Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

”Chelsea’s starting players have entered the game very quickly today! This fast counterattack was quite threatening! It’s a pity they’re up against a red-hot Navas.”

”Navas playing so well is great news for Real Madrid, but their midfielders, especially the defensive ones, need to be more alert! They really can’t just let Chelsea counterattack like that! Hazard was just a bit unlucky not to break the deadlock earlier...”

”Yeah, when Hazard hit that shot, I thought it was going in! I didn’t expect Navas to perform so brilliantly! Ancelotti might also need to rethink the attacking rhythm. Chelsea’s greatest strength is precisely their rapid counterattacks, and yet Madrid are pressing so high — I don’t think that’s smart.”

In the LeSports TV studio, the golden commentary duo of Zhan Jun and Coach Zhang shared their views on Chelsea’s counterattack that just pierced Real Madrid’s defense.

Right now, Real Madrid appeared to dominate the game on the field, constantly launching attacks against Chelsea’s defense.

Yet, their overall attacking threat was less dangerous than Chelsea’s counterattacks.

It seemed that Real Madrid’s attempt to control the tempo had backfired, playing directly into Chelsea’s hands.

Ancelotti naturally bore the responsibility for this early tactical failure.

However, Ancelotti was also highly capable of making in-game adjustments.

Sensing the match slipping away, he quickly conferred with his assistant coaches, then briskly walked to the sideline and called over Modric to deliver new tactical instructions.

Li Ang noticed this and immediately gestured to Kroos beside him:

”Look, Luka (Modric) is dropping back into a defensive midfield role. We can press forward and seize the tempo! Push them out of our half.”

Li Ang spoke with certainty, and Kroos had no doubts.

From Kroos’ perspective, Ancelotti’s only good adjustment option was to have Modric drop back to cover more defensively.

Surely they wouldn’t have James Rodríguez, starting as an attacking midfielder today, retreat to a box-to-box role to help defend?

James’ playing style was that of a classical number ten — powerful shooting, excellent long-range ability, and capable of delivering threatening passes in the final third.

Ancelotti had a history of effectively using classic number tens during his time at Milan.

But in a heavyweight clash like today’s, James’ lack of defensive coverage and limited mobility across the midfield would be painfully exposed.

Modern football demanded high mobility, physical confrontations, and balanced offense and defense.

The stronger the team, the more they emphasized these fundamentals.

Against weaker teams, having one or two forwards who didn’t defend much was acceptable because the technical gap could compensate.

But in battles between strong teams, there was no obvious technical superiority.

If you had one or two players who didn’t track back aggressively, it could cost you dearly!

James’ technical characteristics and habits made him unsuitable for wide or deeper midfield roles.

As for improving his defensive work rate and tactical discipline, that would take time.

James could adapt eventually, but asking him to switch immediately mid-match was unrealistic.

Thus, if Ancelotti didn’t want to substitute James directly, he had no choice but to sacrifice Modric.

From this, it was clear that in Ancelotti’s mind, James currently had a higher tactical priority than Modric.

Li Ang, no longer a Real Madrid player, couldn’t comment publicly — but he could make a statement with his performance on the pitch:

Modric could be the true core of any team in today’s football world.

It wasn’t that James wasn’t good, but Modric’s tactical value far transcended individual statistics.

Asking him to drop back and play purely defensive midfield?

It was a complete waste of his abilities!

Ancelotti made his adjustment, and immediately Li Ang led Chelsea’s midfielders in pushing forward to fight for control.

With Modric deeper and James unable to provide sufficient support, Real Madrid had to abandon their plan of organizing attacks in Chelsea’s half.

As a result, the pressure on Chelsea’s backline was significantly reduced.

Although Chelsea didn’t immediately regain possession, Real Madrid could no longer cross the halfway line freely and besiege them.

Real Madrid’s attempt to dominate the early phase failed, and the match entered a phase of strategic stalemate.

However, even after weathering Real Madrid’s storm, Chelsea’s players didn’t recklessly press high.

On the contrary, they remained cautious in their probing.

They pressed forward, but not too aggressively — in short, Chelsea still preferred to play reactively in heavyweight matches.

This tactical preference wasn’t necessarily good or bad, but psychologically, Chelsea’s starting players had the patience needed.

They had the composure, but Real Madrid, accustomed to playing more proactive, free-flowing football in recent seasons, clearly did not want to keep dragging it out.

For Li Ang and Mourinho, this version of Real Madrid was very unfamiliar.

Occasionally, quick counterattacks linking Modric, James, and Ronaldo might evoke memories of the old Mourinho-era Real Madrid.

But fundamentally, this was a different team.

Their defensive patience was gone, replaced by a burning desire to attack proactively.

Mourinho and Li Ang had no time for sentimentality. They had an immediate, instinctive reaction:

They had to exploit this new tactical tendency!

Against an opponent like this, as long as their own defense could withstand repeated assaults, Chelsea could always control the tactical initiative.

This reminded Li Ang of those battles against Bayern Munich back in his Real Madrid days.

At that time, Real Madrid were like today’s Chelsea: defensively unbreakable and devastating on the counterattack.

Whereas today’s Real Madrid were like those Bayern teams — balanced offensively and defensively, but inherently aggressive and attack-minded.

Thus, Real Madrid’s tactical baseline was easy to predict:

They would continue attacking. They wouldn’t suddenly sit back and play pure counterattack football — it was almost impossible.

Under Mourinho, both Real Madrid and Chelsea had been tactical chameleons.

Tactical baseline?

That concept simply didn’t exist for Mourinho’s teams.

Chelsea could engage in thrilling end-to-end battles in the first 15 minutes.

Then, without hesitation, they could park the bus and grind down opponents for the remaining 75 minutes.

Such drastic tactical switches were now second nature to Chelsea’s players.

After more than two seasons of refinement, there were no longer any issues of tactical disunity on the pitch.

Winning was the only goal.

How they won — whether it was with beautiful or ugly football — didn’t matter to Chelsea.

What mattered was lifting the trophy.

With this mentality, as soon as Chelsea’s players on the pitch noticed that Real Madrid, after settling down for a while, were getting restless again, they very tacitly chose to tighten their formation once more.

This cautious and conservative tactical stance made many of Real Madrid’s senior players feel something was wrong.

Li Ang and Mourinho understood them well, and conversely, they also knew Mourinho and Li Ang very well.

After all, they had once fought side by side, defeating countless strong teams and using many ”dirty tricks” together.

They were well aware of how strong Mourinho’s in-game adjustment ability was.

But despite their vigilance, now that Chelsea had voluntarily relinquished control of the match, the veteran players could endure it — but the new teammates and coach Ancelotti might not be so patient!

Sure enough, while these veterans who had worked with Mourinho were still hesitating, Ancelotti issued new tactical instructions, urging the whole team to press higher up again!

Bale and James Rodríguez were particularly impatient; they didn’t like playing stagnant football with Chelsea.

As forwards starting for Real Madrid, they naturally wanted to save their energy for offense — defending felt like a complete waste to them.

Thus, once Ancelotti gave the order, they responded eagerly.

Cristiano Ronaldo scratched his head at the front. He felt a bit uneasy but ultimately said nothing.

After all, an attacking Real Madrid was to his benefit too — asking him to constantly drop back and defend wasn’t something he liked either.

Marcelo, behind him, held the same view.

With a push and a pull, even the more senior players on the field aligned themselves tactically, and once again, they launched a major offensive against Chelsea.

At the Bernabéu, a wave of thunderous cheers and chants erupted once more.

This kind of beautiful attacking football was exactly what Real Madrid fans loved to see.

Perhaps this was one of the key reasons Ancelotti had not been dismissed by the Real Madrid management last season.

Ancelotti was smart — he had led Real Madrid to play their most fluid, visually pleasing attacking football in recent years.

Although he had only won a Copa del Rey so far, the Real Madrid hierarchy and most fans were still willing to trust him, generously giving him more time.

However, today, Real Madrid’s aggressive offense struggled to break through.

Whether it was the opening burst or the renewed offensive wave, against Chelsea’s compact and hardened defense, it all looked rather impressive but lacked substance.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale, without much space for sprints, could only rely on more frequent movement and passing to try and pull apart Chelsea’s backline.

But Benzema, who usually served as a tactical shield for them, was now being tightly marked by Li Ang and Matic in rotation, rendering him ineffective.

Unable to easily get into Chelsea’s box for point-blank finishes, Ronaldo and Bale could only resort to taking turns shooting from the edge of Chelsea’s defensive third.

Their long-range shooting ability was, of course, formidable.

But today, Oblak was in excellent form, consistently securing their powerful shots with calm composure.

Over the past two seasons, Chelsea’s reputation for formidable defense had spread throughout European football.

Still, since Real Madrid had not faced Chelsea in the Champions League, many Madrid fans thought English media were exaggerating Chelsea’s strength.

After today’s match, though, most Real Madrid fans would likely have to admit that Chelsea’s defensive level was indeed the best in Europe!

You simply couldn’t deny it — even against Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid hadn’t suffered this much!

Nearly 30 minutes into the first half, and Real Madrid had yet to register a legitimate shot inside Chelsea’s box!

Sure, the shot count looked high, but most were from long-range efforts or forced attempts after Ronaldo cut inside from the wing.

Whether they were truly threatening — the fans watching the match knew the answer.

As the prolonged attacking efforts failed to bear fruit, the tens of thousands of fans at the Bernabéu grew increasingly restless.

At the 31st minute, Ancelotti was still observing the game, planning to reassess at the 35-minute mark.

But an overly impatient through ball from James Rodríguez gave Chelsea a golden opportunity for transition!

The pass failed to bypass Matic’s interception — the Serb stretched his long leg out, cutting off the ball and immediately passing it to Li Ang, who had dropped back to support.

Li Ang didn’t even bother turning; with his back to goal, he swept the ball cleanly towards the flank!

Both James and Modric, trying to close him down, missed completely!

Bertrand, once again trusted with a starting spot today, didn’t dare to get fancy — he sprinted forward at full speed after receiving Li Ang’s pass.

Meanwhile, several key players from Chelsea’s midfield and attack simultaneously broke forward.

Li Ang deliberately ran toward the right midfield area, drawing away the defensive attention of Real Madrid’s midfield and backline.

This allowed Kroos to receive Bertrand’s lateral pass smoothly in the left midfield zone.

Casemiro hesitated, unsure if Kroos would carry the ball forward.

Instead, Kroos raised his arm and delivered a sweeping diagonal long pass across the field!

But he didn’t aim for Chelsea’s most threatening counterattacker Hazard, nor did he look for Suarez with a direct lofted ball — instead, he found De Bruyne, who was making a parallel run with Li Ang!

De Bruyne’s movement was brilliant, hugging the sideline and avoiding Marcelo’s defensive zone entirely.

After controlling the ball, he made a feint with quick small steps to suggest an inside dribble, but then smartly laid it back down the wing!

Azpilicueta, overlapping rapidly, surged straight toward Real Madrid’s byline!

However, Ramos and Pepe remained very composed. They didn’t leave their zones but instead quickly retreated into the penalty area.

”I’ll mark Suarez! You cover Li Ang!”

Ramos barked instructions, and Pepe nodded in agreement.

But just when they thought Chelsea’s counterattack would end with a predictable cross...

Azpilicueta delivered a low cut-back toward the edge of the box!

Suarez, who had slowed his run slightly earlier, was perfectly positioned, holding off Ramos, and delicately back-heeled the ball into the center!

This stunning assist left countless fans watching on TV completely enthralled!

And there — surging in at high speed, having shaken off Pepe’s marking — was Li Ang, striking the ball with a firm side-foot shot!

Navas instinctively dove toward the near post!

But he was completely fooled by Li Ang’s subtle adjustment in the run-up!

Li Ang once again shot toward the center of the goal!

The ball crossed the line without suspense and slammed into the net!

Chelsea’s traveling fans at the Bernabéu exploded into wild celebrations!

Yet Li Ang simply pressed his lips together, lifted his hands slightly, and stopped near the endline of Real Madrid’s half.

Facing Real Madrid, he chose not to celebrate.

It was his way of showing respect to the club and the fans who once supported him.

But while he refrained, his Chelsea teammates certainly did not.

They all swarmed Li Ang, hugging him tightly, shouting and laughing with joy.

In the LeSports TV studio, after passionately celebrating Li Ang’s goal, Zhan Jun and Coach Zhang couldn’t help but sigh emotionally:

”When we see Li Ang, now representing the opposition, scoring at the Bernabéu, one has to wonder — can the Madridistas still hold on?”

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