Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Although Real Madrid has caught up in the league, they are still at a disadvantage, but the situation is quite the opposite in the Champions League.

The two away goals advantage from the first leg gives Real Madrid a tactical advantage in the second leg.

If Real Madrid can capitalize on these advantages, they have a good chance to defeat Barcelona at home again and secure a ticket to the final.

The thought that Guardiola had managed to turn Barcelona to this state in just one year filled Mourinho with a sense of crisis.

He really couldn't imagine how high this guy would take Barcelona if given another year.
If we can't suppress them this year, Barcelona will likely be even more difficult to deal with next year.

His previous experience at Chelsea told him that in his third year in charge, conflicts between him and the players, especially the key players, would increase, and the dressing room situation would gradually slip out of his control.

By then, he will no longer be able to control the team as perfectly as before and direct it according to his own wishes.

Therefore, we must seize this opportunity!

If Real Madrid, the victors, are taking the upcoming matches so seriously, how could Barcelona, ​​who have just suffered a defeat, possibly be complacent?

After the match, Guardiola locked himself in his office and didn't even go home, spending the entire night studying the match footage.

After watching and studying the videos of Real Madrid's last dozen or so matches, Guardiola came to a well-known conclusion - to limit Real Madrid, Lin Feng must be limited!

Everyone knows that Lin Feng is Real Madrid's key player on the field, and everyone understands that to deal with Real Madrid, you must limit him.

However, there is currently no particularly good way in the football world to successfully limit Lin Feng.

Even a team as strong as Chelsea, which boasts the world's best defensive midfield, couldn't completely limit Lin Feng's performance, let alone other teams.

But you can't do without restrictions, just like in this game.

Lin Feng not only scored three goals to complete a hat-trick, but he also provided three assists for his teammates, accounting for all six of Real Madrid's goals!

If this is left unchecked, Barcelona will most likely lose the next match as well.

But how to restrict it is a problem.

Judging solely from the process and results of these two matches, expecting Busquets to limit Lin Feng's performance is nothing short of wishful thinking.

Busquets is too inexperienced, and his defensive ability is not outstanding. He is far inferior to Yaya Toure in terms of both experience and running ability.

Although Guardiola doesn't particularly like players like Yaya Toure who have their own ideas, and prefers 'robots' who resolutely execute his tactical requirements, he really can't do without Lin Feng when it comes to limiting Lin Feng's performance.

Therefore, Guardiola had to put aside his grudges and temporarily reconcile with Yaya Toure.

But one Yaya Toure is not enough, as the first leg of the Champions League semi-final has already proven.

Despite Yaya Toure's strong defensive abilities, his wide range of movement and coverage allow him to keep up with Lin Feng's pace.

But the opponent's football intelligence was too high. His observation of the situation on the field, his control of timing, and his ability to move and stretch the ball were all unprecedented in Guardiola's life.

If I had Lin Feng's vision and understanding of the game when I was playing football, I might have won several Ballon d'Or awards.

If Yaya Toure alone cannot contain Lin Feng, would it be feasible to arrange another defensive midfielder and use a double defensive midfielder tactic to target Lin Feng?
Guardiola had a general idea in mind, but he wasn't sure if his plan would succeed.

Moreover, using two midfield slots specifically for defense will undoubtedly weaken Barcelona's attacking capabilities.

Barcelona will face immense attacking pressure in the next match. If they are eliminated due to weakening their attacking power, Guardiola will have shot himself in the foot.

Therefore, this tactic is actually a gamble.

……

On May 6th, before the El Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid even began, another semi-final match between two Premier League teams kicked off.

Although the match between Manchester United and Arsenal receives less attention compared to the El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

But after all, they are a long-established and prestigious club, and it's a stage of the Champions League semi-finals.

The match between Arsenal and Manchester United still attracted hundreds of millions of fans to watch the live broadcast.

Manchester United, who defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home in the first leg, did not disappoint.

They played even more aggressively at the Emirates Stadium than they would at their home ground.

Seemingly unwilling to let Messi and Lin Feng steal the spotlight, Ronaldo's performance in the second leg was nothing short of divine.

In the first half, he first assisted Park Ji-sung with a pass to score a goal, helping Manchester United take the lead.

He then scored a beautiful long-range free kick himself. In the second half, Ronaldo became more and more confident. In the 61st minute, he received a pass from Rooney and scored again, completing his brace and helping the team extend the score to 3-0!

Although Arsenal pulled one back with a penalty in the final moments, the Gunners were powerless to turn the tide due to their overwhelming deficit.

Ultimately, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's perfect performance of two assists and a goal, Manchester United defeated Arsenal 3-1 away from home, eliminating Arsenal with a total score of 4-1 and becoming the first team to advance to the Champions League final.

This marks Manchester United's second consecutive year reaching the Champions League final, following their appearance last year.

Since their defeat in last year's final, they have been training hard and preparing to avenge their loss in the Champions League final.

And now, they are just one game away from reaching the top!
Thanks to his outstanding performance in the second leg, Cristiano Ronaldo has attracted a large number of fans.

Although his current popularity is still behind Lin Feng and Messi, he has already surpassed other competitors and become the number one player after Lin Feng and Messi.

If Cristiano Ronaldo can lead his team to defeat either Lin Feng or Messi and win the Champions League title, he could very well use this opportunity to rise to the same level as the two superstars, changing the football landscape from a two-horse race to a three-way rivalry!

……

After watching the Premier League's internal battles, fans have turned their attention back to the Bernabéu.

On May 7, the highly anticipated third El Clásico match, watched by millions of fans, kicked off again at the Bernabéu Stadium.

The two teams had just faced off at the same stadium three days ago, but their mindsets are quite different now that they are playing again.

Having just defeated Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid appears brimming with confidence. Last time, they were the underdog challengers, but this time they are the incumbent champions with the upper hand, and it's Barcelona's turn to challenge them.

As the challengers, Barcelona's players were somewhat apprehensive facing their old rivals who had just defeated them.

The lessons learned from the last game are still fresh in their minds. Although the coach has made adjustments to tactics and personnel for this game, they are not sure whether these adjustments will be effective.

Barcelona has lost too many matches against Real Madrid in recent seasons, causing Barcelona players to feel inexplicably timid when facing Real Madrid, as if they are under some kind of inescapable curse.

Even they themselves had doubts about whether they could defeat Real Madrid.

“Hey guys, listen to me!” “I know many of you are nervous or even scared, and I’m just like you. There’s nothing shameful about that!”
But all our hard work and sweat throughout the year has been for the sake of reaching the highest podium. I'm sure you wouldn't want to see all that effort go to waste, would you?

"So don't overthink it, trust your coach, trust yourself, and fight without regrets!"

"We, Barcelona, ​​are invincible!"

After Guardiola finished explaining the tactical arrangements and left the locker room, captain Puyol led the players together for a final battle pep talk.

Puyol is a natural leader, and his speech successfully boosted the team's morale.

Even those players who previously seemed lost now had a light in their eyes.

……

Compared to the serious atmosphere in the Barcelona dressing room, the atmosphere in the Real Madrid dressing room is much more relaxed.

"Hey guys, look what this is?"

Ramos opened his wardrobe, revealing a row of champagne bottles inside.

"If we beat Barcelona tonight, I'll treat everyone to champagne!"

With a loud slap, Raul's big hand landed on the back of Ramos's head.

"People say that opening champagne at halftime is bad luck, but you're already thinking about champagne before the game has even started. Don't you know there's an old Chinese saying that 'pride comes before a fall'?"

"Brother Lin, is there really such a saying in your country?"

Ramos scratched the back of his head and couldn't help but look at Lin Feng with curiosity.

Lin Feng nodded seriously:
"That saying does exist, and there's another one: 'An army driven by desperation will surely win.'"

"What does it mean?"

Everyone looked at Lin Feng curiously, waiting for his explanation.

"It means that the side that is at a disadvantage often wins when it fights back against oppression; we have become complacent after winning the last game, while Barcelona has become a defeated team after losing the game, so we have a high chance of losing this game!"

"Ah? Really fake?"

Ramos gave me a look that said, "I'm not well-educated, don't try to fool me."

Seeing that the other party believed him, Lin Feng pretended to be serious and said:
"Of course it's true. If we lose this match, the responsibility will fall entirely on you!"

Seeing that Ramos seemed genuinely frightened, Lin Feng abandoned his joking mood and said seriously:
"Stop joking, guys. Everyone knows how important this game is, so I won't waste any more words. In short, this is the most important game of our season, and we must treat it with a do-or-die attitude. Let's not let our lack of effort today become a lifelong regret!"

Although Lin Feng is not Real Madrid's captain, no one thinks there's anything wrong with him giving a motivational speech before the match.

Even Captain Raul didn't raise any objections, as if it were a matter of course.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, such as Lin Feng transferring away or suffering a major injury, he is almost certain to be Real Madrid's next captain.

After Raul leaves the team or retires, the captain's armband for Real Madrid will not be worn by Casillas, but will be directly handed over to Lin Feng.

As the team's future captain, it is only natural that he should assume the responsibilities of captain.

In Raul's opinion, having Lin Feng do this would be more effective than him doing it himself.

After all, the last match in which Real Madrid defeated Barcelona was led by Lin Feng, and he himself did not play.

After giving their final pep talk, the Real Madrid players left the locker room with their heads held high and went to the players' tunnel outside to wait to enter the field.

Almost at the same time they came out, Barcelona's players also came out of the locker room on the opposite side.

Lin Feng looked up and his gaze met Messi's across the distance.

Neither of them showed any change in expression, but they could both feel each other's burning fighting spirit.

Both of them knew perfectly well that this was not only a contest between teams, but also a duel between the two of them.

Wen has no first, Wu has no second.

Although the outside world considers the two to be the two unparalleled talents, this conclusion has not been accepted by the two themselves.

To determine who is stronger, nothing is more effective than a direct confrontation on the field.

Comparatively speaking, Lin Feng, like Real Madrid at this time, is in the position of the defending champion.

Messi, on the other hand, has a strong need to prove himself with a glorious victory, given his past failures.

The two quickly looked away and stopped looking at each other.

The players' tunnel was very quiet. Although many players from both sides knew each other or were even friends, no one spoke up to break the silence in this setting.

Finally, after the lengthy opening ceremony, the players from both teams, led by the referees, began to enter the field.

As soon as the Real Madrid players entered the stadium, they were greeted with a warm welcome from the fans.

The Bernabéu Stadium was packed to capacity today, and even with scalpers driving up ticket prices to exorbitant levels, many fans were still scrambling to buy them.

These fans who paid high prices for tickets to watch the game live had only one wish: to see Real Madrid march into the final by stepping over Barcelona's corpse!
Unlike the warm welcome Real Madrid received, the Barcelona players were booed by Real Madrid fans on both sides of the players' tunnel as soon as they entered the field. Some radical fans even started insulting the Barcelona players' families.

This approach is actually not very friendly, and may even backfire, provoking the opponent's fighting spirit and adding variables to the competition.

But that's how derbies have always been!

The relationship between the two teams was already strained, and in recent years, with Barcelona's resurgence, the competition between the two teams in the league and the Champions League has become even more intense, and the antagonism between the fans has also intensified.

Barcelona and Real Madrid fans can accept their teams losing to any other team, but they absolutely cannot accept losing to each other.

Even if the head coaches of both teams have excellent records, they can still be sacked for losing a derby match, and this is especially true for Real Madrid.

Guardiola's team has had such a good season, but his reputation among Barcelona fans has declined significantly because he has failed to win against Real Madrid and lost to them in the last match.

If Barcelona loses to Real Madrid again in this match, angry Barcelona fans might just show up at the club's gates demanding his resignation!

Therefore, neither side can afford to lose this match; both want to win! (End of Chapter)