Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

After the game against Valencia, Real Madrid ended its recent comfortable schedule.

Next, they will usher in a devilish schedule of four games in ten days, including three La Liga games and a Champions League knockout match against Dortmund.

The first one to bear the brunt is Villarreal, which stands in the path of Real Madrid.

"Yellow Submarine" has maintained strong competitiveness in La Liga in recent seasons.

They have broken into the top six in La Liga in the past three seasons, and last season they ranked fourth in La Liga and qualified for the Champions League play-offs.

Although in this summer's Champions League play-offs, they lost 2-3 to Monaco in the final two rounds and failed to enter the Champions League main draw.

But now watching Monaco reach the last 16 of the Champions League and only lose 3-4 to Manchester City in the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals, the audience will understand:

It's not that Villarreal isn't strong enough to play in the Champions League, it's that they were unlucky in signing and in the play-offs they were selected to play in the top 16 or even top 8 of the Champions League this season, Monaco.

Looking at it this way, Villarreal's loss was not unjust, and the back-and-forth between them and Monaco in the play-offs was enough to prove their strength.

Real Madrid will definitely not underestimate their opponent against Villarreal, which is also one of the few opponents in La Liga that can bring pressure to them.

But on the day of the game on February 26, Villarreal, who was at home, still gave Real Madrid a huge "surprise".

The game was only in the ninth minute of the first half when central midfielder Terry Gross, who only scored two goals for Villarreal last season, came into full bloom and directly scored a super long-distance goal!

This 35-meter-long world-beating long-range shot made Li Ang and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the top sluggers in football, secretly dumbfounded.

Even when they were at their best, they were not sure they could score such a wonderful goal.

As for Terry Gross?

If you let him speak for himself, he will have to admit that 99% of the time he missed the long shot because he had no chance to pass it, so he chose to block it!

Villarreal was extremely lucky to score such a good goal at the beginning of the game, which also put the Real Madrid team into a very passive situation.

The counterattack is definitely impossible. Real Madrid can only choose to press hard at this moment, trying to equalize the score before the end of the first half.

But such a radical offensive play definitely comes with risks.

Not to mention Real Madrid, even Chelsea, who had a stronger defensive ability last season, can't guarantee that their opponents will not seize the opportunity to score through counterattacks if they play like this.

Villarreal's offensive ability is ranked sixth in La Liga at best, but their defensive level can squeeze into the top three in La Liga!

Yes, apart from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Villarreal has the toughest defense in La Liga this season.

Compared with them, Barcelona's defensive level is also inferior.

Therefore, Villarreal's anti-counterattack level is also quite good.

Real Madrid's aggressive pressing suited them just fine.

While Villarreal shrank its formation to prevent Real Madrid's frontcourt superstars from finding opportunities to use their personal abilities to score goals, they also increased the intensity of their side counterattacks.

As a result, it lasted until the 28th minute of the first half, and Villarea really seized another great opportunity!

Villarreal's center Bakambu was very fast. After receiving a diagonal ball from his teammate during the counterattack, he quickly overtook and got rid of Casemiro's marking.

At this time, Li Ang was quickly chasing back from the center and front. Normally, when Bakambu approached Real Madrid's penalty area, he would basically be able to catch up and intercept him.

But I don’t know if he was also afraid that Li Ang would catch up. Bakambu finally decided to swing his leg and shoot from a full 27 meters away from Real Madrid’s goal!

It is not difficult for Navas to save such a volley.

But when Ramos in front of him chose to use his body to block the ball out of his responsibility as a central defender, something unexpected happened!

Ramos' thigh blocking the ball eventually caused the football to refract, and Navas, who had already made a save, was helpless in the face of the ball that deviated from the trajectory!

When the football hit the net again, the small ceramic stadium immediately became a sea of ​​celebration for Villarreal fans!

Real Madrid, playing away from home, fell into the crisis of losing for the first time in the league in the new season.

Ramos, who had done bad things with good intentions, pursed his lips and kept shaking his head, looking very guilty.

But at this moment, they couldn't care less about appeasing him, and Li Ang and Ronaldo, who trotted back to the midfield, were already shouting, boosting the morale of the whole team!

There is no use in blaming yourself at this time, and being overly immersed in frustration will only make the game situation more irreversible.

Li Ang, like Ronaldo, chose to move forward with his head held high at this moment. Only by moving forward can he make a comeback in this critical game!

Time was very tight, but Li Ang did not choose to continue to dispatch his teammates to attack aggressively.

Real Madrid's previous aggressive attacks actually didn't have much of a problem, and they also achieved corresponding results, but the final kick was always a bit unlucky.

But what seemed like a good tactical decision was wrong in the current critical game situation, because it did not help Real Madrid achieve the results they deserved.

Therefore, Li Ang decided to slow down the offensive rhythm first. At least such an obvious change can reassure his teammates first.

It lets them know that their core players are finding ways to turn the game around.

Needless to say, at least after Li Ang made such a tactical decision, Real Madrid's frontcourt players had more time to think and adjust.

The players in the backcourt gradually relaxed and no longer worried about their opponents' threatening counterattacks and lucky shots.

After stabilizing his position, Li Angcai chose to work with Modric to steadily push the offensive line forward.

Yes, we just have to play steadily. Li Ang would rather the team's offensive threat is reduced now than fall into a turbulent situation with unstable defense!

In this situation of steady progress with minimal mistakes, Real Madrid's technical advantage over Villarreal was quickly revealed.

Villarreal's excellent defense stems first from the positive attitude of their players, and secondly from the excellent training and tactical setup of the coaching staff.

To say how outstanding and outstanding their defensive players' personal abilities are is nonsense.

Villarreal's player abilities in both midfield and defense can only be regarded as mid-range in La Liga.

Their excellent team record in recent seasons can largely be attributed to "the power of the team."

It's difficult to deal with a team like this, but it's also easy.

Li Ang now chooses to advance steadily, which is to first suppress Villarreal as a whole, and then break the situation from local areas.

When the outcome of the game changes from the overall point of view to the comparison of the personal abilities of players in local areas, the balance of the situation will shift as much as possible to Real Madrid's side.

Li Ang himself also participated in the offensive penetration in local space.

He played very patiently and constantly reminded his teammates to be patient and look for opportunities.

Villarreal's defense players were stripped out of the system one after another by Real Madrid's suppression tactics.

They began to feel great defensive pressure, and Li Ang would not show mercy. What he is best at is misplaced offense!

When he also pulled up and took turns bullying Villarreal's full-backs with his two superstar wingers, Villarreal's seemingly tough defense was finally torn open.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Li Ang finally seized the opportunity and received Bell's deft pass and inserted it into Villarreal's penalty area.

Facing the central defender Victor Ruiz who rushed over to intercept, Li Ang chose to pick the ball again. While picking up the football that had not yet landed, he also dodged to avoid Ruiz's defense!

The next moment, Li Ang swung his left leg slightly and shot the ball furiously!

This non-stop volley in the penalty area made Villarreal goalkeeper Asenjo lose his temper!

Real Madrid finally pulled one back before the first half ended, without piling up all the pressure into the second half!

During the halftime break, Ancelotti also spent all his short adjustment time on arranging the attack.

At the beginning of the second half, Li Ang was very active and actively pushed forward.

He increased the number of dribblings he took, and repeatedly tried to dribble directly into Villarreal's defensive hinterland with his super personal ability!

His offensive attitude obviously annoyed many Villarreal defenders.

So Li Ang began to control the ball and dribble before falling to the ground. Real Madrid also got more frontcourt set-piece opportunities than in the first half.

In the first two set kicks, Real Madrid chose to pass the ball to compete for the top.

Benzema and Ramos each fought for a point, but neither could get the ball within the goal.

It wasn't until Real Madrid got their third frontcourt set-piece opportunity in the second half that Ronaldo stood in front of the football and signaled that he would take the free kick directly!

The pressure on him at this moment is huge, and no one knows how many fans around the world are watching him through the live broadcast camera.

Li Ang and his teammates ran to the Villarreal penalty area as an offensive smoke bomb.

But then, Cristiano Ronaldo directly scored Villarreal's goal with a crisp and unsolvable long-distance elevator ball! Li Ang and the others were not allowed to use subsequent offensive tactics!

2-2!

Real Madrid equalized the score in the 63rd minute of the second half and completely showed their momentum!

For Villarreal, no matter how tenacious the players are, they are somewhat unable to withstand such a situation.

Ancelotti, who had tasted the sweetness, asked Li Ang to continue to take the ball to attack Villarreal's defense.

This move was his conspiracy, but he chose to use it. Villarreal had to use foul tactics to interrupt Li Ang's advancement with the ball!

At the 74th minute of the second half, Villarreal's midfielder Hortana dos Santos seemed to be a little emotional and directly pulled Li Ang for a foul.

Li Ang simply fell to the ground again.

Faced with this set-kick opportunity that was deflected to the wing, Ronaldo gave way and Modric observed and took the penalty.

Once again, Li Ang and his teammates squeezed into Villarreal's penalty area. Their eagerness to try made the more than 20,000 fans at home a little frightened!

Soon, Modric hoisted the football to the back of Villarreal's penalty area. Liang and Benzema hit the goal and took off almost at the same time, directly attracting the attention of most defensive players!

But neither of them hit the ball in the end.

Ramos, who had been ambushing behind them, made a "low-altitude glide" this time, and finally pushed the football firmly into the near corner of the goal!

At this moment, countless Meilingers around the world jumped up in front of the TV with excitement!

And Ramos, who had redeemed himself, beat his chest excitedly and roared straight towards the corner flag area!

Behind him, Li Ang and Ronaldo, who were following closely, hugged him with equal excitement!

The live broadcast camera captured the scene of the three of them in the same frame very well, and at this moment, the trust of the Meilingers in the three of them reached its peak!

As long as these three men are present at the same time, Real Madrid will never lose!