At the end of November, Chinatown had a tough schedule.

In the fourteenth round of La Liga, away to Malaga.

After Manuel Pellegrini took charge of Real Madrid, Malaga brought in former Real Madrid coach Schuster to coach.

The German coach took the initiative to stabilize in the face of Chinatown, setting up a 442 formation to try to block Chinatown at home.

Zinedine Zidane once again sent out a substitute rotation for the away game, and after just six minutes, he broke the deadlock on the pitch with Pogba's goal.

Then in the 23rd minute, De Bruyne added another goal to extend the score further.

Chinatown continued to attack Malaga, especially in the second half, when in the 65th, 73rd and 81st minutes respectively, Dybala, Paul Pogba and substitute Jesus scored back-to-back goals to thrash Malaga 5-0 away at Malaga.

But this victory is nothing but remarkable in this round of La Liga.

Real Madrid beat Almeria 5-0 away, Barcelona beat Granada 4-0 at home, Atletico Madrid beat Getafe 7-0 at home, and Villarreal and Sevilla won by three or four goals.

Coupled with Chinatown's 5-0 game, the 14th round of La Liga undoubtedly ushered in a round of scoring frenzy.

And after this round of battles, the ranking of La Liga standings has not changed in the slightest.

…………

…………

Three days later, the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.

Chinatown was forced to travel to icy Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk away.

The difference in the strength of the two teams is not small, and Shakhtar Donetsk also knows that it is difficult for them to compete against Chinatown, but playing at home, the cold weather has become the best and most effective way for the Ukrainian team to restrain Chinatown.

The two teams played hard in the first half, and Chinatown was unable to get into the groove.

Until the 65th minute of the second half, Zidane substituted Koke on the field, and the first minute after the Spanish teenager came on the field, the first touch of the ball formed a tacit understanding with Isco, allowing Isco to assist Hazard to score a goal.

And Koke assisted Eden Hazard to score the second goal in the 87th minute.

Zinedine Zidane's on-the-spot command gave the team a 2-0 win away from home.

But in the other game at the same time, Manchester United beat Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 away.

This game shocked the whole European football world, and everyone did not expect that Pochettino's side could play so fiercely against Bayer Leverkusen, especially on the road, that the Bundesliga powerhouse could almost be said to be defeated.

As of the fifth round, China City and Manchester United are unbeaten with three wins and two draws, while Bayer Leverkusen is third with one win and one draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, who have basically been eliminated from the competition.

But the first and second in the group are reserved for the end to uncover the suspense.

…………

…………

In the fifteenth round of La Liga, Chinatown ushered in Barcelona.

Prior to this game, both sides played in the Champions League group stage, but unlike Chinatown's narrow 2-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk, Barcelona lost 2-1 away to Ajax, making it their first defeat on all fronts of the season.

Especially when there was one more person than the opponent in the entire second half, if you talk about the first half alone, Barcelona was 0-2 down, and the whole game was very sluggish, and even the most relied on possession lost to Ajax.

After the game, Barcelona coach Martino encountered unprecedented criticism, and even media reporters close to Barcelona broke the news that Martino was angry with the players for the first time in the dressing room after the game, angrily criticizing the poor performance of many players, and many Barcelona local players, including Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Pique, Puyol, etc., are quite dissatisfied with Martino's coaching.

Le Monde even broke the news that in Barcelona's internal word of mouth, Martino was described as Messi's yo-yo.

They have even concluded that Martino will not survive the winter break, with a change of manager already on the desk of Barcelona's management, even if his side have only lost one game so far.

The revelations from the outside media caused an uproar in the entire Barcelona, especially Martino, who publicly stated at the press conference that he did not know where the media reporters got the news, and he did encounter some problems with the players, but there was no contradiction between them.

"When I first came in, I said that in the next 21 games, we will only lose one. ”

Martino seems to be using this as a way to prove to everyone that he is not bad.

So far in the season, almost halfway through, his team has only lost once, how did he be pushed to the forefront?

In particular, media reporters can still get so much information from within the team, where did it come from?

In contrast, Chinatown's 2-0 win away from home to Ukraine and Barcelona's Waterloo at Ajax certainly made the weekend's battle for the top spot all the more remarkable.

Chinatown played Barcelona at home and immediately became the focus of all fans around the world.

However, before the game, both sides deliberately kept a low profile, with Zidane and Martino both praising their opponents in their pre-match press conferences, and the atmosphere seemed to be harmonious.

But the more this happens, the more apprehensive it becomes.

…………

…………

December 1, Leganes Block Stadium.

Like the rest of the home games this season, Gao Han sat in the stand of the chair, accompanied by Armando Marcos and Cantarero, along with Fuenlafrada, Leganés and key members of the Madrid district government.

Martino was the main force in this game, with Valdés in goal, Alba, Pique, Otamendi and Alves in defence, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Xavi in midfield, and Pedro, Ibrahimovic and Messi in front.

Chinatown, which is playing at home, is more cautious.

Zinedine Zidane played a two-man midfield approach, with De Gea in goal, Alex Sandro, Godin, Raphael Varane and Montoya in defence, Ilia Ramendi and N'Golo Kante in midfield, Isco up front, and Hazard, Morata and Antoine Griezmann in the front three.

Ilya Ramendi and N'Golo Kante started together, which was indeed a bit surprising, but it also showed Chinatown's attitude, which is to stabilize the defense and actively play counter-attacks.

Zinedine Zidane once again played a high pressing style to disrupt Barcelona's skilful teamwork and penetrate the ground like a cloud for 20 minutes.

In the face of the aggressive momentum of the home team, Barcelona seemed to be a little unable to let go.

But that's just the big picture, and in the details, Zidane still came up with something eye-catching.

For example, in the face of Barcelona's best team combination, Zidane defended with the players constantly pressing, compressing the space of the opposing players to possess the ball, and adopting tight clamps, forcing Barcelona to move the ball to the side.

Barcelona have always been adept at passing and receiving the ball into the 30-metre zone, and then using the individual ability of their players, as well as excellent movement and skilful teamwork to complete the shots, but tonight, that didn't work at the Brogue Stadium.

Ilia Ramendi dragged on, Kante raced all over the field, and the two players were like an airtight wall, blocking Barcelona's ball in front of the defence, and the overall pressure of the team made it difficult for Barcelona to let go.

The only chance for Barcelona in the first half came in the 19th minute, when Messi cut inside with the ball on the right and combined with Andres Iniesta, and Xiaobai used his individual ability to shake off the defender's clever pass into the box.

In the box, Ibrahimovic used his body to press Godin and Varane and stopped the ball to Messi, and the Argentine cut in and hit the goal directly, but the inevitable shot was saved by De Gea.

It was Barcelona's most dangerous attack.

But by the twenty-eighth minute, Chinatown quickly changed colors.

After launching a counter-attack in front, Montoya stepped forward decisively, received a pass from a team-mate, and cut past Pedro to try to cross the ball.

Andres Iniesta raised his foot to defend, touched it, and let the ball change direction, and after Morata made physical contact with Pique in the box, he barely grabbed the ball and pushed it down, only to push the ball into Valdés' arms.

Three minutes later, there was another counter-attack after a break down the flank, with Alex Sandro cutting forward with great speed and crossing from the left.

In the penalty area, Morata flicked a header to rub a far corner, but it hit the crossbar and went off the line.

Before the end of the first half, Pique made a long pass and sent the ball behind the defense of Chinatown, Messi quickly inserted it, successfully countered offside, stopped the ball on his chest, and hit the goal with his feet, but it was directly high.

The two sides went back and forth, attacking and defending, and neither of them could create a good chance to score, but the pace of the game was very intense.

It wasn't until the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half that Gao Han exhaled heavily.

"The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and Barcelona is still Barcelona. ”

"Who's to say it's not?" Cantarero also shook his head, "I just looked at the statistics in the first half, Xavi passed 62 feet, although it is a bit far from his peak, but it is also a lot more than others, this is the so-called peak is no more." ”

The disparity in strength is clearly there, and this is irrefutable.

Chinatown is still too young for the time being, and if they want to challenge Barcelona, Zidane is right.

Using a double back to clamp Barcelona's passing and cutting coordination can be regarded as a relatively safe tactical play, while high pressing and pressing is an old tradition in Chinatown, and Zidane is fine-tuning the details, but the effect is very good.

If it weren't for Ilya Ramendi's delay and Kante's full-pitched run, the first half might not have been able to hold.

"The second half was the decisive moment. Gao Han said very firmly.

"Yes, Barcelona knocked Ajax in their hands, the physical consumption is not small, and in the second half, there will definitely be more mistakes. ”

Gao Han smiled and shook his head, "Regardless of whether they make mistakes or not, I have to force them to make mistakes, if it were me, I would consider pressing directly at the beginning of the second half to grab a while." ”

"Push Kante's zone further?" Cantarero said, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes, in the case of huge physical exertion, as long as there is a crack in Barcelona's midfield, Kante can grab the ball, and as soon as he grabs it, he will counterattack on the spot, and we will have a chance!" Gao Han said excitedly.

Cantarero still trusts Gao Han's eyes very much, "But, can Zidane see it?"

Gao Han's eyes narrowed and he shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

"Perhaps, that's what Zidane wants?"

(End of chapter)