The evening of September 23, at Madrid's Bernabéu Stadium.
In the fifth round of La Liga, Real Madrid hosted Elche.
Since it was a midweek match, Ancelotti rotated and adjusted the lineup. However, due to Yang Yang's strong insistence, he had no choice but to start him at home. This was Yang Yang's first start of the season.
More than eighty thousand Real Madrid fans gave him the warmest applause. From the very beginning of the match, the fans chanted Yang Yang's name in unison, cheering him on with deafening enthusiasm.
On the pitch, Real Madrid launched a fierce attack on Elche from the outset. Surprisingly, though, it was Elche who opened the scoring first.
It happened in the fifteenth minute. During a Real Madrid corner-kick defense, the penalty area descended into chaos. Hazard, tracking back to defend, kicked Mosquera while attempting to clear the ball, sending him tumbling to the ground. The referee awarded a penalty.
Elche forward Alba calmly converted it. Navas, who had replaced Courtois in the starting lineup, had no chance.
But this sudden setback completely roused Real Madrid, making their attack even more ferocious.
In the twentieth minute, James Rodríguez, starting in place of Di Maria, sent a diagonal cross into the penalty area from the right. Yang Yang surged forward, got to the near post first, and powered a header into the net to equalize for Real Madrid.
That goal completely ignited the passion of the Bernabéu fans.
More than eighty thousand supporters once again chanted Yang Yang's name in unison, their roar shaking the stadium!
Just eight minutes later, Yang Yang dropped back to help build the play. After controlling the ball, he switched it to the left, where Marcelo combined with Hazard. With two defenders in front of him, the Belgian winger