Starting With Real Madrid

On the evening of March 28, at the Alp Stadium in Turin.

The game is already in the second half, nearing the 60-minute mark, and the score remains 0-0.

Since the start of the second half, Capello has been standing in the command area of the home team's coaching bench, adjusting the team's tactics according to the situation on the field, especially monitoring some of the players' movements and positions.

But tonight, Real Madrid's defense is very tight.

Capello looked up at the clock, turned his head, and nodded toward assistant coach Gabbiati on the bench.

Gabbiati immediately walked over to the bench and called Mutu's name, telling him to warm up quickly.

The Juventus assistant had a solemn look on his face; the situation on the field was not optimistic.

Capello had two attackers on the bench, Mutu and Zalayeta, the latter standing at 1.88 meters tall. If he went on, Juventus would have three tall forwards in the front line.

But the biggest problem for Juventus tonight was that the midfield couldn't deliver the ball effectively.

...

At the start of the first half, Juventus played very actively.

Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic attacked Real Madrid's backline fiercely.

Real Madrid still used a 4-2-3-1 formation, trying to use the five midfielders to maintain stability. Initially, this wasn't very effective and they were suppressed by Juventus for a few minutes. However, Gao Shen quickly made adjustments, especially by pushing Raul and Beckham forward to contain Zambrotta and Chiellini, with Negredo pressing the central defenders and Zidane targeting the double pivot midfielders.

As a result, Real Madrid gradually stabilized their position.

Once Real Madrid stabilized, it became increasingly difficult for Juventus to advance from the back to the front.

Especially in the midfield area, Real Madrid had five players in that zone.

Consequently, Juventus was forced to rely on frequent long balls.

Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic had an advantage in aerial duels in the front. Ramos wasn't tall, and Woodgate had recurring injuries, which made it difficult for them to contest Juventus' two prominent strikers.

Gao Shen was clearly aware of this, so he placed significant emphasis on competing for the second ball.

Trezeguet's ability to hold the ball was weak, allowing Real Madrid to control the second ball. Ibrahimovic liked to play with the ball at his feet, but as soon as he received it, there were at least two or three Real Madrid players around him.

Because Real Madrid's formation was meticulous, they could effectively control the second ball.

The ground play wasn't effective, and long passes were inefficient. Juventus was at a loss.

The statistics reflected Real Madrid's defensive performance tonight.

Throughout the first half, Juventus only managed three shots, none on target. Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic combined to be offside six times.

Who would have thought that Real Madrid would play defensively at the Alp Stadium!

But was that it?

Gabbiati always felt that Real Madrid was playing strangely tonight.

...

When Gabbiati returned to the bench, Capello also walked back, took a sip of hot water, adjusted his glasses, and looked somewhat anxious.

"Have Zalayeta warm up later; tonight will be a tough fight," Capello said solemnly.

Gabbiati nodded, "I always feel that Real Madrid is a bit strange."

Capello glanced at his assistant and nodded slightly, "Did you notice it?"

Gabbiati was taken aback for a moment; it turned out Capello knew all along.

"Every time we press forward to attack, Real Madrid also pushes up, defends high, presses our midfielders, and forces our forwards out of the penalty area. That's why we have few shots but many offsides."

After Capello's explanation, Gabbiati immediately understood.

"But," Capello continued, "every time we retreat properly, hoping to lure Real Madrid out, they also retreat. That's why the rhythm of the game is so strange, different from usual matches."

Hearing this, Gabbiati suddenly realized.

He finally understood why he felt it was strange—it was the rhythm of the game.

Juventus advanced, Real Madrid followed; Juventus retreated, Real Madrid also retreated.

But why play like this?

"Why?" Capello chuckled, "It's simple—it saves energy."

When facing Juventus, any team wanting to score must invest heavily in manpower and consume a lot of physical strength and running, because Juventus is known for its solid defense.

In other words, after investing a lot of resources and consuming a lot of energy, it's still uncertain whether they can score.

Gao Shen's approach is that Real Madrid doesn't want to score goals. Apart from taking quick counterattacks when the opportunity arises, the rest of the time is spent maintaining formation against Juventus' advances and retreats.

One advantage of this is minimizing the players' running and physical consumption.

But the downside is also obvious—unless you seize a counterattack opportunity, you won't score a goal.

"Isn't this too conservative?" Gabbiati felt a bit amused, thinking to himself, no wonder the Spanish media is criticizing him for being conservative. Indeed, he's extremely conservative, not even daring to attack.

But Gabbiati, being Capello's assistant, quickly thought it through.

"I understand. He's preparing for the next national derby and the second leg."

Realizing this, Gabbiati felt a bit stunned.

Isn't this too bold?

Even though the Champions League is a two-leg match, how many people have such courage?

Isn't this something only the world's top managers dare to do?

"Real Madrid's lineup is limited. Without their Brazilian players, it's hard for them to perform well in all games. So, from the beginning, he never thought of winning at the Alpine Stadium. He just wanted a draw, preferably a 0-0 draw," Capello said helplessly.

Facing an opponent who defends tightly and doesn't want to win, he also had a headache.

As for playing ugly, Juventus and Real Madrid were evenly matched.

So far, the home team had four shots with zero on target, while Real Madrid had one more shot—five shots with one on target.

It was a quick counter-attack in the first half. After Beckham's long pass, Felipe hurriedly advanced from the left, made a cross from the bottom line, and Negredo followed up with a shot.

Buffon saved it with a flying leap.

This was the most threatening attack by either team so far.

Other than that, it was really drowsy.

"You know what? The pain in the world is that people don't know what they want. They always want more but don't understand that God has secretly put a price on everything. How much you get is how much you lose."

Capello sighed, "This kid knows exactly what he wants and can resist temptation. So you see, as soon as Real Madrid stepped forward, he shouted to let the team retreat because he only wanted a 0-0 game from the start."

Gabbiati was a bit surprised. He didn't expect Capello's evaluation of Gao Shen to be so high.

Is Gao Shen really a 25-year-old young man?

"Even if this game ends 0-0 for him, is he so confident that he will win the national derby against Barcelona and beat us in the second leg at the Bernabeu?" Gabbiati wondered.

Capello shook his head and smiled, "Who knows? That's the funniest thing about football, isn't it?"

After a pause, Capello added, "Even if you ask me, if he really forces a 0-0 draw in the first leg and goes to the Bernabeu for the second leg, is there any chance of winning? I can't answer you."

"As managers, everything we do, every decision we make, is to help the team as much as possible, to improve the probability of scoring or winning. There has never been an absolute certainty in football."

Gabbiati nodded; this was the so-called unpredictability.

A lot of post-match analysis is based on the results to deduce the reasons. It's rare to deduce from before the game.

"This kid is interesting, really interesting." Capello turned his head and glanced at Gao Shen in front of the visiting team's bench.

"So, what do we do now?" Gabbiati asked, "Just let him keep the score?"

"He wishes!" Capello laughed, "Let Zalayeta warm up and get ready to play."

...

...

Gao Shen stood in front of the visiting team's bench, staring worriedly at the field.

Real Madrid's players all have an attacking heart, and he was afraid they might rush out accidentally.

At this point, they can't rush.

Going forward is very difficult to score goals and consumes a lot of energy. How will they fight against Barcelona and Juventus next Wednesday?

More importantly, he was also observing Juventus to find loopholes to exploit in the second leg.

But he didn't expect Capello to be so relentless.

In the 60th minute, Mutu replaced Camoranesi and played as the left midfielder. Nedved switched to the right.

Then, Gao Shen saw Zalayeta warming up.

Five minutes later, Zalayeta replaced Vieira.

"Damn, is Capello crazy?" Maqueda shouted in disbelief.

Three center forwards!

Zalayeta, Trezeguet, and Ibrahimovic were all 1.9 meters tall.

Gao Shen also felt like cursing.

This clearly showed bullying Real Madrid's shorter players, right?

But indeed, Real Madrid's players were at a physical disadvantage.

Capello had another intention: he saw through Gao Shen's plan and forced a war of attrition.

Otherwise, imagine three 1.9-meter tall center forwards standing in the penalty area with high balls flying in. That scene was like setting fire to the city!

Gao Shen turned his head and glanced at the home team's coaching bench. Just as Capello looked towards him, he even nodded and smiled, which made Gao Shen curse inwardly.

Miscalculated!

Capello is Rijkaard's mentor!

Are these two masters and apprentices really planning to join forces to crush me?

How to say, you are both renowned and accomplished, and yet you choose to bully a newcomer like me?

Do you think that's appropriate?

Does bullying me like this really bring you that much pleasure?