Chapter 333: Old rival, new friend
On the first day of April, in the 28th round of La Liga, Real Madrid visited the Balaídos Stadium to challenge Celta Vigo.
They faced the strong sniping from the Sky Blues, and in the 26th minute, Brazilian forward Baiano opened the scoring for the home team, giving them the lead.
It wasn't until just before halftime that the Galacticos managed to equalize, with Ramos scoring a goal. Wang Feng created chaos on the right side, seizing the opportunity to pass into the penalty area, where the Spanish defender shot and scored, leveling the score.
As they resumed play in the second half, Real Madrid suffered a heavy blow right after kickoff. Celta Vigo's midfielder Ovi?a received a through ball from ángel on the flank, forcefully dribbled down and crossed from the baseline. Pereira headed the ball in front of the small penalty area, once again opening the door to the Galacticos.
1-2! After that, Real Madrid attempted multiple attacks, but they couldn't capitalize on their chances. The home team almost entirely retreated to defend their lead until the 88th minute.
"With little time left for Real Madrid, let's see this attack. Reyes dribbles the ball forward on the flank, how will he handle it? Wang Feng is on the side, receiving the ball."
"Wang Feng shakes off Lucas's marking, beautiful! A lofted pass into the penalty area, Raúl, shoots! It's a goal! Gooooooooooooal!"
"As the game is about to end, Celta Vigo ultimately couldn't hold onto their lead. At a critical moment, the connection between Raúl and Wang Feng saved the Galacticos!"
"Wang Feng, with a beautiful Cruyff turn on the flank to evade the defender, sends a precise cross to find Raúl. The Spaniard doesn't disappoint, controlling the ball with his chest and volleying with his right foot into the net, all in one fluid motion!"
"With this goal, Real Madrid secures a precious point on their journey to the league title!"
Although Real Madrid didn't take all three points, their competitors Barcelona also stumbled. In their away match against Deportivo La Coru?a, the interim coach Drakulus completely sidelined Ronaldinho, replaced by Van Nistelrooy.
It turned out to be a hasty decision, as their key player Messi performed poorly, seeming to have exhausted all his energy from the previous derby. He made numerous mistakes, didn't attempt a single shot throughout the game, but had nearly ten turnovers.
Eto'o and Van Nistelrooy were also in poor form, while Ronaldinho had been performing decently in recent matches, but his reputation worked against him.
Deportivo La Coru?a scored one goal each in the first and second half through Sergio and Ricky, respectively, resulting in Barcelona's 0-2 defeat to the home team.
Media and fans from the Catalonia region lamented the result. The gap between them and Real Madrid widened to 7 points, while the gap with third-placed Sevilla narrowed to 4 points.
Although there were still 10 rounds left in the league, given Barcelona's current performance and internal atmosphere, the situation for the title race became very grim, and even maintaining a top-two position was uncertain.
Returning to Milan's Malpensa Airport again, Wang Feng felt a whirlwind of emotions. Over the past five years, he had walked through this familiar place countless times, but he never expected that this time coming back would feel like being a "guest."
Seeing Wang Feng nostalgically surveying the surroundings of the airport, Raúl draped his arm over the Chinese star's shoulder. "What do you feel about revisiting this place?"
"Nothing special, just feel like time hasn't passed at all. Everything here is exactly the same as when I left, oh, except maybe there's one more Christmas tree in that place. It's already April, why is the airport still not taking it down."
Raúl chuckled, "That's Europe for you, the pace of change is very slow. It's possible that there won't be major changes for decades or even centuries. I hope Madrid follows this rule, so that when I come back, nothing will have changed."
"Come back? When did you leave?" Wang Feng was surprised, "I'm already 30 years old, and my peak condition won't last long. I'll naturally leave Real Madrid when I can't play anymore."
Seeing the surprised expression on the Chinese man's face, Raúl said with a smile, "Just kidding, don't take it seriously. Besides, I feel very good about my current condition. I'm sure I can play for several more years."
Although he said so, deep down, the Spaniard didn't think it was a joke. No one can stay at Bernabéu until retirement.
The players' discussions are not mentioned, while the coaching staff are studying the opponent's formation. Schuster said, "Nesta and Kaladze's combination in the backline is very tricky."
"But Wang Feng should know their defensive capabilities inside out. Inter Milan always struggles in the Milan Derby, mostly due to Wang Feng's performance."
"So, there's no need to worry too much about attacking. The most important thing is defense. Pepe and Heinze not being able to play is a big disadvantage."
Assistant coach Deldi agreed, "Although they were affected by the Phone Call Gate last year, AC Milan still has forwards like Inzaghi and Gilardino, as well as playmakers like Seedorf and Kaká."
"Especially Kaká, who scored a hat-trick in the Champions League group stage and scored the winning goal in the round of 16 against Celtic in extra time, seems unstoppable."
"Sissoko has always been aggressive and loves to participate in attacks, which is very unfavorable for defense. I've told him many times, but he still does his own thing on the field. Let's replace him with the young Marcelo in this game." Schuster said.
"As for the other defenders, we don't have many options, so let's stick to the usual arrangements. The main goal of this game is to secure an advantage in away goals."
The day before the match, Ronaldo contacted Wang Feng, hoping to meet up and introduce a friend to him. The Chinese star gladly agreed to the invitation.
Arriving at a quite familiar restaurant, Wang Feng found that the friend was none other than the current hot star of Serie A, Kaká. "We can be considered old opponents, but unfortunately, we never had a chance to get to know each other," he said with a smile as he approached.
"Today, we can consider ourselves making a new friend." Ronaldo invited both of them to sit down. "Since my debut, I've always looked up to you." Kaká said nostalgically.
"Can't accept, can't accept." Wang Feng waved his hand. The three of them then talked about several key battles in the Milan Derby. Although there were victories and losses on both sides, it was always Inter Milan led by Wang Feng that won at critical moments.
"Your performance is simply too stable. Sometimes, I can't control my emotions and end up underperforming in key matches." Kaká said somewhat frustrated. Now he had completely let go of the idea of comparing himself with Wang Feng and just wanted to be the best version of himself.
"I didn't think so much about it. I just play each game according to my normal rhythm, and I tend to perform very consistently."
They also discussed the lives of the two clubs. Ronaldo remarked that the atmosphere was similar, with the only difference being that Milan's training base, Milanello, was much better than Pinetina.
"Has Pinetina finally been renovated? To be honest, I've endured the primitive environment there for a long time, but it seems that no matter how much renovation is done, it can't compare to Milanello, because the initial planning was flawed."
That was the truth. Just in terms of land area, Milanello was much larger, so it could accommodate many facilities internally. This was something Inter Milan's training base, Pinetina, could never achieve, no matter how much renovation was done.
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