super storm

Chapter 1406 Barcelona in Crisis
On the evening of November 22, in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid challenged Sporting Lisbon away.

Before the game, Zidane joked at the press conference that he hoped to see Yang Yang perform another hat-trick.

"I know, he's in great shape right now, and I think it's possible."

And it turns out that Zidane really knows Yang Yang very well.

In less than 2 minutes of the opening, Di Maria dribbled the ball from the right and failed to break through. He smashed the ball on the right side of the penalty area and crossed it.

One to zero!

Then Real Madrid continued to maintain the offensive pressure on Sporting Lisbon, because Real Madrid is currently neck and neck with Dortmund in the Champions League group stage, but Dortmund is facing Legia Warsaw at home tonight, and there is basically no suspense in winning the game.

In other words, if Real Madrid wants to grab the first place in the group, they must win Sporting Lisbon tonight.

In the 209th minute of the first half, Modric passed a free kick from the right side of the penalty area to the penalty area. Yang Yang squeezed out a space among the crowd and shot directly. The ball tore through the defense and went directly into the bottom right corner of the Sporting Lisbon goal.

The goalkeeper's attention was blocked by the crowd, and he was helpless in the face of this shot.

Two to zero!
After scoring twice, Yang Yang was very excited and created opportunities again and again on the court, but it was a pity that they all followed the goals. Even in the second half, he was still trying hard to score another goal.

But in the end, Real Madrid did score a goal, but it was not Yang Yang who scored the goal.

From Ramos' oblique pass to the penalty area, Suarez grabbed a header and broke the goal of Sporting Lisbon again, [-]-[-]!
In the end, Real Madrid beat Sporting Lisbon [-]-[-] away.

Unfortunately, Yang Yang only scored twice and failed to score a hat-trick.

But even so, Yang Yang's excellent state has been unanimously affirmed, and the calls for the European Ballon d'Or and World Footballer of the Year are getting louder and louder.

While Real Madrid beat Sporting Lisbon [-]-[-], Borussia Dortmund defeated Legia Warsaw [-]-[-] at home and continued to maintain their victory.

As a result, Real Madrid and Dortmund both have four wins and one tie, and currently have the same points.

According to the rules of the Champions League, if the points are the same, the first consideration is the result of the match, followed by the goal difference of the match, and the number of away goals during the match, and finally the group goal difference and group goals are compared in turn.

Real Madrid had previously tied Dortmund in an away game two to two, but because Real Madrid had two away goals, it is currently ranked first, but this requires Real Madrid to maintain their unbeaten record against Dortmund at the Bernabeu.

Not only that, if the Bernabeu battle is still a draw, then as long as Dortmund has two or more away goals, they can beat Real Madrid and reach the top position.

The rules seem cumbersome, but to put it simply, Real Madrid is best to win Dortmund at home. Even if it is a draw, Dortmund must not be allowed to score two goals, otherwise they will lose the first place in the group.

Therefore, in the final battle against Dortmund, Real Madrid must do their best.

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Three days later, in the No.13 round of La Liga, Real Madrid sat at the Bernabéu Stadium to face Sporting Gijon.

Yang Yang has played two games in a row. This game was arranged to rotate, and Suarez continued to start.

In the 5th minute of the game, Vazquez dribbled the ball into the right side of the penalty area and was tripped. Real Madrid won a penalty kick. Hazard made a penalty kick and opened the scoring for Real Madrid.

No. In the 18th minute, Azpilicueta made a pass from the left, and Suarez, who was unmarked, made a header and hit the top, extending the score to two to zero.

Although the team was scored by Sporting Gijon in the No.305 minute, the score of [-]-[-] was maintained until the end of the game.

In the end, without Yang Yang and many main players, Real Madrid narrowly beat Sporting Gijon [-]-[-] at home.

The process was a bit dangerous, but fortunately it was won.

……

Atletico Madrid, who lost [-]-[-] at home in the last round, challenged Osasuna away in this round and defeated their opponents [-]-[-] cleanly. Godin, Gameiro and Carrasco each scored a goal.

Barcelona's luck is not so good.

After a 3-6 home draw with Malaga in the last round, Barcelona still failed to show their best form in this round of away games against Real Sociedad. Although the tridents all started, they were the first to concede the ball in the second half. Although Messi received an assist from Neymar to get Barcelona back a game after [-] minutes, he was never able to score again.

One to one, Barcelona's away draw with Real Sociedad.

As a result, Real Madrid has maintained an unbeaten record so far, while extending its lead over Barcelona to six points.

But what really hurt Barcelona was not only the result of the game, but also the aftermath after the game.

As many as six points behind Real Madrid, it is about to usher in the critical period of the derby of the century, but Barcelona has encountered two draws.

However, Mexican striker Carlos Vela, who performed well against Barcelona and overwhelmed Barcelona's Trident and other superstars, was elected as the best player in the game. When receiving comments after the game, he believed that the reason why Real Sociedad was able to grab a point was that they all saw through Barcelona's weakness.

"We know that Barcelona is difficult to deal with when they have the ball. At this time, they can only defend. But when Barcelona does not have the ball, their three superstars in the frontcourt basically do not participate in the return defense. As long as we make good use of this point, we will definitely be able to hurt them, and it turns out that we are right."

Former Real Madrid midfielder Illarramendi also commented after the game, thinking that it is useless for Barcelona to pile up more superstars in the frontcourt.

"In my opinion, the three frontcourt superstars of Barcelona are not lost to Real Madrid at all, but they have a very big difference with Real Madrid, that is, Real Madrid's frontcourt players run a lot, especially Yang Yang, he is almost the most distinctive striker I have ever seen."

"The two teams give me very different feelings, because I have played in Real Madrid, so I know that in the hearts of Real Madrid's central and backcourt players, the most thoughtful thing is how to create opportunities for the teammates in the frontcourt. For Yang Yang, for others, because we all know that Yang Yang and his teammates in the frontcourt are also in front of us to block the opponent's quick counterattack."

"But it is obviously different in Barcelona. They give me the feeling that they want to pass the ball to the striker as soon as possible. Then, things have nothing to do with them, but this is not right. They seem to be divided into two systems. One is the front three.

Whether it is Carlos Bella or Illarramendi, their words have been paid attention to by the media after the game. Even the Catalan media believes that Barcelona's problem is indeed very serious.

On the one hand, the defense is weak. Over the years, the team has invested too much budget in the offensive players in the frontcourt, but neglected the construction of the midfield and backcourt, which has led to the weak defense of the team.

On the other hand, players in the midfield generally lack the willingness to defend. Needless to say, the trident, Iniesta in the midfield is also old, which makes Barcelona's most powerful midfield press, which is now useless.

Coach Luis Enrique's problems are also getting worse.

From the competition between the two goalkeepers at the beginning of the season, Ter Stegen did not show convincing strength after Bravo left for Manchester City. Since this season, the team's style of play is too single. Enrique believes that this is because the team's bench is not thick enough and has not given him enough resources.

Another point is that Enrique lacks the courage to make substitutions.

Before the game against Real Sociedad, Pique suffered an ankle injury, which even affected his normal running, and his kicking skills were also deformed. However, Enrique still bet heavily on Pique and was unwilling to choose others, but it was Pique's mistake that led to Barcelona conceding the goal.

Enrique's conservatism and the bold rotation of the opposite Real Madrid formed a very strong contrast.

This season, including the youth team, Real Madrid has played as many as 30 people.

"After playing Sporting Gijon, Zidane even announced the starting lineup for the second round of the Copa del Rey early on. Mariano, Odegaard, Enzo Zidane, Asensio, Nacho and other young players are all on the list. Even the goalkeeper Yanez of the second team was placed on the bench."

"It can be said that Yang Yang and Zidane's coaching achievements in Real Madrid have been shown. This powerful team is entering the fast lane of a virtuous cycle. In contrast, Barcelona has been going from bad to worse in the past few years."

"Nowadays, Barcelona is farther and farther away from his original idea!"

"If there is no change and we face Real Madrid in this state, it will undoubtedly usher in a disastrous defeat!"

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In the middle of the week, the Copa del Rey match was ushered in. Real Madrid still played with a semi-substitute and youth team lineup, and the main lineup was carefully prepared for the next century derby against Barcelona.

Morata staged a hat-trick, Mariano, Odegaard and Enzo Zidane all scored successively. In the end, Real Madrid beat their opponents [-]-[-] at home and successfully advanced to the fifth round.

After the first four rounds of fighting, the strong teams in La Liga have also advanced one after another.

It is still difficult for teams in the middle and lower leagues to compete with La Liga teams, so after entering the fifth round, Real Madrid will face a strong enemy Sevilla, which will also be two hard battles.

But that's already January of next year.

For Yang Yang and Zidane, the real challenge will be in early December.

In the No.14 round of La Liga, Real Madrid ushered in the Century Derby, a guest at Camp Nou to challenge Barcelona, ​​and three days after the Century Derby, Real Madrid will return to Madrid and host Dortmund.

The former determines the ownership of La Liga this season, and the latter determines the ranking of the Champions League group stage. Both games cannot be lost. Together, they are a great challenge to Real Madrid.

The whole world is worried, whether Real Madrid can cross these two hurdles?

(End of this chapter)