Seeing Pepe overpower Suárez and head the ball back, Rakitic immediately rushed over and controlled the second ball.
Just as the Croatian midfielder tried to stop and turn, Khedira slid in from the side and poked the ball back toward Real Madrid's defensive line.
Suárez reacted quickly and charged forward to try to regain possession, but Pepe went to ground and cleared the ball out wide.
Carvalho followed up with a big clearance, sending the ball toward the right side of the attacking third.
Di María moved out wide to receive the pass. Just as he brought it under control, he saw Felipe rushing in. The Argentine winger instinctively turned to pull the ball back, but just then, Gareth Bale—tracking back deep into his own half—appeared behind him.
The Welshman's physical strength was overwhelming. As soon as he closed in on Di María, the winger felt the impact and lost his balance. The ball was intercepted by Gareth Bale, who had his back to goal.
Di María tried to fight back, but Gareth Bale used his hips to shield the ball, leaving the Argentine completely helpless.
Moments later, Gareth Bale laid the ball off to Felipe on the left wing and immediately sprinted forward.
Felipe knew exactly what he meant and quickly returned the pass.
The Welshman accelerated—like he had wings—and quickly caught up to Khedira. With a powerful burst, he surged past Khedira before even receiving the ball.
Gareth Bale's speed continued to build, especially as he approached the edge of Real Madrid's penalty area. Without slowing down at all, he charged between Ramos and Pepe like a lightning bolt and kept sprinting forward with his head down.
He was unbelievably fast!
So fast that Ramos and Pepe didn't have time to close the gap before Gareth Bale had already broken through.
After bursting past their joint defense, Gareth Bale looked up and saw that Suárez wouldn't arrive in time, but Robben was charging in at the back post.
Without hesitation, he swept in a low cross with his left foot.
The ball flew across the face of goal, past Real Madrid's defensive line, and landed at the far post.
Adán was momentarily frozen. He turned to dive to the right, but just as he did, he saw Robben flying in from the right wing. Before anyone else could react, the Dutchman met the ball with his left foot and fired it at goal.
The ball flew easily into the bottom right corner of Real Madrid's net.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!"
"Robben!!"
"In the eighth minute, Manchester City open the scoring against Real Madrid. It's a goal from Arjen Robben!"
"What a stunning run from Gareth Bale. He ripped through Real Madrid's entire left side."
"One-nil!"
The entire Etihad Stadium erupted. Manchester City fans were roaring, chanting Robben's name.
And also Gareth Bale's.
That long run was electrifying—so fast, so direct, so breathtaking!
On a football pitch, speed has always been one of the most thrilling weapons for fans.
Just like Owen back in the day, like Robben in his prime, and now like Gareth Bale.
…
While Manchester City's players raced off to celebrate, Gao Shen remained calm on the touchline.
He had been prepared for this moment, so the goal didn't come as a surprise.
Of course, he was still very pleased.
He turned and shook hands with Carlo and the rest of the coaching staff in front of the dugout, then walked back to the edge of the technical area.
By now, the players had returned from celebrating.
"Keep attacking! Disrupt their rhythm! Keep pressing!"
Gao Shen shouted to the players, urging them to keep pressing forward and not let up.
Right now, Real Madrid lacked control in midfield. Once pinned down, they could easily descend into chaos.
Especially now, with Ramos as captain.
Everyone knew Ramos was prone to emotional outbursts and rash decisions when fired up.
And then there was Pepe—currently still in monk mode.
As for Carvalho, he had been a top defender in his day, but he was already 33.
…
Following Gao Shen's instructions, Manchester City launched wave after wave of attacks on Real Madrid.
Two minutes after the goal, Felipe cut inside from the left channel and took a direct shot, forcing a scare.
One minute later, Gareth Bale again broke down the left and whipped in a cross. Suárez latched onto it and fired on goal.
But the shot was too straight and was saved by Adán.
The ball deflected back to the left side of the penalty area. Gareth Bale followed up and hit it first-time, aiming for the far post, but Xabi Alonso had tracked back just in time to block it. The ball skimmed just wide.
It almost ended up an own goal.
From the resulting corner, Rakitic whipped it in and Kompany rose highest, heading the ball narrowly over the bar.
In under five minutes, Manchester City had launched a relentless barrage of attacks, pinning Real Madrid deep.
The proud Los Blancos were being overwhelmed. They had no response and could only barely hold on.
Meanwhile, Manchester City's waves of attacks came faster and harder, putting massive pressure on the visitors.
The crowd at the Etihad was electric, cheering wildly.
…
In the stands, Zidane—who had traveled with the squad—and technical director Valdano were both stunned by Manchester City's early dominance.
They had to admire Gao Shen's coaching and the strength of his squad. Technically and tactically, Manchester City were now among the elite of European football—possibly even stronger than Barcelona.
That was basically a consensus among outsiders.
In today's European football landscape, only Barcelona and Manchester City were on equal footing.
But Guardiola had Lionel Messi and the greatest generation from La Masia—Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets.
Gao Shen, on the other hand, relied on his vision and scouting to unearth a group of young talents who were just as outstanding.
The biggest difference between Manchester City and traditional giants now was commercial strength.
But City had deep pockets, so that hardly mattered.
"Have you been watching Leeds United in the Championship?" Zidane suddenly asked.
Valdano shook his head, but instantly recalled the invitation Gao Shen's wife had extended to him that day in Monaco.
She was sharp. And beautiful.
"Sarri's system is even more aggressive than Gao Shen's at City. The full-backs push higher, both flanks are extremely active, and with a towering striker, they've dominated the Championship."
Zidane smiled. "That's probably Gao Shen testing his next tactical evolution beyond Manchester City."
Valdano nodded in understanding. In fact, many others had noticed this too.
But no one knew just how far Gao Shen intended to go.
Because the current squad at Manchester City limited how deep he could take it.
Take Felipe on the left, for example. Compared to Marcelo, he's more defensively solid, but not as sharp going forward.
Leighton Baines is a good player, but he can't challenge Felipe for the starting spot.
The same goes for Lichtsteiner and Zabaleta on the right.
At Leeds United, Kurzawa and Clyne pushed extremely high and had blistering pace.
Zidane believed that was the system Gao Shen really wanted.
At City, it's not that he didn't want to use it. He was already trying it. But the personnel had limitations.
Felipe, Lichtsteiner, Zabaleta—these players had contributed greatly to City. Gao Shen couldn't just sell them to force a tactical change. That would be unrealistic.
If he really did that, the locker room would fall apart.
Managers have to be pragmatic and treat players with care. You can't always act on theory alone.
"You mean…" Valdano started to catch on to what Zidane was implying.
"Remember what he said at Napoli? That Real Madrid's biggest problem was Kaka and the attacking midfielder role."
Three years later, the results were crystal clear.
Even putting aside the player rosters and looking only at tactics and style, Manchester City were more advanced and had far greater control than Real Madrid.
"We should've listened to him back then," Valdano sighed.
Zidane nodded in agreement.
If they had, Gao Shen wouldn't have ended up at Manchester City. The team sweeping across Europe right now would've been Real Madrid.
"It's not too late to change," Zidane said, giving Valdano a meaningful look.
…
After conceding and facing constant pressure, Real Madrid tried to counterattack, but achieved very little.
Manchester City dominated the midfield. Their passing and possession game left Real Madrid's midfielders unable to create any real threat.
From Cristiano Ronaldo to Adebayor and Di María, they worked tirelessly to press and regain the ball. But they always fell just short. Manchester City still maintained solid control.
The Real Madrid players knew how important this Champions League campaign was.
But they simply couldn't match Manchester City's tempo or possession.
Madrid found themselves on the back foot.
Manchester City steadily took control, calmly probing for openings.
That said, City had issues too.
Rakitic and Yaya Touré provided great pressing and pressure in midfield, but their final ball wasn't as precise as David Silva's.
When Silva played, his dribbling creativity and vision to spot gaps in the defense were unmatched.
But tonight, Silva was on the bench, having played in the league over the weekend.
Now that City had the lead, Gao Shen wasn't in a hurry to bring him on.
In fact, unless something unexpected happened, Silva would rest the entire match.
Even so, Yaya Touré created a very threatening chance.
He played the ball into his favorite zone, just outside the penalty area. Suárez used his body to hold off Carvalho, turned, and shot.
The shot struck the outside of the post and went out for a goal kick.
Manchester City's luck tonight hadn't quite matched their dominance.
(To be continued.)