Chapter 632: Successful Revenge
It was precisely because the score of 0-0 made the second leg full of suspense, and Li Mudi, who did not dare to be careless, still adopted a large rotation strategy in the subsequent league and protected several core players who had been playing in club and national team competitions continuously, which led to Real Madrid suffering the fourth draw in La Liga this season.
On the evening of the 4th, the Galaxy Battleship, which was a guest at the Gran Canaria Stadium, failed to play at a normal level in the big situation of scoring the first goal soon after the opening, and it seemed that they could not find the feeling of playing football under the rainy weather brought by the monsoon, and there were low-level mistakes in a row.
For example, in the 63rd minute of the second half, Ceballos slipped his support foot at the moment when he took the penalty kick, and staged a farce that would definitely be selected as a sports tidbit.
On the other hand, in defence, Real Madrid's mistakes were even more deadly. Zori, a young player who was blown by the media as a combination of Ramos and Hierro, didn't know which string in his head was wrong this night, and in the process of defending a free kick, he inexplicably kept pulling the shirt of the opposing striker Donovan, and he didn't hide it. This kind of blatant foul behavior is naturally impossible to escape the eyes of the referee on duty, penalty!
As a result, centre-forward Rafa Mir, who had learned the lessons of the opposing players, steadily sent the ball into the bottom left corner of the visitors' goal to make it 1-1.
Unwilling to win and draw, Real Madrid wanted to strengthen their investment in the attacking end, but they made a series of mistakes on the slippery field, not only failed to create any good chances, but made another big mistake in the 87th minute of the game, and were obviously reversed by the opponent.
Aaron's careless return pass near the midfield directly formed an own assist, which caught his teammates off guard, and Vallejo, who wanted to chase back in time, slipped his feet again, and came to a dog to gnaw shit, adding a big joke to the melon-eating crowd.
It's just that in the face of this big gift, Rafa Mir turned out to be an Oscar-winning actor, after he formed a single knife and used the passing method of striding the ball to shake off the attacking Andre Lunin, but in the face of the empty goal, he accidentally cut out the far post, causing nearly 30,000 home fans at the scene to let out a huge scream. This is definitely the most classic case in the series of "Kicking is harder than kicking", no wonder even Li Mudi, who was still annoyed by the mistakes of his own players just now, was taken aback, and then secretly congratulated Real Madrid's luck was not particularly bad.
In the end, a draw that could be considered an upset slowed the Galacticos' march towards a certain title. With Barcelona winning this round, the difference between the two sides is back to 15 points, and if the gap is not further extended in two weeks' time, then the scenario that Melinger hoped for will not happen.
According to the rules of Spanish football, once a team has secured the league title early, all opponents should express their congratulations and respect to the new king at the front of the opening team for the rest of the season.
And this season's schedule, the second leg of the national derby happens to be staged in the 34th round, the penultimate round, if Real Madrid can stretch the difference between the two sides to 16 points or more before that game, then their arch-rivals are willing to respect this tradition - to put it bluntly, is to save face, then the Galaxy will be able to enjoy the ceremony of welcoming the Barcelona players on their own doorstep. This is definitely a feast in the mind of Meilinger to be ranked in the top 5 of the list that makes me feel the best.
It's just that judging from Li Mudi's current strategy of focusing on the Champions League and ignoring the league and the current situation that Barcelona is difficult to make a difference in Europe, it is estimated that the possibility of Real Madrid fans wanting to achieve this wish is not too great, which makes many people feel a little regretful.
But everyone will unconditionally support the decision made by the manager, because last year's defeat in the semi-finals must be avenged, especially if the opponent is the old opponent who has eliminated himself in two consecutive direct encounters in the Champions League, then he cannot suffer the humiliation of three consecutive kills.
So on the afternoon of April 7, a full four hours before the start of the game, the Bernabeu stadium was full of supporters who came to cheer for the home team, and a large group of yellow-skinned people attracted the attention of Western media reporters who came to the scene to report. After an interview, I learned that this is a group from the Celestial Empire, all of whom are members of Li Mudi's fan club, and they came to visit their idols through the lottery of activities, just in time for the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Due to the scarcity of tickets and other reasons, the 43-man team was unable to enter the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to watch the game, so they planned to stay in the square outside the stadium with other local supporters, cheering on Real Madrid through the big screens.
Although he rarely communicates with his fans, Li Mudi is still very grateful to have such a group of compatriots who support him on the other side of the ocean. After the Spring Festival, the manager of his fan group contacted him through the email address he had left before, expressing the hope that the Real Madrid coach would spare an hour or two to hold a meeting when he returned to China next time.
Originally, this was not an excessive request, but considering that his wife's body should not go far away in the summer, and he must stay by his side to take care of it, and it is likely that he will not be able to return to China, so at Lin Yuner's proposal, he decided to personally come up with a sponsorship fee and invite some people to go to Spain to play at the right time, and by the way, find an opportunity for everyone to meet and chat together, which can be regarded as compensation for his inability to agree to the fans' requests.
As soon as this news was exposed, it immediately caused a lot of sensation in the Celestial Empire, and tens of millions of fans said that even if they wanted to resign, they could not let go of this opportunity to contact idols in person, and even many stars in the entertainment industry half-jokingly said that they wanted to participate.
According to the plan formulated by Li Mudi, this group of fans who just arrived in Madrid last night will have a good look at the attractions in the city today, and tomorrow they will have the opportunity to visit the Valdebebas Sports City, who knows that they chose to come to the stadium this afternoon to fight.
More than half an hour later, Real Madrid President Raul, who had not yet left the station, learned of the situation, and after a brief discussion with Hierro and other management, he decided to open several VIP boxes above the stadium, so that these fans of the Celestial Dynasty who came from afar could feel the atmosphere of the live game.
These people should definitely be happy about their luck, because since 2012, when it was revealed in the media that a Celestial Empire gang was suspected of using Real Madrid's home box to engage in illegal transactions, Galeries Lafayette ordered that no one other than the club's hierarchy, players and family members should not be allowed to enter the luxurious viewing platform in the stadium, a decision that was also renewed after Raul took over as the club's new president. But just today, the world's No. 1 football club has made an exception for these fans from the Celestial Empire, which is indeed a very rare thing.
The arrival of the team's fellow coaches seems to have brought a lot of luck to the home team, and the news suddenly came before the game, Bayern's main central defender, veteran Niklas Jule suddenly had abdominal pain, not only could not start, but even the bench was very likely to not be able to sit on.
According to UEFA rules, the starting line-up can be changed within a quarter of an hour before the start of the game for non-technical and tactical reasons, so Bayern supporters don't have to worry about their team having to send 10 men in the opening game. However, the 18-man squad could no longer be filled, meaning that Ribery would have to bring six substitutes to play today's game, and without another professional centre-back as a back-up. In the event of an injury or even ejection in this position in the game, he will have to make a cameo appearance with Frenchman Thomas Belmont, who plays mainly in midfield.
Faced with a favourable position on all fronts, Lee and his players were naturally confident that they could overcome their opponents, and from the outset, the home side launched a ferocious attack and warned the Germans who were still looking to qualify with a dangerous long-range shot, which is the territory of the Bernabeu-Real Madrid.
Since Li Muddy joined the team, the Galaxy Battleship has won an astonishing 97% of the battles on their home turf, with only one draw in 21 months, and the rest of the games have all ended in victory.
Even Bayern Munich, which is as expensive as Europe's top giants, will be suppressed by the momentum when they come to the sacred Bernabeu Stadium, and can only choose to temporarily avoid its edge and start from consolidating its own defense. It's just this reasonable choice, but it directly led to them becoming the protagonists of the tragedy, and before they could play their best according to the pre-match plan, they were basically knocked out by their opponents.
In the seventh minute, Manuel Pellegrira pulled out of the box and played a brilliant set up with his team-mates, and the ball was passed quickly at the feet of him, Mbappe and Fabas, and finally the Italian striker's through ball penetrated the visitors' entire defence. However, when the French winger got his feet up at high speed, he was a little too close to the baseline, but he still played a high-quality shot from a tight angle. Unfortunately, Bayern goalkeeper Bruchtel's reaction was among the best in the world, blocking the ball off the crossbar at the end of the near post with a single fist, and resolving the crisis in a thrilling way, at the cost of a more obvious pain in his left wrist, which had to be relieved by moving himself before the corner kick was issued.
He proved to be quite prescient, as Asensio's shot found the right spot on Skriniar's head, and the veteran Slovakia centre-back slotted a powerful and angled header into the bottom right corner of the net past Germany international Tahe. Pressing Früchtel made a second move within 40 seconds, leaping sideways between the lightning and flint, and poking the ball out of the post with the tip of his left hand to save his team from the fire.
However, his heroic play is also limited by his earthly bloodline, and he can't really be as omnipotent as those superheroes in American comics who can fly away at every turn, and under the continuous and powerful blows of his opponents, he still failed to become the savior who turned the tide.
In the 19th minute, Manuel Pellegri showed the world why he had been known as Ibrahimovic II before, receiving Asensio's cross at the top of the penalty area, as if he had suddenly mastered the ability to play the violin with his feet, and through a small series of continuous stop-and-go dribbling techniques, he shook all three Bayern defenders to the point that they didn't know how to put their feet. The Italian striker finally used a deceptive feint to knock Hofmann, who had started in place of Jule, almost to the ground, and then accelerated and rushed into the box.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Tach hurriedly reached out to intercept, but accidentally kicked the opponent's calf and gave Real Madrid an undisputed penalty. Asensio then struck a mid-pitch shot to give the home side a one-goal lead and take the initiative in the race for promotion.
At this point, it is far from the end of the world for Bayern Munich, who are playing away from home, because they can score the equaliser before the end of the 90-minute game to reach the last four.
It was just when Ribery directed his players to stop putting too much emphasis on defense and instead put more troops up front after the restart, an unexpected thing happened.
In the 25th minute, in the face of Real Madrid's sudden high pressing, the Bayern players made a solid kick in their own backfield, and finally passed back to goalkeeper Flüchtel by Jule. The current German national team goalkeeper Manuel Pellegri was still far away from him, but he made a super low mistake and passed the ball to Mbappe, who was moving closer to the center on the flank.
Although the Bayern goalkeeper knew that he had made a big mistake soon after the ball was kicked out, he desperately turned around and ran towards his own goal, but he could not remove the mine he had planted with his own hands, and had to fish the ball out of the net for the second time with a frustrated face.
The goal was a demoralisation blow to the visitors, and it took them 15 minutes of half-time to regain their normal form, but after Real Madrid had shown their best counter-attacking tactics, they were unable to score a face-saving goal until the final whistle.
In the end, the Galaxy defeated their old enemies in Europe by two goals at home, advanced to the semi-finals of this season's Champions League, and avenged the elimination of their opponents a year ago.