Super Wingstorm

On the evening of April 7th, the Amsterdam Arena was packed to the rafters.

Playing at home, Ajax once again deployed a 4-3-3 formation, but there were some adjustments to the starting lineup.

There were no changes to the backline: Goalkeeper Robbent was protected by a back four of Maxwell, Escude, Heitinga, and Talabesi. The midfield, however, once again featured the double pivot of Galasek and De Jong, with Sneijder in the middle.

The front trident featured Van der Vaart on the left, whose form had greatly improved recently; Ibrahimovic held the center, and Wesley Sonck played on the right. The positions of the three players, however, were not fixed.

Real Madrid stuck with their 4-2-3-1 formation. The goalkeeper was Casillas, with a backline of Roberto Carlos, Mejia, Elgara, and Sergado. The midfield double pivot was Boerhaave and Guti. Zidane, Raul, and Figo played behind the lone striker, Ronaldo.

As it turned out, Queiroz had few cards to play and ultimately chose to keep Elgara in the backline, pairing Boerhaave with Guti. This was perfectly in line with the Ajax coaching staff’s pre-match prediction.

The prediction was spot on, but Ajax was still at a disadvantage in terms of overall strength.

After kickoff, Real Madrid immediately used their slick passing and possession-based style to quickly seize the advantage on the pitch. Ajax struggled to win the ball back and was forced to retreat into their own half to defend.

Roberto Carlos was very active on the left flank, frequently launching attacks down the wing right from the start.

Ajax’s defensive strategy on the flanks for this match was clear: allow crosses from the byline, but do not let players cut inside. Both Talabesi and Maxwell strictly adhered to this instruction, mainly because neither Ronaldo nor Raul excelled at aerial duels.

Forced onto the back foot from the start, Ajax didn’t get a chance to counterattack until the twelfth minute. They managed their first shot of the match, but it sailed high over the bar, posing no threat whatsoever.

The shot came from a long-range effort by Sneijder after a late run from deep, but he couldn’t keep it down.

Afterward, Real Madrid launched another wave of attacks, and Ajax once again reverted to their strategy of defending deep and looking to counter.

By the twentieth minute, Real Madrid was looking very dangerous. They launched a furious wave of attacks, earning three consecutive corner kicks and creating a threat with each one, but they consistently lacked that final, decisive touch.

This wave of attacks was finally broken up by a yellow card for De Jong. If the team were to advance, he would be suspended for accumulating too many yellow cards.

Ajax’s tenacious defending earned a roaring response from the 50,000 fans in attendance. Everyone knew that against a team like Real Madrid, sitting back and counterattacking was the only viable option.

An all-out attack? That would be suicide!

It wasn’t until the twenty-eighth minute that Ajax managed their second shot of the match, a volley from Van der Vaart, but it too went wide and failed to pose a threat.

In the first half hour, not only was Ajax completely dominated in possession, but they had also managed a paltry two shots. Their passivity and struggles on the pitch were plain to see, but regardless, the team had held on to a 0-0 scoreline.

Perhaps withstanding the Galaxy Battleship’s onslaught allowed the Ajax players to relax and grow in confidence. Or maybe the Real Madrid players deliberately slowed their tempo, allowing Ajax to launch some counterattacks of their own.

After the thirty-minute mark, Ajax began to mount more counterattacks. Nearly every foray forward penetrated a dangerous area, thrilling the players on the pitch and the fans in the stands, making it feel as though a goal was imminent.

But just as everyone’s confidence was soaring, Real Madrid suddenly won the ball. Zidane intercepted a pass from De Jong and immediately played a through ball behind the defense for the onrushing Ronaldo.

The Brazil striker was no longer in his peak condition, and many criticized his weight, but in that single instant, he tore through the Ajax defense. After receiving Zidane’s pass, he squared the ball across the face of the goal for Raul to follow up and tap it in.

One-nil!

Just that one mistake, and Real Madrid not only capitalized on it, but they scored!

That’s what superstars do! That’s Real Madrid for you!

...

...

”Seven minutes. There are only seven minutes left in the first half!”

Ronald Koeman was so frustrated he felt an urge to fly into a rage.

’A raging fire burned in his chest, threatening to burst out, but he knew he couldn’t really blame anyone.’

Everyone makes mistakes. De Jong had played well for the entire first half. It was just that one misplaced pass, and Zidane seized on it. His reaction was incredibly fast, immediately playing that lethal through ball.

Ronaldo capitalized on it, and so did Raul.

’What could Koman say?’

The entire Amsterdam Arena fell deathly silent. The fans were surely just as dejected as Ronald Koeman, because that one goal had pushed Ajax into an impossible situation.

The aggregate score was now five to two. Real Madrid led by three goals. Ajax had to score three unanswered goals while preventing the Galaxy Battleship from scoring again. The difficulty of such a task was easy to imagine.

It was so daunting that Ronald Koeman felt a wave of despair, the urge to simply give up.

”Don’t be like that, Ronald.” Luther Carroll patted Ronald Koeman’s shoulder reassuringly.

As the assistant coach, he could understand Ronald Koeman’s feelings at that moment, as well as the pressure on his shoulders. ’But the match isn’t over yet, is it?’

”We still have the second half. We still have a chance, still have hope,” Luther Carroll urged.

Hearing this, a spark of life returned to Ronald Koeman’s eyes. He thought of the strategy the team had devised before the match, and of the sharp blade waiting on the bench—the right-winger, Yang Yang.

”Yes, we still have a chance.” Ronald Koeman took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

”Luther, tell Yang Yang the plan’s been moved up. We’re making a substitution at halftime.”

...

...

”It’s over. It’s completely over!”

Club chairman Michael van Praag watched the Real Madrid players run across the pitch to celebrate below and shook his head vigorously.

’If we were two goals down, there’d still be some hope. But three goals? Is that even possible?’

”It’s not over yet, and it’s not time to call it over,” Van Gaal, beside him, said through gritted teeth.

”What?” Van Praag looked at the technical director in astonishment.

’We’re three goals down, and against a team like Real Madrid, no less. And it’s not over?’

Never mind anything else, just look at yesterday’s other key matchup in the upper half of the bracket: Deportivo La Coruña hosting AC Milan.

After losing four to one away, Deportivo La Coruña regrouped at home and thrashed the Red-Black Army four to nil, staging a miraculous comeback against AC Milan to advance to the semifinals. But their tactics had completely nullified their opponents; they scored in the fifth minute, added two more in the thirty-fifth and forty-fifth minutes, and were leading three-nil at halftime.

Now *that’s* the kind of tempo you need for a comeback. But what about Ajax?

Forget about how passive they were in the first half; they even conceded a goal, widening the deficit. How could they possibly come back from this?

”We still have the second half. And we have Yang Yang,” Van Gaal said resolutely.

Hearing Yang Yang’s name, Van Praag was skeptical but didn’t argue.

’It’s true. Yang Yang has become Ajax’s golden substitute; he turns the tide every time he comes on.’

From Bruges to Eindhoven to Arsenal, he had never once disappointed.

’But this time, he’s facing Real Madrid. Can he really pull it off?’

”Real Madrid is a paper tiger right now. They look formidable, but the players aren’t running much. Apart from that one interception and assist, Zidane was extremely quiet the entire first half. Besides his assist, Ronaldo was completely invisible. And Figo has done nothing memorable the whole game.”

”Their stamina is shot; the players can’t run anymore. Right now, as long as we don’t fall apart ourselves, as long as we play with determination, we can definitely turn this around.”

After a pause, perhaps not entirely confident himself, Van Gaal added, ”Even if we are destined to lose, even if we get knocked out, we can’t go down in such a pathetic way.”

Van Praag was convinced. He nodded emphatically.

...

...

The first half ultimately ended with a score of one-nil.

The players from both teams gradually walked off the pitch. The Ajax players headed straight down the tunnel toward the locker room.

The halftime break was only fifteen minutes, which didn’t leave them much time to rest and regroup.

Before the coaching staff left, Luther Carroll reminded Yang Yang to hurry back to the locker room after he finished warming up.

’The plan’s been moved up!’

Yang Yang’s heart was a mix of excitement and apprehension. He was originally scheduled to come on as a substitute between the sixtieth and sixty-fifth minutes, but now it looked like he was going on at halftime.

Clearly, being one-nil down had made Ronald Koeman feel the urgency of the situation, worried that thirty minutes wouldn’t be enough to score three goals.

As he ran to the sidelines to warm up, Yang Yang came across the Real Madrid superstars walking off the pitch. He proactively greeted them, but the stars all looked listless. Zidane and Figo, in particular, looked haggard; they didn’t say a word and walked right past him.

As they brushed past, Yang Yang could hear their heavy, labored breathing.

As a player himself, Yang Yang was all too familiar with that kind of breathing. Combining that with their complexions, expressions, and reactions, he could be almost certain of one thing: the coaching staff’s pre-match analysis had been spot on. They wouldn’t be able to last the entire match.

In fact, if there were no halftime break, they would probably be collapsing already.

They had been busy with a money-making tour in Asia before the season, missing their window for stamina conditioning. After that, they lacked a good player rotation system. The La Liga media had even nicknamed Queiroz’s starting lineup ”The Twelve Arhats,” implying he only ever used the same twelve players.

It was already April; it was completely normal for their stamina to be failing at this point in the season.

Realizing this, Yang Yang was ecstatic. He immediately returned to the locker room, and upon pushing the door open, he saw head coach Ronald Koeman giving the team a pep talk. He immediately shared his discovery with the coach and his teammates.

”Really?” His teammates all looked stunned.

”One hundred percent,” Yang Yang replied with conviction.

A buzz of renewed excitement swept through the locker room.

Ronald Koeman gave Yang Yang a grateful look. Whether it was true or not, Yang Yang’s words had reignited the team’s morale.