On the evening of April 30, El Sadar Stadium.
Real Madrid away to Osasuna.
Real Madrid was exhausted physically and mentally after just battling Milan at the San Siro, while Osasuna is sitting at home and has had a week of spare time to recharge and wait for work.
Gao Shen had to rotate in this game, and Ramos being suspended with a red card had a huge impact on Real Madrid.
The goalkeeper was Casillas, the back line consisted of Raul Bravo, Elgra, Xavi Garcia, and Abeloa, the midfielders were Gravesen and Pablo Garcia, the front line was Robinho, Baptista, and Cicinho, and the single striker was Ronaldo.
In the frontcourt of Real Madrid's lineup, Gao Shen arranged an attacking lineup of four Brazilian players for the first time, especially for Cicinho as the right winger, which was the first time in history.
One of the important reasons for this arrangement is that Real Madrid's back line was somewhat empty.
This was Xavi Garcia's first start on behalf of Real Madrid, and he was also a crucial central defender of the team, facing a famous player like Milosevic.
Gao Shen was very entangled before the game. He tried to pair Woodgate with Elgra. Woodgate himself felt that he could play double games in a week, but as a result, it would be very troublesome to play Santander three days later.
Xavi Garcia performed well in training. He is tall and strong, and his defensive ability is also good. In addition, Real Madrid's defense has become a system now. After comprehensive consideration by Gao Shen and the coaching staff, they all felt that they could give it a try.
As long as they survived the Osasuna battle, Sporting Santander would field the combination of Woodgate and Ramos in the middle of the week, and the back line would not need to worry too much.
In the end, Gao Shen decided to take a risk.
But just in case, he arranged for Pablo Garcia, who was familiar with Osasuna, to partner with Gravesen in front, and used this pair of macho men to protect the defense. With Baptista and Cicinho, who are both offensive and defensive, they already had a configuration to strengthen defense.
As for Robinho and Ronaldo, they were the two knives used by Gao Shen to attack.
…
After the start of the game, Baptista's long-range shot sounded the horn.
Then Ronaldo broke through the right rib of the penalty area and passed the defender, but the shot was saved by the goalkeeper Ricardo.
Then Robinho dribbled the ball from the left and made a forcible breakthrough. Baptista took a long shot from the front of the penalty area, but he still failed to score.
The first eight minutes belonged to Real Madrid, then entered the rhythm of Osasuna.
The home team also tried to break Real Madrid's goal, but the 442 formation prevented them from gaining an advantage in the midfield, and they were forced to use long passes and side crosses as their main means.
This was also deeply expected.
Raul Bravo and Abeloa actively blocked on the flanks, Elgra, Xavi Garcia, Pablo Garcia, and other players actively controlled the middle. Along with Gravessen and Baptista actively returning to defense, Real Madrid's control of the mid-high ball was still in place, and they did not give Osasuna a chance.
The most threatening moment was in the 28th minute, when Osasuna striker Webber tried to stop the ball in the chest in the penalty area. He took off at the same time as Abeloa, who was behind, grabbed the point, but fell in the penalty area and couldn't get up.
Osasuna's players rushed over and shoved Abeloa, thinking it was a bad foul.
Before the game, Gao Shen warned his players that in the home court of Osasuna, the referee's law enforcement has always been home-based because the fans here are really savage.
Therefore, Abeloa did not resist when facing the opponent's push, but directly "fell to the ground."
I have to say that this guy still has the potential to be an actor, but unfortunately, it is not produced by La Masia Film and Television Base.
The referee also knew what was going on, so neither side gave a penalty, but each gave a warning, and the game continued.
But the tension of the game was obviously getting stronger.
In the first 30 minutes, the two sides each had seven shots, but none of them were able to hit the goal.
But in the 31st minute, in an attack from Real Madrid, after Robinho got the ball from the left, he cycled in a row, threw off the defender, and cut in, passing the ball to Ronaldo, who was retreating.
The Brazilian alien turned his back to the attacking direction, and after taking the ball back, he separated the ball in time.
Baptista quickly plugged in, stopped, and rushed into the top of the arc of the penalty area. Without waiting for the defending player to approach, he shot directly with his legs.
It was already the third shot of the Brazilian beast from the front of the box.
He had missed both on the previous two occasions, but this time he blasted the ball straight into the bottom of Osasuna's net.
1-0!
"Yeah!!"
Gao Shen couldn't hold himself back on the sidelines and jumped up excitedly.
The whole stadium was booed, and Real Madrid's players rushed out of the stadium to celebrate.
In particular, several Brazilian players such as Ronaldo danced samba on the sidelines to celebrate the goal.
"Nice job!" Gao Shen applauded vigorously and shouted loudly.
After the celebration, Gao Shen loudly reminded the players on the sidelines.
"Be careful, and cheer up!"
"You can do it, come on!!"
The scene of Gao Shen cheering for the players on the sidelines was also captured by the live broadcast of La Liga.
"Real Madrid's formation tonight is still a bit conservative, but it's understandable."
"With Real Madrid's current age, lineup, state, and the schedule they have to deal with, it is absolutely difficult for them to play a satisfactory game in every game."
"Gao Shen also looked very nervous and passionate tonight."
"He's under a lot of pressure now, because just yesterday, Barcelona beat Cadiz 1-0 at home, which makes him have to win Osasuna tonight."
"Consecutive away games against such difficult opponents. Ramos is suspended with a red card, and Zidane and others need to be rotated. This makes Gao Shen really stretched."
Just when the live broadcast was aimed at Gao Shen, a plastic bottle was suddenly thrown from the stand, flying directly over Gao Shen's head, and fell into the stadium.
"Osasuna's fans were very dissatisfied. Sundries were thrown from the stands, and this bottle of drink was almost thrown into the deep."
"Although it was live on TV, we could still hear the voices from the scene. Osasuna fans were cursing Real Madrid's head coach, obviously dissatisfied with the goal conceded just now, and believed that Gao Shen's encouragement to the players was a provocation to them."
Gao Shen complained to the fourth official on the sidelines, but the other party was helpless, indicating that Gao Shen had better go back to the coaching bench of the visiting team, where there is a roof, at least there is no need to worry about being hit by debris.
"But Gao Shen is still standing on the sidelines. He wants to use this behavior to tell his players that he is fighting side by side with them!"
…
The first half ended with a one-goal lead for Real Madrid.
After changing sides in the second half, Osasuna launched a wave of onslaught, trying to kill Real Madrid in one go.
Before, they beat Valencia like that.
At the beginning of the second half, they scored two goals in a row, stunning the Bat Legion.
But Real Madrid is not Valencia. They made a full plan before the game, and there were thousands of warnings in the locker room just now.
Although the team was forced to be in danger, the existence of Casillas and the defensive system that the team had worked hard to build in the past period of time all played an effect at this time.
The players made mistakes but didn't concede the ball.
As Osasuna's wave of offensive attacks receded, Gao Shen was also secretly relieved.
After 65 minutes, Gao Shen took the lead in making substitutions and replaced Ronaldo with Soldado.
The Brazilian Alien contributed an assist, and his movement in the frontcourt was also very active, which consumed a lot of physical energy.
Osasuna also quickly made substitutions, replacing Clavijo with attacking player Moha and simultaneously replacing Franjo with central defender Muñoz, adopting a three-back style of play.
This is a very aggressive offensive adjustment, and Aguirre made it clear that he wanted to fight Real Madrid to the end.
Gao Shen also quickly made adjustments, replacing Robinho with Juan Mata as the left winger.
This is not the first time Juan Mata has come on; he has come off the bench before, but it was either during some garbage time or not impactful.
But this time, the 18-year-old Real Madrid player finally had a chance to make a difference.
In the 79th minute, after Pablo García successfully intercepted the ball, he handed it over to Gravesen, who quickly initiated a counterattack.
The Danish midfielder passed the ball to Juan Mata, who was retreating from the left. After the Spanish winger received the ball, he started quickly, pursued by two Osasuna defenders.
Mata decisively knocked the ball across to Baptista and signaled him to pass it back.
The Brazilian midfielder understood and knocked the ball back to the left side of the penalty area.
Mata quickly broke into the left side of the penalty area, reached the ball before central defender Cuéllar, and stabbed it towards the goal line. The ball was perfectly crossed.
Right in front of the goal, Soldado had been waiting for an opportunity. As soon as he saw Mata's cross, he immediately followed, and with a close-range header, scored the ball into Osasuna's net.
The referee's whistle sounded again.
Not only were Real Madrid's players on the field screaming wildly, but even Gao Shen on the sidelines was surprised for a moment before bursting into cheers, his whole demeanor exuding confidence.
He really did not expect that Mata would be able to seize such an opportunity to counterattack.
They deserved it!
Who made Aguirre take a risk with a back three?
"Wow! Nice work!" Gao Shen roared forcefully.
The boos on the pitch intensified.
But everyone knew that Osasuna couldn't stop Real Madrid tonight.
More importantly, besides the three Brazilian players who helped Real Madrid beat Osasuna, there were also two youth players, Juan Mata and Soldado.
At the critical moment, Real Madrid's heritage still played a significant role.
2-0!
Gao Shen laughed aloud, thinking to himself: Now, no one should call me a 1-0 strategist again, right?