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Bernabéu.
A week ago, the same venue, the same tunnel, and even the exact same starting positions.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a strong sense of déjà vu.
Seeing Lance's calm and indifferent smile made him extremely annoyed, yet helpless.
This was the perfect moment for that famous English phrase, "How old are you"—
How come it's always you?
Facing the local rivals three times within a month—he was truly sick of it!
"Oh? You look well today, amigo!"
"Who's your amigo!" Cristiano Ronaldo nearly rolled his eyes into the sky.
Whilst preparing yesterday, Cristiano Ronaldo thought he had adjusted his mindset, forgotten the fact that he had been continuously defeated by Lance, and was ready to start fresh.
But upon actually seeing Lance, Cristiano Ronaldo still couldn't suppress the anger boiling inside him.
To be honest, Lance's first impression of Cristiano Ronaldo hadn't been great.
During their first confrontation, Bayer Leverkusen was the dark horse team, whilst Real Madrid was already the overwhelming favourite to win the title.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also a major contender for the Ballon d'Or, highly successful and enjoying limitless glory.
Facing a 16-year-old East Asian kid, Cristiano Ronaldo practically looked down his nose at him and didn't take Lance seriously at all.
In the first leg, Real Madrid nearly crushed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, yet Lance still managed to pull a goal back.
Later, in the second leg, Bayer Leverkusen had a sudden burst of power and nearly eliminated Real Madrid, but fortunately, Real Madrid narrowly escaped danger.
This allowed Real Madrid to stumble their way into the final.
It left the Real Madrid players sweating profusely, and even Ancelotti was questioned and subsequently sacked because of that match.
Only then did Cristiano Ronaldo begin to truly take Lance seriously.
After subsequent encounters in the World Cup, the Champions League quarter-finals elimination, a crushing La Liga defeat, and the Copa del Rey elimination... Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't be arrogant when facing Lance; at most, he was just tsundere.
Lance now realised that deep down, Cristiano Ronaldo was still very passionate about football; setting aside minor flaws like showing off and being a ball hog, he was an authentic player.
Otherwise, he wouldn't still be playing and refusing to concede defeat even in his forties.
If he were truly a terrible person, so many fans around the world wouldn't love him so fiercely.
"Amigo, try to put in some effort today. Winning against you guys all the time is getting boring."
"I told you, who's your amigo!"
Cristiano Ronaldo almost lost his composure and quickly took a deep breath to calm himself down.
We are rivals, not brothers, not friends!
"I know you haven't played with full strength in the last few matches. I hope you bring 100% of your ability today."
After dropping that line with a straight face, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the end of his team's line, ready to walk out of the players' tunnel like a protagonist and greet the cheers of over 80,000 people at the Bernabéu.
Lance was quite surprised.
Cristiano Ronaldo had sharp eyes; he knew I hadn't used the template in the previous few matches.
At first glance, continuously dribbling past Real Madrid's "Ceremonial Midfield Three" looked impressive.
In reality, if analysed frame by frame, Lance's dribbling still contained minor flaws, relying somewhat on the opponent's cooperation to succeed, leaving a certain possibility of being dispossessed.
If it were his previous dribbling movements, especially the bursts of acceleration at certain moments, Lance's dribbling would be nearly flawless!
In Cristiano Ronaldo's view, no one could steal the ball from Lance in his "peak state," where his control of the ball and spatial awareness were maximised.
That was the most terrifying thing!
Since coming to La Liga, he hadn't seen Lance perform like that in a long time.
Cristiano Ronaldo believed that if he was going to challenge an opponent, he should face them in their strongest form!
That way, regardless of the outcome, it would at least be a thoroughly satisfying battle.
In reality, Lance was simply chuckling silently at the back of the line.
"The darn system is still upgrading!"
The system panel still displayed a line of cold, small text.
When exactly will the upgrade be complete?
Don't wait until the end of the season to finish the upgrade; then I'd have to use the new system version for the 2016 European Cup.
...
Shaking off these thoughts, the fourth match of the season against Real Madrid had begun!
In the first three matches, Atlético Madrid won all three, and Real Madrid lost all three.
Unexpectedly, Real Madrid was not only not depressed but instead unleashed a powerful attack, showing Atlético Madrid what they were capable of right at the start.
"Bale, beautiful! An overtake on the right flank!"
"Passing the ball to himself three seconds in the future!"
Since this was a La Liga match, the commentator from CCTV5 could finally provide commentary.
Heaven knows how much the commentator had envied the two legs of the Copa del Rey match days prior!
Countless domestic fans no longer had to use VPNs in the middle of the night to find unstable live streaming signals.
They could watch the high-definition, lag-free live broadcast of the match right on television!
The Spanish Football Federation, the La Liga Committee, and other departments had moved the match time forward slightly, considering the vast Eastern market.
It was no longer the ungodly hour of 4 AM, but had been moved up to midnight kick-off.
It couldn't be moved up much earlier, as people in Spain were accustomed to nightlife and preferred watching football in the evening.
If they had to play football under the midday sun, the local players would start complaining.
Returning to the match, Bale's explosive run made the Atlético Madrid fans' hearts tighten!
Bale, who strongly resembled the Great Sage, displayed his power, exploding with speed on the right flank, overtaking and leaving Filipe Luís five metres behind!
"My God! Is this guy that fierce?"
In previous matches, Bale's form had been mediocre, so Filipe Luís hadn't paid him much attention.
Heaven knows, today Bale looked like he had swallowed gunpowder, he was extremely excited.
Sprinting into the box before the defenders could react, Bale turned and fiercely delivered a pass with the inside of his left foot!
A left-footed player on the right side can cut inside and shoot, but crossing the ball is usually awkward.
Fortunately, Bale's cross was delayed by 0.5 seconds, allowing Atlético Madrid's defensive general, Godín, to rush in and deflect the ball out for a corner.
When the ball grazed the post and went wide, the Atlético Madrid fans nearly fainted from shock.
It looked too much like an own goal.
"What a pity."
"It's alright, let's keep going!"
Cristiano Ronaldo unusually encouraged Bale, and Real Madrid resumed their attack.
Atlético Madrid naturally excelled at counter-attacking defence, and with their players compressed in their defensive zone, they could only temporarily endure Real Madrid's pressure whilst looking for counter-attack opportunities.
"Yes! A long shot from Cristiano Ronaldo!"
"Oblak, a world-class save!"
The Atlético Madrid fans broke out in another cold sweat!
What is going on?
Real Madrid is so fierce today!
Lance also set aside his complacency, and his gaze turned serious.
"Does Cristiano Ronaldo have a brain today?"
He had just been dribbling on the left flank, feigning a dribble, and attempting to cut inside for a shot.
But this time, the seemingly reckless shot was just a feint; after two consecutive shimmies, he suddenly burst into action, truly shaking off Koke's interception, aiming, and unleashing a powerful shot.
If the great goalkeeper Oblak hadn't been focused, the ball truly would have rocketed into the corner.
"Shit!" Cristiano Ronaldo cursed under his breath.
This goalkeeper is a bit tricky!
Real Madrid's offence wasn't the only thing performing; their defence had also learnt lessons from the last match.
The "Ceremonial Midfield Three" dared not press forward easily, instead maintaining a distance to block Lance's position.
Both his passing and dribbling were somewhat restricted.
At the same time, Benzema was surprisingly tracking back tirelessly to participate in defence and harass Lance's dribbling.
Casemiro and Toni Kroos stood ready, whilst Modrić lurked nearby.
Lance attempted to break through using muscle memory, giving full play to the ingenuity of Bachira Meguru's Monster Dribbling.
He shimmied his feet to try and shake off Benzema, then flicked the ball with his heel, turned to shield it, and immediately completed a sudden Cruyff Turn to beat his man.
The defending Modrić learnt from experience and didn't attempt a tackle, but instead gave Lance a subtle push on his path before quickly withdrawing his hand.
The referee couldn't call a foul, and at the exact moment Lance accelerated, his centre of gravity was disrupted, causing him to stumble.
In 100% full-power mode, he might have been able to force control of the ball using the template ability.
But now it was impossible; Casemiro seized the opportunity to tackle, using his powerful shoulder to push Lance aside and complete the interception!
"What the hell? They're coordinating!"
Lance didn't have time to be frustrated and quickly turned to attempt a tactical foul.
Casemiro passed the ball out immediately.
Modrić released the ball with one touch, sending a long pass to Bale up front.
Bale cut the ball back and gave a short diagonal pass to the flank.
Carvajal overlapped on the wing, sprinted all the way to the byline, and whipped in a high cross!
"Stop him..."
Before Lance could warn them, Cristiano Ronaldo had already leapt high into the air!
With a height comparable to a slam dunk, he powerfully headed the ball into the net!
Oblak was helpless.
"Cristianoooooo Roooooalldoooo—"
"Goooal!"
"Real Madrid scores first at home, leading Atlético Madrid 1-0!"
The Bernabéu erupted!
The Madrid television commentator completely lost it, shouting at the top of his lungs!