Starting With Real Madrid

"Bayern make the first substitutions."

"Mario Gómez replaces Alaba, number 27."

"Heynckes clearly wants to go all in and make one last push."

"Bayern now have two centre-forwards on the pitch."

"I'm curious how they will adjust after this change."

…

Gao Shen glanced at the clock. Sixty-two minutes.

Heynckes finally made a move.

He stood on the touchline, carefully tracking Bayern's positional changes after the substitution.

He saw Mandžukić shift to the left, Ribéry drift inside, and Mario Gómez take up the central striker role.

That formed a front four.

Vidal dropped back to create a three-man holding unit with Schweinsteiger and Gustavo, leaving only three at the back.

In truth, it made sense.

This was Heynckes's last resort.

Two goals down, if Bayern wanted to turn it around, they had to throw more bodies forward.

If you strengthen the attack, you need fresh legs and more manpower.

Ribéry, Mandžukić, and Thomas Müller were Bayern's best attacking trio, and it was not ideal to remove any of them.

Schweinsteiger was the midfield hub and could not be touched. Vidal was the key balancer and could not be removed either.

Right now, Bayern were already at a serious midfield disadvantage. If Gustavo came off too, would there be any midfield left?

Would Real Madrid not then walk through the middle at will?

How would the back line hold?

As for the defense, Lahm's role was obvious, while Alaba's was relatively less critical.

So replacing Alaba was actually very reasonable.

With that in mind, Gao Shen understood.

He walked straight to the touchline and, at the next stoppage, called Di María over.

"Now that Alaba is off, drop a line and choke off Vidal and Schweinsteiger."

"Let Benzema push up. Tell him to track Van Buyten's positioning."

"Once you win it, try to drag Dante out. Got it?"

Di María, sharp as ever, understood immediately and nodded.

Back on the pitch, the Argentine quickly relayed the instructions.

Bayern are no pushovers. Even with substitutions or Real Madrid's targeted tweaks, it was not going to yield an instant payoff.

But now Bayern were the ones anxious, while Gao Shen and Real Madrid needed to stay patient.

So far, Gao Shen had not made a single change.

On one hand, the game state was still unsettled and needed to be consolidated.

On the other, Gao Shen wanted a third goal to crush Bayern's resistance.

A 3-0 lead at halftime is the most dangerous scoreline.

But now it was the second half.

One more goal and the game would be done.

…

"Gao Shen reacted so fast."

On the home bench, Heynckes felt his heart sink when he saw Gao Shen summon Di María. When he noticed Real Madrid's on-field adjustments, he could not help but sigh.

He sat back down to avoid the live cameras capturing the tight expression on his face.

"He gives me the feeling he had already guessed what I would do and was waiting there for me."

As Heynckes said it, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Is he really only in his early thirties?"

"He certainly does not look it," assistant Peter Hermann muttered, leaning to glance at Gao Shen by the away bench.

Patrolling the touchline and directing is Gao Shen's calling card.

"He looks far too experienced, nothing like a youngster."

"Exactly." Heynckes shook his head. "Facing him is unlike facing anyone else."

It felt helpless.

As if no matter what you did, he would immediately find a counter to shut you down.

Sometimes, Heynckes really wanted to crack open his head and see what was inside.

How could he react and read so well?

Is that really pure talent?

Is he truly born with a heightened tactical instinct?

Heynckes had played and coached for decades, his entire life tied to football. He had seen countless prodigies on the pitch and many gifted coaches.

But someone like Gao Shen was truly unique.

Because no matter how hard you work, your coaching experience is finite.

But how deep is his?

It is as if he has endless, inexhaustible experience. Whatever you try, he has an answer and a way to restrain you.

Heynckes did not know whether other famous managers felt the same, but to him it was overwhelming.

Just like now.

Alaba goes off. Logically, most people would immediately strengthen the right flank and attack the vacancy Alaba left. That would be the direct play, right?

Heynckes had already prepared for that when he made the change.

But then what?

Gao Shen did not do it.

Instead of piling on down the right, he dropped Di María to focus on Vidal and Schweinsteiger.

What did that mean?

He was essentially telling Heynckes he had read the plan and would not bite.

On the contrary, by keeping three in midfield, Real Madrid made Bayern's midfield circulation even clunkier.

Schweinsteiger is the hub.

Ribéry's display on the left tonight was not ideal. He got little change out of Carvajal.

Heynckes tried moving him inside as a 10 to better link midfield and attack.

But with Gao Shen's adjustment, Real Madrid's grip in midfield only tightened.

"We should not have let Toni Kroos go." The old coach could not help a long sigh.

Peter Hermann looked at Heynckes in surprise, then glanced around to make sure no one had heard before relaxing.

"Not the time to say that," Hermann warned.

Heynckes smiled. "I am retiring soon. What is there to fear?"

It was a mistake.

Khedira, the one who was taken off earlier, sat on the bench.

Would Heynckes dare to undo that change?

Bayern's biggest issue now was not defending, it was progression.

Without midfield control, the front line did not function.

They also lacked pace.

The attacking rhythm up front was too slow.

This was already clear in the semi-final against Manchester City. They scraped through.

Against this refined Real Madrid, the problems surfaced again.

With Toni Kroos, at least there would be a steady distributor.

In some respects, Kroos's organisation and passing are better than Schweinsteiger's.

But such a fine player was handed to Real Madrid. Was that not a mistake?

Why not admit it?

"We missed two players. One was Toni Kroos, whom we should not have let go. The other was Reus."

The former would give passing, the latter, speed.

But now, it was too late.

…

In the seventy-third minute, the chance Real Madrid had waited for finally arrived.

Ronaldo and Benzema pressed high. Dante tried to feed Schweinsteiger, but with Modrić harrying, Schweinsteiger knocked it back again.

Benzema had closed on Dante, forcing a pass.

Dante played into Vidal on the angle.

The Chilean took it centrally, returned it into Schweinsteiger, and darted forward for the return.

Schweinsteiger did not take a touch and laid it back first time for the give-and-go.

Modrić reacted quickest, stepped in, slid, and nicked it before Vidal.

Vidal got through, but the ball was gone.

Although Modrić fell, he still prodded it to Di María.

The Argentine spun, collected Modrić's pass, and burst into a quick counter.

"A rapid break from Real Madrid."

"Di María carries into Bayern's 30-metre zone."

Behind him, Vidal and Schweinsteiger chased, but Di María's dribbling speed was blistering.

Benzema in the middle and Ronaldo on the left both surged, ready to pounce behind Bayern's line.

While driving forward, Di María scanned the picture.

Gustavo held the centre, Dante stepped out.

That was what Di María wanted. His route was always into the right half-space, to pull Dante out.

But it was not enough.

As Di María entered the 30-metre zone and saw Dante step, he cut inside decisively.

The lane was exactly between Gustavo and Dante.

Both Bayern players converged on him, but the Argentine reacted faster, sliding a left-footed through ball.

It zipped between the two at pace and dropped on the right side of the box.

Almost in the same beat, Benzema, who had been lurking, shook off Van Buyten, angled into the right of the area, and met Di María's pass with his right.

All the while, Van Buyten could only track at his side and do nothing. He watched Benzema bring it under and dash to the right corner of the six-yard box, creating another one-on-one.

The Belgian was simply not quick enough to catch him, and he dared not foul.

Butt came off his line, but Benzema expected it. The French striker struck early, the whole motion cool and composed.

The ball sped past Butt and nestled in Bayern's goal again.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

"3-0!!!"

"Benzema!"

"Real Madrid score again, a finish from Benzema!"

"At the key moment, he stayed calm and ruthless, taking the one-on-one."

"Once again, Bayern's back line was ripped apart by Real Madrid's attackers."

"Four defenders could not stop three attackers. That is the gulf in individual ability."

"3-0!"

"With under 20 minutes to go, Real Madrid have all but seized the Champions League!"

(To be continued.)