a paltry three shots, none of which were on target.
Compared to the previous match, Ronaldo's performance in this game was relatively average.
Due to unfamiliarity with the team's tactics and a lack of chemistry with his teammates, his effectiveness on the field was greatly reduced after losing Lin Feng's assists, and he struggled to play.
It's clear that Ronaldo is trying very hard to prove himself; he alone had seven shots on goal in this match.
But the more he tried to score, the less likely he was to score. If he hadn't seized a corner kick opportunity in the second half and scored with his signature header, Ronaldo would have gone scoreless in this match.
Is this the Real Madrid you guys rave about, the invincible team in the universe? To me, they're not all that impressive.
[Real Madrid's so-called twin stars were almost neutralized by an unknown small Chinese club. I don't think they're as good as they claimed!]
Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in this match was indeed lacking. He had unlimited shooting opportunities at Manchester United, but at Real Madrid he still habitually wastes his shots, which is unacceptable!
[I've said it before: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lin Feng can't coexist. Both of them are very ball-dominant and used to being the leader; neither is willing to be subservient to the other. I think Mourinho will have a lot of headaches to deal with in the future!]
Although they won the game, the performance of the team's two star players was not outstanding. After the game, many fans who were waiting to see them fail immediately made sarcastic remarks online.
These people did not attack Lin Feng, but instead targeted Cristiano Ronaldo.
The reason is simple: Lin Feng has proven his ability at Inter Milan and Real Madrid, so attacking him is unlikely to get a response from other fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United after the latter failed to qualify for the Champions League, which was both a shameful act of clinging to a superstar and a disgraceful act of abandoning his original club.
Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid had a disruptive impact on the entire European football landscape, causing many top clubs that originally had a chance to win the Champions League to lose their hopes.
Supporters of these teams are naturally unlikely to be friendly towards Ronaldo and Real Madrid.
It's fair to say that, apart from Real Madrid's own fans, almost everyone in the top five European leagues opposed Ronaldo's transfer!
……
Cristiano Ronaldo is a very proud person who cares a lot about his image and how others perceive him.
He has clearly taken note of the criticism from the media and fans after the match.
As a result, Ronaldo worked even harder than before during the team training session the following day.
He desperately wanted to silence the critics with a perfect performance.
However, to Ronaldo's surprise, his compatriots seemed to have 'given up' on him. On August 11, in the final warm-up match against Shanghai Shenhua.
Cristiano Ronaldo's absence from Mourinho's announced starting eleven has left Ronaldo, who had been eagerly preparing for the match for several days, feeling utterly dejected.
There are rumors that Real Madrid's starting lineup against Shanghai Shenhua will be the same lineup they field in the Super Cup.
In such a crucial match, his name was not even on the starting lineup.
Does this mean that Mourinho doesn't intend to start himself in the Super Cup?
Cristiano Ronaldo was completely baffled; he couldn't understand why Mourinho would remove him from the starting lineup.
Am I not strong enough?
This is impossible!
Within the entire Real Madrid team, Ronaldo doesn't take anyone else seriously except for Lin Feng, whom he lacks confidence in defeating.
If this list is based on ability, then why should players like Benzema and Higuain start?
Are these guys stronger than me?
He couldn't understand it, and Mourinho didn't specifically explain it to him.
If this were Real Madrid on a normal trajectory, Mourinho would most likely patiently explain to Ronaldo.
Not only because Ronaldo is his compatriot, but also because they are both players and coaches under Mendes, but also because Ronaldo is Real Madrid's number one star.
Without Ronaldo, Mourinho will face numerous difficulties in implementing his reforms within Real Madrid.
But things are different now; Real Madrid's current star is not Cristiano Ronaldo.
Moreover, Mourinho joined Real Madrid earlier than Ronaldo and already has two prestigious Champions League trophies.
Given his experience and prestige, Mourinho doesn't need to explain his actions to anyone.
Well, except for Lin Feng.
Of course, things weren't as serious as Ronaldo thought.
Mourinho didn't really think too much about it when he arranged this starting lineup.
He simply felt that there weren't many warm-up opportunities left, and he needed to get his players into form as early as possible, so he wanted to give as many players as possible a chance to play!
Although Cristiano Ronaldo did not play, he was on the substitute list, and there is no limit to the number of substitutions in a warm-up match.
He can bring Ronaldo on whenever he wants.
For Shenhua and the vast majority of Chinese fans, it doesn't matter whether Ronaldo played or not.
As long as Lin Feng is in Real Madrid's starting lineup, that's fine, since the vast majority of Chinese fans are there for Lin Feng.
In this match, Real Madrid's starting eleven, apart from Xabi Alonso, consisted of the main players who had been playing together for a year last season.
Shanghai fans are very happy with this arrangement.
Real Madrid is truly generous. While other clubs come to make money and send out just a few key players as a token gesture, Mourinho is genuinely honest, fielding his starting lineup almost every game. Lin Feng, in particular, hasn't missed a single match, starting every game!
[Absolutely! I was indifferent to Real Madrid before, but after watching these three matches, I feel like I'm almost half a Merlene!]
Although this was not Mourinho's original intention, his arrangements have objectively gained him and Real Madrid a large number of Chinese fans.
Like Beijing Guoan, Shanghai Shenhua, playing at home, also chose to fight to the death.
Guangzhou Pharmaceutical's tanking behavior in their first warm-up match drew widespread criticism from the Chinese football community after the game.
Many fans and football legends believe that opportunities to play against a world-class team like Real Madrid are rare, and playing against such an opponent can provide a lot of learning opportunities, greatly improve the team's skills, and broaden the players' horizons.
Let them know the gap between themselves and the world's top level!
Only by recognizing the gap and understanding our own shortcomings and deficiencies can we know which direction to take in the future.
Moreover, Real Madrid didn't hold back; this kind of training opportunity was previously only available to teams participating in the Club World Cup.
Chinese teams have never participated in the Club World Cup before; in other words, they have never had such an opportunity to train.
As a result, the opportunity came knocking on their door, but Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group failed to cherish it, which naturally drew criticism from fans.
Having learned a lesson from Guangzhou team, Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua naturally dare not be complacent.
Both teams are considered powerhouses in the country and have their own pride.
While it's true that they objectively couldn't beat Real Madrid, given the vast difference in their overall strength.
But how could a powerful family and a local strongman surrender so easily?
Despite their best efforts and eventual defeat in the last match, Beijing Guoan still earned the fans' approval.
They successfully limited Lin Feng's performance during the match, which was a source of great pride for many fans.
Beijing Guoan has always been a fierce rival of Shanghai Shenhua, and Shenhua is naturally unwilling to lag behind in anything Guoan can do.
However, their approach differed from that of Beijing Guoan, who parked the bus and tried to defend desperately in the last match.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Shenhua chose to take the initiative and bravely launched an attack on Real Madrid.
Since we can't hold on anyway, we might as well attack; at least it will look much better on the field.
After the match began, many fans gave Shenhua a thumbs up upon seeing their team's choice:
[Shanghai Shenhua has guts to go toe-to-toe with Real Madrid!]
[I'm a Beijing Guoan fan, I won't criticize Shanghai Shenhua today. Go Shenhua!]
[I'm a Shandong Luneng fan, and I won't be criticizing Shanghai Shenhua today!]
[No matter who plays Real Madrid, Liaoning football fans must support them!]
[Go Shenhua! Dalian fans are here to cheer you on!]
Facing a formidable opponent, Chinese Super League fans put aside past grievances and united in their support for Shanghai Shenhua, cheering them on.
I must say, the Shenhua team, sticking to their own style of play, actually played quite well.
With fierce tackling and excellent teamwork, Shenhua once launched a mini-attack surge, leaving many European journalists and scouts in the audience astonished.
"This team has a pretty good offense!"
"Indeed, very good. The attack was quite well-organized. That shot just now even threatened the goal guarded by Casillas."
"It seems that Chinese football is not as weak as imagined; their league is still quite good."
After watching the first match, these European journalists gave the Chinese Super League a very low rating, feeling that its level might not even be as good as the Spanish Third Division, the German Third Division, or the English First Division.
However, the performances of Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua have significantly raised their opinion of the Chinese Super League.
Judging from the performances of these two teams, their strength should be at the level of relegation-threatened teams in the Spanish Second Division, the German Second Division, and the English Championship. (End of Chapter)