"I wonder if you just noticed?"

Before the Champions League final, in the home team's coach's box at Wembley Stadium, Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez was asking Real Madrid's players in a deep voice.

"Wembley Stadium's winner's ladder leading to the Royal Box podium."

In the dressing room, many players nodded in unison, which is the hallmark of Wembley Stadium, and they naturally all noticed that there were a total of one hundred and seven steps leading directly to the podium, and it was also the stage that everyone on both teams aspired to be on tonight.

"There's a saying in England that winning at Wembley Stadium is incomparably wonderful, but losing is like living in hell because there are 107 steps up the podium ladder here, and it's a wonderful treat for the winner, and you'll be cheered on by the fans, but for the loser, it's a disaster, and every step is going to be so heavy and tormenting that you can't go straight back to the dressing room."

Yang Yang, Xavi Alonso and Mascherano all nodded their heads in unison, and they had all heard the rumors.

But there were a lot of people in the team who hadn't heard of it, so they were all surprised.

Wembley Stadium is the stage for the Champions League final and the temple of all professional footballers, but only the winner can enjoy the glory of the 107 steps, and the loser is more of a shame.

This is professional football!

It's cruel, but it's fair!

'If we don't want to be a painful loser, then we have to win Barcelona tonight.' Rafa Benitez was making his last pre-match mobilization, and just now, he had everything he had for the whole game tonight.

'We have the quality because we've beaten them five times in a row in the last two years and I'm sure tonight will be the sixth and the fourth of the season and we'll leave a shadow on Barcelona forever.'

When he said this, Benitez's tone and demeanor were tinged with pride.

He is the most die-hard Real Madrid fan, public and private, and he is proud to have such an overwhelming advantage over Barcelona.

Rafael Benitez is indeed not an orator, and his words would not be inspiring enough in normal times, but at Wembley Stadium, before the Champions League final, everyone in Real Madrid couldn't help but get excited when they heard his words, as if their whole body was about to be set on fire.

Especially when the bell ringing in the locker room to remind the Hungarian referee Viktor Koshoi to enter the field, everyone invariably stood up from their seats, and under the gesture of captain Casillas, they tacitly gathered together, handed each other's hands out, overlapped each other, and everyone shouted their hearts hard.

"Real Madrid, win!"

…………

…………

When the Real Madrid players walked to the exit of the players' tunnel and waited, the Barcelona players were already here ready.

They lined up in a line and greeted the Real Madrid players with great grace.

On the court, people are killed, but on the court, there will still be the demeanor that should be.

It's just that when they saw Yang Yang at the end of the Real Madrid team, every Barcelona player was wary in their eyes, and even faintly a little jealous, because Yang Yang was their biggest opponent tonight.

Debuted at Ajax and came to Real Madrid after moving to Liverpool, Yang Yang has had an eight-year career so far, and has encountered Barcelona several times, and he has left the stadium as a winner, which is almost a legend.

In today's world football, no player has been able to do that.

So for Yang Yang, Barcelona players have a fear from the bottom of their hearts, even fear.

And Yang Yang will definitely be the most formidable opponent that Barcelona's defenders will face tonight, in the words of manager Pep Guardiola, freezing Yang Yang will win most of the game.

But how easy is it to freeze him?

Many Barcelona players have also noticed the arrangement of Real Madrid's starting players.

Benitez has always been good at winning by surprise, and tonight was another surprise when Arjen Robben didn't play.

Yang Yang, Ibrahimovic and Robben, this has always been the iron triangle of Real Madrid's frontcourt, Yang Yang and Robben play two wings, if one of them is not played, Di Maria will be replaced.

But tonight, not only Robben didn't play, but Di Maria didn't either.

In its place is Kaka.

The goalkeeper is Iker Casillas, the back line is Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos and McConn, and the back three in midfield are Xavi Alonso, Javier Martinez and Mascherano.

There is no suspense in Real Madrid's midfield, Benitez really still adopts a more stable three-back play, but the problem is in the front, without Robben and Di Maria, how can Real Madrid's wings play?

Is it for Kaka to play as a right winger? Or let Kaka play as a striker, and Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic play as a double striker?

If it's the former, then why not Robben or Di Maria, but Kaka?

If it's the latter, what about Real Madrid's wings?

Barcelona spent a lot of effort before the game to try to contain the attack of Real Madrid's front trident, but as a result, Benitez took the initiative to fold his wings and take Robben and Di Maria, but both players were on the bench.

The situation is a bit like the situation in the first derby of the century, when Rafael Benitez hid Yang Yang.

……

Barcelona is watching Real Madrid, and the Real Madrid players are also watching Barcelona.

Yang Yang noticed that Guardiola's starting XI still did not change much.

The goalkeeper is Valdés, the backline is Adriano, Pique, Puyol and Alves, the midfield is Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta are in the middle, and the front is Villa, Messi and Pedro.

Pep Guardiola still hasn't adjusted his team's starting lineup, and it is estimated that there will not be much change in tactics.

This is a very important problem for Barcelona this season, the shortcomings of the substitute squad are obvious, and even if Guardiola wants to adjust the lineup now, he has not had to change.

Unless he's willing to trust players like Bojan, Afellai, Seydoux Keita.

Pep Guardiola believes in active control football, so he doesn't need to think about what the opponent will do, he thinks more about whether the team can play its due combat effectiveness and play its own style and characteristics.

Therefore, don't look at Barcelona's starting lineup, and Guardiola's on-the-spot command is not outstanding, but there are only a handful of teams that can contain or even defeat Barcelona, looking at the entire world football.

But unfortunately, Real Madrid is one of them.

And it's the strongest one!

He guessed it again! Yang Yang thought to himself.

Benitez's targeted tactics are really powerful, and Yang Yang is also convinced of this.

In response to this, Benitez has also made targeted arrangements.

…………

…………

Before the match, UEFA arranged a succinct opening ceremony.

It's also a routine in every Champions League final.

Real Madrid were drawn for the home team and wore a white shirt, while Barcelona also wore their red and blue shirts.

When Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic stood in the middle circle, the two suddenly became the focus of attention of the audience and even the world.

After two years of partnering in Real Madrid, plus the year of Ajax, Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic have long had a tacit understanding, and they don't need any words at all, they can know what each other thinks with a glance at each other.

And when the referee Kaushoi's whistle blew, Ibrahimovic quickly kicked the ball to Yang Yang.

The audience burst into thunderous cheers.

……

"National TV, national TV!"

"Audience friends, this is the capital of the United Kingdom, Wembley Stadium in London."

"We're broadcasting the Champions League final live for you now in the 10-11 season, Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, and now it's Real Madrid in the white shirt who kick off first."

"We see Real Madrid's No. 11 player, this is our Chinese player, the first person in world football today, Yang Yang."

"This is the fifth Champions League final of Yang Yang's career, the previous one for Ajax, two for Liverpool, Real Madrid has reached a Champions League final last season and won the title, if Yang Yang can help Real Madrid beat Barcelona again tonight, then they will become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League in the past 20 years."

'From the start of the game, the tempo was fast and we saw that Real Madrid had gone up front.

"We will find an opportunity to introduce the starting lineups of both sides to you in the future, and now look at this attack of Real Madrid and hand it over to Yang Yang."

"Yang Yang took the ball and rushed forward, Alves was defending, but Yang Yang crossed to the front of the penalty area."

"Kaka comes up and hits the door directly!"

……

Kaka's long-range shot was saved by Valdés and failed to threaten.

Valdés quickly got up from the ground, clutching the ball with both hands, but Real Madrid didn't retreat quickly.

Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic both pushed to the edge of the box and let Valdés kick off.

Rafael Benitez's strategy before the game, he studied Barcelona's recent games and found that the team was always slow to get into the groove in the first ten minutes, so he wanted his team to start the game and try to score the first goal.

Yang Yang faced Valdés and slowly retreated.

When he saw Valdés burst out of the six-yard box, he clearly judged the intentions of the Barcelona goalkeeper.

Hand toss the ball, to the right.

Yang Yang quickly sprinted to the left side, that is, the right side of Barcelona, and directly pressed Alves.

The Brazilian right full-back had just stopped the ball, and before he could move forward, he saw that Yang Yang had already killed.

Just in case, Alves immediately opted for a return pass to the goalkeeper.

Yang Yang just rushed close to Alves, quickly changed direction, rushed directly into the penalty area, and pounced on Valdés.

Marcelo also moved forward quickly, filling the gap on the left side after Yang Yang rushed into the penalty area, while also guarding against Alves.

Valdés stopped the ball and went forward, and without waiting for Yang Yang to get closer, he immediately passed to Pique, who chose to pass to Alves, who was unguarded on the right side under the interference of Ibrahimovic.

Brazil's right wing-back is the source of Barcelona's attack, and it is one of Barca's usual routines to drive forward with the ball.

But this time, he killed a Marcelo halfway.

The Brazilian left wing-back was originally just to keep an eye on Alves, but he didn't expect Pique to suddenly pass such a kick, and he directly accelerated and grabbed the ball before Alves.