I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 153 - 51: Big Trouble

Perhaps in Bojan’s eyes, Chen Zhong has already become an obstacle on his football path, or perhaps a challenging opponent.

Casillas was named MVP in this match, delivering several splendid saves in front of the goal, especially in the second half when he faced Bojan’s one-on-one shot, showcasing an exceptionally high standard.

"The match is over."

"Casillas won the MVP."

"Baptista is hugging each teammate."

"This season, he completed a magnificent turnaround, from initially being on the chopping block to now becoming a key player in Real Madrid’s midfield, and scoring the winning goal in the national derby. His journey is simply a record of self-struggle."

"And Schuster has fully proven that his statement at the beginning of the season, ’I only care about form, not reputation,’ is true and effective."

"Baptista’s experience this season has made him an exemplary figure of outstanding struggle in Spanish football."

"As long as you are diligent and hard-working, even if you are in Real Madrid, you can play."

"I think Baptista will likely become the motivation for those players sitting on the bench of various teams in recent times."

"Hoping to be the next Baptista will be the best mantra to encourage them during this time."

"Of course, we must not forget that Chen Zhong contributed significantly to Baptista’s goal, or rather, most of the credit."

"It was Chen Zhong who calmly delivered the ball facing a three-man defense, leading to this goal."

"For Chen Zhong to show such performance at this age, the future is simply limitless!"

After the match ended, Pepe, Marcelo, and Baptista surrounded Chen Zhong. Even Higuain, Robben, Torres, who had little performance after coming off the bench, came over.

In the sea of stars, Chen Zhong was also quite amiable in interacting with them. He even proactively shifted the topic to Baptista, asking what Baptista planned to do after the match.

"I want to see the two tigers."

"Before this match, I went to see the circus performing in Madrid."

"And with the help of the staff, I had a close interaction with the two tigers. I felt they brought me good luck."

"Whoa, you even went to see tigers before the match!" Marcelo exclaimed in surprise, "But I think you should thank Chen the most; he gave you an assist."

Baptista chuckled and said, "Of course, I already gave him a big hug, didn’t I?"

"Besides, I went to see the tigers hoping to be as fierce as them in the match. If I am the tiger, then Chen is..."

"Your animal trainer?" Marcelo interjected, and everyone burst into laughter, the air filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Robben watched from the sidelines, feeling anxious but unable to join the conversation. Since the last time he sat on Chen Zhong’s shoulders to celebrate, Chen Zhong seemed reluctant to engage with him, for some unknown reason.

At the post-match press conference, Rijkaard, when asked by reporters, did not pinpoint where they lost to Real Madrid, merely stated, "1:0 changed the course of the match." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

And after saying this, Rijkaard seemed to have unlocked his words, beginning to say, "This match did not exceed my expectations overall; Real Madrid was indeed very dominant in the midfield."

"My only issue is not giving Chen enough attention. Even though he is only 16 years old, his calmness and performance on the field completely exceeded his age."

"His last pass caused all my arrangements to be in vain."

Rijkaard wasn’t lying. In this match, he proactively abandoned traditional midfield control and played defensive counterattack. The entire alteration in the match was due to Chen Zhong’s impromptu brilliance in the midfield and his exceptionally calm cross facing a three-man defense.

Compared to Rijkaard, Schuster appeared quite arrogant in the post-match press conference, opening with, "We not only won against Barcelona, but we also conquered Camp Nou."

"We successfully disrupted Barcelona’s midfield, preventing Eto’o, Ronaldinho, Iniesta, and Xavi from wall-passing in front of our penalty area."

Of course, besides these words, Schuster also heavily praised Chen Zhong’s performance and gave him the highest compliment, "He resembles me very much."

"He will definitely not be worse than me in the future."

For Schuster, this was the highest praise.

This match extended the point gap in the league between the two teams to 7 points, but more crucially, it was a severe blow to Ronaldinho and Rijkaard.

Ronaldinho’s dominance in Barcelona began with Real Madrid.

Two years ago, it was the match at the Bernabeu that cemented the Brazilian’s supreme status in the team. Similarly, Messi was formally appreciated for a pay raise because of his hat-trick against Real Madrid last season.

However, in this Spanish Super Derby against Real Madrid at Camp Nou, it marked the official decline of the once World Footballer of the Year.

Since ascending to the "altar", Ronaldinho faced only two scenarios: either receiving cheers and applause from fans or outrightly facing boos from fans.

Originally, this season, his situation within Barcelona wasn’t great, but now, his position in Barcelona has become even more precarious. Leaving seems to have become an unavoidable "reality".

A portion of Barcelona officials and some club directors closely associated with the sports department had proposed selling Ronaldinho some time ago to make a good deal while the Brazilian’s value was high.

In fact, Ronaldinho deeply felt some changes in his situation, especially as Deco gradually faded out of the starting lineup, Henry’s arrival, and his good friend Motta leaving the team. He felt his leadership role was being diminished.

Even the changes in Ronaldinho’s situation have begun affecting the locker room and the club’s performance.

The most typical case is Rijkaard’s usage of Ronaldinho. With neither Gudjohnsen, Dos Santos, nor Bojan complaining about being substitutes, Rijkaard chose a compromise approach, attempting to give Ronaldinho one last chance, at a critical moment in the Spanish national derby.

However, it was precisely this act that caused Rijkaard to lose the credibility gained among players when he previously decided to bench Ronaldinho.

Furthermore, Cruyff once again criticized Barcelona’s performance in this milestone battle, straightforwardly rebuking the poor sense of position of Barcelona players in his column.

In yesterday’s match, Barcelona’s performance was like an away game. If there was still time to correct mistakes before, then after the match against Real Madrid, Barcelona had no time left to rectify those mistakes.

At the same time, Cruyff praised Real Madrid, complimenting them on knowing what they wanted and successfully achieving their goals, whereas Barcelona almost replicated their usual away performance: slow-paced, with players lacking fighting spirit.

After losing this match, Barcelona fell into a massive whirlpool of trouble, whereas Real Madrid basked in various praises.

But Chen Zhong’s focus was on the system.

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