Chapter 559: Champions League Final Four
At 20:45 on the evening of March 27, the first leg of the 2011/2012 Champions League quarter-finals of Real Madrid's away challenge to Atletico Greeks was officially kicked off at the GSP Stadium, the home of Atletico Greeks.
The outside media and fans do not believe that Atletico Greeks can eliminate Real Madrid and create a miracle, but the players and fans of Atletico Greeks still want to give it a try.
Because they have made it past three play-offs this season, then qualified as Group G winners in the Champions League group stage and eliminated Lyon in the quarter-finals.
They had already done a miracle when they made it through three play-off rounds to reach the main draw and top the Champions League group stage.
By knocking out Lyon to reach the quarter-finals, they had already made a new European record in Cypriot football.
Now, they want to go one step further and sink the Galactic Battleship to create an even greater dragon slaying saga.
Especially on their home turf, Atletico Greeks will not flinch.
Of course, this is just psychological non-cringe.
Tactically, in the face of Real Madrid, the coach of Atletico Greece will naturally not let his players attack against Real Madrid's stars, which is tantamount to looking for death.
And Atletico Greece can qualify for the top spot in the Champions League group stage this season and eliminate Lyon in the 1/8 finals, thanks to their defensive counterattack.
Even at home, they will not take the initiative to attack, but will stick to the counter-attack, looking for that opportunity to win with a counter-attacking goal.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, can't attack without attacking.
Facing the weakest team in the quarterfinals, Real Madrid, which is dozens of times more valuable than its opponent, if it doesn't dare to attack, and has to rely on Mourinho's defensive counterattack to win, even if it wins, it will have to be sprayed to death.
Therefore, this game Real Madrid was in advance of formation and played positional battles, rather than defensive counterattacks.
However, this is not difficult for Real Madrid.
Because Real Madrid this season is too terrifying, most teams are playing defensive counterattacks against Real Madrid, and Real Madrid does not lack the ability to play positional battles.
Especially when there are two passing masters in the team, Alonso and Lu Wenbin.
Alonso and Lu Wenbin are one in the back and the other in the front, making Real Madrid's midfield organization and attacking ability unrivaled.
In the sixth minute, Real Madrid formed a threatening attack.
Alonso's through ball evaded all the interceptions of his opponents and Benzema also managed to counter offside, but the goalkeeper of Atletico Greece was too timely to break the ball off the touchline before Benzema.
In the 9th minute, Ozil, who played as a fullback, made a cross from the bottom, and Lu Wenbin followed up with a header in the middle to grab the goal slightly above the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Real Madrid made a comeback.
Cristiano Ronaldo made a high-quality long-range shot after cutting inside on the wing, but the Atletico Greeks goalkeeper made a brilliant save to save Ronaldo's long-range shot from the bottom line, which was applauded by the fans.
In the 15th minute, Atlético Greeks took advantage of a counter-attack to get their first shot on goal.
Although it did not hit the goal frame, it still aroused warm applause and encouragement from more than 20,000 fans at home.
Although the overall situation is that Real Madrid pressed the Greeks to play, the Athletic team has not conceded a goal, and there are occasional counterattacks, which makes the home fans at the scene quite happy.
Soon, though, these home fans couldn't be happy.
Because Real Madrid's continuous attack finally got the score.
In the 19th minute, Real Madrid played a classic short pass in front.
Lu Wenbin, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, and Benzema passed in a row, penetrating through the Greeks' defense with a quick short pass, and finally Lu Wenbin completed the final blow in the ribs of the forbidden area, sending the ball accurately into the corner of the goal.
Real Madrid took a 1-0 lead away from home, while Atletico Greece, playing at home, fell into passivity.
After taking the away lead, Real Madrid were much more comfortable in advancing and retreating.
They can drop back in formation and wait for the opposition to come up and show their flaws at the back.
Anyway, even if this score is maintained until the end, a small 1-0 away victory is enough, and it is basically Real Madrid who advances to the semi-finals.
And the Greeks who were behind at home had to press out to attack.
If you lose both at home, you don't have to expect to win away from home.
Therefore, the bottom line of Atletico Greeks is that they can't lose at home, so now that the score is behind, they will naturally attack, strive for an equalizer, or even reverse the score to win.
But this is an impossible task for the Greeks.
There is a huge difference in strength in itself, and in the face of Real Madrid, which is mainly defensive and counterattacking, it has to press the attack, and the backfield is simply a racetrack for Real Madrid's stars.
In the 31st minute, defender Diarra broke the ball and handed it to Alonso, who handed it to the forward full-back Marcelo to form a counterattack.
Defender Marcelo with a knife crossed from the side, Ronaldo's header was saved, but Lu Wenbin, who followed up, was the first to grab the landing point, and a fallen stab shot stabbed the ball into the goal of Atletico Greeks.
Real Madrid lead 2-0 away.
This score is even more secure, and it basically declares the death sentence of the Greeks.
The rest of the game was a bit of a bump.
Although Atletico Greece tried its best to attack, the lack of offensive ability and the strength of Real Madrid's backline made Atletico Greece fail to score a single goal, but were often counterattacked by Real Madrid in the continuous attack.
The speed of Lu Wenbin and Cristiano Ronaldo, and the passing ability of Alonso and Mesut Ozil, have made the Greeks suffer enough.
After 90 minutes, the score was 0-5 on the big screen and Atletico Greeks suffered a 5-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid.
This score, 100 percent declared the death sentence of the Greeks athletic.
There is no example in the history of European competition where a 5-0 defeat in the first leg and a comeback in the second leg.
What's more, this is a home defeat in the first leg, and it is even more impossible to play away in the second leg.
Real Madrid's qualification for this season's Champions League semi-finals is already a certainty.
Of the five goals scored by Real Madrid, four were scored by Lu Wenbin, who once again completed his senior in the Champions League.
Now that Lu Wenbin's goal in the game has become a routine operation, it is not surprising to score two or three, and it is worth mentioning if he scores more than four.
Only when Lu Wenbin doesn't score, that's big news.
After playing the Champions League and returning to the league, on March 31, in the 31st round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Osasuna away.
Osasuna have been in good form this season and are currently sixth in La Liga, ahead of Atletico Madrid.
However, in the face of Real Madrid, even at home, Osasuna was powerless to resist.
After 90 minutes, the score was 1-5 on the big screen, with Osasuna losing 5-1 at home to Real Madrid, only scoring a goal from a penalty spot.
Lu Wenbin scored another hat-trick and assisted the remaining two goals in this game, and single-handedly directed all five goals of Real Madrid, which can be called the game master.
After this big league win, Real Madrid sat at home and ushered in the second leg of the quarter-final against Atletico Greek.
However, this time Mourinho fielded most of the substitutes.
Not only Ronaldo, Benzema and others, but even Lu Wenbin sat on the bench and did not appear until the end of the game.
The 5-0 win away from home in the first leg has made the second leg a regular affair, as long as you send someone to deal with it.
In the end, the game was tied at 3-1.
Although Lu Wenbin did not play, it was Real Madrid who won, and Atletico Greeks did their best to score a face-saving goal.
Real Madrid reached the semi-finals of the 2011/2012 Champions League with a score of 8-1 over two legs.
Their semi-final opponents were Chelsea, who beat Benfica, Jose Mourinho's former club.