Green Journey

Outside the penalty area, Chu Zheng was also thrown by Navas and held his head in his hands, with a look of disbelief on his face.

He deliberately aimed this ball at the absolute blind spot on the lower left side of the goal. The arc and power were just right, but unexpectedly Navas pounced on him.

At this moment, Chu Zheng finally understood why Navas had the nickname "The Wall".
Although this guy is short, he is probably almost the same as Buffon in terms of anticipation and position selection.

In the stands, Real Madrid fans collectively gave warm applause when they saw Navas making another world-class save.

On the sidelines, Zidane put his hands in his pockets and frowned at the Real Madrid players on the court.

The development of the game deviated greatly from his pre-match expectations.

Up to this point in the game, his expected long-distance pass did not open up the offensive space and attacked Manchester City's wing defense without achieving good results.

Casemiro was completely locked up by the Manchester City midfielder.

Although Modric and Kroos have strengthened the team's defense with deep retracements and relieved the defensive pressure on Ramos, Varane and others, this has also led to their backcourt and frontcourt forwards being Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema have lost contact.

Thinking of this, Qida knew in his heart that he must make adjustments immediately.

Otherwise, let Manchester City attack with this extremely fast offensive rhythm. If Navas can defend this time, it may not be possible next time.

More than two minutes later, taking advantage of a throw-in, Zidane and Modric had a brief exchange.

After the game started, Real Madrid's tactical strategy changed significantly.

Especially the changes in passing methods and the positions and functions of some players are a clear signal that Real Madrid is actively seeking change.

In the 16th minute of the game, Sane received a direct pass from Otamendi in front of Manchester City's left center line.

But as soon as he stopped the ball, Carvajal uncharacteristically rushed behind him.

Sane was a little uncomfortable with this sudden change.

Seeing Isco also rushing horizontally along the center line, he immediately passed the ball diagonally back to Stones in the ribs of his own backcourt.

After taking the ball, Stones quickly passed forward and passed directly to Toure outside the arc in the left center circle.

Toure took the ball and turned around. He saw Benzema on the left and right front and Isco who was coming back. Modric also stared at Chu Zheng in the ribs of the center circle in front of the center line. He turned around very simply and continued to pass back. Own backcourt.

In the middle, Kompany took the ball and turned to the right and crossed.

But if he didn’t run one meter, he might have turned his right foot and suddenly passed the ball forward low and straight.

In the ribs of the center circle of Real Madrid's half, De Bruyne quickly retreated to the arc of the center circle to receive the ball.

But Kompany's ball was a bit tricky. Not only was it very powerful, the ball also bounced continuously on the ground like a wave, which made it more difficult for De Bruyne to stop the ball.

Therefore, De Bruyne, who stopped the ball in a hurry, stopped too much. Cross quickly started on his left back and took the ball forward.

In an instant, Real Madrid formed a four-on-three situation against Manchester City in the midfield.

Cristiano Ronaldo in the left rib, Benzema in the middle, and Isco in the other rib, the three of them started to push forward almost at the same time.

Seeing this scene, countless Manchester City fans in the stands suddenly stopped breathing and were as frightened as Guardiola.

However, the next second, De Bruyne, who was chasing back, tripped Cross who had not caught up with the ball.

The referee Bruchy's sharp whistle sounded, and he ran back and directly showed De Bruyne a yellow card.

De Bruyne didn't argue. Faced with Bruchy's verbal warning, he nodded and quickly walked away.

"Phew." Seeing this scene, Guardiola immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it cost a yellow card, if Cross was allowed to pass the ball, it would probably be a loss for Manchester City.

Soon Guardiola stood on the sidelines and shouted, signaling the Manchester City defenders to stop being so reckless.

At the same time, Guardiola also took note of the changes in Real Madrid's tactical adjustments.

Real Madrid's current defensive strategy when off the ball is no longer to press but not grab.

In terms of passing, Real Madrid also reduced the number of long passes and began to use continuous short passes to compete with them for midfield position.

What worries Guardiola the most is the change in Modric's functions. He has completely taken over the responsibility of the central organizer.

But after watching it for a while, a smile appeared on Guardiola's face.

Because Zidane made a choice between midfielder and striker.

He chose the midfield, which was tantamount to sacrificing the striker.

Seeing this, Guardiola felt instantly relieved.

On the field, a scene quickly appeared that confirmed Guardiola's thoughts.

In the 18th minute of the game, Ramos made a big-footed clearance at the top of the arc in the middle.

In front of the arc in the middle circle of Real Madrid's center, Kroos rushed to the landing point and took off with a header. Toure was a step too slow and did not touch the ball.

In the center circle, Benzema quickly moved horizontally to return the ball and unloaded the ball at the kick-off point.

After turning around and facing Kompany's attack, Benzema once again made a fool of himself and passed Kompany with a slow but effective fried ball.

But both Walker and Otamendi are in position at this time.

Walker quickly retreated along Manchester City's right rib channel and followed the advancing Ronaldo in time.

Otamendi saw Kompany out of position and immediately ran towards the center.

Benzema took the ball out of the center circle. Seeing that he could not use the speed to get rid of Kompany who was far behind on the right, he very simply distributed the ball to the front left.

In the blink of an eye, Ronaldo walked along the inside line of the wing to the front of the 30-meter area, and then began to cut inside the rib area.

At this time, it seemed from the stands and broadcast cameras that there were only Benzema and Ronaldo in the Manchester City half.

But on Manchester City's side, if you include Chu Zheng, De Bruyne and others who retreated, there are a total of 7 people.Walker was stuck on the outside of his right rib. Facing Cristiano Ronaldo, this guy didn't panic at all. He bent over and stepped back little by little to buy time for his teammates to return to defense.

In the blink of an eye, in the right rib area at the top of the Manchester City arc, Walker, Toure, De Bruyne and Kompany directly blocked this area, trapping Ronaldo in the middle.

Cristiano Ronaldo had no choice at this time but to follow the lead to the end.

Soon the space around Ronaldo was completely compressed by Manchester City, and the ball was poked away by Kompany from the end line of the penalty area.

When Ronaldo was intercepted, only Modric and Isco arrived at this time, and it was already too late.

Seeing this scene, Zidane shook his head and let out a long sigh. He knew very well that this was the price of his choice to play midfield.

In the BBC studio, Lineker, Ferdinand and Mourinho shook their heads.

Mourinho crossed his legs and said with a smile: "This is an obvious disadvantage left after Zidane withdrew Isco to the midfield."

"Although Real Madrid has added thickness in the midfield to prevent them from being at a disadvantage when facing Manchester City's midfield, this leaves only Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema on the front line."

"José, it's you, how do you choose?" Ferdinand suddenly looked at Mourinho.

Mourinho smiled when he heard this, shrugged and shook his head, and said with a smile: "There is no way but to fight the counterattack to the end. As long as we can control the midfield, we will have a chance. I believe Zidane and I have the same idea." of."

Ferdinand nodded and said no more words.

Soon, what happened on the field confirmed Mourinho's words.

In the 21st minute of the game, Manchester City once again used a lateral transfer, with Chu Zheng moving the ball from the left outside the Real Madrid penalty area to the right.

Aguero unloaded the ball outside the right rib and immediately handed it to Sterling on the right wing.

Sterling dribbled the ball continuously, but when Real Madrid chased and intercepted it with as many as three people, Manchester City's offense failed and Marcelo intercepted the ball instead.

After Marcelo got the ball, he immediately knocked it to Isco in the ribs, and then went around to the outside of the wing and quickly moved forward.

After Kroos got the ball, he saw De Bruyne rushing over in an instant, and he immediately crossed Modric's ribs.

Modric took the ball and turned around, just in time to see De Bruyne running across from the wing, so he immediately split the ball again.

Cross took the ball again and started to speed along the wing. In a blink of an eye, he dribbled the ball along the wing and crossed the center line.

At this time, De Bruyne also chased back from behind him, and Toure was slowly approaching on his right.

Seeing the increased risk of continuing to dribble, he immediately passed diagonally forward to the right to Benzema, who kept looking back at him.

Seeing the ball coming, Benzema turned on the spot, turned his back to Stones who was heading up behind him, and moved to the left rib without saying a word.

Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball at the top of the arc and in front of the right rib.

Facing Otamendi in front of him, Ronaldo went directly to the top of the arc in the middle.

Otamendi saw Carvajal coming up along the outside of Ronaldo's ribs on the right side, and he immediately heightened his vigilance.

At this time, Toure returned to the top of the arc, and he immediately changed his focus, preparing to guard Carvajal.

The next second, Ronaldo scored the ball.

At this time, Yaya Toure made the most stupid mistake in his career. He gave up guarding Ronaldo and ran to help defend the passing line in the middle.

In the blink of an eye, Carvajal caught up with Ronaldo's pass in the upper corner of the small penalty area on the right.

Carvajal didn't hesitate at all. When he came to the ball, he directly passed the ball back with an inverted triangle.

The ball rolled past Toure and went straight to Ronaldo, who had crossed the end line of the penalty area on the right side of the arc.

Seeing that there was no one around Ronaldo, countless people began to beat their hearts at this moment, their breathing became disordered, and it felt as if the whole world had suddenly become quiet.

In the penalty area, facing the incoming ball, Ronaldo moved his center of gravity slightly back. After adjusting, he raised his right foot and directly completed a push shot.

The ball was extremely lucky to pass through the gap at the front of the small penalty area, turning a small arc and heading straight to the lower left corner of the goal.

In front of the goal line, Ederson made a quick judgment and flew to the right.

But Ronaldo's shot was from an absolute blind spot, and the ball was still a long way from his fingertips.

Ederson could only lie on the ground and watch helplessly as the ball hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net.

"goal!!!!!!!!!"

"goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Cristiano Ronaldo!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Cristiano Ronaldo, hit the goal!!!"

"The ball went in!!!!!!!!!"

"..."

In the commentary stand, commentators and fans from all over the world were instantly ignited by this goal, and everyone roared with extremely excited voices.

On the court, Ronaldo turned around and rushed after seeing the ball hit the net. When he came to the left wing area, he slowed down and jumped up. He swung his arms back in mid-air.

"siu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Thousands of Real Madrid fans in the stands were in special agreement and shouted out at the same time, dubbing Ronaldo.

At the top of the arc, Chu Zheng, who was chasing back from the frontcourt, his chest heaving violently, silently looked at Ronaldo who was making his iconic celebration.

When he rushed back just now, he immediately realized that Toure had made a wrong choice, but he was too slow after all. As soon as he rushed behind Ronaldo, Ronaldo had already completed the shot.

Too decisive, too confident, too calm, this is the feeling Cristiano Ronaldo gave Chu Zheng just now. This kind of finishing ability is simply terrifying.

"Real Madrid scored on their first shot in the first half. This is Real Madrid. This is the efficiency of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo..."