Chapter 061: Volley
"Oh, oh, oh-"
When Tang Zheng picked up his right foot in an unmarked state, the Mestalla Stadium sounded the subconscious exclamations of Barcelona fans in the sky.
The sound grew louder as the ball flew towards the goal, until it slammed into the net in the upper right corner of the goal, only to be replaced by the hysterical shouts of the Real Madrid fans.
“Gooooooooooooooooooal——”
British Sky commentator Andy Grey's selfless elongated voice, and his partner Martin Taylor continued to shout passionately: "Incredible goal! Incredible pass! Incredible Don! He once again proved his infinite energy in the 2014-2015 Copa del Rey final! Scored two goals in a row with Real Madrid's super strength when they were two goals behind!!"
He Wei, the commentator of the central 5 commentary seat on the spot, also overflowed with passion, raising his arms and shouting: "The ball is in! The ball is in! Tang Zheng used a powerful long-range shot to help Real Madrid equalize in the 64th minute of the game! 2:2!! There is still plenty of time left for Real Madrid, so we have reason to believe that Real Madrid will eventually beat Barcelona again at the Mestalla Stadium and defend the Copa del Rey title!"
The close-up of the live broadcast was aimed at Tang Zheng, and the fans sitting in front of the TV could see Tang Zheng in frenzy.
Tang Zheng, who is recovering during this time, is actually under a lot of pressure, after all, he has not had this kind of injury in his career, and there will inevitably be some small fluctuations at the psychological level, especially when he comes back to play Barcelona, he doesn't know if his state will be like playing Juventus half a month ago, so he got a huge pressure release in the case of scoring two goals alone.
Looking at Cristiano Ronaldo, who was surrounded by his teammates in the center, he had mixed feelings, and he wanted to take advantage of Tang Zheng's injury and could not be present to prove that he could save Real Madrid better than Tang Zheng.
But it turns out that Tang Zheng is the savior of Real Madrid.
Thinking that he has entered the age of thirty and is approaching the twilight of his career, compared to the twenty-five-year-old Tang Zheng, he ...... It seems to be old.
Is it really old?
Thinking of this, Cristiano Ronaldo shook his head, and he lingered on these thoughts with negative emotions.
Thirty years old, how can you be considered old?
No!
At the same time, the close-up of the live director was given to a number of Barcelona players.
Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi and others, the close-up stay on Messi's face for the longest time, a full five seconds.
In fact, from the analysis of Messi's facial expressions, you can read the mood of other Barcelona players, or Messi's expression is a microcosm of the whole team.
Including Barcelona coach Enrique, who was shown in the subsequent broadcast footage, the glimmer of his first half was completely gone by this time, replaced by endless worry.
In the first half, there was a two-goal lead, and there were many attacks that expanded the score to kill the game, on the other hand, in the second half, there was no mercury-like attack, it became a constant defense, and the pressure became more and more as time passed, and finally Tang Zheng scored two goals in a row.
His pre-match and half-time tactics and assumptions weren't like that, but a lot of the time the reality wasn't going to go as planned.
"Damn it!!"
Enrique believes it's time for a substitution again.
But he couldn't make a decision, because the second goal conceded was due to Xavi coming off the bench, if he made another adjustment, will the defense be used by Real Madrid again?
And...... For whom?
Iniesta?
Busquets?
Neymar?
Suarez?
Messi??
Obviously not, because none of the players on the bench are as good as these players, even if they don't play well.
The fans of both sides of the Mestalla Stadium became diametrically opposed to Tang Zheng's second goal of the game, Real Madrid fans went from being frightened to expecting to overtake, and Barcelona fans went from being excited to being extremely depressed.
Except for the avid Barcelona fans, most of the Barcelona fans seemed to be unbeaten.
The Real Madrid fans chanted Tang Zheng's name, and even the fans sitting in front of the TV could hear it clearly, so the Chinese fans thousands of miles away were particularly proud.
While this is the norm for Tang Zheng's game, it will never be enough for Chinese fans who have lacked a convincing football history in the past.
Why?
People have a sense of superiority, vanity, and national pride.
Compared to the ridicule of traveling around the world a few years ago, tourism is now full of beauty.
Getting back to business, the game restarted, with Barcelona having the advantage of the kick-off quickly organising a dangerous offensive under Messi's leadership, but football became very direct because it did not go through Xavi and Iniesta.
For this kind of layered attack, Real Madrid's backline is not afraid at all.
Sure enough!
Barcelona's first attack at Real Madrid's equaliser ended in no threat, and even caused a burst of laughter from Real Madrid fans in the stands, mocking Messi for trying to help Barcelona exceed the score again by relying on his individual ability.
※※※
When the time came to 70 minutes, the physical fitness of the players on both sides had decreased to a certain extent, and the frequency of the change of offensive and defensive rhythm was very different from the previous game, but this was the most normal change in the football game, because people are not machines and their physical fitness is limited.
Two minutes later, a passive Barcelona had yet to make a substitution, with Real Madrid taking the lead in making the second adjustment of the game, with Isco replacing the in-form James Rodriguez.
Although Isco's playing time was greatly reduced with the arrival of James Rodriguez at the Bernabeu last summer, he never gave up on competition, nor did he slack off training, worked hard, and maintained a very high level of competition, so when it was critical, coach Carlo Ancelotti would always choose to send Isco to change the way of attacking.
Isco is not fast, he is extremely skilled at his feet, and he has a very strong sense of rhythm, so he can often break through even when he is not fast.
Carlo Ancelotti's intention to bring on Isco was clear, and that was to use Isco's dribbling ability to find free-kicks.
Tang Zheng was in very good form, with an overhead kick to help the team equalize.
The second goal of the game was even more shocking, and it is not difficult to see that he is in hot form.
Carlo Ancelotti hopes that Isco's breakthrough will help the team get a well-placed free-kick position, and then use Tang Zheng's excellent form to score the goal!
In addition to Isco's reinforcement of the breakthrough, Cristiano Ronaldo also tried to cut inside.
However, Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo's free kicks don't seem to be very good, either high or biased.
Real Madrid won consecutive free kicks in front, and Enrique also realized Ancelotti's intention to replace Isco, so he took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to pull Xavi to explain a few times, asking the players on the field to give priority to standing in positions and not blindly kicking.
Enrique saw the move, but Ancelotti did not give up the tactical idea of making fouls, because free kicks are as unattainable as long-range shots, anyway, the conventional attacking methods can't find loopholes in Barcelona's defense, so it's better to try Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo's feet.
It is worth mentioning that after the turmoil of the free kick in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals to compete for the right to serve, Cristiano Ronaldo did not snatch the absolute penalty right again, but maintained the penalty system with Tang Zheng last season.
Cristiano Ronaldo's foot feel, as he has for most of the season, is poor.
Tang Zheng's control of set-pieces is very good, and he is either high or biased to pursue the angle directly, because his free kicks are often not too biased.
Tang Zheng knew that Ancelotti wanted to solve the game through free kicks, but Tang Zheng didn't think about relying on free kicks alone, so in this relatively stalemate situation, he observed the strategy, position selection and supplementary defense of Barcelona defenders.
Although nothing has been revealed so far, and Barcelona's two goals conceded were also from set-pieces, it does not mean that Barcelona's position is impeccable in defense, after all, Barcelona is known to the world for the traditional Tiki-Taka tactic, which is attacking.
Even as Xavi ages and fades out of the starting lineup, this traditional style of play is still being carried on, but many times the edge is overshadowed by the MSN combination.
※※※
Between 70 and 80 minutes, Barcelona and Real Madrid's defense became cautious, because at this time everyone's physical fitness was greatly affected, and once the ball was conceded first, it was likely to be fatal!
Barcelona want to win their first title of the season, Real Madrid wants to win their second title of the season, so neither wants to lose to the other.
Again...... This Spanish national derby has attracted the attention of more than 100 countries and regions around the world, and the consequences of losing can be imagined by anyone.
However, the game went from 0:2 to 2:2, and most of the commentators in the on-field commentary seats were inclined to equalize Real Madrid.
Since Tang Zheng joined Real Madrid, Barcelona has not beaten Real Madrid, and it has lost more and draws less.
Tang Zheng is in such good form, what reason does Real Madrid have not to win?
It's just a matter of time before the score is overtaken!
As the clock ticked, Barcelona coach Enrique became more and more nervous, and he had a sense of foreboding that Real Madrid had a good chance of overtaking the scoreline!
The frenetic atmosphere at the Mestalla Stadium is inversely proportional to the time left, and the less time there is, the more they explode.
Of course, this is for Real Madrid fans.
At this moment, the Bayern fans sitting in front of the TV watching the Copa del Rey final have a sense of empathy with the Barcelona fans, as if they have returned to the dark time of Bayern Munich between the summer of 2009 and the summer of 2013.
In the blink of an eye, the game was 85 minutes and Barcelona made the second adjustment of the game.
French defender Mathieu replaces Andres Iniesta.
The Yang 5 commentator looked at Mathieu, who was about to enter the stadium, raised his eyebrows and said, "Could it be ...... Is Enrique trying to drag the game into extra time?"
Soon, he got the answer.
Mathieu, who came off the bench, partnered Pique, thus pushing Mascherano to the back and partnering Sergio Busquets, leaving the attacking organising entirely to Xavi.
After all, Xavi is on the older side, and even if he comes off the bench, he can't be expected to attack and defend at the same time.
Enrique was relieved to leave the central defence entirely to Mascherano and Sergio Busquets.
In other words, Enrique's adjustment is aimed at defense, and he is more worried that Xavi's lack of defense will bring disaster to the team in the last minute.
In fact, Enrique was right, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were less defensively minded, it would be unrealistic to expect Sergio Busquets to play the game, and Mathieu could increase the height of Barcelona's set-pieces.
But the Catalan Sport TV commentator was unhappy with Enrique's adjustments: "We need to attack, we have an MSN combination that any team in the world fears, why should we strengthen our defense?"
However...... Barcelona's defensive problems also arise here.
Mathieu played as a substitute at central defender, which is very important, and before he had time to adapt to the rhythm of the game, Real Madrid launched a wave of dangerous attacks, if it weren't for Pique's supplemental defense, he fell to the ground and kicked the ball out of the bottom line before Cristiano Ronaldo finished shooting, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
Enrique took a long breath and held his breath as he ...... Real Madrid's set-piece attack is extremely threatening!
Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Tang Zheng, Ramos, Pepe are all top contenders, and look at the average altitude of Barcelona players......
It's understandable why Enrique is nervous.
Immediately, Modric raised his left hand, raised only one index finger, and then ran away.
A very obvious tactical gesture for a corner!
At the same time, Tang Zheng suddenly had an illusion of running towards the starting point, which tricked Busquets and Neymar into rushing forward, and then stopped sharply and retreated.
"Look at him!"
Busquets is tall, has long legs and a high center of gravity, and it is a bit troublesome to passively keep up with Tang Zheng, and Neymar rushed too hard because of his explosive power to brake in time, so Busquets could only ask Suarez who was defending Ramos for help.
Just then, Modric took a corner.
Suarez's defensive awareness as a striker is certainly not comparable to that of a defender, and he chose to continue to follow Ramos.
By the time Suarez realized that the football was passed to Tang Zheng, it was too late to defend......
Tang Zheng bypassed the players of both sides eight yards from the goal and retreated to the big penalty area line close to the front point, measuring the step point and preparing to jump.
The Barcelona players did not pay much attention to the goal because they were too far away from the goal, and their attention was focused on the second drop.
Originally, Tang Zheng was going to scramble for the landing point to make the ball for his teammates, but Yu Guang saw that the Barcelona players were a little far away, so he ......
He took a big step back to the left, pulled the angle away, and then picked up his right foot to the amazement of everyone in the audience and completed a volley at the flying football!
Suarez, who was closest to him, subconsciously made a blocking move, trying to block the ball with his body.
Real Madrid players who may be on the trajectory of Tang Zheng's shot dodged one after another......
Yang 5 commentator He Wei's voice suddenly rose an octave: "Tang Zheng! at the line of the big penalty area!"
"Oh, oh, oh-"
An exclamation erupted over the Mestalla Stadium.