At the back, Chelsea lined up with Ashley Cole, Carvalho, Terry, and Lassana Diarra, with Petr Čech in goal.
Aside from the right-back position being slightly weaker, the other three were all world-class players in their respective roles.
As for the "slightly weaker" Lassana Diarra, if nothing unexpected happened, he would join Real Madrid the season after next and be converted into a defensive midfielder.
Real Madrid would soon have multiple Diarras in that position, to the point where many people wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
On October 15 of last year, during a match against Reading, Čech suffered the most devastating injury of his career.
Less than a minute into the game, he took a blow to the head and was rushed to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture that posed a serious threat to his life.
Fortunately, the surgery was a success.
On January 20 this year, Čech officially returned to action, even though his skull had not yet fully healed.
That severe injury did cause some decline in his form.
Otherwise, he would have been the next undisputed world No.1 goalkeeper after Buffon and Casillas.
Chelsea's starting lineup also conveyed some clear messages.
Compared to their razor-sharp left flank, their right side was essentially crippled in attack.
Diarra plus Ballack.
Although Ballack was a player of world-class quality, it was difficult for him to fully express himself in the role of right midfielder.
Mourinho's tactics required both wings to fly in order to do real damage.
Relying on just one side made it hard to guarantee the success of counterattacks.
It was precisely for this reason that, after Zidane's return, Chelsea fans banded together to unleash a torrent of abuse at the team's gifted wide player, Robben.
After all, Zidane—older than Robben and with an even more serious injury—had already made his comeback.
So what exactly was Robben doing?
Sneaking off to nightclubs?
Secretly eating burgers?
Robben could only feel wronged to the point of tears.
He really had been following the medical advice to the letter.
Who could have known that this strange old Frenchman would recover so fast?
Su Hang: One bottle to wake you up, two bottles so you never get tired, three bottles and you'll never grow old!
Miracle medicine—one million euros to try it, seven million for the full course, twenty million and your career is fully insured!
Limited offer. Buy now, profit guaranteed!
Chelsea fans had no idea that their scolding had planted the seeds of departure in Robben's heart.
During the winter break, a very good team had already approached him.
At the time, he hadn't been tempted—but now…
Robben packed his things and stepped out.
He was heading to Stamford Bridge to watch the match.
He wanted to see whether this Real Madrid side offered a better future.
...
On April 4, the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals kicked off at Stamford Bridge.
The stadium was completely sold out.
The English crowd gave the Spaniards an especially "warm" welcome.
For this match, Real Madrid stuck with their familiar 4-1-3-2 formation:
Su Hang, Van Nistelrooy
Robinho, Zidane, Beckham
Emerson
Bravo, Cannavaro, Kompany, Ramos
Casillas
=
Zidane, previously dismissed as nothing more than a smokescreen, really did take the field—and started.
Beckham, Van Nistelrooy, and Cannavaro had also returned to the lineup.
It could be said that this was the strongest and most complete Real Madrid side seen in quite some time.
With only Roberto Carlos still sidelined by injury, this was essentially the ultimate form of the post-Galácticos era.
Many felt Chelsea had been terribly unlucky.
Although the result of the match was still unknown, the Real Madrid they were facing was far stronger than the one Bayern had encountered.
With a whistle from the referee, the match officially began.
Straight from kickoff, Real Madrid attempted a lightning strike.
They wanted to sneak in a goal while Chelsea's defensive juggernaut hadn't fully settled.
Cannavaro's long pass did find Van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy flicked it on with his head, and Su Hang outmuscled Terry to control the ball before firing off a shot.
Unfortunately, the tank-like Čech—despite his serious past injury—showed no issues in normal situations and calmly gathered Su Hang's effort.
Perhaps the lingering effects of that injury would only reveal themselves during intense physical clashes.
In the third minute, the much-anticipated Zidane misjudged a pass, his touch looking a bit rusty, and Chelsea completed the interception.
Chelsea immediately launched a counterattack.
Ashley Cole, the Premier League's best left-back, burst forward with the ball before playing it to Drogba.
Drogba dragged Cannavaro out of position and slipped a through pass toward Shevchenko.
Shevchenko's first touch was slightly heavy, allowing the quick-off-the-line Casillas to collect the ball.
As an all-around center forward, Shevchenko had almost no weaknesses—very similar to the future Lewandowski—but he was even more dangerous on the counter, or rather, he played in counterattacks far more often.
But who was feeding Shevchenko passes at AC Milan?
Rui Costa.
Rivaldo.
Pirlo.
Kaká.
And who was feeding him at Chelsea?
Drogba.
Was there any comparison?
Not at all.
Drogba's passes came in hard and direct, making Shevchenko's first touch uncomfortable.
But you couldn't really blame Drogba for that.
After all, he was already doing the hardest, dullest, and most dangerous work. The pass reached its target—were you really going to nitpick the quality too?
So Shevchenko had nothing to say and could only turn back and give Drogba a thumbs-up.
In the 17th minute, Su Hang drifted out to the left flank, used a slick step-over to beat Ballack, and sent a low cross into the middle.
Zidane surged forward to thread the ball through.
Van Nistelrooy attacked the near post, but Terry slid in early and cleared the ball away.
In the 25th minute, Real Madrid were on the attack again.
Zidane, Su Hang, and Robinho drew Chelsea's defense toward the left, before switching play with a long diagonal pass to Beckham on the right.
Beckham took a quick adjustment and whipped in a trademark curling cross toward the far post.
Su Hang rushed into the box and went up for the header.
Unfortunately, Čech was well prepared. With Terry interfering, Su Hang was half a beat slow and couldn't generate full power.
Čech caught the ball once again.
Applause rippled through the Chelsea crowd.
In the 34th minute, Real Madrid pressed forward in force.
Su Hang received the ball just outside the penalty area. He feinted to the right, then turned sharply to the left.
Mikel grabbed hold of Su Hang's shirt and refused to let go, finally dragging him down just before he entered the box.
Had he hesitated for even a moment, Su Hang would have carried the ball straight into the penalty area.
The referee blew his whistle and showed Mikel a yellow card.
The strength and physical dominance that had served the "Nigerian Zidane" so well in the holding midfield role proved far less effective against Su Hang.
Without that physical edge, his defensive awareness, tackling, and interceptions were clearly inferior to true specialist defensive midfielders like Makelele or Essien.
Real Madrid earned a free kick in a prime position.
Beckham stepped up behind the ball without hesitation.
Su Hang stood nearby, acting as cover for him.
Even though everyone knew Beckham would be the one taking this free kick from such a spot, a little feint never hurt, right?
Beckham began his run-up, charged toward the ball—and jumped right over it.
The Chelsea wall leapt in unison, then froze, their heads filled with question marks.
???
This was the perfect range for a banana free kick.
What on earth was Beckham doing?!