Chapter 679
Ronaldo Injured, The Special One Expelled
Lin Feng's goal had a significant impact on the mentality and morale of both teams' players.
Real Madrid, riding high on their two goals back, completely took control of the game towards the end of the first half, even recovering some possession and shots on goal.
On the other hand, Barcelona seemed a bit impatient after conceding the goal, with Busquets making physical contact with Mascherano during a challenge.
When Magos successfully stole the ball from his feet using positioning and anticipation, Busquets fouled him by reaching out from behind.
This was an obvious foul, the kind that even the referee couldn't cover up.
But after being called for a foul, Busquets appeared extremely dissatisfied and slammed the ball onto the grass.
This impulsive action drew the referee's wrath, and the referee showed him a yellow card.
A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
Throughout the first half, Barcelona had 55% possession, 10 percentage points higher than Real Madrid.
In terms of shots on goal, Barcelona had three more shots than Real Madrid.
Based on the data, Barcelona has a slight advantage.
If it weren't for those two goals conceded, especially the second one, Barcelona's first half would have been perfect.
But with those two goals conceded, the situation became unpredictable.
The Champions League final is very intense, and when both teams are giving their all, even a player as strong as Messi doesn't have many opportunities to shine in this match.
Even though the two teams are only one goal apart, that one goal might be something they can't catch up to even by the end of the game.
Guardiola was clearly very dissatisfied with the team's performance in the first half, especially Ibrahimovic's performance, which particularly displeased him.
Although his performance was actually not bad, and he almost created a goal, he did not follow Guardiola's pre-match tactics at all.
This guy has been with Barcelona for almost a year, but he has always been detached from Barcelona's tactical system and has been unable to fully integrate.
This completely exhausted Guardiola's patience with him:
"Listen, Zlatan, my team doesn't need a player with poor discipline. In the second half, either do as I say, or you're off the field!"
As soon as Guardiola returned to the locker room, he gave Ibrahimovic an ultimatum.
The other Barcelona players in the locker room, seeing the tense atmosphere between the head coach and Ibrahimovic, instinctively dared not look up at the two men.
Guardiola is used to being a dominant figure in the locker room, and the players dare not disobey him.
Ibrahimovic is no pushover either, and the team members dare not offend him.
Hearing Guardiola's strong statement, many people felt that, given Ibrahimovic's fiery temper, the two might actually get into a fight in the locker room.
If they really start fighting later, should they try to break it up?
Upon hearing Guardiola's blunt words, Ibrahimovic's anger flared up instantly.
He really wanted to beat the bald guy up, but he held back.
Ibrahimovic joined Barcelona from Paris Saint-Germain with his sights set on the Champions League.
He is about to turn thirty and has yet to win a Champions League title.
Although he believed that his strength was no less than that of Lin Feng and Mei Lanfang, both of them had Champions League trophies, especially Lin Feng, who had already won three Champions League trophies!
He was six or seven years older than the two players, but he had far fewer championship titles than them, which made Ibrahimovic feel a little embarrassed.
For the sake of the championship, he suppressed the urge to punch someone, desperately restrained the anger in his heart, and calmly nodded.
Ibrahimovic's reaction surprised everyone in the Barcelona locker room, and even Guardiola himself didn't expect him to back down.
He was already prepared to get beaten up by this guy!
Guardiola cleared his throat and began to explain the tactics for the second half.
With Ibrahimovic already admitting defeat, it's not a good idea for him to substitute him. He can only hope that Ibrahimovic will keep his word and stop acting as recklessly as he did in the first half.
……
On the away team's locker room, the atmosphere was much more relaxed for Real Madrid, who were in the lead.
"Guys, you played exceptionally well in the first half, but you need to conserve your energy. The opponent will definitely intensify their attack in the second half, so I need you to be fully focused and strictly execute the defensive tactics I've devised. Don't make the same mistakes you did in the first half!"
He glanced at Ramos as he spoke; that guy's mistake in the first half almost sent Real Madrid to hell.
But seeing the guy's positive and serious attitude in the game afterward, Mourinho didn't dwell on it.
Mourinho then emphasized the defensive tactics for the second half, especially in shutting down and limiting Messi, to which he spared no effort.
This Barcelona team doesn't have many threats to Real Madrid. With Ibrahimovic preferring to play solo, they only need to keep an eye on Messi.
Although Messi is the only threat, containing him is the most difficult thing to do.
Since arriving at Real Madrid, Mourinho has been struggling with how to limit Messi's performance.
He devised many tactics for this purpose, but none of them were very effective.
Every time Barcelona passes the ball to Messi, Mourinho, like any other fan, can't help but feel nervous.
This guy is so creative; no one knows what he'll do next until he makes a decision.
This unpredictability greatly increases the difficulty of his defense.
Even if Real Madrid specifically assigned a world-class defensive midfielder like Mascherano to mark Messi, it was still difficult to limit his performance.
Although Messi didn't score in the first half, he successfully drew two yellow cards.
Both Mascherano and Ramos received yellow cards for fouling him, which created a significant problem for Real Madrid's defense in the second half!
……
The second half began quickly, and surprisingly, Real Madrid did not adopt a conservative approach despite their lead. Instead, they launched a very aggressive attack on Barcelona.
This caught everyone at Barcelona, including Guardiola, off guard. Shortly after the start of the game, Lin Feng completed a triangular passing combination with his teammates in midfield and then boldly dribbled forward.
Keita immediately closed in, engaging in physical contact with Lin Feng while sticking to him tightly, trying to prevent him from passing the ball.
Lin Feng saw an opening on the left flank, suddenly spiked the ball, turned around, and passed it to the wing.
Marcelo charged forward again, this time successfully dribbling the ball to the byline and delivering a cross.
Unfortunately, the pass was a bit too long, and Ronaldo couldn't reach the ball.
In the 48th minute, Higuain made a brilliant run and received a through pass from Lin Feng, then unleashed a shot from 13 meters out.
Higuain handled the ball well, but unfortunately Valdes anticipated his intention and moved ahead to block it out of bounds.
Seeing Higuain waste another chance, Mourinho was speechless with anger on the sidelines.
There are differences between even the best marksmen!
If that ball had been passed to Ronaldo or Lin Feng instead of Higuain, it would most likely have gone in.
Higuain is still a little short of his full potential.
Although he seems pretty good on a regular basis, for some reason, his performance always falls short in crucial matches. Perhaps this is the difference between a top player and a world-class player!
Ronaldo's tenure was relatively short, so it's still unclear how well he can handle pressure in tough matches.
But Lin Feng's ability in this regard is simply exemplary. The more important the match, the better he performs. So far, he has scored in every match against Barcelona and in every Champions League final. He is definitely a big-game player!
This made Mourinho wonder if this guy was always holding back his strength in the games and not playing at his full potential.
Otherwise, given his performance in such crucial matches, he would have already crushed ordinary leagues and the Champions League!
After their initial attack failed to produce results, Real Madrid decisively began to tighten their formation and prepare for a defensive counter-attacking strategy.
They had just played a Copa del Rey final three days ago, and compared to Barcelona, they were at a disadvantage in terms of physical condition.
If they continue with this high-intensity offensive, they will definitely be the first to run out of energy.
Therefore, Mourinho devised a strategy of starting with an aggressive attack to see if he could steal a goal, and then switching to a defensive counter-attacking approach.
Compared to a direct offensive, when defending and counterattacking, they commit fewer troops to the offensive end, effectively conserving their energy.
As long as Real Madrid doesn't have any physical problems, they will maintain control of the game.
But Mourinho seems to have underestimated their opponents a bit too much!
After Real Madrid switched to a defensive counter-attacking strategy, Barcelona did not fear Real Madrid's counter-attacking threat and continued to launch a series of fierce attacks on Real Madrid according to their own rhythm.
In the 53rd minute, Busquets delivered a pass, and Messi cut inside from the right wing and suddenly took a shot.
This shot came very suddenly; the defender defending him didn't even have time to make a blocking move before the ball was already flying out.
But Real Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas once again stepped up, quickly diving to block the ball.
But this did not prevent Real Madrid from falling into a passive position!
Barcelona then took a corner kick from the left, and Busquets got to the ball 4 meters from the goal and headed it into the net.
This shot was even more threatening than Messi's earlier header. After completing the header, Busquets instinctively raised his hands in celebration.
However, Casillas made another brilliant save with his header!
"Casillas has done a great job! With these two incredible saves, he has proven his worth as the best goalkeeper in Europe!"
Commentators from major television stations were stunned after seeing Casillas's save.
Even the Italian commentator, who has always been critical of Casillas and believes that Buffon is the greatest goalkeeper of the 21st century, had to express his admiration.
Casillas is just too strong!
Those two shots would most likely have resulted in a goal if they had been scored by another goalkeeper.
Once the ball is conceded, the situation on the field immediately changes.
Unfortunately, Barcelona encountered a peak Casillas, and the shots from Messi and Busquets were all rejected by this man.
On the sidelines, Mourinho, who had seen his team escape conceding twice in a row, showed no relief on his face, but rather a look of seriousness.
what happened?
Why did Barcelona's attack suddenly become so sharp in the second half?
And what is Ibrahimovic doing?
Why not continue with the individualistic performance of the first half, instead becoming a supporting player, constantly creating space for Messi and even setting up the ball for him?
Is this still the Ibrahimovic I remember?
Although the situation is dangerous, Real Madrid is not without a chance to fight back.
In the 60th minute, Real Madrid intercepted the ball in midfield and launched a counter-attack.
After receiving a pass from his teammate, Lin Feng played a first-time pass to Cristiano Ronaldo on the front line.
Gerard Piqué, who was Ronaldo's teammate at Manchester United, knows Ronaldo's prowess all too well.
He dared not let Ronaldo pass, so he had to risk a tackle to try and clear the ball.
Unfortunately, although the ball was cleared, the player was also tackled.
Cristiano Ronaldo was rolling on the ground clutching his leg, looking like he was seriously injured.
"This is practically murder! He should be sent off with a red card!"
Mourinho was furious when he saw Ronaldo being brought down and ran to the fourth official to protest.
However, the referee did not show Pique a red card for the foul as he had expected, but only a yellow card.
Mourinho was extremely unhappy with the decision and was shown a red card and sent to the stands for swearing.
In recent seasons, Mourinho's temper has improved considerably, and the number of times he has been sent to the stands has decreased significantly.
But in such an important match as the Champions League final, he ultimately couldn't hold back.
"Hey, Joseph, you did the right thing!"
"Those bastards deserve to be cursed!"
"We need to make a substitution! Ronaldo is no longer good!"
When the surrounding fans saw Mourinho come up, they all gave him their seats and applauded loudly to cheer him on.
After taking his seat in the VIP section of the stands, Mourinho calmed down, realizing that his actions earlier had indeed been impulsive.
His being sent off is a minor issue; what's a major issue is the disruption to the team's tactical adjustments.
Moreover, his being sent off will affect the team's morale, and if they really lose the game, he will be the biggest culprit.
While reflecting on his actions, Mourinho took out a pen and paper, wrote down a list of substitutions, and had someone hand it to his assistant coach so that he could make the substitutions on his behalf.
In the 61st minute, Real Madrid were forced to make a substitution.
Modric came on, replacing the injured Ronaldo.
This substitution left everyone very confused.
If a substitution is needed, shouldn't Benzema be brought on?
Why did they bring on a midfielder?
If the goal is to strengthen the defense, shouldn't we bring on a defensive midfielder, like Diarra?
But why bring on an attacking midfielder?
That's strange, so very strange!
No one could figure out Mourinho's thoughts, and they didn't know what his intentions were in making this substitution.
Guardiola didn't waste time trying to guess what the opponent was going to do; he only knew that after Ronaldo left the field, Real Madrid's counter-attacking threat was greatly reduced.
This is a golden opportunity for Barcelona to change the score!
He waved his hand, signaling the players in the backfield to press forward boldly and increase the intensity of their pressing in the attacking third.
Under Barcelona's relentless pressing, Modric, who had just come on, made a fatal mistake.
Keita won the ball back in the attacking third and sent a through pass. Iniesta chipped the ball to the far post from the right side of the penalty area, where Ibrahimovic leaped high and slammed the ball toward the goal.
Faced with such a close-range header, Casillas failed to make his third incredible save.
The score is now 2-2!
Barcelona have equalized! (End of Chapter)