Chapter 456: Destroy
Marcos felt his heart pounding, his eyes fixed ahead without blinking, his legs spread open to lower his center of gravity as much as possible. Suddenly, he thought of something and slightly brought his knees together, ready to close in at any moment.
No wonder he was so focused, because Wang Feng was swiftly approaching with the ball, they had faced each other several times over the years, but the Mexican defender always came up short.
This was Real Madrid's rapid counterattack, after Barcelona initiated play and went through several passes, Henry's long shot from outside the box was collected by Casillas.
The Spanish goalkeeper quickly threw the ball out, Diarra's long pass found the Chinese superstar, who used his speed advantage to breeze past Silvinho and approach the dangerous area.
Seeing his teammates constantly disturbing from behind but still unable to stop Wang Feng, Marcos knew he couldn't let him advance any further. He had to step up to defend and cooperate with Silvinho to sandwich him from front and back.
The Mexican acted decisively, but Wang Feng seemed to anticipate his move. He lightly lifted his body to the right with his left foot, clearly intending to dribble past the defender towards the sideline.
So Marcos immediately lifted his right foot to block this path, but in the blink of an eye, the Chinese superstar suddenly dropped his raised left foot and forcefully shifted his weight back to the left side, while extending his right foot to dribble the ball past the Mexican defender on the left and cut inside.
A lightning-fast dribble! Marcos was shocked, he wanted to adjust his positioning again, but the panic in his heart caused him to slip and fall to the ground.
In that moment, he instinctively reached out his arms to grab Wang Feng's legs, forcing him to fall to the ground and preventing him from advancing further.
"Beep~" The sharp whistle immediately sounded, English referee Harris quickly ran up to the two to check their condition. Wang Feng fell backward but was not seriously injured.
So Harris showed Marcos a yellow card and warned, "This is a foul that shouldn't have happened, sir, I hope you'll watch your actions."
The Mexican defender shrugged helplessly, receiving the yellow card and giving Real Madrid a free kick near the 30-meter mark, which was much better than letting Wang Feng advance and shoot again.
This free kick was taken by the Chinese superstar, who chose not to shoot but lofted the ball into the penalty area. Due to the opponents' excessive focus on his direct shots, Marcelo ran out to head the ball, but unfortunately, it went slightly wide of the post.
The Brazilian rubbed his bushy hair, feeling quite frustrated. As he jogged back, shaking his head, Wang Feng still applauded him loudly, "Well done, mate, keep it up."
Marcelo immediately felt encouraged, a confident smile involuntarily spreading across his face, making Marcos, who had received a yellow card, very envious. He subconsciously looked at Messi, but the Argentinean just kept his head down.
Oh, how I miss Ronaldinho's presence, he would definitely cheer up the team with his witty jokes and encouragement when he was around.
"Looking at this Barcelona attack, eh! Busquets made a passing mistake, the ball was intercepted by Robben, is Real Madrid going for a counterattack now?"
"The Dutchman's speed is very fast, he has rushed to the front of the penalty area in an instant, now it's three against three, he passes, Wang Feng passes again, shoots! Goooooooooooooooal! It's a goal!"
"In the 9th minute, Raul took a powerful shot from the 12-yard position of the penalty area, piercing through Barcelona's defense!"
"Real Madrid's counterattack is very fast, Robben on the wing fully displaying his characteristics as a little wizard, after rushing to the vicinity of the penalty area, he directly chose to chip the ball to the back."
"In fact, it can be seen that this pass is a bit deep, too close to the goal line, and the landing point is too high to handle. But Wang Feng is very clever, after jumping, he lifts his right foot to hook the ball back immediately, forming a triangle pass backward."
"At this moment, three Barcelona defenders are not near Raul, they can't interfere with him at all. The Spanish forward easily kicks the ball into the net with a volley, helping Real Madrid take the lead."
The Olympic Stadium erupted into thunderous cheers, with Real Madrid fans who had traveled from afar continuously chanting Raul and Wang Feng's names. Bernabeu's prince ran to the front of the stands to respond to the fans' support. Even as he aged, he could still contribute his strength whenever the team needed it.
Other teammates also gathered around to celebrate. Raul hugged Wang Feng and said, "I never thought you could make that pass under such difficulty. It scared me. Your shot almost missed at the crucial moment, haha."
"It's only been 9 minutes, and Barcelona is already trailing. I don't know why, but they always give me a lazy feeling, defensive mistakes keep happening. Wake up, everyone, this is the Champions League final!"
"Real Madrid's tactics are very clear, accelerate the pace of attack and defense, immediately launch attacks after gaining possession, every player has put in tremendous effort and passion. I can feel their overwhelming determination even from the commentary booth."
Taking the lead in scoring, Real Madrid did not blindly continue to press for more goals, but steadily retreated. This was also a wise choice. After conceding, the Catalan team finally showed a bit of aggression and quickly gained control of the midfield.
Moreover, no team can maintain a high level of performance for 90 minutes straight, a fluctuating tempo is the way to sustain development.
Even when Barcelona returned to their familiar possession rhythm, they still couldn't break through the Galaxy Battleship's defense to create threats. Messi always felt disconnected from his teammates, either due to positioning issues or mistimed passes.
Their best chance came in the 19th minute when Messi, on the right, shook off two defenders with successive small steps and then slotted a pass into the penalty area, but Henry's shot from the back post was deflected out by Ashley Cole's interference.
The English defender's defense won applause from the crowd. He was a full head shorter than Henry, but he managed to block the Frenchman with all his might. In the past two years, the solidity of the Real Madrid defense was closely related to him.
In an organized defense, Real Madrid quietly awaited their chance, not expecting it to come so soon.
In the 26th minute, Barcelona launched an attack in the frontcourt. Iniesta originally intended to make a run with Messi, but the Argentine suddenly retreated to receive the ball, causing the Spanish center-back to pass directly to Diarra.
The Galaxy Battleship's midfielder immediately launched a long ball to the midfield, Raul chested the ball and turned to shake off Xavi as he charged past the midfield line.
His speed was not fast but his experience was rich. He steadily advanced, holding off the opposing defender until Wang Feng rushed up from the other side, then made a sudden stop and passed diagonally, allowing the Chinese superstar with greater explosive power to continue dribbling.
At this moment, Robben was also sprinting along the sideline. The two instantly understood each other's intentions. Wang Feng pushed the ball to the Dutch winger with his right foot and started to make an off-the-ball run to evade the defense.
The little wizard instantly understood and made a through pass, creating a wall pass situation. Inside the penalty area, the Chinese superstar continued to move horizontally, deceiving both Yaya Toure and Pique with feints, then shot with his left foot from outside.
The ball curved into the top left corner of the goal, goalkeeper Valdes had no chance to save it.
"Gooooooooooooooal! It's a goal! This time it's Wang Feng's goal, helping Real Madrid lead 2-0!"
"Barcelona made another passing mistake, allowing the opponents to seize the opportunity for a quick counterattack. Just four passes and they pierced through the defense!"
"In less than 30 minutes, they scored consecutively, it's like breaking through dead wood. Barcelona seems to have no counterattack capability at all. Is the result of this match already predetermined?"
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)