First El Clásico (1)

The 24th league goal scored by Marisol upon coming on as a substitute seemed to close the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gap, but the match ended as is. Atletico Madrid secured a home win, widening the points gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona to two points.

It was a rather disappointing result. But since there was still one more match between Barcelona and Real Madrid remaining, the Real Madrid fans didn't have to give up just yet, right?

Now Real Madrid's schedule had a Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in three days, followed by another three days before the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich. It was intriguing to see how Real Madrid would overcome this brutal schedule.

Um... Actually, Real Madrid traditionally didn't pay much attention to the Copa del Rey, and this final was going to be an El Clásico against Barcelona. Moreover, from Real Madrid's perspective, aiming for a three-peat in the Champions League, facing a strong opponent like Munich who pulled off a miracle in the quarterfinals couldn't be taken lightly. I was really looking forward to it.

El Clásico starting lineup is out?

It's out, so let's post it lol

Barcelona

Ryu Ha-neul

Albaria, Eloya

Yelena, Lorenza

Lucia

Narcis, Tena, Tiana, Anila

Maximilena

Real Madrid

Marisol, Lucy

Emilia, Clemence, Iris, Roberta

Priscilla, Paulina, Gabriela, Mary

Yasmine

"With this lineup, Real Madrid will probably come out in a 4-4-2 formation, something like a 4-3-3." Angela said as if she had predicted the starting lineup. According to Angela's words, Real Madrid's 4-4-2 was likely to be an attacking 4-4-2.

Actually, this season Real Madrid's most effective formation was the 4-2-3-1. Lucy, the 16-time Ballon d'Or winner who could play every forward position, was the attacking midfielder. Francesca, the 17-time Ballon d'Or winner from Italy and left-wing forward, played left wing. And Brazil's ace Roberta was on the right wing, with Marisol finishing things off. This season Real Madrid boasted a powerful attacking team.

But with the Champions League semi-final against Munich approaching, Francesca was out and Emilia took her place, giving Emilia a slightly more defensive role.

'There are two defense candidates too. Yeah, Real doesn't care much about the Copa del Rey.'

Adding two defense candidates made it seem like today's match wouldn't be too difficult.

"Then, just like we practiced in training, let's focus on attacking the opponent's right flank where Roberta is. Albaria, can you handle it?"

"Of course, Coach."

Especially since the opponent's right flank, Roberta and Mary, weren't particularly strong defenders, it seemed like pushing the ball to Albaria as much as possible to create 1-on-1 situations would yield good results, just as we practiced.

Well, the opponent probably thought they could break through our left flank too, which was why they chose that combination.

Actually, Tena's height made her reliable against foreign teams, but like most La Liga teams, Real Madrid didn't rely on tall strikers.

Probably, Roberta and Mary would exchange 2-on-1 passes to target Tena.

In other words, this was a battle over who would break through the opponent's side first.

And I was confident in such battles. My specialty was distributing the ball to both sides and creating chaos.

Moreover, Lucia was trying a directional change from the fourth line?

I felt like the match was already won even without playing it.

'Huu... Let's not get too excited. ...It's been a while since the El Clásico, I must have gotten too worked up?'

But entering with such excitement was clearly a mistake, so I listened to Angela's tactical instructions and began mind control.

After sharpening my mental state with mind control and entering the stadium, after all the pre-match ceremonies,

Whistle—!

The match began with the referee's whistle.

The first half started with us attacking first. I subtly passed the ball to Albaria and went to my position, walking between the midfielders and defenders. Centerback Paulina came close, but didn't fully mark me.

But since the centerback was close, it seemed no dedicated marking man was assigned.

If it was another team, it would be 'ignoring me?', but the opponent was Real Madrid.

And such a choice wasn't baseless. Clemence and Iris, Real Madrid's midfielders, were known for their high activity.

So, while analyzing their strategy for today, walking between midfield and defense, the ball suddenly arrived to me.

The first to mark was Real Madrid's veteran centerback Paulina. In her prime, she was a physical monster that dominated attackers, a regular defender for Spain and Real Madrid. Now in her thirties, she defended with skill rather than physicality.

Well, even if she's old, at 189cm, she could win aerial balls better than me.

But the analysis team said her defensive skill was seasoned, and with normal tricks, she couldn't be broken through.

But I wasn't a player with 'normal' tricks. Honestly, no matter who the defender was in this world, I had confidence in beating them, so if a slow defender came, it was even easier.

And assigning Paulina to me meant a technical battle.

'Let's see how good you are.'

I glanced back, and from the midfield, Clemence who received the pass came running at me like she wanted to kill me.

There was about 5-7 seconds of breathing room.

I quickly decided and lightly turned my ankle to check her reaction with a flip-flop. But as a seasoned defender, Clemence just stood her ground waiting for me to come.

'What, this is just a test.'

So, pretending to beat through Paulina in front, I waited for Clemence to come. And when Clemence tried to mark me, I moved the ball from right foot to left, lightly evaded her foot, and backpassed to Lorenza who was freely waiting in the space Clemence left.

And Lorenza, who got the unmarked pass opportunity, connected it to Albaria with her signature forward pass.

I also watched the pass and entered the backline, and Albaria broke through Marisol, the opponent's right fullback, and started digging into the penalty box.

Inside the penalty box were me and Eloya, two players.

And naturally, Paulina was next to me, and two defenders were marking Eloya. It seemed they were preparing for a cross.

But Albaria's choice was me.

Albaria passed a cutback to me who was diagonally behind, and I received the ball with my back to Paulina and turned towards the opposite goal.

"Whoa!"

'...Slow!'

An instant shooting chance. I immediately tried a turning shot, and the goalkeeper with her view blocked barely cleared my shot.

'Hmm, this is doable.'

The first attack didn't connect to a goal, but I confirmed that Paulina's agility wasn't better than mine, and the goalkeeper didn't seem to have the reflexes of Real's main goalkeeper Lea level.

'Then, I have to aim for the goal as much as possible before she is substituted.'

Now the key was to aim for the goal as much as possible before Paulina was substituted. Since Paulina was a legend of Real Madrid, she probably wouldn't be substituted in the first half, so if I score one or two goals in 45 minutes, the match would be easy to win.

'Good, let's go.'