Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The consecutive losses severely damaged the morale of the Real Madrid team. During daily training, Lin Feng noticed that the atmosphere in the team was very depressing. The laughter and chatter that used to fill the training ground were gone, replaced only by the thumping sounds of people burying their heads in their training.

Mourinho was preoccupied with other matters and had no time to deal with these things. At that moment, he was working with his assistants to devise tactics for the next Champions League match.

Having suffered two defeats at the hands of Juventus in the group stage, Real Madrid were already under considerable pressure to qualify.

In Group H, Juventus currently sits atop the table with 10 points from three wins and one draw in four matches, while Real Madrid is second with 6 points from two wins and two losses.

Following Real Madrid is Zenit St. Petersburg with one win, one draw, and two losses, accumulating four points, while BATE Borisov sits at the bottom of the group with two draws and two losses.

Given Real Madrid's current form, Zenit St. Petersburg and even BATE Borisov, who are behind them in points, have a chance to replace them and break through the group.

In particular, Zenit St. Petersburg's next opponent is Juventus, who have already qualified for the knockout stage with two rounds to spare. Given that Juventus have already qualified, it is possible that they might deliberately lose to their opponent and work together to eliminate Real Madrid.

Therefore, the match on November 26th is a life-or-death battle for Real Madrid, and they absolutely cannot afford to lose.

Mourinho is now truly feeling the pressure. He is well aware that the patience of Real Madrid's management and fans has reached its limit. If Real Madrid is eliminated in the Champions League group stage, the club will most likely sack him in order to quell the anger of the fans.

For someone as proud as Mourinho, being fired is a very humiliating thing.

This would be a denial of his abilities, damaging his reputation and even affecting his Daoist beliefs.

Despite facing criticism from many fans, Mourinho remains convinced that his tactical approach is the best.

Although he would secretly study Guardiola's methods in private, it doesn't mean that Mourinho completely negated himself.

Studying the opponent's tactics is simply to better understand and deal with them!
The Spanish El Clásico is just around the corner this season. Real Madrid, who have already suffered a crushing defeat in the league, have only one chance to turn the tide in terms of public opinion: to defeat Barcelona head-on in El Clásico!
If they can defeat Barcelona both home and away, then even if Barcelona wins the title in the end, Real Madrid will receive far less criticism than they have now.

The fact that Real Madrid was able to beat Barcelona shows that they are strong enough. As for why their points are not as high as Barcelona's, there are other reasons, such as too many injuries, refereeing decisions, and bad luck.

But that's all in the future. Right now, Mourinho has to get through the crucial Champions League match.

On November 26, Real Madrid will travel to BATE Borisov to play.

The opponent currently has only two points, and their chances of advancing are only theoretical.

Their final two opponents are Real Madrid and Juventus.

Now that's settled, BATE Borisov's players have given up on even the theoretical possibility. Facing the formidable Real Madrid, they parked the bus at home without any psychological burden!

attack?

Attack my foot! Now all of Europe knows that the best tactic against Real Madrid is a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

If they dare to go toe-to-toe with Real Madrid, they will most likely suffer a terrible defeat. But if they park the bus and rely on counter-attacks to catch Real Madrid off guard, they might have a chance to get 3 points!
Mourinho was furious when he saw the opposing team park the bus at their home stadium.

Real Madrid's attacking lineup is incomplete, with Raul out of form, Van Nistelrooy out for the season, and Robben, who had previously performed well, also injured.

Now there's only Higuain we can count on. Can he really break through the opponent's impenetrable defense by himself?
Thinking about this, Mourinho couldn't help but feel discouraged.

His gaze involuntarily turned to Lin Feng. Clearly, in his mind, only Lin Feng could step up and save the team in this situation; no one else could do it!
Compared to his condition when he had just returned from the national team in the previous game, Lin Feng's performance in this game was somewhat improved.

The Chinese national football team has already played four of its eight World Cup qualifiers, with the next qualifier scheduled for February next year.

In the three months leading up to this, he could focus his energy on the club's matches.

However, BATE Borisov's defensive wall was indeed effective, and Real Madrid's attacks against them in the first half did not yield much success.

At the end of the first half, the score was still 0-0.

"What happened in the other match? How many goals did Juventus score?"

During halftime, Mourinho asked the defenders about the score of the other match.

Currently, Zenit St. Petersburg is the main team vying with Real Madrid for second place in the group, and their opponent in this round is Juventus.

If Juventus doesn't hold back and plays to their true level, then Juventus will most likely win this match.

However, the news from the assistant was not so pleasant:
"Just like us, it's still 0-0 for now!"

"What are Juventus doing? They can't even beat Zenit?"

Upon hearing this, Mourinho's anger flared up. Juventus had been so dominant against Real Madrid, winning both home and away games and causing Real Madrid and Mourinho to lose face.

As a result, Juventus couldn't score against Zenit, a team far weaker than Real Madrid!

Who would believe this!
So it must be a Juventus conspiracy. They are playing a fixed match with Zenit to try and take down Real Madrid.

Perhaps because he has been attacked so badly by the outside world recently, Mourinho is now suspicious of everything and has a kind of victim paranoia, as if there are always treacherous people trying to harm him.

The reason Juventus had a difficult time in this match was mainly because they did not field their strongest lineup for the away game due to their focus on the league.

Another important reason is that Russia is now in the depths of winter, and the temperature in St. Petersburg has dropped below zero degrees Celsius.

The Juventus players seemed very uncomfortable playing football in the depths of winter in Northern Europe, far from the warm, spring-like climate of Southern Europe.

Under Zenit's relentless attack, the fact that they didn't concede a goal is already a testament to the wages the club pays them.

It's worth noting that every year, numerous European powerhouses suffer defeats in Russia and Ukraine, which explains why these places are known as "devil's home grounds."

If Real Madrid can't rely on Juventus, they'll have to rely on themselves.

In the second half, Mourinho used almost all three of his substitutions to bring on attacking players. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the entire Real Madrid team, in the 76th minute of the second half, Real Madrid finally scored thanks to Lin Feng's long-range shot!
The 1-0 scoreline held until the final whistle, and Real Madrid finally managed a victory to temporarily halt their losing streak in the Champions League after two consecutive defeats.

Just as Real Madrid's match ended, good news also came from the other side.

Although Juventus, playing away, did not win, they managed to draw with the home team thanks to their tenacious defense.

As a result, Zenit St. Petersburg will only have 5 points, 4 points behind Real Madrid.

This means that Real Madrid, thanks to this victory and Juventus' help, has secured qualification for the knockout stage with one round to spare.

"Well done, Juventus! It's really not easy to hold on under these circumstances!"

Just moments before, Mourinho had been vehemently criticizing Juventus, but upon learning that his team had already qualified for the knockout stage, he immediately changed his tune and began singing praises of Juventus. Despite the victory, Mourinho's reputation among fans did not improve.

On the contrary, Lin Feng, who scored crucial goals in two consecutive games, once again became the savior of Real Madrid fans.

[Thank goodness we have Lin Feng. If it weren't for him in this match, I can't even imagine what would have happened to us!]

I declare that Lin has replaced Raul as my favorite player in the Real Madrid team right now!

Haha, he was my favorite player last season!

[With such a talented player, what is the club waiting for—to renew his contract? Are they waiting for a supermarket sale?]

As the fans chatted, the topic of renewing Lin Feng's contract came up.

Since Lin Feng joined Real Madrid, there have been several rumors that he would renew his contract with the club, but none of these rumors have been confirmed.

This means that Lin Feng's current contract with Real Madrid is still the one he signed at the time of signing.

Although he signed a five-year contract back then, nearly a year and a half has passed, and Lin Feng's contract only has three and a half years left.

If this contract were for another player, fans wouldn't be so nervous and worried.

But when it comes to someone like Lin Feng, the team's core player and cornerstone, fans inevitably become suspicious.

[Yeah, why hasn't the club renewed his contract yet? Barcelona next door has already extended Messi's contract until 2014!]

I heard that Messi's annual salary has increased to 800 million euros after tax after his contract extension, making him the highest-paid player in football right now. Is this true or false?

[It's true, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, the €800 million annual salary isn't all; Barcelona also offered Messi a €400 million winning bonus. If he collects all the bonuses, Messi's annual salary will reach €1200 million, a precipitous increase over all other players!]

Has Barcelona gone mad? Their revenue is less than ours, yet they're offering double the annual salaries. How can their financial system afford that?

[I don't know, but Barcelona is currently making great strides by recruiting new players and increasing their salaries, showing signs of building a dream team like the Dream Team. I think this should raise our serious concerns, after all, Barcelona is squeezing out Real Madrid's space and attracting our attention and sponsors!]

Barcelona's momentum this season is too strong. The results of the new coach's leadership have exceeded everyone's expectations, which has created a great sense of crisis among Real Madrid fans.

In such situations, clubs need to take action to stabilize morale, such as announcing major signings or renewing the contract of a key player.

Is the club waiting for this year's Ballon d'Or selection?

This year's Golden Globe Award is pretty much a foregone conclusion, right? It'll definitely go to Lin Feng!

[It's not that sure. I think Messi could threaten Lin Feng's Ballon d'Or defense!]

Although Messi's performance in the second half of the year was outstanding, Lin Feng has both impressive statistics and numerous accolades. What can Messi offer to compete with him?

……

In fact, Real Madrid did try to renew the contract, but Lin Feng was not very interested in it.

His contract is still long, and he won't easily renew it with the club until at least next summer.

Especially given the team's poor performance this season and the potential for a major overhaul of the roster during the winter and summer transfer windows, he needs to be even more cautious.

If they don't renew their contract, they can just pack up and run away. But if they renew their contract for a longer period, it won't be so easy for them to leave.

Another reason he didn't renew his contract was that Real Madrid offered him too little money, which he didn't find acceptable.

As a reborn individual, Lin Feng was well aware that after the subprime mortgage crisis broke out in 2008, the United States injected massive amounts of US dollars into the international financial market through quantitative easing.

The result of turning on a nuclear-powered money printing press is inflation. This inflation has a significant impact on the football world because a large amount of hot money flows into the football industry, causing players' salaries and transfer fees to rise like sesame seeds bursting open.

Before 2008, the top salary in football was around 600 million euros, but soon, annual salaries of 1000 million, 1200 million or even 1500 million euros will continue to emerge.

If Lin Feng had renewed his contract with Real Madrid earlier, his salary definitely wouldn't have increased much.

But after Barcelona offered Messi a salary of 1200 million euros plus bonuses to renew his contract, Real Madrid was embarrassed to offer the same terms to Lin Feng again. They had to match the offer Barcelona made to Messi.
Players who actively demand high salaries from clubs can easily leave a bad impression of being greedy and money-grubbing.

However, if the club proactively offers a new contract and begs the player to sign the renewal agreement, then no one can use that to criticize the player.

Seemingly stimulated by Lin Feng's return, Real Madrid's performance in both the league and the Champions League has improved.

11月30日，西甲第13轮比赛，皇马在客场2:1击败了自己的小弟赫塔菲。

Lin Feng contributed a goal and an assist in this match, scoring a brilliant free kick and providing a precise through ball to assist Van der Vaart in scoring a goal.

He was named MVP of the game after the match, marking his third consecutive game as the best player since his return.

It's worth mentioning that Getafe just managed to draw with Barcelona in the last round of the league, ending their opponent's 11-game winning streak.

In other words, Getafe, the teammate, earned 5 points for Real Madrid in one go!
However, Guardiola's Barcelona remains stable. After being unexpectedly held to a draw by Getafe in the previous round, they quickly adjusted and defeated Sevilla, the future Europa League champions, 3-0 in this match, maintaining their unbeaten record.

After the first 13 rounds, the current situation in La Liga is quite clear.

Barcelona are undefeated, with 12 wins and 1 draw in 13 rounds, accumulating 37 points, creating the best start in La Liga history, and also the best start in Barcelona's history.

Compared to Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid's performance is significantly worse.

因为接连在弱队身上翻车，前13轮比赛皇马仅取得了9胜2平2负的战绩，总积分只有29分，比巴萨少了足足8分。

This result was achieved because Getafe helped them draw with Barcelona. If Getafe had lost to Barcelona, ​​the gap between the two teams would have been 10 points!

In terms of individual player statistics, Messi scored a total of 17 goals and provided 7 assists in the first 13 rounds of matches.

Lin Feng has missed more games, resulting in him falling behind Messi in individual statistics. He has only scored 12 goals and has one fewer assist than Messi.

However, these two unparalleled talents still hold a commanding lead over all their competitors in terms of individual statistics.

And this isn't just true in La Liga; across the top five European leagues, both players are currently the most efficient scorers in football! (End of Chapter)