Starting With Real Madrid

Welcome to the Champions League final again!

The game starts in five seconds, please be ready!

Five, four, three, two, one!

The entire team attacks!

…

As the Italian referee Rizzoli blew the whistle, before the Bayern players could react, they saw the Real Madrid players in white shirts surging forward at speed.

Almost all the Bayern players were stunned.

Who is launching an all-out attack here?

We were the ones kicking off, okay?

But the Real Madrid players clearly did not care. Led by the front trident of Ronaldo, Benzema, and Di María, followed by midfielders Toni Kroos, Modrić, and Xabi Alonso, plus the back line of Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe, and Carvajal.

Except for goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who stayed in the penalty area, all three lines of Real Madrid pressed into Bayern's half.

Real Madrid's aggressive approach forced the Bayern players to retreat and pass back under pressure.

As soon as veteran goalkeeper Butt took a touch, he saw that Real Madrid's front three had already pushed up to the back line. Butt stopped the ball to his left but found no passing lane, froze, then dribbled to the right, but still had no outlet.

Real Madrid players were swarming around him. How could he pass?

After a brief hesitation, Butt went long with a big clearance.

The ball reached the front, Mandzukic judged the flight, used his body to hold off Ramos, and headed it down, but Real Madrid claimed the second ball quickly, with Xabi Alonso sweeping it to the left.

Marcelo controlled it and drove forward.

After crossing the halfway line, Ronaldo came over to combine on the left.

But the Real Madrid attack did not threaten, the ball entered the box and was claimed by Butt.

The Bayern keeper released it quickly, but Real Madrid immediately counter-pressed.

"The match has begun."

"Both teams have started at a high tempo. No probing, straight into top gear."

"Both sides came prepared."

By comparison, Bayern leaned more toward defending, while Real Madrid took the initiative, trying to pin Bayern back in their own half.

Real Madrid's press remained a significant threat to Bayern.

The Bundesliga champions were not used to Real Madrid's aggressive high press, especially the targeted pressing.

Gao Shen's trident had a clear division of labor tonight.

Ronaldo was tasked with pinning Lahm.

In the past, after Guardiola took over Bayern, he was not used to using Schweinsteiger as a number four and once played Lahm there. The reason was simple. Lahm's strengths were not only his passing and technique.

More importantly, his vision and positioning.

These two outstanding qualities, added to his excellent passing and technique, made Lahm a Guardiola favorite.

Because of this, Lahm's role in this Bayern was extraordinary, especially his combination with right winger Thomas Müller, which was key to Bayern reaching the final.

Gao Shen used Ronaldo to pin Lahm and Di María to pin Alaba, preventing Bayern's fullbacks from joining the attack effectively and forcing them to focus on defending.

In the middle, Benzema stopped harassing the two center backs and instead focused on Schweinsteiger.

Under pressure from Benzema, Schweinsteiger dropped even deeper, both to support the center backs and to try to lose Benzema and receive. But with Benzema's constant attention, and Real Madrid's midfield squeezing, Bayern failed to progress the ball effectively.

Simply put, Bayern struggled to play through midfield.

It was either recycling it across the back or hitting long.

And the efficiency of long balls to the front is self-evident.

Real Madrid's plan for Bayern's front three was still about cutting off supply.

Carvajal tracked Ribéry and defended him one on one, Pepe and Ramos handled center forward Mandzukic, Marcelo contained Thomas Müller, while Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos, and Modrić shielded the defense.

From the bird's-eye view on the broadcast, you could see that when Real Madrid pressed high, the lines were very compact. The three midfielders were practically in a line, building a wall in front of the back four.

With Real Madrid so compact from front to back, Bayern struggled to find usable space and naturally found it difficult to pass forward.

There was another point Gao Shen had not mentioned to Wenger yesterday. Besides their defense being a weakness, Bayern also had an issue with pace.

In the past, Robben did not only provide Bayern with right-sided threat. He also brought speed the rest of the team lacked.

Now Robben was gone, and the burden of progressing the ball fell entirely on Ribéry.

But everyone knew that at 30, and after injuries, Ribéry was no longer as fast as before.

With that in mind, when Gao Shen used the younger, quicker, more agile Carvajal to mark him, the French winger had no way through.

Ribéry was tightly marked, and the fullbacks were pinned by Real Madrid's wingers and dared not join the attack rashly. How could Bayern advance?

The answer was, they could not.

By contrast, Real Madrid had speed, power, and technique.

Vidal tried to press Xabi Alonso, but Kroos and Modrić stayed close to the Spaniard, so Vidal could not disrupt Real Madrid's midfield trio on his own.

Once they recovered the ball, Real Madrid combined smoothly and advanced quickly.

Both sides' lineups and initial tactics were obvious from the opening, with no secrets.

You could see the effect too.

The best example came in the third minute.

After receiving from Alaba, Ribéry faced Carvajal near the left touchline close to halfway, trying to beat him one on one. Carvajal stuck to him, used his body to win the duel, then stepped in decisively to nick the ball.

The French winger lost balance and fell to the turf, drawing a roar from Wembley.

But referee Rizzoli signaled no foul, a clean tackle.

Real Madrid's right back fed Di María ahead of him, then sprinted up the right flank.

The players in the middle and on the left surged forward too.

Di María laid it back to the right and accelerated.

Carvajal, without taking a touch, played into the space for Modrić.

Seeing Di María's run, the Croatian immediately clipped a right-footed ball over the top, sending it to the right side of the final third.

Di María tore away at top speed, getting in front of Alaba, cushioning with his left and bringing it under control.

Alaba recovered quickly, cutting off the route to the byline and into the area, while Schweinsteiger also dropped into the right corner of the box to help, trying to block the cut inside.

The Argentine was bold and silky, driving at Alaba step by step. He first feinted to the byline, then suddenly dragged it back. As Schweinsteiger arrived to help, he rolled it with his left to evade the lunge, then scooped a lobbed pass from the right side of the area.

Di María's lob dropped into the center of the box, just outside the penalty spot.

Benzema had just reached the spot. Seeing that Di María did not go to the byline but pulled it back, he immediately pivoted, swung his right leg, and cushioned the dropping ball with the inside of his foot.

The French striker's touch was excellent. Though hurried, he brought it under control.

By then, Dante had left Alaba and Schweinsteiger to it on the right and turned to double Benzema with Van Buyten.

Van Buyten stepped in, used his body to block Benzema, and prevented him from turning.

Lahm was to Benzema's left, forming a triangle with Van Buyten, and cutting off the lane between Benzema and Ronaldo.

Freeze the frame here and you would see Benzema almost trapped on all sides.

Gustavo was recovering from the D, Lahm to the left, Dante to the right, and Van Buyten behind.

The French striker was surrounded.

Even a slightly heavy touch would have been lost.

But the ability of a top player shows in such details. He could still bring it under control in that pocket.

After the touch, Benzema feinted a turn to his left.

Everyone knew he was right-footed. If he turned and shot, it would be dangerous.

That immediately panicked Van Buyten and Dante, who converged from both sides to block the turn.

At that critical moment, nobody expected Benzema to cushion with his right, then poke it behind him again.

The ball seemed obedient, sliding through the gap between Van Buyten and Lahm, dropping into the space behind them.

At this moment, Van Buyten's biggest regret was charging out.

If he had held his position, Benzema's pass would have gone straight to him.

Now he had vacated it.

It was all that damn Benzema's fault.

Ronaldo had been next to Lahm. When he saw Benzema about to turn, he wanted to dart in to pounce on any rebound in front of goal.

He knew that Benzema would put his laces through it. From that range, it is hard to hold, it would likely spill or be parried out by the goalkeeper.

Then he would have a chance.

But he did not expect Benzema to slip a backheel pass.

When the ball slid between Van Buyten and Lahm, Ronaldo froze for a split second, then reacted faster than anyone. He reached out his left foot almost reflexively to bring it under control, then quickly adjusted his balance.

Van Buyten is big and strong, but slow to turn. Lahm's reactions are quick, but his back had been to Ronaldo, and he needed to turn and cover a few steps. As a result, after Ronaldo adjusted his center of gravity, his right-footed stance was a little awkward, but he still got a shot away from the right of the penalty spot without pressure.

Goalkeeper Butt reacted instinctively and flung himself across.

But it was too late.

(To be continued.)

***

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