Midfielder Ruler

The 2013-2014 UEFA Champions League final is a feast for fans all over the world. It may not be as popular as the quadrennial World Cup finals, but its excitement and technical and tactical content are higher than those of the World Cup finals. So fans who have tickets to the UEFA Champions League finals are happy. .

The Stadium of Light can accommodate 64,000 fans, and it was already packed two hours before the game started.

In the final, fans from both sides occupied the north and south stands of the stadium, extending in sequence. The main stands and auxiliary stands were filled with neutral fans.

They came to watch the game to experience the annual Champions League final feast, hoping to see a wonderful Champions League final.

Throughout the 2013-2014 La Liga season, Real Madrid was the sharpest spear, while Atletico Madrid was the strongest shield. The two teams met four times in the 2013-2014 season. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid each won one victory, and the other two teams met each other four times. The game was a draw.

It is worth mentioning that each game they won won a trophy for their respective teams. Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid in the away league and finally won the league championship, while Real Madrid finally won the King's Cup by defeating Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals away from home.

In terms of influence and gold content, the league champion is naturally stronger than the Copa del Rey champion, but the league is a long season. The main reason why Real Madrid regrets losing the league championship is not that the relationship between home and away league wins is inferior to Atletico Madrid, but that they themselves made too many mistakes .

Only after some dramatic changes occurred in a few rounds of the league did the subsequent easy mode and difficult mode appear.

The players from both sides returned to their respective locker rooms about thirty minutes before the start of the game, and the organizer, the Stadium of Light, began to arrange a cultural performance before the start of the final, highlighting the Portuguese national characteristics and unique football culture.

The entire performance lasted about fifteen minutes, and then UEFA President Platini and Portuguese Football Federation President Fernando Gomez delivered speeches one after another.

Not long after, players from both sides of the match appeared in the tunnel, and the entire Stadium of Light suddenly erupted into loud cheers: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay—"

Because the on-site director switched the camera to the players' tunnel, fans on site could see the players from both sides of the game walking to the players' tunnel one after another through the huge LCD screen erected in the southeast corner of the stadium.

The starting eleven stayed in the tunnel, while the substitutes walked straight into the court through the tunnel, then turned around and sat on their own teams' benches, waiting for the game to start.

An hour before the start of the game, both sides had submitted their starting lineups.

The official formation submitted by Real Madrid is 4231, and the goalkeeper is still the cup goalkeeper and captain Casillas.

The four defenders Carvajal, Varane, Ramos and Coentrao, and the double midfielder Khedira replaced Xavi Alonso, who had accumulated yellow cards and was unable to play, to partner with Modric.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Tang Zheng and Di Maria lined up, with Benzema at the front.

The official formation submitted by Atletico Madrid is 442, with goalkeeper Courtois and four defenders Felipe, Godin, Miranda and Juanfran.

The four midfielders are Koke, Gabi, Thiago and Raul Garcia, and the two forwards are Diego Costa and veteran David Villa who are injured.

The starting players who came to the tunnel no longer seemed nervous as before the game, but had a clear sense of excitement.

Many of the players on both sides of the game were teammates of the national team. They encouraged each other and chatted during the limited time before the game to relieve the tension before the game.

The championship belongs to the winner, and the biggest victim of competitive competition is the loser. No one in the team that reaches the final wants to lose, so they will try their best to win the championship.

The prerequisite for giving your best is a stable mentality. Chatting and encouraging each other before the game is one of the ways to relieve tension.

Tang Zheng is not very familiar with Atletico Madrid players, but they have played against each other many times, and Tang Zheng has a very good relationship with Atletico Madrid coach Simeone, so they have more topics to talk about.

Until Atletico Madrid coach Simeone appeared in the tunnel, Tang Zheng took the initiative to walk over, opened his arms, and embraced the man who changed his life's destiny.

The close-up shot of the live broadcast just ended here. Central 5 commentator He Wei immediately explained: "This pair of masters and apprentices have played against each other four times in La Liga and the Copa del Rey. This is the fifth time they have played against each other in the 2013-2014 season. , and it is also the last confrontation of this season. The master and apprentice should have a good chat before the battle, but I don’t know who will be able to maintain the smile now after ninety minutes?"

British Sky commentator Andy Gray turned to look at Martin Taylor meaningfully: "Hey, old man, which team do you think has a higher probability of winning?"

"Needless to say? Of course it's Real Madrid." Martin Taylor said without hesitation.

"Why?"

"Do you need to say this? Old man?"

Martin Taylor pointed his right index finger at Tang Zheng on the right side of the broadcast screen, full of confidence: "As far as I know, from the beginning of his career to now, he has never lost in the finals. Many media have already given him "Before the Finals" I don’t have the title of “King”, but there is nothing good about me except that I believe in God.”

After saying that, Martin Taylor made a false sign of the cross on his chest.

Andy Gray shook his head and smiled bitterly. He was really speechless to his old partner Martin Taylor, because now Martin Taylor has become a die-hard fan of Tang Zheng and cannot bear to hear others say that Tang Zheng is not good at all.

But then again, Tang Zheng started at River Plate and joined Real Madrid for one season, never losing in any final he participated in.

Perhaps records are meant to be broken, but this season Real Madrid's lineup thickness and overall strength are significantly stronger than Atletico Madrid, and the probability of winning is higher.

Tang Zheng habitually joked with his mentor Simone: "Hey~ you have to be mentally prepared."

"Mental preparation?" Simeone looked at Tang Zheng playfully: "Mental preparation for winning the championship? I'm already ready."

As Simeone's proud disciple, Tang Zheng naturally knew Simeone's character traits. He shook his head and smiled: "You are overthinking. I am talking about the mental preparation for losing."

Obviously, Simeone has a strong heart. He shrugged his shoulders and said: "I think you should have more."

Tang Zheng rolled his eyes, and just as Cristiano Ronaldo came over, Tang Zheng said goodbye to his mentor Simeone. He smiled and stretched out his right hand to hold Cristiano Ronaldo's outstretched right hand to encourage each other.

In the minds of many Real Madrid fans, the combination that Real Madrid relies on most offensively is the TC connection between Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo.

※※※

About two minutes later, Dutch referee Kuppers led the players from both sides of the game onto the court.

As before, a number of Champions League volunteers stood in the center circle, holding a corner of the huge Champions League five-star logo canvas.

Players from both sides of the match use the Champions League trophy placed between the players' crossing and the pitch as the boundary. They slowly enter the pitch from left to right. Then, with the referee team as the center, the players from both sides line up in a straight line, facing the main court. Grandstand.

What is different from the past is that the UEFA Champions League theme song "-League" was not played on the radio the first time the players entered the stadium. Instead, Portuguese singer Maria Nunez led the singing group to sing the UEFA Champions League theme song "-League" live.

Although the Champions League theme song sung by Portuguese female singer Maria Nunez is not as provocative as the original song, the background music played on the radio is already full of original religious singing, making the listener full of power.

At the same time, fanatical Real Madrid fans gathered in the south stand of the Stadium of Light. They used the four mosaic colors of red, white, yellow and blue to piece together a huge Real Madrid team emblem, while the die-hard Atletico Madrid fans in the north stand showed no sign of weakness. Obviously they had already prepared. They used white and red mosaic boards to piece together the Atletico Madrid home jersey. The two were at odds with each other, and neither one was convinced by the other.

After all, this season's Champions League final is the first city derby final in the 58-year history of the Champions League, and Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid also represent two classes in Madrid, so the contradiction is deep.

Now when they meet in a match to decide the Champions League champion, it is absolutely like sparks hitting the earth and sparks flying everywhere.

Especially for fans, it is even more unpleasant to watch the other side.

On the contrary, the players from both sides of the game were quite friendly when shaking hands with each other. Just like when they met in the tunnel before the game, they shook hands, patted each other on the shoulders and encouraged each other.

The game progressed quickly, and in the end Atletico Madrid won the right to pick the edge and lost the right to kick off.

Real Madrid gets the right to kick off, which is exactly what Tang Zheng wants to see.

It doesn't make much sense to choose which half to attack and defend in a neutral venue game. It is better to give priority to the right to kick off.

It's just that... the competition is far from as simple as Tang Zheng thought.

"Beep~"

With the referee Kuppers' whistle, Benzema kicked the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, which also meant that the 2013-2014 Champions League final officially kicked off!

CCTV 5 commentator He Wei gave the standard CCTV opening remarks: "CCTV, CCTV, welcome to watch the live broadcast of the UEFA Champions League final of the 2013-2014 season, Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid, the game has begun, and everyone on the field The one wearing the white jersey and white shorts is Real Madrid. They attack from the right side of the screen to the left. The one wearing the red and white striped shirt and blue shorts is..."

Before he finished speaking, the referee Kuppers blew his whistle again.

It turned out that Di Maria, who got the ball and tried to break through, was tripped to the ground by Cork's unreasonable leg extension.

He Wei changed his voice and shook his head: "The game was interrupted less than ten seconds after it started. Perhaps the main theme of this game will be to break through and be broken through. Real Madrid, which has obvious technical advantages, wants to score goals. It must be updated in the pre-game plan." Be patient, Atletico Madrid's tactical thinking in this game is already obvious, which is to disrupt Real Madrid's offensive rhythm and prevent Real Madrid from organizing the offense comfortably."

as expected!

The following game was frequently interrupted by Atletico Madrid fouls. However, because the foul location was not in the core area and the Atletico Madrid players' foul methods did not cause harm to the Real Madrid players, the referee Kuppers just blew the whistle in his mouth normally. , not even a warning.

Real Madrid coach Ancelotti was very angry about this.

Although the pre-match plan predicted that Atletico Madrid would frequently interrupt their offensive rhythm with fouls, they did not expect that it would happen so frequently.

Coupled with the lack of Xavi Alonso in the midfield, it is difficult for Modric alone to control the overall situation, so Tang Zheng often needs to retreat to help organize the offense.

In high-level competitions, every inch of ground must be fought for. Tang Zheng retreated and was not in the frontcourt, which meant that after the football was handed over to Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria, he lacked a supporting midfielder.

Therefore, Atletico Madrid's fouls are concentrated near the midfield, which can not only affect Real Madrid's offensive rhythm, but also ensure that fouls will not be severely punished by the referee.

Standing in front of the home team's coaching bench, Simeone has a very good ability to execute the players' tactics. Therefore, when Kuppers stopped the game, he stood on the sidelines to cheer the players on. The characteristics of the instigating head coach were fully exposed.

Simeone's provocative body movements also infected the players' desire to fight. Coupled with the fanatical atmosphere of the game, Atletico Madrid players once suppressed the dominant Real Madrid.

German Sky commentator Marcel Leif praised Simeone's tactics: "In the past five minutes of the game, Atletico Madrid, which did not have the advantage, actually occupied the position to perfectly suppress Real Madrid. It seems that Diego Simeone did the homework before the game. More adequate than Carlo Ancelotti, knowing that Real Madrid's lack of Xavi Alonso in the midfield will affect the overall offensive and defensive transition, and Atletico Madrid has a well-organized staff and a good tactical execution. It seems that the game will not go in the direction of To develop in a direction that is beneficial to Real Madrid..."

Central 5 commentator He Wei also discovered that the situation was not conducive to Real Madrid. He said worriedly: "Alonso's accumulation of yellow cards and missing the finals has a great impact on Real Madrid. It really shakes the whole body. Tang Zheng has to share more midfield responsibilities. , to make up for the lack of capabilities of Modric Weapon and Khedira."

Cristiano Ronaldo played very depressed. His left knee was injured, and next month is the World Cup, so he did not dare to work hard.

Cristiano Ronaldo's national team teammate Thiago took a fancy to this and chose to play "black feet" frequently, forcing Cristiano Ronaldo not to dare to break through with the ball too much.

Of course, this 'black foot' is not that black foot. What I am talking about is that Thiago's kick looks very cruel. The actual lethality is limited, but it has a great impact on Cristiano Ronaldo's performance.

Tang Zheng has a very upright attitude towards the competition. Even if he competes next month, he will work very hard. But in many cases, hard work does not mean reward.

On a top stage like the Champions League final, the gap in player strength is not obvious. It is not impossible to break the deadlock with personal strength, but the difficulty level is a bit high.

In the past, Tang Zheng, like many football experts and media, believed that the absence of Xabi Alonso was insignificant for the team, but from the perspective of real games, the lack of Xabi Alonso exposed very big problems.

Xabi Alonso is both offensive and defensive. Whether it is offense or defense, he can relieve the huge pressure on Tang Zheng. The most obvious point is the switch from offense to defense.

In this regard, Khedira and Modric are both close to success.

Therefore, Tang Zheng did not dare to be too offensive in the first ten minutes. He was worried that problems would arise if the team switched from offense to defense.

In the eleventh minute, the broadcaster gave the ball possession ratio of both sides.

56%VS44%

Although Real Madrid leads by six percentage points, the extra possession time is actually spent in the midfield and backcourt, which is useless.