Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Chapter 313: Full of vitality, everything is flourishing!
"Carlos really used his brain when he passed the ball!"

"This kind of cooperation can only be accomplished by veteran teammates like Carlos and Raul who have played for Real Madrid for more than ten years!"

Real Madrid's equalizing goal won praise from the commentators. Once this kind of cooperation is played out, the goalkeeper will have no way to stop it.

When Raul headed the ball, the ball was almost at the goal. How could the goalkeeper save such a shot?

After scoring the goal, Raul ran around the field, making his signature ring-kissing gesture as he ran.

The Real Madrid fans at the scene gave him a warm round of applause, and many fans even stood up and applauded.

Raul fully deserves such an honor!

As a top star trained by Real Madrid's own youth training, after the Galacticos stars retired or transferred away, Raul, together with the newly joined Van Nistelrooy, took up the team's offensive banner.

Compared to last season, Raul's condition has fully recovered this season, and his outstanding performance has also given Real Madrid fans more hope.

Although Real Madrid did not play well in the league and the Champions League group stage this season.

But they still retain hope of winning the championship. As long as Real Madrid's form improves in the future, they will still have a chance to win both the league title and the Champions League trophy.

Inspired by Raul's goal, Real Madrid's morale was boosted a lot.

After a period of silence, their offensive became active again.

In the 76th minute, Real Madrid once again won a free kick in the frontcourt.

This time Carlos chose to shoot himself, the Brazilian's heavy artillery is indeed worthy of its reputation.

There was only a loud bang, and the ball flew towards the goal at an extremely fast speed, leaving a trail like a cannonball.

Fortunately, Inter Milan's goalkeeper is Cesar, thanks to the experience of practicing with Carlos when he was in the Brazilian national team, and Lin Feng's passing of the ball during team training.

Cesar has extensive experience in saving these powerful and fast free kicks.

He accurately predicted the flight path of the ball, but the power of the ball was too great. Cesar did not dare to hold the ball with his palm and could only use his fist to try his best to hit the ball out.

With another bang, the ball flew out of the penalty area.

After Cesar landed, he couldn't help but shake his right hand.

Even if I caught it with my fist, I still felt pain.

What an animal! How can a human being take a free kick with such great force?

Inter Milan's crisis was not resolved, and the ball hit by Cesar fell at the feet of Real Madrid players outside the penalty area.

Elguera got the ball and kicked it before Inter Milan players could rush out.

The ball was hit with great force, but there were too many people in the penalty area, and the ball hit someone in its flight and bounced back.

Players from both sides were fighting for the ball, and in the end it was Inter Milan's players who cleared the ball with a long kick.

Inter Milan was under great defensive pressure in the past few minutes, and Real Madrid continued to create threats through set pieces and long shots.

But Inter Milan is not completely passive!
Taking advantage of the opponent's large number of troops in attack and the empty defense, Inter Milan kept using the speed of Lin Feng and Torres to make use of the speed.

In the 78th minute, Lin Feng rushed to the frontcourt and then crossed the penalty area from the right. Torres' shot from 20 meters on the left side of the penalty area was caught by Casillas.

In the 81st minute, Lin Feng took a free kick from the right side, and Materazzi once again grabbed the first point.

Unfortunately, his header from 5 meters away from the goal hit the post and Real Madrid escaped.

Inter Milan's counterattack is very threatening, but Real Madrid's offensive threat is equally significant.

Both sides were gritting their teeth and persisting, trying to see who could stab the other to death first.

But time is on Inter Milan's side and the game is entering its final stage.

Even if they didn't score a goal, as long as they could hold on for the last few minutes and bring back a draw from the away game, Inter Milan would be satisfied.

They were very satisfied with the score of 2:2, but Real Madrid was very unhappy.

In the final moments of the game, Real Madrid completely blasted out!
In the 84th minute, Raul forced his way out at the top of the penalty area and shot directly.

But his shot was blocked by Samuel.

In the 87th minute, Guti made a precise pass from the right, and Van Nistelrooy successfully made an offside move and dribbled into the penalty area.

However, the Dutchman did not seize this precious opportunity. His shot from 13 meters in front of the goal was blocked by Cesar's outstretched leg.

This was the closest Real Madrid came to overtaking the score, but unfortunately, they missed it.

In the last minute of injury time, Inter Milan once again got a free kick in the frontcourt.

Lin Feng kicked a free kick 30 meters in front of the goal and went straight to the upper left corner of the goal at an extremely fast speed!

He knew that Casillas was not tall. Although the official data was 1.85 meters, his actual height was probably only about 1.82 meters.

So Lin Feng specifically aimed the ball at the upper corner of the goal to make it difficult for Casillas to save the ball.

But he underestimated Cassie a little!
After discovering Lin Feng's intention, Casillas jumped up quickly, flew over and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

How could he not be very skilled if he can be the starting goalkeeper at Real Madrid?

If his shortcomings were really that obvious, Real Madrid would have replaced him long ago. You know, it is very difficult for Real Madrid's youth training players to stay in Real Madrid's first team, but Casillas not only did it, but his position in the starting lineup was also very secure, which proves his outstanding strength!

After missing this opportunity, neither side made any further progress.

In the end, this eye-catching battle ended with both sides shaking hands and making peace.

Although it was a draw, it can be clearly felt from the reports of major media after the game that the outside world is more optimistic about Inter Milan than Real Madrid.

Real Madrid couldn't even win at home, so it's naturally difficult for outsiders to be optimistic about them.

Coupled with the two away goals conceded, it was very fatal for Real Madrid.

In the next away game, they will still have great offensive pressure.

But in the next game at Inter Milan’s home ground, the opponent will not adopt such conservative tactics.

……

When Inter Milan's game was over, the results of several other games were also announced. The three Serie A teams seemed to have agreed on this, and all three teams ended up with a draw in this round.

If Inter Milan's 2:2 draw with Real Madrid away from home was expected, then AC Milan's 0:0 draw with Celtic away from home was a bit of an upset!

As happy as Milan fans were during the draw, they are now as sad as ever.

It turns out that AC Milan is not suitable for opening champagne at halftime, this thing is really poisonous!

In fact, the Celtics are not a strong team, but they were able to shut out AC Milan, which has a number of stars including Inzaghi, Kaka and Ronaldo. This is really surprising!
What's even more worrying is the sluggish state displayed by AC Milan in this game. The whole team seemed to be under a spell and played very heavily. It can be clearly felt from the players' actions on the field that they are not in good shape!
If Milan cannot adjust their condition as soon as possible, they will not go far in the knockout stage.

After playing like this against the Celtics in this round, the team they will face in the next round will only be stronger. If they continue in this state, they will most likely be eliminated in the quarterfinals!

From the beginning of the season, the entire Serie A knew that AC Milan was aiming for the Champions League this season, and they strategically gave up the league and cup competitions!
But if they fail again in the Champions League, Milan’s world will really fall!
Compared with Milan, the slightly weaker Roma was beaten 0:0 by Lyon at their home ground.

This result is not good for Roma. If they cannot withstand Lyon's attack in the next away game, their Champions League journey this season will end in the round of 16.

After looking at the records of the three teams, the Italian media and fans couldn't help but sigh.

Judging from the status of the three teams and the results of the game, Inter Milan still has the most hope this season.

But they couldn't feel the championship temperament from Inter Milan.

Although Inter Milan is also a wealthy club, the water content of this club is too high.

Compared with teams like AC Milan and Juventus that have won the Champions League in recent years, Inter Milan’s last Champions League trophy dates back to forty years ago!
It took them nearly 20 years to even win the Serie A title.

This is a bit like the Arsenal team under Arteta in later generations. The long period of championshiplessness has led to the team lacking the mentality and momentum of a strong team.

Even though the team is very strong on paper and has decent record, no one gives them enough confidence.

Serie A ended up with three draws, which is not a good look.

But compared with the record in La Liga, it is still slightly better.

In this round of the Champions League, Real Madrid and Barcelona both suffered setbacks at home.

Compared to Real Madrid's draw with Inter Milan at home, Barcelona was even worse.

They didn't even get a draw and were defeated 2:1 by Liverpool in their own home stadium!

This score is very bad for Barcelona. They will be under great offensive pressure in the next game and must score at least two goals to advance to the quarterfinals.

Although Barcelona is the defending champion and has strong strength, Liverpool is no pushover.

In the Champions League, the Red Army has an indomitable momentum and extremely tenacious resilience.

Even if they were trailing 0:3, they could catch up, not to mention they had such a big lead and the next game was at home!
After the result of this game came out, the outside world was almost unanimously pessimistic about Barcelona!

Everyone thinks that Barcelona is in great danger, but even so, there are still some Barcelona supporters cheering for the team.

"I don't understand why everyone is talking about us losing at home like it's the end of the world.

Twenty years ago, when Maradona left the team with regret, people thought Barcelona was finished.

But under Cruyff's leadership, Barcelona won four consecutive league titles and the first Champions League trophy in team history, which earned them the reputation of the Dream Team.

At that time, the whole of Europe was amazed and praised the reputation of Barcelona. Football stars from all over the world rushed to join the team. It was truly a perfect time.

That state of vitality and all things competing is still before our eyes.

It was just a small defeat, but has it become the demise of Barcelona? "

Then came some difficult to understand words like 'defending champion' and 'Ballon d'Or winner', which made netizens burst into laughter, and the Internet was suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.

When Barcelona won the championship last year, the outside world was very optimistic about Barcelona and felt that they were the most likely team to break the championship curse and become the first team in the history of the Champions League to defend the title.

But no one expected that Barcelona's performance this season would be so poor.

As the defending champions, they were eliminated in the round of 16. Their dominance on the field was completely inferior to that of last season, and the players' performances were also very different. This is a bit unreasonable!
I can only say that Barcelona's form has dropped too quickly. I don't know if it's because they have won all the honors that have made them slack, but Ronaldinho's form has clearly declined this season.

Other players also had such problems to varying degrees. The players seemed to have lost the desire to win. Except for being forced into a corner by Werder Bremen and being forced to burst out, Barcelona seemed to have lost their magic. All the games were lost logically, whether it was the previous match against Chelsea or this time against Liverpool.

In addition to Barcelona and Real Madrid, another La Liga team, Valencia, drew 2:2 with Arsenal away from home.

This result is very good for them, and their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals have greatly increased.

On the other hand, Arsenal, last season's runner-up, is not in good form this season.

The departure of Pires and Ashley Cole has significantly weakened Arsenal's strength. If they cannot beat their opponents away from home in the next round, they will most likely be eliminated in the round of 16 along with Barcelona.

It is quite rare for the champion and runner-up to both be eliminated in the round of 16.

Compared with the mediocre performance of Serie A and La Liga, the performance of several Premier League teams is quite impressive!

In addition to Liverpool's away victory, the Red Devils Manchester United also won 1-0 against Lille away from home, keeping a clean sheet and scoring an away goal, basically having one foot in the quarterfinals.

Although Chelsea did not win away from home, the score of 1:1 is also quite favorable for them.

In the next game, as long as they can defend their home ground and not be conquered by Eindhoven, the three Premier League teams will most likely meet in the quarterfinals.

Even if Arsenal performs well away from home, it is not impossible for four Premier League teams to advance to the quarterfinals!
Last year, after the Calciopoli scandal broke out in Serie A, many fans were arguing about who would be the leader of the top five leagues in the post-Serie A era.

Among them, the Premier League and La Liga have the highest voices.

In the early years, the Premier League was banned and unable to participate in the Champions League.

This has caused the league to become closed and stagnant, with its technical and tactical levels lagging behind those of the mainstream leagues.

This resulted in the Premier League teams having little competitiveness in the Champions League and failing to win any honors after the ban was lifted.

But with the rise of Arsenal, technical football was injected into the Premier League. Coupled with the influx of large amounts of capital in recent years, the level of the Premier League has quickly caught up.

The explosion of Premier League teams in the Champions League this season is not accidental, but inevitable after years of accumulation.

Now the Premier League’s competitiveness in the Champions League is no longer inferior to Serie A or even La Liga, and it even has a tendency to overtake.

If the Premier League wins the Champions League this season, then the Premier League will truly have established itself as the world's number one league!

(End of this chapter)