Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

The fans are cheering for their respective home teams, and with the whistle at the start of the match, both teams have begun an intense battle for a spot in the next round.

Lazio found themselves on the defensive right from the start, caught off guard by Real Madrid's pre-match smokescreen.

Although Real Madrid had the upper hand, Van Nistelrooy and Raul seemed out of form during this match. Even after getting the ball in dangerous areas, they couldn't even attempt a shot before Lazio's fierce tackles snatched the ball away.

However, Lazio's attempts at counterattacking weren't effective either.

"Lazio's captain Rocky receives the ball."

"He's on the left side of the field, attempting a through pass."

"The ball reaches Megni's feet but he fails to control it."

"Chen Zhong shoves Megni aside; this is the second time in this match that Chen Zhong has thwarted a Lazio attack in midfield."

With high defensive awareness and anticipation, Chen Zhong always manages to predict the opponent's passing direction first. Observing the opponent's overall physique, he doesn't risk interceptions.

Instead, he prefers to pressure the opponent with his body when they control the ball and then use his long legs to retrieve the ball.

Megni looked at Chen Zhong, his teeth grinding with anger, but even trying to hold back Chen Zhong with his hands was futile, as Chen Zhong charged forward like an unstoppable bull.

Apparently, Lazio had carefully studied Real Madrid; they didn't swarm Chen Zhong with multiple players but opted for a "drip" strategy, with just one defender greeting him.

Due to his large build, Chen Zhong isn't overly agile.

Chen Zhong didn't insist on outdribbling; instead, he passed the ball to the eager Marcelo nearby. Marcelo, upon receiving the ball, made a forward dribble, diagonally piercing through Lazio's central gap.

This move caught Lazio by surprise, but as an Italian team, they quickly regained their footing as Marcelo seemed about to be encircled.

Marcelo backheeled the ball gently, and without halting, Chen Zhong made a pass straight forward.

"Such a smooth collaboration."

"Such broad vision."

"Amidst Lazio's tight defense."

"Real Madrid still managed to find a decent opportunity."

"Chen Zhong delivered the ball to Robinho's feet."

After receiving the ball, Robinho, possibly feeling inspired or maybe impulsive, opted for a powerful low shot from about 20 meters away from the goal, with no defenders bothering him, trying to breach Lazio's goal.

Yet he didn't even make it into the penalty box before being blocked by a Lazio player.

Robinho looked over at Chen Zhong, delivering his first compliment of the day. Chen Zhong swung his arms left and right, seemingly asking, with that much space, why didn't you push forward and dribble past?

Robinho, seeing this, revealed a set of pearly whites, showing his innocent smile.

Marcelo, watching their interaction from the side, felt a bit jealous. Initially, he wanted to introduce Robinho to Chen Zhong, but Robinho walked away after just one glance.

Now behaving like this...

I was clearly here first.

Real Madrid's players were interacting on the field while Lazio's coach Rossi felt a bit panicked.

"Baptista, Chen."

"This could be a bit troublesome."

Rossi had thoroughly studied Real Madrid's style of play; previously, when Diara paired with Chen Zhong, Chen Zhong focused on offense while Diara on defense, which led to some defensive issues for Real Madrid.

However, with Chen Zhong paired with Baptista, Chen Zhong focused on defense while Baptista on offense, significantly stabilizing Real Madrid's defense.

But in today's match, when Chen Zhong advanced earlier, Baptista retreated. This implied that Real Madrid's tactics were no longer "limited," but rather more flexible.

Either player, whether holding the ball, could directly thrust forward.

Of course, it's also possible that Baptista is focusing on defense, but although Baptista initially debuted as a defensive midfielder, his defensive skills were not particularly impressive.

Rossi didn't believe Schuster would make such a foolish choice.

Originally, Schuster was quite cheerful, but the sudden news from Francisco immediately wiped the smile off his face.

"Olympiacos has taken the lead."

"They're leading Werder Bremen 1-0 at home."

"What?" Schuster's smile turned serious instantly. If Olympiacos won against Werder Bremen, it meant they secured a spot in the next round, implying Real Madrid had to defeat Lazio to advance.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Rossi obviously received the news from his assistant coach. He stood at the sideline, shouting players' names, while Lazio fans in the stands began cheering fervently.

The competition between the two teams suddenly became intense, with no prelude, directly starting to attack each other.

Lazio made a left-side through pass while Real Madrid countered with a right-side attack; then Lazio countered on the right, and Real Madrid made a left-side through pass.

Gradually, Lazio seemed to avoid Real Madrid's central area, but Real Madrid began to focus on Lazio's central area. Online, some fans were even shouting, "Master Madrid, cut through their middle."

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