THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-574

The cheers rose to another thunderous peak after the referee awarded Real Madrid a penalty. The home fans couldn't hide their excitement. Their shouting and yelling caused an explosive atmosphere around the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

"Well, well, well," Rob Daly, one of the commentators, said. "We have gotten ourselves some early drama in the game. The referee has just awarded Real Madrid a penalty. The Los Blancos now have the perfect start for the second leg of this UEFA Champions League quarter-final. Should they convert, they will trim the 3:1 deficit from the first leg to only a single goal."

"The replay has just come in, and I can now see why the referee decided to award the penalty," Andy Brassell, the other commentator, said. "Giorgio Chiellini clearly manhandled and pulled down James Rodriguez before heading away the corner ball. Some referees usually don't penalize such fouls with penalties since everyone is fighting with their all to get to the incoming ball. But Jonas Eriksson, today's referee, has taken a harsh stand."

"Yes, he has, and I think he has the grounds to make such a decision," Rob Daly said. "Giorgio Chiellini clearly made a clumsy foul and invited the decision. He has to face the consequences with his teammates for using foul means to outwit the opponent while within the box."

In the meantime, Christiano Ronaldo had stepped forward to take the penalty. The Real Madrid man made no mistake on the spot. He blasted the ball down the middle and found the back of the net to score Real Madrid's 1st goal on the night.

The score was then 1:0 in favor of Real Madrid for the night. But the aggregate score for the quarter-final remained 3:2 in favor of Juventus. As such, Juventus was still the team in the driving seat, and if the status quo remained the same, they would be the ones to qualify for the semis.

The Real Madrid fans knew all this. They wasted no time before using loud voices to cheer on their team. They shouted chants of support when their team had the ball and then booed with untiring dynamism when Juventus was in possession.

In the meantime, the Real Madrid players were also doing their part to make a comeback. Buoyed by the goal they had just scored, they roared forward and continued launching lethal attacks against Juventus' defense. They relied on exceptional wing-play tactics and through balls from their midfielders to continue creating clear-cut goal-scoring chances.

In particular, Christiano Ronaldo was an imminent threat on the counterattack and even came close to scoring twice. But surprisingly, he squandered his chances, once when he opted to pass instead of shooting from eight yards out during the 34th minute and again during the 42nd minute when he lashed wide from the edge of the penalty area after a mesmeric first touch.

After that, Juventus somehow clung on until halftime without conceding another goal against the spirited Real Madrid team. But that was at the cost of all their players, including Tevez and Zachary, falling back in their half to defend.

With how the Juventus players had just performed, the atmosphere was somber within their dressing room at halftime. Even the often-hyper players, like Patrice Evra and Arturo Vidal, remained silent. They didn't let out even a squeak as they waited for their coach to take center stage.

Coach Max Allegri looked at his players, who were clearly in low spirits, and shook his head. "Listen," he said. "We all need to forget our performance during the first half. We must now start thinking about how to handle the second half."

"I know that playing against a team like Real Madrid at their home ground is difficult. It's even more so with all their home fans, who are constantly booing us whenever we're in possession. But as professional footballers playing for Juventus, we have to overcome this. We must stay calm and quickly settle down in the game. We must lose all the pressure and start playing at our best."

Coach Allegri swept his gaze across the dressing room. "During the second half, Real Madrid will continue attacking us and trying to score another goal. They will commit more men forward and try to get that equalizer to tie the aggregate score."

"But what will we do? We'll remain solid both in midfield and back. We'll hold possession when possible. But if the going gets hard, we'll all fall back and defend. We'll absorb the pressure and do our best not to concede another goal."

"You must all not get anxious when we're doing this. I'm sure that even if we're on the defensive 80% of the time, we'll still get a few opportunities to threaten them, especially on the counter. Those who get hold of the chances must remain composed and convert them. This is how we'll win the quarters and qualify for the Champions League semi-finals. Understood?"

"Yes, coach," the players replied, more or less in unison.

"Understood?" The coach asked again with a louder voice.

"Yes, coach," The players yelled back with more energetic voices.

"Good," the coach said with a smile. He then gave special instructions to players like Zachary, Tevez, and Andrea Pirlo. After concluding everything, he sent his players back to the pitch for the second half of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg match.

The Juventus players started the second half much better than they did during the first. They followed their coach's instructions and remained solid and compact while performing their defensive and midfield maneuvers. They maintained a strict 4-3-1-2 formation that allowed them to seal the door on the Los Blancos and prevent them from finding any spaces through the middle.

Off course, Carlo Ancelotti's men soon found a solution to this tactical ploy. They expanded the pitch width with Christiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale going further into the wings. Aside from that, their two wing-backs (Marcelo and Daniel Carvajal) started taking a riskier approach by floating forward to overload the flanks.

With the strategy, Real Madrid was back in business within a few minutes. They relied on their phenomenal wingers to make runs into Juventus' half before floating crosses to Karim Benzema, the center forward. And if that failed, the flank players, be it Marcelo, Ronaldo, Bale, or Carvajal, would square the ball to find the midfielders or cut into the pitch and race towards the box themselves.

Their brilliance eventually paid off, and they created a clear goal-scoring chance during the 62nd minute when Christiano Ronaldo showcased his class by skipping past Stephan Lichtsteiner. The Real Madrid ace side-stepped past the Juventus defender with spellbinding footwork before approaching the box from the left side. Ronaldo then sent an inviting cross across the goal mouth, where Karim Benzema happened to be arriving.

Karim Benzema, on his part, outjumped Giorgio Chiellini, the defender who was a bit too careful because of the yellow card he had previously received. Benzema then met the incoming cross with a header and sent the ball towards the goal from a tight angle.

Fortunately for Juventus, the experienced Gianluigi Buffon was alert again. The goalkeeper reacted appropriately and punched the ball out of play for a corner kick. And with that, he saved Juventus from conceding the second goal on the night during the 63rd minute.

All the Real Madrid players, including Varane, Sergio Ramos, and Kroos, crowded in the box again after the referee awarded the corner kick. They all started moving around the area while anticipating the corner ball.

It was at that time that the referee blew the whistle. On cue, Isco, the Real Madrid midfielder, took the corner kick and sent a curling cross towards the box.

Chaos immediately exploded within the box as the players of both teams tried to outwit their opponents and meet the corner ball. But at the end of it all, Leonardo Bonucci was the person to come out on top.

The Juventus central defender towered over everyone in the box before clearing the danger. He beat Varane in a battle of aerial superiority and sent the ball towards the center.

Zachary, who had also been defending the corner, reacted instantaneously. He took off from the box and chased after the ball that was heading towards Rodríguez.

He hit top speed within seconds and managed to reach it just as Rodríguez was about to control it. He stretched out his leg ever so slightly, and with the simplest of deft touches, he pickpocketed the Real Madrid man.

Heart racing, he circumvented Rodríguez, who was attempting to pull his shirt, before realizing that the pitch before him had opened up. He was even more surprised when he noticed that aside from Iker Casillas, the keeper, he couldn't see any other Real Madrid player between him and the goal.

Adrenaline immediately coursed through Zachary's system, and he accelerated. He pumped his feet like the pistons of a speeding race car and bolted through the middle of the pitch.

The scenery around him flashed by quickly as he ran, and soon, he met Iker Casillas, who had come out of the goal to greet him. He remained composed and rounded the keeper with a few deft touches coupled with a swift change of pace before dashing forward and hammering the ball into the back of the empty net.

But even then, he didn't halt or slow down. Instead, he ran around the goal and dashed toward the corner flag while enjoying the thunderous cheers of the visiting Juventus fans in the stands. And lastly, he slid on his knees for a few meters and punched the air to celebrate the goal.

He was happy. He felt fulfilled after scoring a crucial goal that could seal his team's qualification to that year's UEFA Champions League semis.