Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final has concluded, with Real Madrid holding Barcelona to a 2-2 draw away from home!

Eto'o and Henry were in poor form; Messi's brace wasn't enough to save the day!

Mourinho's unexpected victory, Real Madrid's substitute striker makes a crucial contribution!

"The two superstars score three goals in a row, turning the derby of the century into a stage for Lin Dan and Mei Lanfang to shine!"

Real Madrid escape with a point away from home; the Champions League trophy is beckoning!

"As expected of the Spanish El Clásico, this match was fucking exciting!"

"After watching the game, all I can say is, Barcelona is just too strong! Real Madrid were almost completely pinned down and couldn't even leave their own half!"

"Absolutely! 70% possession to 30%, 23 shots to 8 shots. If you covered up the team names, I would have thought Barcelona was bullying the weak!"

"Barcelona's passing and possession are truly impressive; their control of the game is breathtaking!"

"I think Real Madrid is also very impressive. Despite the opponent having such a high possession rate, they still managed to seize the opportunity and score two goals. Their attacking efficiency is simply outrageous!"

"Yes, Barcelona and Real Madrid are two extremes, one pursuing ultimate control and the other pursuing ultimate efficiency!"

"Hehe, only a close, top-level duel like this is interesting. What's the point of one-sided stomping of weaker opponents?"

"Just thinking about the two more El Clásico matches coming up makes me really excited to watch them!"

After the match, major European media outlets rushed to report on it, and the most discussed topics, besides the result and its subsequent impact, were...

The focus was more on the players who performed exceptionally well in this match.

Although the team failed to win, Messi still won unanimous recognition from the outside world with his brace in this game.

When Barcelona let Ronaldinho go and promoted Messi to become the team's new core, there were many voices of doubt from the outside world.

But after Messi's phenomenal performance this season, such doubts have diminished considerably.

To date, Messi has scored 35 goals and provided 13 assists in the league.

He has not only equaled his goal tally from last season, but is also only 8 goals away from Lin Feng's record of 43 goals in a single La Liga season.

With five rounds left in the league, Messi, with his scoring efficiency, has every chance to break Lin Feng's goal-scoring record set last year.

Messi's stats are not only impressive in the league, but his performance in the Champions League is equally amazing.

算上这场比赛的2粒进球，梅西在自己出场的11场欧冠比赛中打进了13球并贡献了3次助攻，场均1.2球的进球效率冠绝整个欧洲！

The current record for most goals in a single Champions League season is 17, set by Lin Feng during the 06-07 season while playing for Inter Milan.

Messi is four goals away from this record. If he can lead his team to eliminate Real Madrid and defeat Manchester United in the final, he may equal or even set a new record.

Although Messi's breakout came a season or two later than Lin Feng's, the energy he has unleashed so far is by no means weak, and Messi's various statistics are still growing rapidly, with the potential to improve further in the future.

This is why Messi was able to quickly surpass Kaká and Ronaldo in just two seasons and become someone on par with Lin Feng.

Although Messi's performance was already outstanding, his brilliance could not overshadow Lin Feng's.

Although Lin Feng's number of shots has decreased this season, and he has taken on more defensive and playmaking responsibilities on the field, his goal-scoring efficiency has only increased.

By the 33rd round of La Liga, Lin Feng had scored a total of 39 goals in the league and provided an astonishing 24 assists, significantly breaking his own La Liga all-time assist record.

Moreover, compared to Messi breaking Lin Feng's league goal record from last season, it is more likely that he himself will set a new record.

However, in the Champions League, Lin Feng's stats weren't as impressive as Messi's due to Real Madrid's poor form in the middle of the season.

So far, he has only scored 10 goals, three fewer than Messi, but he has 6 assists, exactly three more than Messi. The two have contributed to almost the same number of goals in the Champions League.

Compared to others, their statistics are already far ahead. Even the closest player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is still a dozen or twenty goals behind them, not to mention Kaká, who has gradually fallen behind due to injuries.

From this perspective, it seems reasonable for outsiders to refer to them as the two greatest players in football.

……

The victory in the first leg boosted the confidence of everyone at Real Madrid.

As a result, the training atmosphere within Real Madrid has become much more relaxed, and Mourinho, who is usually stern-faced, has been smiling more these past two days.

As for Real Madrid fans, they are even more eager to fight back, and have already shouted slogans to take advantage of their home ground to defeat Barcelona twice in the next two games and completely reverse their current backward situation.

However, Lin Feng was not as optimistic as his teammates and fans. To be honest, Real Madrid was really lucky to have managed to draw with Barcelona in the last match.

Two mistakes by Barcelona's defense gifted Real Madrid two crucial goals; without these two gifts, Real Madrid would have had a much harder time scoring.

Even if Barcelona returns to their home ground for the second leg, the situation where they control possession and dominate Real Madrid will not improve.

If Real Madrid tries to use their home advantage to launch an attacking battle against Barcelona, ​​frankly, Lin Feng is not very optimistic, because the opponent's ball control is obviously stronger, which means that the opponent will have more attacking rounds than Real Madrid.

In this kind of offensive battle where you stab me and I stab you back, the side that launches more attacks clearly has the advantage.

Moreover, Lin Feng felt that Guardiola would continue to adjust Barcelona's tactics, especially the attacking tactics in the frontcourt.

In the last match, Xavi was marked out of position, limiting his room to operate and hindering Barcelona's attack. Eto'o and Henry both experienced a significant drop in performance.

But now that this problem has been exposed, Guardiola will definitely try to find a solution.

If we try to use this tactic to limit Barcelona's attack in the next match, it probably won't be as effective.

However, these are all things Mourinho needs to consider. He has already told Barcelona how to deal with their possession-based tactics. Whether or not to adopt them is up to Mourinho's own decision.

On April 30th, the day after the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match, the result of another game was announced. Manchester United, playing at home, narrowly defeated Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a goal from O'Shea.

Although Manchester United and Arsenal are both long-established giants in the Premier League, this all-English clash was slightly less exciting than the epic showdown between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Many new fans who had watched the El Clásico and were drawn to the high level of the Champions League originally had high expectations for watching the live broadcast of this match.

But after watching it, I was greatly disappointed. Arsenal, who are said to have the most gorgeous style of play in the Premier League and the most emphasis on footwork, are simply not worth mentioning compared to Barcelona's passing and possession style.

As for Manchester United, their tactics felt rougher, and they beat Arsenal entirely through physical confrontations and rough fouls.

After watching this match, apart from Premier League fans, fans of other leagues and the majority of neutral fans generally did not have high hopes for the two Premier League teams.

Unless Real Madrid and Barcelona suffer heavy losses in their respective matches, with many key players injured, the outcome of their final match against these two Premier League teams would likely be very close, given their current form.

Of course, Manchester United fans do not agree with the pessimistic outlook from the outside world:
I think Ferguson might be holding back. Fans who regularly watch Manchester United matches should have noticed that the team wasn't playing at full strength in this game!

[That's right, I think so too. Ronaldo hasn't even started playing yet, what's the rush?]

Manchester United has made significant progress compared to last season, and they showed no fear even when facing Real Madrid again. As for Barcelona, ​​I think the Premier League's style of play should be quite effective against them. Their possession-based tactics might work well against teams from other leagues, but it's hard to say what will happen against Premier League teams!

Cristiano Ronaldo, as the person involved, was clearly not as optimistic as his own fans.

He watched the entire live broadcast of the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match at home, and after watching it, he had only one feeling: terrifying!
Barcelona's exquisite passing and control made him feel a little uneasy; they had experienced Real Madrid's strength firsthand.

Although Real Madrid doesn't deliberately pursue possession, their midfield, with Lin Feng, is not weak. When Manchester United faced Real Madrid in the final last season, they didn't gain any advantage in terms of possession.

Yet this top team was completely overwhelmed by Barcelona.

In the first thirty minutes of the match, the two sides had an astonishing 80/20 possession rate.

Cristiano Ronaldo can't imagine what level of possession Barcelona would have if Manchester United were to face them.

Despite being under such pressure, Real Madrid managed to escape unscathed from their away game. This incredible resilience and ability to seize opportunities is truly unparalleled.

Cristiano Ronaldo put himself in the shoes of Manchester United and realized that if they were to face these two teams in the final, their chances of winning would probably be less than 40%.

He originally wanted to lead Manchester United to a title before leaving, but now it seems that with Barcelona and Real Madrid standing in his way, this wish will be difficult to realize.

There are quite a few teams paying attention to this match. When Barcelona's possession-based football became popular at the beginning of the season, it had already set off a wave of imitations in the football world.

At that time, most of the teams that learned this style of play were from lower-level leagues. Although the top league clubs were interested, most of them chose to wait and see and did not take action.

But now, after Barcelona eliminated Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich by a large margin and completely dominated Real Madrid in the semi-finals, proving that possession-based football can also be played at a high level, these top clubs in the five major leagues have no more concerns and have begun to recruit players and try to follow suit.

For a time, Spanish midfielders from various La Liga teams became highly sought-after players in the transfer market.

Many players' transfer fees have been inflated to exorbitant levels, yet even so, excellent Spanish midfielders are still in high demand.

It is foreseeable that when the next season begins, the rosters of major European clubs will likely include many Spanish players.

However, this has nothing to do with Real Madrid, whose midfield is not primarily composed of Spanish players.

……

On May 3, the 34th round of La Liga officially kicked off.

After a three-day break, Real Madrid and Barcelona faced off in the second leg of the Spanish El Clásico.

The two teams are currently ranked first and second in the standings, with only a 3-point difference between them.

For both teams and the entire La Liga league, this match is a crucial six-point battle, the outcome of which will largely determine who will win the La Liga title this season.

If Barcelona can defeat Real Madrid away from home, their chances of winning the title will increase significantly, and Real Madrid can only hope for a miracle if they want to make a comeback.

However, if Real Madrid can defeat Barcelona at home, they will equalize the points difference with Barcelona, ​​and the league title that Barcelona has won could very well be snatched away by Real Madrid.

Because this match was so important, both teams took it very seriously and dared not be careless in the slightest. They gave their all and tried their best to defeat their opponent!
Since the second leg of the Champions League semi-final was also held at the Bernabéu Stadium, this match was seen by many as a preview of the semi-final.

Whoever wins this match and finds a way to limit their opponent will most likely win the next Champions League semi-final and achieve a winner-takes-all victory.

The two teams had just faced each other in the Champions League and were very familiar with each other, so after the match started, they skipped the probing phase and immediately launched their attacks.

Barcelona, ​​playing away from home, took the initiative from the start.

Just 24 seconds into the game, Ramos made a passing error under pressure from the opposing striker. Messi intercepted the pass in front of the penalty area and quickly passed it across. Xavi made a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Casillas made the save.

Real Madrid fans who came to the Bernabéu to watch the game were startled by Barcelona's shot before they even had a chance to settle in.

I thought the team would quickly counter-attack and launch an attack on the opponent's goal.

However, Barcelona's high pressing in the attacking third prevented Real Madrid's counter-attacks and quickly created a second wave of attacks.

In the 6th minute, Messi cut inside from the right wing and dribbled to the edge of the penalty area before passing the ball to Eto'o, who made a run inside the box to get past his defender and then played a through ball to Henry, who had broken into the box from the side.

Henry surged into the penalty area and calmly slotted a shot into the far corner with the inside of his foot, but Casillas made a brilliant save.

Although his teammates seemed a bit out of sorts at first, Casillas was in top form.

Whenever he's there, he's the guardian of Real Madrid's goal!

"Cassie! Cassie! Cassie!"

Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu Stadium began chanting Casillas's name. Thanks to his outstanding performances in recent seasons, Casillas's status among Real Madrid fans has risen sharply, and he has now become the third most popular player after Lin Feng and Raúl!
Although Barcelona's attack was very threatening at the start, Real Madrid continued their high efficiency from the previous game, scoring on their very first attack!
In the 13th minute, Ramos broke through Abidal on the right wing and sent in a cross. Lin Feng shook off the defender and suddenly moved forward, jumped up, and overpowered Barcelona defender Pique, smashing the ball into the goal over the latter's head.

1-0, Real Madrid leads at home! (End of Chapter)