On April 26, in the 35th round of La Liga, Real Madrid faced Osasuna at home.
Real Madrid, having already clinched the league title, played a rotated lineup. Except for Cristiano Ronaldo, who continued to start to secure the league's top scorer and the European Golden Boot, the other positions were largely rotated with substitutes.
After just 5 minutes, Ronaldo scored against Osasuna with a long-range shot.
In the 23rd minute, from a corner, Jesé crossed from the right, and Ramos headed in from the edge of the six-yard box to make it 2-0.
Even more surprising, in the 37th minute, Real Madrid won a free kick in the attacking third. Ronaldo feinted a shot but delivered a sudden pass instead. Ramos finished near the penalty spot and scored his second, 3-0.
Early in the second half, Pogba assisted Ronaldo to score again, completing his brace and making it 4-0.
Surprisingly, in the 60th minute, Marcos Alonso crossed from the left, and Ramos headed in from close range, extending the lead to 5-0.
The Real Madrid captain had a hat trick.
This really defined Ramos's career.
He was so excited that he sprinted off the pitch into the stands, celebrating wildly. It was his first career hat trick.
The entire Bernabéu roared for him.
In the 83rd minute, Isco lifted a pass and substitute Lucas Vázquez headed it in for 6-0.
In stoppage time, Morata took another lob from Isco, brought it down on his chest, turned and scored, sealing the win at 7-0.
In the end, Real Madrid defeated Osasuna 7-0.
…
After the match, Gao Shen praised the players' performance and believed the team played at a very high level.
Even with rotation, the players still performed well.
"I'm so proud of them."
Gao Shen was especially generous in praising Ramos for his hat trick.
He believes the center-back group of Ramos, Pepe, and Varane is the best in the world. Real Madrid have three of the world's best central defenders, and he is very happy about that.
Especially Ramos.
"From the start of this season, I have been certain he is the best central defender in the world. No center-back is in better form. He is the team's most solid pillar."
Gao Shen praised not only Ramos, but also Pepe and Varane, and felt Real Madrid's success this season was inseparable from the outstanding performances of the three central defenders.
"They have given us a very solid defense, and I'm so proud of them."
Not only Gao Shen, but all the Spanish media, even Barcelona's mouthpieces, were stunned by Ramos's hat trick and gave him high praise.
Gazzetta dello Sport called Ramos a sword-wielding bodyguard and the best central defender in world football today.
L'Équipe also praised Ramos highly, while commending his partner Varane in this game.
The young French center-back is already a starter for France. L'Équipe believes Varane's outstanding performances for Real Madrid will secure him a starting spot in the national team and bolster France's defense.
L'Équipe also specifically thanked Gao Shen for his development and trust in Varane.
Not only Varane, Pogba has also performed very well since joining Real Madrid.
…
The day after the Osasuna match, several major events occurred in Spanish football.
First, Real Madrid announced that they had officially reached a contract extension with Gao Shen, extending the deal from 2015 to 2018. In other words, Gao Shen would continue to coach Real Madrid for the next four years.
Florentino wrote an article on Real Madrid's website, thanking Gao Shen for his outstanding contributions and saying that today's Real Madrid is the strongest in history.
"I firmly believe that under Gao Shen's leadership, our team has the strength to win every trophy and honor."
Gao Shen's renewal greatly boosted morale and stabilized the club inside and out.
AS revealed that after the renewal, Real Madrid offered him a post-tax annual salary of 30 million euros, which undoubtedly showed the club's confidence and support.
Gao Shen also told Real Madrid TV that he is confident he can lead Real Madrid to continue their glory.
He firmly believes Real Madrid still have great potential to tap.
"In the next few years, European football will belong to us," Gao Shen declared to the fans.
In addition to Gao Shen's renewal, the second major event was Barcelona's announcement of Messi's new contract.
Although the salary was not disclosed, Spanish media reported that after the renewal Messi's annual salary would surpass Ronaldo's, making him the highest-paid professional footballer in the world.
As for the highest salary in world football for coaches, it remained Gao Shen.
He is not only the highest-paid head coach, but also the highest-paid in football.
Another major event was that Barcelona's appeal to FIFA had an effect. After mediation, FIFA decided to be lenient and suspended Barcelona's transfer ban, allowing them to sign players this summer.
This greatly eased Barcelona's pressure.
Club president Bartomeu revealed that Barcelona worked hard to persuade FIFA to change.
Gaining precious time for transfers also put higher demands on Barcelona's summer business, because they would be unable to operate next summer.
Therefore, Barcelona faced great time pressure and had to invest heavily this summer to overhaul the squad and rebuild a competitive, younger team.
According to Catalan media, Barcelona were raising funds and planned to invest 150 million euros this summer. If many stars including Sánchez and Fàbregas were sold, the total could exceed 200 million.
This was already an astonishing figure and sparked enthusiasm among Barcelona fans.
Real Madrid had performed so well that they might even win an unprecedented domestic treble. If Barcelona could not show more courage in transfers and innovate the lineup, how would they compete with Real Madrid next season?
Some media even suggested Barcelona might bring in Özil from Chelsea to spite Real Madrid.
Because the German number ten had performed very well in La Liga.
…
Gao Shen and Real Madrid did not get too involved in the outside noise.
After completing his renewal, Gao Shen began preparing for the second leg of the semifinals.
Bayern Munich also stepped forward and showed their determination to the media.
Ribéry had a disastrous first leg at the Bernabéu, but after returning to the Bundesliga, he immediately scored and looked in good form.
The Frenchman publicly backed chairman Rummenigge's view.
"We can guarantee Real Madrid will not have an easy game here."
"We are not going to roll over for Real Madrid just because they think it is over. It is not."
Ribéry promised that he and his teammates would give their all.
"But we need the fans. We need the Allianz Arena to make Real Madrid feel like this is hell."
Ribéry believed Bayern needed at least three goals at the Allianz Arena to win, but that it was not impossible.
"In fact, we have strong scoring ability at the Allianz Arena, and we can definitely do it."
This required Bayern to play more aggressively and go for goals from the start.
"But at the same time, we have to be careful of their counterattacks, which are their biggest strength."
Guardiola also emphasized at his pre-match press conference that Real Madrid's speed and efficiency were their greatest advantages.
But the Bayern coach believed the home side were not without chances.
"I have a feeling Real Madrid will unleash their strongest attacking firepower, but we already have a plan to deal with it."
"I know Gao Shen very well. I do not think he will sit back for 90 minutes. That is not his style. He will go for away goals because he has a lot of European experience and he knows how to kill a tie."
Guardiola stressed that it was vitally important not to let Real Madrid score.
"I have heard things, someone told me Real Madrid think they are already in the final, that they have won the tie."
"I think that would be great news for us."
Guardiola believed Ribéry was Bayern's most important weapon to overturn Real Madrid.
"He has always been a very dangerous player. I have no doubt, and I am confident he will be decisive at the Allianz Arena."
Bayern's Thomas Müller also said the defeat in the first leg at the Bernabéu was a painful blow.
"But we have moved past it. We have reflected deeply on our first-leg performance. We encountered difficulties, and at this time we need the fans' support more than ever."
"If we cannot overturn Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena, then we will dismantle the entire Bayern team."
Thomas Müller's words showed Bayern's determination to win.
At the press conference before the trip to Munich, Gao Shen first announced the traveling squad, then answered a few questions about his renewal, and finally spoke about the Bayern match.
Gao Shen heard the declarations from Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Guardiola, and agreed that the tie was not over and Real Madrid had not reached the final.
"Real Madrid inspecting hotels in Lisbon?"
"I do not know about that. It is certainly not true."
"I have always told our players that if we want to reach Lisbon, we must stay 100 percent focused, because Bayern will be very strong at the Allianz Arena."
But Gao Shen also believed Real Madrid had the advantage in both score and psychology. To win, they had to play more aggressively and with more desire than usual.
"What hell awaits Real Madrid?"
Gao Shen disagreed with Rummenigge's statement. "No, no, no. I think the Allianz Arena will become hell after we leave."
(To be continued.)