When referee Rocchi blew the whistle to end the first half, all the Real Madrid players on the pitch let out a huge sigh of relief.
Yang Yang also felt much more relaxed.
Paris Saint-Germain had put Real Madrid under tremendous pressure.
On paper, this Ligue 1 team's lineup was in no way inferior to those of top teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich. Up front, they had a superstar trio of Neymar, Cavani, and Di Maria, while Pastore, Tiago Silva, and other stars sat on the bench. A team like that was never short on strength.
It could be said that Barcelona's 0–4 defeat at Parc des Princes last season had been completely deserved.
The moment their tactics failed, the balance of the match immediately shifted. Given the ability of Paris Saint-Germain's stars, they were entirely capable of bringing Real Madrid down. So even with a two-goal lead, Real Madrid was far from safe.
After calming his breathing somewhat, Yang Yang turned and walked toward the bench, clapping hands with his teammates and encouraging one another along the way.
Whatever happened, being two goals ahead was a good thing.
But the real test would come in the second half.
"I still feel that this is pretty dangerous."
When he reached Zidane, Yang Yang frowned as he spoke.
"We're clearly losing the midfield battle, especially out wide." Zidane had obviously noticed it too.
Although Real Madrid was using a 4-3-1-2 formation and Hazard often dropped back, in reality, Hazard spent more time up front, while Modrić and Toni Kroos stayed relatively farther back.
This made Real Madrid's midfield look somewhat like a small diamond, except that Kanté, the defensive midfielder, had a fairly flexible role and often pushed forward.
The problem with a diamond midfield was obvious: