Chapter 228: Chapter 87: Tank 2

It’s Banega!

“A very bold tackle!”

“Banega’s timely defensive play.”

“An assertive slide.”

“Disrupted Robinho’s shot.”

Koman watching from the sidelines finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In this match, Valencia’s two defensive midfielders are one tall and one fast, and Banega is the shorter one, standing at only 175cm. Compared to the taller Madro, his reaction and turning are more agile.

If Madro and Albiol’s main target is Chen Zhong, then Banega’s target is Robinho.

Schuster suddenly turned to look at Koman, the two were once rivals.

In the year 2000, the Barcelona Club developed a batch of young coaches for its future, aiming for them to eventually manage the club’s first team without facing the challenges of that time.

Among this plan, Schuster and Koman were included, both once served at Barcelona, but the final outcome time has shown.

Since the beginning of the season, Robinho has been Schuster’s sharpest dagger, always able to launch sudden attacks down the center, hitting the opponent’s heart.

But in this match, Valencia’s attention to Robinho was unparalleled.

“You really know me so damn well.” Schuster muttered under his breath, in their first encounter, Schuster won 5-0 against Koman, and since then, Schuster hasn’t really regarded Koman.

But now…

He had to admit that he was somewhat complacent.

Real Madrid’s continuous offensive was disrupted time and again by Valencia’s rough fouls, gradually becoming weary, while Valencia tried to shift the match into their rhythm.

“David Silva gets the ball.”

“Very thoughtful.”

“Mata!”

“Sudden acceleration.”

“But hasn’t fully gotten away from Diara.”

“Passing?”

“Direct shot!”

Juan Mata, friend of Chen Zhong, and Chen Zhong had already talked with teammates about Mata’s advantages and disadvantages before the match. Mata’s left foot is very impressive, his footwork is also good, and he has a very good idea of forward runs.

His biggest problem is his poor ability to break free on the spot and lack of absolute speed and explosiveness.

This is also why Real Madrid didn’t offer him a new contract when Mata’s contract expired, because they wanted to develop Mata on the wing, but Mata didn’t hold an advantage there.

In Valencia, Mata is more like a midfielder, a midfielder similar to Xavi.

If placed in midfield, within specific tactical plays, Mata can even demonstrate skills beyond Xavi and Iniesta.

Under Diara’s tight defense, Mata could only take a hasty long shot attempting to breach Casillas’s goal, but this posed no real challenge to Casillas.

“Chen!”

“How are you going to repay what you owe me!”

Mata murmured, first giving a thumbs up to teammate David Silva, then turned his gaze to Chen Zhong, confirming with certainty that Chen Zhong must have analyzed his strengths and weaknesses with others.

Diara’s defensive posture is identical to how Chen Zhong used to defend him.

“The first half is already entering its latter stage.”

“35 minutes into the match.”

“A half-high ball.”

“Chen Zhong!”

“A very standard chest stop.”

“Madro falls down.”

“Chen Zhong on the ball.”

“One-two.”

“Eh?”

Chen Zhong and Baptista were like two bears attacking, but during their one-two play, Machena committed a tactical foul on Chen Zhong in front of the penalty area. He tried to push Chen Zhong from the side, although it threw Chen Zhong off balance, it also ended with him being pressed by Chen Zhong.

The referee blew the whistle, awarding a free kick.

The Real Madrid fans in the stands looked at the referee full of anticipation.

“Called Valencia’s foul.”

“Will he pull out the card?”

“Machena already has a yellow card.”

“Another, and Machena will be sent off.”

“Real Madrid will be one man up.”

The referee hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose not to issue a card because Machena couldn’t continue any longer.

This 182cm central defender lay on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium turf for a long time, covering his face with both hands, unwilling to remove them, while his Valencia teammates ran over.

After the medical team arrived, they quickly signaled for a substitution from the sideline coach.

Ivan Helgara stood at the sideline, and when he ran onto the field, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium filled with loud applause.

“Machena seems injured, he can’t continue.”

“Helgara comes on.”

“Applause rings out at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.”

“This is dedicated to the veteran who served the team for eight seasons.”

“It’s to thank him for his past contributions.”

“During his time at Real Madrid, Helgara won 2 Champions League titles, 3 league titles, 2 European Super Cups, and 1 Toyota Cup for the team.”

“Helgara waved to thank the fans for their support.”

The commentator detailed Helgara’s contributions to Real Madrid, but the fans were more concerned with Machena fouling Chen Zhong and himself getting injured.

“Oh man, that’s Chen Zhong?”

“He’s damn strong, heard he’s nicknamed the Monster.”

“I can’t believe it! The one committing the foul got injured, and the one fouled has no issues…”

…

By this time in the match, both teams were familiar with each other, and Real Madrid had three limited chances during this period, while Valencia had one, but neither altered the score.

“41st minute of the match.”

“Real Madrid’s play in the front court.”

“Sneijder threads the ball to Baptista.”

“Baptista passes to Chen Zhong.”

“One-two.”

“Baptista!”

“Very unfortunate!”

Baptista’s attempt outside the large penalty arc was once again collected by Hildebrand.

Before Real Madrid players could feel frustrated, Valencia responded with a counterattack, Mata received the ball in the middle, knowing his information was exposed, he didn’t attempt to dribble past, but seized the moment to pass to Villa.

During this time, Villa was heavily guarded by Real Madrid players.

Seeing no space to break through, he directly tried a long shot, hoping to get lucky.

Schuster saw this play out and smiled contentedly.

Opportunity-wise, Real Madrid had more chances than Valencia, after all, they had Chen Zhong at the front.

“Real Madrid in possession.”

“The ball reaches Sneijder’s feet.”

“Sneijder.”

“Eh?”

“Sneijder!”

Sneijder withdrew to his half to take the ball, but Valencia changed the rhythm in the second half, bursting in with pressure, exploiting Sneijder’s blind spot in vision.

Having just gained possession, Sneijder was dispossessed by Valencia from behind.

The ball quickly reached David Silva’s feet, Valencia gained an advantage in the front court, David Silva slid a through pass, and Villa successfully broke the offside trap.

One-on-one!

Push shot!

Casillas stretched out with a save.

But was still a beat late.

The ball broke through Real Madrid’s goal, at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Valencia took the lead with an advantage.

“Goal!”

“Oh!”

“Super, super! Huge mistake!”

“This isn’t Real Madrid’s first error.”

“Earlier Guti was also dispossessed in the backfield once.”

“How can they fall into the same pit twice?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep