Although Ronaldo was unhappy with the team's conservatism,
Mourinho's approach at least kept Real Madrid from conceding in the first ten minutes.
Atlético Madrid had started with a wave of attacks at home, and if Madrid had been careless, conceding early would not have been surprising at all.
As time went on,
Atlético's pressure eased off a little.
Normally,
this would have been the moment for Real Madrid to take over.
After all,
attacking burns energy.
Atlético had launched a fierce opening spell, so they needed to slow down for a bit, and Madrid should have seized that chance to mount their own attack.
Football is not turn-based,
but when the teams are evenly matched,
attacking and defending phases do alternate in practice.
Madrid's players were itching to seize the initiative.
But Atlético still did not hand the ball away easily.
Shane Carter controlled possession.
He received the ball in midfield.
Faced with Modrić and Khedira closing him down, he turned in place with the ball, opened up a passing lane, and then hit a long ball.
This time, the man receiving it on the flank was Griezmann.
Griezmann took the ball and immediately cut inside, attacking the inner lane, then waited until Juanfran had pushed up before slipping a through ball.
The pass threaded between Marcelo and Pepe.
Juanfran surged forward at speed.
The scene made Hierro on the commentary desk keep shaking his head.
This Madrid side looked nothing like last season's.
He really could not understand what had happened to Real Madrid this year.
How was it possible that such a basic pattern—cut inside, then slip the ball to the advancing fullback—could be executed so easily by Atlético Madrid?
Juanfran reached the ball near the byline.
He still had time to settle himself properly, look up into the box, take a small touch forward, enter the area, and then deliver the final ball...
"Juanfran... cut-back... Griezmann, he lets it run! SUUUUUUUUU..."
Juanfran's low cross was intended for Griezmann.
But when Griezmann went to meet it, he realized the shooting lane in front of him was blocked.
The Madrid players knew this too.
Juanfran really had only two obvious targets for the cut-back:
Griezmann, or Costa in the box.
Costa was being man-marked tightly by Ramos.
As for Griezmann, he was farther from goal, so blocking his shooting lane was the obvious choice.
Madrid's defensive decision at that instant was not unreasonable.
The only problem was that once Griezmann saw his shooting lane closed,
he took a risk and deliberately let the ball go through his legs.
He trusted that at that moment,
Shane would be bursting toward the box—
both to control the second ball,
and to immediately press if possession changed hands.
And if he let it run through,
Shane could shoot directly!
Having played together with Shane for nearly a full season,
Griezmann and Shane had developed real chemistry.
To let the ball run without even looking behind him—
that was a tremendous amount of trust.
And Griezmann was right.
After completing his pass, Shane was already sprinting toward the center of the box.
By the time Griezmann let the ball run through,
Shane had already reached the edge of the area, almost up to the top of the arc.
As soon as he saw Juanfran's cut-back, he was ready.
The ball rolled into his path exactly as expected.
Shane adjusted his steps.
Using the instep of his right foot, he met the ball and curled it on the volley!
The ball lifted into the air, arcing over the heads of the defenders inside the box.
It flew into the dead corner between the right post and the crossbar.
Diego López had no chance to react in time...
The Calderón erupted like a volcano.
After seeing the ball fly into the net, Shane turned and ran toward the sideline.
He leapt onto the advertising boards, standing on top of them with his arms spread wide, soaking in the deafening roar.
The Real Madrid supporters stood there stunned.
Less than thirteen minutes into the match,
Madrid were behind away from home!
...
"Beautiful! Beautiful!! Shane Carter with the curling shot from the edge of the box! What a strike!"
"The ball was still moving, so controlling that sort of shot is not easy at all—especially using the instep to curl it around the defenders and into the corner. That makes it even harder!"
"And Griezmann's dummy was crucial too..."
In the studio,
He Wei and Xu Yang were talking over each other in amazement,
praising Shane's performance.
fans were also cheering wildly for him.
"That has to be his 25th league goal, right?"
"Too bad, he still hasn't caught Messi."
"Add the assists and his direct goal contributions are already ahead of Messi though."
"Beating Madrid means they've passed one major test. Next is Matchday 36 at home against Barça..."
"With the two biggest matches in the run-in both at home, is Atlético really going to win the league this season?"
In the stands,
Atlético fans were just as excited.
From this goal, they could see the real possibility of a title.
After all,
Atlético Madrid's last league title came back in the 1995-96 season.
That was already seventeen years ago.
A home win over Real Madrid.
And then, even if they stayed level with Barça all the way,
as long as they drew Barça at home in Matchday 36,
they would still have the edge on head-to-head record from the first meeting and finish as champions!
"Atleti! Atleti!"
The Atlético supporters first roared in unison.
Then, when they saw Shane leap onto the advertising boards to celebrate,
they immediately began singing Shane's song.
The song rang out clearly and loudly.
Atlético Madrid really were marching toward a league title they had not won in seventeen years!
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