Yang Yang's joy at becoming a father sparked heated discussion in media outlets around the world, but it would not halt the progress of the European League in the slightest.
On September 14, Real Madrid's entire team traveled to Croatia to challenge Dinamo Zagreb away from home.
Ancelotti's team produced an outstanding attacking performance on the road. With nearly sixty-five percent possession and twenty-four shots, they showed everyone Real Madrid's overall superiority.
Facing his former club, Modrić also delivered his best performance since joining Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Real Madrid had the momentum but could not score. Aside from Di Maria's goal in the fifty-fourth minute, they maintained overwhelming dominance for the rest of the match but still could not breach the opponent's goal.
In the end, Real Madrid managed only a narrow one-goal victory.
The media reacted positively to Real Madrid's narrow away win, but they were also worried. Would Ancelotti's team repeat Benitez's embarrassment from last season? After losing Yang Yang, had the team's attack become toothless?
Judging from the match against Dinamo Zagreb, whether it was Ibrahimovic, Robben, or Di Maria, who had replaced Yang Yang in the starting lineup, their scoring efficiency was indeed far below Yang Yang's.
Ancelotti, however, said he was not worried. The team had played beautiful attacking football and firmly controlled the match. Their lack of goals was mainly due to a bit of bad luck.
"Of course, Yang Yang's absence has also affected us greatly. He is the most important player on the team. We all believe that he should be beside his wife and child right now. We have every reason to believe that when he returns, he will be even stronger than before."
If Real Madrid's 1–0 away win over Dinamo Zagreb could still be accepted by the