Starting With Real Madrid

Before the Derby of the Century, a Catalan media outlet published a math problem:

One Eto'o is equal to three Ronaldos.

Barcelona's 1R is greater than Real Madrid's 4R.

Question: How much is Barcelona's Eto'o plus 1R equal to Real Madrid's?

This question was actually humiliating Real Madrid's superstars.

Eto'o and Ronaldo are scoring goals, 1R refers to Ronaldinho, while Real Madrid's 4R refers to Ronaldo, Robinho, Roberto Carlos, and Raul.

The implication is that Eto'o and Ronaldinho are worth the entire Real Madrid team.

What is the so-called derby of the century?

Numerous pro-Real Madrid media, including Aspen and Marca, were angered by the humiliation from the Catalan media, but in the face of real achievements and performance, their counterattacks seemed weak.

Especially in the first derby of the century between the two sides, the Bernabeu fans stood up to applaud Ronaldinho.

This is equivalent to an official seal of approval.

Is Ronaldinho really that strong?

Just two minutes and thirty-seven seconds after the whistle was blown at Camp Nou, the Brazilian superstar used an unbelievable straight over-the-top long pass, letting everyone see his strength and recent excellent form.

This pass crossed Real Madrid's three lines of defense and landed precisely in the penalty area.

Casillas resolutely abandoned the goal to attack, but Eto'o, who was still coming from the back row, took the lead and shot.

Fortunately, the Real Madrid goalkeeper blocked most of the shooting angles, and Eto'o tried to avoid Casillas' control when he kicked, but the ball slipped out slightly.

A false alarm!

But, the whole Camp Nou exploded!

...

"What happened?"

In front of the visiting team's coach, Gao Shen was directly furious and rushed to the sidelines to shout angrily.

On the court, Casillas was also furious and roared at Elguera to vent his dissatisfaction.

It was an offside error just now.

Ramos and his teammates were already pressing up, but Elguera was obviously a step behind, and then Eto'o seized the opportunity and easily succeeded in breaking the offside trap, directly forming a single-handed shot.

Although they didn't score, Barcelona's first shot in the game directly broke through Real Madrid's defense.

Three lines of defense!

"Ivan, you need to wake up!"

"Sergio, pay attention."

"And you, David, follow the defense, follow the defense, everyone has moved to the middle, where are you?"

"Zinedine, he's near you, where are you?"

Gao Shen took a deep breath and called the names of several players, including Beckham and Zidane.

The problem exposed by this attack is not just the failure of Elguera to execute the offside trap but also Ronaldinho's long pass.

The Brazilian moved very cleverly this time. He retreated from the front, formed a cross with Van Bronckhorst, then cut in suddenly and sent a long pass.

He retreated too deep, and it was impossible for Abeloa to keep up, but Beckham didn't follow Ronaldinho initially.

Beckham on the side didn't follow, Zidane in the middle was distracted by Deco and Van Bommel who were pushing in from behind, and he didn't immediately mark him, so Ronaldinho could calmly start a long pass.

From forward to defender, Real Madrid had four lines of defense, but three were torn apart by Ronaldinho's long pass.

Although it came very suddenly, although no goal was scored, and although the game had just started, these are not excuses.

If Eto'o seizes the opportunity, Real Madrid will be doomed!

Fortunately, Eto'o's scoring form hasn't been very good recently.

Originally, Gao Shen wanted to probe Barcelona in the opening stage to gain more defensive space for the next stage.

But now it seems that he still overestimated Real Madrid's defense.

It only took more than two minutes into the game, and they were already under attack, so what else could be done?

Defend!

Gao Shen had no other options, so he could only signal the team to retreat and take a strict defense.

He was very reluctant to do this because it was too passive.

Barcelona is in a very good state now, and the players are very strong, especially Ronaldinho.

Today's Brazilian genius is not the out-of-shape, immobile Ronaldinho of the past two years; he is like a moving card dealer, with a wide range of movement, and no matter where he is, he can create threats.

The most memorable moment of Gao's past life is Messi's goal.

When Messi came off the bench, Ronaldinho told him to stand in a certain position later, wait for his pass, and then strike the goal directly to score.

What terrifying personal ability!

The result?

Ronaldinho really created such a chance for Messi, but Messi didn't score.

The Brazilian genius didn't care either, comforting him by saying, "It's okay, I'll give you another one later."

Then, he really gave Messi a shot in the same position, and Messi took it.

This is in La Liga; it's not team training, it's not abusing weak teams!

It can be said that Ronaldinho, in the past two or three years, was synonymous with invincibility on the field.

If you want to defend him, it can't be done with only one person, or even only two people.

Because his running range is too large.

...

Gao Shen was furious!

Camp Nou is boiling!

After the Real Madrid players broke out in a cold sweat, they also began to gradually get into the game, especially after Gao Shen decisively opted for a defensive strategy, the overall formation became more compact.

This also allowed Real Madrid to gradually stabilize.

After getting into the rhythm of the game, Real Madrid's defensive level also began to show.

Gao Shen's targeted defense at Camp Nou mainly aimed at cutting off Barcelona's three lines from the left, center, and right.

Chief among them is Ronaldinho.

Arbeloa is tasked with defending the Brazilian genius. De La Red and Gravesen form a double midfield, with the most important task of protecting the defense line. De La Red should pay special attention to Ronaldinho's lateral movement and inside runs.

After the Brazilian genius cuts inside, whether it is through a straight pass to Eto'o or an oblique pass to Larsson, it is Barcelona's regular tactic.

He can also cross to the front of the penalty area and let Deco, Iniesta, or Van Bommel step in and shoot.

In yesterday's targeted drill, Gao Shen let Robinho play the role of Ronaldinho to help the team practice this set of targeted defenses, especially the middle protection by De La Red and Gravesen, which is crucial.

Beckham is responsible for containing Van Bronckhorst, Zidane is responsible for suppressing Van Bommel, and Raul is keeping an eye on Belletti.

Since Eto'o is not good at connecting the left and right flanks, and Larsson is only good at scoring and running positions, after Ronaldinho is locked down, the effect of Barcelona's central and right-sided attacks is greatly diminished.

More threats can only be created through long-range shots.

It was difficult for Barcelona to enter Real Madrid's penalty area. In the first ten minutes, only a second shot was formed through Van Bommel's long-range effort.

In the thirteenth minute, Eto'o's long shot from the left edge of the penalty area failed to pose a threat.

Just three minutes later, Ronaldinho took the ball and cut inside, broke through De La Red, and forcibly took a long shot from a position more than 20 meters out, which was blocked by Ramos. It couldn't threaten the goal.

In the 17th minute, Real Madrid also took advantage of a foul by Van Bommel on Beckham to form a free kick in the frontcourt.

But Beckham's brilliant pass led to Ramos heading the ball successfully, but the shot went just wide.

There is a very obvious difference between Rijkaard's Barcelona and Guardiola's Barcelona. Although they also have on-the-spot counter-attacks after losing the ball, they are not as powerful as the Dream Team 3, but when switching from offense to defense, they immediately return to position and organize a tight defense.

The advantage of this is that when Real Madrid switches from defense to attack, Barcelona has already organized a tight defensive formation, but the disadvantage is that when Real Madrid switches from defense to attack, the pressure on Real Madrid is less.

Twenty minutes later, Gao Shen saw that Real Madrid had stabilized their defense and signaled that the players could play fast when switching from defense to attack, but if they couldn't, to hold the ball first and advance slowly.

In the 21st minute, Real Madrid crossed the midline after stealing the ball and encountered pressing from Barcelona. Felipe quickly plugged in from the left, and after receiving Zidane's pass, he quickly covered the edge and went down to the left side of the penalty area, kicking the ball low and across.

Both Raul and Negredo responded in the middle but were unable to catch up with the pass and were blocked from the penalty area by Puyol.

Rijkaard and Ten Cate also saw Real Madrid's defensive improvement, especially Real Madrid's targeted strategy, so they made decisive adjustments to allow Deco and Iniesta to participate more in the attack.

In the 27th minute, Deco suddenly jumped in and went straight to the left side of the penalty area. After receiving Ronaldinho's pass, he rushed near the bottom line and passed back to Eto'o in an inverted triangle.

The Cameroonian wisely seized the opportunity and kicked near the left corner of the small penalty area, but Ramos took the lead and blocked the ball. Casillas fell to the ground and blocked the ball.

Just one minute later, after Deco stepped in to get the ball again, he sent a through ball, trying to find Eto'o in the penalty area, but Ramos successfully intercepted the ball and cleared it directly.

In the 31st minute, Eto'o pulled out of the penalty area, caught the ball, and sent a through ball to find Larsson, but Casillas rushed out of the goal and managed to save the ball.

The consecutive attempts to attack failed to result in a goal, and it was even difficult for Barcelona to create shooting opportunities.

So, Barcelona quickly reverted to taking long-range shots.

...

Except for the initial anger, Gao Shen remained very calm for the rest of the time.

The crucial point is that the mistake came too suddenly and was too inappropriate.

However, that attack also stimulated Real Madrid, making everyone sober up, and the defense subsequently stabilized.

As for long-range shots, Gao Shen wasn't worried.

After playing for more than half an hour, Real Madrid only had two shots and just over 30% ball possession, far less than Barcelona.

But these were all expected.

Most of Real Madrid's counterattacks directly aimed for Negredo or Zidane, especially Negredo, who had a wide range of activities and wasn't fixed in the middle of the frontcourt.

This was also Gao Shen's task for him. As long as Barcelona's central defenders were willing to follow him, he would run as much as he could, engaging in physical confrontations with Puyol and Oleg, and consuming more of their physical energy.

What Gao Shen was planning was not a secret strategy, but an open strategy that both Rijkaard and Ten Cate could see.

Puyol was recovering from a serious injury, Oleg had started consecutive games, and Negredo's role was to tire them out.

It's almost time; let's bring in Ronaldo!