Chapter 389 Battle of the century, the final opponent is revealed
The battle between Manchester City and Bayern at the Allianz Arena caused a huge sensation in the football world.
The two teams jointly scored 11 goals in one game, breaking the historical record of the Champions League in one fell swoop.
Since the restructuring of the Champions League, there has never been a situation where double figures have been scored in a single game in the semi-finals. This game is the first time!
After the game, the entire football world was buzzing with discussions, and major media outlets rushed to report on it. Some people even dubbed the game the 'Game of the Century'.
You know, the title of the Battle of the Century was previously specifically referring to the Spanish El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
However, the matchup between Manchester City and Bayern was no less bloody and popular than the Spanish Derby, and even crazier than the Spanish Derby.
"These two teams are really crazy. I have been watching football for more than 20 years and I have never seen such a crazy game!"
"11 goals in a single game. If you don't know better, you might think you're watching a low-level league!"
"Haha, even in our Chinese Super League, there has never been a score like this, right?"
"It may be a bit reluctant for Evergrande to score 6 goals in the Super League, but it is not impossible. But which team can score 5 goals for Evergrande?"
"I remember when Real Madrid came to play a warm-up match a few years ago, they played 6:1 against Evergrande?"
"Ahem, I'm talking about the Chinese Super League teams, not counting the top giants in the five major leagues like Real Madrid. These are not teams of the same level, there is nothing comparable!"
Neither Bayern nor Manchester City are very poor defensive teams. They have conceded very few goals in the league and Champions League.
But in this game, both teams broke their goals-conceding records this season.
It has been a long time since a team has scored 5 goals against Bayern at the Allianz Arena, and the same is true for Manchester City.
After the Abu Dhabi consortium took over, they haven't scored 6 goals for many years.
Such a fierce and exciting game appeared in the semi-finals, which made many fans feel regretful:
"How can such a game not be a final? If this were a final, it might be comparable to the Miracle in Istanbul and become one of the most exciting finals in history!"
"Haha, if this were the final, the two teams would definitely not play so unrestrainedly. The number of goals scored would probably not even be one-third of this number!"
After watching this game, while everyone affirmed the strength of Manchester City, they also felt a little sympathy for Bayern:
"It's a pity for Bayern. They tenaciously tied the score several times and even took the lead for a time, but in the end they fell short."
"With Bayern's strength, they can definitely make it to the finals, but they were unlucky and met Manchester City with Lin Quan!"
"If Bayern hadn't met Manchester City, I wonder what their chances of winning would have been against Real Madrid and Barcelona?"
The four teams that reached the semi-finals this year are all ridiculously strong, three of the top clubs in football, and one is the defending champion last season.
When these four teams encounter each other, it is difficult to predict the final outcome before the game is over.
Just like the situation in another game, although Real Madrid lost 0:3 in the away game, no one dared to say that they would definitely be eliminated.
Whether Real Madrid can advance to the final depends on how strong their combat effectiveness can be after returning to the Bernabeu.
The game between Manchester City and Bayern is one day earlier than the game between Barcelona and Real Madrid, which allows Manchester City to sit back and watch the battle.
Of course, the Champions League final is still more than half a month away, so it doesn't really matter if it's one day earlier or one day later.
Before the Champions League final comes, all the five major leagues have basically ended. Both sides of the final have enough time to reserve physical fitness and adjust their condition, so as to welcome the arrival of the final in the best condition.
Manchester City did not stay longer in Munich and took a flight back to Manchester that night.
The Champions League games are finally over, and they can concentrate on the league.
There are still ten days until the end of the Premier League. Within these ten days, Manchester City still has two games to play.
As long as they win these last two games, they can defeat Chelsea and defend the league championship.
Manchester City lost the League Cup and FA Cup this year. If they cannot win the Premier League championship, they will have nothing to gain in the league.
Because of this, Guardiola still attaches great importance to this championship.
"Take a day off, take a good rest when you get back, and don't go out and have fun. I won't interfere in your private life, but if I see someone who is not in good condition on the court, I will not hesitate to replace him. Understand ?"
After getting off the plane, Guardiola dismissed the team and gave them a day off.
There are only two days left in the penultimate round of the Premier League, and one day off is already the limit.
The players knew the schedule and had no hope for a holiday. Unexpectedly, Guardiola turned out to be so reasonable. This made them all happy and promised to have a good rest and not go out.
Guardiola was doubtful of what everyone said. When he was at Barcelona, he saw with his own eyes how Ronaldinho degenerated.
Players who have become famous at a young age and have a lot of money are the most difficult to resist the temptation of the colorful world.
Fortunately, he did not see such undisciplined behavior in Lin's body, which made Guardiola quite satisfied.
…
Although he is on vacation, how can a workaholic like Guardiola be free?
Early the next morning, he was going to drive to the airport, planning to take the nearest flight to Madrid to watch the game between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Lin Quan thought of going with him, so Guardiola decided to change his ticket and travel with Lin Quan.
After arriving in Madrid, the two of them got off the plane and immediately felt the warm atmosphere of the war of the century.
There are a large number of Champions League game posters and personal portraits of Real Madrid players posted on the streets of Madrid.
In addition, the streets are filled with a large number of fans wearing Real Madrid jerseys, and occasionally a small number of fans wearing Barcelona jerseys can be seen.
However, Barcelona fans are not welcome in Madrid. Once they appear, they will immediately besieged by Real Madrid fans.
The grievances between the two teams have been accumulated for a long time and can be described as a feud.
Coupled with the growing influence of Catalan separatism in recent years, the game between the two teams has been given more political significance.
This has led to the worsening of the relationship between the fans of both sides. A group of Real Madrid fans can often be seen beating up Barcelona fans on the streets.
This keeps the police in Madrid busy!
"How can these guys beat people?"
Guardiola couldn't help but frowned when he saw Barcelona fans being beaten.
Although he has left Barcelona long ago, he has played for Barcelona for 20 years after all. Guardiola still has deep feelings for Barcelona.
Lin Quan glanced casually and vaguely heard Barcelona fans mocking Real Madrid fans about their team's zero shutout. Some people also made reference to the 5:0 game and slapped Real Madrid fans in a taunting manner.
Seeing this scene, Lin Quan's mouth twitched slightly and said secretly: If you don't seek death, you won't die!
Wearing a Barcelona jersey, he came to Real Madrid's territory so blatantly and taunted the outnumbered Real Madrid fans. Not to mention fans of feuding Real Madrid, fans of other teams would probably beat him up.
"You don't know how deep the grievances between these two teams are. It's normal for fans of the two teams to fight outside the stadium. Haven't you seen it on the streets of Barcelona?"
Lin Quan grew up in Barcelona. He remembers that every time Real Madrid visited Camp Nou, there were frequent fights between fans from both sides outside the stadium.
And this is not just the case in Spain. In other parts of the world, the relationship between the fans of the two teams is also not good.
Lin Quan still remembers watching the news. In 2013, in a war-torn country in the Middle East, after a conflict broke out between a Barcelona fan and his Real Madrid fan friend, he hacked the opponent to death with a knife, and even chopped off his head in public. , caused a huge sensation.
Guardiola wanted to help, so he used his connections to call his friends at the Spanish Football Association and asked them to protect Barcelona fans.
But there was only so much he could do.
…
May 14, 2015, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Another battle of the century between Real Madrid and Barcelona has officially begun.
The last time the two teams met in the Champions League was in the semi-finals of the 2010-2011 season.
That time, Real Madrid lost 0:2 at home to Barcelona, handing over their spot in the final to their opponent, and watched helplessly as their opponent won the Big Ear Cup again.
That defeat made Real Madrid fans very disappointed. If they could advance to the final, with Real Madrid's strength at the time, the probability of defeating Manchester United was not low. Maybe they would have fulfilled their goal of winning the tenth Champions League trophy. Sweet dream.
It’s a pity that there is no if!
Now, four years later, the two sides meet again in the Champions League semi-finals.
This time, Real Madrid's situation is still very unfavorable.
They lost cleanly 0:3 in the first round, which put them under huge offensive pressure.
Real Madrid must score at least 3 goals in this game, and must ensure that their opponents cannot score.
As long as Barcelona scores one goal, Real Madrid will basically be eliminated.
In order to score goals as soon as possible, Real Madrid started to attack aggressively from the beginning of this game.
Bell, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Isco, Rodriguez and other big-name stars were all sent on the field by Ancelotti.
Barcelona was not afraid, and they also fielded the strongest lineup they could field.
Messi, Neymar and Suarez also started.
However, in the midfield, Rakitic replaced Xavi's starting position.
Perhaps drawing on the experience of the previous day's game at the Allianz Arena, Real Madrid focused its attack on the wings today, especially Bell's side.
Bell lived up to expectations, using his speed to impact the opponent's defense again and again.
In the 13th minute of the game, Real Madrid seized the opportunity to launch a quick counterattack. After Bell broke through, he passed the ball to Benzema, and Benzema passed it back to Ronaldo.
Real Madrid's star shot furiously at the ball, rewriting the score to 1:0 in one fell swoop!
After scoring the goal, Ronaldo seemed very excited and ran to the sidelines to celebrate with SIU angrily.
The fans at the scene responded with warm applause and cheers.
However, while Ronaldo was busy celebrating, Real Madrid's veteran and main goalkeeper Casillas did not celebrate together. Instead, he rushed to the Barcelona goal, picked up the football, put it back at the kick-off point, and then played one by one Go get your teammates ready for the kickoff.
They only recovered one goal, and they were still 2 goals behind. Time was precious, and they were not qualified to waste time before tying or even overtaking!
The quick goal in the opening stage gave Real Madrid fans hope of victory.
A gap of 3 goals and a gap of 2 goals give people completely different feelings.
If they can continue their efforts and score another goal in the first half to reduce the difference between the two teams to 1 goal, then it may no longer be impossible for them to reverse Barcelona at home.
However, just when Real Madrid was preparing to follow the same pattern and continue to use offense to pry open the door of Barcelona, Barcelona's counterattack came.
Although this is the Bernabeu and Real Madrid's home court, Barcelona has been here so many times that they are no longer afraid of the opponent's home court advantage.
Real Madrid's offensive firepower is strong, is Barcelona weak?
The defensive ability of this Barcelona in Enrique's hands is actually not outstanding. What is really outstanding is the terrifying offensive ability in the frontcourt.
In the 2014-2015 season, it would be no exaggeration to say that the MSN frontcourt combination of Barcelona was the most terrifying striker combination in football this season.
When they started to exert their strength, even though they were as strong as Real Madrid, they couldn't stop them.
In the 19th minute, Messi won the chance to score with his iconic personal breakthrough.
The Argentine passed the ball to his teammates without hesitation. Suarez showed the qualities of a top shooter. After receiving the ball, he adjusted half a step and steadily sent the ball into the goal.
1:1, Barcelona tied the score in just 6 minutes!
This is the result that Real Madrid least wants to see, because the opponent's goal not only erased their previous goals, but even further widened the gap between the two teams.
This is an away goal for Barcelona. This goal means that Real Madrid must score at least 4 more goals in the next game to advance to the final.
Is it really possible to score 5 goals against Barcelona in one game?
The huge deficit made Real Madrid players anxious. They were eager to score in order to narrow the gap.
However, this eagerness allowed Barcelona to seize the opportunity.
In the 29th minute, Barcelona followed suit and once again Messi launched the attack, assisting Neymar to score another goal.
The score became 1:2, Barcelona reversed Real Madrid and rewritten the total score to 5:1!
If Real Madrid wants to win, they must score 5 goals in the next 60 minutes!
This is almost impossible, even if they are as strong as Real Madrid, they cannot do it.
Although Ancelotti made timely adjustments, Ronaldo and Bale both exploded and scored a goal each in the second half.
But Real Madrid still failed to perform a miracle. When the final whistle sounded, the score on the field was fixed at 3:2.
Real Madrid eventually lost to Barcelona with a total score of 5:3 and missed the chance to advance to the final.
At this point, the two teams in the UEFA Champions League finals for the 2014-2015 season have all been decided.
On June 7, this season’s Champions League final will be played between Manchester City and Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin!
