I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Some Real Madrid fans were ecstatic, wanting the team to play ”Tiki-Taka” and believing they were the authentic ones, hoping the team could follow the Spanish and youth training path.

Even in faraway China, some began to support this claim.

However, some Real Madrid fans thought this was a conspiracy by Barcelona to draw Real Madrid into their favored domain.

But in any case, it shouldn’t be the 4-2-2-2 formation that Pellegrini is playing now.

Especially since Pellegrini’s 4-2-2-2 formation, as shown in friendly matches and training, looks more like a defensive counterattack, unlike what the France Team or Brazil Team used to play.

His style is clearly Fernando Riera’s.

Why is there such a ”mediocre” idea?

Pellegrini’s 4-2-2-2 tactics have fatal weaknesses and flaws. In the attacking end, Real Madrid lacks wide assault and depth breakthrough capabilities, while on defense, Real Madrid’s flanks become a major issue.

This is not a durable tactic, especially since Real Madrid clearly has excellent flanks and an outstanding midfield.

Day by day, Pellegrini is still polishing his 4-2-2-2 system, and Real Madrid is becoming more adept at using the team’s tactics.

Pellegrini pairs two forwards from Cristiano Ronaldo, Negredo, Benzema, and Higuain, while the number 10 position is filled by players like Kaka, Granero, Pirlo, or Baptista.

The team’s attacking width is provided by Marcelo and Alvaro Arbeloa (or Sergio Ramos) as overlapping right-backs.

Chen Zhong and Alonso will become the team’s double pivots.

It was at this time that Barcelona won two more titles.

On August 16, 2009, in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, they won 2-1 away against Athletic Bilbao, the runners-up of the 2008-2009 King’s Cup.

On August 23, in the second leg, they won 3-0 at home, taking the title with a total score of 5-1 over two legs.

Barcelona’s ”Quadruple” title was being celebrated by fans online.

And soon, on the eve of the opening match of the La Liga first round.

On August 29, 2009, Barcelona won the European Super Cup by defeating Milan, the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup champion, 3-0.

The recently coached Milan had almost no room to fight back against Barcelona, and after the match, there were rumors that Beckham was considering retirement, but this was quickly denied.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid also claimed the Bernabeu Cup champion for the 20th time, starting the new season on a positive note.

Before this match started, Real Madrid held a welcome ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for players like Pirlo, Alonso, and Arbeloa.

The opponent for this match was Rosenborg, and Real Madrid demonstrated outstanding form in this match.

Negredo completed a hat-trick, Benzema scored, Chen Zhong scored a goal through a corner kick, and Pirlo scored a direct free-kick goal.

In this match, Real Madrid won 6-0 against Rosenborg.

This led many fans to jokingly call this a ”friendship-ending match,” implying that after calling Rosenborg, they would never come again.

And after the match, the media also gave a rare high evaluation with praise for Negredo, Benzema, Chen Zhong, and Pirlo, and C. Ronaldo was also commended.

Although in Real Madrid’s warm-up matches, C. Ronaldo hadn’t scored yet, his three assists in this match proved his contribution to the team.

The day after winning the Bernabeu Cup for the 20th time, on August 28th, the group stage draw for the 09-10 Champions League was also revealed.

Real Madrid was placed in Group C, with opponents including Milan, Marseille, and Zurich.

From a strength perspective, Real Madrid taking the top spot in the group seems almost certain, with Milan and Marseille launching attacks for the second place in the group.

This summer, Milan has already entered a rebuilding phase.

Additionally, the departure of their legendary coach Ancelotti, the departures of Kaka and Pirlo, and Ronaldinho’s return to nightlife made Milan fans wear pained expressions.

Milan is also jokingly referred to by many fans as the weakest team among the first-tier teams.

However, fortunately, with Raul and Guti joining, they had a 5-1 victory in the first round of the Serie A league, and it seems that this season, as long as the coach can adjust well, they still have a chance to win the league title.

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The first round of the La Liga, the opening game.

The pre-game media hype had already started fermenting, with Real Madrid and Barcelona traditionally being the wind vanes of the La Liga, and among them, topics around Real Madrid would be even more in focus.

However, Barcelona was also very successful.

Because in recent years, especially last year, after Guardiola led Barcelona to win the ”Triple Crown,” many new fans or those unfamiliar with La Liga have regarded Barcelona as being on the same level as Real Madrid.

Perhaps, this is Barcelona’s greatest achievement!

Time quickly moved to match day, and at this critical moment, Pellegrini seemed to be a bit ”cautious” again.

He didn’t choose to set up the usual 4-2-2-2 formation, but instead opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, seemingly looking for more stability.