Champions League match day.
At Amsterdam Arena, a large number of Ajax fans poured into the stadium.
The pre-match boasts thrilled these Ajax fans, and based on analyses from Dutch media and experts, they felt their chances of winning had greatly increased.
They were already impatient to see Ajax crush Real Madrid!
Amsterdam Arena was filled with intense mockery.
"Real Madrid is a thing of the past!"
"Suker, who can't score!"
"Your game is truly terrible!"
"Great Ajax will restore its glory, and it all starts with defeating Real Madrid!"
Suker couldn't help but grin, looking at this hyped-up group of Ajax fans.
For some time now, Dutch football experts and bloggers, as if paid, have been frantically hyping up the fans.
Things like 'Real Madrid's midfield has collapsed!'
Things like 'Real Madrid's attack is toothless!'
Things like 'Analyzing Suker's decline in form based on goal count!'
All these were extreme exaggerations promoting Ajax's victory, while also constantly encouraging the players.
Suker had understood these through translation, but he scoffed.
This was just a one-sided lie!
Suker admitted that his goal count had indeed decreased, but these guys didn't see Suker's soaring assist count.
It wasn't that Suker no longer scored, but rather that he played more for the team!
Especially after Kaka's injury, Suker's average of one assist per game already indicated the issue.
But they only focused on his goal count, completely ignoring his performance in matches and his assists, interpreting it one-sidedly and claiming his form was declining.
These were all buzzwords to attract traffic and attention.
One Real Madrid!
One Suker!
Real Madrid against Ajax, this match wasn't that high in popularity in this round of the Champions League.
After all, in the same round, other groups had Juventus battling Chelsea.
Bayern Munich against Lille.
Manchester United against Galatasaray.
Arsenal and Schalke 04's strong showdown!
But with Ajax's hype, the match's popularity instantly soared, becoming the focal point of this round.
It must be said, Ajax played a good hand in promotion.
But at the same time, they also needed to bear the consequences of this promotion.
They completely enraged Real Madrid.
This could be clearly felt from Mourinho's attitude of preparing to confront Ajax head-on and completely crush them.
Ajax was still the same group of people from last season!
Even when selling players, they didn't sell particularly well.
For example, De Jong and Eriksen were both still in the team.
If these two core players weren't sold, how could it be considered a good deal!
This also explains why Ajax promoted so aggressively.
To sell players and make money!
For Ajax, winning this match would be a huge profit, and losing wouldn't matter.
At the very least, the players' performance was showcased, and the promotional effect was achieved.
It would just mean the Ajax general manager would bear the blame of being a 'loudmouth,' but it was harmless.
The warm-up session ended, and both teams' players returned to the locker room for final preparations.
Mourinho once again emphasized the tactics, and also indicated that they could suppress the opponent as much as possible.
The Real Madrid players nodded heavily in response.
Even without Mourinho's words, they intended to do so.
Soon, both teams' players came to the player tunnel and walked onto the field led by the Referee.
Boo~~~~~~~~~~~~!
A storm of boos surged, the entire Amsterdam Arena was intensely and utterly mocking the Real Madrid players.
This made each Real Madrid player's face darken, their eyes filled with killing intent!
The starting lineups for both teams are as follows:
Ajax (4-1-2-2-1):
Goalkeeper; Vermeer.
Defenders: Van Rhijn, Alderweireld, Moisander, Blind.
Midfielders: De Jong, Poulsen, Eriksen.
Forwards: Sana, Babel, Boerrigter.
Real Madrid (4-1-2-2-1):
Goalkeeper: Adán.
Defenders: Srna, Ramos, Carvalho, Marcelo.
Midfielders: Di Maria, Casemiro, Kroos.
Forwards: Bale, Benzema, Suker.
The 4-1-2-2-1 is a variation of the 4-3-3 formation, primarily highlighting the advantage of five-way attack.
When the two wingers stretch wide, the two central midfielders can push forward into the half-spaces.
And when the two wingers tuck in and occupy the central areas, the full-backs can also push forward, again forming a five-way attacking posture.
This is a flexible and versatile formation.
According to Mourinho's character, he would not choose this formation, but Ajax had indeed enraged him.
Compared to being insulted himself, denying his previous achievements was even more unbearable.
This was a rare instance where Mourinho was so consumed by anger that he wanted to destroy the opponent!
He even brought out an attacking lineup.
Of course, another implication was that Mourinho intended to use this match to release the players' previously suppressed emotions.
The stage is yours!
The opportunity to perform has been created!
Now it's time for the Real Madrid stars to perform.
On the field, the Real Madrid players were also eager to show what they could do.
Mourinho, uncharacteristically, gave them a chance to perform, and they were naturally enthusiastic, each eager to rush out immediately.
Ajax could clearly feel Real Madrid's aggressive morale.
Even across half the field, they could see Real Madrid players looking past them, staring intently at their own goal.
"Be careful after kick-off!" Eriksen reminded.
He felt that Real Madrid's form wasn't as poor as the media claimed.
And after all, it was Real Madrid, so being careful was always a good idea!
Beep!
The whistle blew, and Real Madrid kicked off first.
Ajax players immediately surged forward, intending to disrupt Real Madrid's passing rhythm with high pressing.
They charged fiercely, but Real Madrid's passing was stable enough.
The ball was transferred to Srna's feet, and Ajax's left winger, Boerrigter, immediately appeared in front of Srna, attempting to steal the ball.
Srna pulled the ball back, stepped out towards the sideline with his right foot, and made a shoulder drop movement, deceiving his opponent into shifting his weight, then immediately accelerated to break free.
"Oh~~ Srna, a brilliant dribble and escape, the match has just begun, and Srna already has a very strong desire to perform." González exclaimed.
Spain encourages players to make moves and dribble.
They emphasize entertainment, which is also one of the reasons Mourinho has recently been criticized by fans.
Real Madrid, as a top club, played too ugly.
And now, seeing Srna's dribble, the Real Madrid away fans' eyes lit up, feeling that this match would be different.
The ball was passed to Di Maria's feet, Di Maria dribbled horizontally, transferring it to Kroos.
Kroos received the ball and was suddenly pushed from behind, preventing him from turning and passing to Suker.
But as Kroos wrestled with his opponent, he used his arm to block him, while simultaneously pulling the ball behind him.
Cruyff Turn!
In Amsterdam, performing a Cruyff Turn to get past an Ajax player was full of mocking significance.
Sure enough, Sana rushed over to foul, but Kroos had already passed the ball away.
As Sana charged up furiously, Kroos shrugged at him, and the former gritted his teeth in anger.
The ball successfully transferred to Suker's feet.
He hadn't even received the ball yet when he was marked by two players.
Suker suddenly pushed back, first pushing away one player, while actively retreating to receive the ball.
De Jong on the other side also immediately followed, wanting to further restrict Suker.
But Suker turned first as he met the ball, and while turning, he lightly nudged the ball horizontally with his right foot.
Just then, De Jong stretched out his leg to tackle, and the ball went through his legs.
De Jong's mind went blank, and he immediately twisted his body and rushed towards Suker again.
Suker performed a La Croqueta, and got past him again.
"Oh~~~~ Suker! It's starting!!!" González yelled excitedly.
They hadn't seen Suker's dribbling show in a long time, so they were extremely excited.
Real Madrid fans in front of their televisions also watched this scene with surprise, full of regret, wondering why they hadn't gone to watch it live, it would surely have been more thrilling.
On the field, after Suker got past De Jong, he used his explosiveness to once again bypass Van Rhijn, and at the same time, he suddenly threaded the ball towards the center.
Benzema received the ball.
Ajax players instinctively retreated, following their usual habit, Benzema would distribute the ball to the sides.
That is, to set up Suker or Bale.
Benzema was stunned looking at the suddenly retreating Ajax players.
No one was restricting him from turning?
Damn it!
Benzema was both angry and delighted.
What was pleasing was that no one restricted him from turning around.
What was frustrating was that he was being underestimated.
Benzema immediately turned around and looked up at the goal.
He locked onto the Goalkeeper's position, and at the same time, his left foot swung up fiercely, a long shot like a rainbow piercing the sun!
The ball, like a precision-guided missile, shot towards the goal at an extremely high speed, and during its flight, it had a swift downward curve.
Ajax's Goalkeeper Vermeer quickly retreated, leaning back and stretching out his hand.
But it was still an inch short; the ball grazed his fingertips, slipping into the goal through the gap between his fingertips and the crossbar.
Swish!
The ball went into the net!
The entire stadium suddenly fell silent!
Ajax fans subconsciously looked at the time.
The game had just started for 4 minutes.
Real Madrid scored on their first offensive attempt?
And why was it Benzema who scored?
Why didn't he pass the ball?
This is simply unreasonable!
"Well done, Karim!"
Suker laughed as he hugged Benzema.
The latter was also excited, and he provocatively swung his fist at the Ajax defenders.
Let you underestimate me!
Benzema's shooting skills are exquisite.
However, due to tactical requirements, he mostly played as a pivot and passer.
Now with the tactical change, after his characteristics were unleashed, Benzema immediately perked up.
Especially when there were no defensive restrictions, Benzema was still at the top of the penalty arc.
Not restricting him in that area is simply asking for death.
Even if they habitually thought Benzema would pass, it was unreasonable to completely ignore him turning around.
Ajax had terrible defensive problems at the start of the game.
"Karim Benzema! A brilliant goal!!"
"He helped Real Madrid take the lead, scoring in their first offensive attempt just 4 minutes into the game. This is simply fantastic, this is a perfect start!"
González shouted excitedly.
In the stadium, the small number of Real Madrid away fans were also uncontrollably excited.
That's right!
This is the game they wanted to see.
Extreme individual performance.
Smooth offensive coordination!
This is much better than those simple, rigid counter-attacks.
At this moment, despite being a small number of fans, they erupted in cheers loud enough to drown out the boos from the Ajax fans.
In the stadium, the Ajax players were also stunned.
Especially the two center-backs.
"What are you doing?"
Alderweireld looked at his partner Moisander and said, "Why didn't you step up?"
Moisander: "Bale made a forward run, so of course I had to retreat to defend. Why didn't you step up?"
"I'm covering Suker here! You want me to abandon him and mark Benzema? If I don't retreat, this side will be completely open!"
The two exchanged glances, then turned and roared:
"Poulsen, what are you doing?"
The defensive midfielder was out of position!
This should have been his job. His failure to keep up resulted in Benzema having no defensive pressure.
Poulsen also had nothing to say; he had been marking Suker, and although he didn't help much and was just defending with his eyes, he was indeed marking Suker.
By the time he reacted, Suker had already crossed the midfield line.
"That defensive midfielder, his positional awareness is so poor!" Mourinho said, looking at Poulsen.
For a single defensive midfielder, poor positional awareness is fatal.
Of course, this might also be due to being influenced by Suker, leading to a wrong judgment.
He thought the two of them could restrict Suker, so he provided cover.
But he didn't expect Suker to break through.
By the time he reacted, he was already out of position.
This was a chain reaction caused by the defensive midfielder being out of position.
But no matter what, Ajax had already conceded a goal.
And they conceded a goal right at the start of the game, which was very bad news.
In contrast, Real Madrid retreated happily.
This attack completely liberated them.
The Real Madrid stars, who had previously been constrained by Mourinho's tactics and rules, one by one burst forth with their inherent technical abilities.
Real Madrid played as a team because they served the tactical system.
But being able to join Real Madrid itself represents a strong technical level.
It can be said that if the technical level is not up to standard, then there is no even qualification to join Real Madrid.
At this moment, the Real Madrid superstars showcased their unique style to the world.
After the first goal, Real Madrid's attack became even sharper.
Even with Mourinho's deliberate indulgence, their high pressing became more aggressive.
They wanted to attack, they wanted to play lively, so they needed the ball, right?
And the ball was at the feet of the Ajax players!
Take it back!
"Pass it! Hurry!"
Eriksen anxiously called for a pass; De Jong was already caught in the combined high pressing of Suker and Benzema.
De Jong was under great pressure; he barely managed to poke the ball with his toe.
But the ball hit Benzema's thigh and fell behind him.
Suker saw this and immediately sprinted towards the landing spot.
At the same time, Alderweireld was also rushing towards the landing spot.
"Mine!!!—"
Alderweireld roared, expressing his determination with a roar and also intimidating Suker.
'Don't try to take it! If you do, I'll knock you down!'
But Suker's speed was faster, and he reached the landing spot first.
"I'll knock you down!"
Alderweireld turned sideways and used all his strength for a brutal collision.
He dared not let Suker pass; even if it meant fouling, he couldn't let him pass.
But at this moment, Suker surprisingly ignored the ball, suddenly pulled back, and narrowly dodged Alderweireld's collision.
The latter didn't hit Suker and, like an overcharged bull, stumbled and fell.
And Suker accelerated forward again, meeting the falling ball for a second time, and directly swung his right foot for a fierce shot.
Suker was on the outside of the left penalty area; his shooting angle was limited, and the distance was far.
But Suker swung his foot from bottom to top!
At the last moment, his toe slightly curled up, adding an inward spin to the ball.
The ball spun violently, forming an exaggerated arc in the air, and dropped towards the far-right corner of the goal.
With a swish, it hit the back of the net.
"Oh my God!!!!!!"
González clutched his head and exclaimed, "What did I see!! What did I see!!"
"A worldie!! A worldie in the absolute sense!"
"This reminds me of a goal Davor Šuker once scored, also from outside the left penalty area, the same position, the same arc, the same hard shot!"
"This is the echo of two generations of Croatia strikers; both played for Real Madrid, and both wore the No. 9 jersey!"
"And Suker actually replicated Davor Šuker's hard shot! This is simply amazing!"
"Just five minutes after the last goal, Real Madrid scored again!"
"Suker!! A worldie pierced the goal!"
Suker's hard shot stunned the entire stadium.
Even the Ajax players slightly opened their mouths, showing surprised expressions.
This shot was extremely difficult!
The Goalkeeper restricted most of the shooting angles at the near post, but Suker managed to curl the shot with a hard pull into the far corner behind the Goalkeeper.
Just such a shot is enough to demonstrate Suker's exquisite shooting skills.
After scoring, Suker turned and ran to the corner flag, pointing with his right foot.
Then he gently patted his cheek with his palm, making a 'slap in the face' gesture.
This was in response to those Netherlands football experts who were spreading rumors about his shooting form declining.
'Where's your face?'
But it must be said that Real Madrid had two goals in less than 10 minutes.
This had already swollen the face of Ajax's general manager.
But it's not enough!
Didn't they want to sell for money?
Did they want to promote themselves by slandering him?
Suker wouldn't let them have their way!
The goal of this game!
'Bring down Ajax's market value!'
"Guys, the party has just begun." Suker's eyes were sharp and full of aggression: "Let's teach them a good lesson in their home!"
You talk trash and slander us, using it for promotion.
Then we'll bring down your market value!
Let's see how you sell for money!"