Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 469: Is it still necessary to watch Real Madrid's game? Waking up to another victory that I don't know how to win!

As time approached the end of May, the war in the five major leagues that had lasted for ten months finally came to an end.

The championship situation in the five major leagues this season is as ups and downs as ever.

The first two to be decided without much suspense are the Bundesliga and the Premier League!

At the beginning of May, Bayern and Manchester United were already more than ten points ahead of the second place in the standings.

By the middle of the month, Ligue 1 also came to an end.

If you were to choose the "most surprising" team from the top five leagues this season, Monaco from Ligue 1 would definitely be the choice of many people.

Monaco, which has young talents such as Mbappe, B Silva, Lemar and Fabinho, has performed extremely well this season.

Whether in the French Ligue 1 or the Champions League, they have created a youthful storm that makes people's blood boil!
Although they encountered Manchester United early in the round of 16 of the Champions League, they were eliminated by Ling Feng alone and failed to stage the dark horse comeback in history.

However, being eliminated from the Champions League early is not a bad thing. It also allows the young players of Monaco to retain more physical strength and focus on the league!

In mid-May, Monaco defeated Lille at home and won the French Ligue 1 championship one round ahead of schedule!
At this point, this French Ligue 1 team that does not belong to France has overthrown the rule of Paris Saint-Germain, ended the French Ligue 1 overlord's four consecutive championships, and stood at the top of Ligue 1 again after seventeen years!
The most impressive thing about Monaco, a team that has many rising stars, is naturally their ferocious attack that blossoms from multiple points.

Scoring 36 goals in 102 league games, they are the team with the most goals in the top five leagues this season!

Among them, the 18-year-old "prodigy" Mbappe, who appeared like a dazzling light, made the French exclaim "another French supercar"

However, the better the performance, the greater the exposure, and the young talents in the team quickly become the prey in the eyes of major giants.

As soon as they won the league championship, the French media fabricated transfer rumors related to Monaco players, such as "Manchester City is interested in Bernardo Silva", "Paris is determined to take Mbappe away", "The two La Liga giants are paying close attention to Lemar", etc.

As the club wins its eighth Ligue 1 title, Monaco management must also consider how to keep the team's young talents.
In Serie A, Juventus was defeated by Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals and once again missed the dream of winning the Champions League title.

The Champions League still owes the 39-year-old Buffon a Champions League trophy.

However, after returning to the Apennine Peninsula, Juventus' old boys still demonstrated the defending champions' strong dominance over the league.

After defeating Crotone in the penultimate round, Juventus still won the Serie A championship of this season with a four-point advantage, achieving six consecutive championships!
Among the five major leagues, the competition for the championship is the most intense in La Liga.

The suspense of the championship was left until the last round, where the winner was decided!

With the away victory over Malaga, Real Madrid successfully maintained its 3-point advantage in the standings. Under the leadership of the team's legend Zidane, it finally regained the La Liga championship after five years!
In addition to the La Liga championship, Real Madrid also reached the final of this season's Champions League, and has the opportunity to challenge one of the most difficult records in football: "Defending the Champions League"!

It is worth mentioning that the most terrifying thing about this Real Madrid team is not Cristiano Ronaldo, the star player who still maintains a high level of performance at the age of 32 and suddenly exploded in the Champions League knockout round;
It is not the enviable depth of the bench with Asensio, James Rodriguez, Morata, Isco and others sitting on the bench;
It’s the coach Zidane who created the new “metaphysical” tactics in football!
Since taking over as coach of Real Madrid, Zidane has promoted the word "metaphysics".

No matter how the outside world criticized Real Madrid for playing without tactics and without advantages, it did not make the fans feel reassured that "we can definitely win this game."

But Zidane's team always wins the final victory of the game (some of which are the last-minute goal), and they will perform better in key games.

Such an elusive football metaphysics has attracted countless people and even spawned a hot Internet meme:
"Do I still need to watch Real Madrid's game? I woke up to another victory that I didn't know how it was won!"

It is precisely because Zidane's metaphysical football is so wonderful that he was given the nickname "Qi Xuanzong" by fans in the far east.

Is it that Emperor Xuanzong of Qi’s metaphysical football is more powerful, or is the curse of defending the Champions League title more difficult to break?
This is the last unsolved mystery of this season.
. . .

As the five major leagues came to an end, most of the teams were disbanded and the players also had their annual vacation.

There are still thirteen days left until the last "big show" of this season, the Champions League final.

For Manchester United, who reached the Champions League final again after six years, this game is definitely the most important game in recent years!
This season, under the leadership of Mourinho, the Red Devils Manchester United, which was still fighting for the top four last season, has transformed into the league champion!

From the beginning of the season to the end of the season, Mourinho turned into a magician, using magic to bring the thoughts of the Red Devils fans back to the period when the Red Devils dominated the Premier League:
At that time, Manchester United's manager was Ferguson, the best manager in the Premier League;

Now, Manchester United’s head coach is another best Premier League coach, Mourinho!
At that time, Manchester United's front three was Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, which was chilling;

Today, Manchester United's front trident is Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Ling Feng, which is even more terrifying!
At that time, Manchester United dominated the Premier League;
Now, Manchester United is also the Premier League champion!

This season, Manchester United has won two titles: the League Cup and the Premier League.

And they even made it to the Champions League final!

For Manchester United, which has not been competitive in the Premier League or even the Champions League for several years and is in a slump, such a report card can definitely be called satisfactory!

Of course, if we can win the club’s highest honor, the Champions League, it will definitely be a perfect season for the club!

The next ten days or so will be their precious preparation time.

You know, their opponent is the Champions League king, Real Madrid, which is known as the "Galactico Battleship" and attracts countless stars!

Of course, as early as the day after defeating Juventus in the semi-finals, Mourinho's coaching team had already begun to study Real Madrid's tactical play and personnel configuration.
After the final game of the league, Mourinho gave the players two days off so that they could go home to rest and reunite with their families.

Two days later, Manchester United players returned to Carrington and officially began preparations for the Champions League final.

Carrington Base.

In a tactical room, all Manchester United players gathered together.

On the high-definition projection screen, the video of the first leg of the quarter-final between Real Madrid and Bayern was playing.

During the game, Mourinho would pause the game from time to time, and then explain and analyze the game situation:
"When attacking, their starting points are usually Kroos and Modric. We have to stop these two before they pass the ball."

"When they retreat, they adopt a zone defense, mainly to cut off the passing route of the player with the ball. Then you can safely hand the ball to Ling Feng and let him make a breakthrough."

"Did you notice? Casemiro, the number 14 defensive midfielder, always chooses to retreat instead of pressing forward at this time. His role on the field is to slow down the opponent's attack speed, not to grab the ball."

As for Mourinho's analysis and explanation, the Manchester United players were like serious students, receiving the tactical guidance of the team coach attentively.

Although it was four years ago that he coached Real Madrid.

The Real Madrid squad has also changed a lot since he was in charge, but many things are still the same as Mourinho is familiar with.

For example, this Real Madrid's counterattack was as sharp as ever;
For example, Modric is still the core of Real Madrid's midfield;

For example, Ronaldo's speed and shooting skills are still top-notch
Of course, in his opinion, this Real Madrid is indeed very strong.

Even stronger than the Real Madrid team he coached back then!
Combined with the observations and analysis by the coaching staff and scout team, he can be sure that this is definitely the most difficult game of the season.

Of course, this is to be expected.

Those who can make it all the way to the Champions League final don’t rely on luck.

However, although Real Madrid is strong, Manchester United is not weak either!
This is the first time Mourinho has led his team to the Champions League final in seven years.

It is also a great opportunity to prove to the world again that Mourinho is still the best coach in the world!
Therefore, he attached great importance to it and basically worked overtime in the office until one o'clock every night.

It is worth mentioning that after learning that Mourinho stayed up late every year, Ling Feng went to the head coach's office specifically after a day of training, and advised him to rest early and not to get too tired before the final.

Mourinho, who had previously been unable to convince his wife, daughter, or right-hand man, listened to Ling Feng and went home after get off work at twelve o'clock for the first time.

In addition to organizing the entire team to watch Real Madrid's game videos and highlights to understand the opponent's tactics and player characteristics as much as possible, the team conducts corresponding tactical drills every day.

Of course, the main focus is on two aspects: how to restrict Real Madrid's style of play and how to launch an attack around Ling Feng.

In Mourinho's view, how to make Ling Feng play to his full strength is the key to victory!

As long as Ling Feng plays comfortably and can create threats in the frontcourt, they will be able to penetrate Real Madrid's goal!

Only scoring goals can help them win the game!
Win the championship!

While the team was preparing seriously for the match, Manchester United's top management also expressed their condolences to the team.

In order to motivate the team, the club's top management also promised the team a high Champions League bonus.

It is worth mentioning that there is such a clause in the contract signed between Ling Feng and Manchester United:
If he can help the team win the Champions League, he will receive a generous bonus of 5 million euros!
Of course, for Ling Feng, whose net worth has exceeded 100 million yuan, 5 million euros is nothing.

The bonuses don't matter.

What he cares about is whether he can lead Manchester United to win the Champions League in his first Champions League season!
In 2017 when there are no international competitions, if he can beat Real Madrid to win the Champions League, win the treble as a team, and sweep the Premier League Golden Boot and assists titles, achieving a grand slam of individual awards, then this year's Ballon d'Or will surely be his!

Whether it is for his first Champions League title or for the Golden Ball, he must defeat Real Madrid in the upcoming Champions League final!
. . .

At the same time, far away in the Iberian Peninsula, in Madrid, the capital of Spain, Manchester United's final opponent, Real Madrid, is also making intensive preparations.

As last year's Champions League champion and the team with the most Champions League titles, Real Madrid certainly has reason to be proud.

However, in Zidane's view, even if Real Madrid is strong on paper, arrogance will prevent people from making reasonable judgments, thus causing mistakes on the field.

As one of the few coaches in the coaching world who played in the Champions League final and the World Cup final when he was a player, Zidane certainly knows that underestimating the enemy and overestimating oneself are fatal!
Therefore, the thing he did most during the preparation stage was to beat the players!

“This is a team that can beat us!”

"Don't take it lightly!"

"We must be cautious from the first second of the game!"

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had played against Ling Feng in the semi-finals of the European Cup, also reminded his teammates not to underestimate their opponents during training and daily life.

Especially the one called Ling Feng!
Seeing Ronaldo praising another No. 7 so much, the Real Madrid players were surprised and gradually put away their contempt for Manchester United.

As the Champions League final draws closer, related discussions and topics on the Internet are becoming more and more intense.

Some people expect the Red Devils to return and reach the top of Europe again;

Some people hope that Real Madrid can break the curse of defending champions and interpret that everything is possible in football;
Others simply hope that the two teams can play a true peak battle, a battle with faster offense and defense transitions, which can bring a visual feast to fans all over the world!
However, judging from the votes conducted by major media outlets, the defending champion Real Madrid has significantly higher support.

The odds given by major bookmakers also favor Real Madrid.

Indeed, judging from the strength on paper alone, Real Madrid is definitely the team with the most luxurious lineup in Europe, no doubt about it!

Every position is world-class and there are no shortcomings at all.

In comparison, Manchester United's overall lineup and player strength are slightly inferior to Real Madrid.

Moreover, Real Madrid has the advantage in finals experience and psychological advantage.

Therefore, the outside world is more optimistic about Real Madrid.

It is worth mentioning that even the King of Football Pele publicly expressed his optimism about Real Madrid winning the championship.

You know, the King of Football, Pele, has always been a famous "Crow's Mouth" in the football prediction world. The teams favored by the King of Football have all failed in major competitions.

After Pele made the statement, Real Madrid fans cried out on the Internet and demanded that Pele stop using his magical powers.

In this way, in addition to breaking the curse of defending the Champions League title, Real Madrid will also have a head-on confrontation with Pele's "crow's mouth" curse this time!
As both sides actively prepare for the battle, time is approaching the final day of the decisive battle.

Just three days before the game, in an interview in Spain, Real Madrid captain Ramos made a statement that added some smoke on the eve of the game:
"Manchester United is no match for us!"

"Ling Feng? You mean the number seven kid? He might be very good in the Premier League. But, in my opinion, he won't pose any threat to us at all."

"We are Real Madrid! Of course we will win the game! And lift the championship trophy!"

(End of this chapter)