After Real Madrid intercepted the ball in midfield, they launched a quick counterattack.
Toni Kroos attempted a long pass directly into the penalty area.
Benzema used his body to shield Thiago Silva and managed to head the ball away.
The French center forward had Thiago Silva behind him and Varane next to him. Even if he turned around, he wouldn't get a chance to shoot.
The ball dropped to the right side of the box, where Di María controlled it and faced Bernat, who had tracked back in time to defend.
The Argentine paused briefly, then realized that Carvajal wasn't overlapping to support the attack.
This had been a consistent issue for Real Madrid in this match. Their full-backs were under heavy defensive pressure and were much more conservative with forward runs.
With no support, Di María had to take on Bernat one-on-one. He dribbled toward the byline, stopped suddenly, and tried to cut inside. But Bernat blocked him decisively, forcing Di María to protect the ball and retreat.
In the 60th minute, Modric replaced Verratti.
Immediately, Di María found a passing lane and played a one-touch pass back to Modric while trying to create space to make a run — either toward the byline or diagonally into the box.
Bernat followed Di María nervously.
He was one of Real Madrid's most dangerous players.
Modric received the ball just outside the right edge of the penalty area and deliberately paused.
Benzema, inside the box, understood immediately and began making a run toward the goal.
Almost simultaneously, Modric delivered a diagonal cross, not waiting for Pogba to close him down.
The chemistry between the two was perfect.
To everyone's surprise, Modric's pass wasn't aimed at Benzema. Instead, it sailed over the heads of Benzema, Thiago Silva, Varane, and the others, landing at the far post.
A white figure burst forward like lightning from behind the tall defenders and met the ball with a powerful header as it dropped.
Mbappé!
The header sent the ball just inside the left post of the goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!"
"In the 77th minute, Mbappé scores for Real Madrid!"
"My God, after trailing for over an hour, Real Madrid finally equalizes!"
"This is Real Madrid!"
"Full of resilience!"
"In critical moments, no team is calmer than Real Madrid."
"That's the confidence of the champions!"
"The game is back level. It's 1-1!"
...
In the stands, Gao Shen and the others couldn't help but rise from their seats and cheer for the goal.
It was beautiful!
It wasn't just the passing intention that confused PSG's defenders, but more importantly, the rhythm.
In fact, PSG's defenders were completely misled by Modric's tempo.
Everyone thought he was pausing to wait for Benzema.
In reality, he was waiting for Mbappé.
This created a fascinating moment. All the defenders focused on Benzema, who was visible in front of them, while they lost track of Mbappé, who was sneaking in behind them.
"The pause was so subtle. That's the mark of a true master," Ferguson praised.
"Exactly. If he was going to pass to Benzema, there'd have been no need to stop," Wenger added.
"But on the pitch, players don't have time to think that deeply. They see Modric pause, then Benzema start his run, and they all assume the ball is going to Benzema."
"That was a difficult ball. Without the right touch, there's no way it gets past Varane."
"No, it's because Modric knows Varane so well. He knew exactly where to put the ball so it would drop behind him."
"Absolutely brilliant!"
"He just gets stranger and stranger with age."
The group around Gao Shen discussed animatedly.
Everyone had absolute faith in Modric.
His skill was world-class, and his experience made him even more unpredictable.
More importantly, he was extremely disciplined and maintained a high level of performance year-round.
Since the second half began, Real Madrid had gradually overturned their disadvantage and started creating genuine threats.
The real turning point came when Modric entered the pitch.
"I don't know if you noticed, but Real Madrid's last attack was quite revealing," Gao Shen said.
Simeone and Pochettino, both active head coaches, immediately caught on.
"Second wave!"
Bingo.
Gao Shen gave a thumbs-up.
"I said in that conference years ago that tactics and technique would keep accelerating, and the efficiency of attacking transitions would become a priority."
This meant that as soon as the ball was won, the team with possession would transition from defense to attack, while the other side would have to go from attack to defense.
Whoever transitioned faster could create a time advantage and more danger.
And reality proved Gao Shen was right.
In recent years, transitions in European football had become increasingly rapid.
The perfect example was the attack just now. After winning the ball, Real Madrid launched a counter. Kroos sent a long pass to Benzema. Varane and Thiago Silva had already recovered. When Benzema headed to Di María, Bernat was also back in position.
Both teams had lightning-fast transitions.
But this also exposed a problem.
There's a limit to how fast a player can transition. Humans aren't machines.
When both teams are fast, or when most teams can transition quickly, what's the next level?
If your first fast counter fails, how do you immediately stop the ball, organize a second wave of attack, and exploit the opponent's disorganized defensive shape?
Real Madrid had just done exactly that.
PSG had executed a similar sequence earlier.
Modric played a key role in Real Madrid's second wave.
This showed that any team aiming for the top must be able to launch a second attack after a failed first strike.
The days of one-shot counterattacks like Klopp's Dortmund or Simeone's early Atletico are gone.
In this scenario, the role of the center forward becomes increasingly vital.
Because during a second attack, someone must hold the penalty area and pin the center-backs.
Just like Benzema held off Varane and Thiago Silva earlier.
If Benzema wasn't there, or couldn't hold the box, the center-backs would step forward, and Modric would have no target.
The Champions League final, to some extent, serves as a bellwether.
The greatest prophecies are always precise. This time would be no exception.
"So, are you backing Real Madrid?" Ferguson baited Gao Shen.
Gao Shen laughed and didn't answer directly.
It was difficult to predict the result of this match.
But PSG had burned too much energy in the first half. If the match went to extra time with the score at 1-1, it would definitely be to PSG's disadvantage.
...
And Gao Shen was right.
Both teams were well-drilled and evenly matched.
They both launched sharp, dangerous attacks.
Both managers made mistakes but corrected them quickly, which led to a deadlocked game where neither side had a clear upper hand. The players were also performing at a high level.
In the end, it was 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Tuchel and Zidane were prepared for this.
Tuchel brought on Marquinhos for Jorginho and Mazraoui for Kehrer near the end, reinforcing midfield protection and right-wing attack.
Modric's assist earlier had come from poor coverage in front of the penalty area.
Zidane made no further changes, with just one substitution so far — Modric for Verratti.
After extra time started, both teams continued to push forward.
The general tactics remained the same, with both sides using all their tools.
In the 95th minute, Zidane brought on Vázquez for Di María.
From the stands, Gao Shen shook his head and laughed.
"That's Zidane being sly."
"He's just wearing you down. When you're tired, he'll bring someone fresh to attack your weakest point."
Bernat was clearly exhausted, and now Vázquez was coming in to target that flank.
Zidane was playing his cards well. Real Madrid had the depth.
"Didn't you used to use this trick a lot?" Simeone teased.
Everyone laughed.
"Really?" Gao Shen shamelessly replied. "I forgot."
More laughter followed.
After all, if you're not embarrassed, it's others who feel awkward.
What makes this trick so effective?
The opponent knows it's coming, but can't stop it.
Tuchel quickly made a third substitution, replacing Bernat with Kurzawa to shore up the left side.
But during the substitution, Kurzawa hadn't yet adapted to the pace of the Champions League final. A moment of inattention allowed Vázquez and Carvajal to combine down the right, break into the box from the byline, and cut the ball back to the far edge of the six-yard box.
Benzema beat Thiago Silva to the ball and slotted it into PSG's net.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
"Real Madrid have turned it around!"
"In the first half of extra time, Benzema scored, giving Real Madrid the lead!"
"2-1!"
"Real Madrid held firm at the crucial moment. Benzema scored a brilliant goal, breaking through Navas's defense and putting Real Madrid on the path to another treble!"
"All the pressure is now on Paris Saint-Germain."
"Tuchel has used all three substitutions and must rely on the players on the pitch to respond."
PSG pushed forward frantically after conceding.
Everyone knew they needed a goal desperately in the final moments.
But at this stage, several players led by Neymar were running out of energy.
As Simeone had said earlier, they had started too aggressively.
It was already impressive that PSG lasted the full 90 minutes. Now, in extra time, it was even harder.
Their star players couldn't keep up, and their attacking threat declined significantly.
Faced with Real Madrid's pressure and counters, PSG couldn't turn the tide.
Real Madrid completed a comeback to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1!
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)