novelhk Chapter 22: Double! Double! Double again!
Chapter 22: Double! Double! Double again!
As soon as the second half whistle blew, Atletico Madrid's half of the pitch turned into a meat grinder.
Mourinho's directive to "push forward 30 centimeters" pushed Real Madrid's formation directly to the edge of Atletico Madrid's penalty area.
Xabi Alonso didn't bother with Gabi in midfield at all.
He receives the ball, looks up, and makes a long pass with his right foot.
The ball bypassed the dense defensive network in midfield and went directly to Di Maria and Ronaldo on the wings.
"Retract! Don't give them any room to move!"
Gabby yelled at the top of his lungs and turned to run back.
Li Jing followed beside Özil, his gaze quickly sweeping across the entire defensive line.
Sure enough, after the on-field tactical adjustments, Real Madrid's attacking style was completely different.
passive.
We're too passive.
Once Real Madrid gets the tempo going, their passing speed is ridiculously fast.
Atletico Madrid's defense was torn apart, relying entirely on Courtois's outstanding saves on the goal line.
"Bang!"
In the 62nd minute, Di Maria controlled Alonso's long pass on the left wing.
Without pausing, he quickly circled the ball twice with his right foot over Juanfran, who was coming to cover.
Cycling!
Immediately afterwards, Di Maria flicked his left foot with the outside of his foot in a very short motion, and leaned his body inward.
Gabby slid in from the side and behind, trying to close the door.
Di Maria squeezed through the gap of less than half a meter between the two of them!
Explosive power at its peak!
"Stop him!"
Center-back Godin shouted anxiously and rushed forward to block the shot.
late.
Di Maria struck the bottom of the ball with the instep of his left foot before Godin could make a move.
A powerful shot from a narrow angle near the corner!
The ball hurtled towards the goal with a whistling sound.
Courtois reacted extremely quickly, his massive body suddenly collapsing to the ground, forcefully pushing the ball out of bounds with one hand!
Holy crap!
Di Maria clutched his head and uttered an extremely offensive Argentine slang term.
The Real Madrid fans in the stands erupted in a huge gasp, followed by thunderous applause.
Atletico Madrid fans collectively gasped, their backs drenched in cold sweat.
That attack power is terrifying.
Courtois, panting heavily, placed the ball on the edge of the six-yard box.
"Push forward! Don't all cower in the restricted area!"
Courtois yelled at the back line.
The ball was kicked out, but it was quickly intercepted by Real Madrid in midfield.
Torment!
The physical torment of weaker teams playing against stronger teams has become apparent.
They were constantly being suppressed and beaten, suffering both physically and mentally.
65 minutes.
Cristiano Ronaldo frequently raised his hand to call for the ball on the right wing.
In the first half, he was extremely uncomfortable being squeezed by Atletico Madrid's solid defense in the middle, so in the second half he simply moved to the wing.
Alonso's pass was precise and accurate.
Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball with his back to goal, but Atletico Madrid's left-back Filipe Luis held him firmly against his back.
Ronaldo didn't pass the ball back. Instead, he used his incredibly strong thigh muscles to hold off Filipe, pushed the ball forward with his right foot, and accelerated with a half-turn!
In one step, he cleared half a body length of space!
Gabi came over to cover, ready to block Ronaldo's crossing route.
Based on Ronaldo's usual style, this ball will most likely be a high ball to Benzema in the penalty area.
But Ronaldo didn't even look up. With the outside of his right foot touching the grass, he delivered a low, triangular cross!
The ball flew close to the ground at great speed, just managing to bypass Gabi's outstretched right leg.
Heading straight for the near post of Atletico Madrid's six-yard box!
There, Godin, who was originally marking Higuain, was pulled away a step by Benzema's forward run.
Higuain, like a ghost, shook off the defense and arrived at lightning speed!
There was a large gap in front of them!
Courtois positioned himself near the near post to block Ronaldo, and now he has no time to react.
Li Jing was currently positioned at the top of the central arc.
It was a full three meters away from Higuain.
Li Jing's brain was working at lightning speed.
Put a shovel?
It's too late.
No technical move can match the time difference that allows Higuain to adjust before shooting.
I can only help Courtois cover the far corner angle.
Li Jing gritted his teeth and charged towards the goal.
It’s over.
This ball is bound to go in.
The thought crossed the minds of all the Atlético Madrid players.
Even Li Jing sensed something was wrong.
They finally couldn't hold on any longer?
Higuain met the rolling ball with his right leg and swung it.
Just as the instep of his foot was about to touch the ball.
The words Li Jing had cursed at him in the first half suddenly exploded in his mind.
"The whole world knows you get weak in the knees during big competitions!"
These words were like an extremely vicious curse, instantly engulfing Higuain's consciousness.
His ankle twitched uncontrollably.
Damn, am I really such a weakling?
The price a striker pays for contemplating life in front of the goal is predictable.
Higuain's movements became distorted.
"Bang!"
A dull, muffled sound, indicating that the ball had hit the target completely off-target.
The ball did not fly towards the empty goal.
The ball traced an extremely absurd and ugly parabola, flying high towards the right corner flag!
It didn't even get inside the door frame!
There were tens of thousands of people in the audience.
The entire stadium fell into absolute silence for three seconds.
Even the commentator forgot to speak.
Three seconds later, an incredulous gasp and a huge murmur of discussion erupted from the stands.
"How the hell could that be kicked away?"
"My grandma went up and pushed it in!"
Higuain put his hands on his head, his knees buckled, and he knelt directly on the grass.
He stared wide-eyed at the distant corner flagpole, completely dazed, as if his soul had been ripped out.
Li Jing stopped and looked at Higuain kneeling on the ground, letting out a long breath.
In that desperate situation, defensive moves were ineffective. The only hope was that the barrage of criticism in the first half had completely broken the kid's mentality.
The system interface suddenly popped up in Li Jing's mind, flashing wildly.
[Messi supporters detected. Higuain's disastrous miss of an open goal has left him with serious psychological trauma, which will likely affect his performance in league and cup competitions...!]
[This will directly impact Lionel Messi in the Copa America and the World Cup!]
[Rating: Extremely Poor!]
[Violence Points +15000!]
Fifteen thousand points!
This is a huge windfall!
Sidelines.
Mourinho's face turned ashen when he saw Higuain miss an open goal.
He grabbed a mineral water bottle from the ground and smashed it hard onto the grass.
"F**K!"
He blurted out an extremely loud Portuguese curse, completely abandoning his madman-like demeanor.
On the other side, Simone rushed to the edge of the command area like a madman.
He waved his arms and roared wildly at the Atletico Madrid players on the field.
"Press them! They're finished!"
"Crush them!"
A narrow escape from death!
Simeone's roar completely ignited the morale of the entire Atletico Madrid team.
Gabi rushed over, grabbed Felipe from the ground, and slapped him hard on the back.
The Real Madrid players clearly showed more frustration and defeat on their faces.
Especially Di Maria, who just missed a golden opportunity, and Higuain, who has been kneeling on the ground for a long time without getting up.
Let's switch our focus back to China.
In a live-streaming studio in a basement.
The screen is playing a slow-motion replay of Higuain missing an open goal.
Li Laoqi jumped up from his gaming chair.
He was so excited that his face turned red, and he kicked over the plastic trash can next to him.
"See that, guys!"
Li Laoqi roared into the microphone, spittle flying everywhere.
"This is all an act! I'll eat this monitor alive!"
"A wide-open goal missed! I told you this is what friendly matches are like! Anyone who buys Real Madrid is an idiot!"
"One hundred thousand! One hundred thousand in hand!"
The phone that Li Laoqi had placed on the table made a crisp "ding-dong" sound.
He grabbed the phone and eagerly shoved the screen in front of the camera.
The settlement page of a gambling website.
With an initial investment of 50,000, the profit was 150,000.
Balance: 150,000!
As time goes by, these odds will fluctuate in real time.
Little Potato, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed with a long face, suddenly raised his head.
She stared intently at the string of numbers on the screen.
Upon seeing the actual unrealized profit in the account, the fear and anger in his eyes vanished instantly.
Instead, it was replaced by an extremely intense light.
Her breathing began to quicken.
Little Potato wiped himself off and grabbed his arm.
"Seventh Brother!"
"Is this for real? Can I really bring it up?"
Li Laoqi gave Little Potato a look of utter disdain.
"Isn't that obvious? Stop crying, what's there to cry about?"
"When did your husband ever make a mistake?!"
"These are all just perceptions. Your husband watches football every day; do you think he's just playing around?"
"This is called monetizing knowledge, do you understand?"
Unexpectedly, Little Potato said something that even Li Laoqi didn't expect.
"Then Seventh Brother..."
"Since you're so accurate in your judgment..."
She swallowed hard, her fingers gripping Li Laoqi's sleeve tightly.
"We still have 300,000 in our savings account for a down payment on a house, right?"
"We won this time, how about we play again next time?"
Li Laoqi turned to look at his girlfriend and froze.
"Put it all in!"
The little potato's eyes are red.
"Place your bets on Real Madrid losing the next game, or even just a draw! Double your bets! This win already made 200,000, plus that 300,000, another win and it'll be over a million!"
"Then if we win again, it'll be two million, then four million, then eight million, and then we'll be multi-millionaires, Brother Qi!"
Li Laoqi was startled by this suggestion.
Three hundred thousand yuan—that was all the savings they had accumulated over three years.
However, the barrage of comments in the live stream, such as "Brother Qi carried the team," "Brother Qi is the God of Gamblers," and "Go all in to buy a house," greatly inflated his vanity.
But even this didn't stop Li Laoqi from scolding Little Potato!
"Are you crazy?! That's money for buying a house! I only earn that much in a month of live streaming."
"Don't talk nonsense to me. You'll ruin this family sooner or later!"
……
The match is in its 75rd minute.
The atmosphere on the pitch of the Middle Eastern stadium was growing increasingly tense.
Özil received the ball near the center circle and looked up to find Di Maria making a run forward.
He pushed with the instep of his right foot, preparing to pass a half-high ball.
Li Jing had his eye on him long ago.
The moment Özil made his move, Li Jing suddenly accelerated, circled around from the side and rear, and extended his right foot with extreme precision.
Intercepted halfway!
The ball came to a steady stop at Li Jing's feet.
Real Madrid's formation was now pushed forward with all their players, leaving their defense extremely vulnerable.
Li Jing didn't hesitate for even half a second.
He looked up and glanced at it.
Falcao has started and is racing Pepe.
Li Jing swung his right foot sharply, striking the bottom of the ball hard with the instep.
A precise long pass that spanned half the field!
The ball, with a strong downward arc, headed straight for the edge of Real Madrid's penalty area.
Falcao blocked the position with his back to the goal, while Pepe frantically pulled at his jersey from behind.
"Get out of my way!"
Falco roared and, relying on his extremely powerful core strength, managed to withstand Pepe's charge.
He chested the ball off.
Pepe's interference deprived him of the opportunity to turn and shoot directly.
But Falcao successfully controlled the ball, bringing the battle directly to Real Madrid's 30-meter defensive zone!
Real Madrid's defense dared not push forward easily anymore, and Atletico Madrid's defensive pressure in the backfield was instantly relieved.
Simeone applauded enthusiastically from the sidelines.
"Well done! Keep it up!"
Li Jing stood in the center circle, watching Falcao battling Pepe in the attacking third.
There is very little time left in the game.
The real game-winning shot is often hidden in the most inconspicuous corner.
Falcao suddenly pulled the ball back, making an extremely daring move.
Facing Pepe's fierce tackle, Falcao stepped directly on the ball with his right foot and fell backward violently!
……