Starting With Real Madrid

Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruña 7-1!

Gao Shen's team achieved yet another stunning victory at home!

As the final whistle blew at the Bernabéu, the news spread rapidly throughout Spain.

Naturally, this included the coaching staff of Barcelona, located at Ciutadella de España in Barcelona.

Tito Vilanova, accompanied by assistant coach Jordi Roura, watched the match together with several core members of the coaching team. It left a deep impression on all of them.

Especially the first half.

…

Barcelona's away match against Sevilla had taken place the day before Real Madrid's. The final score was 3-2. Barcelona only managed to score two late goals to complete a comeback against Sevilla.

But despite the result, Barcelona came away with both setbacks and ridicule.

The setback came in the form of an injury to young midfielder Thiago, which would have a significant impact on their already thin midfield.

Fortunately, players like Puyol and Iniesta were close to returning.

The ridicule, however, came from a red card incident.

Playing at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, referee Mateu adopted a lenient approach. Sevilla took advantage of this by increasing their physicality, putting Barcelona on the back foot.

Without Iniesta, Xavi and Fàbregas partnered in midfield. The result was a steady but uninspired rhythm, and Barcelona struggled to pose any real threat. Once again, they had to rely heavily on Messi.

Sevilla opened the scoring with a quick counterattack finished by Trochowski.

Although Barcelona had more than 70 percent possession, they still failed to create real danger in front of goal.

Early in the second half, Busquets misplayed a pass that was intercepted by Medel. Negredo then escaped from Barcelona center-back Alex Song and scored Sevilla's second.

Five minutes later, Messi delivered a through ball and Pedro cut it back, allowing Fàbregas to pull one back.

But after that, Barcelona created little else.

Then came the game's most controversial moment. In the 72nd minute, Sevilla midfielder Medel got into an altercation with Fàbregas. The Chilean moved forward and lightly butted Fàbregas on the chin with his head.

Fàbregas immediately reacted in dramatic fashion, holding his face and staggering away as if he had suffered a major blow.

Referee Mateu stepped in and showed Medel a straight red card.

But it soon became clear that Fàbregas was completely fine, which triggered a wave of backlash after the match.

Retired La Liga referee Andújar accused Fàbregas of overreacting in post-match media coverage.

The incident occurred after play was stopped. Fàbregas had been hugging Medel from behind to demand the ball. Medel tossed the ball to a teammate, tried to shake off Fàbregas, and the two exchanged words. Medel stepped forward to push, but not with much force. Fàbregas didn't fall but acted as though he had been seriously hurt.

Later, fans flooded social media with mockery:

"No team can beat a side that plays three sports at once: football, handball, and water polo."

The "water polo" jab referred to Fàbregas' theatrics and Medel's red card.

The "handball" happened shortly after the red card.

By the 89th minute, Barcelona still trailed 2-1.

Even with a one-man advantage, they struggled to break Sevilla down. At the crucial moment, Thiago handled the ball while intercepting a Sevilla pass. The Sevilla players immediately protested, and the referee, standing next to Thiago, chose not to penalize it.

Barcelona launched a counterattack from that moment, and Fàbregas scored the equalizer.

In stoppage time, David Villa netted the winner to complete the comeback.

After the match, Real Madrid-aligned media, led by Marca and AS, along with pro-Barcelona outlets like Sport and Mundo Deportivo, ignited a fierce war of words.

The Madrid media claimed Barcelona's comeback was a disgrace to La Liga.

A handball, a red card—could it get more absurd?

Even the more neutral El Mundo suggested that Barcelona's win was tainted by controversy.

The implication: the victory lacked credibility.

Even after the red card, Barcelona couldn't immediately equalize, let alone dominate. In the end, they needed a controversial handball to draw level and rode Sevilla's drop in morale to win it.

Many European media outlets also argued that referee Mateu had become the true protagonist of the match.

…

Precisely because the match against Sevilla had stirred up such massive controversy, Vilanova understood that Real Madrid's demolition of Deportivo La Coruña would only boost their momentum.

In fact, Real Madrid had won their last two games by large margins.

It was clear that the enemy's morale was sky-high.

On the other hand, no matter how much Fàbregas defended himself in the media, no matter how hard the Catalan press tried to explain it, controversy was still controversy. And the Barcelona players knew that too.

If they really were strong enough to beat Sevilla, why did they have to wait until the dying minutes?

That match exposed not just offensive issues but defensive vulnerabilities too.

Barcelona's next opponent was none other than Real Madrid.

And this version of Real Madrid looked dangerous.

"Next weekend's match is at home. We must win it," Vilanova said, turning to Roura and the rest of his staff.

"If we win, we'll extend the lead to seven points. That gives us a cushion and reduces the pressure."

"But Gao Shen has never lost at the Camp Nou. He's never lost to Barcelona," Roura said cautiously.

Barcelona still carried some psychological baggage when it came to facing Gao Shen.

"That was the past, Jordi," Vilanova said confidently.

"We all know the relationship between Pep and Gao Shen. Gao Shen knew Pep very well, but he doesn't know me."

Vilanova's tactical approach mirrored Guardiola's in many ways, but there were also major differences.

More importantly, as Pep's former assistant, he knew all of Guardiola's shortcomings and mistakes.

And he had no intention of repeating them.

"Real Madrid rebuilt their squad over the summer and made many changes. I've watched their past games—against Sevilla, Getafe, and others. When pressed high, they made frequent passing errors and struggled with ball control. That's our opportunity."

"You all saw the game just now. Deportivo's defense was awful. They gave Real Madrid way too much space. But we won't."

Everyone, including Roura, could feel Vilanova's ambition.

Since before officially taking over the team, he had already been shaping Barcelona's future. If he didn't want to live in Guardiola's shadow, he had to prove he could achieve what Guardiola couldn't.

For example, winning the Treble.

For example, defeating Gao Shen!

No one doubted Vilanova's talent or ambition. Not only had he played a key role in Guardiola's success as an assistant, but since becoming head coach, he had remained unbeaten.

He had won all matches in the Spanish Super Cup, La Liga, and the Champions League.

Before him, four legendary Barcelona managers, including Cruyff and Guardiola, had managed six straight league wins to start the season. But Vilanova was the only one to have won every match across all competitions to start the season.

That was Vilanova's greatest confidence.

It was also the purpose behind his desire to lead Barcelona.

"Jordi."

Vilanova looked at his assistant.

A product of Barcelona's youth academy, Roura had once coached the youth teams before moving to other clubs, where he failed to succeed. In 2009, he returned to Barcelona as a scout and grew close to Vilanova.

"Our Champions League match is one day earlier than Real Madrid's. After we play Benfica away, make arrangements. I want to go to the Bernabéu and watch Real Madrid vs Porto in person."

Match footage was detailed enough, but it still couldn't compare to watching live.

Though Vilanova was confident, he still wanted to study Real Madrid up close and personally examine their tactics.

"I'll take care of it," Roura nodded. Then, after a pause, he glanced at analyst Carles Planchart and looked back at Vilanova. "Tito, about the Bernabéu trip..."

Vilanova also noticed Planchart, who looked eager to volunteer.

Normally, when a head coach went to scout an opponent, it made sense to bring along assistants and analysts. The more eyes, the better, and discussions could happen in real time.

But Vilanova smiled and said, "Carles, I have a task for you."

Planchart looked at Roura, then at Vilanova, and suddenly understood. He nodded. "Go ahead."

"I need you to analyze Real Madrid's defensive weaknesses, especially the coordination between Xabi Alonso, Ramos, and Pepe. Those three haven't quite gelled yet. That will be our chance."

Xabi Alonso isn't a natural defensive midfielder or a traditional No. 4. He's better suited as a double pivot alongside someone like Mascherano or Khedira.

But since Gao Shen took charge, he converted Xabi Alonso into a lone holding midfielder. It was something worth paying close attention to.

Letting a deep-lying playmaker play the No. 4 role? Xabi Alonso had defensive qualities, but could he really handle that job?

"Got it. I'll get started right away."

Planchart was slightly disappointed but still accepted the assignment.

He had been one of Guardiola's most trusted analysts.

After Vilanova took over, he tried to bring in his own people. But the analyst position was hard to fill at short notice. Since Guardiola was unemployed at the time, Vilanova had temporarily kept Planchart on.

But everyone knew that once Guardiola returned, Planchart would follow.

Vilanova clearly held a grudge about that.

After all, deep down, he also wanted to surpass Guardiola.

There is no number one in literature and no number two in martial arts. That's always been true.

(To be continued.)

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