The Champions League is the highest level of competition in Europe, and the opening ceremony is also comparable to a large-scale concert scene.

This time, Selena Gomez was invited as a guest singer.

In order to reflect the sense of modern technology, the scene layout of the concert uses naked-eye 3D special effects, which is beautiful.

After the concert, it was a fireworks show with the Champions League theme song.

I have to say that the organizers really put a lot of effort into letting the fans who came from afar have a visual feast before the game starts.

Led by referee Alvin Plessey, players from both sides walked into the Dragons Stadium to meet the tsunami-like shouts of the fans.

Guess the coin in the middle circle, Manchester City attack first.

Raheem Sterling stood in the centre circle and the whistle blew and the final officially began.

Both teams use a 4-3-3 formation, but the style of play is very different.

Guardiola, who loves to work hard, actually discharged a waistless formation.

In the Champions League final, Guardiola dared to do so.

Perhaps overconfident in his passing, Pep Guardiola wanted to sacrifice the defensive midfielder to strengthen the attacking advantage up front.

Such a tactical arrangement allowed Manchester City to take the lead in the opening game.

Goalkeeper Ederson played a long ball from outside the box through midfield and directly behind the Real Madrid defence.

Raheem Sterling slid between full-back and centre-back, successfully countered offside and unloaded the ball in front of him.

Raphael Varane stuck to Raheem Sterling and denied him a cross.

Without the right angle to shoot and with no team-mates in the middle to flank, Sterling turned the ball and shook off the distance before kicking his foot to shoot.

But he underestimated Varane's reflexes and speed.

The French student turned sharply and stabbed the ball away one step ahead of his opponent.

[Oops, this attack is a pity! 】

[Sterling is world-class when receiving and unloading the ball. 】

[But in the end, it was always a little bit worse. 】

Manchester City, who did not have a midfielder, pushed De Bruyne into a midfield position and stood in a triangle position with the other two midfielders.

The three-man midfielder acts as an interceptor and can send shells forward when switching from defense to attack.

Riyad Mahrez and Foden can use their speed to impact Real Madrid's defence.

In order to limit City's wide attack, Rossi and Vinicius are going to come back to defence.

From the start of the game, Manchester City were like an excited child, passing the ball non-stop, trying to find attacking opportunities.

To further balance the midfield, City will have a full-back in attack in a 3-4-3 formation.

Real Madrid were clearly losing to Manchester City in terms of possession, so they did not use high pressing, but placed their defence in the center circle.

Moreover, Real Madrid players also started from here to test the referee's penalty scale.

Only by mastering the referee's penalty scale at the beginning of the game can there be more options in defense.

That's the experience of the Champions League winners.

It can only be understood, but it is difficult to teach.

"Drop!"

Modric pushes for a foul.

Against a pass-and-possess team, Real Madrid had to disrupt their rhythm.

And Manchester City players, after being violated again and again, will only sit on the turf and keep protesting to the referee.

Some City fans even made telescopic gestures to mock the referee's decision.

After 20 minutes, City dominated the game and spread the attack to Real Madrid's half.

However, they struggled to push to the edge of the penalty area and sometimes had to rely on crosses from two wings to keep striker Kevin De Bruyne in contention.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Pep Guardiola quickly adjusted, allowing De Bruyne to look for attacking opportunities in the ribs.

In the 25th minute, De Bruyne, with the cooperation of his teammates, crossed into the penalty area.

Foden picked up and shot at goal immediately after stopping the ball, but Ramos stretched out his leg to block it.

Real Madrid's biggest takeaway is the return of the backline led by Ramos.

Courtois was so excited that he almost burst into tears.

Do you know how I've spent the last few months?

In the face of Manchester City's bombardment, Zidane has been calm.

In his opinion, every shot by the opponent is like a helpless forced choice, and he can't threaten the goal at all.

He also kept reassuring the players that they had to be calm and patient.

That's the big game experience.

Especially in the past few years, Real Madrid has reached the final five times and won four Champions League titles.

Such a championship team is not known how many times stronger than Manchester City, who entered the Champions League final for the first time.

And the more important the game, it's not about the number of stars and the better the tactics, but about who has fewer mistakes.

Obviously, Zidane won this point.

He understands the importance of a midfielder to the team.

The more crucial the game, the more conservative you have to be.

Manchester City's attack and defense are still fierce, and the front court is also very aggressive.

However, Real Madrid's pass-and-run system is not so easy to be suppressed by opponents.

In the 30th minute, Courtois found Modric with a long pass after receiving a return pass from a teammate.

There was no good passing line up front and Modric dropped to Mendy himself at full-back.

Perhaps it was because of Modric's retreat that Manchester City neglected to take precautions, and instead of pressing forward at the first time, they retreated collectively.

Mendy turned without interference and saw Rossi in front of him leading the defenders to move out as he ran sideways.

At this time, Manchester City's defense is three central defenders, and after the full-back is taken away by Rossi, the distance between the three will be invisibly widened.

Rossi then pointed in front and let Edouard Mendy cross to the space between the wing-backs and centre-backs.

And himself, after making an arc from the outside, cut diagonally behind the Manchester City defence.

[Real Madrid chance! 】

[The ball is in! 】

[Rosie single-handed! ] 】

【Shoot!】 】

I saw Rossi tear through the Manchester City defense with a deft movement.

Goalkeeper Ederson made an instant decision, abandoned the goal, and spread his feet in a line to expand the defensive area.

But Rossi first slammed past the goalkeeper, shook off a large space and then pushed the empty goal.

This goal was beyond everyone's expectations.

Real Madrid actually took the lead.

[It was Rossi's 15th goal in the Champions League this season!] 】

[He has long surpassed Messi and been crowned the Champions League scorer king! ] 】

With the score behind, the live camera focused on Guardiola, who was drinking water.

His eyes were a little empty, as if he was thinking about a countermeasure.

Because of this conceded goal, it is directly related to his pre-match deployment.

Taking the initiative to take down the back is undoubtedly reducing the hardness of the defense.

Pep Guardiola wants to use a full-back as a midfielder.

But it was clear that this tactic was a failure.

First of all, replacing four with three centre-backs exposes the shortcomings of insufficient defensive width.

Kyle Walker, who became a temporary midfielder, did not succeed in intercepting the opponent's through ball.

Once Rossi gets the ball in the ribs, the three-centre-back system looks fragile.

Although Guardiola doesn't want to admit it, he knows very well in his heart that Manchester City, without a back, is not Real Madrid's opponent at all.

This whole job, pecking out his eyes.

(End of chapter)