Chapter 925: Piercing Hope
The moment the football crashed into the goal, the Bernabeu Stadium erupted in volcanic applause and cheers.
Although the game was far from over, Benzema's goal only closed the gap between the two sides, and it will take at least three more goals to reverse Atletico Madrid to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League, while also ensuring that he does not concede a goal.
However, the emotions of the more than 70,000 Real Madrid fans in the stadium were as excited as if the team had won the Champions League trophy.
It's no wonder these fans are so excited, considering that since Feng Quan joined Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid has not only suffered a humiliating nine-game derby defeat, but also suffered a clean sheet in all six "Madrid derby" matches since February 12, 2014, after scoring two goals in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
It is worth mentioning that the last time he contributed to Real Madrid in the "derby", it was also Benzema, and there was a gap of 574 minutes between the two "derby goals".
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If you change to some other weaker team, you may be shocked by the momentum of the more than 70,000 fans in the stands, who are almost crazy, and will not be able to play their due strength normally for the rest of the game, and finally suffer a humiliating defeat.
However, the Atletico Madrid team, which had just completed the "Six Crowns" last year, had already subtly let them have the spirit of "who else is me", and the crazy celebration of the fans at the scene not only failed to make them have the slightest negative emotions, but also stimulated their desire to win.
"Isn't it just a goal in advance, do you need to be so excited?" Griezmann, who was standing in the center circle with Feng Quan and was about to restart, said disdainfully.
"Since Benzema's goal gave Real Madrid hope of a comeback, it's up to me to puncture this bubble-like hope."
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Even before Atletico Madrid conceded a goal, Diego Simeone was unhappy with the on-field performance of his players.
Although Simeone repeatedly told the players before the game to be sure to play with all their strength and never underestimate Real Madrid, most of the players of Atletico Madrid did not give their best as they did in the previous "Madrid derby" due to the fact that they had three goal differences.
Atletico Madrid, who has always been known for their iron-blooded courage in previous games, actually chose to back down on the handling of the half-goal near the midfield because of fear of injury, and it is precisely because of this that they will be slightly inferior in the battle for midfield. And this kind of situation is extremely rare after Simeone took the helm.
When Benzema was the first to break the deadlock, Simeone's face was so ugly that it almost dripped.
At this moment, Simeone is ready to take advantage of the halftime to severely reprimand his "uncompetitive" guys, so that they can turn back into the familiar iron-blooded army.
However, when the game resumed, Simeone was pleased to find that the "curse draft" he had just played in his belly might not be useful at halftime.
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After the restart, all the Atletico Madrid players were involved in the attack, except for the backline, and even the two full-backs pressed forward near the halfway line of the opposition half, ready to meet their teammates in midfield.
Such a battle may put a lot of pressure on Real Madrid's defence, but if the opponent seizes the opportunity to launch a counter-attack, Atletico Madrid's goal is likely to be in danger.
In the 30th minute of the first half, when Koke, who had the ball in the middle of the field, was about to send a through plug into the penalty area, he was recognized by the precautionary Khedira and cut off the ball in the middle.
Khedira didn't hesitate to pass the ball to Modric not far in front of him.
Modric stopped the ball and turned to send an overhead pass directly to the empty space on the right side of the field, and then saw Bale rush along the sideline to the area where the ball landed like a supercar at full power.
And Felipe Luiz, who is responsible for marking Bale, was forced to overtake the outside by the Welsh king despite the first time he chased back after Khedira broke the ball with all his might.
With Atletico Madrid's defence still unfinished, if Bale gets the ball first, their goal will probably be severely tested again, after all, Bale's best way to score goals is to break through on the counter-attack.
However, just as Bale was about two or three meters away from the ball that bounced off after hitting the ground, he was knocked out of the touchline from the inside by an Atletico Madrid player wearing the number 11 red and white jersey.
The next moment, with a piercing whistle, the referee first rushed to the place of the foul and awarded Real Madrid a free-kick close to the touchline, then called all the wind that knocked Bale off the sideline, and then pulled a yellow card out of his pocket.
Although this was the first yellow card he received in the Champions League, a faint smile unexpectedly appeared on Feng Quan's face.
In fact, when Koke's pass was broken, Feng Quan immediately turned around and rushed back towards his own half, even though Bale was already five or six meters ahead of him at that time, but with Feng Quan's speed and full strength, he still had a chance to control the ball before Bale without using foul means.
The reason for this is nothing more than to express a belief and attitude of "inevitable" to opponents and teammates. You know, in Diego Simeone's team, Feng is the only one who doesn't need to be involved in defense, even he has rushed back from the opponent's half to actively participate in the defense, and the others will of course have to be more active in the game.
However, the smile on Feng Quan's face was full of ridicule and provocation in the eyes of the opponent, so even though the referee made an accurate penalty at the first time and showed Feng Quan a yellow card, the Real Madrid players still relentlessly put pressure on the referee to directly show the red card and send Feng Quan off the field.
In fact, they knew very well that although Feng Quan's foul ruined a dangerous attacking opportunity, it would not constitute a red card in any way from a rule point of view, and Bale did not really have the ball before being knocked away, but only occupied a better position.
Even taking into account Real Madrid's home factor, the referee will not be able to ignore the rules and send all the players off the field. The reason why they are like this is more from Feng Quan's "taunts and provocations" to their side, and at the same time, they also hope that the referee will make more decisions in favor of themselves in the future games because of the pressure.
Seeing that the referee was indifferent to his side's request to send off the wind, Real Madrid had to refocus on the game.
With the foul close to the touchline and close to 40 metres from goal, Atletico Madrid only symbolically sent Koke as a human wall, while the rest of the players retreated to the vicinity of the penalty area, leaving only Griezmann waiting for an opportunity near the halfway line.
Normally, when the opponent takes a free-kick in front, the wind is all waiting for an opportunity near the center circle, but this time he let Griezmann "swap" to guard near the top of the arc of his own penalty area.
With the referee's whistle, Modric, who was in charge of taking the free kick, accurately found Ronaldo in the penalty area.
Cristiano Ronaldo's ability to head the ball, but under the double attack of Miranda and Raul Garcia, his shot was easily confiscated by the highly focused Oblak.
Just when the Real Madrid players were still feeling sorry for Ronaldo's header, Oblak had already thrown the ball directly to Fengquan outside the penalty area.
In the next moment, Feng Quan, who had completed the stop ball and turned around, had already rushed towards the opponent's half like lightning, first accelerating from Isco near the center circle to change direction and get rid of the interception.
After crossing the halfway line, he made two consecutive feints to deceive Tony Kroos into taking the lead and then passed in the opposite direction.
Facing Sergio Ramos, who came to make up for the defense, Feng Quan first pretended to break through to the left, but when the opponent moved his center of gravity slightly, he moved the ball to the right front with his right foot.
Although Ramos was ready to stop Feng Quan even if he fouled and ate cards when he stepped forward to make up for the defense, before he could adjust his center of gravity and put the shovel, Feng Quan was already 3 meters away from him.
After escaping Ramos' marking, Feng Quan once again used the alien's signature pendulum swing to shake Casillas to the ground, and then easily pushed the ball into the unguarded gate.
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