Di Maria carried the ball into Barcelona's thirty-meter area without facing much interference.
After making a token effort to track back on the left, Neymar gave up the chase and chose to stay up front, waiting for a chance to counterattack.
With Carvajal overlapping, Di Maria chose to cut diagonally toward the right half-space. However, Barcelona's three midfielders quickly returned to the edge of the box, protecting both sides of Busquets, while the entire defensive line had also fallen back.
Damn it!
Di Maria angrily cursed inwardly.
There was less and less time left. Extra time was almost upon them. Yet whenever Barcelona lost possession, all their players immediately dropped back, with even Messi returning to midfield to help defend. Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar remained up front.
This extremely conservative, heavily fortified strategy gave Real Madrid a massive headache.
If there had been plenty of time, Real Madrid could have patiently played with their opponents, but now they were truly out of time.
Were they really going to lose to Barcelona and hand over the championship?
Near the edge of the box, Di Maria ran into Barcelona's defensive setup and found himself blocked. He immediately chipped the ball with his left foot, trying to send it into the box for Suarez or Yang Yang.
But at that moment, Barcelona's penalty area was packed with players.
Di Maria's chip failed to find a teammate. Pique got to the drop point first and headed it clear.
Toni Kroos controlled the second ball in the thirty-meter area. After bringing it down, he quickly switched the direction of the attack, sending it to the left and handing it to Marcelo.
Marcelo overlapped with the ball and played it straight to Hazard ahead of him. But Alves gave the Belgian winger no chance, so