Chapter 745: Vicious Cycle
On April 16th, in the 33rd round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Getafe away.
Just after experiencing a Champions League battle, many key players were included in the coach's rotation strategy, with Ramos wearing the captain's armband leading the starting lineup.
There was a clear gap in strength between the two teams, yet the away team still managed to maintain a significant advantage.
Just 3 minutes into the game, Jesé opened the scoring for Real Madrid. Later, Isco dribbled the ball forward, shaking off two defenders with continuous changes of direction, and then scored with his left foot, further extending the Galactic Warship's lead.
In the 37th minute, the away team earned a free kick in the front court. Kovacic lofted the ball into the area to create chaos, and the quick-thinking Nacho rushed out to head it into the goal, making it 3-0!
After the break, Varane and Cheryshev scored successively, with the home team only managing to score a face-saving goal in the final moments of the match.
In the end, Real Madrid won 5-1 against Getafe.
It proved that as long as the coach didn't underestimate the opponent too much, the depth of the Galactic Warship's bench was still quite considerable. With experienced veterans leading the way, many young players could perform at their respective good levels.
In contrast, Barcelona fell into a slump. They seemed to have not yet emerged from the shadow of defeat at Camp Nou. The image of Wang Feng showing off his jersey deeply ingrained in the hearts of all the players, as the "Daily Sports" accurately predicted.
The Catalan team not only suffered defeats in the Champions League, but also lost two consecutive games in the following two rounds of the league. They went from leading Real Madrid by 2 points to trailing by 4 points on the points table, tied with Atlético Madrid, only ahead based on goal difference.
Another collapse at the last moment! It's worth noting that at the peak of their form, Barcelona once led the Galactic Warship by as much as 7 points. Fans believed that this season was definitely an opportunity to break the enemy's monopoly and defeat Wang Feng.
However, two devastating defeats in the El Clásico brought them back to reality. It seemed that the team always faltered at critical moments.
Many analysts believed that Barcelona had significant deficiencies in the midfield and defense. With the end of the Xavi-Iniesta era, although the management continuously introduced peak talents, they never solved this problem.
While stacking a large number of superstars in attack, the defense was full of holes, and under the serious imbalance in salaries, there was simply no way to free up more space for reinforcement.
This led to a vicious cycle: lack of bench depth, frequent promotion of young players lacking experience to the first team or even starting lineup, resulting in many basic mistakes and ultimately leading to defeat.
This was not a problem that could be solved by a single player or coach, but rather a reflection of the entire management's low level.
"We are very worried. Even if Wang Feng leaves La Liga and Real Madrid, can Barcelona really immediately emerge from the slump and return to its past glory?"
In the next two rounds of matches in April, Real Madrid easily defeated their opponents without giving their competitors any chance. They defeated Villarreal 3-0 at home, with the Chinese superstar scoring twice.
They narrowly won 3-2 away against Alavés, with Wang Feng, who came off the bench, contributing an assist to help the team reverse the situation in the final moments.
In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Manchester City, it was an away game for Real Madrid. The head coach of the Sky Blues, Pellegrini, had clearly studied the Galactic Warship in detail.
He arranged Fernando, Yaya Touré, and Fernandinho to start, aiming to contain Real Madrid's strong midfield.
These three players were all sturdy midfielders with a lot of experience in tackling and intercepting.
On the attacking end, Aguero, Sterling, and Ronaldo led the charge. Despite playing at home, Manchester City still focused on stability as their core strategy. After all, in the past few matches, Real Madrid had scored numerous goals. Pellegrini dared not be overconfident in any way.
The game process was very dull, with fierce midfield battles from both sides. Possession of the ball frequently changed hands, and until the last moment, neither side could get the better of the other.
When the final whistle blew, the score remained 0-0. Manchester City's coach's defensive strategy paid off, but their performance on the offensive end was somewhat disappointing. This scoreline was not favorable for the upcoming visit to the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid slightly edged ahead in ball possession with a 58.7% possession rate. Due to the midfield battles, they didn't have many opportunities to threaten the opposition's goal, mainly relying on Wang Feng's individual abilities to break through.
Out of 8 shots, Wang Feng contributed 5 of them, with one of the most threatening shots being brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper, Joe Hart, with his fingertips.
Manchester City had even fewer shots, with only 6 attempts. It's worth mentioning that in the 79th minute, Ronaldo forcefully broke through on the wing and sent a wonderful cross, but Sterling kicked the ball into the stands.
The Portuguese star exploded on the spot, rushing to his teammate and shouting angrily, almost causing a conflict incident. Fortunately, Aguero intervened in time and stood between the two.
This was not the first time the two had clashed on the field. According to reports from Sky Sports, as early as last season, Ronaldo was very dissatisfied with Sterling's attacking efficiency, often wasting excellent opportunities, so he repeatedly criticized him in front of other teammates.
The English forward was initially embarrassed but gradually accumulated resentment, leading to eventual impatience.
The detonation of this bomb was mainly due to Manchester City's poor performance in the league this season. After experiencing consecutive defeats at the beginning of the season, they were currently barely in third place.
The proud Portuguese star was naturally very anxious, especially after the FIFA annual awards ceremony, he openly criticized Sterling, "He doesn't deserve to be a forward in this state. I think he should just be a defender. He must be better at clearing the ball."
In the duel with Leicester City, due to Sterling's missed excellent chance to equalize, Ronaldo directly attacked him on the field after the match.
This time, Sterling didn't choose to remain silent, but retorted, "Shut up! Don't point fingers and act like a senior. You'll never catch up to Messi!"
Such remarks undoubtedly deeply hurt Ronaldo's innermost feelings. He knew he couldn't compare himself with Wang Feng, but he would never admit to being inferior to anyone else. The only thing he lacked was the top stage and top teammates.
Messi? Just a product of the powerful system built by Xavi and Iniesta at Barcelona. Ronaldo believed that if he were placed in Messi's position, backed by the Galactic Warship led by Wang Feng, he would definitely not be suppressed for ten years.
The Portuguese star couldn't help but get angrier as he thought about it. It's all because of you, these bunch of useless teammates dragging me down, whether it's at Manchester United or Manchester City, it's the same. So he couldn't bear it anymore and punched Sterling on the spot.
Immediately, the two began to wrestle, and their teammates quickly stepped in to break it up. Fortunately, this happened inside the locker room, otherwise, if the media had taken pictures, it would have become a major scandal.
There's no such thing as a completely airtight room. Soon, this news was reported, causing a huge sensation. The club's emergency PR team instructed everyone to remain silent. They neither admitted nor denied the incident, hoping to quickly eliminate the public opinion impact.
With coach Pellegrini's handling skills being inadequate to deal with such a star-involved issue, the upper management intervened, and in the end, nothing substantial was done. No one was punished, and only Ronaldo apologized to Sterling in front of all the players.
On the surface, everything returned to calm, but the atmosphere in the Manchester City dressing room plummeted to rock bottom.
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