Chapter 639: Chapter 74: Absolutely Terrible (Part 2)

Sevilla immediately pressured Chen Zhong, intending to make him lose possession, but Chen Zhong delivered a precise through pass under the pressure of Sevilla players.

At that moment, many veteran fans suddenly stood up, praising Chen Zhong’s masterful through pass, with images of famous midfield masters flashing in their minds.

However, a whistle shattered all of that.

"Beautiful!"

"16 minutes into the match!"

"Chen Zhong sends out another surgical knife-like pass."

"He, wait? Did they just whistle?"

"This must be an error!"

"Dabotto is the last man in the defensive line, standing parallel to Kaka, clearly not offside."

"Why did the referee call it offside???"

Kaka, receiving the ball, spread his hands in confusion, looking at the referee.

He was sure he wasn’t offside when he got the ball.

Nevertheless, the referee stood firm in his judgment.

At this point, neither team’s fans realized the seriousness of the matter, Real Madrid’s fans were dissatisfied, but not to the point of exploding.

The match continued, and the players of both teams were somewhat affected after this decision.

Sevilla’s players were clearly aware they got away with one, and were careful with the new opportunity as if reminded before committing a mistake.

Real Madrid, having attacked for almost 20 minutes, slightly slowed down their offense, giving their players a chance to recover some stamina.

During this period, Sevilla gained some opportunities but failed to threaten the goal.

Real Madrid, seeing Sevilla’s "ineffective" long shots outside the box and "ineffective" fouls at the back, wasn’t overly concerned.

Their most threatening attack was probably around the 25th minute.

Fabiano’s shot was blocked by Casillas, leading to a corner.

Escude contested the ball but failed to direct it properly, causing the ball to fly out.

Following this, the match fell into a stalemate, with Sevilla starting to use rough fouls to block Real Madrid’s attacks.

"Haha~" Mourinho quipped loudly on the sideline: "They don’t get carded for this? I wonder what counts as a foul."

"Are they children?" Sevilla’s coach Mansano retorted: "It’s just normal contact between men!"

Real Madrid controlled the match in general, but their attacking efficiency was reduced due to Benzema’s presence, while Sevilla played vigorously, twice reaching Real Madrid’s penalty area.

If not for Casillas and Pepe making brilliant defenses, the team might have conceded.

Over 40 minutes into the first half, as the starting center forward, Benzema had yet to make any shots, deliver key passes, or make interceptions.

He was offside four times, made only eight passes, and had six errors.

In the front, he took the ball eight times, and was intercepted five times.

In a series of metrics, Benzema’s performance was inadequate.

Immediately after the start, he repeatedly fell into the opponent’s offside trap.

The only impressive moment might be when he dribbled past the attacking Palop, but with the missed shooting angle and a passing error, Benzema’s shine gets erased.

He was largely invisible for most of the time afterward.

Even the rating system gave Benzema the lowest score of 2 points in the team.

Without a doubt, for a player, especially a Real Madrid player, this is a humiliating score.

"Benzema seems to be in a nightmare during the match, showing no interest, appearing lethargic."

"I even think he’s never appeared in the opponent’s penalty area."

"On the field, Benzema was virtually invisible, failing to pose any threat to the opponent’s goal aside from a half-chance in the first half."

"Benzema’s performance is a disappointment, seeing him perform like this, Mourinho is bound to strongly urge the club executives to bring in a number 9 center forward."

The first half ended, and in the last moments of the match, Benzema was again offside, and Sevilla’s counterattack led to Cavaleiro receiving a yellow card for a foul.

As Real Madrid’s players walked off, Real Madrid fans in the stands booed Benzema, who lowered his head without speaking.

"He."

"We can hear."

"Fans in the stands booing Benzema."

"Benzema’s performance in this match was indeed poor; let’s see if there will be adjustments during the halftime break!"

Mourinho in the locker room had a grim face, once again using the cat and hunting dog analogy, undoubtedly, Benzema was the "Benze-cat", possibly causing Real Madrid to reap nothing while hunting.

The second half started.

Real Madrid appeared somewhat distracted, while Sevilla’s counterattacks were sharp; if not for Casillas making a one-handed interception, the team might have conceded first.

Casillas punched the air and shouted, looking at the fans, at Cristiano Ronaldo, and at Chen Zhong.

Since the open conflict with Cristiano Ronaldo, it seemed as though Casillas had divine help, excelling in both training and matches.

He hadn’t yet privately talked with Chen Zhong, but used his "performance" to demonstrate.

"Real Madrid’s attack."

"47 minutes into the match."

"Chen Zhong gets the ball in midfield."

"A Marseille Turn."

"Gets past the opponent."

"Haha, the opponent missed."

"Almost stumbled to the ground."

After receiving the ball, Chen Zhong saw the Sevilla player charging at him and elegantly performed a Marseille Turn, brushing past the opponent.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, his gaze locked onto Benzema running ahead.

Chen Zhong decisively delivered a through pass.

Old fans in front of the TV rose up again, recalling those passing masters.

Chen Zhong’s pass was spot on, Benzema’s positioning...

Forget about his positioning; clearly, it was Chen Zhong’s pass guiding his positioning; Chen Zhong is indeed a passing master.

However, just as the old fans awaited a sharp counterattack.

The referee blew the whistle again.

"Chen Zhong gets the ball."

"A through pass."

"Tears apart the opponent’s defense."

"Benzema takes the ball."

"The whistle blows."

"Offside???"

When the referee called the whistle, Benzema was silently lowering his head, a little indifferent and slightly self-conscious. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But Chen Zhong was somewhat angry.

He rushed towards the referee, who was startled by his stance, thinking he was about to be hit.

Seeing the referee’s half-step retreat, Chen Zhong almost wanted to laugh and ask, is that half-step retreat action serious?

"Hello!" Chen Zhong suppressed his anger and said firmly: "I clearly saw when I made the pass; this is definitely not offside, Rikam’s position was even behind the defensive player."

The referee opened his mouth to say something, but Chen Zhong’s next words made him swallow back his speech.

"I know the decision can’t be overturned, but hopefully, this kind of thing won’t happen again next time."

Real Madrid fans expressed their dissatisfaction with boos, especially when the replay of everything was displayed on the electronic screen, raising their discontent to its peak.

On the sideline, Mourinho was also vigorously voicing his criticism.

The referee, hearing the fierce boos, felt a little irritated, a bit anxious...