Chapter 678
This is the Bernabéu!
Wasting opportunities will be punished; this has almost become a causal law on the field.
Real Madrid had just missed a golden opportunity when Barcelona scored on their next attack.
In the 22nd minute, Barcelona patiently passed the ball around until they found a weakness.
Xavi played a through ball down the left flank, Maxwell received the ball near the sideline, cut into the penalty area, and after drawing defenders away, passed the ball back to the center, completing a triangular cutback pass.
Real Madrid's defense made a mistake, and Pedro broke free of the defender and rushed into the penalty area, where he scored with a left-footed shot from 12 meters out.
The score is now 1-0!
This is Pedro's fourth goal in the Champions League this season!
Since Eto'o's departure and Henry's decline in form, Pedro's position in Guardiola's tactical system has risen further, and he has responded to Guardiola's trust with his outstanding performance.
On the sidelines, Guardiola was as excited as a child when he saw Pedro score. He hugged and celebrated with every member of his coaching staff, and then rushed to the advertising boards and kicked them excitedly.
This kick earned him a yellow card. If he hadn't shown a good attitude in admitting his mistake and repeatedly apologized and begged for forgiveness after the referee came over, he might have been sent to the stands.
Barcelona fans couldn't help but laugh when they saw their coach making such a comical appearance.
[Pep, for some reason, always has a strangely funny quality about him!]
To be honest, I really think he would be an excellent comedian!
The team took the lead, and in such a crucial match as the final, which thrilled countless Barcelona fans.
Pedro's goal gave countless Barcelona fans hope of defeating Real Madrid and reaching the top of Europe!
Damn it!
Mourinho was furious when he saw the goal conceded; it was purely a defensive error.
Although Pedro is not as famous as Messi, Xavi, or Iniesta, he is definitely a threat. Before the match, he had emphasized that they should mark him closely, but the players did not take it seriously.
It seems the hairdryer in the locker room isn't powerful enough. These guys won't learn their lesson unless they get a good scolding!
Trailing in the score, Real Madrid was forced to increase their offensive efforts.
Barcelona excels at ball control, and unless they increase their pressing intensity, it will be difficult for them to dispossess the ball from the opponent. In that case, Barcelona will maintain control of the game's tempo.
Real Madrid will be worn down and killed by Barcelona!
In the 24th minute, Lin Feng, with the help of his teammates, successfully intercepted Xavi.
But he had only dribbled the ball forward a few meters when he was brought down by Alves.
This foul was clearly a tactical foul, and the player who committed the foul should have received a yellow card.
However, the referee was ridiculously lenient, only issuing a verbal warning to the opposing team.
Both the Real Madrid players on the field and Mourinho on the sidelines were very dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
The on-site director once again focused the camera on Platini in the stands.
"Alright, everyone, control your emotions and don't do anything foolish!"
After being pulled up from the ground by Ronaldo, Lin Feng stopped his teammates' complaints and protests.
Even the most oblivious person could tell that the referee's calls today were problematic.
Since the other party dared to do this in front of a global audience, they must have been instructed by someone behind the scenes.
In this situation, arguing with the referee is not only ineffective, but it also gives the other side an excuse to punish you, which is counterproductive.
Alves' foul gave Real Madrid a free kick in the attacking third, but the free kick was located far away and it was difficult to directly threaten the goal.
After discussing it with his teammates, Lin Feng decided to execute a tactical plan.
Lin Feng feigned a free throw, but after taking a run-up, he suddenly stepped over the ball.
Because Lin Feng had previously scored a very long-range free kick, many on the Barcelona side thought he was going to shoot directly when he started his run-up.
But little did they expect that it was just a feint; the one who actually served was Xabi Alonso!
Seeing Ronaldo, Thiago Silva, Ramos, and others vying for position in the penalty area, Barcelona's players instinctively assumed the opponent was going to loft a cross into the box for a header.
However, Xabi Alonso did not send the ball into the penalty area, but instead quickly passed it to Lin Feng, who had already accelerated using the run-up from the penalty kick.
The Barcelona players, forming a human wall, momentarily lost their train of thought before realizing what the other side was trying to do. They rushed towards Lin Feng, attempting to force him to stop.
However, in the instant the wall of players moved, Lin Feng passed the ball out.
After going around in circles, the ball finally reached the penalty area and found Ronaldo, but by then Barcelona's defensive formation inside the penalty area had been completely disrupted.
In the chaos, Ronaldo outmaneuvered his former teammate Pique and won the ball.
Although he is not as tall as Pique, Ronaldo's jumping height is terrifying. In this header, his vertical jump exceeded 1 meter, and the height of the ball when he touched it exceeded 2.9 meters!
Valdes felt as if an airplane had taken off in front of his goal, and then a white object flew toward his goal at an extremely fast speed.
He made the save almost on instinct, but a close-range header is extremely difficult to save, and Valdes did not create a miracle.
The ball easily passed his fingers and plunged into the net.
The score became 1-1. Real Madrid equalized in less than three minutes after falling behind!
The moment he scored, Mourinho was even more excited than Guardiola had been. He jumped up from the bench, rushed to the sidelines, and waved his fist vigorously.
He seemed to feel that the applause and cheers from the audience were not loud enough, so he suddenly turned around and raised his arms to the stands behind him, asking for applause and cheers!
On the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo, having scored a goal, excitedly rushed to the sidelines and slid down to celebrate.
Finally, I scored in the final!
He used to be just a supporting actor in other people's performances, but now he has become the protagonist in the center of the stage!
Thinking back to last summer's transfer, Ronaldo is incredibly glad he made the right choice.
[Brother Luo is amazing!]
Well done, Cristiano Ronaldo!
[Waaaaah, I'll never badmouth my brother Luo again!]
Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid has not been well received by fans.
After all, it's a bit shameful to join in something you can't beat.
But after joining Real Madrid, Ronaldo gradually won over Real Madrid fans with his efficient and consistent goal-scoring record, and made other fans realize that Ronaldo was not there to ride on their coattails.
He himself is a big, thick thigh!
And that crucial goal just now has won Ronaldo a lot of fans' favor.
Valdes, lying on the lawn, glanced at Pique with a hint of helplessness.
The height difference between you two is almost 10 centimeters, isn't it a bit exaggerated that you can't defend against that?
Pique was also feeling wronged. "Even though I'm tall, that guy is a monster! What kind of good person would jump that high?"
Once the two teams were back on equal footing, the game became tense again.
Seeing Ronaldo score, Barcelona striker Ibrahimovic couldn't sit still.
He started to become more active, trying to prove his ability by achieving goals like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Standing at 1.95 meters tall, Ibrahimovic has the potential to be a dominant force in the air.
If he were willing to practice his heading skills as hard as Cristiano Ronaldo, he might very well be able to dominate the penalty area.
But Ibrahimovic is a bit of an oddball; he's not very interested in headers and prefers to rely on his delicate footwork rather than his height.
Ibrahimovic's technique is indeed excellent; he is definitely one of the best strikers today.
However, the limited space inside the penalty area gave him no chance to properly showcase his skills.
Once outside the penalty area, Ibrahimovic's height advantage becomes useless.
But besides his height advantage and footwork, Ibrahimovic has another unique skill – long-range shooting!
In the 30th minute, Ibrahimovic suddenly unleashed a powerful and well-timed long-range shot from outside the penalty area.
Casillas used almost every trick in the book to make a spectacular save.
Ibrahimovic's long-range shot gave him a fright and startled the Real Madrid fans in the stands.
"Ibrahimovic's height is very deceptive, always making people think he is a traditional tall striker who stands in the penalty area, but in fact, Ibrahimovic's technique is very comprehensive, and he is still a great threat when he moves out of the penalty area!"
But just as Ibrahimovic was reveling in his long-range shot from outside the penalty area, Barcelona coach Guardiola's expression on the sidelines grew increasingly grim.
He bought Ibrahimovic because he wanted Ibrahimovic to create more space for Messi, allowing Messi to unleash his full potential.
It's not about letting Ibrahimovic run outside the penalty area and overlap with Messi's position!
If we don't follow his tactics, even if Ibrahimovic's shot had gone in, Guardiola still wouldn't have accepted it.
In fact, Guardiola, like Mourinho, is a head coach who seeks absolute control over the team.
Taking advantage of Ibrahimovic disrupting Barcelona's attacking tactics, Real Madrid launched their own attack.
In the 33rd minute, Lin Feng suddenly dribbled into the penalty area, attracting Maxwell's interception. He then pretended to shoot, tricking Maxwell into raising his foot to block, and unexpectedly passed the ball to the advancing Higuain.
Valdes decisively rushed out of his goal to block Higuain's shooting angle.
Higuain passed the ball across to the middle, and Ronaldo easily scored with his right foot from 5 meters out.
However, just as Ronaldo was about to celebrate his brace, the linesman's whistle blew.
Offside!
"That ball doesn't seem to be offside!"
The two commentators watched the replay several times, but they were still not quite sure whether the ball was offside or not.
The television broadcast used technical lines to make it appear that Ronaldo and Pique were almost on the same line, which suggests that he was not offside.
However, such a minute distance is difficult for the referee to discern with the naked eye, so it seems understandable that a wrong call would occur. Therefore, not many people think that the referee deliberately disallowed Ronaldo's goal, but rather consider it an accident!
But Lin Feng on the court was absolutely certain that this was no accident!
He glanced at Platini sitting in the VIP box, and now he was almost certain that the abnormality of this match was inextricably linked to this guy.
The referee's unfair ruling did not frustrate Lin Feng; instead, it fueled his fighting spirit.
Since this goal has been disallowed, let's score a goal that you absolutely cannot disallow!
If you want to help Barcelona reach the top, you'll have to ask me if I'll allow it!
After the match resumed, Harvey keenly noticed that Lin Feng seemed to have changed.
He ran more aggressively, tackled more fiercely, and his aggressive actions increased significantly.
Harvey is 16 centimeters shorter and weighs nearly 30 kilograms less than Lin Feng.
In the physical confrontation with Lin Feng, Xavi had already suffered a lot and could only barely avoid being dispossessed by relying on his superb ball protection skills.
But now, with Lin Feng significantly increasing his defensive aggression, Harvey quickly became unstoppable.
In the 41st minute, Keita's passing route was anticipated by Lin Feng, who intercepted the ball first.
Harvey rushed up to try and steal it back, but Lin Feng easily tackled him to the ground.
The referee had his whistle in his mouth, seemingly wanting to call a foul, but hesitated for a moment and ultimately didn't dare to blow it.
While he hesitated, Lin Feng had already charged forward with the ball.
After making a passing error, Keita was the first to rush towards Lin Feng. Compared to Xavi, Keita's physical strength was obviously stronger, making him more difficult to deal with.
Moreover, he was already prepared to commit a tactical foul when he charged forward.
But Lin Feng seemed to have anticipated Keita's intentions. Instead of going head-to-head with him, he promptly passed the ball to the left side.
Marcelo, who loves to make assists, has already strode forward.
After receiving Lin Feng's pass, he dribbled at high speed toward the byline, preparing to cross from the byline or, if the opportunity presented itself, make a cutback pass.
Alves clearly knows Marcelo's playing style very well; he marks Marcelo closely, not giving him any space to pass the ball!
However, Marcelo suddenly changed his mind, made a sudden stop, cut past Alves, and then passed the ball diagonally to his right front, where it was placed at Ronaldo's feet.
Cristiano Ronaldo receives the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area, and even when facing Pique's defense, he can forcefully turn and shoot from that position.
But after seeing Lin Feng's run, Ronaldo did not choose to shoot, but instead passed the ball out with perfect understanding.
Ronaldo's pass was excellent; Lin Feng received the ball and surged into the penalty area.
Another Barcelona defender immediately rushed over, and facing Maxwell's defense, Lin Feng easily beat him with an extremely fast cow tail.
Facing Valdes's attack, Lin Feng calmly slotted the ball into the far corner from 11 in front of the goal with his right foot.
This time, the linesman didn't blow his whistle, and the goal was confirmed!
The score is now 2-1!
Real Madrid turned the score around before halftime!
This is Lin Feng's 14th goal in the Champions League this season, and his fourth consecutive Champions League final!
After scoring, Lin Feng did not choose to celebrate, but instead stood still like a king, surveying the entire field.
What if we score first?
What good is it if someone takes care of you?
Want to beat him and his team at the Bernabéu? In your next life! (End of Chapter)