Chapter 113: One Match Wipes Out a Two-Leg Tie
"Penguin Sports!"
"Penguin Sports!"
"Dear viewers, welcome to Penguin's live broadcast. On time we bring you the first leg of the 2012–2013 Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal host Real Madrid.
I'm your old friend Zhang Lu,
and I'm Zhan Jun.
The Chinese-born youngster Xia Qi must sit in the stands tonight because he's carrying a red card; he's here to cheer on his teammates."
"Hey, the broadcast has cut to Xia Qi — he's wearing Mario Balotelli's No. 24 shirt. That's because Balotelli and Cristiano Ronaldo exchanged barbs before the match…"
Zhang Lu and Zhan Jun bantered like a comedy duo, trading lines as they recounted the Champions League grudge back in '09 to viewers in a light, humorous way.
"These two have drifted further apart since then; Balotelli's bold claim back then probably won't come true in this lifetime."
"Among active players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi occupy a league of their own. Because they've held the top two spots for so long, who sits at third has become a global hot topic.
Now people generally consider Xia Qi third; before Xia Qi appeared it was Balotelli, Eden Hazard, Luis Suárez…"
"Tonight's focus, besides the Balotelli–Ronaldo goalscoring duel, is the Mourinho–Wenger feud. Their grudge started when José Mourinho coached Chelsea…"
"Fans, the players are already at the center circle. The match is about to start. Now I'll read the starting lineups:
Real Madrid line up in a 4-3-3… Arsenal in a 4-4-2, with Theo Walcott and Mario Balotelli up front. The midfield is Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Wilshere…"
Beep!
The match kicked off.
Balotelli was steamed about Cristiano Ronaldo and really wanted to score against Real Madrid.
So he was aggressive from the start, constantly probing the goal area and shooting whenever he got the ball.
But haste makes waste — that's the truth.
Not long after kickoff, Kevin De Bruyne carried the ball through midfield and suddenly played a through pass. Balotelli sensed it and fired a first-time shot near the penalty spot, but the ball went wide.
Real Madrid countered soon after.
Angel Di María whipped in a cross from the left; Cristiano Ronaldo had a tight-angled attempt in the six-yard box that hit the side netting.
Outsiders thought CR7 and Balotelli were playing out of spite, but actually he was mad at himself — or at Xia Qi.
On the Champions League stage he's long been its king and a perennial Golden Boot favorite, but Xia Qi's emergence changed everything.
Xia Qi had already scored 21 goals in the Champions League while Ronaldo only had nine this season.
In past seasons Ronaldo would have been a strong contender for the Golden Boot, but this season that hope was effectively gone…
For the proud Cristiano Ronaldo that's unacceptable.
With Balotelli's old row resurfacing, he became a convenient target.
On the pitch, because Ronaldo and Balotelli were attacking relentlessly, the game skipped the usual opening probing and went straight into a fast-attack tempo.
Before ten minutes had passed, the teams had already traded several intense exchanges.
Not only were Balotelli and Ronaldo dueling, but the teams' tactical styles contrasted sharply.
Real Madrid relied on the individual brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo or Di María to stretch the flanks and create chances on the weak side.
Arsenal made full use of width and length, shuttling the ball around midfield to build attacks.
Tonight Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Wilshere offered a Modrić–Kroos vibe. (At this moment the midfield ceremony wasn't complete — one Kroos was missing.)
Put simply: tonight Real Madrid looked a bit like Arsenal, and Arsenal looked a bit like future Real Madrid.
On the right flank Cristiano Ronaldo was once again charging hard.
Facing Kieran Gibbs' defense, he did stepovers like a man confident in his dribble.
But this is not the flamboyant old CR7; at Real Madrid he'd already become more pragmatic — a polished CR7, and next year he'd evolve into a more mature efficient CR7, the ultimate high-efficiency form.
Tonight Ronaldo had a blaze inside him; he wanted to do better but instead regressed to age 18.
In front of Gibbs, he alternated quick stepovers left and right, dizzying to watch — really just flashy tricks.
But a defender's reputation matters: Gibbs didn't dare recklessly lunge in.
Xia Qi on the stands shouted nervously: "Jobs (Gibbs' nickname), tackle him! Tackle him! You're a tech-world football big shot, what are you afraid of?"
No matter what Xia Qi and the fans shouted, Gibbs didn't hear a word.
He watched the ball at Ronaldo's feet with full concentration; the more focused he was, the more anxious he felt, sweat beading on his forehead.
He was scaring himself. With Gibbs' quality it would be tough to stop the polished CR7, but stopping the showy CR7 should be more than manageable.
Showy Ronaldo's dribbles are often praised and copied on street pitches, but that's the seller's show — the in-game reality is different. Without the theatrics (the dives), his tricks can turn him into a liability.
One circle, two circles…
After two weight shifts, Ronaldo suddenly nudged the ball and it flashed past Gibbs' left side while Ronaldo sped by on Gibbs' right.
Real Madrid fans in the away end cheered.
It was really just an ordinary body-and-ball separation.
Gibbs was beaten by the feint, but the fundamentals of a top defender remained; at the decisive moment he forced a weight shift.
In a flash his right foot worked to clear — the left leg rose in a big lunge — and he just managed to knock the ball away.
The Emirates erupted in thunderous cheers in response to the Real fans earlier.
Xia Qi too jumped from his seat and shouted: "Nice one, Jobs!"
But their jubilation was premature.
Gibbs' big lunge, made in a rush, pulled a muscle. He tried but shook his head to Per Mertesacker: he couldn't continue.
Mertesacker waved for the medic.
[Only 18 minutes in and Gibbs is injured?]
[Holy crap! Arsenal's cursed — Xia Qi got a red, Gibbs injured... will a two-leg tie really end in just one game?]
[Bah, bah bah! Don't jinx it. Losing tonight isn't the end; as long as the deficit's not huge, Xia Qi can make up for it when he returns.]
[Calm down, it's still 0–0. Why would you try to dampen morale? You two are bad luck.]
[Is there still any chance to win?]
[I spit! I spit!]
After a quick check the medic made the substitution signal to Wenger.
Luke Shaw was already warming up by the touchline.
"The 17-year-old Luke Shaw is coming on; he's the youngest player at Arsenal. Making a Champions League debut in these circumstances brings huge psychological pressure. Let's wish him a great performance tonight."
The match resumed with Arsenal attacking. The newly on Luke Shaw, fearless and fresh, immediately made a late run into the box.
On the left he shrugged off Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso, reached the ball before Raphaël Varane could slide in, and lofted the ball into the penalty area ahead of the keeper.
Balotelli had pushed too deep through the center; the ball rolled past him along the turf toward the far post.
Walcott darted into the far post and caught up with the ball around three meters from goal.
A sliding shot!
The ball was struck with solid force, intense spin, close distance and a slight arc.
An awkward bouncing ball for a keeper.
Real's goalkeeper Diego López didn't dare catch it — afraid to spill it — so he chose to parry with both hands out for a clearance.
But the ball was spinning ferociously in his gloves; what should have been a clearance inexplicably spun and flew back out into front of goal.
At first Diego López felt clever — glad he hadn't tried to catch and risked a fumble.
Then his heart sank: the second ball fell to a red shirt; his four defenders had lost their marking…
"Stop him!"
Amid Diego López's screams, Balotelli leapt up and headed the ball back in.
Faced with Balotelli's aerial threat, Diego López managed a second parry but it was too late.
The ball thundered into the net.
"Balotelli!"
"He's still the world's third Balotelli — Arsenal take the lead at home."
After scoring, Balotelli stood in front of the Real goal and made a mock-shooting gesture at Cristiano Ronaldo.
That gesture, combined with the pre-match trash talk, instantly became iconic.
Photographers mashed their shutters and Arsenal fans roared.
Cristiano Ronaldo's face was stone-cold; everyone knew he was unhappy, but they didn't realize his "king of adversity" nature had been triggered.
Play continued.
The trailing Real Madrid came at Arsenal like a tide.
In the 35th minute a lofted pass landed just outside the penalty area; Gonzalo Higuaín nodded the ball back into the six-yard box. Cristiano Ronaldo rose high in the box, defying gravity — his knee level with Mertesacker's head — and powered a header down.
The ball threaded through the fingers of Martínez and into the net.
1–1!
Cristiano sprinted to the corner flag, leapt and spun 180 degrees in midair, landed with both arms flung wide as if flying, shouting the thunderous "siu!" with the Real fans.
From the stands Xia Qi had to admit: Ronaldo's header and celebration were cool; people would rush to imitate it.
But that was just the start.
Three minutes later Ronaldo flew down the right flank, cut inside past Cazorla at the edge of the box and — after creating a narrow shooting angle with a quick shimmy — unleashed a ruthless left-footed rocket.
The ball ripped like a cannon into Arsenal's net.
Martínez never expected a strike from that spot; he had no time to react.
1–2!
The happy cheers from Balotelli's earlier goal hadn't even faded at the Emirates when Ronaldo struck twice.
Standing in front of the Arsenal goal, Ronaldo mimicked Balotelli's finger-gun gesture and pantomimed blowing the barrel.
Angry Balotelli wanted to charge forward but Kevin De Bruyne held him back.
"He's trying to provoke you — don't fall for it."
Wilshere chimed in: "Do you know why Ronaldo does this? Because he's afraid of you and wants you to be sent off."
Balotelli shot back, "I'll teach him a lesson with goals."
The teams ground each other down in midfield. For some reason Mourinho didn't use the better Modrić but played 272.
272's rhythm control couldn't stand up to De Bruyne and Wilshere. Arsenal gradually gained the upper hand in midfield.
But Arsenal's forwards weren't as sharp — neither Balotelli nor Walcott scored.
The 1–2 scoreline held until halftime.
No changes at halftime; the teams returned for the second half.
Five minutes into the half, it was Ronaldo again, duplicating his second goal.
From the right he cut inside and, at the top-right of the box, dragged the ball and blasted a shot.
The ball hit the net again.
Worth noting Martínez did touch the ball with his fingertips, but the shot's power carried it over the line.
1–3!
Arsenal found themselves two goals down.
After scoring, Ronaldo again performed his "siu!" at the corner flag.
"Ronaldo is unstoppable on the wing and can even drill long-range bombs…"
"Terrifying scoring efficiency — this is the Champions League king, Cristiano Ronaldo."
Wenger's face by the touchline showed a bitter smile…
Play continued.
Arsenal, two goals down, rallied under their home fans' shouts.
Balotelli and Wilshere broke lines in midfield with a wall pass. Balotelli then cut in and curled a low shot from the left edge of the box that brushed the post.
Three minutes later Balotelli again bulldozed through the center like a tank, drawing Real's defense and laying the ball off to the near post.
Walcott, unmarked, found himself one-on-one with the keeper but blasted the chance over the bar.
In the 57th minute Arsenal stormed back: Balotelli's cut-back in the box found Kevin De Bruyne, who unleashed a world-class strike — it struck the crossbar.
After sustained pressure Arsenal's momentum faded.
In the 65th minute 272 lofted a ball into the box and Ronaldo, somehow getting the glancing touch under three markers, redirected it. Higuaín burst from the clump and poked a shot in.
Martínez made an incredible reflex save and punched the ball away.
It ricocheted off Mertesacker's thigh and sat up in front of Cristiano.
Arsenal's luck had evaporated tonight.
Ronaldo gratefully accepted the gift and calmly stroked it home for a hat-trick.
The score became 1–4!
Arsenal were three down — a significant deficit.
Mourinho slid on the turf in celebration — if he could knock Arsenal out, he'd have around a 70% chance of lifting the Champions League.
Mourinho's final-win percentage is the highest among coaches — about 65%.
Martínez clapped and shouted to rally his teammates.
"We can't concede anymore. We can't leave Xia Qi with a mess."
The Arsenal squad quickly agreed: being three down was not the end. Next leg they'd have their scoring weapon — Xia Qi.
Their priority now was to stop conceding.
Arsenal began to play like the side that's ahead — stalling the rhythm.
But fate intervened: in the 82nd minute Mertesacker conceded a foul in the box on Higuaín.
Real Madrid were awarded a penalty.
Cristiano Ronaldo put the ball on the spot and scored.
1–5! Arsenal trailed by four; Real had five away goals and a huge advantage toward the final.
After the goal Ronaldo ran to the Arsenal fans, flipped his palm and showed off at the opponents.
In the stands Xia Qi watched silently; their eyes met and sparks flew.
For a moment the stadium temperature seemed to drop by ten degrees.
1–5!
That was the final score. In the post-match press conference an arrogant Mourinho boldly declared he hoped Paris Saint-Germain would be his final opponent, explaining:
"Real's Bundesliga rival is only Bayern; other German teams aren't worthy."
Insane!
One sentence managed to offend both Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.
Online, the guy who said "a two-leg tie ends in one match" had his IP dug up and was sent death threats...
After the match, a gloom settled over Colney training ground…
Real Madrid (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Diego López
Defenders: Raphaël Varane, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fábio Coentrão
Midfield: Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, 272
Forwards: Ángel Di María, Gonzalo Higuaín, Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes: Iker Casillas, Ricardo Carvalho, Kaká, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Karim Benzema, Essien…
(END CHAPTER)
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