CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 21: IRON WALL

The first half is about to end.

The 0:2 score deeply pains the hearts of Villarreal fans.

There are no more songs in the stands, only endless boos, which is the biggest compliment for the Real Madrid players.

The transition between offense and defense for both teams has become quicker. A shot is just completed on one side, and on the other side, the ball is already pushed into the opponent’s threatening area.

"An attack from Villarreal."

"Rossi’s positioning this time is very smart, he falls back to the midfield."

"Dodged Diarra’s tackle."

"A precise through pass."

"Chen!"

"It’s Chen Zhong again!"

"His defensive awareness is just amazing."

"Intercepted the ball early."

"Defused a threatening attack."

Tomasson swung his leg but hit air. He had already planned in his mind to directly shoot without stopping the ball to try his luck, but Chen Zhong’s early movement killed his "luck" opportunity.

Schuster saw this interception by Chen Zhong on the sidelines, clapping and looking at Francisco, saying, "Damn, was he ever this good before?"

Francisco did not answer, but watched the field nervously because Tomasson and Rossi were quickly pressing towards Chen Zhong, intercepting the ball was never the end of defense work, how to pass the ball out is.

Chen Zhong felt the pressure, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Marcelo raising his hand high on the sidelines. After taking two steps forward, he passed the ball to Marcelo, who then quickly broke through Pires’s interception, like a runaway horse galloping all the way along the sideline.

"Marcelo!"

"This young Brazilian left-back is clearly better at offense than defense."

"He toyed with Pires, showcasing excellent foot skills."

"Still pushing forward, long drive ahead."

"Dodged the slide tackle."

"Flick pass to the center."

"Sneijder controls the ball."

"Direct pass to the left side of the penalty area."

"Robinho."

"A beautiful backheel pass."

"Raul!!!!"

Raul gasped, raising his right hand to give Robinho a thumbs-up. The pass was beautiful, but unfortunately, his all-out running exhausted him greatly, causing him to miss the ball as it slipped past in front of him.

Not only Raul, but Real Madrid’s players consumed a lot of energy in the first half.

Pellegrini noticed this, seeing that there were 3-4 minutes left in the first half, he immediately urged the players loudly to launch an offensive, trying to pull one back before halftime.

During this time, Rossi’s performance was extremely dazzling, he seemed to have found the right way to play, which was to avoid playing where Chen Zhong was!

"The first half of the match is about to end."

"1-minute stoppage time."

"At the 44th minute, Rossi gets the ball."

"Very nimble, Cannavaro follows close."

"Rossi makes a stealthy pass to the right side of the penalty area."

"Chen Zhong!"

"Beautiful covering defense."

"Directly blocked the ball out of bounds."

"He’s the team’s defensive wall today!"

Cazorla regretfully scratched his hair, it was a prime opportunity, Cannavaro was drawn in by Rossi, Rossi made a beautiful diagonal pass, and there was no one within this triangular area.

If he managed a sharp-angle goal, he would have pulled one back for the team.

But!

Cazorla glanced sideways at Chen Zhong; how could this young man’s defensive awareness be so good, as if he already knew what they were going to do in advance.

Casillas loudly praised Chen Zhong, and Schuster on the sidelines also looked satisfied, obviously very pleased with Chen Zhong’s performance during this time.

"I knew it, I can spot talent," Schuster said with a smile on his face, "I took notice of this kid from Castilla at a glance, and brought him to the first team."

"Is Capello’s Torres as outstanding as the Chen I value?"

Francisco heard Schuster’s self-praise and pretended not to hear.

Villarreal’s corner opportunity, it was also their last opportunity for attack in the first half, as the match entered added time.

The corner was taken, Cazorla advanced with the ball near the baseline. Ramos stepped up to try and break the play, Cazorla accelerated past Ramos, Cannavaro moved to block Cazorla’s forward path, Cazorla made a back pass near the right side of the penalty area by the baseline.

The pass was very hidden and quick, Cannavaro stretched his leg but didn’t intercept it, he could only look in horror towards Rossi standing at the penalty area edge, Rossi prepared for a shot, but at this moment, a white figure pushed Rossi aside.

Rossi stumbled, only to see the ball cleared out by Chen Zhong with one kick.

Damn it, him again! This bastard again.

"The first half is over."

"Villarreal missed an excellent opportunity."

"Cazorla has done very well, his breakthrough was sharp, and his passing was precise."

"Rossi’s positioning was also excellent, but Chen anticipated everything in advance."

"Chen Zhong’s performance in the first half was extremely outstanding, he has the potential to become a world-class center-back."

"You have to know that completing 2-3 interceptions in a match is already excellent data."

"But in this match, just the first half, Chen Zhong had 4 successful ground duels out of 4, completed 3 interceptions, reclaimed possession 5 times, cleared the ball 3 times, and won 5 body challenges out of 5."

"I can hardly believe these are data achieved by a 16-year-old center-back."

"However, this also indirectly indicates the intensity of this match and the rapid offensive and defensive transition."

The reform of football defense has already begun, now the team’s defense is more inclined towards an overall defense, the defensive goal is no longer to snatch the ball as the first objective, but to maintain overall defense, the ideal state is to let the ball be passed under one’s feet.

In a football match, if a center-back completes over 5 interceptions in a single game, it’s worthy of high praise, even though it’s often that a center-back can only contribute 1-2 interceptions in a match.

However, this is not a bad thing, it represents the team’s defensive stability, most threats are dissolved by the midfield.

Schuster naturally did not hear the commentator’s remarks, but as a football coach, he clearly knows that Chen Zhong’s outstanding performance also indicates the shortcoming of midfield protection for the defense.

"In the second half, Villarreal will definitely have to strengthen their attack."

"Trailing by two goals at the El Madrigal."

"They have no retreat options."

Schuster rationally analyzed standing in front of the whiteboard: "Diarra, I want you to stay at the back during the attack, Sneijder, I want you pushed up here..."

The players watched Schuster’s plan on the whiteboard, during the attack, the team’s formation would be similar to 4321, Van Nistelrooy as the center forward, Sneijder, Raul as shadow forwards, the three midfielders Guti in charge of organization, Robinho handling the advancement, Diarra responsible for fallback defense.

This is a very harsh test for Diarra.

Mamadou Diarra from Mali, has always been viewed by fans as a "weakened version of Makelele."

Now he really had to do Makelele’s job.

Schuster also clearly knew not to rely too heavily on Diarra, what he hoped for was Real Madrid’s forward line directly playing Villarreal into submission, banking on the combination of Chen Zhong, Cannavaro, Casillas to hold on inside the penalty area.