On the evening of March 3, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, Spain.
In the 26th round of La Liga, Real Madrid would face Atletico Madrid away.
The city derby felt different from the very beginning.
Atletico Madrid played a very rough style from the start.
Yes, rough.
Gao Shen walked to the touchline in the first minute to protest Atletico Madrid's tactics to the referee, Carlos Delgado Ferreiro.
The live broadcast even clearly captured Gao Shen shouting at the referee.
"They are testing your limits, you should pull out your cards!"
But Ferreiro did not do that.
Because this is the Calderón.
In the first minute, Atletico Madrid committed two fouls in different areas and with different levels of contact, both testing the referee's line.
From then on, Atletico let loose.
But just five minutes in, Real Madrid used a corner to create a scramble in the box.
Pogba, who started, decisively seized the chance in the chaos and produced a wonderful scissor volley, sweeping the ball into Atletico's net to score the opener for Real Madrid.
This made Gao Shen quite excited.
Although Real Madrid were leading La Liga, beating Atletico Madrid would ease the pressure and be more beneficial for the upcoming schedule.
Many on the outside had advised Gao Shen that Real Madrid now had a clear advantage and could conserve energy in the league and focus on the Champions League. It would not matter if the unbeaten record was broken, since records were not everything.
For example, after establishing a lead, immediately rotate heavily, letting substitutes and fringe players play, while resting the starters for the Champions League.
But Gao Shen did not think so.
As a Virgo, he is still a little obsessive.
Perfection is his goal.
…
Simeone is not someone who backs down easily.
After Real Madrid took the lead, Atletico still played aggressively, but the Colchoneros did not go blow for blow with Real Madrid. They responded more with defensive counterattacks.
Especially with Diego Costa as the focal point, they laid out the counterattack routes precisely.
More importantly, Atletico are very good at patience.
The game was intense and compact.
Although Real Madrid scored early and had the advantage in possession, Atletico's players were fiercer, tougher, and more aggressive. This was reflected in the foul count.
In possession, Real Madrid had roughly double Atletico's, and in fouls, Atletico had about double Real Madrid's.
This pattern persisted throughout the first half, and neither side created a better chance.
It was not until stoppage time at the end of the first half that Koke passed to Diego Costa.
The Brazilian-born striker received the ball between Ramos and Varane, drawing a double team from Real Madrid's two center-backs. Diego Costa's cunning lay in poking the ball behind the back line amid the tangle, then tugging Varane's shirt, preventing the Real Madrid defender in the best position from recovering immediately.
Instead, Villa suddenly darted through, reached the ball first, carried it into the box, and when faced with the onrushing Courtois, calmly slotted it home to equalize.
Real Madrid's players protested to the referee, believing Diego Costa had committed a foul, but the referee signaled the goal would stand.
At that moment, Gao Shen really missed the video assistant referees from his previous life.
…
In the second half, Real Madrid took the initiative again.
Against a team like Atletico Madrid, there is no shortcut. You can only attack, attack, and attack again.
Perhaps only then can you pry open the iron wall of the Bed Sheet Army.
Want shortcuts?
Sorry, no one out-dirties the bandit coach Simeone.
Tonight, Gao Shen set up Illarramendi and Mendy to hold, with Pogba and Verratti in the middle.
The front three were Isco on the right, Jesé on the left, and Džeko in the middle.
But in real time, Isco basically played as a free man across the front, while Jesé was active on both flanks.
This approach had worked in the previous match against Atletico Madrid, but it did not work now.
Simeone had clearly learned from past lessons, and this time he put four robust players in midfield.
Mario Suárez and Gabi dropped to form a double pivot. Koke and Raúl García both started, along with Villa and Diego Costa. Atletico used a 4-2-3-1 with a double pivot.
It happened to suppress Isco.
This made Real Madrid's front-line attacks less threatening.
Gao Shen made his first substitution, replacing Marcos Alonso with Marcelo to strengthen the left flank.
Soon, Simeone also made a change, replacing Villa, the scorer, with Turan.
Villa had been extremely efficient, taking Atletico's only great chance so far, but his age showed and he could not last.
Turan was very lively after coming on, positive in both defense and attack.
In the 70th minute, Gao Shen made his second substitution, bringing on Nacho for Arbeloa.
Arbeloa's performance was not particularly good tonight. When Villa scored, he lost his balance, which led to the one-on-one chance. Overall he was fine, but he contributed little going forward.
Gao Shen wanted Nacho to push up.
Both substitutions were on the flanks, attempting to open up the wide areas, stretch the defense as much as possible, force Atletico to expand, and create more opportunities to ease the pressure on Isco centrally.
But soon, Gao Shen was frustrated to find that Isco's performance still did not improve much.
This kid is so stubborn.
…
Gao Shen walked back to the visiting bench, rubbing his forehead and temples with a headache.
He began to realize that Isco could only play a tactical role. It would be difficult for him to be the core.
In other words, organizing the attack around him as the hub does not meet Real Madrid's requirements at all.
"This kid plays too casually," Carlo said with a wry smile.
Zidane and Hierro both gave bitter smiles. That was indeed a polite way to put it.
Everyone could see that Gao Shen actually liked Isco very much.
In other words, anyone who loves football would not hate a player like Isco.
Because he is very entertaining.
But professional competition demands efficiency and threat.
Isco once said he treats possession as his life.
He is that street-style player. To reduce his touches, Gao Shen even had to assign enforcers like Ramos to clamp him in training. But this kid is not Ronaldo, he is not smart.
After joining Real Madrid, Isco has changed a lot, but not at heart.
In his own words, if he changes, he is no longer Isco.
Right, quite stubborn.
Just now, Gao Shen wanted to open both wings to relieve the pressure on Isco and let him perform. But what happened?
The kid insisted on dribbling into traffic.
Who are Mario Suárez and Gabi?
Either one of them could keep you, Isco, in their pocket.
Yet he kept driving the ball straight into their defensive block, trying to get past them...
Fighting over and over after repeated failures is admirable courage, but it gives Gao Shen a headache.
I was counting on you to wise up, carry the ball out, and find a breakthrough. Is this how you repay me?
You are a piece of work that cannot be presented.
"What should we do now?" Hierro asked, also with a headache.
In situations like this, there really is no easy way to deal with Atletico Madrid.
Just like now, Simeone simply dug in and did not even change players, relying on this lineup to take on the world.
Gao Shen was also struggling.
Time was slipping away, and he did not have much left to think. He had to decide immediately.
After some thought, Gao Shen went to the bench and called Di María to warm up.
He hoped Di María could boost the attack after coming on.
"You want to replace Isco?" Zidane was a little surprised.
Isco's current embarrassment was that he had not created much threat, yet he was still the player most likely to create danger.
If Isco was taken off now, Real Madrid's attacking approach would have to change entirely.
Gao Shen shook his head. "Switch Verratti."
Carlo, Zidane, and Hierro looked at each other, then immediately understood Gao Shen's idea.
Pull Isco back into midfield, or let Pogba drop to form a double pivot with Illarramendi, and make Isco the spearhead in midfield with more freedom.
Then the answer was obvious. If Gao Shen brought on Di María, he would still use a front three.
Soon, Di María returned from warming up. Gao Shen pulled him over, gave a few instructions, and sent him on.
While making the change, Gao Shen noticed movement on Atletico's bench, but Simeone seemed to have no intention of changing, since his strongest lineup was already on.
He believed Simeone must be wondering what position Di María would take.
But the result would surprise Simeone.
Left.
The whole world knows Real Madrid broke through Atletico's defense several times on their own right side, targeting Atletico's left.
Whether it was Insúa before or Siqueira now, the left side is actually Atletico's weak point. On the other hand, Juanfran's defending on the right is solid.
In tonight's match, Juanfran's side also defended Real Madrid flawlessly.
It was somewhat unexpected that they ignored the loopholes they had tried to exploit several times and instead focused on Atletico's right.
But Gao Shen had his reasons.
Because of Isco's free roaming and Arbeloa's limited attacking threat, Real Madrid had not put much pressure on Siqueira in this game.
By contrast, Jesé had continually attacked Juanfran's area, and Pogba was also creating chances on that side, so Juanfran would be more fatigued.
At this point, Jesé was exhausted, so he was sent to the right to pin Siqueira, and the fresh Di María would attack Juanfran's side. Gao Shen believed this would create more danger.
Gao Shen has always had great confidence in Di María's threat from the left.
What is more, Pogba and Marcelo were both there.
(To be continued.)