The highly anticipated Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage finally arrived.
Real Madrid hosted Arsenal in a thrilling encounter that set hearts ablaze.
Time passed by mysteriously fast, and in the blink of an eye, the last two days of training were over. At this very moment, the players were assessing how confident they felt about their chances.
Both sides believed they had a higher probability of winning this match, but the reality was that only one team could emerge victorious, and the other was destined to be the loser.
As Cao Baming walked onto the pitch, his gaze swept over everything around him: the fans by the sidelines, the players on the field, and Real Madrid's head coach, Ancelotti.
After such a long time, Cao Baming had come to understand a crucial aspect of his system: the rewards for breaking certain records were often incredibly generous.
Even if the reward was a supply drop, and opening the package could result in double critical hits, he could potentially gain an unknown amount of points.
Upon reflection, the easiest record to break might be the Champions League goal-scoring record. With only a few matches in the knockout stages, if he could surpass the historical total goals scored in these games, the statistic would be highly significant and impressive.
So far, Cao Baming had already scored 12 goals in the group stage. If he could score 10 or more goals in the knockout rounds, he would directly break two historical Champions League records: one for the most total goals in a single Champions League season, and the other for the most goals in Champions League knockout matches.
Breaking two records at once would undoubtedly mean double the reward.
Where else could he find such a fortunate situation? It was entirely worth putting in more effort for this.
Soon, the match began.
The referee blew his whistle, and the players on both sides quickly formed their formations, ready to face the opposing onslaught.
Real Madrid's starting lineup for today, while not featuring every star player, was still incredibly luxurious in its overall composition.
The offense boasted superstars like Benzema and Rodrygo, the midfield featured masters such as Modrić and Kovačić, and the defense had formidable beasts like Carlos.
People clearly remembered that even before Zidane arrived at Real Madrid, they already possessed immense strength and were an unrivaled presence in the world.
Today's Real Madrid, compared to their past selves, had only improved; there was absolutely no decline.
Arsenal's starting lineup, besides the trio of Cao Baming, Messi, and Henry, whom fans had long expected to see, also included Fàbregas and Vieira among the starters.
From the outset, Real Madrid adopted an aggressive, fast-paced attacking strategy. After a back pass to Carlos, he feigned and then passed to Modrić. With these two passes, the ball was sent directly into the front lines, looking for the target man, Benzema.
If not for Cao Baming's timely appearance precisely in the path of this pass and his successful interception, Benzema would have likely had a clear one-on-one opportunity at that moment.
Real Madrid's rapid attack tactic was unexpected and a testament to the coach's shrewd planning.
Modrić's passing accuracy and power were perfectly controlled. It was a lob pass, yet it was intercepted by Cao Baming, who was at the receiving end.
What was truly astonishing was his method of interception: he leaped high and headed the ball away. Everyone on the field was stunned. Could a person really jump that high?
After sending the pass, Modrić himself hadn't expected the ball to be intercepted in the middle. He sighed repeatedly, simultaneously marveling at Cao Baming's incredible ability.
A genius football player from Tang Country was indeed terrifying. He had only witnessed it firsthand a few days ago. Whatever he did, it was no longer worth being too surprised about.
Through replays from the broadcast director, the spectators could finally see the moment Cao Baming intercepted the ball in slow motion.
The ball was approximately three and a half meters above the ground of the pitch. Cao Baming, standing at only 1.8 meters tall, leaped so high that his head directly connected with the football. This indicated a jump height of a full 1.7 meters!
Even high jumpers might not reach such a figure.
Unfortunately, after intercepting the ball, Cao Baming couldn't control it successfully. He could only do his best to head it towards his teammate, but Valverde, positioned in the path of the pass, managed to intercept it first.
Although possession returned to Real Madrid, Cao Baming's header had created time and space for his team. Within those few seconds, the entire Arsenal squad had retreated to defensive positions, making Real Madrid's continued attack seem quite futile.
They knew that to break through Arsenal's defense, they only had one chance: a quick counter-attack that could exploit the space behind Cao Baming.
Now that all the defenders were in position and Cao Baming was gradually closing in on the ball carrier, they realized that this attack had almost no chance of success.
Real Madrid didn't particularly favor possession-based goals. Since there was no clear opportunity, a long shot seemed like a better option.
At this moment, Rodrygo, with the ball, saw Modrić in a good position outside the penalty area. With only two defenders blocking him, he unhesitatingly passed the ball.
Their eyes met, and they instantly understood each other. After receiving the ball, Modrić took a simple touch, moved to the left, created space with a step-over, and then directly opted for a long shot.
The fans on the sidelines erupted in wild cheers. They seemed to recall the impressive sight of Modrić, in a black jersey at the 2018 World Cup, scoring with an outside-of-the-foot volley.
At this moment, Modrić's movements were almost identical to that of his past performance. The only difference was that this shot was successfully blocked by the goalkeeper.