"Another effective dribble and breakthrough from Suker on the left wing. The moment Real Madrid decided to exert pressure, they maximized their efforts on the left wing, with everyone coordinating their actions with Suker. Chelsea, however, did not handle this particularly well; they failed to contain Suker immediately. Once Suker got the ball moving, the situation became very serious."
"The current situation is very unfavorable for Chelsea. Playing at home, they must perform better, at the very least, they need to put some pressure on Real Madrid. But so far, both the front and midfield positions have not performed well enough!"
Spanish commentator González analyzed the match, stating that Suker's goal was not unexpected for him.
Although Suker has primarily taken on the role of a decoy since the start of this season, it does not mean that Suker's threat has diminished.
If one relaxes their defense against Suker because of this, they will suffer greatly.
Chelsea's defense was not exactly relaxed; it was just that Oscar was currently unable to form a good defensive linkage with his other teammates.
Everyone was well aware of Mourinho's expectations, and they knew how Mourinho wanted Oscar to play.
Even Oscar himself understood this, but the problem was that it was not an easy task.
Besides Oscar, Azpilicueta also looked annoyed.
He knew what Suker wanted to do, and he knew how Suker would do it.
But the problem was that he couldn't defend him, and he couldn't keep up!
Suker's footwork and body agility were extremely quick; just like his continuous feints earlier, if you don't follow, you'll be beaten, and if you follow too closely, you'll still be beaten.
Sometimes there's just no way, unless you foul.
But the problem is, once he gets a yellow card for a foul, Suker will continuously attack his side of the field.
There have been many players who, after getting a yellow card, were further provoked by Suker into getting a red card and being sent off!
Of course, the main problem this time was that Oscar didn't keep up with Suker.
Unable to form an effective two-on-one situation, Azpilicueta also remained silent, knowing someone else would take the blame!
Compared to Chelsea, Real Madrid was much happier.
Suker's goal instantly opened up the game.
Especially based on this goal, they would have more room for strategic play in the match.
An away leading goal, this was a very crucial matter.
"Well done!"
Kaka high-fived Suker with force.
Kaka had a brilliant smile on his face.
He was well aware of his good friend's abilities; as long as Suker said he was going to exert pressure, then all he needed was full support.
Suker would solve all other problems, just like this goal.
"Chelsea's counterattack is coming, don't be careless!"
Suker still reminded them.
He knew that everyone was happy at this moment, but some things needed to be said.
He certainly didn't want to be eliminated from the Champions League like last season.
Moreover, Real Madrid had just completed a tactical system transformation this season and was still consolidating, so a stable match situation was even more necessary.
Kaka, Kroos, and others all nodded in agreement.
As midfielders, they had an obligation to stabilize the situation.
Furthermore, Suker had already helped them take the lead, making other matters much easier.
Chelsea players returned to the center circle to prepare for the kickoff.
Eto'o stood in the center circle, his gaze becoming serious.
The African Leopard was no longer at his peak; he couldn't run like he did when he was young, but his ability was still very strong.
At Chelsea, Eto'o had to yield resources to Hazard, but at the same time, he was another major breakthrough point when Hazard was targeted.
"Look for an opportunity to pass me a through ball!"
Eto'o found Oscar and said.
Oscar's passing ability was excellent, and Eto'o trusted him completely in this regard.
As long as Oscar delivered the ball to the right position, Eto'o could then utilize his strengths.
Meanwhile, in Real Madrid's half, Srna was also closely watching Eto'o.
After a moment, Srna approached Ramos and said proactively:
"I will continue to restrict Hazard. Once Hazard drops back, I will follow him, and some space will appear behind me."
Ramos immediately nodded: "I will be careful of Eto'o!"
Some things didn't need to be said much; as old partners, Ramos naturally understood.
Srna also nodded and returned to his defensive position.
Soon, the match resumed.
"Chelsea kicks off again. After Suker scored and Real Madrid took the lead, will Chelsea still play passively defensively?"
And so it was!
Mourinho still did not actively make the team play offensively.
Watching Chelsea play passively on the field, Zidane couldn't help but tilt his head and say: "I remember the old Mourinho, although he also focused on defense, he didn't put everything on defense to this extent. During his time at Porto and when he first joined Chelsea, his tactical characteristics were still very distinct; he wouldn't just defend, sometimes he would also increase the intensity of the attack! But now... why does it feel like they're playing in an Italy style?"
Ancelotti couldn't help but grin: "Italy's football style is indeed primarily defensive, but they wouldn't play this passively. I feel Mourinho has combined his own tactical philosophy with the Italian chain defense system."
"In fact, Chelsea's tactics are not too problematic; it's just that Mourinho's tactics rely on a top-tier defensive line!"
"It's not that Chelsea's defensive line isn't strong enough, but when facing us, they do become very passive."
"Chelsea's counterattacks start from the back; the Goalkeeper, center-backs, and full-backs can all be the starting point of a counterattack. If this starting point is stable, then Chelsea can gain continuous momentum, repeatedly impacting our defense, and Hazard wouldn't play so uncomfortably!"
"But the current problem is that Chelsea's defensive line cannot hold the ball. Whenever Suker and our forwards approach, they can't wait to kick the ball as far away from the goal as possible, which also leads to confusion at the starting point of the counterattack. This is like stacking blocks; if the initial base has a problem, you can't stack the blocks high and stable!"
Mourinho stared intently at the field, his brows furrowed, his expression serious.
The situation was somewhat slipping out of his control!
Suker, Benzema, and Di Maria, the Real Madrid frontline he had personally built, were wantonly invading Chelsea's defensive line.
David Luiz, as a center-back, did not have the most exquisite defensive ability, but his ability to initiate attacks and distribute the ball was excellent.
But the problem was, the current David Luiz couldn't utilize these characteristics at all!
His strength was passing the ball forward, but he couldn't get the ball out and was constantly being interfered with.
This forced him into a defensive mode that he wasn't particularly strong in, which in turn meant that Cahill, as the covering center-back, had to constantly cover for David Luiz and clean up his messes.
It could be said that Chelsea's current defensive line was purely relying on Cahill to hold it together.
Once Cahill couldn't hold on, Chelsea's defense would collapse!
Mourinho's face showed difficulty.
In fact, the best center-back pairing should have been Cahill with Terry, using David Luiz as a surprise player.
But Terry was currently injured, which was Mourinho's A helpless move.
"Hold steady!" Mourinho roared again.
David Luiz was under immense pressure; whenever he had the ball, Real Madrid players would quickly press him.
He didn't even have time to look up and observe, but as a ball-playing center-back, he needed to pass the ball steadily to Oscar or other midfielders.
Lampard would also drop back, and at that moment, he would feel a little more relaxed.
But once Lampard and his passing channels were blocked, he could only pass to the sides, and he still risked being intercepted.
Bang!
Lampard passed back.
After David Luiz received the ball, he subconsciously looked up at Lampard.
Lampard had indeed dropped back to receive the pass.
But Benzema's positioning was tricky; he made an arc, precisely blocking the passing channel between him and Lampard.
At this point, David Luiz could only pass to the sides. Although Cahill was still behind him, if a problem arose after a back pass, it would be disastrous.
David Luiz pulled the ball, turned his body, and distributed it to the right wing.
He didn't even know why he subconsciously turned to the right wing; perhaps it was because Suker wasn't there!
Yes!
Suker was not on the right wing!
But Di Maria was.
The moment David Luiz passed the ball, Di Maria quickly burst forward, charging towards Ivanović.
"David Luiz, that was a dangerous pass!"
After David Luiz made the pass, he had a belated realization, watching Di Maria's sprinting figure, his hair standing on end.
"Danger!!—"
David Luiz practically screamed.
But he despairingly found that Ivanović failed to shield the ball in time, and Di Maria poked the ball forward right in front of Ivanović.
"Di Maria intercepts! Real Madrid's counterattack!"
After intercepting the ball, Di Maria immediately sprinted forward to chase it.
At the same time, he also turned his head to look at the penalty area.
Chelsea and Real Madrid players split into two groups, charging into the penalty area.
Benzema, Cahill, and David Luiz were naturally in the first wave, charging towards the center.
However, Di Maria did not choose to pass to Benzema; as he approached the ball, Di Maria fiercely twisted his waist and crossed, letting his body fly out of bounds after the pass, but his eyes remained fixed on the ball.
The cross wasn't particularly good, without much curve, but Suker had already jumped!
Thump! Thump! Thump!!—
As Suker entered the penalty area, he adjusted his steps, and after his third stride, he pushed off with his left leg, power surging upwards from his legs, driven by his core, continuing to rise.
His entire body sprang high into the air, like a bomber soaring over Stamford Bridge!
Stamford Bridge was silent, all Chelsea fans looking up in horror at Suker in the air.
Suker's body shifted horizontally in the air, his eyes fixed on the ball.
His hands moved slightly to maintain balance, his core remaining taut, which allowed his hang time to be even better.
Suker jumped very high, so much so that he had to slightly bend his head forward to head the ball.
At the same time, Cahill, David Luiz, and others could only look up at this scene, helpless.
On the sidelines, Mourinho suddenly looked up the moment Suker jumped.
"It's over!"
Sure enough, the next second, the small number of Real Madrid fans in the stadium had already begun to erupt.
Mourinho closed his eyes; the moment Suker jumped, he knew the tactical setup had lost its effectiveness.
Two goals down in the first half, and the opponent wasn't a pushover team that could be easily turned around.
This was too difficult!
Hoo~~~
Mourinho slowly exhaled, but no matter how difficult, he had to face it.
He lightly patted his cheeks, forcing himself to rally his spirits.
On the field, Suker had already rushed to the corner flag for a knee-slide celebration, with more and more Real Madrid players joining in.
Di Maria even excitedly tackled Suker.
"How was my pass?"
"Great! Your interception was also great!"
Suker praised him, which made Di Maria even happier.
"I also think my interception was great, my timing was perfect!"
Di Maria said proudly.
Benzema shrugged beside them: "Isn't anyone going to praise me? If I hadn't pressured David Luiz, he wouldn't have made that errant pass!"
Suker turned his head: "I'll get you a goal later!"
Benzema immediately gave a thumbs up: "Alright!"
With a two-goal lead and only 5 minutes left in the first half, it could be said that Real Madrid had secured a significant lead; while not completely safe, it was close.
For the remaining time, as long as there weren't major issues, they could adopt a defensive stance, counter-attacking appropriately, and safely see out the first half.
At that point, they would enter the second half with a two-goal lead, and the situation would be even more favorable.
Chelsea looked somewhat deflated.
Especially with only five minutes left in the match, they really couldn't muster much enthusiasm.
Suker turned to look at Lampard.
The 'Divine Lamp' was also getting old; although he was still running diligently, it was clear that he was willing but unable.
Though he still wanted to fight for it!
Though he still wanted to try shooting!
Compared to his fighting spirit, his body was somewhat unable to keep up.
Hazard was the most dangerous.
But this guy was completely marked out by Real Madrid from start to finish, almost unable to move.
Oscar had a brilliant performance, but his form had just heated up before Mourinho shouted him down!
So, some people have high-demand personalities; simply applying pressure doesn't necessarily lead to better results.
For the next five minutes, the overall tempo also slowed down.
Although Chelsea orchestrated a few attacks, these attacks looked intimidating but were actually full of holes.
The overall cohesion was lacking; they were almost all playing individually, making them incredibly easy to defend.
Suker understood these guys' desire to score, but playing like this wouldn't create better opportunities.
Finally, the whistle blew, and the first half ended.
"It's halftime, and after the first half, Real Madrid is currently leading 2-0, with Suker scoring both goals, making him the best-performing player so far."
"Many people expected a great performance from Suker before the match, and he did not disappoint the fans. I believe that as the competition becomes more intense, Suker will deliver even more outstanding performances."
"As for Chelsea, they must make some adjustments, at the very least, they need to free up Hazard; they cannot let Real Madrid continue to target him like this!"
González couldn't help but shake his head.
Not all players are Suker; when facing concentrated tactical targeting, the performance of many usually strong players will be greatly reduced.
Hazard is certainly excellent, but his ability has not yet reached Suker's level.
Facing Real Madrid's overall tactical targeting, he couldn't shake off the defense, and naturally, he couldn't create threats.
González understood Mourinho, after all, he had played with this 'big gun' attribute at Real Madrid, and it was a super 'big gun,' hitting the mark every time.
Pass the ball to Suker, and the rest was just watching the show.
This simple template for tactics was used to its extreme by Mourinho.
But when he tried to emulate this at Chelsea, he found that nothing was right.
Firstly, without Terry, the defense was not stable enough to calm the team.
Secondly, Hazard was targeted and couldn't break through defenses single-handedly like Suker, leading to the current situation.
The Chelsea locker room was very quiet.
Mourinho didn't speak, and no one dared to speak either.
The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. After a moment, Mourinho slowly spoke:
"In 45 minutes, our tackling and interception efficiency has been pitifully low, but the most crucial thing is that we've conceded two goals and only received one yellow card!"
Mourinho said with a grim face: "Gentlemen, when did you become gentlemen? Are you going to politely bow and tell them where our goal is when the opponent attacks?"
"Fight!"
Mourinho suddenly raised his voice.
"What I want to see is your wild side, damn the gentlemen, throw away these bullshit courtesies, return to your most primitive essence, fight like wolves, tear like lions!"
"Let your bodies be the hardest weapons, constantly impacting them!"
"Do you understand what I mean?"
Mourinho vigorously swung his arms, roaring loudly: "Be rough!"
"Foul! Understand? Make their front line feel pressure, make them feel threatened, make them feel scared."
"Don't hide behind like cowards, fight like warriors."
"Look at those roaring cheers! They didn't invest their precious time in us to watch this kind of performance from you."
Mourinho stepped forward and vigorously patted Oscar's chest: "For the fans, and for yourselves, fight like men!"
These words silenced the entire locker room.
The Chelsea players hung their heads, feeling more shame than just annoyance.
In fact, Mourinho was right; they had played very poorly in this match!
They needed to adjust immediately and play more roughly!