Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Seeing that the protests were ineffective, the Barcelona players could only move into the penalty area to mark and closely defend against several Real Madrid players who posed a significant threat with their headers.

As a header specialist, Cristiano Ronaldo naturally became a key target for Barcelona.

Taller Barcelona players like Pique and Busquets were almost always around Ronaldo, marking him closely.

Seeing this, Lin Feng, who was in the corner area, couldn't help but smile.

Barcelona have been tricked!
He gave a tactical signal, glanced at the direction of the penalty area, and quickly kicked the ball out.

The Real Madrid players, who had been huddled together in the penalty area, scattered the moment Lin Feng kicked the ball out.

The scene became somewhat chaotic for a moment, and the concentration of Barcelona's players, including the goalkeeper, was severely disrupted.

The remaining attention was focused on Ronaldo, and no one noticed that Ramos, who was originally standing in the penalty area, suddenly retreated to the middle of the penalty area and easily jumped with almost no one defending him, completing a header.

Despite Valdes's best efforts, he was still a step too slow.

The ball veered past his hand and nestled into the net.

The score became 1-0, and Real Madrid got off to a dream start at home.

The match had only been going on for less than five minutes when Real Madrid were already in the lead!
A huge cheer erupted at the Bernabéu Stadium, and Ramos, who scored the goal, excitedly ran to the sidelines and slid on his knees in celebration.

On the Real Madrid coaching bench, Mourinho excitedly embraced his assistants.

For Real Madrid, who excel at counter-attacking, there couldn't be a more perfect start!
For the away team, Barcelona, ​​this situation is clearly the last thing they want to see.

"Guardiola looked very serious. This match is crucial for his team. Only by defeating Real Madrid away from home can they narrow the gap between the two teams. This match is not just about the outcome of one game, but also about the success or failure of the entire season!"

On the sidelines, Guardiola stood with his arms crossed, frowning as he stared at the pitch.

He was pondering whether the goal conceded earlier was part of Real Madrid's tactical plan or an unexpected outcome.
From Marcelo's positional adjustment to the special corner kick tactic used by Lin Feng, it was clear that everything had been rehearsed.

This made him wonder if Mourinho was trying to break down Barcelona's defense in this way.
Despite these doubts, Guardiola was unable to make an accurate judgment due to the short time remaining in the match and could only continue to observe patiently.

Ramos's goal gave the team a huge boost in morale.

Real Madrid, who took the lead from the start, played with increasing ease at home, displaying a variety of attacking combinations with ease, as if they were treating Barcelona like an ordinary team and dominating them.

In the 8th minute, Lin Feng combined with Ronaldo again, sending a long pass to Ronaldo who was offside. Unfortunately, Ronaldo's former teammate Pique saw through his intention and moved ahead of time, putting Ronaldo in an offside position, which resulted in the ball being disallowed.

"What a pity, Ronaldo started a little too early!"

"But his chemistry with Lin Feng has already become apparent; their connection is incredibly powerful, and Barcelona needs to be extremely vigilant!"

In previous years, when Real Madrid didn't have a top striker, Barcelona only needed to focus on containing Lin Feng.

Now that Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo in their squad, Barcelona is finding it a bit difficult to focus their energy on him.

They don't have enough manpower to target Lin Feng and Ronaldo at the same time. Both of them are very strong in individual combat, and they can't be stopped one-on-one. They need to be surrounded by multiple people.

In the 11th minute, Lin Feng came to the wing and completed a series of one-two passes with Marcelo. Then Marcelo dribbled down the wing and sent in a cross.

Unfortunately, Pique made a timely interception and cleared the ball out of bounds.

Real Madrid won a corner kick, and they once again resorted to their tactic of surrounding the goalkeeper.

Seeing that the opposing team had started using such thuggish tactics again, Barcelona was in a real bind and went to protest to the referee again, but their protests were still fruitless.

Fortunately, Valdes performed exceptionally well this time, taking the initiative to catch the ball in mid-air, preventing Real Madrid from having a chance to execute a tactical play.

"Well done, Viktor!"

On the sidelines, Guardiola shouted excitedly, startling Mourinho who was standing next to him.

Mourinho couldn't help but roll his eyes:

All they did was defend one corner kick.

Is it really necessary to get so worked up?

As fellow superstars, Messi naturally couldn't let Lin Feng and Ronaldo steal all the limelight.

After thwarting Real Madrid's attack, Barcelona immediately launched a counterattack.

In the 12th minute, Messi dribbled into the penalty area and fell under Ramos's challenge.

Barcelona's players immediately rushed towards the referee, trying to pressure him to award a penalty.

But the referee ignored them and refused to award a penalty.

This decision greatly angered Barcelona, ​​and Guardiola even received a yellow card from the referee for his emotional outburst.

Perhaps in an attempt to redeem himself, a minute later, Alonso was shown a yellow card for a foul on Pedro that didn't warrant a card, which again angered Mourinho.

The referee treated both coaches equally, immediately running to the sidelines and showing Mourinho a yellow card.

However, yellow cards are not very damaging to head coaches, since they are not suspended like players who accumulate a few yellow cards.

Unless you send them off with a red card, it will have almost no impact.

As both teams found their rhythm, the game became increasingly intense.

In an effort to stop the opponent's attack, both sides engaged in very aggressive counter-pressing during the transition between offense and defense, which inevitably led to a large number of fouls.

In the 16th minute, Mascherano fouled Xavi just outside the penalty area and received Real Madrid's second yellow card.

Messi took the free kick himself; he has been practicing free kicks for the past year.

Although I haven't reached the level of a free-kick master yet, it's good enough for me.

Unfortunately, his free kick from 25 meters out went over the crossbar.

The pace of the game was very fast. Messi had just finished his shot when, in the blink of an eye, Real Madrid's attack had advanced into Barcelona's penalty area.

In the 17th minute, Ronaldo broke into the left side of the penalty area but fell down under Pique's challenge.

Strangely, the Portuguese, who are known for their diving and faking, did not lie down in the penalty area this time. Instead, they got up immediately, waved to the referee who came to check on the situation, indicating that it was their fault, and showed no intention of cheating.

This move greatly surprised the reporters and countless fans present:
What's wrong with Cristiano Ronaldo today?
Has she suddenly changed her personality?

Could it be that after joining Real Madrid, under the subtle influence of Lin Feng, he changed his personality?

[Neither Lin Feng nor Messi dives, and Ronaldo, considering himself a superstar, naturally wants to emulate them!] [Yes, Ronaldo also has his pride; if he continued to dive, it would be too undignified!]

Regardless, this is a good thing. Hopefully, there will be more players like them in the football world in the future!

Messi was in excellent form in this match, and he was exceptionally active on the field. Even when he was surrounded by multiple players, it was difficult to completely limit his performance.

In the 30th minute, Thiago Silva fouled Messi while defending him and received Real Madrid's third yellow card.

Mourinho on the sidelines couldn't help but frown; in just thirty minutes, the team had already received three yellow cards.

Moreover, these are all yellow cards for key defensive positions, which will inevitably have a huge impact on the team's defensive system.

Messi took another free kick, and although he missed again, it was on target, forcing Casillas to make a desperate save.

"Messi's free-kick skills have improved rapidly in the past two years. Last season, he already scored a goal in the league with a free kick, and this season he has gone even further. So far, he has already scored two free kicks in La Liga!"

Messi's progress has even prompted the commentators to stand up and praise him.

After all, not everyone has the top-level talent of Lin Feng. Messi's talent in free kicks is very average. He didn't even develop this skill in his early years. He only started practicing in the last two years and gradually developed this ability.

Barcelona's relentless attacks finally paid off.

In the 33rd minute, Maxwell quickly took a free kick, Messi passed the ball across to Xavi, and Xavi chipped it into the penalty area from a standing position.

Facing Messi's breakthrough into the penalty area, Thiago Silva, who was carrying a yellow card, hesitated slightly and was a step too slow, allowing Messi to get past him.

Messi burst into the penalty area like a flea, nimbly weaving through the gaps between multiple defenders. With his superb dribbling skills, he repeatedly beat the defenders. In a one-on-one duel with Casillas, he calmly slotted the ball into the far corner, completing the goal.

The score is now 1-1, and Barcelona has turned the tide again!
"Leo Messi, the most lethal dribbler on the planet, has proven with that goal why he is hailed as Maradona's successor!"

Real Madrid players were somewhat frustrated after conceding the goal. Casillas helplessly shrugged at his teammates, without blaming anyone.

He witnessed his teammates being completely outmaneuvered by Messi. If Messi hadn't been exhausted after making the breakthrough, he suspected he would have been beaten as well.

That kind of incredible shot is unstoppable by anyone, unless they commit a foul.

It's not much different from committing a foul in the penalty area than letting the opponent score directly, and it might even cost you a player, so it's not worth it at all.

Lin Feng glanced at Messi's back; this guy has really been on a killing spree lately.

Including this goal, Messi has scored 6 goals in his last three games.

The total number of goals scored this season has reached 45, including 33 in the league alone!
With seven or eight rounds left in the league, given his current scoring rate, it's highly likely he'll break the forty-goal mark this season.

This put considerable pressure on Lin Feng. Although he still leads the league's top scorer list, his lead is not large, only 3 goals more than Messi.

For a monster like Messi, who can easily score hat-tricks, and occasionally even four or five goals, the difference of three goals is really not that significant.

It seems I need to seize the opportunity and score more goals.

With no hope of winning the World Cup, they must perform at their best in the league and the Champions League to have any chance of defending this year's Ballon d'Or.

A dozen minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

Throughout the first half, the statistics for both teams were basically the same.

The number of shots on goal was exactly 11 for both teams, 11 for each.

Barcelona had 51.8% possession in the first half, slightly higher than Real Madrid.

Their passing accuracy of 84.2% is also higher than Real Madrid's 83.7%, but the difference between these two figures is not significant.

Compared to previous years when Barcelona used possession-based tactics to dominate Real Madrid, this year Real Madrid, by strengthening their midfield, has been able to match Barcelona in terms of possession.

But Real Madrid is not pursuing possession; they are pursuing attacking efficiency.

The team's performance in the first half was clearly not enough to satisfy Mourinho.

After taking the lead early on, Real Madrid failed to find any clear scoring opportunities for the next forty minutes.

What a waste of such a powerful midfield and such a luxurious attacking lineup.

"The opponent's defense is very successful. Don't get bogged down in positional warfare. Use your speed and momentum to break through their defenses. Seize every opportunity during the transition between offense and defense, and launch an attack when their defensive formation is incomplete!"

Mourinho repeatedly emphasized his tactics to the players, saying that Barcelona is a top team, and top teams don't have weak defenses.

Breaking through an opponent's defense with positional warfare is not an easy task, even for a top team like Real Madrid.

Conversely, seizing upon the opponent's mistakes and finding scoring opportunities during offensive and defensive transitions is a simple and effective approach.

However, in the Barcelona locker room, Guardiola, as if guessing Mourinho's thoughts, heavily tapped the tactics board with his hand and said, word by word:

"Real Madrid's advantage lies in their simple, efficient, and fast counter-attacks. You did very well in the first half and didn't give them many opportunities, but you must not relax in the second half. The defenders must avoid making mistakes when handling the ball, and the midfielders must not hold onto the ball too long and must be decisive in handling it."

Don't panic if you lose the ball. Immediately launch a swarm press. I don't care what methods you use, even tactical fouls, you must prevent the opponent from passing the ball out, especially their number 8. Absolutely do not allow them to complete a pass during a counter-attack!

He fought Lin Feng seven times, and almost every time he suffered a loss at Lin Feng's hands.

Even a pig should learn a lesson.

Guardiola felt that it was not an exaggeration to emphasize Lin Feng's threat.

The halftime break ended quickly, and the players from both sides returned to the field one after another.

After the start of the second half, Real Madrid indeed intensified their pressing in the attacking third, sometimes even aggressively sending out three players from midfield to surround and press the ball carrier.

However, thanks to Guardiola's pre-arranged tactics, Barcelona paid close attention to protecting the ball and pressing back after losing possession, preventing Real Madrid from having many good opportunities.

However, Real Madrid's pressing also caused considerable trouble for Barcelona's midfield, hindering their attacking organization and drastically reducing their threat to Real Madrid's goal.

Due to the intense competition, fouls were frequent, dirt and grass flew everywhere, and players were often brought down to the ground, making the scene look very chaotic.

Many viewers who had just turned on their televisions couldn't help but doubt their eyes when they saw this scene:

Is this still a football match?

Why does it feel like watching a rugby match?

Two powerhouses boasting some of the most luxurious squads in world football today, yet all we saw were dazzling attacking plays; instead, we watched them wrestle in the mud. (End of Chapter)