Despite Suker's movements, Real Madrid's overall rhythm remained unchanged, and Atlético Madrid was not alerted in the slightest.
Suker weaved through the crowd, his runs not being deliberately forceful, nor did he excessively penetrate dangerous positions, which allowed Atlético Madrid to focus more on their own adjustments.
However, they did not know that danger was quietly approaching.
Suker turned his head to look to both sides, and after confirming the positions of the surrounding Atlético Madrid players, he continued to retreat a few steps backward.
Suker's retreat did not attract much attention.
After all, compared to an advance, a voluntary retreat does not put as much pressure on the defense.
For this reason, Suker very smoothly reached the ideal receiving position.
"Pass it here!"
Kaka, who had originally intended to switch the ball to the flank, heard Suker's voice and decisively passed the ball to him.
Suker also turned his body to pull the ball, smoothly facing the attacking direction.
But after this set of operations, Suker did not rush forward, but paused.
After Kroos had run a bit further, he then passed the ball horizontally to Kroos, and then ran forward a few more steps, arriving at another receiving point.
Suker, with his back to the attacking side, received the secondary pass from Kroos, and similarly did not choose to dribble past, but instead swept it horizontally, broadly transferring it to Bale on the flank.
After ensuring the ball was securely passed, Suker then leisurely continued to run forward.
Atlético Madrid did not dare to be careless in the slightest; although Suker's movements were not overly intense, he was Suker after all, and they therefore remained on high alert.
However, from Suker's movements, they could not predict his next action at all.
They could only tighten their defensive line based on the current situation.
As Atlético Madrid's defense narrowed, Real Madrid had more outside lines to exploit.
"Real Madrid is starting to continuously apply pressure on both wings!"
Even the commentator noticed the current situation; the battle changed quickly, moments ago it was a midfield scramble between the two sides, but now Real Madrid had advanced into the dangerous zone.
Breakthroughs on both wings, while not as direct as attacks through the center, were far more severe in terms of stretching and exhausting the defense when utilized effectively.
In professional matches, coordinated attacks that use both wings to stretch the field's width are also endless.
Real Madrid was using the most basic tactical offense to apply pressure, but the problem was that Atlético Madrid, due to some squad differences, could not effectively counter it.
Or rather, after conceding the first goal, their mentality shifted, and they played with greater caution.
This in itself was not an issue, but excessive caution would only cause them to miss some optimal defensive opportunities.
Just like now, Real Madrid pushed up on the flanks, and Atlético Madrid could not abandon the central axis defense, so they could only allow Real Madrid to do as they pleased on the wings.
And as this pattern continued to develop, danger would descend at an unknown moment.
"Push out! Push out!"
Gabi roared loudly.
He could feel the overall play was very passive, and it wasn't just that; Real Madrid's probing was a mix of real and feigned attacks, and they might suddenly burst into the penalty area at any moment.
Other players were fine, but Real Madrid's forwards were each more dangerous than the last; once they found a shooting angle, it would be extremely perilous.
But Gabi couldn't contribute much to the defense, for a simple reason: he had to mark Suker.
Suker had been moving in the half-space, voluntarily giving up the wide position.
Although this position was some distance from the goal, with Suker's shooting ability, once he created shooting space there, he still possessed a strong capability to threaten the goal.
"Atlético Madrid is having a hard time! Their overall rhythm is suppressed, and their defensive line is very compressed!" Gonzalez said.
"The defensive line and the midfield line are two defensive lines, but under Real Madrid's pressure, the midfield line is continuously retreating; now the distance between Atlético Madrid's midfield line and defensive line is less than five meters!"
Ronaldo grinned.
What is five meters?
For professional players, that's a distance for an explosive burst, especially for speed-type players like Suker and Bale.
If they are positioned correctly and create an opportunity, they are fully capable of breaking through Atlético Madrid's two defensive lines with a single burst.
The defense being so flat shows the pressure Atlético Madrid is currently facing.
But they had no better solution.
They were very familiar with Real Madrid.
Similarly, Real Madrid was also very familiar with them.
There were virtually no secrets between them, so when it came to a head-on clash, factors like form, mentality, and so on played a greater influencing role.
And precisely, Atlético Madrid had a certain fear of Real Madrid, especially after conceding a goal, this fear was amplified.
This was also the reason why Atlético Madrid was playing a bit chaotically now.
Ancelotti constantly monitored Suker's movements, believing that the current shift in the situation was related to Suker, and also knowing that Suker's actions were bound to be accompanied by something happening.
Suker was not the type to play aimlessly; he had very clear objectives.
Now it was just a matter of seeing where he would place his breakthrough target.
Suker was still moving left and right, without too obvious an attacking desire, but he constantly tugged at the Mindset of the Atlético Madrid players.
Gabi also kept a close eye on Suker, not daring to relax in the slightest.
But during the movement, he noticed that Suker's changes in movement became more frequent, and the shifting of his footwork frequency also became faster.
Two consecutive changes of direction in movement made it difficult for him to keep up.
But fortunately, Suker did not touch the ball or actively ask for it.
As long as Suker showed any sign of moving forward, even if he couldn't keep up, he would pull Suker back!
Just then, Suker suddenly raised his hand.
"It's coming!"
Gabi's heart immediately tensed up.
He constantly monitored Suker's movements and noticed that Suker's body had a slight forward lean, and he immediately reacted by shifting his center of gravity forward.
But just then, Suker's body actually moved backward, pulling his center of gravity back.
Gabi also immediately straightened his body.
At this moment, the ball was rolling towards Suker.
Gabi also reached out his hand, making a pulling motion.
But the next second, Suker completely ignored the ball, letting it pass through.
The ball was so smoothly let through, and Gabi's outstretched hand remained suspended in mid-air as he turned to look in the direction the ball was moving.
He found that the ball had passed Suker and gone to the left flank, where Marcelo received it steadily.
However, this position was marked by their own full-back, so it wasn't too threatening.
As he slightly relaxed, he turned his head again and found that Suker had disappeared.
"!!!"
Gabi was shocked and immediately turned his head to look.
He found that Suker had moved forward from his other side, and had already gained half a body length.
Gabi immediately turned and reached out, wanting to pull Suker back at the last second.
But as he stretched out his hand and tried to grasp Suker's jersey, he found that the latter accelerated and sprinted out of his defensive range, grabbing empty air. The momentum from his turn, without a support point, caused him to fall forward.
Gabi fell to the ground, but still immediately shouted, "Watch out..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Suker, who had jumped early, like a bomber in the air.
What was even more critical was that the ball had already arrived in front of Suker.
"Damn it!"
Gabi couldn't help but curse.
Everyone looked up at Suker. Suker jumped very high, maintaining a stable body posture in the air. His entire body was very stretched out, and his header action was very standard.
His eyes were fixed on the ball, and at the correct point of force, he suddenly tucked his abdomen, his core driving his body, and his head slammed forward fiercely.
With a 'bang', the ball was struck with full force, like a cannonball, smashing towards the goal.
Facing this sudden change, the entire stadium instantly fell silent.
González also widened his eyes and roared, "Suker!! Header!!"
The ball descended, striking the goal line, and then rebounded into the net.
Courtois didn't even react throughout the entire sequence.
He hadn't expected Suker to challenge for the ball directly from that position, and the angle of the header was also very tricky; even if he had reacted, he might not have been able to save it.
The ball bounced in the goal.
It took a while for the entire Estádio da Luz to suddenly erupt in a fierce cheer.
Real Madrid fans instantly rose to their feet, shouting.
The intense cheers shot straight into the sky, and the ground seemed to tremble.
Amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of people, Suker also rushed to the corner flag, performing a knee slide celebration.
At this moment, the stadium was ignited!
"Suker!! Oh my god, he completed the header directly near the penalty spot, he broke free from Gabi's defense, and with no one restricting him, Suker won the highest point!"
With the second goal, Suker helped Real Madrid extend their lead.
At this moment, the value of the 'Key Player' continued to rise.
In every final, Suker's performance was always outstanding, and this match was no exception.
Both goals were directly related to Suker; it could be said that both of Real Madrid's goals were won by Suker.
At that moment, when the situation was not yet clear, Suker used his ability to help Real Madrid create a perfect start.
The cheers from the crowd surged.
At this moment, Real Madrid fans were also relieved.
They cheered loudly, sang loudly, and their entire mood completely changed.
Unlike the tension before the match, now it was more of an enjoyment!
They were two goals ahead in the first half, and Real Madrid's ability to handle advantageous situations was extremely strong; they did not believe that Atletico Madrid had any possibility of overturning the game.
And this goal also pushed Atletico Madrid to the edge of a cliff!
"Conceding two goals in 34 minutes, Atletico Madrid is struggling to cope. Do they really not need to make adjustments?" Gonzalez said.
In the current situation, it's no longer a matter of saving substitutions for the second half.
If there are no timely adjustments, Real Madrid might continue to score.
By then, even waiting until the substitution time in the second half would be futile.
As expected, Simeone had already begun to deploy his troops.
At this point, there was no more time to delay!
The situation in the first half was unfavorable for Atletico Madrid.
And now, they couldn't even control the rhythm; it was truly too chaotic.
Being two goals down at this point had indeed created a large disadvantage, but it couldn't be said that there was no chance at all.
Atletico Madrid immediately made a substitution.
Raúl García went off, and José Sosa came on as a substitute.
It wasn't that Raúl García's performance was bad; it was just that José Sosa had stronger running ability and could integrate better into the defensive system.
What Atletico Madrid needed more now was defensive stability.
Only by stabilizing their defense could they utilize their counter-attacking ability and allow Villa and Costa to execute their offensive patterns better.
At the same time, Simeone also told José Sosa a few things, asking him to relay them to the players on the field.
"The coach wants us to foul more. We're playing too chaotically. If you don't know what to do, then foul!" José Sosa said to Gabi.
Gabi nodded, but his mouth felt bitter.
He had thought the same thing, but Suker hadn't given him a chance to foul!
In that previous attack, Suker immediately started moving as soon as Gabi turned his head. By the time he came to his senses, he couldn't keep up at all, let alone pull Suker.
Fouling Suker wasn't something that could be done just by wanting to.
Considering the premise of reasonable tactical fouls, this was not an easy task.
Gabi couldn't just disregard his actions and slide tackle, could he?
That would likely result in a straight red card and expulsion!
Then the match would be over!
But as Simeone said, they were indeed playing a bit too 'civilized'; they had to increase the intensity of their actions.
The match restarted, and Atletico Madrid launched a fierce attack directly after the kickoff.
They didn't care about possession, nor did they intend to dominate possession when playing against Real Madrid.
Therefore, the key was to create more threats in their limited offensive opportunities.
However, facing Real Madrid's solid defense, they still failed to create any threatening attacks.
When possession changed hands and Real Madrid controlled the ball, the eyes of the Atletico Madrid players changed.
Their eyes shimmered with a cold light, like hungry wolves waiting to tear apart their prey, as they waited for Real Madrid to enter their half.
But next, Real Madrid began to pass the ball horizontally from side to side, simply refusing to go head-to-head with Atletico Madrid!
Real Madrid didn't actively push forward, and Atlético Madrid couldn't risk rushing into Real Madrid's half, which would leave their defense exposed.
This left the Atlético Madrid players full of pent-up energy, but with no outlet for it.
"Real Madrid is starting to control the tempo!" Gonzalez grinned.
This was the most frustrating part!
Atlético Madrid clearly wanted to speed up the tempo, increase clashes and chaos, but Real Madrid stopped attacking.
They were already two goals ahead, so there was no need to risk fighting desperately against Atlético Madrid.
They only needed to drag the match on, successfully dragging it into the second half, which would already be a success.
In terms of controlling the tempo, Atlético Madrid was inferior to Real Madrid.
They were also far behind in experience.
Two goals down, Atlético Madrid was anxious, while Real Madrid steadily controlled the tempo, showing no signs of chaos whatsoever.
This was the calm judgment ability of the 'King of the Champions League' in a final!
"Real Madrid is delaying the tempo, and Atlético Madrid currently has a lot of strength but can't use it."
"It's really frustrating to play like this!"
When the rhythm of the match is off, the overall play becomes very uncomfortable.
Not to mention being led by the nose by Real Madrid's rhythm, as is happening now.
Atlético Madrid didn't dare to take excessive risks, sending too many players to press in the attacking third. The limited number of players ran hard in their own half, but it was futile.
Real Madrid had more players positioned, making it impossible to have any impact.
In this situation, the Atlético Madrid players began to become agitated.
First, Villa committed a foul-like tackle on Kaka during a press; he failed to win the ball but brought Kaka down.
For this, Villa received a yellow card, even leading to pushing and shoving between players from both sides.
Real Madrid was willing to use this method to further waste time.
But Atletico Madrid should not have allowed this to happen; time being wasted was the most unfavorable situation for them.
However, at this point, many players were already getting heated.
After this, Costa also came off worse in a confrontation with Ramos; words were exchanged, further leading to pushing and shoving.
Fortunately, the Referee intervened, which finally calmed the conflict.
But the tension was already very thick.
"Atletico Madrid cannot be emotional at this time. Any conflict eruption now is a process of delaying time, and Real Madrid is happy to see this!"
Atlético Madrid not only received cards but also allowed time to be wasted, which Real Madrid was pleased to see.
Conversely, for Atlético Madrid, this was something that should not have happened.
But sometimes, when one gets emotional, it's purely like an outburst, and many things are thrown out of mind.
The confrontations became increasingly intense!
The tension also grew stronger and stronger!
The match even showed signs of getting out of control; within a mere five minutes, multiple conflicts erupted between the two sides.
It wasn't just Atlético Madrid; Real Madrid also committed retaliatory fouls.
In five minutes, the Referee issued five yellow cards.
At this point, the Referee couldn't stand it anymore; he directly stopped the match, then called both team captains over, warning them in the most serious tone.
The match had to proceed smoothly; he was the Referee and didn't want to be the protagonist of the match.
But once the match showed signs of getting out of control, he would not hesitate to show a red card.
It could be said that the Referee's patience had also reached its limit.
You can test, but you cannot continuously test.
Not to mention the many malicious fouls and retaliatory fouls on the field now.
This prevented the match from flowing smoothly and also challenged the Referee's patience.
After the warning, the match finally regained some restraint.
However, at this point, the match had already entered the 40th minute, and the first half was about to end.
For Atletico Madrid, they were still two goals down at this point, and equalizing in the remaining time was simply unrealistic.
Simeone's expression was also very grim.
He was also dissatisfied with the performance of the Atletico Madrid players, especially their irrational fouls in the latter half of the first half, which infuriated him!