Chapter 595: Second in the Group is Not Doomsday
Alonso Returns from Injury!
This piece of news was like a welcome rain for the struggling Real Madrid. Although he visibly circled around, he needed a long recovery training to reach his best condition, but there was finally more hope for the second half of the season.
"Welcome back." Wang Feng gave him a big hug on behalf of all his teammates, and the Spaniard joked, "You, my friend, don't know where the limit is until you're pushed."
"After being your teammate for so many years, I didn't even know you had the talent to play as a defensive midfielder. I watch every game of our team, and you're just too competent."
The Chinese superstar rolled his eyes. "I'd rather never have this kind of forced feeling."
On November 17th, in the 12th round of La Liga, Real Madrid faced Athletic Bilbao away.
In the 12th minute of the match, Wang Feng sent a long pass from midfield, and after controlling the ball, Iguain smoothly entered the penalty area and calmly lobbed the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to open the scoring for the Galacticos.
Seven minutes later, Marcelo made a quick run down the wing and crossed from the baseline. Ramos, unmarked at the edge of the small penalty area, headed the ball into the net. The two defenders combined to contribute a brilliant goal, indicating not only their excellent attacking ability but also Athletic Bilbao's almost complete inability to threaten the Real Madrid defense.
In the 41st minute, Carvajal passed from the right, and Iguain retreated to the top of the penalty arc, receiving the ball with his back to the goal before laying it off to Wang Feng, who was making a run. The Chinese superstar, facing the goal, unleashed a powerful shot with his right foot into the top corner, making it 3-0! The Galacticos completely sealed the victory!
At the start of the second half, in the 51st minute, Wang Feng suddenly accelerated with the ball, shaking off three defenders with successive changes of direction as he charged into the penalty area. Faced with the goalkeeper, he calmly slotted the ball into the far corner, and it ricocheted into the net off the inside of the post.
With a brace! The Chinese superstar always capitalized on the few chances he got to score. In the 12 rounds of the league, he had scored 9 goals, quietly climbing to fourth place in the top scorer list.
In the 60th minute, coach Ancelotti substituted him along with Modric and Ramos. In the 79th minute, Athletic Bilbao scored a goal through Gomez to salvage some pride.
But in the final five minutes, Esin made a diagonal pass, and Morata received the ball on the edge of the small penalty area, slotting it home once again. The final score was 5-1.
Three days later, Real Madrid faced Manchester City away in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.
In order to secure the top spot in the group, the Galacticos had to fight with all their might. For the Sky Blues, it was even more critical as they needed to fight for a Europa League spot.
So, as soon as the match started, both sides went all out, engaging in a physical battle. Real Madrid's first attack was cleared by Manchester City from their penalty area.
Kolarov controlled the ball and immediately passed it to Jovetic ahead, launching a rapid counterattack. By the time the Bosnian forward caught up with the ball, he had already passed the midfield line, with Aguero on his right also sprinting forward.
As the Galacticos pressed high up the pitch, only Wang Feng, who reacted quickly, fell back to defend, leaving a two-on-one situation against the Blue Moon!
The more critical the situation, the calmer one needed to be. Countless possible attacking scenarios flashed through the Chinese superstar's mind as he ran. He observed Jovetic's every move, putting pressure on him subtly.
Sure enough, Jovetic made a horizontal pass to Aguero, who had more space on the other side. Wang Feng didn't rush to close down the Argentine forward but ran towards a diagonal position.
Just as Aguero was about to dribble into the penalty area, the Chinese superstar slid in and cleared the ball from his feet, colliding heavily with Aguero in the process.
Ignoring the pain, Wang Feng quickly got up to check the situation of the ball. Fortunately, Awaloha arrived in time to control it. Aguero wanted to appeal for a foul, but the referee saw it clearly: Wang Feng touched the ball first, and then Aguero collided with him.
An excellent goal-scoring opportunity was thwarted. Aguero shook his head in frustration, and Jovetic regretted passing the ball too early. But Wang Feng's positioning and defensive awareness were just too good.
Taking advantage of the momentum after stopping a certain goal, the away team launched a series of threatening attacks. In the 9th minute, Wang Feng sent a diagonal pass to the wing, and Carvajal chased after it near the baseline before crossing to the far post.
Manchester City defender Maicon was watching the dropping ball closely, preparing to clear it, but he didn't notice Morata sneaking up behind him. When the time was right, Morata suddenly surged forward and poked the ball into the net from close range, taking the lead 1-0!
Forced into a corner, Manchester City launched a desperate attack like a storm, constantly surging towards the Galacticos' defense, but led by the Chinese superstar, they stood firm.
In the 27th minute, Jovetic suddenly accelerated forward and then abruptly stopped to try to shake off Wang Feng, who was closely marking him. However, the Chinese superstar's turning speed far exceeded his expectations. Before he could stabilize himself, he only saw a blur before him, and a white figure flashed past, taking the ball from under his feet.
Six minutes later, Silva sprinted down the wing, pretending to force his way to the byline but suddenly decelerating to evade Ramos' tackle. Just as he was about to cut inside towards the penalty area, Wang Feng, who was covering inside, slid in again and won the ball.
As time passed without yielding any results, the home fans in the stands expressed their dissatisfaction, chanting slogans for Mancini to be sacked. In order to further strengthen their attack, the Sky Blues substituted attacking players Tevez and Garcia successively.
Just when everyone thought Real Madrid would win by a narrow margin, a sudden turn of events occurred on the field. Awaloha and Aguero had a physical altercation when defending against each other, which escalated into a verbal argument. The irrational Awaloha directly pushed Aguero down, and the Argentine fell to the ground in apparent pain.
The referee didn't hesitate to show a red card to the Spanish defender! With one man down, the pressure on the Galacticos increased significantly, and finally, in the 79th minute, the defense was breached as Jovetic scored from close range inside the penalty area.
1-1, the final score left both sets of players dissatisfied, especially upon learning the result of the other group match, with Borussia Dortmund winning 4-1 against Ajax.
With a total of 13 points, the German club secured the top spot in the group, while Real Madrid accumulated 8 points. Although they also secured advancement to the next round, finishing second in the group was the first time in nearly seven years.
Ajax with 4 points and Manchester City with 3 points would fight for a Europa League spot in the final round.
Since the Champions League was revamped, no team had ever won the final as the second-placed team in the group. Therefore, most of the media were very pessimistic about the Galacticos, especially some conspiracy theorists who believed that although UEFA didn't directly thwart Real Madrid's wishes, they successfully prevented them from defending their title.
However, Ancelotti and Wang Feng disagreed with this view, especially the Chinese superstar, who said bluntly, "Second in the group is not doomsday." He stated that the Galacticos had built an immortal legacy throughout their journey, and none of the opponents standing in their way were easy ones.
"The road must be taken step by step, and the matches must be played one by one. Since we've secured qualification, regardless of our ranking or our opponents, we won't be afraid."
As for Manchester City, Sky Sports commentator Smith believed that Mansour was too lenient. If it were Abramovich, Mancini would have been sacked hundreds of times by now.
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