On the evening of December 17, at Agadir Stadium in Morocco.
In the Club World Cup semi-finals, Champions League winners Real Madrid faced AFC Champions League winners Guangzhou Evergrande.
As soon as the match started, Real Madrid quickly took control and launched an attack down the left.
Ronaldo carried the ball alone, first slipping past a Yangcheng player on the left touchline. As he drove forward, three defenders crowded him, and he dragged all three toward the left edge of the Guangzhou Evergrande penalty area.
Finally, one of them could not hold back and committed a foul, giving Real Madrid a free kick in the attacking third.
This scene made Lippi shake his head on the touchline.
Three men on one, and they still could not stop him. What can we do?
Di María stood over the ball, glanced into the area, and took a long breath.
He ran up and whipped a left-footed cross into the box. Ramos rose high and powered a header into the net.
The ball is in.
So clean and sharp.
Just over a minute into the game, Real Madrid had scored.
…
While many Yangcheng fans and domestic reporters on site were lamenting their bad luck, they soon discovered the nightmare had only just begun.
After the restart, Guangzhou Evergrande could not keep the ball at all.
Even their most prized foreign player, under Real Madrid's intense press, completed fewer than five passes after kick-off before losing possession outright.
Once Real Madrid won it back, Benzema tried a long-range effort from 20 meters, but the goalkeeper held it.
When the Guangzhou Evergrande keeper got up, he suddenly faced an embarrassing problem.
There were Real Madrid players everywhere. Where could he pass?
Everyone was puzzled.
What is going on?
In the end, the goalkeeper punted long, but the ball still fell to Real Madrid.
With quick, continuous passing, Guangzhou Evergrande could barely lay a foot on anyone, let alone win the ball.
The media and fans in the stands realized that yesterday's entertaining rondos in Madrid's open training looked like juggling. Now, they were just spinning the Guangzhou Evergrande players around the pitch.
Who looked better now?
The ball moved into the final third and seemed headed for Ronaldo's side. Even Marcelo joined in. Suddenly, Toni Kroos hit a long diagonal to the right side of the area.
A cross-field diagonal like that, with both pace and precision, is something you hardly ever see domestically.
Carvajal stepped up and took it down cleanly outside the right corner of the box. Before Guangzhou's defense could shift over, he drove another diagonal ball to the far post.
Evergrande's back line had just slid toward Carvajal, but they never expected a sudden hit from behind.
Ronaldo arrived at speed and headed it back across. Benzema tapped in on the line, and it was in again.
2-0.
Everyone was stunned.
Only five minutes had passed.
…
Guangzhou Evergrande kicked off again.
As soon as they passed back, the midfield and back line realized Real Madrid were swarming them again.
A brief hesitation, and Madrid were already on top of them. Their feet tangled, and they lost the ball again.
There was no choice but to drop deep quickly.
This time Real Madrid were not in a hurry, stepping forward methodically. By the time Guangzhou set their block, Madrid had advanced into position.
Then came another wave of attacks.
It felt like Real Madrid had rolled a cannon right up to Evergrande's box, firing shell after shell. Guangzhou had no way to stop it and did not even dare to foul.
Why?
Because Madrid's first goal came from a free kick in the attacking third.
Everyone knew that such passive defending could not last long.
But if they did not defend, what else could they do?
Finally, in the 11th minute, Real Madrid created another chance.
Marcelo made an overlapping run on the left, received from Ronaldo on the left side of the area, dribbled past his man into the box, and cut back. Ronaldo arrived to finish with his right foot and scored again, making it 3-0.
Ruthless.
Truly ruthless.
Not only were the players on the pitch bewildered, but the fans and media in the stands were stunned.
Even FIFA and the organizing committee were in disbelief.
Were Real Madrid being unsportsmanlike tonight?
Everyone knows the Club World Cup is basically a showcase. The competition itself has little real value, and many matches are not even as intense as friendlies.
If FIFA did not strictly require clubs to field their main players, Gao Shen probably would not have used a single starter tonight and still would have won.
So what did teams usually do before?
Play slowly, do not force it, take the pace down, even let the players have a bit of freedom. Ideally win by a small margin, three or four goals at most, and leave face for both sides and for FIFA.
After all, if the score is too lopsided, what is the point?
But Gao Shen was blowing it up tonight.
…
"What is going on?"
FIFA president Blatter sat in the stands, watching in confusion.
Real Madrid were treating Guangzhou Evergrande like Barcelona. Was that not ridiculous?
Now the Yangcheng team could not even hold the ball.
If you say you do not let the opponent cross midfield, that is fine. At least they can still retreat.
But how did Gao Shen's team do it?
They pressed so high that the opponent could not get out of their own half, even their own penalty area.
This was pure annihilation.
"Gao Shen has never been like this before. What happened? Is he in a bad mood?"
Blatter was puzzled. It felt over the top.
If it continued like this, the score could be enormous.
A FIFA official stepped forward and explained what had happened at yesterday's press conference. Blatter's face went stiff.
"Where did those two reporters come from?"
When he learned they had traveled with the Guangzhou team, he was speechless.
Well, it is your own mess. You deal with it.
"Do you want to tell Real Madrid?"
Blatter rolled his eyes. "That is Gao Shen."
Who is Gao Shen?
A five-time Champions League winner. In today's world football, if he calls himself second, who dares claim first?
At a time like this, who can persuade him?
Even if Blatter went himself, Gao Shen would not give him that face.
At that moment, someone hurried over from the nearby stands. Realizing the situation was getting out of hand, Guangzhou's officials were looking for a mediator and went straight to Blatter.
Champions of Europe and Asia both need to save face. They could not afford to lose too badly.
"Now you want Real Madrid to go easy?" Blatter was angry. "What about those two reporters last night?"
"Go back and tell them FIFA cannot handle this. They need to talk to Gao Shen themselves."
"And hurry, or it will be too late."
Every time he sees him, we have to be respectful and speak politely. But you insult him to his face. Were you looking for trouble?
Now you see how strong he is.
If he really goes all out, who knows how many goals he can score?
As he spoke, Real Madrid scored again on the pitch.
A long-range strike from outside the box by Toni Kroos.
In under twenty minutes, it was 4-0.
Blatter really could not watch any longer.
Gao, how many goals are you planning to score?
…
Lippi sat in the home dugout, his eyelids twitching.
Now, all the data was meaningless.
Guangzhou could not get the ball, and even when they did, they could not keep it.
Real Madrid looked possessed, winning it and attacking immediately. It was like slicing melons and vegetables.
Lippi certainly knew Real Madrid's strength, and he knew the true level of Guangzhou. They were simply not on the same plane.
So before the game he said the chance of winning was almost zero.
But many domestic media and fans did not believe it. They thought they could win, that there was a chance.
So what if they are Champions League winners?
We are AFC Champions League winners.
Several of our foreign players can hold their own in Europe.
But what about when the match actually starts?
Once Real Madrid charged forward, no one could stop them.
Only then did people realize.
Yes, we can establish ourselves in European leagues, but European leagues also have tiers.
Even within the top four leagues, the gap in strength is huge.
Do you really think a super giant like Real Madrid is a paper tiger?
This truly proves the saying, when a great power gets serious, the outcome can be devastating.
The unluckiest one is me, Lippi. Will I still be able to hold my head up in front of Gao Shen?
As Lippi sighed inwardly, another goal went in.
This time it was Gao Shen's favorite, Di María.
5-0.
Not even thirty minutes gone.
The fans and media who were cheering earlier were now crestfallen.
They finally realized the gap was enormous.
So big that they could not even touch or hold the ball. How were they supposed to play?
And everyone also realized that Gao Shen was truly angry this time.
He wanted everyone to see clearly that this is the true level of the world's strongest team.
Do not take those summer tours in China seriously. Even Barcelona were not playing in earnest, they were just performing.
In a real match, this gap is enough to make you despair.
Do not believe it?
Look at the Yangcheng team, completely shell-shocked.
Look, another long pass from Real Madrid to the right. Carvajal drove to the byline, suddenly cut into the box, and squared it. Guangzhou's center-back was caught off guard, and the ball sailed past him.
It went to the far post. Ronaldo chested it down and hooked it sideways into the Guangzhou net again.
6-0.
Only then did everyone fully understand that the gap was unbridgeable.
I suppose many people will accuse Guangzhou's players of not working hard, not running, or being too passive.
But the real reason is that the gulf in strength is simply too big.
So big that they cannot even show their effort.
Lippi was getting restless in the dugout.
He stood up, walked to the technical area, glanced at Gao Shen, and saw Gao Shen looking back.
The Italian's eyes were full of helpless resentment.
You are settling scores with others. Can you please not drag me into it?
I am old now and only want to make some money for retirement. Can you save some face?
(To be continued.)