Atletico Madrid, who is difficult to play at the back, can only make long passes to Costa in front under the pressure of Real Madrid.

It's one of their usual attacking routines, but passing the ball in a poorly prepared situation makes it difficult for Costa to stop the ball comfortably.

Simeone put his hands to his mouth and spoke like a horn and told Koke to drop back between the centre-backs and organise the pass.

On the other side, Bitolo retracted midfield and ceded the wide passage to two full-backs to cut forward.

Three Atletico players gathered in the midfield to suppress Real Madrid's midfield.

Casemiro, a single back, suddenly doubled the pressure.

Not only does he have to intercept Atletico's forward passes, but he also has to keep an eye on Felix, who is ready to drop back to pick up.

Although only 20 years old, the Portuguese youngster has shown great talent.

There was also a difficult Costa to cover, and Felix's retreat made Real Madrid's defense very uncomfortable.

Once he slashes in the space behind the full-backs, he gives his team-mates more freedom on the flanks.

Or pull the centre-back out to create space for a team-mate in the middle to receive the ball.

With his activity, Atletico began to get some attacking opportunities on the flanks and threatened the Real Madrid goal.

The return of Nacho at the back has solved Real Madrid's defensive problems at the back.

The initiative of the game is still in the hands of Real Madrid.

Felix, in order to prove himself, frequently took the initiative to ask for the ball in the ribs, wanting to tear apart the Real Madrid defense.

At the moment, Simeone has not found a more effective way to attack, so he can only try it first.

Atletico Madrid, began to infiltrate with short passes.

As mentioned before, Atletico Madrid's players have a balanced range of abilities, can be on the side, and can also play tacit passing cooperation, not only rude destruction and savage defense.

The short pass penetration is to be able to give the ball to Felix's feet and give full play to his characteristics.

In the 28th minute, Atletico Madrid boldly invested in the attack, and Koke was freed from the backfield to play as a wing-back, forming a passing combination with central midfielder Saul and sending the ball to the ribs.

After Felix got the ball, he was defended by Ramos, first feinted and pretended to cut inside, and after mobilizing the center of gravity of the defense, he suddenly moved the ball straight forward and attacked the Real Madrid penalty area head-on.

The Real Madrid captain is not so easy to shake off, Ramos is always ready to tackle the ball the moment he turns to chase back, trying to intercept the opponent's breakthrough at the first moment, and not give him a chance to speed up.

Felix, who thought he was shaking off the defense, suddenly felt a huge force from his side, his body instantly lost his balance, the sky spun, and he fell on the turf amid the exclamations of the home fans.

Ramos left the promising star speechless with a clean tackle.

Nacho rushed to control the ball, and Atletico's formation was in a fault stage.

Atletico players are hesitating, should they press forward for a tackle, or go all out to retreat?

Nacho seized the short moment and played the ball towards Valverde in the centre circle.

At this time, Atletico Madrid's players reacted, and midfielder Saul stepped forward for the first time to scramble and knock Valverde to the ground.

Drip!

Yellow!

The referee rushed forward and decisively pulled out the cards, suppressing the emotions that were about to explode on both sides.

One step later, I'm afraid it won't be a problem that can be solved with a yellow card.

Saul didn't explain much, because if it wasn't for his foul, Real Madrid would most likely use the counterattack to threaten the goal.

Simeone clapped his hands off the pitch and applauded Saul's defensive tactics.

At the same time, he kept waving to the audience, signaling the fans to cheer more passionately.

Since he couldn't force the Real Madrid captain, Atletico wanted to use the cooperation to tear apart the defense.

A few minutes later, Atletico attacked again.

Felix controlled the ball in the ribs after receiving a pass from his teammate, looking for a team-mate's cooperation.

Diego Costa pressed into the box down the middle and was a good catch.

But Casemiro was on the ball and ready to intercept at any moment.

Felix had no choice but to pass to the inserted full-back Trippier.

[Straight stopper, good ball! ] 】

[Trippier crosses!] 】

[Diego Costa's header! 】

[Oh, it's dangerous! 】

[It's just a little bit worse!] 】

[Atletico Madrid's header grazed the post and went out of the bottom line! ] 】

Costa, who was rolling on the ground, protested to the referee that Ramos was pushing behind and asking for a penalty.

Jose Gonzalez, however, thought it was a reasonable scramble and gave the ball to Real Madrid.

From this attack, Zidane also saw the threat that Felix brought to the team in the ribs, and hurriedly ordered Casemiro to protect the rib space at any time.

In this game, Casemiro, who played as a single midfielder, shouldered the team's defensive responsibilities and hardly participated in any attack.

He ran tirelessly, constantly checking and filling in the gaps in the defensive line.

Only when the waist is stiffened, will the attack have strength.

Zidane's arrangement of this game can also be described as meticulous.

Valverde started ahead of James and Odegaard in order to strengthen the confrontation and dynamism of the midfield.

The Uruguayan youngster is also a player who can play against Atletico Madrid without falling behind.

Although there are still some frizz, these can slowly become more calm and mature after accumulating game experience.

Zinedine Zidane is very optimistic about him and believes that he will become the core of Real Madrid's midfield for the next decade.

After a few attempts to attack from the wings, Real Madrid have gradually become familiar with the opposite road and have become more comfortable defending.

Simeone shouted into the stadium again, waving his right hand incessantly and giving the command.

Soon, Atletico's offensive came again.

It was Felix, who picked up the ball on the flanks and tried to wipe it into the box from the bottom line.

But Nacho's defence was watertight and kept him from getting deep into the box.

At this point, Koke stepped forward to pick up, adjusted a step after winning the ball, and then played a long diagonal pass to the weak side.

Another Atletico full-back, Renan Lodi, stopped the ball near the touchline, watched in front of goal and crossed with his feet.

Once again, Diego Costa broke free from Varane's entanglement, slotting into the box from the front post and heading home from the spot.

This time, he headed it into the bottom corner of the goal from an extremely tricky angle.

Courtois quickly fell to the ground, straightened his arms and poked the ball out of the baseline with his fingertips.

Corner kick!

Atletico's attack is once again a threat.

Zidane finally couldn't sit still.

The opponent's tactical execution and tenacious fighting spirit are far beyond the average team.

Once they bite the score, the second half will be even more difficult to play.

Koke took a corner kick and Atletico's high point was pressed into the Real Madrid penalty area.

When it comes to defending corners and set-pieces, Real Madrid players are actually not good at it.

Even with the two highs of Ramos and Varane, there are often leaks in key places.

Sure enough, the ball was passed to the back post, and Savic jumped high and headed the ball down the middle.

Not only did the Real Madrid players rise to the top in the middle, but they also had no one to guard Savage at the back post.

Thankfully, Courtois reacted quickly and punched the ball out of the box with both fists as his opponent's header headed towards the middle.

But the two penalties on the periphery were still caught by the Atletico Madrid team.

Felix met the ball and volleyed directly, and the ball drew a sharp arc, smashed into the net above the goal, and bounced off the bottom line.

Under the strict defense of Diego Costa, as the only shining point in Atletico Madrid's attack, Felix frequently created killing opportunities in the front, but he always lacked the standard of a top striker when he was on goal.

The Portuguese youngster, who was given high hopes, was given more attacking resources.

Three minutes later, it was Felix again, and the shot after cutting inside didn't quite hit the spot and missed the far post.

The delay in breaking through the goal of the city's sworn rival made the Atletico players start to be impatient and play more roughly.

Fortunately, there was not much time left before the end of the first half, and after a few dull rounds of mutual attacks, the two sides went into half-time.

(End of chapter)