I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 859: Chapter 81: Fight to the Death

Real Madrid’s performance in the first half set an embarrassing record.

Mourinho couldn’t sit still.

Although he couldn’t command the team directly on the field, he could communicate with them through other means, and in the locker room, Kalanca exchanged ideas with the players, with the arrangements for Chen Zhong being the most notable.

In the second half, Chen Zhong would not be constrained by defense but would participate more in the attack. The team planned to substitute Di Maria around the 70th minute, allowing Chen Zhong to play as the attacking midfielder.

Mourinho saw this through the big screen at the hotel.

Barcelona has matured now, thinking of limiting their passing and control through defense is simply wishful thinking.

The players from both teams returned to the field, and the fans of both teams in the stands continued to believe their team could reverse the score, with Real Madrid fans raising their arms high, striving for their team’s victory.

Guardiola looked toward the Real Madrid coaching area, his expression somewhat solemn.

Although Mourinho was banned from the match, with technology being so advanced now, it’s hard to determine whether he’s controlling the team remotely.

The second half started, with extreme Barcelona fans rushing onto the field intending to attack Cristiano Ronaldo and Chen Zhong, but were quickly restrained by security personnel!

”Fans rushing the field!”

”Seems like they want to do something irrational!”

”Quick security response!”

”This little episode ended quickly!”

The match continued, with Chen Zhong’s forward positioning in the second half helping Real Madrid stabilize the situation, and Messi, noticing Chen Zhong’s absence nearby, felt uneasy!

And this uneasiness quickly became reality!

”Real Madrid’s attack!”

”Passed to Chen Zhong!”

”Chen Zhong organizing the play!”

”Continuous passing!”

”Chen Zhong breaks through!”

”Passed to Ronaldo!”

This move by Chen Zhong clearly caught Barcelona off guard, as he promptly passed the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Portuguese, under Pique’s interference, sent the ball out!

Higuain’s positioning was excellent, receiving the ball and executing a one-on-one!

Facing Valdes, a composed push shot!

”Goal!”

”Higuain!”

”Scoring at this critical moment!”

”Real Madrid!”

”The score changed to 2:1”

”Real Madrid fans are visibly excited, but the referee blew the whistle!”

Just 3 minutes into the second half, Real Madrid got a chance for a counterattack, with Chen Zhong passing the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese advanced with the ball but was tripped by Pique, the ball landing at Higuain’s feet, with the Argentine beautifully shooting an arc to score in the far corner.

Everything was supposed to be perfect.

Just as Real Madrid fans celebrated the goal, the referee ruled the goal void, claiming Cristiano Ronaldo fell and collided with Mascherano from behind.

The referee deemed Cristiano Ronaldo’s foul as the initial offense.

However, Real Madrid fans were unsatisfied with this, including Mourinho at the hotel, who furiously shouted.

Because Ronaldo fell due to being tripped by Pique, the referee’s judgment was absolutely incorrect.

Fans also felt the referee’s decision was highly unjust, canceling Higuain’s goal and provoking Real Madrid’s anger.

If Higuain’s goal had stood, Real Madrid could have changed the score to 2:1; however, the goal was canceled, possibly causing psychological damage to Real Madrid.

Some even speculated a conspiracy.

After all, this was the last major European match officiated by the retiring referee, and some neutral fans believed Brickley’s officiating was controversial, his erroneous calls like grass swaying in the wind.

This ruling further triggered Real Madrid’s anger, with Casillas slapping his face to scold Brickley as ”shameless,” and even Cristiano Ronaldo muttered, ”Might as well just hand the trophy to Barcelona.”

This was Brickley’s 48th Champions League match, and his decision to invalidate Higuain’s goal especially angered Real Madrid since at the time Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked down by Pique.

Online, many football influencers were discussing this ruling, with one neutral blogger stating: ”Brickley’s cancellation of Higuain’s goal indeed affected the match, but the better team will still enter the final.”

And this was the majority opinion of neutral fans.

In fact, surrounding Higuain’s invalid goal, the biggest controversy was whether Cristiano Ronaldo’s fall causing Mascherano’s collision constituted a foul.

Most believed that in such a situation, either Pique should be penalized for the foul or the goal should be valid, as Pique’s foul was the initial offense, but neither matched Brickley’s method of canceling the goal without penalizing Pique.

In China, most fans also believed the referee’s cancellation of Higuain’s goal was wrong, with some sarcastically saying: ”Referee Brickley failed to see that Pique’s foul on Ronaldo was the cause of Ronaldo’s collision with Mascherano. Whenever in doubt, referees always favor Barcelona, harming Real Madrid’s interests. Perhaps even if Real Madrid signed Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta, they couldn’t defeat Barcelona.”