Chapter 270 Dawn in adversity
The fans of the Bernabeu gave Casillas applause and thanked Casillas for his wonderful save to keep the goal.
On the sidelines, Ancelotti smelled danger. He called Xavi Alonso over and gave him some warnings in his ear.
Let them pay attention to protecting the back line and reducing the number of fouls at the front of the penalty area.
Xabi Alonso nodded frequently and quickly passed on Ancelotti's opinions after returning.
Ancelotti's adjustments quickly stabilized Real Madrid's defense. After they blocked Manchester City's counterattack, they once again took the initiative on the field.
Benzema changed from his almost invisible performance in the previous game. He performed very well in this game.
His running, pulling and playing in the frontcourt created many opportunities for his two teammates, Ronaldo and Bell.
In the 27th minute, Benzema gave the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo who followed up, and the latter hit the door frame with a volley.
There was a sigh of relief at the Bernabeu Stadium, and countless Real Madrid fans hugged their heads in frustration.
Ronaldo was also a little regretful, but still gave Benzema a thumbs up.
Just two minutes later, Benzema and Bell completed the cooperation and assisted the opponent into the penalty area to complete a shot.
The quality of Bale's shot was not as good as that of Cristiano Ronaldo. I wonder if he learned it from Nunez. His shot went too far into the far corner, wasting a second pass from Benzema.
Benzema shook his head secretly, these two guys, their shooting skills are not as good as mine?
I might as well do it myself!
In the 42nd minute, Modric began to control the rhythm of the game, and Real Madrid's fierce attack seemed to finally stop.
However, just when the Manchester City players were relieved to have withstood this round of Real Madrid's onslaught, Benzema saw Modric raise his head to observe, and without hesitation, he ran back smartly at the front of the penalty area.
Modric also completed a through ball at almost the same time, and just passed through the gap between the two Manchester City defenders.
nice shot!
Benzema secretly applauded Modric's pass. After receiving the ball, he adjusted and aimed at the blind corner of the goal and scored the ball.
The quality of this ball was extremely high. Joe Hart was really helpless and the ball went in without even making a save.
Benzema felt it after playing. When he looked up, he saw the ball flying into Manchester City's goal.
He raised his hands and was ready to celebrate!
However, the linesman raised his flag first and the ball was ruled offside and the goal was invalid.
The slow-motion replay of the scene showed that Benzema started slightly earlier, half a body ahead of the Manchester City defender.
Benzema and Real Madrid fans are overjoyed!
Although the goal was disallowed, Benzema did not feel very frustrated. He felt that he was in very good condition today.
If we continue playing like this, it will only be a matter of time before we score.
This ball startled Manchester City's defenders. They increased their focus on Benzema in the following time and did not give him a chance to continue shooting.
The score of 1:0 remained until the end of halftime.
The Real Madrid soldiers seemed very satisfied with the result, and they all walked off the field talking and laughing.
On the Manchester City side, the expressions on the players' faces are much more solemn.
Throughout the first half, Manchester City never got any good chances.
After the experience of the last game, they thought they had figured out Real Madrid's strength.
Unexpectedly, Real Madrid played a completely different team at home than when they played away from home. This made Manchester City a bit unexpected, and many players' self-confidence was shaken.
Pellegrini made some arrangements for the offensive tactics during the halftime break. They are now lagging behind Real Madrid, and their defensive counterattack tactics must not continue.
However, the second half of the game proved that Pellegrini's adjustments did not have much effect.
Except for Lin Quan's threatening shot based on his personal strength, Manchester City hardly posed a threat to Real Madrid's goal.
On the contrary, Real Madrid's offense is playing more and more smoothly.
In the 57th minute of the second half, Real Madrid completed a steal in the midfield, and Modric once again sent a fatal through ball.
Instead of looking for Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale, he found Benzema who was running coquettishly.
Benzema's outstanding performance at the end of the first half made Modric full of trust in him and felt that he might give him a surprise.
Benzema did not disappoint Modric. With his back to the goal, he picked the ball and turned around. Before Kompany's block, before the ball landed, he volleyed the ball directly into the goal. The far corner of the goal helped Real Madrid expand their lead!
The score became 2:0!
The total score was also rewritten to 4:3!
This time, Benzema took a special look at the linesman before celebrating. After seeing that the linesman did not raise his flag, he celebrated excitedly!
If Ramos' goal gave Real Madrid a certain advantage, then Benzema's goal now almost sealed the victory for Real Madrid.
Due to the away goals rule, Manchester City must score two goals if they want to advance to the final!
There are only more than thirty minutes left in the game. It is very difficult to score 2 goals for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu!
This time, the Bernabeu Stadium not only erupted with warm applause, but also cheers. Under the great joy, even those who consider themselves successful people could not restrain their excitement.
In one of the stands at the Bernabeu, Bayern coach Guardiola, who came to Madrid to prepare for tomorrow's game with Atletico Madrid, couldn't help but shake his head when he saw Manchester City playing so passively.
If it were him, he would choose to replace Yaya Toure and replace Fernandinho.
If Manchester City wants to make a comeback, they must take control of the midfield. Otherwise, Real Madrid's offense will only come one after another.
There is no point in preventing one of them because Real Madrid's offense never ends.
Pellegrini also thought of this, although Fernandinho has not yet admitted his mistake.
But judging from the current game situation, the team needs him to play!
Thinking of this, Pellegrini looked at Fernandinho and asked the assistant coach to come forward and remind him to go up and warm up.
When Fernandinho heard his name called, he quickly jumped up from the bench, ran to the sidelines and ran back and forth along the pitch.
Clearly, he was ready to go.
Although he is still very unconvinced by the head coach, at this time he will not refuse Pellegrini's decision to arrange for him to play.
Just when Pellegrini was about to make substitutions, Ancelotti took the lead in making personnel adjustments.
The Manchester City coaching staff thought that the opponent would just give up and replace defensive players to stabilize the defense. However, after seeing the players they replaced, the Manchester City coaching staff were all stunned!
Instead of strengthening the defense, Ancelotti continued to strengthen the offense.
He replaced Isco and replaced him with Angel Wings-Di Maria!
Di Maria and Fernandinho came on the court one after another. The difference is that one is an offensive player and the other is a defensive player.
Looking at this substitution alone, it feels like Real Madrid is behind Manchester City and ahead, but the actual result is not like this.
Manchester City did not replace Yaya Toure, but Kroos.
Obviously, Pellegrini felt that Kroos did not perform well in this game, so he decided to replace him.
Guardiola was stunned when he saw the Chilean's decision.
Didn't Pellegrini replace Fernandinho just to protect Kroos?
Why should Kroos be replaced?
He couldn't understand this decision!
After seeing the substitution card on the sidelines, Cross was a little depressed and walked to the sidelines in silence with his head lowered.
He really didn't play well in this game because Real Madrid's offense was too fierce, which forced him to take on a heavy defensive task.
Cross's defensive ability is not outstanding in the first place, and he has to face a group of top stars, so his defensive performance naturally does not meet expectations.
What's more serious is that after wasting too much energy on defense, his performance on the offensive end was very poor. In this game, he failed to send out the precise long pass like the previous game.
And because Real Madrid players pressed him so fiercely, it was difficult for Cross to play the role of a metronome in the midfield. He tried to control the rhythm of the game several times, but ended in failure.
Being replaced early at this time made Cross inevitably feel some frustration.
The team fell behind and he was replaced again. He could only sit on the bench and watch the game like a spectator, unable to have any impact on the outcome of the game.
He had a strong feeling that Manchester City would lose on the road and lose hope of promotion!
Not to mention him, Lin Quan also felt the same way.
After Fernandinho came on the court, he successfully froze Modric.
But Di Maria became active in the frontcourt again. His cooperation with Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and others made Manchester City's defense defensive.
Time passed by, and the score was still 2:0.
What's even more unfavorable is that Real Madrid still has the advantage on the field.
This makes Real Madrid fans confident that their team will definitely win this game and advance to the finals.
Then, a burst of singing began to sound at the Bernabeu:
Come on Madrid!
Noble and dignified!
Come on Madrid!
Go all out to win!
Defend your noble white!
…
Encouraged by the singing, Real Madrid's players became more and more excited and active.
In the 73rd minute of the second half, Di Maria pulled to the wing and after two consecutive one-on-ones with Bell, he reached the edge of Manchester City's penalty area.
Just as he was about to dribble the ball into the Manchester City penalty area to complete the shot, he was suddenly tackled and the ball was lost.
There was an uproar at the scene. Real Madrid fans took a closer look and found that the tackler was not a Manchester City defensive player, but their No. 10 Lin Quan.
Lin Quan had long observed that Di Maria liked to run to the left wing, so he waited here specifically to guard against him.
Facts have proved that his judgment was accurate, and Di Maria took the ball from the left and cut inside to shoot.
In this tackle, Lin was all running towards the ball. The tackle was quite clean. He did not touch Di Maria, so even if the opponent made an exaggerated diving move and pounced into the Manchester City penalty area, Lin Quan Ye ignored it, got up from the ground, quickly passed the ball to De Bruyne, and then sprinted at full speed towards Real Madrid's half.
De Bruyne was also not affected by Di Maria, who was screaming miserably in the Manchester City penalty area. After receiving Lin Quan's pass, he quickly sent a through ball, bypassing Real Madrid's midfield, and passed the ball to the center. near the circle.
This ball was passed very beautifully, helping Lin Quan get past the interception of Real Madrid's midfield!
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan strode toward Real Madrid's half, getting closer and closer to Real Madrid's goal.
There were boos at the scene. Real Madrid fans were very dissatisfied with Manchester City, especially Lin Quan's move.
I think he not only committed a bad foul, but also had no sportsmanship. He actually continued to attack when a player was injured.
However, the referee was near the scene of the incident and clearly saw Lin Quan's tackle. He knew that he did not kick anyone, so he did not call a foul and signaled for the game to continue.
Seeing this penalty from the referee, the Real Madrid players panicked instantly.
The opponent has already passed half the ball with the ball, and most of their players are not in their positions.
"Quick, retreat quickly!"
Vice-captain Ramos roared angrily and was the first to rush towards Lin Quan.
He was closest to Lin Quan and planned to try to stop him.
If it really can't be stopped, Ramos is prepared to use a tactical foul to stop Manchester City's counterattack.
Lin Quan was very clear about Ramos' intentions, and he did not give Ramos a chance to foul.
Seeing Ramos rushing over aggressively, Lin Quan kicked the ball behind Ramos, and the ball passed by, avoiding Ramos's uppercut!
Bell was stunned when he saw Lin Quan passing Ramos in this way and retreating slowly on the wing.
Why does this move feel so familiar?
The Real Madrid fans at home had already sensed the danger of losing the ball. They booed desperately and tried to interfere with Lin Quan in this way.
Casillas decisively chose to attack when Ramos grabbed the ball. Real Madrid's area inside and outside the penalty area was empty. If he didn't attack, he would have been waiting for death if he continued to stay in front of the goal.
Instead of waiting to die, it is better to take advantage of Lin Quan's opportunity to pass Ramos and grab this half goal with him!
Casillas judged that he had a chance to get the ball because Lin Quan, in order to get past Ramos, kicked the ball far away, almost in the middle of the two!
As long as he can touch the ball first, he can destroy it!
After Real Madrid fans saw Casillas attack, none of them bothered to boo Lin Quan. They all stood up nervously, stretched their necks and looked towards the court, waiting for the judgment of fate!
Casillas was already very fast, but what shocked him was that Lin Quan was even faster.
The game has gone on for more than seventy minutes, and he still has such speed!
Casillas's pupils shrank suddenly, and he realized the danger.
I'm afraid I won't be able to touch the ball before Lin Quan!
So, Casillas gritted his teeth and chose to put down a shovel, hoping to destroy the ball.
Lin, give up. Even after scoring this goal, Manchester City is still one goal behind.
But you will be seriously injured because of this shot. This is very uneconomical, so please give up!
However, within the sight of Casillas, Lin Quan resolutely raised his foot and kicked the football.
He didn't hide!