Dozens of huge floodlights illuminated the football field in the dark night as if it were daytime.
In the stands on all sides, Real Madrid fans in white jerseys erupted in shouts and cheers, like layers of white waves rolling and boiling.
Nearly 100,000 fans gathered here, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
The camera robotic arm extended from the edge of the field, filming around.
The exciting voice of the live DJ came from the dome speakers.
"This is the Bernabéu Stadium at night, this is the stage of the Champions League Semi-Final!"
"The teams about to play are Real Madrid!"
Whoosh!!!!!!!!!!!!—
The cheers suddenly surged, as if to lift the roof.
"Bayern Munich!"
Shhh~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!—
Boos surged, showing the home fans' support for their home team.
In a moment, introductions of individual players began to appear on the big screen.
From Real Madrid to Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid players received fierce applause and cheers.
While Bayern players were met with boos.
Before long, the camera turned, showing the picture of the player tunnel.
There, the players above were already neatly lined up, ready to enter the field.
This also pushed the match atmosphere to a certain height.
"Let us welcome the players from both sides."
The live DJ shouted again, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the player tunnel.
There, the players from both sides walked into the stadium led by the Referee.
The starting lineups are as follows:
Real Madrid (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Srna, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrão.
Midfielders: Casemiro, Kroos, Khedira.
Forwards: Di Maria, Benzema, Suker.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1):
Goalkeeper: Neuer.
Defenders: Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba.
Midfielders: Robben, Alonso, Muller, Schweinsteiger, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Forward: Mandžukić.
"This is the second leg of the 2012/2013 Champions League Semi-Final, Real Madrid against Bayern Munich!"
"After the first match, Bayern Munich currently leads 4:3 on aggregate, making this match particularly crucial. For Real Madrid, can they achieve victory at home, and can Bayern Munich withstand the pressure?"
"We can see that Bayern Munich's defense has made some changes, with Boateng returning to the starting lineup after recovering from injury."
"Compared to Van Buyten, in terms of experience and ability, Boateng is indeed more suitable for this Bayern Munich!"
"On Real Madrid's side, there aren't many changes to the starting lineup, but we can see Kaka on the bench."
"After nearly a season of recovery, Kaka has finally returned to the game. Can he come on as a substitute in this match?"
"At the same time, after the last match, both sides gave us an intense attacking battle, and will they continue this mode of play in this match?"
"Are Suker and Ronaldo still in such hot form?"
At this point, commentator González couldn't help but excitedly say: "Alright! Guys, they are ready, the match is about to begin at any moment, let's look forward to this battle for the final!"
The whole world, a large number of fans are following this match.
Even on the other side of the world, across the ocean, they also got up in the night to watch this highly anticipated match.
Countless eyes watched the television, watching this match.
In the camera, the players from both sides had already arrived at their respective halves.
The starting lineups were displayed on the screen again, and soon, the Referee retreated from the center circle and blew his whistle.
Beep!!!
A sharp whistle cut through the Bernabéu Stadium.
Accompanied by the fans' excitement, Real Madrid took the kickoff first.
"The match has started! The match has started!"
"Without any hesitation, Real Madrid players quickly kicked off and started the battle!"
On the field, Real Madrid continuously passed the ball backward, while Bayern Munich immediately pressed forward.
Bayern adopted a high pressing approach, having tasted success in the previous match, they knew they had to disrupt Real Madrid's midfield rhythm.
And Real Madrid also responded to Bayern's pressure, with Kroos suddenly passing the ball diagonally forward to Suker.
"Kroos passes the ball to Suker, Real Madrid still hopes to create some advantages through the left wing. Let's see Suker's performance."
Suker's plain back-pass directly dispelled Bayern Munich's idea of outflanking.
"Suker is still very steady, not attacking rashly, but choosing to pass back and continue to draw them out!"
After Suker passed the ball, he began to run towards the middle.
Of course, someone would always follow him; once he entered a dangerous area, it would be two players marking him.
Just like in the previous match, Bayern Munich still wouldn't give up on restricting Suker.
"Steady!"
Suker slightly lowered his arm, signaling his teammates to maintain the rhythm.
At the same time, he ran a few steps forward, and after realizing the pressure was too great, he immediately retreated to receive the ball.
During this time, Suker also constantly touched the ball with one touch, but he wouldn't attempt to dribble past anyone.
The reason was simple: he had already seen the eager movements of several guys around him.
If Suker turned, these guys would definitely slide tackle directly.
"The pace of this match is relatively a bit slower, but this might be better news for us, after all, the attacking battle in the last match was indeed very tough for us."
But as soon as he finished speaking, Real Madrid players proved him wrong.
Srna suddenly sent a forty-five degree diagonal long pass, the ball arced over the half, flying into the space behind Lahm.
Suker quickly sprinted, but he was also pulled by Lahm's jersey, tightly entangled.
After Suker's first touch, Lahm also decisively stretched out his foot, lightly poked the ball, and the ball hit Suker's ankle, bouncing back behind him.
And Lahm suddenly stepped forward to block, taking up a favorable position, and passed the ball to Alonso.
"Lahm!! What a brilliant tackle!"
Lahm actually completed a tackle after the play.
And it was a tackle from Suker's feet, which greatly boosted morale.
"This guy!"
Suker couldn't help but grin.
Lahm's tackle this time was very clean and decisive.
In the past, he would never have dared to play like this, the reason being simple: he had been traumatized by Suker's dribbling.
If he actively made a move, he might very well be thrown off balance by Suker's feints.
Although he would lose some opportunities for it, Lahm still sought stability.
But now, ever since winning the last match, Lahm also seemed to have become more confident.
Just like this time, he actually started to actively tackle.
Of course, there was also a reason for Suker's slight carelessness, after all, for a long time in his encounters with Lahm, Lahm would not play so proactively.
This was also something Suker had not expected.
Bayern Munich's counterattack was very fast; after completing the tackle, the tempo was quickly brought up.
Lahm passed the ball to Alonso, Alonso passed it forward to Muller, and then immediately ran forward, received the ball in Real Madrid's half, and then directly passed the ball along the half-space.
Cristiano Ronaldo was already ready to attack on the wing.
But Alonso's through ball was anticipated by Srna.
Srna suddenly stopped his movement towards the sideline, pausing for a moment.
It was this pause that allowed him to seize the opportunity of Alonso's pass, suddenly twisting his body and blocking the ball with his ankle.
"Srna! Tackle!!"
"Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's first attacking attempts were both interrupted!"
"It seems that these two teams have done more analysis after the last match; they have put a lot of effort into their defense!"
Of course!
After all, in the last match, both teams combined for seven goals!
Whether it was Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, their defense had problems, so they focused on making adjustments.
Possession returned to Real Madrid's feet again.
This time, Real Madrid didn't waste any time, and Casemiro directly pushed the ball to Di Maria on the wing.
Di Maria saw Suker's position and also noticed Bayern's defensive positioning, so he immediately broke through diagonally forward.
"Di Maria! He's preparing to dribble horizontally from the half-space."
After running a few steps, Di Maria suddenly stopped; Bayern Munich's defensive shift was too fast.
In just a few steps, they had covered the half-space and the central gaps.
But fortunately, there was still an opportunity on the wing.
Di Maria stopped the ball and passed it to the right wing.
Srna surged forward, taking the ball and driving down the wing.
At the same time, Suker and Benzema had already burst into the penalty area.
As soon as Suker rushed into the penalty area, a pair of large hands appeared to embrace him, enveloping him in the middle. Suker tried to push, but the opponent didn't budge.
Just as Suker was about to move, the opponent suddenly clamped down.
Suker was directly pulled down!
"Hey!"
As Suker shouted, the opponent quickly spread his arms.
The ball flew over the middle, and Lahm headed it out for a throw-in.
Suker also took this opportunity to complain to the Referee.
"He blocked my attack! He hugged me!" Suker pointed to his chest, then to Boateng.
The Referee shook his head, indicating he hadn't seen it.
But he said he would pay attention next time.
Suker grinned.
He had to accept this silent loss.
However, next time Van Buyten couldn't hug him like that. A light touch would be a warning, but a firm hug would result in a card.
Real Madrid's throw-in.
Suker received the ball, held off the challenges from Alonso and Lahm, and at the same time, back-heeled the ball through a gap.
The ball went through Alonso's legs and was passed to Kroos.
Kroos received the ball and immediately crossed it.
A short, arcing pass, aimed directly at Benzema.
Benzema had been running in a straight line, but at the moment Kroos passed, he suddenly changed to a horizontal movement.
And he jumped slightly, heading for goal.
However, his positioning was slightly too far forward, so the ball lacked power.
"Benzema got his head on the ball, ah~~~ the ball lacked power. The slightly parabolic header was deflected out for a corner by Neuer. Even if Neuer hadn't moved, the ball wouldn't have gone in, but to be safe, this action was fine!" González said nervously; "Real Madrid's corner, continuous attacking opportunities!"
Real Madrid had a corner, and Bayern Munich had already set up their defense early.
But soon, the commentators noticed something surprising.
"Cristiano Ronaldo has actually tracked back! Not only has he tracked back, but he's also actively marking Suker!"
Suker also looked at Cristiano Ronaldo beside him in surprise.
He hadn't expected Cristiano Ronaldo to actively retreat to defend.
"In the last match, I remember Suker also dropped back to mark Cristiano Ronaldo. Both of them have excellent jumping ability, and perhaps based on this, Cristiano Ronaldo chose to drop back and actively mark Suker!"
Cristiano Ronaldo's retreat was unexpected by Suker.
This was probably a pre-match arrangement by Bayern Munich. For counter-attacks, Robben and Mandžukić were enough, and Cristiano Ronaldo's retreat would indeed strengthen their aerial ability.
In the corner area, Di Maria also noticed this, but he still firmly passed the ball to Suker.
Suker and Cristiano Ronaldo engaged in a fierce physical battle.
Both were fiercely pushing forward, looking for the best jumping spot.
And, during their charge, they almost simultaneously reached the landing spot and jumped.
Bang!
Both of them jumped powerfully amidst the crowd.
They jumped equally high, and their judgment of the landing spot was also equal, so the ball hit both their shoulders and flew out of the penalty area.
"Defended! Bayern Munich's counter-attack!"
Cristiano Ronaldo landed, hands on the ground, and immediately sprinted forward.
On the other side, Suker also scrambled with his hands and feet, stabilized his body, and quickly followed.
Cristiano Ronaldo was sprinting forward, wanting to return to the first line of the counter-attack.
And Suker was following closely.
Both were sprinting, Suker's position was slightly behind, but relying on his powerful double speed, he was closing the gap little by little.
"Bayern Munich's counter-attack is very fast."
González stood up nervously.
He saw Robben had already entered the penalty area with the ball, but Pepe was marking him tightly. If Robben shot, Pepe would definitely react and block it.
But Robben didn't choose to shoot; instead, after a sudden stop, he passed the ball to the central position diagonally behind him.
And there, Cristiano Ronaldo was charging, he had just adjusted his footwork, intending to shoot.
Just then, a figure suddenly darted past beside him, Suker hooked his leg and poked the ball away.
"Oh~~~ Suker!! This is too intense! Cristiano Ronaldo disrupted Suker's header, and Suker then sprinted back, preemptively disrupting Cristiano Ronaldo's shot!"
"In this match, these two superstar players are also fiercely contending, and their confrontation will also influence the course of the match!"
Cristiano Ronaldo clapped his hands regretfully. If he had run a little faster, Suker wouldn't have been able to stop his shot.
And Suker frowned deeply.
He felt that Bayern Munich had come up with more tactics in this match.
Currently, Real Madrid's ability to deal with those tactics and changes is poor. The rigidity of their system makes them play less smoothly.
This was also the reason why Suker sprinted back.
He had a feeling that Bayern Munich would still choose to let Cristiano Ronaldo take the final shot.
Facts proved he was right!
And even if it didn't work out, Suker's cautious retreat was fine.
"Currently, it seems Bayern Munich is doing better on both offense and defense. Not only are they more varied, but they also show a touch more decisiveness!"
"Although Real Madrid has continuous attacks, they always seem to be led by the nose by Bayern Munich!"
As the commentators spoke, Kroos also discovered some problems.
"The rhythm is off!"
They were clearly in active possession, but Bayern Munich was always able to make defensive reactions in advance.
It was as if they were running to push them into a certain position.
This way, even if they had possession, Bayern Munich was still in actual control of the situation.
"Something's wrong!" Zidane frowned; "Look closely at their off-ball movement. When they run, they deliberately expose some weaknesses, guiding us to pass there, but in reality, that's a trap!"
Leidup nodded; "I also noticed that. Can off-ball movement be used like this? Defense can also be proactive!"
"Of course, it can!"
Zidane nodded seriously.
When he was still playing for Real Madrid, he encountered a special team in a Champions League match.
Although they played defensive counter-attack, they repeatedly caused them trouble.
Every time, they could set up their defense in advance, making them fall right into the defensive trap.
At the time, they only thought it was bad luck, or that their offense wasn't resolute enough.
But after reviewing the match, they realized through the game footage that the opponent was deliberately guiding their passes through off-ball movement.
And this kind of defense, which actively guides the opponent's attacking players to a certain area through off-ball positioning and pressing, is called 'driving defense'.
It seems like they are behind on the field, but in reality, they are using their movement to control the initiative.
Not many teams play this tactic nowadays, but the most famous team that does is Borussia Dortmund!
Klopp's Borussia Dortmund uses this 'driving defense' to gain the initiative in seemingly passive situations.
"This Bayern Munich team has such strong learning ability!" Zidane grinned: "This is trouble!"
In the Champions League, besides initial strength, what matters most is the adjustment and learning ability during the League process.
How to make oneself play better, how to learn and respond to more tactics.
This is the ability a championship team should possess!
Last season, Real Madrid had this ability.
Under the premise of defensive counter-attack, they played a false possession game, leaving their opponents disoriented.
And today's Bayern Munich also possesses this ability.
But their learning target is not a La Liga team, but Borussia Dortmund, their opponent in the same competition!
With the support of their inherent tactics, this sudden, tactical approach will also create a lot of confusion for Real Madrid.
For example, Kroos is a bit confused now.
Clearly a weakness!
Clearly an open space!
But when he passes there, the opponent immediately reacts and quickly closes the space, forming a tight encirclement.
If they continue to let the rhythm go, allowing Bayern Munich to play more smoothly, Real Madrid will only face a worse situation.
"Steady! Steady the rhythm!"
Zidane stood on the sidelines, shouting loudly; "First, stabilize the rhythm, don't rush to attack!"
On the nearby coaching bench, Guardiola touched his gleaming bald head, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Steady the rhythm?
Can they steady it?
Don't forget, they are Bayern Munich, and they got strong attackers upfront!