Greatest Of All Legends - Chapter 633

Chapter 633: The Match or The Tie? I
**28th April 2021**

*6:12 pm*

At the Santiago Bernabeu, the grounds were beginning to become crowded, despite the setting sun. The fans had begun to arrive at the famed stadium in anticipation of the first leg of the Champions League Semi-final that would be taking place at the stadium in a few hours.

It was to be an exciting night all around the world with many people already preparing the snacks they would use to watch the upcoming game, but the excited frenzy at Madrid was a notch higher than everywhere else around then world.

As the fans slowly checked into the stadiums and gradually began filling the seats, a coach bus carrying the Madrid players arrived at the stadium, causing waves of excitement to break out among the nearby fans.

It took the joint efforts of all the security men to hold back the Madrid fans who tried to get closer to the motorcoach.

After a bit of effort, the bus was able to get past and finally arrived at the entrance to the stadium and the Madrid players began disembarking.

The Madrid players looked a picture of confidence and ease as they got off the bus calmly, each one holding to a few of their effects as they calmly walked into the stadium.

“Are those Uve guys not here yet?” Vinicius asked as they walked into the stadium, speaking in Portuguese to his fellow countryman, Rodrygo.

“I don’t think they’re here yet,” Rodrygo replied in a low tone, glancing around for any signs of the Uventus players, but they were nowhere to be found.

“Damn. I wish I could meet Ronaldo here,” Vinicius muttered, a bit giddy at the chance to meet one of his football idols.

“You’ll see him on the pitch… if you play,” Rodrygo replied calmly as he walked forward, his legs not halting for a single moment.

“Oh,” Vinicius smiled wryly and quickened his pace after Rodrygo, returning his focus to the game.

As for the Uventus team that had not arrived at the stadium yet, they were on their way already.

The players had arrived in Madrid since early that morning, but there were some activities planned out for them and they also had to rest a bit to stave off any exhaustion from the flight that might have built up, so they were only just on their way to the stadium.

However, they weren’t far out and just ten minutes later, the Uventus motorcoach also arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu and another wave of excitement burst out among the nearby crowd.

It had to be noted that there was even more of an excited reaction from the fans than when the Madrid players had arrived earlier.

The security men once again got to their jobs and did their best to keep the fans at bay, but their job was a lot more difficult as the fans pushed especially hard to get nearer to the Uventus bus.

The battle between the fans and the security guards didn’t delay the Uventus players, and they began to get off the bus, also dressed in black suits like the Madrid players.

Player after player elicited a wave of excitement from the Madrid fans, but when Ronaldo stepped out of the Uventus bus, the crowd went wild, cheering and calling for his attention.

The noise was so much that even with a pair of ear pieces in his ear blasting music, he still looked over after hearing the noise, then paused for a bit to smile and wave.

This inevitably delayed Jason, who was right behind him.

“They really love you huh,” Jason muttered, raising an eyebrow at the fans while taking out one earpiece from his ear.

“I love them too,” Ronaldo replied honestly with a smile, but the smile soon began to fade away from his face as he turned and began moving again, his face reverting to a face full of concentration, like a man going to war.

Giving another glance at the Madrid fans, Jason shrugged silently and began to move, following closely behind Ronaldo as they headed into the stadium and began to make their way to the locker rooms.

Ronaldo didn’t need a guide to show him the way to the locker rooms, but the Uventus team was appointed one that led them to their locker room where they found the manager waiting for them.

The players quickly began to change out of the stuffy suits while Pirlo pulled up a board.

“One last time, we’ll go through the game plan,” he began as he arranged the magnetic pieces on the board.

“You already know the formation, 4-4-2,”

“Buffon is the goalkeeper, Chiellini and De Ligt will be the center backs, while Cuadrado and Alex Sandro are our wingbacks,”

“Mckennie and Bentacur are our two center midfielders,”

“In the wide midfield positions, Jason will be on the left and Kulusevski will be on the right,”

“Finally, up front are Ronaldo and Dybala,” Pirlo listed out as he arranged the magnetic pieces representing his players on the board.

“Now on their side, they’re using the 4-3-3 formation they’re known for,”

“Courtois is their goalkeeper and he will be a particularly annoying opponent for us,”

“Ramos and Varane here in the center,” Pirlo said, arranging two magnetic pieces depicting the two players.

“On the right side, Carvajal, and on then left, Marcelo,” he continued while arranging the magnetic pieces appropriately.

“Casemiro will be playing as a defensive midfielder, and Toni Kroos and Modric will be teaming up with him in the center,”

“Finally, up front are Hazard on the left, Benzema in the center, and Isco on the right,” Pirlo said as he finally finished arranging the two sets of magnetic pieces against each other on the board.

“Now, let me start by asking… Do you see any weaknesses in their team?” Pirlo asked, suddenly throwing a question at his players.

“No… they look like they’re good all over the pitch,” Chiellini said, his voice containing a tone of bitterness. He was speaking from experience.

“Yes, that is correct, but there are ways we can get past them, but I’ll get back to that,” Pirlo began.

“First thing first, we have to match our opponents stride for stride. Madrid is a strong team and they are very annoying opponents to be up against, but note this,”

“It’s the first leg and it’s on their home ground,”

“This will make it tougher for us, but at the same time, it is an opportunity to strike them hard and give us some leeway for the upcoming second leg,”

“We might not win today’s game… in fact, there’s a high chance of that happening, but we are definitely not giving up the Champions League title without a fight,” Pirlo said confidently, his words full of bravado.