Chapter 608: This is His Fort
On February 23rd, in the 25th round of La Liga, Real Madrid welcomed Deportivo La Coru?a at home.
In the 12th minute of the game, Wang Feng dribbled past Asensio in the middle, diagonally passed to Carvajal, who chose to knock it back after failing to break through, and the Chinese superstar took advantage of the situation, made a run and shot angrily, a world-class shot from about 25 meters pierced through the fingertips of Aran Suárez.
Ten minutes later, Modric passed the ball directly to the penalty area, Morata's shot was blocked by defender Silvio, Wang Feng quickly rushed out and took the ball away, moved laterally to feint a shot and dribbled past Marchena's sliding tackle, then slotted it to the far post, where Iguain followed up with a shot from 8 meters out.
The development that followed was surprisingly similar to the last game. In the 37th minute, Deportivo La Coru?a had a chance from a set-piece, Carvajal went forward to stop the opponent from taking a quick free kick, resulting in a conflict and receiving the first yellow card.
When they took the free kick again, the Spaniard, due to not stepping back far enough, was considered provocative by the main referee and was shown a second yellow card, resulting in a straight red card! The home fans in the stands were in an uproar, expressing their dissatisfaction with loud boos, thinking that the punishment was too harsh!
The Galacticos had to face playing with one man down again. In the 67th minute of the second half, Deportivo La Coru?a seized the opportunity and pulled one back through Ricky.
However, Real Madrid held on with strong determination to their narrow advantage and eventually won 2-1.
In the dressing room after the match, Ancelotti earnestly warned the players, "Gentlemen, please control your emotions. We are now targets of criticism, and any misconduct on the field will be magnified, not overlooked."
Real Madrid has maintained a 3-point lead over Barcelona on the league table, making the upcoming El Clásico yet another decisive battle where neither side can afford to lose.
On the second day of March, this highly anticipated match began at Camp Nou.
Barcelona's coach, Roura, deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with substitute goalkeeper Pinto starting due to a contract dispute between the club and first-choice goalkeeper Valdés.
The backline consisted of Alves, Piqué, Puyol, and Alba.
The midfield trio consisted of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets.
The front three were Neymar, Messi, and Pedro.
Real Madrid kicked off the first half, but the aggressive Barcelona soon pressed high up the pitch, engaging in intense battles with their opponents in midfield.
After Busquets intercepted Carvajal's pass and diagonally passed to Iniesta, before he could control and turn, Wang Feng quickly pounced and stretched his foot to poke the ball out of his reach, then swiftly caught up and passed sideways to Modric.
After several exchanges in the midfield and losing possession again in the attacking half, Barcelona stabilized the rhythm and passed the ball continuously, finally delivering it to Messi's feet. He was about to dribble past the Chinese superstar, but was caught off guard and directly tackled by his opponent.
"Well done! The rhythm changes at Messi's feet are so difficult to predict, to the point that very few can anticipate his feints and actual direction of breakthrough, but Wang Feng happens to be one of the few."
The commentator's words were continuously verified. In the 4th minute, Busquets chipped the ball to Messi, who controlled it with his chest against Ramos, but just as he was about to lift his foot to feint and evade the tackle, Wang Feng almost simultaneously lifted his foot and swept the ball's path, instantly taking it away. Nearby, Iniesta also attempted to tackle back, but the Chinese superstar quickly stopped and dribbled past him, then passed back to Alonso to relieve the pressure.
As Barcelona continued their attack, Messi received a direct pass from Iniesta in the frontcourt. He observed Wang Feng's position behind him and decided to use a lob to escape backwards, but his opponent was faster in turning, arriving first at the landing point to shield the ball, firmly blocking Messi from behind to make a clean tackle.
Messi then attempted to create space for a breakthrough, but before he could accelerate after changing direction, Wang Feng aggressively closed in, forcing him to move sideways rather than forward, eventually losing balance and falling to the ground, a brilliant interception that did not constitute a foul.
"Almost identical to the first round of El Clásico, Barcelona has yet to create a valid scoring threat until now, mainly because Wang Feng has completely neutralized Messi."
"Yes, to some extent, the performance of these two players will determine the final outcome of the contest. Messi is the attacking soul of this team, having scored a total of 49 goals this season, accounting for 42% of the team's total goals."
"And the team's second-highest scorer, Villa, has only scored 12 goals, followed by Neymar with 9 goals and Pedro with 6."
"This situation is very similar to the past few seasons when Wang Feng was in the Galacticos, but at that time, there was no defensive player capable of containing him, allowing Real Madrid to win game after game."
"Obviously, Messi cannot reach that level. Just look at the recent Champions League knockout match against AC Milan, where Messi was virtually invisible throughout the game due to poor form and being marked by multiple defenders, resulting in Barcelona's 0-2 defeat."
"Initially, Neymar was expected to be the team's second attacking threat. He has great potential for improvement, but coach Roura neglected to develop and tactically deploy the Brazilian, resulting in his limited involvement in the attack."
As the commentator analyzed the issues facing the Catalan team, the Galacticos seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack. In the 37th minute, Xavi passed the ball to Messi in the frontcourt, Wang Feng unexpectedly intercepted and took the ball away, using his body to shield it from Marchena, then back-heeled it to Alonso.
Alonso took two steps and returned the ball to Wang Feng, who then made a powerful run through the midfield between Busquets and Puyol, accelerating towards the edge of the arc, before sending a precise low curved pass that bypassed the retreating defenders and found Morata.
The Spanish forward curled a shot with the outside of his right foot, creating a new moon-like arc in the air, grazing past Pinto's fingertips, but hitting the upright and rebounding back into play. Morata couldn't help but cover his face in frustration, but Camp Nou didn't stop cheering, instead getting louder and louder.
What's going on? The Spaniard looked up and saw that the ball had still entered the goal, while Wang Feng had already rushed to the area near the stands, waving his arms in celebration.
It turned out that he had arrived first at the rebound point, and even though Puyol had tried his best to pull the Chinese superstar down, he still relied on his long legs to calmly sweep the ball into the empty net.
1-0! Real Madrid broke the deadlock!
Morata quickly ran towards his teammates to celebrate, and Wang Feng pulled him over, rubbing his head and saying, "That shot was amazing, just a little bit off."
"As long as it goes in, it's good," the Spanish forward said embarrassedly.
"The Galacticos' grasp of attacking opportunities is still extremely sharp. Let's review the entire process of this push forward. Wang Feng made a quick interception and pass forward, forming a wall pass with Alonso."
"Then his dribble through the defense was very imaginative, of course, also due to his strong explosiveness. He then passed to Morata at the perfect moment, but it's not just about passing the ball over and everything's fine. Wang Feng is focused every moment, which is why he had the chance for a follow-up shot."
"Since joining Real Madrid, Wang Feng has achieved an impressive record of 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss at Camp Nou in the league, and has won the championship several times due to direct victories in crucial matches. It can be said that this is one of his lucky places."
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