"Beep!!"

  Less than ten seds into the game, Howard Webb blew his whistle for a foul.

  As Ia stopped the ball and prepared to turn, Napoli's midfielder Rakitic stepped in and used his body to apply pressure, knog the Baridfielder off band causing him to fall to the ground.

  Hearing the whistle, Rakitic spread his arms and looked at Webb with an i expression. "I didn't do anything. I just got a little closer, and he fell. What I do?"

  Does this mean I'm not allowed to touch him for the entire game?

  The referee signaled a foul but didn't issue a card or even give a verbal warning. He simply waved Rakitic back while dismissing Bara's protests.

  It was the first foul of the match.

  Watg from the sidelines, Gao Shen turo Zidane and Carlo with a smile.

  After all, Webb was from the Premier League, and his officiating was still retively fair.

  As both a coad a football fan, Gao Shen fully supported proteg pyers. He had always been in favor of reforms like stricter tag regutions, even though it pced greater demands on defenders.

  In fact, Gao Shen believed that the dee in defensive quality, often criticized by fans i years, was closely reted to these rule ges.

  But overall, it ositive development.

  However, when it came to physical challenges, overproteg pyers wasn't necessarily a good thing.

  What, just because Bara pyers have excellent teical skills, they should be shielded from physical tact?

  So what about teams with less teical prowess? Should they just give up and apologize for existing?

  Gao Shen had lohat football had strayed a bit in that regard.

  In the years that followed, when Bara seemingly adopted Stanisvski's ag theories to perfect their simution tactics, it became clear that they had grown reliant on these protective measures.

  Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the world's two footballing superstars, represewo distinct paths.

  Messi was a natural talent, but like a delicate flower nurtured in a greenhouse. After suffering early injuries, he was given special prote, which left him less adaptable to tough physical py.

  Ronaldo, oher hand, was fmboyant and craved the spotlight, but beh that exterior was a steely resolve. He stantly pushed himself to improve, using every hardship as fuel for his development.

  From this perspective, Gao Shen leaned more toward Ronaldo, though he still admired Messi's extraordinary talent.

  He knew, deep down, that he wasn't a romantic idealist like Guardio. He appreciated Bara's artistry but didn't believe it should be artificially preserved.

  That kind of approach wasn't fair to teams like Napoli.

  After all, the Olympic spirit champions being faster, higher, stronger and united.

  Football isn't just about teique. Physicality matters too.

  Sometimes, Gao Shen couldn't help but wonder: why did Guardio's teams, despite their brilliance, find it so hard to win the Champions League after leaving Bara?

  One or two failures might be ce, but repeated setbacks suggested something deeper.

  …

  …

  From the opening minutes, Xavi sensed something was off.

  Based on their expectations, Napoli's ter forward, i, should have been pressing Yaya Toure and Piqué high up the pitch.

  But on the field, Napoli seemed to abandon pressing Bara's ter-backs entirely. Instead, i dropped deep tet Busquets.

  Everyone knew Busquets was tall but somewhat slow. His teical skills were solid, but his movements were sluggish. i was like a battering ram, relentlessly applying pressure with raw force, hoping that sheer effort would break Bara's rhythm.

  Rather than pressing high, Napoli trated their defensive energy around the halfway lihe moment Bara's passes reached that zohey were immediately surrounded and suffocated.

  At first, Bara assumed Napoli was being cautious.

  Xavi repeatedly dropped deeper to collect the ball from his defenders. But every time he tried to advance beyond the halfway line, Napoli's pyers closed in aggressively, using their bodies to disrupt Bara's passing patterns.

  If it was just tight marking, it wouldn't have been so frustrating. But Napoli's pyers bined arking with relentless physical challenges, pushing Bara off baime and again.

  The game's first foul came when Rakitic brought down Ia.

  But ter, when Messi attempted to dribble past Thiago Motta, he was muscled off the ball ao ground only for Webb to signal py on.

  Xavi also went down after being tangled up with Di Maria, and although the referee gave a foul this time, no card followed.

  It was clear: the Premier League referee was allowing a more physical test tonight.

  Bara's midfield maestros—Xavi and Ia—kept trying to orchestrate their passing game. But every time they tried to cross the ter lihey hit a defensive wall.

  Most crucially, either i or Rakitic was always shadowing Busquets, cutting off Bara's pivot and f more passes backward.

  As a result, Piqué and Yaya Toure saw more of the ball than Busquets.

  Fortunately for Bara, Napoli didn't apply the same pressure to their ter-backs.

  Watg this unfold, Xavi couldn't help but feel that Napoli's tactical pn was being clearer.

  If Napoli really wao press Bara's ter-backs, the physical demands would be signifitly higher.

  By trating their defensive efforts around the halfway lihe team reduced its overall workload.

  Faced with Napoli's deferategy, Bara had no choice but to circute the ball repeatedly across their bae.

  Xavi was frequently forced to drop deep to receive the ball and ahe attack.

  …

  "Napoli's off-the-ball discipline is incredibly impressive!"

  Iands, Arsène Wenger couldn't help but voice his admiration as he watched the game unfold.

  More than five minutes had passed, and Bara had yet to plete a single pass into Napoli's penalty area, let alister a shot on goal. Their only attempt to pee came from a single pass that crossed the halfway lio the final third, but Napoli quickly reaheir defense, f Bara to retreat once more.

  "The defensive shape is solid and adaptable. Look at how their pyers move and position themselves," Ferguson chimed in, equally impressed. "The hard wao Shen has put ihe past three years is clearly paying off."

  Bara were struggling to create any meaningful ces.

  Serie A had alrioritized defensive anization, and with three years of Serie A experience, Gao Shen had mastered these principles. Yet, Napoli wasn't sitting back passively. By pushing their lines up toward midfield and engaging Bara head-on, they kept the side on edge.

  Time and again, Bara tried to break through but failed each time.

  Most of Napoli's pyers were making their Champions League final debut, and their cautious approach early on was uandable.

  "Baray have dominated possession in the opening stages, but they've struggled to create anything ohey enter Napoli's half. It's clearly a well-designed deferategy," Wenger analyzed.

  At that moment, Bara finally mao pass the ball across the halfway lier several unsuccessful attempts.

  Xavi dropped deeper, Ia followed suit, and even Messi begareating into midfield.

  As soon as Messi received the ball, Biglia was on him, stig close to his Argentine patriot and f him to move terally. Messi barely took two steps before Thiago Motta stepped in to help.

  The toli midfielders tracked Messi like shadows, as if silently warning him: If you keep carrying the ball, we'll double-team you!

  Sure enough, Messi quickly id the ball off to reset the attack.

  Napoli calmly adjusted their defensive shape once more.

  It was hard to tell who held the advantage in this tactical standoff.

  "Everyone expected Gao Shen to ter Bara's possession game with either a high press or deep defense," Wenger said with a wry smile. "But instead, he's chosen a middle ground, her attag aggressively nor defending passively."

  "It makes sehough," Ferguson added. "itting too many pyers forward leaves gaps at the back, which is suicidal against a possession-based side like Bara. Oher hand, sitting deep against a team like this, especially with Napoli's youth aive inexperience, is equally dangerous, like waiting for your owion."

  Ferguson shook his head. "Holy, if this were my Maer United side, I wouldn't sit back either. Against Bara, you invite disaster if you do."

  He theured toward the field. "Look at the spaapoli is finding behind Bara's midfield li's exactly what they're targeting."

  Wenger was about to respond when Bara's Dani Alves suddenly surged down the right wing.

  Spotting Messi, Alves attempted a quick pass inside, but Biglia read the py and intercepted the ball before it reached the Argentine forward.

  Without hesitation, Biglia took two strides forward and delivered a diagonal pass toward the left wing.

  Sánchez burst into a, sprinting into the space Alves had vacated. The Chilean winger reached the ball just ahead of Alves, who was still trying to recover from his advanced position.

  Sánchez slowed down slightly as he collected the ball, then drove diagonally toward the penalty area.

  Yaya Touré tracked him immediately, his body tense and his focus sharp, wary of Sánchez's trademark cut-ins.

  As the Ivorian closed in, Sánchez feinted with his right foot, f Touré to react. Instead of cutting inside, Sánchez passed the ball toward the left fnk.

  Vargas had followed the py forward and tched onto the pass just before Alves could intercept it.

  Without breaking stride, the Peruvian winger delivered a left-footed cross into the box.

  i, who had been lurkihe penalty spot, accelerated into position and rose above Gerard Piqué to meet the cross with a powerful header.

  The stadium collectively gasped as the ball flew toal.

  But the Uruguayan striker's header sailed just over the crossbar.

  On the sidelines, Guardio exploded in frustration, furiously shouting instrus at his pyers.

  "Did you see that? The first shot of the game came from Napoli!" Ferguson said with a grin.

  Baray have dominated possession, but Napoli's well-structured defense was suffog their attack. Meanwhile, the Italian side had just exposed Bara's vulnerability on the terattack.

  "If i had made better ta that header, Napoli would be in frht now," Wenger added, his voice tinged with regret.

  In a Champions League final, the importance of sg the first goal couldn't be overstated.

  But i had missed the ce.

  ***

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