When the French referee Ain Sars blew the whistle to start the game, deafening cheers erupted from the Beradium. Over 75,000 Real Madrid fans cheered in unison for their team.
Standing in the ter circle, A striker Inzaghi, wearing a red and bck jersey, quickly kicked the ball to Shevko.
The Ukrainian striker passed the ball back to the midfield without stopping it, direg it straight to the bae.
Kaka, who had just appeared on the live TV footage with a handsome smile on his face, had not yet fully suppressed his smile when he saw three Real Madrid pyers rushing past him from the midline.
Raul, Ronaldo, and Beckham!
Kaka was a little surprised and turo look behind him.
When Pirlo just received the ball, Ronaldo had already rushed in front of him. This startled the Italian midfielder, who immediately turo knock the ball back.
But Ronaldo tio charge forward without slowing doroag a and Kadze behind Pirlo.
At the same time, Raul and Beckham were also pressing A's defense.
Almost instantly, A's tral defenders chose to pass back.
But Ronaldo still did not slow down and rushed directly towards the penalty area.
Dida resolutely came off his line, not daring to stop the ball, and kicked it forward with a big boot.
The quality of Dida's clearance oor. It was immediately intercepted by Real Madrid's defense.
Ronaldo slowed down outside the penalty area, smiled at his Brazilian patriot, showing his iic rabbit teeth, but then turned around and ran back immediately, without a hint of hesitation.
"Ma Dan, afraid of offside!" he muttered.
Dida immediately shouted to his teammates in front, "Be careful."
Soon, Real Madrid's attaenced.
...
As soon as the game whistle sounded, Real Madrid pushed the game into high gear with an aggressive attack.
No one expected this.
But from the tactical effect, Gao Shen was very satisfied.
A, known for their teical py and ball trol, was different from Bara.
There were two major differences.
Firstly, in the midfield and frontcourt, especially after losing the ball, A did not i heavily in ter-attacks. Instead, they focused on maintaining the order and stability of their defensive formation.
Ai remained servative at heart.
Sedly, the teical ability of A's pyers was not as refined as Bara's. Even Brazilian pyers like Kaka couldn't pare to the likes of Ronaldinho or Ia in terms of teical finesse.
Thus, A's ability to trol the ball was much weaker than Bara's. Coupled with the age factor, their pyers' movement was not as good as Bara's. So after regaining the ball, they often opted for short passes in the middle and backfield rather than quick pys.
Anyone familiar with Sacchi's tactical system from back then knows this is simir to the Dutch Three Musketeers period.
This approach has its advantages, such as indug the oppo's midfield and frontcourt to engage in on-the-spot ter-attacks, thereby exploiting the weaknesses in the oppo's defense.
Pirlo's long passes and Kaka's dribbling breakthroughs often pyed a key role in these terattacks.
A's success in winning the Champions League the season with the oldest lineup in history, and Kaka winning the Ballon d'Or and World Pyer of the Year, were due to Ai's tactical style.
But this approach was not without fws.
There were two ways to ter it: one, like Lyon, applying pressure in the frontcourt to cut off the e between A's defenders and midfielders, limiting Kaka; and two, maintaining a tight defeer losing the ball.
Gao Shen did not bet solely on the first option because it was too aggressive. If the frontcourt pressing failed, Pirlo and Kaka would find opportuo exploit the back line, making it very dangerous. He also did not choose the sed option ht, as it would make the game too passive.
He chose a bination of both.
Pirlo was easier to limit; the key was Kaka.
So, Gao Shen had Gravesen and De La Red limit Kaka while proteg the defense line.
If the midfield and frontcourt pressure wasn't strong enough, they would dey or interrupt A's advance, choosing the sed option if necessary, including various teical fouls.
As for the effect, one only o look at Ai's expression.
...
Sihe start of the game, Ai had not returo the visiting team's coag bench, and his expression remaiense.
Although he mentally prepared himself before the game, he uimated Gao Shen's determination.
Gao Shen was even crazier than he had imagined.
From the start of the game, he did not hold back at all, pulling the game into the fast ne.
This fast-paced attad defense made A very unfortable.
Everyone khere was no such game rhythm in Serie A.
What's worse, Gao Shen was targeting A's weakness.
When Min had possession, Real Madrid increased their pressing, trying tain the ball as quickly as possible. Min's ck of a strong ter-attack after losing the ball allowed Real Madrid to either ter-attack quickly or switch to possession.
Teically, Min was not dominant against Real Madrid.
What was even more unbelievable was that Raul, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Zidahe world's top and most extravagant superstar lineup, pressed A step by step under Gao Shen's and.
"I wonder how Queiroz and Luxemburgo would feel seeing this," Mauro Tasotti couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Real Madrid's poor performan the past three years was bmed on the frontcourt superstars.
But now, what those famous coaches couldn't handle, Gao Shen had managed.
Gao Shehe top superstars as hardw pyers, even pying Ronaldo like Negredo, and the superstars were happy about it.
"We are about ten points behind in possessiht now," Mauro Tasotti reminded.
Fifty-five to forty-five.
Ai's frown deepened.
In the first ten minutes, both teams had shots, but her posed a direct threat.
Real Madrid had four shots, A one.
"What is this kid pying?" Ai couldn't uand.
How long could Real Madrid maintain this iy?
Especially pyers like Ronaldo and Zidane, could they st until the end of the first half?
"Could it be that he wants to fight with us and then in the sed half..." Mauro Tasotti guessed.
But he quickly realized this was unlikely.
If it were about endurance, he would use Negredo, not Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was a sharp o to scoals.
As Ai and Tasotti pohe stadium erupted in excmations.
Gravesen and De La Red double-teamed Kaka. Gravesen was mile, took the ball first, and passed it to Zidane in the frontcourt.
Zidane blocked Pirlo with his body.
The Italian midfielder was almost immobilized by Zidane, uo resist.
The French midfielder stopped, picked, turned, and passed to Raul.
Raul, attrag the attention of Stam aa, sent a diagonal pass to the penalty area.
Ronaldo chased after Kadze but was still slow.
Dida rushed out and saved the ball.
The Brazilian striker roared angrily, clearly a his clumsiness and slowness.
If he weren't so out of shape, if he were a bit faster, it would have been a sure shot.
The Real Madrid fans at the se still appuded warmly, affirming the pyers' performance.
Ai on the sidelines shouted instrus to Stam aa, indig they should keep an eye on Ronaldo.
Fat?
No matter how fat, he was still Ronaldo!
...
Real Madrid's momentum tio build.
Especially after Ronaldo's missed ce, the team's morale surged.
Everyone realized A feared Real Madrid's frontcourt pressing.
This was evident from the two-leg mat Lyon to the Min derby.
Tonight at the Bernabeu was no exception.
This was A's Achilles' heel, something Ai couldn't fix quickly, especially with two strikers.
Real Madrid's pressing often embarrassed A's defenders, pushing them he penalty area.
For instance, after Real Madrid intercepted the ball he midline, Felipe passed to Raul, but Stam headed it to a.
Raul pressed a, who had to kick the ball forward.
The ball reached the frontcourt and was headed back by De La Red, falling near Min's penalty area.
At the top of the arc, Ronaldo, blocked by Kadze and Seedorf, fought for the ball.
Seedorf, in the front, jumped but missed. Kadze, behind, pressed Ronaldo but mistimed his jump. As the ball arrived, Kadze was already falling.
Ronaldo, uo jump, broke free and chased forward.
But Kadze, quick to react, tackled the ball, taking Ronaldo down.
The whistle blew crisply.
