Starting With Real Madrid

Some people say that football is a war without gunpowder.

Every football game is an offensive and defensive battle of wits and courage.

Technology, physique, tactics, and will are all indispensable; time, space, individual, team, intelligence, and strategy—any one of these may become the key to winning the game.

From ancient times to the present, Gao Shen's most respected military strategists are the great leaders. Crossing the Chishui River is forever a legendary strategy.

From many wonderful battles, in disadvantaged situations, he never confronted his opponent head-on, avoiding the opponent's strengths at home, studying the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and waiting for the best opportunity to appear.

Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: Those skilled in warfare first ensure their own invincibility, and then wait for the enemy to be vulnerable.

In the words of the great leader, save yourself and destroy the enemy.

Gao Shen has been practicing this philosophy since he began coaching Real Madrid, and he did the same when facing Barcelona tonight.

Under the circumstance that Real Madrid is weaker than Barcelona, it would be absolutely unwise to choose to face them head-on, so he chose to defend, first trying to put himself in an invincible position, and then slowly waiting for the opponent to make mistakes.

There are three more sentences after Sun Tzu's art of war: invincibility lies in oneself, but victory lies in the enemy. Therefore, those who are skilled in warfare can ensure their invincibility but cannot make the enemy vulnerable. Therefore it is said: Victory can be known, but not achieved.

It means that subjective efforts can only put oneself in a position where he cannot be defeated, but whether the opponent can be defeated depends on the opponent's own mistakes, not what we can subjectively decide.

To sum up: Victory can be predicted, but not forced.

It was like the battle of Turin three days ago. Both Gao Shen and Capello put themselves in positions where they would not make mistakes, and the final result of the game could only be zero to zero.

There is also another game that is also famous: the Champions League final in 2003, Juventus against AC Milan.

But many times, not all games are like Turin, and not all managers are like Capello.

Real Madrid may not always be able to keep itself invincible by focusing on defense, because with time, physical exhaustion, and repeated pressure from opponents, Real Madrid will always have loopholes.

This requires the head coach to constantly check and fill in the gaps on the sidelines, and the players to work together on the field.

As for Barcelona, tonight they are at Camp Nou, Barcelona's home ground. A draw is unacceptable for Barcelona.

More importantly, before this game, Gao Shen led the team from being ten points behind to only five points behind. Even if the game ended in a draw, the result would still be beneficial to Real Madrid.

Therefore, Gao Shen concluded that Rijkaard would not hold on to the end.

He wants to win!

...

From the beginning of the second half, Barcelona could only threaten Real Madrid's goal through long-range shots.

First Ronaldinho, then Eto'o, all long-range shots from the outside of the penalty area.

Real Madrid also launched a counterattack; Beckham sent a long pass, and Negredo took a long shot from the front of the penalty area but failed to pose a threat.

The situation seemed to follow the trend of the first half, and Barcelona never managed to break through Real Madrid's defensive position.

Larsson began to lean toward the center, forming a real double forward with Eto'o, while the right side was handed over to Belletti's overlapping runs, which formed a very threatening attack in the 54th minute.

Larsson returned the ball in the penalty area. When Belletti stepped in and shot, Raul, who returned to defend in time, blocked the penalty area.

The captain of Real Madrid frequently returned to the penalty area to defend his side tonight, and he was very brave.

It seems that this attack also made Rijkaard realize the opportunity. In the fifty-seventh minute, he began to prepare for substitutions, and French winger Giuly came out to warm up.

In front of the visiting team's coach, Gao Shen had been paying attention to what was happening on Rijkaard's side. When he saw Giuly come out, he secretly had some expectations in his heart.

Barcelona was going to make a substitution!

Who to replace?

"Larsson?" Maquida guessed with a frown.

Gao Shen thought the same at the beginning, but soon shook his head. "Larsson's scoring efficiency is very high, and his sense of smell in front of goal is very good. The effect he can play in this situation is better than Eto'o. But Rijkaard won't sub out Eto'o either."

Replacing Eto'o would weaken the pressure on Real Madrid's backline, especially the two central defenders.

"He wants to put Giuly on the right with Belletti." When Gao Shen analyzed this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Van Bommel!"

Maqueda, Lucas, and the others were all stunned.

Among the three Barcelona midfielders, Deco and Iniesta are both technical and creative. Only Van Bommel is both offensive and defensive, able to defend at the same time, and do some tiring and dirty work.

"He's really going to replace Van Bommel?" Maqueda asked in disbelief.

"He doesn't want us to leave Camp Nou alive!" Gao Shen chuckled.

This move is indeed ruthless, but it also has great hidden dangers.

The world is like this: risk and reward are always proportional.

Rijkaard wanted to eat Real Madrid in one bite, so he subbed in Giuly, but the defense was weakened.

Soon, the answer was revealed.

In the 60th minute, Barcelona took the lead in making substitutions and replaced Van Bommel with Giuly.

When the fourth official on the sidelines raised the number plate for the substitution, Maqueda, Lucas, Buenaventura, and others looked at Gao Shen again, obviously with a completely different level of respect from before.

"You guessed it!"

"My God, how did you guess?" Lucas was very surprised.

Gao Shen turned his head and laughed at him, "Was it difficult?"

That appearance was too much of a pretense, so Lucas couldn't help but want to do something about it, but he was full of admiration in his heart.

"You let Ronaldo warm up." Gao Shen urged.

Lucas was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what he meant and ran to the bench.

...

The movement from Real Madrid quickly attracted the attention of the home team's coaching bench and even the entire field, and even the live TV footage was instantly switched to the away team's bench on the sidelines.

No way, the game on the pitch was too dull, not as exciting as the movement on the sidelines.

As soon as Ronaldo stepped out of the bench, there was an uproar in the audience, followed by harsh boos throughout Camp Nou.

"We see that Real Madrid is also planning to make a substitution."

"Ronaldo stepped out of the bench and is about to warm up on the sidelines. It looks like he is going to come off the bench."

"Ronaldo has never played since Gao Shen took charge of Real Madrid, but tonight, he will come off the bench. I don't know if he can improve Real Madrid's offense."

"Hey, we see that there is also movement on the home team's bench, and Rijkaard is preparing to make a substitution."

"This is Thiago Motta, who also came out of the bench and is preparing to warm up."

"The two head coaches are going head-to-head with their substitutions."

After Gao Shen glanced at the movement on the home team's coaching bench, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, which was not surprising at all.

Real Madrid scouts said that Barcelona once arranged Thiago Motta to partner with Puyol in training, but it was Oleguer partnered with Puyol when the game started, which proves that Rijkaard once considered starting Thiago Motta.

And now it seems that this Brazilian player was specially prepared by Rijkaard for Ronaldo.

Actually, this is also normal.

Gao Shen used Ronaldo as a surprise weapon, and Rijkaard had to be on guard.

So the crux of the question now is, will Ronaldo be more effective as a surprise weapon, or will Thiago Motta be better at containing him?

...

Three minutes later, Ronaldo finished warming up, came to the sidelines, and walked beside Gao Shen.

The two are about the same height, but Ronaldo is obviously fatter, and his head is bigger and rounder.

Sometimes Gao Shen thought that if Ronaldo were thinner, he would definitely perform better than he is now.

Of course, Ronaldo's weight loss plan had already been arranged by Gao Shen.

He didn't say how much it could be reduced, but the state must improve.

"I told you before that Oleguer's turning speed is too slow, which is a loophole, but now it seems that Rijkaard also knows, so he uses Thiago Motta to cover him."

After Ronaldo got close, Gao Shen warned him carefully.

"If Giuly hadn't replaced Van Bommel, I guess Belletti might have gone, but not now. So I think it's Oleguer or Puyol, which is something we can take advantage of."

After a pause, Gao Shen added, "Thiago Motta is a midfielder. In the last game against Benfica, Van Bommel played as a central defender, but he was very uncomfortable and often lost his position."

As soon as Gao Shen finished speaking, Ronaldo immediately understood. "I'll try to pull him out and then move in later."

When speaking, Ronaldo made a gesture of slashing with a knife.

Gao Shen liked talking to smart people.

...

In the 65th minute, Real Madrid made their first substitution in the game. Ronaldo replaced the captain.

Before Raul left the field, he handed the captain's armband to Casillas.

This is the consistent strategy of Real Madrid, with the longest-serving player in the team serving as the captain.

During the handover on the sidelines, both Raul and Ronaldo took the initiative to open their arms, hugged each other, and exchanged a few words of affirmation and encouragement.

After Raul came off, he even walked up to Gao Shen, hugged him, and then sat back on the bench.

This substitution was communicated between Gao Shen and Raul before the game, which is why Raul put in such a hard effort in this match.

In addition, whether it was holding a birthday party for Ramos or replacing Raul with Ronaldo, Gao Shen also had another intention, which was to bridge the gap between Ronaldo and the local players.

In this regard, Ronaldo had done a good job, coordinating with the team's advanced moves, and the local players responded positively. Even Ramos accepted Ronaldo's blessings and gifts at his birthday party.

Now, it's up to Ronaldo to complete the task Gao Shen gave him.

After Ronaldo came on, Real Madrid's formation also changed.

Beckham was once again pulled back by Gao Shen to play as a midfielder, forming a three-man midfield. Zidane stepped forward, while Ronaldo and Negredo formed a double striker in front.

As a result, Real Madrid's formation became a 4-3-1-2.

After Giuly came on, Barcelona faintly transformed into a double-forward plus double-wing attacking tactic, while Real Madrid used their substitutions to further strengthen their defense and took a stance of holding the line to the end. At the same time, they showed Ronaldo up front as their sharp weapon.

Next, we will see if Ronaldo can break through Barcelona's defense.