Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Lin Feng knew very well that Mourinho spoke out because he used his fame and influence to demonstrate his absolute control over the team to the outside world.

This also served as a warning to other players:
With just one sentence from Mourinho, Lin Feng, currently Real Madrid's biggest star, was transformed from a high-profile attacking midfielder into a defensive midfielder who has to do the dirty work.

When he makes similar demands on other players in the future, will they dare to resist?
What, are you more valuable than Lin Feng, or stronger than Lin Feng?
Diarra's injury was originally a very bad thing for Real Madrid.

But under Mourinho's management, he not only led the team to victory, but also used this opportunity to further strengthen his control over the team and establish his prestige within the team.

Coupled with the persona he had been cultivating and his continued manipulation of the players, it's likely that no one in Real Madrid would dare to be a troublemaker at this point.

With this foundation, Mourinho can now confidently and boldly transform Real Madrid according to his vision.

This is the benefit Mourinho gained from it.

For Lin Feng, sacrificing himself to play as a defensive midfielder for the sake of the team's performance will have a slight impact on his statistics.

But it can give him a boost in reputation—he's not the kind of toxic star who only cares about his own stats and ignores the team, but a star who is willing to sacrifice for the team and is selfless.

This kind of achievement can help him win the favor of more Real Madrid fans and neutral fans, greatly improving his public image.

Furthermore, his private reconciliation with Mourinho gave him the upper hand and made his stance clear:

In the future, if Mourinho wants him to cooperate in doing anything, he must discuss it with him in advance and obtain his consent; otherwise, Lin Feng would not mind breaking off relations.

For the rest of the journey, the two tacitly avoided discussing the matter further.

To ease the awkward atmosphere in the car, Mourinho turned on the radio, which was broadcasting the results of other Champions League matches this round.

Several major upsets occurred in the first round of the Champions League group stage this year.

If Liverpool being held to a draw by Porto away from home is considered normal, then Chelsea being held to a draw at home by an unknown Norwegian team is definitely an upset.

Mourinho had very mixed feelings when he heard the news.

He was the one who built Chelsea from scratch, and he poured a lot of emotion into the team.

He originally planned to stay at Chelsea until 2010, transforming the Blues into a true powerhouse before retiring.

But the ideal is full, the reality is very skinny.

He never imagined that his once obedient and close boss would eventually turn against him.

Mourinho had mixed feelings, and Lin Feng was also feeling somewhat depressed.

Compared to Chelsea's upset, the real shock to the football world came from Inter Milan, the defending champions, who lost to Turkish Super League side Fenerbahce away from home.

Inter Milan did not lose a single Champions League match last season and ultimately lifted the trophy with an undefeated record.

However, Inter Milan's unbeaten streak was broken in their first match of the new season.

Although the team has lost some players, most of Inter Milan's championship-winning squad is still intact.

Even though outsiders predicted that Inter Milan's performance might decline in the new season, no one expected them to decline so quickly and by such a large margin!

Despite the significant gap in strength between the two sides on paper, the defending champion still lost, and lost in a very embarrassing manner.

After the match, countless Inter Milan fans angrily demanded Mancini's resignation and marched outside Inter Milan's training ground with banners that read "Give Lin Feng back to us."

The fans' thoughts are simple: if Lin Feng were still in the team, Inter Milan would never have fallen to this state.

Lin Feng could only sigh at this.

What's done is done, so what's the point of saying anything now? Hopefully, Coach Mancini and his former teammates can adjust quickly!
……

Despite Real Madrid's resounding victory in the Champions League midweek, Barcelona also secured a big win, this time against Lyon, Real Madrid's nemesis from last season.

This made Real Madrid fans instantly lose face and stop boasting about their Champions League results.

Fortunately, Real Madrid's dominance in the league remains evident, so the Merengues quickly found another angle to attack Barcelona fans.

Who was it that boasted they'd soon catch up to Real Madrid's total number of league titles? It's hard to guess!

Who else could it be buttocks?

[Haha, 1 win and 2 draws in 3 rounds, their points are almost half of ours, they really are the favorites to win the championship, impressive!]

Barcelona and Real Madrid are sworn enemies, practically century-old rivals.

When their fans attack each other, they show absolutely no mercy.

For decades, Real Madrid has been the most successful club in the top five European leagues, surpassing Barcelona in both honors and influence.

But in the last decade, Barcelona has shown signs of a resurgence.

Especially after Ronaldinho joined the team and brought them their second Champions League trophy, Barcelona fans gradually became arrogant.

After winning the Champions League and achieving two consecutive La Liga titles, Barcelona fans chanted the slogan "overtake Real Madrid and dominate La Liga," aiming to dethrone Real Madrid's dominance in the number of league titles.

However, the gap between the two teams in this aspect is actually quite large. Real Madrid currently has 30 La Liga titles, giving them a significant lead over other teams.

Despite winning the La Liga title twice in the past three years, Barcelona still only has 18 La Liga trophies, a full 12 fewer than Real Madrid.

Even if Real Madrid doesn't win a single trophy now, and Barcelona wins every year, it will still take until 2019 to close the gap between the two teams.

But how is this possible?
If Real Madrid had gone without a title for such a long time, they would have been expelled from the ranks of elite clubs long ago.

Actually, before the Dream Team Barcelona, ​​comparing Barcelona and Real Madrid was somewhat inadequate.

The gap in honors between the two teams is too large, whether in the league or the Champions League.

But the Dream Team Barcelona was just too strong. They not only firmly suppressed Real Madrid in La Liga, but also dominated the football world in the Champions League.

Not only did they win two Champions League titles in three years, but Barcelona's possession-based football style has also become a global phenomenon, inspiring countless teams to imitate and follow suit.

At that time, Real Madrid's Champions League performance was dismal. They not only fought hard against Lyon, but also spent a long time in the Round of 16.

Although Barcelona has a strong foundation and numerous honors, new fans who have joined in the internet age only see Barcelona's dominance in football and not Real Madrid's past glory.

As Barcelona's influence grew, its international influence rapidly increased, gradually catching up with and even surpassing Real Madrid.

……

In the fourth round of the league, Real Madrid will play away against Valladolid.

Although this match was scheduled as the last game of the round, Real Madrid's game wasn't the focus this round. The real highlight was Barcelona's home game against Sevilla.

Although Sevilla hasn't won La Liga in over sixty years, their record in European competitions is outstanding.

In the 05-06 and 2006-07 seasons, Sevilla won the Europa League title for two consecutive years, and also defeated Champions League winners Barcelona in the 06 UEFA Super Cup.

In the current La Liga standings, Sevilla has 2 wins and 1 draw, placing them second in the standings, higher than Barcelona.

For both teams aiming for the championship, this was a game worth six points.

Whoever wins will widen the gap between themselves and their opponents on the road to the championship.

The first half was extremely intense, with Barcelona frequently creating threats on the flanks by utilizing Messi and Henry, leaving their opponents in a very difficult position.

With Ronaldinho absent, Messi enjoyed the treatment of being the leader in this match.

The Argentinians played with great enthusiasm, repeatedly winning cheers and applause from the fans with their brilliant dribbling and sharp breakthroughs.

Barcelona's possession rate once exceeded 70%!

However, Barcelona dominated possession but failed to score. Their attack looked impressive, but they didn't actually create any great scoring opportunities.

Messi's dribbling skills are certainly sharp, but he currently lacks a sense of the big picture and his coordination with Eto'o and Henry is not good, making it difficult for him to bring out the true strength of Barcelona's front three.

The first half ended in a goalless draw, with neither team managing to score.

In the second half, Barcelona's attack became even more ferocious, but just like in the first half, it was all bark and no bite, failing to create any real threat.

At a crucial moment, Messi stepped up to offer support. In the 74th minute, Dragutinovic made a mistake in intercepting the ball, and Messi volleyed it into the net inside the penalty area.

Barcelona finally broke the deadlock!

Barcelona's goal at this crucial moment clearly broke down Sevilla's defense.

A few minutes later, a Sevilla player committed a rash foul in the penalty area, conceding another penalty to Barcelona.

Messi scored with a single shot, extending the score to 2-0 and sealing the victory.

Although Beijing Guoan legend Kanoute helped Sevilla pull one back in stoppage time, it was too late.

Ultimately, Barcelona emerged victorious in this highly anticipated match, and Messi was named the MVP of the game.

After winning this match, Barcelona's points rose to 8, temporarily placing them fourth in the league, but they are still 1 point behind Real Madrid, who have played one less game.

The pressure is now on Real Madrid!

……

Before the match between Real Madrid and Valladolid, there was much speculation about whether Mourinho would use the same lineup he used in the Champions League.
Diarra's injury has not yet healed, and Real Madrid still has no choice but to rely on Lin Feng in the defensive midfield position. Will Mourinho continue to use Lin Feng in the defensive midfield position?
At the pre-match press conference, many reporters asked Mourinho this question, but he did not give a direct answer.

This attitude, however, only fueled the curiosity of the outside world!
Lin Feng is better suited to the attacking midfield position. Valladolid is not a strong team, and they will most likely play a defensive counter-attacking style in this match. Our defense won't be under much pressure, but our attack will be under a lot of pressure. Therefore, Lin Feng needs to step up and help the team score goals!

Yes, Real Madrid spent 100 million euros to buy a player, but it wasn't just for a defensive midfielder. If they really needed a defensive midfielder, they could easily spend tens of millions more and have plenty of good ones to choose from on the transfer market!

But he's Mourinho; who knows if he'll play by the rules? Before the last match, could anyone have predicted he'd play Lin Feng in the defensive midfield position?

All the arguments vanished when Real Madrid announced their starting lineup.

Lin Feng did not continue playing as a defensive midfielder, but returned to his familiar attacking midfielder position. As for the defensive midfielder, it was Guti's turn.

When Zidane joined Real Madrid, Guti was forced to play as a defensive midfielder for a period of time because he couldn't compete with him, so he was no stranger to the position.

But Guti clearly doesn't like playing as a defensive midfielder, and he doesn't like doing the dirty work of cleaning up after his teammates.

So when Mourinho announced this arrangement before the match, Guti tried to resist.

But Mourinho just glared at him and said, "If you don't want to play, then don't play," which scared him into silence.

As for the other players, they naturally had no objections either.

After all, even someone like Lin Feng, who had never played as a defensive midfielder before, was assigned to that position by Mourinho. Isn't it normal for an experienced player like Guti to be assigned to that position as well?
Therefore, this is definitely not a case of the coach targeting them, and even Raul, the leader of the Spanish contingent, did not object to it.

At 9:00 PM on September 24th, the final match of the fourth round of La Liga officially began with the referee's whistle.

As predicted before the match, Valladolid indeed adopted a tight defensive formation and left a fast striker up front, clearly intending to counter Real Madrid's counter-attacks.

Mourinho felt a little relieved after seeing the opponent's formation.

Fortunately, he didn't choose to play defensively and counter-attack like his opponents, otherwise this game would have been much more difficult.

However, even with an aggressive attacking lineup, whether they can break through the opponent's defense depends on the performance of the players on the field, especially the players in the forward line.

Breaking down a tight defense is a perennial problem in football. Facing the opponent's impenetrable backline, Real Madrid tried various methods in the first fifteen minutes, but none of them could break through the opponent's defense.

As time ticked away and the score remained unchanged, both the players on the field and the fans off the field began to get anxious.

Parking the bus is truly the most shameless tactic; it completely destroys the beauty of football!

[That's right, this extremely pragmatic tactic should be banned by FIFA!]

[Sigh, to get just one point, they made the game so ugly, completely ruining the league's entertainment value and clearly harming the long-term development of La Liga!]

Real Madrid fans were outraged, as if the opposing team's use of the bus tactic was some heinous crime.

However, this claim was quickly refuted by other fans:
[Haha, what tactics did your Real Madrid coach become famous for? You haven't forgotten, have you?]

[What's wrong with weaker teams parking the bus to avoid losing when they can't beat stronger teams? Must we force weaker teams to go toe-to-toe with stronger teams and become their easy targets?]

[Even a weak team's life matters, and every point counts. I love watching these kinds of matches where a weak team manages to hold off a strong team!]

The behavior of Real Madrid fans seemed to have provoked widespread anger, as far more fans stood up to refute them, quickly drowning out their comments.

[Don't you Real Madrid have so many star players? Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Lin Feng, let them come out and save the day!]

This guy's mouth is like it's blessed; no sooner had he finished speaking than Real Madrid scored.

In the 32nd minute of the first half, just when the team was struggling to break the deadlock, Lin Feng stepped up.

They scored directly from a free kick in the attacking third, making the score 1-0!

Real Madrid finally shattered their opponent's shell! (End of Chapter)