"I can't understand your performance in the latter half of the first half. I have no idea what you were playing at! This isn't how you usually perform!"
Simeone reprimanded his players. In such an important match, he normally wouldn't want to scold them this way, as it would affect their mentality.
But in the current situation, if he didn't wake them up, there would be no hope for the rest of the match.
"I saw no effective confrontation, and even less effective offense or defense! Every one of us was muddled, Real Madrid told us how to play, and we played exactly as they dictated, like puppets on a string, at their mercy!"
"Guys! Wake up, this is another chance for us to reach the Champions League final in decades, do you really want it to end like this?"
"A meaningless match? A match with no goals?"
Simeone said in a deep voice, "Guys! Score! For the Atlético Madrid fans who support us, and also for your efforts this past year, don't let yourselves regret it, and don't let yourselves be filled with regret every time you mention this match!"
"Let's raise our spirits!"
With that, Simeone clapped his hands forcefully, further encouraging the players to raise their spirits.
He spoke at length, but the Atlético Madrid players' expressions remained heavy.
They, of course, knew what Simeone was saying and how unfavorable the current situation was, but the problem was they truly didn't know how to approach the upcoming match.
No one told them how to play?
Effort! Positivity!
Everyone understood these, but there should at least be a direction, right?
And what Atlético Madrid lacked right now was such a player.
When Real Madrid was at a disadvantage, Suker would create opportunities with his goals and individual ability, helping the team sound the horn for a counterattack.
What about Atlético Madrid?
Costa?
Villa?
Or midfield players like Gabi?
They were truly a bit lost.
Not being able to defend was one problem; not being able to attack was another.
Too many problems needed to be faced and resolved, which also led to them being completely bewildered.
"In the second half, we still need to be careful of Atlético Madrid's counterattacks!"
Inside the Real Madrid locker room, Ancelotti reminded them.
After setting up the tactics, he still gave this reminder, although in his opinion, in the current situation, Atlético Madrid's morale had already hit rock bottom, but it was still necessary to be cautious.
The other Real Madrid players were in high spirits and very motivated.
This season, their overall form had been excellent, and they were heading towards the championship, having already achieved most of their goals; now only this one, the most important one, remained.
This was especially true for players like Kroos and Isco.
Kroos left Bayern to join Real Madrid precisely to prove himself, and the Champions League was one of the most crucial keys to that.
And for players like Isco, their sole purpose in joining Real Madrid was the Champions League!
Now, everything at Real Madrid was proceeding in an orderly fashion, as if they were once again embarking on the path to dominating Europe.
The two goals in the first half of this match were the best proof.
It seemed that after playing Bayern, Real Madrid's overall form had risen another level.
Gulp! Gulp!
Suker took a big gulp of water, slightly alleviating his thirst.
Although he had rinsed his mouth earlier, he still felt very thirsty.
It was probably due to excessive sweating in this match.
Suker was very active in the first half, which led to more sweating and physical exertion.
However, they also received the best reward based on that.
And in the second half, Suker would still be in explosive form.
After an excellent first half, Suker could play even more freely in the second half.
"Atlético Madrid's defense still has some weaknesses; we just need to observe calmly to see these things and then use them to score goals."
Suker placed his water bottle aside and reminded them, "The midfield shouldn't rush; you just need to control the tempo, leave the attack to the front line!"
Real Madrid's midfield primarily focused on maintaining tempo and organization, while in terms of initiating attacks, it was more about the front line's independent play.
Kroos and others indicated they understood this.
Suker patted his behind and stood up, looking at Ramos and saying, "Want to shout something?"
"Shout what?"
Ramos asked.
Suker: "Anything! Anything at all!"
Ramos then stood up and shouted loudly, "Hala! Madrid!"
The other players echoed him, shouting loudly.
At this moment, halftime ended, and both teams' players began to walk out of the locker room to resume the match.
"After the first half, Real Madrid is currently leading Atlético Madrid 2-0. Looking at the entire first half, Real Madrid's performance was still better, which is also a reflection of experience. Compared to Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid has more experience in Champions League finals and knows more clearly what to do at what time!"
"And Atlético Madrid lacks this experience, which makes them even more lost in an already passive situation!"
After González finished speaking, Ronaldo added, "In addition, individual player performance is also crucial. Suker was absolutely key in the first half; Real Madrid's two goals were also obtained based on Suker's explosion. And entering the second half, we all know that Suker will have a more obvious tendency to explode in the second half. How should Atlético Madrid solve this problem? This is also something Simeone's coaching staff needs to consider."
The camera happened to focus on Simeone, capturing a close-up of his grave expression.
Simeone's brows were tightly furrowed, and he occasionally smacked his lips, licking them, looking very nervous.
In fact, facing Suker in the second half, he truly had no good solution.
If he had a solution, they wouldn't have been constantly suppressed by Real Madrid in the League.
Moreover, in the current situation, they were still trailing and couldn't put all their energy into defense; offense and counterattacks were key.
Under these circumstances, he found it even more difficult to implement his plans.
Simeone still held onto some hopeful thoughts.
He hoped that Villa or Costa would suddenly burst forth and score a goal.
That would make it easier for them to play.
Just as he was thinking about these issues, the Referee's whistle for the start of the match sounded in the stadium.
After Real Madrid kicked off, they didn't actively attack but maintained a phase of ball possession.
This was very similar to the rhythm in the latter half of the first half, while Atlético Madrid immediately engaged in intense pressing.
No choice!
Atlético Madrid was currently being roasted; if they didn't press, they would only die a slow death.
Therefore, even if it was risky, they needed to go up and challenge for the ball.
"Cover! Cover! I'm going up!"
"Watch your positions!"
"Push up!"
"Go, go, go!"
The Atlético Madrid players were all shouting, constantly sprinting and applying pressure.
But no matter how much pressure they applied, Real Madrid seemed to be practicing Tai Chi, lightly sending the ball to a safe position.
When they ran to the next pressing point, Real Madrid would quickly shift.
This feeling of being played with was terrible, but there wasn't much they could do!
"Chaos! Complete chaos!"
Inside a Villa in Croatia, Modrić watched the match footage, shaking his head.
Just by looking at Atlético Madrid's pressing rhythm, one could tell that these guys were completely disoriented.
Not only were they mentally confused, but their bodies also showed some technical deformities in their movements.
"Isn't the midfield pushing up too far?" Mandžukić also frowned.
"If they don't push up, there's nothing they can do. Are we just going to watch Real Madrid run down the clock?" Dujmović said.
Hearing this, everyone sighed.
There was no choice; not pushing up meant slow death, while pushing up might put the defense in immediate danger.
Sure enough, upon seeing Atlético Madrid's midfield push up, Kroos, receiving Kaka's pass, directly nudged the ball with his toe. He nudged the ball to Suker's side.
And Suker suddenly changed direction, moving horizontally, and with the descending ball, he gently pushed it sideways.
Benzema dropped back to receive the ball, and a simple wall pass bypassed Atlético Madrid's entire defensive line.
Suker burst into the penalty area, and Atlético Madrid's defense was in disarray again.
Everyone ran towards Suker's left side, causing the defense on the left to be crowded and the right side sparse.
Suker then ran all the way to the byline, then powerfully pushed the ball with his left foot towards the six-yard box.
The ball sped along the edge of the six-yard box, all the way to the sharp corner of the six-yard box on the right.
And there, Bale arrived, simply pushing the ball into the net.
Swish!
The ball found the net again!
Real Madrid 3:0 Atlético Madrid!
Courtois lay on the ground, watching the ball go in, and angrily punched the ground with his fist.
Miranda squatted on the ground, gasping for breath, as if all his strength had been drained.
The expressions of the other Atlético Madrid players were also filled with despondency.
They were three goals down!
And these were goals conceded in the second half.
They conceded just 5 minutes into the half.
How could they possibly turn this around?
"This match…"
Gonzalez shook his head; he didn't know how to commentate anymore.
This match between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid was not as intense as the media had predicted before the game.
Even though it was a Madrid derby, Real Madrid's dominance over Atlético Madrid led to the entire match becoming a one-sided affair.
Could this match be considered exciting?
González shook his head!
There have been many exciting Champions League matches, but this one definitely wasn't.
An exciting match requires two teams to compete against each other, both with excellent performances and goals.
However, this match was more like Real Madrid unilaterally suppressing Atlético Madrid.
In fact, the excitement of this match was not even as good as Real Madrid's semi-final match against Bayern.
In that match, both sides went back and forth, competing fiercely.
But in this match, it was purely Real Madrid unilaterally suppressing Atlético Madrid.
This also left the two commentators at a loss for words.
Atlético Madrid's performance wasn't bad!
But when facing Real Madrid, it was as if they were under some kind of curse; the entire team seemed to be in a daze.
Suker, in particular, haunted them like a nightmare, completely restricting them.
Ronaldo could only say, "For Atlético Madrid to go further, they must overcome this hurdle."
The mental hurdle is the hardest to overcome.
This is not a problem that can be solved by so-called technical skill, but one that needs to be overcome through match after match.
However, facing Real Madrid, they truly found it difficult to perform effectively.
In the 65th minute, both sides made substitutions simultaneously.
Atlético Madrid used up all of their last two substitution slots.
This meant that Simeone had gone all-in, using his last adjustment opportunities without reservation.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, used two substitutions to strengthen their defense.
In comparison, Atlético Madrid still didn't gain any advantage from their substitutions.
Not only did they use up all their substitution slots, but they also didn't achieve a very good effect.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, still had one substitution slot left for adjustments.
The match became slightly dull.
It wasn't that the match itself was dull; in fact, the confrontation was still very intense.
It was just that everyone felt the outcome was already decided; Real Madrid's suppression of Atlético Madrid was simply too severe.
Atlético Madrid doesn't perform like this when playing other teams, but in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, their performance becomes very poor.
In the 79th minute, Real Madrid earned a corner kick.
From this corner, Real Madrid used an excellent run to provide a screen for Suker, who then headed the ball in at the far post, scoring yet another goal.
Real Madrid 4:0 Atlético Madrid!
Now, all suspense was completely gone.
With a four-goal difference and less than 20 minutes remaining, even including injury time, Atlético Madrid had completely lost hope.
In the camera, the Atlético Madrid fans looked despondent, one by one.
Some even started wiping away tears.
This was a match that both excited and despairing for them.
The excitement came from reaching the Champions League final once again after decades.
The despair came from still being unable to overcome the mountain that is Real Madrid!
"Ha~~~~"
González let out a long sigh, and as the match entered injury time, he shook his head and said, "Atlético Madrid has already lost all hope of a comeback, but I also hope that Simeone and his team will learn enough from this match. After all, they lack experience in the Champions League, and they need to accumulate more…"
"Let's fight again next year!"
Ronaldo concluded!
At the same time, on the field, the Referee also looked down at his watch, his whistle already in his mouth, waiting to blow at any moment.
The Referee gave 5 minutes of injury time, perhaps hoping that Atlético Madrid would score a consolation goal.
However, no goal appeared until the end of the match.
Finally, the entire match concluded!
"The match is over! The match is over! In the 2013/2014 Champions League final, at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, Real Madrid defeated Atlético Madrid 4:0 to lift the Champions League trophy."
"After a year of preparation, Real Madrid has made a comeback, achieving excellent results with their brilliant performance."
"Another year of a treble! Ancelotti's first season coaching Real Madrid has been very successful; he has allowed this Galácticos to set sail once again."
"This is also Suker's fifth Champions League trophy!"
"This season, Suker has once again shown the world that he is the most brilliant star of this era!"
"A treble, along with the League and Champions League Golden Boot! Another season dominated by Suker!"
As the final whistle blew, the Estádio da Luz erupted.
Real Madrid's substitute players excitedly rushed onto the field, celebrating this moment of glory together.
Players like Kroos and Isco were even more excited, running around non-stop; this was their first Champions League, so they naturally couldn't contain their excitement.
Although Suker was excited, he maintained enough composure.
The camera focused tightly on Suker's face, almost a close-up.
Suker raised his hands, high-fiving the fans in the stands, eliciting waves of cheers.
At this moment, Villa actually came over and proactively asked to exchange jerseys.
Suker and Villa didn't have much interaction, but he wouldn't be stingy about this.
"Congratulations to you all. Next, we'll compete in the World Cup!"
Villa said, draping Suker's jersey over his shoulder.
Suker asked, "When are you going to Brazil?"
"A week early!"
Suker nodded; "We're not in the same group. Let's talk about it in the knockout stage!"
In the original timeline, Spain would suffer from the World Cup champion curse and fail to advance from the group stage. Of course, in this timeline, Suker couldn't be certain.
However, judging from their current form, Spain's performance is indeed very inconsistent.
Just like in the original timeline, they were stunned by Netherlands in the first match, and then it became truly difficult to play.
Spain is in World Cup group b, with Netherlands, Spain, Chile, and Australia.
Croatia, on the other hand, is in Group D, with Croatia, Uruguay, England, and Costa Rica.
The competition in this World Cup is still very fierce, and the group stage is no exception.
group B, with Netherlands and Spain!
Group D, with Croatia, Uruguay, and England!
Group A, with Brazil and Italy!
And Group G, with Germany and Portugal!
These are all very exciting groups.
If we were to reluctantly call a group a "group of death," then it would undoubtedly be Group D.
Croatia is the European Cup champion!
England is a strong European team!
Uruguay is a strong South America team!
And there's also the dark horse, Costa Rica!
This group is considered the most competitive one.
After the Champions League match ended, the Real Madrid players returned to the locker room to celebrate.
Champagne had already been opened, and they bathed in the rich, sprayed wine, dancing and celebrating joyfully.
After a short wait, it was time for the awards ceremony.
First were the individual honors, where Suker received the Champions League Golden Boot and the Champions League Best Player awards.
Including the Champions League, Suker was still the biggest winner this season.
This was a good start for Suker, but the biggest highlight was still in June!
That is, the upcoming 2014 Brazil World Cup!
This is an area where Suker's honors are missing: the World Cup trophy!
For Suker to step towards becoming a historical player, or even a football king, this honor is an indispensable key.
Therefore, this moment is when the true test arrives!