For the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Pellegrini undoubtedly attaches great importance to it, even more so than the league in some ways.

The reason why Florentino poached him from the small town is not just to be a transitional coach, and he is determined to complete the complete reconstruction of the century-old giants in the second palace of Galeries Lafayette, so naturally he has great hopes for Pellegrini.

Lafayette's purpose is very simple and clear, he asked the Chilean coach to lead this new phase of the Galaxy Battleship built with a lot of money, to remain competitive in the league, to overwhelm the rival Barcelona, and to make a breakthrough in the Champions League - the concept of breakthrough is not clear, returning to the top of Europe is the best result, but everyone knows that this is unrealistic, Real Madrid has not achieved good results in Europe for many years, so if you want to eat a fat man, it is unimaginable that no more confident person can imagine.

Don't think about the big ear cup, but at least, the hat of "Champions League Sixteen" must be taken off.

In recent years, Real Madrid has been blocked out of the Champions League quarterfinals for four or five consecutive years, and it can be said that the first phase of the Galaxy Battleship is gradually declining, and the team is in the process of rebuilding, and now, with a lot of money and a lot of reinforcements, this new generation of Galaxy Battleship built with a lot of money has set sail, if it misses the Champions League quarterfinals again, then Galeries Lafayette and his board of directors are not "ambitious", but "people are stupid and have a lot of money".

This is something that Florentino absolutely cannot tolerate, and it is also a damage to Real Madrid's reputation, and Galeries Lafayette does not want his Real Madrid to continue to be the laughing stock of the football world.

Pellegrini doesn't want to be a joke either, he understands the thoughts of Florentino and the club's hierarchy, and he has the same expectations, and he has made up his mind to leave Villarreal and come to Real Madrid, isn't it precisely to be able to lead a strong team with quality and ability to compete for various championships?

Now that he is the manager of Real Madrid, and the Champions League is the highest level of competition between European clubs, it is only natural that he wants to take the team further. Therefore, Lyon, this roadblock, he must step over, the hat of "Champions League Sixteen", he must also help the team take off!

Placing great importance on the first leg of the Champions League, Pellegrini has been more rigorous and strict in these few days of training, demanding that the players must follow his instructions to complete the training, and when the game comes, he will field the strongest squad he can field.

On the front line, Benzema, who played for Lyon last season, is at the front, C. Ronaldo and Raul are slightly further back, on both sides, in midfield, Guti and Van der Vaart form a double forward combination, the central midfield is the team's metronome Xavi Alonso, in the midfield, Pellegrini gave up the recent in-form Rus Diarra, in favor of Mohamed Diarra (Big Diarra), the former sprained his big toe in training the day before yesterday, for the sake of safety, Pellegrini finally put Las Diarra on the bench.

The back four are lined up, Marcelo, Ramos, Metzeld and Arbeloa, and the goalkeeper is the No. 1 main Iker Casillas.

The starters in the midfield are relatively neat, and the backline is relatively stretched. Pepe, the team's main central defender, strained his muscles during the winter transfer period and has been recovering from the injury, while another permanent central defender, Albiol, is even more tragic, after returning from the national team, he stepped on the soap while taking a shower at home and broke his hip......

In desperation, Pellegrini had to push right-back Ramos to the central defender position, and then equipped another substitute Metzelder to form a central defensive line.

Despite the lack of major generals in the backline, there are many hidden dangers, but Pellegrini is still full of confidence in the upcoming game, he didn't think about defense at all, on his own turf, Real Madrid not only want to win, but also win beautifully, so attack has become the only option, Pellegrini also hopes to rely on the luxury of the offensive line configuration, to overwhelm the opponent.

……

Manuel Pellegrini's calculations were loud, but things didn't go as he had hoped.

On the day of the game, Real Madrid in the cheers of more than 80,000 home fans, from the beginning of the game, put on a strong offensive posture, and they used a strong offensive line to successfully suppress the away team in the half, won the dominance of the midfield, but Lyon did not panic, perhaps before the game they had already been suppressed psychological preparation, so there was no setback in morale, on the contrary, their retreat defense, the half of the 30-meter area operated like an iron bucket, Real Madrid fans attacked, But in essence, there are not many threats.

The first half was a thrilling and exciting game, with Real Madrid's attacking tempo moving extremely fast, but they were never able to find the back of the net, much to the disappointment of tens of thousands of fans.

Fan Bizhuang sat on the bench and watched the entire half. Although his form has been surprisingly hot during this period, scoring two goals in the last round of the league, Van der Vaart has also performed well, although he has not scored many goals, but his tandem in central midfield, as well as passes and assists at key moments, are still a lot of weight for the team.

In fact, Van Bizhuang also knows that the reason why Van der Vaart has been able to sit in the main position is because of his own continuous and stable performance, and the team's reluctance to break the existing balance. Ronaldo is Real Madrid's most important signing this summer, exceeding 90 million euros, and his value is even stronger to become the world's No. 1.

With such a heavy investment in the introduction of players, his status in the team can be imagined. At present, Cristiano Ronaldo is the absolute core of Real Madrid, and he has also proved his worth with constant goals.

But if Fan Bizhuang occupies a main position, Luo can score, and Fan Bizhuang can also score, then is the team dominated by C. Ronaldo, or is it a tactical cooperation around Fan Bizhuang?

With C. Ronaldo as the mainstay, then well, even if Fan Bizhuang occupies the main position, he can only give C. Ronaldo a hand, not to mention whether the arrogant Fan Bizhuang is willing to accept the fate of the "supporting role", even if he is willing, then such a goal-scoring player can be called an efficient player, not to score, to run to pass the ball, is this a great waste?

But if it's Fan Bizhuang, okay, C. Ronaldo goes to pass the ball to Fan Bizhuang? It's just impossible. The world's number one worth, Ballon d'Or winner, to give an ordinary player a hand, and he is not afraid to give people jokes when he says it? The most important thing is that the club will never allow such a thing to happen, otherwise, more than 90 million euros will not be in vain?

For coaches, it is a very worrying thing to have a superstar who has no super ability to rely on, but there are many excellent players, and it is also a worrying thing.

Of course, from the heart, Pellegrini is more inclined to Fan Bizhuang, not only because Fan Bizhuang is his direct disciple, but also because C. Ronaldo has scored so many goals with the support of enjoying the maximum right to fire and the resources of the whole team, but Fan Bizhuang has also scored so many goals in the time of the bench, if in terms of efficiency alone, Pellegrini must think that Fan Bizhuang is better.

But the world of football is not so simple, as a manager, you have to weigh all kinds of reasons, Real Madrid is not a small city, and Pellegrini cannot do it to the point where one person can change the perception of the entire club.

In fact, today's Van Bizhuang is very similar to the predicament faced in La Masia, in Barcelona, in the future core competition, the Barcelona top management chose Messi, and in Real Madrid, the club can only choose Cristiano Ronaldo - the reason is very simple, the investment of nearly 100 million cannot be rotten in his hands, and C. Ronaldo's performance is also extremely convincing, he has played extremely well on all fronts, and he is worthy of his huge transfer value.

Therefore, Fan Bizhuang wants to seize the main position, and it is difficult, not only to overpower Van der Vaart in the competition for the same position, but also to solve the problem of coexistence with C. Ronaldo - this is the most difficult, either Fan Bizhuang is willing to give the other party a hand, or C. Ronaldo's state suddenly disappeared, and he has the possibility of replacing the upper position.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Pellegrini will solve the problem of the two "goal maniacs" coexisting on the pitch.

Pinning all hopes on the head coach is somewhat illusory, Fan Bizhuang is very aware of this, but now he has no good solution, so he can only wait for the opportunity slowly.

Fortunately, he is in excellent form, even if he comes off the bench, he can always achieve something, so at this stage, he does not have such a sense of urgency to get the main position.

After watching the entire first half, Fan Bizhuang shook his head with some emotion: "We lack a center forward who can compete for high points. ”

Hearing this, Kaka next to him nodded: "We dominated the attack, but the opponent's defense line was tight, and the perimeter of the penalty area was tightly protected, if you just want to penetrate the ground, it is undoubtedly extremely difficult." At this time, it is best to have a high school striker at the front, whether it is to play the ball on the wing or as a bridgehead to make the ball for teammates, it may be able to achieve good results. ”

The bucket formation has always been a global problem, and when one team is determined to put the bus on the bus and defend it all, it is difficult for the other team to make a breakthrough.

In the first half, Real Madrid was like this, Lyon chose to retreat with all the players when they could not compete with the home team in attack, and they even took the initiative to relinquish control of the midfield, allowing Real Madrid to storm around their half, but in the 30-meter area of the goal, it was tightly protected, laying out layers of defense.