At a press conference, when reporters mentioned the Champions League title, Pep Guardiola looked relaxed.

Before taking charge of Manchester City, the club did not ask him to win the Champions League, but told him to do his best.

It can be seen that the Manchester City players are very relaxed in their mentality.

Just imagine, the manager is not interested in the Champions League winners.

This represents the highest honour of a European club.

Guardiola's answer is undoubtedly an allusion to Real Madrid's persistent pursuit of the Champions League title.

In those years of the Champions League 16 Lang, how many excellent coaches were fired because of this.

This year's Zidane will be no exception.

According to pre-match media analysis, Real Madrid, who won the Spanish Super Cup during the winter break, was not fully sure of winning Manchester City.

At the beginning of the season, Pep Guardiola made changes to the squad, which led to frequent points lost in the league and even forced to draw by relegation teams, which is the reason why Manchester City fell behind Liverpool by a large score.

Before the winter break, Manchester City won five consecutive league wins, showing a sense of recovery.

Coupled with the EFL Cup exit, the league title is hopeless, Manchester City is significantly smaller than Real Madrid in terms of players' physical condition and pressure.

On the day of the game, at 7 p.m., players from both sides began to warm up.

In the Bernabeu South Stand, the area directly behind the goal, is the stand for Real Madrid's die-hard fans.

Pure white took over that area, and it was the place where the cheers were loudest in the entire stadium.

Among the two flags of "Grada fans" in their hands, the "No. 7" that represents Ronaldo has been quietly replaced by the new "No. 7" Rossi.

In the minds of Real Madrid fans, this is a change of times.

Pep Guardiola's team is the most difficult team to play against, because he is constantly updating his tactics and style of play, and he pays attention to perfection in details.

When Manchester City's starting list was announced, even Zidane couldn't figure it out.

Pep Guardiola put Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Fernandinho and Thelin on the bench, leaving Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and B. Silva to lead the attacking line.

Zidane's instincts told him that it was Luka Modric and Kevin De Bruyne who controlled the tempo of the game.

And the winner of this game will be decided by each other's forwards Gabriel Jesus and Rossi.

The referee of the match was Orsato, a famous whistle from Italy, and under his tie, the players of both sides stepped onto the pitch of the Bernabeu.

Above the stadium, the high-pitched singing of "Hala Madrid" reverberates, classical and noble, just like the temperament of Real Madrid, a century-old club.

Real Madrid starters:

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois.

Defence: Friend Mendy, Ramos, Raphael, Carvajal.

Midfielders: Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos.

Forwards: Rossi, Benzema, Vinicius.

Manchester City starters:

Goalkeeper: Edson Moraes.

Defence: Kyle Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Bonyamán Mendy.

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan.

Forwards: Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, B-Silva.

Both sides lined out 4-3-3, but there will be some adjustments once the game starts.

Real Madrid, playing at home, got the right to kick off, and Benzema waited for the kick-off in the center circle.

After the referee's whistle blew, the game officially began.

Benzema crossed the ball back into midfield and then from midfield to the right wing, hoping to use Vinicius' speed to quickly tear apart the defence.

However, Manchester City seemed to have guessed Real Madrid's attacking routine, and immediately shifted the focus of the defense to the side with the ball.

Before Carvajal stopped the ball, B-Silva had already pressed over and cut off his contact with Vinicius, and Real Madrid had to continue to pass back and quickly move to the other side.

However, Manchester City's formation, which pressed forward quickly from the midfield, created a lot of pressure on Real Madrid at the beginning.

Kroos dropped back to organise and used short passes to comb his team's attack.

Zidane does not want to be conservative, especially against Pep Guardiola's passing team, and must take the rhythm and initiative into his own hands.

Moreover, Real Madrid is good at high-speed counter-attacks, speeding up the pace of the game and not afraid to play against Manchester City.

In the third minute, Kroos guided the ball precisely at the back and sent the ball to Vinicius on the right.

The latter chose to use speed to solve the battle after receiving the ball, and when he crossed from the bottom, the power was too great, and no one fought for the ball in the middle, and the ball flew off the sideline.

Manchester City have the ball.

Unlike the aggressive high pressing of the defence, they did not rush forward when City turned into attack, but patiently passed the ball at the back to slow down the tempo of the game.

Their tempo was so slow that after goalkeeper Ederson got the ball, he didn't even stay on the spot for more than ten seconds.

After Rossi stepped up, he unhurriedly distributed the ball to the central defender who pulled the wing.

This made Zidane completely stunned.

He thought Pep Guardiola's side would slow down the tempo with possession, but he didn't expect it to do so.

Every time they defuse an attack and have the ball in their hands, they will choose to fall more and wait for an opportunity to play a dozen when necessary.

This kind of passing rhythm is what Real Madrid is not good at dealing with.

In order to regain the initiative, Zidane let Rossi go to the front, and the frontcourt players pressed collectively to press Manchester City's back.

When Real Madrid press, Gundogan will drop back to the back and organize.

Then De Bruyne sends the ball to the front.

In the first 20 minutes, the two sides converted quickly and shot each other, but there were not many attacks that could threaten each other's goals.

It wasn't until the 21st minute that City had a dangerous shot on goal.

De Bruyne received a pass from a team-mate halfway into the Real Madrid half and sent a through ball past the full-back and centre-back.

Gabriel Jesus stopped the ball and flicked the ball horizontally with the outside of his right foot, shook off Varane's close defence, and shot with his feet.

Courtois was so focused that he fell to the canvas quickly and pounced on the ball with both palms to the other side to defuse the crisis.

Behind him happened to be the stands of Real Madrid's die-hard fans, and there was thunderous applause and cheers.

[God pounces! 】

[This shot is a very big test for Courtois!] 】

[Jesus can also shake off the angle of the shot under close marking, and the quality of the shot is not bad!] 】

[Pep Guardiola sent him to start, which is the most important change in Manchester City's forward line! ] 】

[De Bruyne's pass is also very clever, tearing apart the Real Madrid defense!] 】

[If Manchester City doesn't fight, it will be very deadly if you fight! ] 】

Just when the on-site commentator was still immersed in Manchester City's sharp attack, Real Madrid's attack came suddenly.

Luka Modric drove the ball forward and, after attracting a number of Manchester City players, split the ball with the outside of his foot to Carvajal on the wing.

The latter took the ball and looked up to look at it, then got up and crossed.

Although the Manchester City players have quickly settled into position, Carvajal's quick cross caught the Manchester City players who had just returned to the defense in place a little unprepared.

Benzema leaped high from the forward pitch and got over the heads of two City players to get the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

Ederson was equally quick to react, falling quickly and saving the ball away.

But Real Madrid's real attacking threat is Rossi's second scramble.

Rossi, who was lurking in the penalty area, keenly caught the landing point and quickly grabbed it.

At this time, as many as 5 defenders in the Manchester City penalty area were still frightened by Benzema's header, completely ignoring Rossi in the penalty area.

They just stared blankly.

Watch as Rossi makes a stoppage.

Ederson, who saved Real Madrid's must-score header only a second ago, immediately bounced off the turf when he saw Rossi, spread his body and expanded the defensive area as much as possible.

But Rossi's shot was unusually calm, he pushed the far corner with the arch of his foot and fired in the opposite direction of the goalkeeper.

Ederson, who has done his best, can only watch the ball go into the net.

Real Madrid, ahead!

(End of chapter)