On the evening of April 20, at the Mestania Stadium in Valencia, Spain.

Gao Han, accompanied by Sergio Garcia, secretly sat in the stands of the Copa del Rey final in Spain.

Tonight's final is playing out in the battle of the century, with Barcelona taking on Real Madrid.

These two teams are also the top two teams in La Liga this season, and Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, so there is plenty of anticipation for tonight's Copa del Rey final to see if Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid can continue to perform at last weekend.

The two sides of the match are basically the main force to the fullest.

Real Madrid's starting goalkeeper is Iker Casillas, with Kolarov, Bruno Alves, Albiol and Arbeloa at the back, Moutinho, Felipe Melo and Las Diarra in the back three, Sneijder up front, and Diego Costa and Higuain up front.

Barcelona also played the main team, goalkeeper Valdés, Abidal, Pique, Puyol and Alves at the back, Sergio Busquets in the single midfield, Iniesta and Xavi in the middle, Pedro on the left side of the front, Ibrahimovic in the middle, and Messi on the right.

Both teams played with the strongest lineups, which can be described as star-studded and star-studded.

Perhaps influenced by last weekend's Century Derby, the game was full of gunpowder from the start, with Puyol fouling Diego Costa at the start of the game and then Alves blocking Sneijder, putting the two teams in an argument that was eventually separated by the referee.

After the restart, Barcelona controlled the ball and tempo smoothly, while Real Madrid defended on the whole line.

The first threatening attack of the game came from Barcelona, when Ibrahimovic returned the ball and Xavi cut in from the edge of the box and fired a long-range shot just wide.

After that, Barcelona continued to use their advantage in passing and possession, frequently attacking the hinterland of Real Madrid, threatening the goal of the Galaxy Battleship again and again, but never got a scoring opportunity.

Real Madrid's defensive actions are relatively large, including Diego Costa, Bruno Alves, and many players are frequent small moves, and Arbeloa even stepped on Pedro's calf dangerously, which once again triggered a conflict between the two sides, and even a little out of control on the field.

Sitting in the stands, it was clear that after 20 minutes of the game, both teams were clearly playing a little impatient, and both Barcelona and Real Madrid, who had absolute possession, seemed to have lost their cool.

"This is a ploy to hit Mourinho!" Gao Han shook his head.

Sergio Garcia is keeping a close eye on the situation on the pitch at all times, as well as the real-time data on the tablet, "Real Madrid under the tutelage of Mourinho, there are many confrontations and fouls, especially after adopting the back three style of play, while Barcelona's advantage is passing, and stalking them is equivalent to being dragged into the quagmire." ”

Gao Han nodded, Mourinho's strategy is that I can't compete with you on the ball, so I will make it impossible for you to be proficient in controlling the ball.

Such a game is a test for both sides on the field, but it is also a test for the fans and spectators.

Of course, there is no doubt about the intensity and tension.

Either way, it's a derby of the century, and it's a Copa del Rey final.

"What is Barcelona's possession rate now?" asked Gao Han with concern.

"It's always been above 75 percent, sometimes even 80 percent. "Sergio Garcia is a bit staggering, it's too stark.

If you want to say that there is a gap in the strength of the two teams, then everyone can see it, but if you want to say that the gap is so big, no one will believe it.

The only plausible way to say that this was Mourinho's intention.

"Real Madrid have been relying on long passes to launch counterattacks since the opening, but the effect is not particularly obvious, and Guardiola has obviously made a statement about this, so Mourinho's idea has not worked, and it has not even succeeded once. ”

"Yes, the long passes are mainly Sneijder and Moutinho, and the success rate is very low. Sergio Garcia said.

On the defensive end, Mourinho did not retreat from all sides in this game as he did last weekend, but kept three lines compact and pressed forward across the board. ”

"Three back waists. Gao Han replied, "There are three midfielders in charge, Mourinho has full confidence in the defense and interception of the midfield, so he presses forward, you see, they have seven players who are full-time defenders, plus a very mobile Sneijder, and the offensive end basically relies on Diego Costa and Higuain in the front. ”

It is not difficult for Gao Han to guess Mourinho's intentions, if after playing three backs, even Sneijder actively returns to the defense, and retreats across the board, then Real Madrid does not have to play at all in this game, and directly surrenders and admits defeat.

He played with a back three in order to win.

Seeing no, Sneijder adjusted his position. ”

Following Gao Han's gesture, Sergio Garcia looked over, but found that as Gao Han said, in a counterattack, Sneijder ran from the middle to the left, and after receiving Moutinho's pass, after completing a combination with the Portuguese on the left side, he advanced to the front, completed another beautiful combination with Diego Costa, and then passed to the Brazilian striker.

However, Diego Costa's last-ditch shot from a tight angle couldn't hit the right angle and the ball crossed in front of goal.

However, this time the attack was really eye-catching.

"After Alves pressed the attack, Barcelona's right side defense was a problem, and in the case of a single midfielder, the right side was indeed a little weak in the face of the opponent's counterattack. ”

Gao Han said this, turned his head to look at Mourinho in front of the coach's box, the Portuguese madman was wearing a straight suit, he looked full of momentum on the sidelines, and he felt like he was winning, which made people feel particularly confident.

"I have to admit that Mourinho knows Barcelona very well, and Pep Guardiola's team has been switching from attack to defence in a very short period of time, and there is a lot of gap between the midfield and the backline, especially when Alves on the right side is attacking forward. ”

In addition to his targeted counter-attacking routines, Mourinho's defensive strategy also worked.

Barcelona seemed to have possession of the ball, but in reality, the fast, skilful and fluid passing and receiving that they were best at, did not appear, and instead the referee's whistle blew frequently.

In any case, it is good to ridicule Mourinho as destructive football, but his style of play really works.

Professional football is known as a war without gunpowder, and since it is a war, both sides of the war have only one goal, that is, to kill their opponents and achieve victory by any means necessary.

For Real Madrid, fighting with Barcelona for possession is self-defeating, and only Mourinho's path has hope and chance of winning.

What's more, tactics on the football field are never only about possession and attack, defense is also an art.

After Sneijder changed his position, Real Madrid finally made one of the most dangerous attacks in the 41st minute.

It was the Dutch midfielder who played the ball from the left on the counter-attack, Diego Costa headed it behind him, and Higuain cut in to shoot but hit the right post and bounced off the line.

Failing to capitalise on his chances and scoring past Barcelona left Higuain frustrated.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Such a tense and intense game also made Gao Han breathe a sigh after watching it, and he felt quite uncomfortable.

How so?

Jose Mourinho choked Barcelona's seven inches, and Pep Guardiola's side never showed the level they deserved.

'The lack of assault and the reliance on Alves for the transition from the wings are one of the biggest problems Barcelona are facing right now, and if they don't solve it well, Barcelona will have enough to choke in the second half. ”

Gao Han said this and thought for a while, "Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Mourinho's team will make mistakes by themselves, after all, in forty or fifty minutes of play, mistakes are inevitable, especially when the physical consumption is getting worse and worse, as long as they are caught by Barcelona once, they will die." ”

In fact, the race was as Gao Han expected.

In stark contrast to the first half, Barcelona regrouped in the second half and the advantage became more apparent.

Real Madrid had to start retreating from all sides under the condition that their physical strength was constantly being consumed, which also represented Mourinho's game strategy, whether it was to ensure that he did not concede the ball first, and then slowly compete with the opponent.

But I have to say that under Mourinho's tutelage, Real Madrid's defense is almost monolithic, and every player in the team is very brave and tenacious, especially the back three, which has set up a barrier in front of the defensive line.

The only serious mistake came from Las Diarra's sticky ball, but Barcelona counter-attacked and almost scored, but Casillas played a crucial moment to keep out a close-range must-score from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and let Barcelona miss one of the best scoring chances of the game.

Jose Mourinho was quick to make a change, with centre-back Garay replacing Las Diarra and pushing Albiol into midfield, with Garay partnering Bruno Alves in central defence.

"Barcelona have 80 per cent possession, oh my God!" said Sergio Garcia, who couldn't believe his eyes.

It looks like Barcelona is pressing Real Madrid.

Gao Han also felt particularly amazed, especially for the Real Madrid team that Mourinho had coached.

"To be honest, the competition has gone on so far, and it is no longer about skills and tactics, but about fighting spirit, willpower and desire to win. ”

What makes Gao Han even more emotional is that Barcelona's shooting efficiency in this game is too low, and the front trident of Ibrahimovic, Messi and Pedro are all sluggish, which cannot be said to be a problem between Barcelona and the players, it can only be said that Mourinho's tactics completely restrained them.

Interestingly, there were no substitutions on either side of the game, and after 90 minutes of play, the two sides still drew 0-0, which has to be said to be a rare thing.

But it also indirectly reflects the familiarity and understanding of each other.

After entering extra time, Real Madrid was still very passive, forced to defend and wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

Although Barcelona has the possession of the ball, with the consumption of physical energy, there are frequent mistakes.

At the end of the 104-minute game, Real Madrid finally seized a chance when Sneijder counter-attacked and played a wall-to-wall with Kolarov on the left to attract the attention of the defence and distribute the ball to Kolarov, who crossed with his feet and landed extremely accurately.

Diego Costa stepped in from the back and got ahead of Puyol and Pique before heading home from close range!

With this goal, the Mestania Stadium was completely detonated and won the first championship trophy for Real Madrid after many years!

At the moment when Diego Costa scored, Gao Han couldn't help but stand up and applaud vigorously like the Real Madrid fans in the stadium, but he had mixed feelings in his heart.

'Real Madrid deserved this goal and they deserved this victory. ”

After a pause, Gao Han continued: "I just hope that Mourinho can become more confident after winning the Copa del Rey, the more confident they are, the better it will be for us, if it is still like this game, then ......"

Gao Han smiled bitterly and let out a long sigh before he finished speaking.

Jose Mourinho is definitely a respectable opponent.

(End of chapter)