Chapter 580: Mbappé Rises to Fame with One Goal!
During halftime, both teams' coaches made the most of the time to adjust their tactics and plan for the second half. Compared to Real Madrid, Manchester City had to make more changes due to De Bruyne's injury, which forced them to significantly alter their game plan.
Guardiola prepared for two possible scenarios that Real Madrid might employ in the second half.
"With Kevin off the field, Lin will definitely become their primary target, so I need others to step up and share some of the attacking responsibility!" Guardiola's eyes landed on David Silva and Gündoğan. Even though Silva was playing as a winger, he was more like a midfielder in practice.
If necessary, Guardiola planned to pull David Silva back into a more central role to help organize the play, transforming him into a central attacking midfielder.
David Silva's talents were often underrated. Although he didn't appear on camera much, except when passing or linking up with players like Lin Quan, his contributions to Manchester City were irreplaceable. Silva had excellent dribbling, strong ball control, and a low center of gravity, which made him difficult to dispossess. Once the ball was at his feet, it was safe, and if he couldn't pass forward, he could always safely pass it back.
Moreover, Silva possessed an uncanny ability to make the perfect pass—whether it was a short through ball or a long-distance cross, he had mastered it all. During City's forward play, Silva was not only able to hold onto the ball under pressure but frequently combined with teammates to set up dangerous attacks.
In a team that relied on possession-based football, this might not seem extraordinary, especially with players like Lin Quan and De Bruyne often stealing the spotlight with their jaw-dropping passes and breakthroughs. Naturally, Silva was easy to overlook.
But behind the scenes, he was constantly working hard—fighting for the ball, defending, and attacking—selflessly giving everything for the team. Before Lin Quan and De Bruyne joined Manchester City, Silva had been the offensive core of the team. However, with the arrival of more talented players, Silva had voluntarily taken on the more thankless tasks, letting his teammates shine while he took care of the dirty work.
Perhaps because Silva had become more low-profile over the years, Real Madrid hadn't paid much attention to him in this match. Guardiola saw this as an opportunity and believed that he could capitalize on it to catch Real Madrid by surprise.
Of course, if this strategy didn't work, Guardiola had a backup plan.
As long as City wasn't trailing by the 70th minute, he would sub out Agüero for Gabriel Jesus. Though Jesus's finishing wasn't as sharp as Agüero's, and he wasn't suited for the traditional center-forward role, Guardiola had discovered several strengths in him. First, Jesus followed instructions well—he executed the coach's plans to the letter. Second, he was very active defensively. While he might not excel as a striker, he was great at disrupting the opponent's attacks.
Guardiola also noticed that Jesus performed well as a right winger. Although his ability to cut inside and shoot needed improvement, his crossing accuracy was impressive.
If necessary, Jesus could come on for Gündoğan and use his crossing ability to assist his teammates. With Mbappé on the left and Jesus on the right, Real Madrid would certainly have their hands full defending both flanks!
…
Zidane was thinking along the same lines as Guardiola!
In the locker room, he first emphasized the importance of defense before discussing how to attack.
For Real Madrid, the ideal scenario would be to beat Manchester City during regular time. But if they couldn't do that, they would have to rely on their defense to hold the draw and take the game into extra time.
If extra time still didn't produce a result, then a penalty shootout would also be acceptable.
After all, penalties are a game of luck! Real Madrid had plenty of skilled shooters, and they weren't afraid of a penalty shootout. On the other hand, Manchester City might struggle to find five reliable penalty takers.
However, Zidane wasn't planning to sit back and defend passively. Manchester City's offensive power in the latter part of the first half had already shown Real Madrid that if they only focused on defense, they might not be able to hold them off.
Therefore, Zidane decided on an aggressive start to the second half. He instructed his players to take advantage of Manchester City's tendency to ease into the second half and catch them off guard with a quick attack. If they could score early, it would give them more momentum and make it easier to defend.
…
The 15-minute break flew by, and both teams quickly returned to the pitch.
When the referee blew the whistle to start the second half, both teams noticeably increased their pace.
"Wait, Real Madrid and Manchester City are speeding up right at the start of the second half. The tempo is even faster than it was in the first half," observed the commentators.
"Does this mean both teams are changing tactics and planning to go all-out attack in this Champions League final?"
The commentators were surprised by this sudden shift in the game.
"It's possible, but teams tend to be more conservative in finals. You know the saying, 'Defense wins championships.'"
Not only were the commentators surprised, but even the players on the field were caught off guard.
Real Madrid had possession at the start of the second half, and they were following their coach's instructions to launch a quick attack and catch City off guard. But as soon as they kicked off, a swarm of Manchester City players surged toward the ball carrier.
Benzema, who had the ball, was startled and quickly passed it to Modric.
As soon as Modric received the ball, Lin Quan and Agüero pressed him. Modric was skilled at shielding the ball, but facing two players at once was too much, so he had to pass it back to Casemiro.
Casemiro wasn't great at organizing the play, and with City's forwards and midfielders charging at him like madmen, he panicked and quickly passed the ball to Kroos.
Before receiving the ball, Kroos had already noticed the space opening up on the wing as City pushed forward. He sent a long pass to the right flank, where Bale was waiting.
It was a great pass. As Bale sprinted toward the ball, he mentally gave Kroos a thumbs-up.
However, Manchester City had anticipated this move. A player who shouldn't have been in that position suddenly appeared and jumped up, heading the ball away before Bale could reach it.
Bale was momentarily stunned when he saw who it was.
It was City's center-back, John Stones!
What was he doing on the wing, and so far up the field?
Bale didn't understand City's defensive system, so he was confused. Although Stones was a center-back, he occasionally moved up to play as a defensive midfielder. If there was an attacking opportunity, he would even carry the ball across midfield and link up with teammates like a full-back.
As for defending, City had Virgil van Dijk sweeping up behind to cover. Van Dijk's retreating defensive style was perfect for one-on-one situations against attacking players. Unless the opposition had a numerical advantage, it was tough to break through Van Dijk.
This tactic allowed City to free up an extra player during attacks, and Stones, as an unexpected element, caught Real Madrid off guard.
The ball that Stones headed away landed at Gündoğan's feet. Under pressure from Ronaldo, Gündoğan passed back to Van Dijk, who quickly switched play to the opposite wing.
David Silva received the ball and glanced at Lin Quan's position, pretending to pass it to him. Real Madrid's players didn't suspect anything, as Lin Quan was City's offensive and playmaking core. It was only natural that Silva would pass to him.
As expected, Real Madrid's players followed their plan, surrounding Lin Quan, ready to intercept him the moment he received the ball.
But to their surprise, Silva didn't pass to Lin Quan. Instead, he sent a long diagonal pass across to the opposite wing, where Mbappé was in open space.
This was a pass from one winger to another, but because Silva had dropped deep to collect the ball, the pass spanned nearly the entire width of the field, traveling over 50 meters.
Not only did this pass catch all the Real Madrid players off guard, but even Mbappé was surprised.
He had been following the team's tactical plan, making a run, but when he saw Lin Quan getting surrounded, he figured the ball wouldn't make it to him, so he had slowed down.
What he didn't expect was that Silva, from such a long distance, had spotted the opportunity and delivered the pass to him.
That vision was incredible!
Mbappé mentally gave Silva a thousand thumbs-up and immediately sped up, chasing after the ball.
Carvajal knew he couldn't reach the ball in time, but he still had to rush over. This was his area to defend, and if he didn't cover it, Real Madrid's right side would be completely exposed.
Carvajal couldn't stop Mbappé from getting the ball, but he hoped to slow him down. Even if he couldn't steal the ball, he could at least delay Mbappé's progress and buy time for his teammates to get back and help defend.
But Mbappé didn't care what Carvajal was thinking. As soon as Carvajal approached, Mbappé knocked the ball forward and began to accelerate, preparing to use his speed to blow past him.
Carvajal was furious when he saw Mbappé's move. The kid was underestimating him!
However, Carvajal had already been booked with a yellow card, so he didn't dare foul. He could only turn and chase after Mbappé, reaching out to grab his shirt to stop him.
But Mbappé's explosive speed was beyond Carvajal's expectations. His tugging did nothing to disrupt Mbappé's balance, nor did it slow him down.
Mbappé was like a supercar with the throttle pushed to the limit, zooming past Carvajal in the blink of an eye.
Compared to Mbappé, Carvajal seemed like an old, rusty car, moving at a snail's pace.
Real Madrid fans in the stands were in an uproar!
Here we go again!
This 18-year-old winger was leaving an unforgettable impression on them. His last run and this one were the kind of unstoppable plays where pure speed outmatched everything else. What could you do against someone faster than you?
In one of the VIP boxes, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez couldn't sit still.
Clenching his fist and glaring at the pitch where Mbappé was sprinting at full speed, he turned to the club's manager, Ángel, and said:
"Make an offer to Manchester City. I want to see that number 29 in our squad next season!"
Ángel was momentarily stunned but nodded firmly after realizing how serious Pérez was about signing Mbappé.
"Don't worry, Mr. President. I'll do everything I can to bring him to the Bernabéu!"
Although Ángel spoke confidently, he couldn't help but feel anxious inside.
Mbappé's name had already gained some recognition in the football world last season. He had made his debut for Monaco's first team at a young age, and his playing style, reminiscent of Thierry Henry, had earned him praise from many French football legends. Henry even predicted that Mbappé would surpass him in the future.
At the time, Real Madrid had sent scouts to evaluate Mbappé and had even submitted a bid to Monaco.
However, before they could negotiate further, Manchester City swooped in and quickly sealed the deal, leaving Real Madrid caught off guard.
The €40 million transfer fee City paid at the time caused a stir in the football world, with many people thinking that Guardiola and City were taking a huge risk.
There was no shortage of young talents in football, but many never lived up to their potential for various reasons.
For Guardiola to spend €40 million on a 17-year-old was undeniably bold, and it was a huge gamble.
In the first half of his time at Manchester City, Mbappé didn't get many opportunities to play, and there were plenty of voices suggesting that City had made a mistake.
But as it turned out, City's gamble paid off in a big way.
This season, as Mbappé began to feature more in the Premier League and Champions League, his performances improved dramatically. His stats for goals and assists were outstanding, especially for an 18-year-old.
Had he played for any other team, he would have already been a starter. The only reason his game time was limited was that Manchester City had no shortage of wingers.
Before this final, Mbappé's value on the transfer market had already risen to €60 million.
And that was based on conservative estimates from the transfer market, which often undervalues players. To actually sign him, a club would need to pay far more than his listed value—sometimes even double.
Given Mbappé's performance in this match, Ángel could already imagine that his market value would rise by another €10-20 million.
This meant that if Real Madrid wanted to sign him, they would have to offer at least €100 million.
Even if City was willing to sell, Real Madrid might have to pay between €100-150 million to make it happen.
But spending that much on an 18-year-old? That would be insane!
(End of Chapter)
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