On the evening of March 5th, the Bernabéu was full.
Real Madrid and Arsenal's second leg of the UEFA Champions League 18 final began as scheduled at the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid sent out all their elites, while Arsenal also sent out a more aggressive starting lineup than in the previous round.
When the players of the two teams walked onto the pitch, Arsenal's players stepped onto the battlefield with a tragic posture.
"The second leg of the UEFA Champions League 18 final is about to begin between Real Madrid and Arsenal.
In the previous round, Real Madrid defeated Arsenal with a score of 3: 2 at the Emirates Stadium, which gave them the upper hand in this game. As long as they did not lose, Real Madrid would be able to smoothly advance to the top eight of this season's Champions League.
In the past two weeks, everything had been going well for Real Madrid. Despite another draw in the league tournament, they were criticized by the media, who believed that Real Madrid's performance in the league tournament in the second half of the season was not as good as the first half.
But we have to admit that Real Madrid's winning momentum in the first half of the season is difficult to replicate.
In addition, Real Madrid's focus on the Champions League in the second half of the season is also the main reason.
Arsenal, on the other hand, suffered an even bigger blow after losing at the Emirates Stadium in the previous round!
We can't estimate the negative impact of this major blow on the Arsenal team.
On February 23rd, just after losing to Real Madrid, Arsenal's striker, Eduardo, suffered a tragic broken leg in the Premier League game in Birmingham. Arsenal's players witnessed the tragedy of their teammate, and the negative impact on their mentality was unimaginable.
In the past two rounds of the Premier League, Arsenal had two draws in a row, and the pursuers behind closed the four-point gap.
Hopefully, Arsenal can pull themselves together in this game.
Below is the starting lineup for both sides.
Real Madrid starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze.
Midfielders: Robinho, Diarra, Guti, Snede.
Forwards: Qin Xiong, Raúl.
Arsenal starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Almunia.
Defenders: Eboue, Senderos, Gallas, Clichy.
Midfielders: Walcott, Fàbregas, Flamini, Hleb.
Forwards: Adebayor, Henry. "
Over the past two weeks, Real Madrid has been plagued by controversy over the summer signings.
But for Arsenal, it was one disaster after another for Eduardo's broken leg!
This caused the morale of Arsenal's entire team to hit rock bottom!
After witnessing Eduardo break his leg on the field, they could not say that the mentality of Arsenal's team was too weak, that their willpower was not strong enough, and that their mental resilience was too weak.
Think about it. Young players like Clichy, Fàbregas, Walcott, and so on. Would they be as cold and indifferent as killers when they saw their teammates get their legs broken?
Yes, players always bear the risk of injury.
However, a nosebleed and a broken nose were two completely different concepts!
Who could calmly accept all this?
Why were the Arsenal players who came to Bernabéu so solemn? It was not only because they lost 2: 3 to Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium and were on the verge of despair in the face of a desperate comeback!
There was also the psychological trauma caused by Eduardo's broken leg!
At the start of the game, Arsenal immediately launched a fierce attack. They wanted to directly enter the game state at the Bernabéu and destroy Real Madrid with a super-fast pace.
However, they obviously overestimated their speed of entering the game state in the away game.
It seemed that the offensive was fierce, but in fact, it was difficult to play exquisite coordination in the offensive end and there were many mistakes.
Even shooting was difficult to complete.
In the fifth minute of the game, Henry received Fàbregas' pass in front of the penalty area and then crossed the ball, which was successfully intercepted by Cannavaro.
Real Madrid was mentally prepared for this game. They knew that Arsenal needed to score, and at least two goals, so they focused on balance in the opening stage of the game.
After Arsenal's reckless attack failed, Real Madrid got a good attacking environment.
However, Real Madrid also had problems. Robinho's play today was obviously not in the best state.
In the seventh minute of the game, Qin Xiong passed him a diagonal plug in the front field. After breaking through Clichy's cut, he had already formed a one-on-one chance. As a result, he did not choose to pass to Raúl, who was undefended behind the goal. Instead, he chose to shoot himself. Not only did he not hit the goal, but the football also deviated from the goal.
At first, the Real Madrid players did not think much of it.
People make mistakes, horses stumble. Occasionally, one or two abnormal performances could be ignored.
However, in the 14th minute of the game, Snede passed to the right side of the penalty area in the front field and again gave Robinho a one-on-one chance. Robinho shook off Almunia and pushed into the empty goal.
The Real Madrid fans in the stands were ready to get up and cheer, but they were stunned to see the football roll out of the end line after brushing the outside of the goalpost.
"Robinho missed two golden opportunities since the start of the game! It can be said that both were guaranteed chances to score. What the hell is he doing? If Robben did not have a minor injury, I'm afraid Bosque would not let him start. In the second half of the league tournament, Robinho's playing time has been getting less and less, but he has not been able to show a convincing performance in such an important game. "
Bosque sat in the technical area with a helpless look.
The reason why he rarely let Robinho play in the starting lineup in the second half of the season was that Robben's ability was better than Robinho's. If Robben was not injured, it was normal for Robinho to play as a substitute. Secondly, through the tracking and observation of Robinho's training quality and physical condition, he found that the Brazilian's condition fluctuated more obviously, which had a lot to do with his private life.
Bosque knew that it was useless to say anything to them. Moreover, it was not that no one had urged and warned him. However, it was easier to change a leopard than to change a leopard. How could a few words cure the common problem of the South American players?
He wanted to make Robinho vigilant and feel threatened by reducing his playing time, but he did not expect the Brazilian to accept it calmly. Perhaps everything in the team was normal, and he did not feel that there was much of a problem.
This was the embodiment of not fully focusing on football.
Bosque felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do.
Now he only hoped that Robben would not be injured in the second half of the season.
Arsenal's momentum in the game today was empty and lacked a deeper level of exquisite coordination.
Another point was that Arsenal's defensive ability seemed to have plummeted compared to the last game!
When Real Madrid bravely pressed, most of Arsenal's players were terrified!
This should be directly related to the incident of Eduardo's broken leg.
Arsenal was carrying a huge ideological burden in the game, and they might not be able to fully focus on the game!
Arsène Wenger felt helpless on the sidelines.
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