I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 818: Chapter 62: 10 Players_3

For Barcelona, this was a match they had to win, but for Real Madrid, as long as they didn’t lose, it was already a victory.

After Chen Zhong finished celebrating, the referee blew the whistle to end the match.

In the end, the score between the two teams settled at 2:2.

The first of four clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona ended in a draw.

After the match, Messi’s actions sparked controversy when he kicked the ball towards the celebrating Real Madrid fans.

This act also made Pepe very dissatisfied.

Many media outlets reported on this after the game.

Mourinho had long been thinking about how to deal with Barcelona. He realized that against Barcelona, the team needed to strengthen the midfield. Mourinho viewed Xavi and Iniesta as the biggest threats. Against Barcelona, he instructed his players to suppress these two players’ outputs, especially to cut off their passing lines.

Mourinho racked his brains considering how to curb the performance of Barcelona’s two midfield maestros. To prepare for the match against Barcelona, Mourinho repeatedly watched last season’s Champions League semi-final first-leg where Inter won 3-1 against Barcelona. He believed Inter achieved victory because they nullified Xavi’s influence.

The ”30-million euro man” Pepe has performed well since joining Real Madrid; his speed, reaction, strength, positioning, heading, etc., are all top-tier. Whether playing as a defensive midfielder or a center-back, he can handle it competently.

Mourinho is very familiar with Pepe’s abilities. Back then, Mourinho poached Pepe from the Maritimo Team to Porto. Mourinho stated that two qualities of Pepe particularly attracted him: one is his strong physique, and the other is his accurate passing ability.

At the time, Pepe was playing as a defensive midfielder, but later Adriance transformed him into a center-back. It is this ”utility man” trait that endowed Pepe with strong comprehensive ability.

Mourinho was obviously satisfied with Pepe’s performance in the defensive midfielder position, so this time against Barcelona, Pepe appeared again in the defensive midfielder role. Marca considered this to be Mourinho imitating Barcelona, with Alonso competing against Xavi, Khedira sticking to Iniesta, and Pepe playing Busquets’ role.

After Albiol was sent off, Pepe briefly switched back to center-back, but Mourinho quickly arranged Alvaro to come on, reorganizing the defense, with Ramos playing center-back and Pepe remaining as the defensive midfielder.

Pepe was one of Real Madrid’s standout performers that night, accomplishing the tasks Mourinho assigned to him. In the defensive midfielder role, he greatly contributed to the team’s defense, succeeding especially in his defense against Messi. Even the Catalonia media admitted Messi ran into a moving wall named Pepe.

The Portuguese international has an excellent physique, allowing him to have an upper hand in physical confrontations with Messi. Moreover, even if Messi moved to the flank, Pepe could confidently stick to defense, ensuring Khedira and Alonso weren’t pulled away from the central defensive zone by Messi.

That is also why Messi was broken down at the last moment.

(Originally, Messi kicked the ball into the stands during the match. This was rewritten here to explain that I’m afraid someone might say I’m biased against Messi. Moreover, a new book has been released, and most issues with this book have already been corrected in the new book!)