Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

"The situation is very unfavorable for Chelsea. They need to score four goals to have any chance of catching up, and five goals to turn the game around. But how easy is it to score that many goals against a team like Real Madrid?"

"Yes, Real Madrid is also a team that excels at defense. It's a pipe dream to score so many goals against them!"

Even the two commentators in the live broadcast room felt that Chelsea's chances of winning were slim.

If Lin Feng hadn't scored that goal, Chelsea would only be three goals behind and would have had the advantage of away goals; they only needed to score three goals to advance.

But after Lin Feng scored that goal, Chelsea's chances of advancing increased by two goals, now needing to score five goals, which doesn't seem like a task Chelsea can accomplish.

The early goal conceded clearly affected the Chelsea players' mentality, leading to several consecutive mistakes.

Eager to launch a counterattack, they became increasingly aggressive on the field. In the 27th minute, Ashley Cole committed another foul in the backfield, giving Real Madrid another free kick in the attacking third.

When Lin Feng stood in front of the ball again, everyone at Chelsea was on high alert, and even the Blues fans in the stands were extremely nervous.

I prayed desperately: Please don't let us concede another goal!
However, God did not seem to hear their prayers.

The whistle blew, and Lin Feng took the free kick from the left.

Instead of shooting directly, he lobbed the ball into the center of the penalty area.

This choice surprised the Chelsea players, causing them to fail to mark the Real Madrid players closely in the first place.

Ramos, like a beast, broke through the defense and stormed into the penalty area, leaping high to score.

The score is now 2-0, and the overall score is 6-1!

Chelsea need to score six goals if they want to advance!

In less than 30 minutes, Real Madrid had already taken a two-goal lead. For the Real Madrid players, they felt that this game would be much easier than the last one!
"Stanford Bridge is truly our lucky place!"

After scoring, Ramos rushed to the sidelines, imitated Lin Feng's celebration, and then laughed heartily as he spoke to his teammates who came to celebrate with him.

I wonder what Chelsea fans would think if they heard this.

……

The match between Real Madrid and Chelsea not only captivated the fans of both teams but also attracted the attention of a large number of neutral fans.

In Porto, at the hotel where Manchester United were staying, Ferguson and his assistants were watching the live broadcast of the match.

When the red-nosed old man saw that Real Madrid had utterly crushed Chelsea in just 30 minutes, he couldn't help but frown, and even his chewing gum frequency increased involuntarily.

Scolari's Chelsea team is by no means a weak team; even I have a headache when I meet them in the league.

Unexpectedly, they were thrashed so badly by Real Madrid.

The 6-1 overall score looked particularly jarring, making it seem as if the two teams were not even in the same league.

This made Sir Alex Ferguson somewhat worried. Real Madrid could easily defeat Chelsea, so if Manchester United were to face them in the semi-finals, wouldn't their future be bleak?
Moreover, La Liga has another big boss – Barcelona!
According to analysts in La Liga, Barcelona is currently the strongest team in La Liga, and even Real Madrid is no match for them.

If this is true, then Manchester United will likely suffer another defeat if they unfortunately face either of the La Liga giants in the semi-finals.

Besides Sir Alex Ferguson, another player in the Manchester United squad is also paying close attention to this match: Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, compared to Ferguson's focus on the result, Ronaldo seemed more concerned with the performance of both teams' players on the field.

Judging from the first thirty minutes of the game alone, the most outstanding player in the first half was Real Madrid's midfield maestro, Lin Feng.

Lin Feng completed one assist and one goal in the first thirty minutes, and was very active on both the offensive and defensive ends, almost single-handedly defeating Chelsea.

This made Ronaldo yearn for it; if he could cooperate with such a top midfielder, his stats would become even more impressive.

Thinking about this, Ronaldo couldn't help but recall what Mendes had said to him not long ago:

"Manchester United is a good team, but you can't achieve greater success here, and your reputation will be completely overshadowed by the two La Liga teams, just like Kaká was stuck in Serie A."

If you want to achieve better results, gain more honors and greater exposure, you need to showcase your talents on a higher stage.

And in the entire world, only one team meets this requirement: Real Madrid!

Real Madrid president Calderon is very optimistic about Ronaldo and has repeatedly hinted to him through Mendes that if he joins Real Madrid, he will be Real Madrid's main striker, and even the number 7 jersey worn by Raul can be given to him.

These favorable conditions greatly appealed to Cristiano Ronaldo.

During last summer's transfer window, he had considered joining Real Madrid.

However, out of consideration for his mentor-student relationship with Ferguson and the kindness he had shown in promoting him, he did not want to leave empty-handed.

He wanted to win a Champions League trophy for Manchester United before leaving.

But if Manchester United suffers another defeat in the Champions League this year, will he still stick with the team?

If Manchester United never wins the Champions League, is he going to stay at Manchester United for the rest of his life?

As Mendes said, the two La Liga teams and their teams not only completely overshadowed him in terms of popularity, but they were also stronger than his Manchester United team.

Taking the Champions League trophy from these two is going to be extremely difficult.

Cristiano Ronaldo finally made up his mind, picked up his phone, and dialed Mendes's number.

……

"Oh, what a great player! I wish he were here at Arsenal!"

North London, inside Arsenal's training ground.

Sitting in the head coach's office, Wenger watched Lin Feng's perfect performance on the television screen and, like a broken record, repeated the same phrase he had said countless times.

Wenger sighs with regret when he thinks about how he had the opportunity to sign this future top midfielder for ten million or even several million euros, but he missed out on it.

Missing out on Lin Feng is definitely the biggest regret of Wenger's life.

Since Vieira left, Arsenal has become like a castrated eunuch, their playing style has instantly softened considerably.

Fabregas is incredibly talented, but his style is clearly different from Vieira's, and he can't be expected to carry the midfield.

But Lin Feng is different. He has top-notch offensive and defensive abilities, even surpassing Vieira back then.

If Lin Feng were at Arsenal, with him and Fabregas as two midfield maestros, and Van Persie up front, plus Henry if he hadn't left, Wenger couldn't even imagine how powerful that Arsenal would be!
Meanwhile, at Bayern Munich's home stadium, Guardiola, sitting on the bench and watching the dull game, turned to Vilanova beside him and asked:

"What's the situation at Stamford Bridge?"

"2-0, Real Madrid is in the lead, Chelsea is out."

Because the game here was rather dull, Vilanova had been keeping a close eye on what was happening at Stamford Bridge.

When Real Madrid scored their first goal, he felt Chelsea was doomed.

Now that Real Madrid has scored another goal, Chelsea has completely lost any hope of advancing.

"Okay, please compile a video of Real Madrid's recent matches and send it to me later. I'll watch it when I get home tonight!"

Guardiola's expression remained unchanged, as if he had been mentally prepared for this outcome.

After defeating Bayern Munich by a large margin in the previous leg, Guardiola determined that the only real threats to them this season are Real Madrid and Manchester United, with Real Madrid being the most threatening!
Perhaps, by the end of this month, they will have to play three games against Real Madrid in a single week!
These three matches will determine both the Champions League winner and the La Liga champion.

……

Chelsea's bad luck wasn't over yet. In the 35th minute, Lin Feng dribbled the ball into the attacking third, completed a series of one-two passes with his teammates, and then broke into the penalty area.

After being outmaneuvered by Lin Feng, Chelsea's center-back Ivanovic acted impulsively, grabbing Lin Feng from behind and pulling him down inside the penalty area.

The Spanish referee, Cantalejo, immediately blew his whistle to stop the game, rushed into the penalty area, pointed to the penalty spot, awarded a penalty, and also gave the Serbian a yellow card.

This decision sparked strong dissatisfaction among Chelsea players, with several, including Ballack, protesting and trying to pressure the referee to change his decision.

But Cantalejo did not back down, sticking to his decision and showing a yellow card to the agitated Ballack.

With such an obvious takedown maneuver, he couldn't possibly cover it up.

Giving only a yellow card was already quite lenient. If Ivanovic hadn't held back at the last moment and not actually fallen, it wouldn't have been just a yellow card.

Lin Feng took the penalty kick he had won himself. Despite the boos from countless fans in the stadium, he powerfully shot with his right foot, sending the ball to the left side of the goal.

Cudicini guessed the right direction, but the ball was too fast for him to make the save.

The score became 3-0, with Lin Feng scoring his second goal.

The game had only been going on for a little over 30 minutes, but Chelsea had already conceded three goals and were completely outmatched.

If this situation continues, Chelsea could very well suffer a crushing defeat at home.

In the front row of the stands closest to the pitch, members of the Real Madrid WAGs (wives and girlfriends) saw Lin Feng score another goal.

They all cast envious glances at Liu Yifei. Lin Feng was not only handsome and skilled at basketball, but he also earned more than the men in their families.

Liu Yifei remained calm and composed about this, even advising others that different positions have different responsibilities and that a player's performance should not be judged solely on whether or not they have scored a goal.

The wives and girlfriends were surprised; they had only come to watch the fun and hadn't expected Liu Yifei to know so much about football.

So they all asked Liu Yifei for advice on football. After all, as the partners of professional players, knowing more about football would give them more to talk about, and their positions would be more secure.

Liu Yifei fell in love with football because of Lin Feng, and after years of in-depth understanding and research, she can now be considered a veteran fan.

She answered all the questions from the crowd, and before she knew it, she had become the focus of the entire wives' group, just like Lin Feng on the basketball court.

Although Liu Yifei appeared very patient, she was secretly suffering inside.

For her, opportunities to watch Lin Feng's matches live in Europe are rare, especially at such an important Champions League knockout stage. She just wants to watch the match quietly and doesn't want to be distracted by other things!

……

Seeing his team being overwhelmed, Scolari looked grim and used a substitution early in the 37th minute of the first half, replacing Kalou with Anelka.

He's already given up entirely; after the heavy defeat in the last away game, his job was already in jeopardy.

If he loses this match again, his fate will be sealed.

Scolari certainly didn't harbor any illusions that Chelsea could turn things around under these circumstances, but even if they were eliminated, they had to die standing, not in such a cowardly manner.

Anelka is a former Real Madrid player who harbors deep hatred for the club.

After he came on, he was exceptionally active on the front line, and Chelsea clearly went all out during this period, and their attack began to improve.

In the 38th minute, Ballack lofted the ball into the penalty area, and Drogba outjumped his sister-in-law to head the ball to Lampard, who was making a run forward.

Lampard raised his leg and shot, but the ball hit a defender and bounced out of bounds, giving Chelsea a corner kick.

Lampard took the corner kick, and Alex's header from the right was caught by Casillas.

In the 40th minute, Diarra was shown a yellow card for colliding with Anelka from behind.

Chelsea quickly took a free kick, attempting to launch a surprise attack on Real Madrid.

However, Lin Feng immediately entangled Ballack, who was dribbling forward, preventing him from shaking off the ball and forcing him to pass it back, successfully defusing Chelsea's attack.

Barak was extremely frustrated. Despite his height advantage, he hadn't gained the upper hand in his physical confrontation with Lin Feng.

This made him wonder: was it that this guy's physical strength was too strong, or was he just getting old and no longer as vigorous as before?

In the past, relying on his physical advantages, he could rampage through the mid lane.

Barak, born in 76, is 33 years old this year.

In this day and age, a 33-year-old player is definitely considered a veteran.

Professional athletes' physical abilities peak at age 23 and then stop improving. However, thanks to the accumulation of experience and the improvement of skills, players will reach their peak between the ages of 25 and 28.

However, once they reach the age of 30, their performance begins to decline as their muscle power, reaction speed, and flexibility decrease.

Therefore, after the age of thirty, one can be considered to be in the late stage of a professional player's career.

After that, with each additional year of age, his physical condition deteriorates, until he can no longer meet the high-level requirements of top league matches, at which point he is forced to give up his starting position and become a substitute, or transfer to a lower-level league.

Ballack is already 33 years old, and his physical condition has long since declined. At his current level, he might be able to stay at Chelsea for another year, but by this time next year, he may have to consider his next club. (End of Chapter)