CHAPTER 132: CHAPTER 42: WHO IS THE STRONGEST MAN

In the first 45 minutes of the match, neither team scored a goal.

Real Madrid’s inability to break through on the flanks left them unable to penetrate Athletic Bilbao’s defense, while the presence of Chen Zhong also brought Athletic Bilbao’s offense to a standstill.

The halftime break was short, and both teams quickly returned to the field.

Schuster did not make any substitutions, instead he adjusted the direction of the attack, opting to focus more on the center when the flanks couldn’t be leveraged.

Sneijder dropped back into the center, Baptista moved forward and positioned more like an attacking midfielder, while Chen Zhong became more involved in organizing the offense.

This tactical adjustment quickly produced results.

In the 54th minute of the match, Athletic Bilbao opted for a cross again, with Chen Zhong leaping high to contest ball possession with Llorente. Llorente lost out this time, and Chen Zhong passed the ball sideways to Torres.

After taking the ball, Torres waited a moment, noticed Chen Zhong running forward and attracting some of the Athletic Bilbao players, then quickly passed the ball to the open space.

"Trying to get the ball?" Llorente gritted his teeth watching Chen Zhong. In this match, Chen Zhong had disrupted him several times, and now he wouldn’t miss the chance for payback.

Llorente quickly pressed up, intending to give Chen Zhong a little shock.

However, just as he gathered strength to collide, Chen Zhong suddenly stopped abruptly, then changed direction towards where Llorente aimed to collide.

Llorente widened his eyes, looking at Chen Zhong, seemingly saying, "Damn, are you playing dirty with me? Are you even a man?"

In the midst of their exchange, he tried to extend his arm to pull Chen Zhong, but Chen Zhong blocked it, pushing Llorente’s grabbing hand away.

Then quickly moved the ball forward.

During this physical confrontation with Llorente, Chen Zhong realized that this big guy wasn’t very bright.

You’re strong, but as an attacking player, you need to know how to position yourself!

Always standing there like a target.

The defenders don’t even need to think about the ball’s trajectory or passing lanes, they just need to get at you.

If you keep this up, your achievements in this lifetime will be limited.

Athletic Bilbao seems to have great "faith" in Llorente, when Llorente turned to charge at Chen Zhong they’ve already assumed Chen Zhong would be silenced.

Yet the result took them aback.

After shaking off Llorente, Chen Zhong found a large open space ahead and quickly dribbled forward. Only when Athletic Bilbao couldn’t help but press towards him did he make a horizontal pass to Sneijder.

With the ball, Sneijder panicked slightly as Athletic Bilbao aggressively pressed, and then passed the ball to Baptista, completing a one-two.

When the ball returned to his feet, Sneijder took two steps with the ball, looked around, and then sent a long pass to the far side.

Athletic Bilbao’s defense against Real Madrid was almost "second nature," but this time things were different.

In the stands, the fans of both teams craned their necks, while the Athletic Bilbao fans couldn’t stop chattering.

In the camera, at the far end, a figure with black hair, yellow skin, wearing number 22, under the watchful eyes of many, squeezed past the surrounding Athletic Bilbao players, then leapt high and fiercely swung his head.

"Bang!"

The ball hit the goalpost and crashed into the net.

Real Madrid’s fans let out a cheer, while Athletic Bilbao’s fans cursed loudly.

This unexpected and decisive insertion by Chen Zhong gave Real Madrid another attack angle, and this change caught Athletic Bilbao off guard, resulting in a beautiful goal.

"0:1"

"Real Madrid strikes first."

"Chen Zhong’s sudden advance caught Athletic Bilbao off guard."

"He, hmm? Wait, the assistant referee raised the flag."

"The referee is signaling that it’s an offside goal."

"Yes, the referee decided that the play was offside, goal disallowed."

"Let’s take a look at the replay."

"Sneijder! Sneijder, that hesitation, just enough to put Chen Zhong offside. If he had passed immediately, it would have been a valid goal."

"He took too long to assess."

"It seems Chen Zhong’s sudden advance also took his teammates by surprise."

The whistles and boos within the stadium multiplied, as Athletic Bilbao’s fans, upon seeing the goal cancelled, intensified their noise to conceal their own unease.

Llorente took a deep breath, calming the surge of feelings inside, while reflecting on everything that just happened, and seemed to have some sort of mental breakthrough.

Caparros walked along the sidelines, first glancing at Llorente and then at Chen Zhong, lamenting, "That’s a damn genius!"

"When will Llorente finally get it?"

Unlike Caparros’ deep frustration, Schuster wasn’t much better off.

"I think for the next match we should let Marcelo play instead."

In this game, Torres replaced Marcelo in the starting lineup, and contributed significantly on defense, but if Chen Zhong plays deep, it might be less effective.

Whereas if it were Marcelo, Real Madrid would be more threatening on the flanks. Plus, the position where Chen Zhong appeared earlier is where Marcelo or Ramos would show up during their attacks on each flank.