"Some sparks are finally starting to fly." Xabi Alonso chuckled from the side.
If the match had been sluggish, passionless, and devoid of sparks for the first sixty-plus minutes, then Yang Yang's arrival—and the boldness he had just shown in forcing his way through four Barcelona defenders—had successfully ignited Real Madrid's passion on the pitch.
Sure enough, once the match resumed, Real Madrid began playing faster and with far more intensity.
Although Barcelona still controlled possession, whenever Real Madrid won the ball, they immediately sent it forward. Every player seemed to grow more determined, working hard to find opportunities and completely shatter the slow, heavy stalemate from before.
Hazard sat on the bench, clearly feeling the change.
"Sometimes, even if a team's core star doesn't score, he can still turn the tide. The key is whether he dares to!" Xabi Alonso said again from the side.
Obviously, he was Yang Yang's friend, but Hazard felt there was a lot of truth in what he said.
Just now, when Yang Yang had carried the ball at Barcelona's defensive line, there had been no dazzling flash of genius from start to finish. He had used the most solid footwork to carry the ball and the wisest choices to attack Barcelona's defense. Hazard even felt that Yang Yang had deliberately avoided cutting inside to evade Busquets while creating a chance for Morata to make a late run.
Unfortunately, Yang Yang had made the move, but Morata was still too young to understand it immediately. He had failed to time and accelerate his run properly, and as a result, they had missed a superb scoring opportunity.
At the time, everyone from Barcelona, including goalkeeper Valdes, had been drawn toward the left by Yang Yang. Yang Yang could originally have taken the shot himself, but