Starting With Real Madrid

"Beep!!"

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

As Iniesta stopped the ball and prepared to turn, Napoli's midfielder Rakitic stepped in and used his body to apply pressure, knocking the Barcelona midfielder off balance and causing him to fall to the ground.

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

It was the first foul of the match.

Watching from the sidelines, Gao Shen turned to Zidane and Carlo with a smile.

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

As both a coach and a football fan, Gao Shen fully supported protecting players. He had always been in favor of reforms like stricter tackling regulations, even though it placed greater demands on defenders.

In fact, Gao Shen believed that the decline in defensive quality, often criticized by fans in recent years, was closely related to these rule changes.

But overall, it was a positive development.

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

What, just because Barcelona players have excellent technical skills, they should be shielded from physical contact?

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

Gao Shen had long felt that football had strayed a bit in that regard.

In the years that followed, when Barcelona seemingly adopted Stanislavski's acting theories to perfect their simulation tactics, it became clear that they had grown reliant on these protective measures.

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

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

Ronaldo, on the other hand, was flamboyant and craved the spotlight, but beneath that exterior was a steely resolve. He constantly 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 Guardiola. He appreciated Barcelona'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 technique. Physicality matters too.

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

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

…

…

From the opening minutes, Xavi sensed something was off.

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

But on the field, Napoli seemed to abandon pressing Barcelona's center-backs entirely. Instead, Cavani dropped deep to target Busquets.

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

Rather than pressing high, Napoli concentrated their defensive energy around the halfway line. The moment Barcelona's passes reached that zone, they were immediately surrounded and suffocated.

At first, Barcelona 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 players closed in aggressively, using their bodies to disrupt Barcelona's passing patterns.

If it was just tight marking, it wouldn't have been so frustrating. But Napoli's players combined close marking with relentless physical challenges, pushing Barcelona off balance time and again.

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

But later, when Messi attempted to dribble past Thiago Motta, he was muscled off the ball and went to ground only for Webb to signal play 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 contest tonight.

Barcelona's midfield maestros—Xavi and Iniesta—kept trying to orchestrate their passing game. But every time they tried to cross the center line, they hit a defensive wall.

Most crucially, either Cavani or Rakitic was always shadowing Busquets, cutting off Barcelona's pivot and forcing more passes backward.

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

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

Watching this unfold, Xavi couldn't help but feel that Napoli's tactical plan was becoming clearer.

If Napoli really wanted to press Barcelona's center-backs, the physical demands would be significantly higher.

By concentrating their defensive efforts around the halfway line, the team reduced its overall workload.

Faced with Napoli's defensive strategy, Barcelona had no choice but to circulate the ball repeatedly across their backline.

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

…

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

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

More than five minutes had passed, and Barcelona had yet to complete a single pass into Napoli's penalty area, let alone register a shot on goal. Their only attempt to penetrate came from a single pass that crossed the halfway line into the final third, but Napoli quickly reorganized their defense, forcing Barcelona to retreat once more.

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

Barcelona were struggling to create any meaningful chances.

Serie A had always prioritized defensive organization, 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 Barcelona head-on, they kept the Catalan side on edge.

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

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

"Barcelona may have dominated possession in the opening stages, but they've struggled to create anything once they enter Napoli's half. It's clearly a well-designed defensive strategy," Wenger analyzed.

At that moment, Barcelona finally managed to pass the ball across the halfway line after several unsuccessful attempts.

Xavi dropped deeper, Iniesta followed suit, and even Messi began retreating into midfield.

As soon as Messi received the ball, Biglia was on him, sticking close to his Argentine compatriot and forcing him to move laterally. Messi barely took two steps before Thiago Motta stepped in to help.

The two Napoli 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 laid 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 counter Barcelona'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, neither attacking aggressively nor defending passively."

"It makes sense, though," Ferguson added. "Committing too many players forward leaves gaps at the back, which is suicidal against a possession-based side like Barcelona. On the other hand, sitting deep against a team like this, especially with Napoli's youth and relative inexperience, is equally dangerous, like waiting for your own execution."

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

He then gestured toward the field. "Look at the space Napoli is finding behind Barcelona's midfield line. It's exactly what they're targeting."

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

Spotting Messi, Alves attempted a quick pass inside, but Biglia read the play 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 action, 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, forcing Touré to react. Instead of cutting inside, Sánchez passed the ball toward the left flank.

Vargas had followed the play forward and latched onto the pass just before Alves could intercept it.

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

Cavani, who had been lurking near the 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 toward goal.

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

On the sidelines, Guardiola exploded in frustration, furiously shouting instructions at his players.

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

Barcelona may have dominated possession, but Napoli's well-structured defense was suffocating their attack. Meanwhile, the Italian side had just exposed Barcelona's vulnerability on the counterattack.

"If Cavani had made better contact on that header, Napoli would be in front right now," Wenger added, his voice tinged with regret.

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

But Cavani had missed the chance.

***

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