Chapter 664: Chapter 84: Salary Raise, a Raise Is a Must!

Ballon d’Or winner Chen Zhong!

Apart from 2009 when the Ballon d’Or was unexpectedly taken by Messi, in the last four years, three Ballon d’Or winners have been in the service of Real Madrid, which is indeed delightful!

"CCTV, CCTV."

"It’s now the early morning of January 10, 2010, and a highlight match of the 18th round of the 2010/11 La Liga season is about to unfold at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium."

"Real Madrid Team faces Villarreal."

"In this match, Benzema continues to start as the forward, Real Madrid is playing with its full strength, here are the starting lineups for the match..."

In this match, Real Madrid is set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is also a commonly used formation this season by Real Madrid.

Goalkeeper: Casillas

Defenders: Ramos, Albiol, Cavaleiro, Marcelo

Defensive Midfielders: Khedira, Alonso

Midfielders: Kaka, Chen Zhong, C Ronaldo

Forward: Benzema

Villarreal, on the other hand, has set up in a 4-4-2 formation, which is balanced in attack and defense, especially steady in defense.

Goalkeeper: Diego Lopez

Defenders: Angel, Katala, Gonzalo, Capdevila

Midfielders: Cazorla, Bruno, Kane, Boerhaave

Forwards: Rossi, Marco Ruvin

The referee for this match is Fernandez-Borvalan.

"Players from both teams are entering the field one after another."

"We can hear them eagerly shouting the names of their favorite players."

"We can faintly hear the word Ballon d’Or."

"Clearly, they have great confidence in the upcoming Ballon d’Or results, they believe Chen Zhong can win the Ballon d’Or for Real Madrid."

"Chen Zhong has entered the field; Villarreal’s fans in the stands are very quiet."

"It seems they don’t want to provoke this genius player."

Villarreal used to be very noisy when facing Real Madrid, from the initial ’Sink the Galaxy Battleship’ song to the later ’We have Rossi’ song, they were quite ’arrogant.’

However, now Villarreal has learned to be quiet when facing Real Madrid again, because Real Madrid has a player who causes headaches for both La Liga and all of football, and that is Chen Zhong.

"Stay focused, everyone pays attention, don’t slack off." After exchanging pennants and hugging the opponents, Chen Zhong loudly reminded each teammate he passed on his way to the center circle.

Listening to Chen Zhong’s calls, Cristiano Ronaldo raised his eyebrows with a humorous expression, Kaka stretched his muscles and rallied his spirits, while Marcelo shouted loudly from afar, "Don’t worry! Chen! We will give you a memorable match."

"Ballon d’Or, Ballon d’Or, Ballon d’Or!"

...

Chen Zhong glanced at Marcelo and smiled helplessly, the day after this match, the voting for the Ballon d’Or will close, and soon after, the Ballon d’Or award ceremony will take place.

But frankly, Villarreal seems ’weaker’ compared to four seasons ago.

Even though the team still has strong players like Rossi, Cazorla, Capdevila, and a youth training leader like Marco Ruvin, they are still not a match for Real Madrid, who is playing possibly their best in history.

Chen Zhong shook his head to rid himself of such dismissive thoughts.

In China, there’s a saying: "Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit," so he cannot indulge in such conceited thoughts.

"The match officially begins."

"Villarreal kicks off."

"Marco Ruvin, this easily reaches the danger zone."

"Passed to Cazorla!"

"What boldness!"

Only 30 seconds into the match, Villarreal already has a good attacking chance. Marco Ruvin took the ball without hesitation and seeing Real Madrid not yet fully settled, passed it to Cazorla.

Cazorla received the ball and immediately chose to cut inside.

Facing the triple challenge from Ramos, Cavaleiro, and Khedira, he maintained calm ball control, unleashed a long-range shot outside the penalty area.

At that moment, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was filled with exclamations, Real Madrid fans felt their hearts skip a beat because of Cazorla.

The execution was perfect, but unfortunately, Cazorla had a bit of bad luck.

The ball hit the crossbar with a dull thud and bounced out to the baseline.

Cazorla shook his head slightly with some regret...

"The match continues."

"Real Madrid’s attack."

"Since five minutes ago, which was a shot by Villarreal’s Cazorla 30 seconds into the match."

"Real Madrid has been trying to respond, but Benzema has repeatedly been offside in these minutes, allowing Villarreal to easily regain possession."

"Benzema!"

"Offside again!"

"Alonso looks very unhappy."

"Perhaps Chen Zhong should be organizing the play after all."

During this match, Real Madrid’s offensive often shifts into a 4-4-2 formation, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka moving to the sides as wingers, while Alonso and Khedira form the central midfield duo.

In attack, both Benzema and Chen Zhong push forward.

For this match, Villarreal has specifically marked Chen Zhong, while Benzema seems to be left undisturbed, prompting Alonso to pass the ball to Benzema several times.

The problem is...

No one is marking him, but Villarreal creates offside traps!

Benzema seemed to have a mental issue after being caught offside one or two times, getting increasingly anxious.

The more anxious he gets, the more he gets caught offside.

"Calm down!" Chen Zhong walked over and patted Benzema on the shoulder, giving a few comforting words, while the French center forward looked at Chen Zhong with an aggrieved expression as scattered jeers emerged from the stands, suggesting Benzema’s "spirit attributes" need improvement—some may say he excels at slacking off.

"Villarreal regains possession again."

"Their offside trap tactics are highly successful."

"Perhaps Mourinho should consider letting Chen Zhong drop back a bit."

"Benzema should be assisting Chen Zhong rather than Chen Zhong creating opportunities and assisting Benzema."

"Villarreal’s attack, passed to the left side, Cazorla!"

"Cazorla is performing outstandingly, reportedly being closely monitored by Malaga and Arsenal."

"Evaded! Evaded the opponent’s entanglement."

"Cross!"

"Cazorla’s precise crossing."

Cazorla’s performance left Mourinho restless; in this match, Cazorla required only a few minutes to leave a strong impression on Mourinho.

Most of Cazorla’s passes are not "out of thin air," but aim to create more attacking space for teammates, enabling him to offer scoring chances.

She excels at delivering long diagonal passes in the direction of the opponent’s flank, allowing her to use her skill to find the best position and pass the ball into those gaps.

In this match, it wasn’t the first time Cazorla used precise diagonal long passes to penetrate Real Madrid’s defense, delivering the ball to teammates.

These passes not only accelerate Villarreal’s offensive pace, but also effectively create one-on-one opportunities.

Lo and behold, the ball reaches Villarreal’s so-called genius player Rossi; when Rossi gets the ball, Real Madrid’s defense inevitably pushes forward attempting pressure.

However, Rossi, despite not living up to people’s expectations, still possesses abilities.

Faced with the encirclement of Cavaleiro, Albiol, and Khedira, he used a masterfully controlled through pass with lightness to send the ball out of the trap.

Villarreal’s forward, youth leader Marco Ruvin, was tightly watched by Real Madrid’s players, while their midfield intercepted.

But on the far side.

Marcelo struggled to keep up with Kane, while Kane received the ball, facing Casillas, executed a precise outside-foot shot to dodge Casillas’s save!

"Can you believe it?"

"Villarreal actually scores first."

"Their attack is very smooth, evidently rehearsed many times."

"Rossi knows exactly where to deliver the pass, Kane knows exactly how to run–immediately shooting upon receiving with almost no delay."

"Marcelo serves as a running mate behind, while Casillas plays the backdrop for Kane!"

"0:1"

"At Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid is temporarily trailing."