"Here we are live with the second leg of the 07-08 season UEFA Champions League round of 16."
"Wearing white jerseys are Real Madrid, and in black jerseys is Roma."
"In recent years' group stages, Real Madrid and Roma have had quite a few clashes."
"In 2002, Real Madrid defeated Roma 3-0 away; in 2004, Real Madrid won 4-2 at home against Roma and again 3-0 away."
"In the recent history of encounters, Real Madrid clearly holds the upper hand."
"In the last match, Real Madrid drew 2-2 with Roma."
"With two away goals in hand, Real Madrid is favored to advance to the next round."
"Let's take another look at the starting lineups. For this match, Real Madrid is employing the 442 formation, while Rome is using the 4231 formation..."
Amid the introductions, players from both teams gradually entered the field, while Merengue fans and Roma supporters created a vigorous atmosphere in the stands.
At the start, Real Madrid clearly adopted an offensive stance, whereas Roma took a defensive approach.
Spalletti used tough talk before the match, but upon arriving at the Bernabeu facing Real Madrid, he still opted for a 'defensive counterattack' strategy.
"Knew you'd do that!"
Schuster squinted slightly, already having calculated in his mind. In this match, Real Madrid's forward line features the pairing of Raul and Soldado, with the midfield from left to right being Robinho, Baptista, Chen Zhong, Guti, the defense consists of Heinze, Cannavaro, Pepe, Sergado, and the goalkeeper is Casillas.
In this match, Real Madrid uses the 442 formation only during defense, with Guti moving to a side midfielder position.
During offense, they're more like a 433 formation.
Soldado is in the center in the front, Robinho and Raul are to the left and right, midfield has Baptista, Chen Zhong focusing on defensive duties, while Guti becomes the team's playmaking core.
Schuster's approach is simple and straightforward.
No matter what plans you have, here at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, at our home ground, I will break you by force.
"Raul."
"Very skillful forward insertion."
"Real Madrid's offensives are extremely fierce."
"Juan, a beautiful tackle."
Spalletti clenched his fist, with occasional signs of tension appearing in his eyes.
Real Madrid's offensive investment and suppression of Rome far exceeded his expectations; he could only cheer from the sidelines, urging them to play even more aggressively.
Indeed, it did have some effect.
Raul was very active on the front line, but Juan, marking him, directly used three tackles to disrupt Raul's momentum.
"Cicinho!"
"Dribbling breakthrough on the flank."
"Passing inward."
"Totti."
"Chen Zhong!"
"Ha~ The Wolf King messed up the kick!"
By the 11th minute, Roma finally secured a chance to counterattack. Cicinho, who previously warmed up and trained in practice games with Chen Zhong and others, showed a good performance.
He took the ball, broke through on the flank, drawing Real Madrid players' attention, then suddenly passed accurately to Totti's feet.
Luckily, Chen Zhong had long anticipated Cicinho's passing route, positioning himself early to disrupt Totti.
The Wolf King Totti glanced at Chen Zhong, his brows furrowing into a shape resembling the Chinese character 川, as if saying with his eyes, "Why is it you again, kid."
In the last confrontation between the two teams, Chen Zhong stuck to Totti like gum, tormenting him greatly. Now...
Here he comes again.
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Spalletti saw this scene from the sidelines, furrowing his brows, unable to resist glancing at Mirko Vucinic on the bench.
This Montenegrin striker caught Real Madrid's eye during the winter transfer window, but his club didn't agree due to their grand plans.
Spalletti considered Vucinic a secret weapon to change the course of the match, possessing excellent physique and decent foot skills.
Most importantly, he often delivered impressive performances when facing strong teams.
"No, not the time yet."
Spalletti withdrew his gaze; Roma wasn't at a disadvantage on the field, though Real Madrid controlled the midfield, they found it hard to threaten Rome's goal.
"Whoa!"
"That's a rather reckless move."
"Robinho's straight pass was intercepted by De Rossi."
"De Rossi sent the ball to the flank, Heinze made a flying tackle, tripping the opponent."
"Finally, the referee is willing to show the first yellow card of the match."
Heinze wanted to shout, questioning the referee why they didn't get carded, despite Rome's numerous tackles, yet now that I've done just one, you gave a card?
The Merengue in the stands also expressed their displeasure with the referee with jeering.
The match progressed for 15 minutes, with Roma using one dirty foul after another and tackling, breaking the game into fragments. Not that the referee couldn't issue a yellow card, but the first one not being given to the dirty Roma leaves people frustrated.
Raul immediately ran over to restrain Heinze. As the team captain, Raul had to take charge in such situations, while Chen Zhong calmed down the teammate's emotions, encouraging them to ignore Roma's provocations.
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.