Chelsea failed to launch a counter-attack, and despite Casemiro receiving a yellow card for it, it was still a great pity.
This was an excellent opportunity for a counter-attack.
Real Madrid had insufficient defensive strength left in their half, with even as few as four players, but if they could quickly get the ball out, it would have been a rare counter-attacking chance, possibly even leading to a goal.
"Chelsea's set piece, but it's difficult to directly attack from this position, and the game has returned to that stalemate."
After the kick-off, Chelsea immediately tried to attack, but Real Madrid quickly pushed them back.
Real Madrid did not give them good passing channels in various positions, and even if they managed to pass, they were often met with a defensive encirclement.
The ball was passed to Oscar.
After receiving the ball, Oscar turned to face his own half, appearing as if he was going to pass back.
This movement caused Kroos and Casemiro to instinctively follow, hoping to seize this opportunity to make a tackle.
But at this moment, Oscar keenly sensed this, and he suddenly twisted his waist and sharply pulled the ball back with his foot.
This was a Turn around and slam dunk, similar to a Cruyff Turn, but it incorporated a pulling motion.
This allowed him to smoothly slip between the two players.
But that wasn't all; facing multiple passing options, Oscar surprisingly passed into an open space on the right.
This pass seemed a bit inexplicable, but just a second later, Chelsea's winger Willian arrived at that position.
"Good ball!"
The British commentator couldn't help but shout, "Chance!"
Willian immediately passed horizontally, sending the ball to Hazard in the middle.
Hazard received the ball smoothly; this was the most comfortable pass he had received so far.
Due to Real Madrid's aggressive defending, there were no interfering players around him.
Ramos was forced to actively push forward, coming out of the penalty area to defend.
But Hazard pushed the ball horizontally, creating distance from Ramos, intending to dribble directly into the penalty area.
Soon, Hazard felt a huge resistance from his waist.
Ramos clung to Hazard like an octopus, pulling and dragging, simply not letting him advance.
But Hazard still struggled to push forward until he entered the penalty area, where he was finally brought down by Ramos.
Beep!
A sharp whistle sounded.
The Referee ran over, and despite Real Madrid players' protests, the Referee pointed to the penalty spot and showed Ramos a yellow card.
"Another yellow card!"
"Two consecutive yellow cards!"
Spanish commentator González grimaced; "And it's not just a yellow card, we've also conceded a penalty. Things are not going right during this period!"
He felt that Real Madrid was a bit disorganized, or perhaps too anxious.
Many defensive actions carried a sense of eagerness for quick success, which led to these two problems.
Now, Casemiro and Ramos had both received yellow cards, and a penalty had been awarded, which was not good news.
Mourinho on the sidelines excitedly waved his fist.
"Penalty! Penalty! Beautiful! Well done!"
The British commentator was excited; the opportunity had finally arrived.
After such a long wait, a valuable penalty was enough to break the current deadlock.
Hazard earned the penalty, so naturally, he would take it.
He had no intention of letting anyone else take it, carrying the ball to the penalty spot.
Standing twelve yards in front of the Bernabéu goal, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.
Moreover, facing him was the world-renowned Casillas.
Although Casillas's current State was being questioned, he had been stripped of his captaincy at Real Madrid and had become a rotational Goalkeeper.
However, his once-great fame still made Hazard nervous.
But what excited him more was that he was about to score against Real Madrid.
Scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu was quite an achievement.
Tens of thousands of Real Madrid fans in the stadium were putting pressure on him, but Hazard ignored it, keeping his eyes down, trying not to look at the goal to prevent Casillas from reading his thoughts.
Moreover, his movements were very clean; he had already marked out his run-up distance.
The moment the whistle sounded, Hazard sprinted forward and struck the ball.
"Hazard's penalty!! This ball—"
The British commentator's tone suddenly became urgent.
Something's not right!
No!
He saw Hazard kick the ball to the left, and Casillas also lunged to the left.
This ball was going to be saved!
Bang!
Casillas grazed the ball with one hand, changing its trajectory slightly; the ball flew towards the goalpost, and with a 'ding', it hit the post and rebounded.
At this moment, Hazard, who was closest, actually paused.
He hadn't even considered that his penalty would be saved, and this pause caused him to fall behind. Carvajal, reacting the fastest, was the first to reach the rebound and cleared the ball directly out of bounds with a big kick.
After the ball flew out of bounds, Casillas breathed a sigh of relief. He got up from the ground, excitedly slapping his chest and roaring:
"Come on!!!"
The other Real Madrid players also rushed towards Casillas; that save was truly damn cool.
Even Suker ran over to hug Casillas.
"Iker Casillas! He is always Real Madrid's guardian, look at his performance this time, a decisive save, he clearly saw through Hazard's intentions, although the trajectory of the ball was tricky, Casillas still managed to graze the ball, changing its path!"
"Chelsea failed to capitalize on this penalty, which will have a significant impact on their morale."
Indeed, Hazard stood with his hands on his hips, a look of regret on his face.
Other Chelsea players also shook their heads, with a hint of pain on their faces, as if saying, 'We couldn't even score that?'.
They were already under immense pressure.
They had hoped to widen the score difference with this penalty and give themselves some breathing room.
But now, having missed the penalty, the pressure had not only not decreased but had intensified.
Mourinho on the sidelines looked displeased, but he still suppressed his anger, signaling his players to calm down.
He knew that this was not the time to impose more pressure on them; they could easily collapse.
Therefore, he patiently encouraged his players instead.
Of course, he was also extremely disappointed that Hazard failed to seize this opportunity.
Most importantly, after this, it was hard to say whether Real Madrid would give them such a chance again.
As a top team, they would not make the same mistakes.
Aggressive defending should no longer occur.
"Calm down, don't be too aggressive, hold your positions!"
Indeed, Ramos had already started shouting.
Listening to Ramos's shouts, Casemiro and Kroos immediately nodded.
They had indeed been too aggressive; one person should have gone up, while the other held their position.
But the two hadn't communicated well and rushed up together, leading to problems in their defense after they were bypassed.
Especially for a single defensive midfielder like Casemiro.
As the last line of defense, his judgment was crucial; being easily breached like that would affect the entire defensive setup.
This was especially true when facing a team like Chelsea, who were very good at counter-attacking.
Suker slowly exhaled; this penalty also gave him a headache.
Fortunately, the outcome was good.
But that didn't mean they could relax.
"We need to push!"
Suker's expression subtly became serious.
Chelsea's defense still wasn't under that much pressure, which allowed them to frequently make dangerous passes.
At the very least, they needed to pull the opponent's midfielders back; scoring a goal would be best.
Suker turned his head and shouted to Kroos, "Pay attention to my position!"
Kroos immediately nodded.
He was responsible for organizing and attacking the midfield in this match.
It could be said that Kroos bore the responsibility for Real Madrid's offensive and defensive transitions, organization, and various tactical key points. Although this was the first time he had been given such responsibility, if he wanted to become a true midfield core, he had to deliver a corresponding performance.
"Kroos! Calm down, don't rush!"
Kaka also soothed Kroos's emotions: "You can do it, just play like you normally do!"
Kaka knew Kroos was eager to prove himself, but with such things, the more one rushed, the worse the outcome.
Especially in midfield, this was the position that most required patience.
The midfield was the control center of the tempo; once Kroos rushed, Real Madrid's entire rhythm would be problematic.
Chelsea's throw-in.
Since Carvajal had cleared the ball out of bounds, it was still Chelsea's attacking phase.
However, after Chelsea's kick-off, Real Madrid used intense pressing to force the opponent out of their own half.
At the same time, they quickly adjusted their positioning, applying pressure step by step.
Seeing Real Madrid collectively enter into a tacit understanding, commentator González also breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's more like it! Don't rush, absolutely don't rush!"
This season, Real Madrid's offense has been continuous, primarily focused on attack, but there have also been some issues.
That is, once they get into this rhythm, it's easy to get caught up in it and lose calm judgment.
Kaka, with his rich experience, took on the role of a metronome.
He could speed up or slow down, making judgments based on the overall situation and developing the rhythm in a direction favorable to them.
However, Kroos was clearly a bit lacking in this aspect, but since it was his first time leading this style of play, he was given full trust.
After all, this kind of thing has to be honed through matches!
Kroos was also constantly pushing himself to learn; his mind was constantly turning, observing! Observing! And observing!
He had to remember every teammate's position in his mind, and at the same time, he had to pay attention to the opponent's movements.
If the rhythm was fast, he had to slow it down!
If the rhythm was slow, then he had to appropriately speed it up.
They had to be in their most comfortable rhythm mode, only then could they unleash their offensive threat.
To be honest, this was not an easy task.
This required constant attention to the situation and independent judgment; some things even had to be compensated for by experience, but Kroos was still very willing to do it.
Although it was a bit difficult.
But this feeling of dictating the midfield, watching the ball constantly being passed from his feet and then returned, was truly wonderful.
"Bale!"
Kroos subconsciously shouted.
But just as Bale was ready to receive the ball, Kroos did not pass.
Instead, he suddenly cut inside, shaking off the pressing Oscar.
At the same time, his peripheral vision caught a white figure in a deeper position.
That position, that figure, could only be Suker.
Even though it was a glimpse from his peripheral vision, Kroos quickly made a judgment, and with almost no adjustment, he poked the ball forward with his toe.
To be honest, this pass was not good; it wasn't a ground pass, but rather one that repeatedly touched the ground on the turf, and if not handled well, it could easily bounce into the air.
But to avoid disrupting the rhythm, he could only pass it this way.
At the same time, Kroos also believed that Suker could handle this pass.
Indeed, after seeing the ball, Suker did not receive it in place as usual, but actively moved to meet the ball, while also taking small, quick steps.
But at the moment of receiving the ball, his body made a slight upward movement, and with his entire body gently floating, he successfully and steadily controlled the ball.
And not only this detail, but Suker was jumping backward, so while stopping the ball, he also nudged Ivanović, preventing the opponent from interfering with him immediately.
Ivanović was pushed back two staggering steps by Suker, but quickly regained his balance, and by the time he rushed forward again, Suker had already completed his turn.
"Suker's dribble in the rib area…"
González looked expectantly at the screen.
He had seen many of Suker's dribbles and believed that Suker could shake off Ivanović's defense.
Indeed, as Ivanović rushed in, Suker suddenly took a step forward to his right.
Ivanović hesitated a bit.
Suker saw that the opponent hadn't fallen for the feint, and surprisingly, he stepped forward again with his right foot, making two consecutive shoulder drops.
This time, Ivanović was truly a bit flustered.
Until Suker made his third step and shoulder drop, Ivanović indeed fell for the feint, his entire body turning to the right, wanting to intercept Suker.
Seeing this, Suker's right foot sharply tucked inward, pulling the ball to his left.
"Oh no!"
Ivanović was shocked, as his body could no longer turn, he could only reach out and grab Suker's jersey.
But Suker's body straightened slightly, and Ivanović's sweeping right hand grazed past his face, just a tiny distance from his nose.
Yet, in the end, Ivanović still missed, and unable to twist his center of gravity, he fell on his backside.
Meanwhile, Suker had completed the overtake from the left and smoothly burst into the penalty area.
"Danger!!!"
The British commentator exclaimed.
Watching Suker burst into the penalty area, his hair stood on end.
Chelsea's defense also became nervous.
Terry rushed forward immediately.
At this moment, Suker slightly straightened his body and looked towards the center.
Terry couldn't determine if Suker was going to pass, but he could only make a blocking motion.
He absolutely could not allow Suker to deliver that cross.
Indeed, the next second, Suker lowered his body, tucked the ball, and continued to dribble towards the byline.
Terry was left behind and could only hastily chase.
Just as he was about to reach the byline, Suker pushed the ball sharply with his left foot.
The ball drilled into the six-yard box, reaching the position in front of the goal.
And there, Benzema was already prepared, and with hardly any extra movement, he slightly inverted his instep and easily tapped the ball into the net.
In the 21st minute, Real Madrid, through Suker's continuous dribbling, seized an opportunity, with Suker assisting Benzema for the goal.
"Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!"
"Karim Benzema! We have taken the lead!"
"However, in this attack, Suker's performance was simply fantastic, so stable!"
"My God! The moment he shook off Ivanović, he made three consecutive shoulder drop feints, and Ivanović simply couldn't resist the deception of such feints."
"The most crucial thing was Suker's pause and straightening of his body to evade!"
"This is the judgment of a top player! Once you give Suker an inch of space, he won't even give you a chance to foul him!"
"Hazard was pulled down and awarded a penalty!"
"But Suker didn't even give the opponent a chance to pull him; thanks to Suker's excellent performance, Real Madrid completely broke through the left flank!"
"Suker's dribble and pass this time is definitely a TOP-level dribble of the week, Ivanović! Among the full-backs Suker has beaten, he will also take a spot."
The camera focused on Ivanović, the Serbia player shaking his head, his face full of dejection.
He had been vigilant enough.
The first probe, he didn't stick out his leg!
The second probe, he still held back!
But the third time, he couldn't hold back anymore; if Suker broke through, it would be disastrous.
But it was precisely because of this that he couldn't stop Suker.
However, in this process, Ivanović discovered some even more terrifying details.
When Suker dropped his shoulder for the third time, it was no longer a feint in the traditional sense; if he hadn't reacted, Suker would have definitely accelerated into it.
Ivanović felt he had made the correct judgment.
It's just that this abnormal, monster-like guy, even while shifting his center of gravity, managed to turn his body to the other side.
What kind of physical structure can make such a move?
With that kind of physical strength, it was only natural that he was beaten.
Benzema was celebrating, but Suker didn't run over; he merely grinned slightly, subtly feeling some pain in his abdomen and certain leg muscles.
These were all muscle reactions from those dangerous movements.
Suker could perform these unreasonable movements, but they also caused significant damage to his muscles.
If it weren't for the 'State Recovery Card', he wouldn't do this; the final result would only be worse than Ronaldo's.
He took a few deep breaths; he could still bear it for now.
It would be better to use the State Recovery Card after the first half ended.
However, he needed to slow down the pace appropriately, preferably not engaging in such intense dribbling methods anymore.
Suker exhaled, a smile also appearing on his face.
However, the result was always good!
They had scored!
"This monster-like guy!"
Ancelotti shook his head slightly; he didn't look at Benzema, but at Suker.
He knew the value of Suker's move.
This was no longer just a simple feint; if one's physical strength couldn't keep up, it simply couldn't be done.
In the entire football world, there was truly no one else who could dribble like Suker.
Presumably, only such abnormal physical talent could support Suker's movements!
The most crucial thing was that even when this guy did such things, he didn't get injured.
Ancelotti felt that this was the true alien.
Ronaldo was a 'pseudo-alien'; at the very least, Ronaldo didn't have Suker's super strong physical resilience.