Chapter 506: Group qualifying
Next, Real Madrid continued their journey of matches. On October 23rd, in the 8th round of La Liga, they welcomed Santander Athletic at home. The development of this team always goes against the expectations of the fans. When they don't have hope, the club always surprises, but when they are full of expectations, they are ruthlessly slapped in the face.
Just like now, after a difficult season avoiding relegation, everyone hoped that they wouldn't look so bad when facing the Galacticos, but unexpectedly, the away team took the lead first.
It wasn't until the end of the game that Real Madrid equalized the score through Wang Feng, 1-1, ending the Galacticos' winning streak at 13 games.
Benitez didn't think this was a bad thing. Playing two games a week already made the players exhausted, and winning streaks added another burden. Now, they could relax and let go of the pressure.
Three days later, the Spanish King's Cup ignited the battle. Real Madrid challenged Murcia away, still having a significant advantage even with a semi-regular lineup, ultimately winning 2-0.
Wang Feng scored a goal in the 37th minute and was able to sit on the bench for the entire second half, watching the game. It's worth mentioning that the young player Morata scored the second goal, showing significant improvement.
On October 30th, in the 9th round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Elche away. This club, also known as Hercules Football Club, has only sporadically participated in La Liga since its establishment in 1922, with its best result being fifth place.
As a small club from Alicante, they couldn't provide enough funds for personnel reinforcements, so they were considered the top favorite for relegation at the beginning of the season.
Real Madrid took the lead shortly after the start of the game. In the 6th minute, Di Maria sent a clever pass from the front court, and Wang Feng shot forcefully from the edge of the penalty area, scoring a goal.
Just six minutes later, the Galacticos lost the ball in the frontcourt, and Sneijder immediately won it back. He then passed it to Di Maria on the wing, who took advantage of Elche's unstable defense to make a precise pass.
Wang Feng successfully avoided the offside trap and faced the oncoming goalkeeper, shooting with his right foot, making it 2-0!
In the 27th minute, Real Madrid found a loophole in the opponent's defense through continuous passing among the frontcourt players. Wang Feng, after receiving the ball, accelerated past the defense and made a low cross from the bottom, allowing Higuain to shoot from 8 meters in front of the goal, making it 3-0!
Their attack didn't stop there. In the 39th minute, Di Maria and Wang Feng formed a wall pass on the right, with the latter cutting inside the penalty area and passing it back in a triangle. Higuain took another shot, but unfortunately hit the post. Pepe, quick to react, headed in the rebound from close range, piercing the home team's defense again, making it 4-0!
The fast-paced attack and exhilarating goals completely overwhelmed the Galacticos' players. In the second half, in the 48th minute, Wang Feng took a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, the ball flying like a meteor into the top corner.
5-0! Wang Feng completed a hat-trick!
In the 64th and 79th minutes, Granero and Diarra respectively assisted Marcelo and Ramos to score a goal, ultimately securing a 7-0 victory!
Before Barcelona's 8-0 thrashing of Osasuna, now Real Madrid's 7-0 victory over Elche, major Spanish media outlets couldn't help but marvel. It's not that other teams aren't trying, but the Spanish giants are just too dominant.
In the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid visited Milan to challenge the Rossoneri. As they passed through Wang Feng Avenue outside the San Siro Stadium on the team bus, there were still many Chinese superstar fans expressing their love and support.
Sneijder looked out the window with envy. Di Maria was curious and asked, "Is this road named Wang Feng Avenue after you, captain?"
He only made his debut in 2005 and went from Argentina to Benfica in Portugal in 2007. Although he knew about Wang Feng's achievements and reputation, he wasn't clear about many specific details, hence the question.
"Of course, this was specially built by Inter Milan to commemorate Wang's outstanding contributions to the club. At the end of the road, there will be a life-size bronze statue of him."
Di Maria couldn't help but be amazed. "How outstanding do you have to be to receive such treatment?"
Wang Feng jokingly replied, "It's just being the top scorer in the club's history. They are exaggerating too much, let's keep it low-key."
Once on the field, Di Maria once again felt the love of Milan for the Chinese superstar. In addition to the normal fans of both teams, a considerable number of people came specifically for Wang Feng.
They could never forget the glory of those times that shook the whole city, which belonged to all Milanese.
As for the match, when the time came to the 37th minute, Di Maria and Wang Feng formed a combination on the right, forcing Abbiati to choose to tackle the Chinese superstar to prevent him from breaking through further.
"Real Madrid got a set-piece on the right side of the frontcourt, it's difficult to directly threaten the goal from this angle, they should play it short."
"Oh, I guessed it right. We can see Sneijder stepping up to take the free kick, while Wang Feng enters the penalty area waiting for an opportunity."
"The ball is lifted into the penalty area, AC Milan goalkeeper Abbiati punches it out with one fist, but it didn't go far, dangerous! Headed shot!"
"Goooooooooooooooal! The ball is in! A beautiful header, from the Chinese superstar Wang Feng, and he opens the scoring for the Galacticos again."
"Abbiati's handling of the ball was a bit too far, after Sneijder sent it into the penalty area, the landing point was too close to the goalkeeper, he could have easily sent the ball out for a corner."
"Perhaps he originally intended to catch the ball, but his jumping height was not enough, so he changed his mind to punch it, but the ball wasn't sent far. Wang Feng accurately judged the landing point, accelerated his jump, and headed it in."
"The score on the field is now 0-1, Real Madrid temporarily takes the lead, which is extremely disadvantageous for AC Milan, as they lost to the opponents at the Bernabeu in the last round and have only one win and one draw so far."
Subsequent games saw attacks and defenses from both sides, but neither managed to score a second goal, and ultimately the Galacticos won by a single goal.
After four rounds, Real Madrid ranked first in the group with 12 points from 4 wins. Ajax, with 5 points from 1 win, 2 draws, and 1 loss, ranked second, while AC Milan, with 4 points from 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 losses, ranked third, and Osservatore, with 1 point from 1 draw and 3 losses, ranked last.
With only two rounds left in the group stage, the Galacticos secured their top spot in advance, while AC Milan needed to fight Ajax for second place, and Osservatore had almost no chance of a comeback.
Two other clubs also secured their places in the group with perfect records: Barcelona and Manchester United. Barcelona, with Messi and Villa's combination, was unstoppable.
The Red Devils were exceptionally strong, being the top-scoring team so far, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 5 goals, second only to Wang Feng's 6 on the Champions League goal-scoring chart.
Benzema no longer made blunders but instead served as a stable point in the penalty area, allowing the Portuguese star to output steadily. Rooney also had some brilliant performances, and the CBL combination showed formidable strength.
For this, Cristiano Ronaldo has repeatedly praised his two teammates in public, and vowed that this year Manchester United's goal is to win the Champions League. They have been waiting for this award for too long!
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