Only True Masters Look Like Masters When They Face Other Masters

April 24.

The six-month anniversary of Sophia's pregnancy—uh... no, the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Real Madrid hosted Ajax.

The young Ajax side was not intimidated by this kind of occasion at all.

They had to thank Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, who had failed to unwrap the big gift package earlier. The atmosphere in those home stadiums had given these youngsters the composure to remain calm under pressure.

Ajax's starting center forward, Robin Van, had indeed returned from injury, and he looked full of fighting spirit.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, had a full squad available. Their starting lineup was:

Alpha

Zizo, Lu Yang, Hector

Collet, Ravellan

Junior, Langdenei, Rubio, Sanchis

Louis

From the opening whistle, both sides created attacking opportunities.

This was the Champions League semifinals, after all. No matter how lucky a team was, it could not reach this stage without real strength.

There were no absolute pushovers among the final four!

When Zizo had the ball, Ajax's two outstanding Dutch midfielders pressed him together.

Zizo spun through two consecutive Marseille Turns, effortlessly slipping out of their encirclement without so much as brushing a leaf.

Then he calmly played the ball onward.

After several repetitions of this, Zizo quickly helped Real Madrid establish control of the midfield.

How could you tell which team controlled the midfield when watching a match?

Look at the time it took to move through midfield.

If Team A could repeatedly carry the ball into Team B's half with ease, while Team B struggled to advance its attacks into the other side's territory, then Team A controlled the midfield in that match.

What were the benefits of controlling the midfield?

The benefit was that your team would have better conditions for playing the ball out, a better environment for organizing attacks, and more time