Chapter 52 The Edge of the Cliff
As the referee on duty blew the full-time whistle, the focus battle between Real Madrid and Valencia finally ended with 2:2, with each side taking one point.
Even if Barcelona wins this round and narrows the difference to six points, Real Madrid has an absolute advantage in home and away results. That is to say, even if Real Madrid loses the last two rounds and Barcelona wins both, Real Madrid can still rely on the advantage of home and away records. Won the league championship two rounds ahead of schedule.
Although the best result in the minds of many Real Madrid fans is to win at home and then reach 99 points, which is one step closer to the single-season points record in La Liga, it is also possible to win the league championship with a point at home. Within the acceptable range, after all... there is no loss and only four points away from setting a new single-season points record. It is entirely possible with two rounds of the league left.
In fact, there is no suspense about the La Liga championship for a long time. Only a few media that support Barcelona believe that Barcelona may reverse Real Madrid and win the league championship. However, these media know that it is impossible to reverse Real Madrid and win the league championship, so Real Madrid mentions winning the league championship. There is no suspense.
The only suspense is how many points Real Madrid can get this season and whether it can set a new La Liga single-season points record.
In addition, whether Tang Zheng can play in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals back at the Bernabeu Stadium next week.
Judging from the away game against Juventus, Real Madrid, who lacked Tang Zheng, had a significant decline in midfield control, and was even suppressed by Juventus for a long period of time, making it difficult to organize an effective offense. Have to rely on Cristiano Ronaldo's outstanding personal ability.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo, who received a lot of attention, gradually became lonely and fell into a slump.
If Tang Zheng cannot return in time for the second round, then Real Madrid's offense is likely to fall into relying on Cristiano Ronaldo's personal ability again.
It is undeniable that football matches can often change the outcome of the game with the individual brilliance of stars, but the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals is very important, and Juventus is unlikely to give players of Cristiano Ronaldo's level too many opportunities.
If Tang Zheng can come back in time, the attention Cristiano Ronaldo receives will definitely plummet, because everyone knows that Tang Zheng is the source of Real Madrid's offense. As long as Tang Zheng is restricted, Real Madrid's offensive threat will be reduced by at least half.
This shows how important Tang Zheng is to Real Madrid's offense.
The second leg of the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Juventus will be played at 8:45 pm local time in Europe on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The 36th round of the 2014-2015 La Liga season has come to an end. Real Madrid's Champions League preparations have been the focus of sports media around the world, because they all want to know whether Tang Zheng can make it to the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Juventus head coach Allegri can be said to be the person in the world who is most concerned about Tang Zheng's return in time. Before it was reported that Tang Zheng was injured, Allegri believed that it would be difficult for Juventus to improve on Real Madrid. Further, as Tang Zheng missed the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Allegri's confidence increased greatly.
From his point of view, Real Madrid without Tang Zheng is nothing to be afraid of!
A large number of media reporters gathered at the Valdebebas training base. Many reporters hope to see Tang Zheng appear in the first team training ground, or at least train with the ball, otherwise he will not be able to catch up with Real Madrid's Champions League semi-final second leg.
It's a pity that Tang Zheng did not show up at the first team training ground.
Media reporters from China seemed particularly disappointed. They seemed to have seen Tang Zheng miss the second leg of the Champions League semifinals at the Santiago Bernabeu three days later.
At the same time, Tang Zheng was testing various advanced instruments in the medical room of the Valdebebas training base. Team doctor Olmer was looking at the dense data graphs, monitoring the strength of Tang Zheng's injured right thigh muscle.
Tang Zheng could feel pain in his right thigh, but it wasn't very painful. He had met the basic conditions for a comeback.
After multiple tests with advanced instruments and various analyses, the answer given by team doctor Olmo is that Tang Zheng can only play half a game at most due to his current physical condition. This means that Tang Zheng can play in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Go to war.
The first time Ancelotti heard the news, he clenched his fists and let out a long breath.
However, Olmer also warned Ancelotti while delivering the good news. Tang Zheng has only met the basic conditions for his comeback and has not yet reached the stage of complete comeback. Therefore, he can only play for 45 minutes, while Olmer The suggestion is that Tang Zheng comes on as a substitute in the second half.
Because both sides were physically strong in the first half, Tang Zheng, who was injured, would not have much advantage. On the contrary, he might not dare to exert too much force due to his injured right thigh, resulting in poor performance.
In the second half of the game, the physical fitness of Juventus players declined somewhat, which was conducive to Tang Zheng's performance.
Also, Real Madrid lost 1:2 as a guest. Once Juventus scored an away goal in the second round, Real Madrid at home must score two goals. When Real Madrid wins 2:1 at home, the game will enter To overtime...
Taking various factors into account, team doctor Olmo finally recommended that Tang Zheng play in the second half.
Ancelotti agrees with Olmer's suggestion. Putting Tang Zheng in the starting lineup just after reaching the comeback standard is not good for the team and Tang Zheng, so... In Ancelotti's tactical play The moment to decide who will advance to the finals is the second half!
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The first game of the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in the 2014-2015 season started at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Bayern Munich faced Barcelona at home.
Bayern Munich, which lost 0:3 away from home in the first round, had no choice but to score when they returned home!
And the earlier you get in, the better!
In the seventh minute of the game, Bayern Munich, sitting at the Allianz Arena at home, took the lead to score and break the deadlock.
Xabi Alonso took a corner kick on the right side of the attack, and center back Benatia jumped high, overpowering Pique and heading the ball towards the lower right corner of the goal.
Bayern fans at the Allianz Arena fell into a painful carnival. They seemed to see the team they supported beat Barcelona after 90 minutes and then advanced to the Champions League final of this season.
But thirty minutes into the game, the Allianz Arena was completely silent.
Neymar's two goals within ten minutes helped Barcelona go ahead and lead with a total score of 5:1. This means that if Bayern Munich wants to reverse Barcelona and advance to this season's Champions League final, they must keep a clean sheet in the remaining game time. , and then scored five more goals…
Barcelona is not a soft persimmon that can be manipulated casually.
Even if Muller and Robben's goals helped Bayern Munich lead the score to 3:2, it could not solve the root problem. In the end, Barcelona advanced to the Champions League final with a total score of 5:3.
Another final spot will be between Real Madrid and Juventus.
On the day of the game, there was still half a day before kick-off, and a large number of Real Madrid fans wearing white jerseys had gathered in the square surrounding the Bernabeu Stadium.
They were in high spirits, singing the team anthem and confident in Real Madrid's prospects of advancing to the Champions League final for the third consecutive season.
Of course, this has something to do with Tang Zheng's possibility of catching up with the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Real Madrid has been winless in the past three games, with one draw and two losses, which is directly related to Tang Zheng, because Tang Zheng was injured and unable to play.
Although Tang Zheng may play in the second leg of the upcoming Champions League semi-finals, there is a high possibility that Tang Zheng will appear as a substitute according to various media speculations.
After all, he has just come back and it is impossible to play the whole game.
However, nothing is guaranteed. If Tang Zheng recovers better than expected, he can play the full 90 minutes.
In the blink of an eye, the second leg of the 2014-2015 Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Juventus is about to begin at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The Bernabeu Stadium, which can accommodate 81,000 fans, was packed, and Real Madrid fans wearing white jerseys occupied 90% of the seats in the entire stadium.
As the game time slowly passed, the game officially started. Both sides sent their strongest lineups. The chief referee of this game was Atkinson from England.
Compared with the first round, Real Madrid made two adjustments in the midfield, one from the center back and one from the midfielder.
Varane replaced the injured Pepe, and Khedira, who has stronger defensive ability, replaced Isco.
Juventus's first-round lineup is exactly the same as the first-round lineup at the Juventus Arena. It is not difficult to see that Allegri hopes that the good luck from the first round will be carried over to the second round, thereby advancing to this season's Champions League final!
Real Madrid and Juventus have met 17 times in the three major European Cups. The two teams are evenly matched with 8 wins, 1 draw and 8 losses. Real Madrid has scored 17 goals and conceded 20 goals. However, at home, Real Madrid has a clear advantage against Juventus 8 times with 6 wins and 2 losses.
It is worth mentioning that this game is the 150th Champions League match of Real Madrid captain Casillas' career, tying Barcelona captain Xavi for the first place in history.
The game started with a whistle from the English referee Atkinson. Real Madrid, who had a kick-off advantage, quickly organized a wave of extremely threatening offensive. In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo completed a high-quality shot, forcing Bu Feng made a key save.
Modric took a corner kick, and Cristiano Ronaldo beat Chiellini and Morata to complete the header.
But this time he failed to find his crosshair and the ball missed the goal post.
Tang Zheng, who was sitting on the bench, was surprised by Cristiano Ronaldo's excellent form. If Cristiano Ronaldo's form can be maintained, it is very likely to help Real Madrid break the deadlock at home.
Real Madrid scored an away goal in the first round at the Juventus Arena, which means that Real Madrid can advance to the Champions League finals this season by virtue of its advantage of more away goals as long as it defeats Juventus 1:0 at home.
Maybe 1:0 is ugly, but modern football is about results rather than process.
In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo's excellent form has a lot to do with the pressure he is carrying. Real Madrid has not won in the past three games. As the number one star, Cristiano Ronaldo bears the brunt of the responsibility.
He wants to prove that the team can win without Tang Zheng!
In addition, if Cristiano Ronaldo can score in this game, his total number of goals in the Champions League will tie Messi, reaching 77, and he can also become the first player in the history of the Champions League to participate in 100 goals. .
Previously, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 76 goals and 23 assists at Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Therefore, Cristiano Ronaldo hopes to directly help Real Madrid advance to the Champions League finals this season through his own efforts.
Juventus was obviously well prepared for Real Madrid's tidal offensive. They were passively defensive and performed extremely well on the defensive end, link by link.
Although it seems that Real Madrid's offensive is overwhelming, there are actually very few offensives that threaten Buffon's goal.
Ten minutes into the game, the score was still 0:0. Central 5 commentator He Wei couldn't help but said: "The game with Tang Zheng and without Tang Zheng can be said to be very different. It is undeniable that Modric and Kroos are both." They are the top midfield organizers in world football today, but there is still a certain gap between them and Tang Zheng, especially in terms of creating and seizing opportunities..."
A large number of Chinese fans sitting in front of the TV nodded subconsciously and agreed with He Wei's point of view.
In fact, it is easy to see some clues in the game, and the smoothness of the game with Tang Zheng is more obvious.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"
Although Real Madrid has not yet scored a goal, the Real Madrid fans in the stands are full of confidence in the team they support, creating waves of loud cheers.
Perhaps it was the fanatical atmosphere that drove the performance of the players on the field. In the 22nd minute of the game, James Rodriguez, who had recently been criticized by the media, broke through in the penalty area and caused Chiellini to foul. Turkinson decisively awarded a penalty kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who took the penalty kick, withstood tremendous pressure and scored the goal.
1:0
If the game ends according to the current score, then Real Madrid can advance to the Champions League finals this season by virtue of the number of away goals!
When the Real Madrid players celebrated the goal, the on-site director specially gave a close-up shot of Tang Zheng sitting on the bench.
Tang Zheng in the broadcast was very excited and hugged his teammates to celebrate.
Central 5 commentator He Wei changed his voice: "This shot is very meaningful. Real Madrid has taken the lead at home. Ancelotti's Real Madrid has a lot of room for adjustment. Tang Zheng is injured. If the game goes well enough, I think Ancelotti can not send Tang Zheng to play and give Tang Zheng longer recovery time."
But...a minute later, Juventus equalized the score.
Pirlo dropped a free kick into the penalty area, Casillas punched out with a single punch, Evra stopped the ball on the outside of the penalty area and passed the ball to the penalty area again. Pogba overwhelmed Varane to complete the header and then rubbed, Morata In the chaotic battle, he shot with his left foot alertly, and the football rolled from the gap to the lower left corner of the goal. Because the goalkeeper Casillas' line of sight was disturbed, it was too late for him to react.
1:1
For Real Madrid, there must be no tie at home, otherwise... they will face elimination.
In other words, Real Madrid has reached the edge of the cliff, but no one thought that the cliff has not really arrived yet.
Before the end of the first half, Morata received another pass from Pirlo.
1:2