Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Thanks to Lin Feng's last-minute goal, Real Madrid narrowly escaped with three points from the Calderon Stadium.

However, while Real Madrid fans celebrated Lin Feng's greatness for this result, the outside world saw a weakness exposed in Real Madrid.

Perhaps because of their Champions League victory last season, the players in Real Madrid, especially the veterans over 30, have visibly lost their desire for honors.

Moreover, this is not just a problem with the players themselves; even Real Madrid's official club and the vast majority of fans have seen a significant decrease in their desire for the Champions League and league titles.

After winning their tenth Champions League title, a club record, everyone at Real Madrid relaxed, giving the impression that they had lost their goals or even their direction.

With a diminished desire for glory, coupled with the serious injuries Real Madrid has suffered this season, although the team's lineup has not changed much, its overall performance is incomparable to that of last season's Real Madrid.

This is why the outside world is not optimistic about Real Madrid's performance this year.

Given Real Madrid's current form, it's almost impossible for them to defend their titles in either the league or the Champions League.

In fact, if they cannot quickly adjust their form, Real Madrid may face big trouble in the upcoming league and Champions League matches.

The predictions from the outside world were very accurate; three days later, in the Champions League group stage...

Real Madrid suffered a defeat at Juventus' home ground against the Old Lady, who were making their first return to European competition after the Calciopoli scandal.

Although the Juventus team was already past its prime, they still managed to defeat the defending champions Real Madrid 2-1 at the Stadio delle Alpi.

Perhaps because it was so close to the last match, Real Madrid, who had burned out in the Madrid derby, seemed to be sleepwalking in this game.

Although Lin Feng's goal brought the score back to a draw, a defensive error quickly allowed the opponent to regain the lead.

This time, even Lin Feng couldn't save the team.

After the match ended, Juventus players celebrated wildly on the pitch.

The fans at the Stade de la Alpi went into a frenzy of celebration!
Since the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus has suffered a major blow. Although their performance has improved in recent years, they still have a long way to go before returning to their peak.

At this moment, they desperately need a great victory to boost morale and announce to the outside world that the powerful Juventus team of yesteryear is back!
And nothing is more suitable as a stepping stone than Real Madrid, the defending champions!

Therefore, Juventus was united from top to bottom in this match, and everyone gave 100% of their strength and energy.

Even 36-year-old veteran Nedved ran more than 10,000 meters in this race.

Given Juventus' current form, Real Madrid's defeat was well-deserved.

Lin Feng's expression was very complicated as he watched the Juventus players celebrating.

His last loss to Juventus was in the 2005-2006 Serie A season.

That was his first season with Inter Milan, and Inter Milan suffered serious refereeing bias at Juventus' home ground, which led to their defeat.

Although he lost that time, he was not convinced and even looked down on Juventus because of it.

This time, however, Juventus did not receive any help from the referee; they won the game entirely through their own hard work and sweat.

It can only be said that Real Madrid's own form was terrible, and they deserved to lose this game!

"Lin, can we exchange jerseys?"

Although Juventus fans seem to hold grudges and have booed Lin Feng quite a bit during matches.

However, their players greatly admired Lin Feng. After the game, Lin Feng walked to the sidelines and was about to return to the locker room when someone called him from behind.

He glanced back and saw Nedved nodding at him in a friendly manner, while waving his jersey.

"No problem at all!"

Lin Feng also held this Czech Iron Man in high esteem.

When Juventus were relegated, many star players chose to leave Juventus, but Nedved chose to stay. He even offered to take a pay cut to stay because the team needed to reduce expenses.

Moreover, Nedved is not only impeccable in character, but also absolutely dedicated in his attitude on the field.

Juventus were well aware of Lin Feng's threat, so they adopted a comprehensive tactic against him during the match, keeping one player close to him at all times to prevent him from having any space to move.

This task was mainly accomplished by the veteran Nedved.

Although Nedved was almost overwhelmed by Lin Feng in the second half due to a drop in stamina, it was still remarkable that he could last for more than 60 minutes at his age.

……

While Real Madrid lost in the Champions League, Barcelona brought their dominance from the league to the Champions League.

In this round of matches, Barcelona won 5-0 away from home, securing their third consecutive Champions League victory.

Their winning streak across all competitions has reached 10 games, making them the only team in the top five European leagues to maintain a perfect record so far this season.

As Barcelona's winning streak continued to grow, they gradually drew the attention of the entire European continent.

More and more people are starting to analyze and study the tactics Guardiola used at Barcelona, ​​and some teams have even begun to imitate them.

People are very curious about how far Barcelona can go with this tactic.
With its innovative tactics and dazzling attacking style, Barcelona has attracted a large number of fans.

As a result, the overseas viewership of La Liga as a whole has increased to some extent.

For a La Liga powerhouse like Real Madrid, which enjoys special broadcasting revenue sharing, this would normally be a good thing.

But for Real Madrid, who are currently in poor form, this may not be a good thing.

Because most of the viewership went to Barcelona, ​​and because of their poor performance, they lost a lot of viewers.

In the eighth round of La Liga, Real Madrid, playing at home, narrowly defeated Athletic Bilbao thanks to a numerical advantage and a decisive free-kick goal by Lin Feng. Meanwhile, Barcelona, ​​also playing at home, delivered another resounding victory – a 5-0 rout of Almeria!
Eto'o's hat-trick, along with goals from Henry and Messi, extended Barcelona's league winning streak to eight games and their overall winning streak to an astonishing 11 games across all competitions!

What's even more terrifying is that Barcelona has scored 31 goals in the league so far this season, averaging 4 goals per game, making their attacking firepower the best in Europe.

At the post-match press conference, when a reporter asked Mourinho how he viewed Barcelona's current achievements, the Portuguese manager could no longer ignore the question as he had done before.

“I have to congratulate Pep, he has accomplished an incredible feat, but I still firmly believe that the championship belongs to us, because there are not only 8 rounds in the league, but also 30 rounds waiting for us.”

Playing well in the beginning doesn't guarantee the same results later on, especially when your opponents are studying and targeting your game; that's when it's the hardest time.

Mourinho's words were quite sincere, which is only possible with Guardiola. If it were any other coach with whom he had a bad relationship or was just an average coach, he wouldn't be so polite!

But Barcelona supporters think he's just being stubborn. Real Madrid is already being left far behind by Barcelona, ​​and he's still saying the championship belongs to Real Madrid. I've never seen anyone so shameless!

"Haha, I once encountered a team in the Premier League that always performed very well in the first half of each season, looking like strong contenders for the title. But in the second half, they would always falter for various reasons, and in the end, forget about winning the title, they were lucky to even finish in the top four!"

Although Mourinho did not name names publicly, the reporters in the audience, especially those from England, immediately understood, and everyone burst into laughter.

A professor in North London sneezed repeatedly, causing his assistant coach to become worried.
"Boss, you need to rest. If you get sick now, you won't be able to make it to the next North London derby."

Wenger frowned and nodded heavily.

The professor couldn't help but frown as he glanced at Arsenal's lineup for this season on the training ground.

Tottenham's strength has improved rapidly in the past few seasons. Arsenal can no longer dominate them as easily as before, especially when playing away from home, they must be treated with great care.

Losing such a derby match would be a huge blow to the team's morale.

……

Who can stop Barcelona?

This is currently the hottest topic in La Liga!
In the 9th round of the league, Malaga, ranked sixth in the standings, hosted Barcelona at their home stadium.

Despite Malaga's best efforts in defense, almost to the point of parking a bus in front of their own goal, they still couldn't stop Barcelona's attacking force.

The match ended with Malaga suffering a humiliating 1-4 defeat to Barcelona at home, conceding four goals.

Malaga's loss disappointed fans who were hoping to see another team end Barcelona's winning streak, leaving them with only the hope of facing their next opponent – ​​Valladolid.

However, Valladolid failed to meet the fans' expectations, suffering a humiliating 0-6 defeat to Barcelona away from home, allowing Barcelona to extend their winning streak in the league to 10 games!
As Barcelona's star player, Messi once again scored a hat-trick in the game, bringing his league goal tally this season to a terrifying 16 goals, averaging 1.78 goals per game!
If he maintains this scoring rate, there is a very high probability that he will break Lin Feng's La Liga scoring record.

Just as Barcelona was dominating the field, Real Madrid faltered.

In the ninth round of the league, Real Madrid, missing several key players, were held to a 1-1 draw by Almeria away from home. This was Real Madrid's second draw of the season, and because of this draw, the gap between them and Barcelona has widened to 7 points!
That wasn't the end of it. Three days later, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid suffered a 0-2 defeat to Juventus at home, suffering a double loss to their opponents and also 'enjoying' their first consecutive defeats of the season.

Although Barcelona were held to a draw at home by Basel, ending their 12-game winning streak across all competitions.

But at least the opponent didn't lose, and with 10 points, Barcelona has already qualified for the knockout stage two rounds in advance!
On the other hand, Real Madrid has only managed 6 points after 4 rounds. Forget about qualifying early, their chances of qualifying at all are now in doubt.

The team's poor performance has put immense pressure on head coach Mourinho.

Real Madrid fans and the club have never been very patient with their head coach. He deserves to be criticized when the team loses, especially since the tactics he employs are not what Real Madrid fans like to watch.

They love flashy attacks, individual performances by star players, and even more so, the kind of high-scoring thrashings that Barcelona does in every match.

But Mourinho couldn't do any of these things, so calls for a change of manager gradually arose among the fans.

[With such a high salary and such poor performance, what makes Mourinho so special?]

Players who can only defend and not attack should get out of Real Madrid!

We should sack Mourinho and poach Guardiola; that's the kind of dominance Real Madrid should be displaying!

Although he had learned about the difficulties the head coach would face at Real Madrid before he arrived, Mourinho was still somewhat taken aback when his own fans betrayed him and started advocating for his dismissal.

Just because of a temporary slump, have these guys completely ignored the honors they led the team to last season?
Who brought back the tenth Champions League trophy for you in your trophy gallery?
So what if we lost two games?

Is it really necessary to turn against each other like this?
In an interview, he angrily confronted the reporters and the fans who were advocating for his dismissal, arguing that it was not the fans' voice at all, but a despicable tactic orchestrated behind the scenes by Real Madrid's rivals.

Although Mourinho spoke with conviction, it is intriguing that Real Madrid has remained silent throughout the incident, offering no response whatsoever.

Having no attitude is itself an attitude.

……

In the 10th round of the league, Casillas returned from injury.

Before the match, Mourinho once again used psychological tactics on the players in the locker room, creating an atmosphere where the whole world was against them and against them, in order to motivate the players.

However, the effect did not seem to be good. The team's overall performance remained poor, especially the defense. Heinze once again became a major liability, causing two goals to be conceded due to mistakes in just the first half.

He didn't make any mistakes in the second half because he had been substituted by Mourinho, who had had enough. However, his teammates made mistakes again, giving the opponent another chance.

Poor Casillas, in his first game back after the injury, he conceded three goals due to his teammates' basic mistakes.

Fortunately, his teammates on the front line were strong enough. With Lin Feng's brace and goals from Raul and Higuain, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Malaga 4-3, stopping the downward spiral of Barcelona widening the gap in the standings.

But at this point, Real Madrid had already slipped to fourth place in the standings.

If things continue like this, forget about competing with Barcelona for the league title; even securing a Champions League spot for next season is in question.

The team's poor performance has affected the players' mentality to varying degrees.

When Lin Feng left the club and returned to China to participate in the national team's matches, even his national team teammates could tell that something was wrong with his performance. (End of Chapter)