princely elegance

Chapter 293 Zidane's regret
The enthusiasm of the Juventus fans was immediately extinguished by Gago's world wave. Even the Real Madrid fans felt that it was a bit cruel. They were happy for less than 1 minute, and you poured cold water on it.It is exciting to overtake, but if the target of overtaking is the team you support, it will be a tragedy.

After Gago scored a goal, he came to the camera on the sidelines, lowered his head and kissed the team emblem on his chest gently.This action made more than 6 fans at home jump up excitedly. All the Meilingers believed that Gago could die in Real Madrid, just like Zidane.

And the Juventus players, whose morale was high because of Del Piero's goal, were frustrated again. At this time, they really didn't know what to do.If it is defensive, it cannot be defended, and if it is offensive, Del Piero and Nedved may not be able to catch it.It is impossible for Prince Zebra to be lucky enough to kick out that kind of world wave every time.

At this time, Juventus coach Ranieri began to struggle. At this time, the morale of the team was low, and the best way was to score another goal to regain the confidence of the players.But it is not easy to break through Real Madrid's defense. Don't look at the fact that Real Madrid is attacking very happily now. The two full-backs are frequently inserted, but the two central defenders honestly stay in the backcourt and remain motionless.

After all, Nedved is old, and facing the young and strong Diarra gradually became a little too much, and Del Piero's ability to score a goal against Cannavaro, who is familiar with him, has exhausted his character.If you want to break Casillas' ten fingers again, you must increase the offensive manpower.

But looking at Real Madrid's current offense, as long as he pulls out a little strength and puts it into the offense, the defense line that was already on the verge of breaking may collapse directly.

In the end, Ranieri's conservative character prevailed. He gestured to the players on the field and asked Nedved to retreat to help defend.

Now Real Madrid has fully played momentum because of Gago's goal, even more violent than at the beginning.Juventus no longer has the "bronze wall and iron wall" that makes the whole of Europe a headache. Although Chiellini is a first-class central defender, just facing Raul, one of Ruud van Nistelrooy is enough to give him a headache .

With Nedved's retreat, Juventus already has eight defensive players in their own half, Marchisio, Sissoko, Thiago, Nedved's four midfielders are all Top-notch defensive player.After Gago scored a goal, two people followed him all the time, making him use his whole body every time he caught the ball.

Looking at the resolute Nedved in front of him, Gago's face was solemn. This man still defeated his predecessor Zidane's superstar at his peak.Although he is 35 years old now, he does not look old at all by running tirelessly all over the field.

It was with his assistance that Marchisio was able to limit Gago.And his retracement also gave Juventus a new look on the already unstable defense line, making it no longer so easy for Gago to find the gap.And Guti tried a few through balls that were also blocked by the opponent's defensive players.

Seeing this situation, Gago began to direct the team to slow down the tempo and started a positional battle. He began to return to the position of the midfielder, and slowly dispatched the team in the backcourt to perform delicate short pass penetration.

The continuous pass scheduling was displayed at the feet of Gago in front of the Bernabeu fans. Since he retired his position, he was not disturbed as much as when he was in the frontcourt, giving him enough time to think ball path.The wide vision allows him to send the ball to the weak point of the opponent's defense in an instant.

No. 305 minutes, it was his long diagonal pass in the middle that crossed the Juventus defense line, allowing Marcelo, who was plugged in, to calmly dribble the ball to the bottom line.It's a pity that Ruud van Nistelrooy's shot went wide of the far post by Buffon, causing the Real Madrid fans in the audience to sigh.

As time went on, although Real Madrid's offense was not as violent as the opening, the continuous drizzle made the Juventus players even more uncomfortable.

The usual snail-like rhythm sped up the moment he saw a flaw, and he sent it to the penalty area in two or three passes.If it weren't for Buffon's good condition, which blocked the shots of Raul and Van Nistelrooy in a row, the old lady would have fallen behind by several goals.

After seeing this situation, Nedved came up from the back court without Ranieri's order, and kept pressing against Gago who had retreated to the midfielder.As long as Gago is not allowed to play the ball easily, Real Madrid's offense will definitely not be smooth and natural.

Facts have proved that his approach is correct. Under his continuous pressing, Real Madrid's offense began to be a little chaotic. Without Gago's scheduling behind, Juventus' defense can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Nedved's skill and creativity may not be as good as Zidane's, but he has better assault power, stronger fighting spirit, tougher style and stronger scoring ability.Compared with Zidane's style, the Czech king's style of play is more suitable for Juventus' tradition.

With him as the first line of defense to limit Gago, with Marchisio at his side, the two hard-working players teamed up to gradually suppress Gago, who has the title of "the first midfielder in football" today.

At half-time, Real Madrid could not score again, and after Nedved came back to press Gago, the pressure of the Los Blancos attack on the Juventus defense was not as fierce as it was at the beginning.

……

When the two teams entered the halftime break, in a box at the Bernabéu, the two chatted happily.

"How about it, Qi Zu, can this kid reach your level?"

Florentino poured a glass of wine to the bald man in front of him, and asked with a smile.

"Are you talking about strength or status?"

After Zidane took the wine glass, he asked a question.After hearing this, Florentino raised his eyebrows, very surprised.

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course, if you are only talking about strength, then I tell you, as long as he maintains such progress, it is only a matter of time before he reaches my level. If you are talking about status, then wait until he wins two World Cups talk later."

After Zidane finished speaking, Florentino was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Zidane to have such a high opinion of Gago.This was beyond his expectation, and it also made him hesitate about the plan in his heart.

"I didn't expect that with your personality, you would praise a young man so much. He is indeed very good, but I don't believe that he can have your strength. In my heart, you are the best midfielder , even Maradona can't compare to you."

Florentino's words made Zidane smile bitterly. Although he was conceited, he didn't think that his strength surpassed Maradona's, at most he was equal.

"You think too highly of me, at least on the court, there is a midfielder who beat me at my peak."

After Zidane finished speaking, he looked at Nedved who had just walked out of the passage. Florentino only clicked his tongue lightly after hearing his words, and did not object.

Zidane and Nedved, as the two core generations of Juventus, will naturally be compared by fans.Although Zidane surpasses Nedved by a large margin in terms of personal honor and group honor, in the eyes of Juventus fans, the Czech is better than Zidane.

After Zidane moved to Real Madrid to reach the pinnacle of his personal career, he and his successor Pavel Nedved had three direct conversations.

The first time was a friendly match on February 2003, 2.As a direct dialogue between the two top midfielders, that game was "surprising". If Nedved's performance is still quite satisfactory, then Zidane's performance can be said to be bad. His one stop error, directly led to the opponent's goal.Playing for Borussia Dortmund teenager Rosicky shines in this game.After the game, mainstream European media laughed and said, "The assist master assisted his opponent this time."

However, Zidane is a superstar after all. Half a week later, in the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Dortmund, he beat Rosicky who met him again with two assists, and avenged his revenge.

If this friendly match is too numerous to count, then the peak duel between the two must be said to be the semi-finals of the 03 Champions Cup.

The first round was at the Bernabeu on May 5. Real Madrid won 6-2 in that game. Although Zidane had no goals or assists, his instigation in the midfield was elegant and romantic.With a pass success rate close to 1%, Real Madrid's superstars are mobilized like arms, showing an excellent competitive state.

As for Nedved, because Lippi formulated a defense-oriented strategy in this game, he had to put more energy into defense. In this confrontation, no matter in terms of score or performance, The winner is undoubtedly Zidane.

But it was Juventus who finally entered the final. The two staged a peak confrontation between two top attacking midfielders of that era at the Alpi Stadium.In the game, although Zidane tried his best to show a good performance and scored a goal, Nedved's brilliance could not be concealed. He got rid of Salgado and Hierro at high speed. Volley, and finally sealed the victory for Juventus.And this goal was the key to Nedved's final election as European Footballer of the Year.

"Thank you Zidane, but we love the Czechs more now!"

At that time, the slogan of the Alpi Stadium is still sung in football.

After the pinnacle battle in Alpipi, the two never fought against each other again, which deeply regretted Zidane, who had always wanted revenge.

"A respectable fighter, unfortunately at Juventus!"

Florentino looked at Nedved and said something softly, the meaning revealed was thought-provoking.

"I hope Fernando, who is my successor, can avenge me. This is the only regret I have left in the club!"

Zidane put down the empty wine glass in his hand, and looked at the long-haired Gago of the Real Madrid team on the other side.

(End of this chapter)