Chapter 655: Chapter 80: Overwhelming Victory—Will They Submit?

Moreover, there are many "harsh critiques" online.

For instance, Benzema’s pace seems to be a beat slow right from the start of the match.

Some even compiled Benzema’s "brilliant" moments this season.

For example:

In a certain match, Di Maria’s wonderful pass was directly stopped to the opponent by Benzema.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s cross, Benzema was a step slow in the middle, missing a great opportunity.

Also, Di Maria’s pass was slightly delayed by Benzema, missing a one-on-one chance, forcing him to make a cross from the end line, and the quality of the pass was not high, causing the team to miss a good chance.

Other examples include Benzema’s shot from the right side of the penalty area going sky high...

And when a teammate slowed down for a one-on-one opportunity to pass to Benzema, a three-on-one sure goal chance, Benzema passed it back, catching the teammate off guard with a big touch...

Or even in a straight-through and diagonal combo, Benzema’s shot hit the crossbar...

This match witnessed Benzema’s "brilliant" performance again, sparking widespread discussion among fans, with many even starting to scout for new players for Real Madrid.

Before the next round of matches, many media outlets filled their columns with transfer news, and Adebayor became the face of Real Madrid’s coverage.

Marca recently reported about Adebayor proposing to join Real Madrid, followed by a fan survey which showed that two-thirds of Real Madrid fans hope to bring in Adebayor in the winter to fill the void of a lacking forward.

Of course, there’s also a survey asking fans if they would like to see Chen Zhong appear as the center forward.

Among the fans who participated in the survey, more than sixty percent are willing to see Chen Zhong in the center forward position.

...

Real Madrid has been having some minor internal issues lately.

Although the "conflict" between Cristiano Ronaldo and Casillas is not being mentioned within the team, it still persists.

Recently, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) announced the 2010 Best Goalkeeper selection results.

Real Madrid’s main goalkeeper and Spain National Team captain Casillas was elected.

In this selection, Inter Milan’s goalkeeper Cesar ranked second, Chelsea’s Cech third.

Real Madrid’s Casillas topped the list with 304 points, Inter’s Cesar was second with 124 points, Chelsea’s Cech was third with 56 points.

Schalke 04 Team’s goalkeeper Neuer was fourth with 53 points, fifth was Ajax Team’s goalkeeper Stekelenburg (48 points).

Casillas’ selection was credited to his outstanding performance in the World Cup, where he, as captain, led Spain National Team to win the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Casillas’ performance for Real Madrid was equally remarkable.

This is Casillas’ third consecutive win since 2008, also the second hat trick in the IFFHS’s annual Best Goalkeeper selection. The last three-time consecutive Best Goalkeeper winner was Zeng Jia from 1989 to 1991.

Casillas has been selected as the Best Goalkeeper three times, second only to Italy’s goalkeeper Buffon.

Historically, Buffon has been elected a total of four times, since 1987, other legendary goalkeepers like Kahn (3-time winner), Chilavert (3-time winner), Zeng Jia (3-time winner), Schmeichel (2-time winner) have also been favored by this selection.

Similarly, Casillas’ win stirred up some speculation about the upcoming Ballon d’Or.

Some Iniesta supporters believe this is a signal that Iniesta is about to win the Ballon d’Or.

And some Iniesta fans believe that Casillas should not be the captain of the Spain National Team, if Iniesta were the captain, his winning the Ballon d’Or would be without question.

While the outside world is still discussing the Ballon d’Or winner, inside Real Madrid, there is already some information from the high-level sources, indicating that this year’s Ballon d’Or could very likely see a precedent where a non-World Cup champion player wins in a World Cup year.

And looking throughout the entire football world, only Chen Zhong with leading Real Madrid to a double championship last season, along with four Golden Boots accomplishments, meets the criteria.

Inside the locker room, all eyes are also focused on Casillas and Chen Zhong.

Casillas is the captain of the Spain National Team, a Real Madrid youth training player, now almost sitting firmly in the number one goalkeeper position in the world, and recently during the conflict with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese immediately sought Chen Zhong to explain the situation, but Casillas never had an in-depth conversation with Chen Zhong, and even in matches there seems to be signs of a power grab.

This made many people smell "danger."

At the same time, many players who hope to perform well this season have expressed concerns. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

They do not want the team to have internal conflict at this juncture; most players hope Casillas would take the initiative to talk to Chen Zhong.

This undercurrent, Casillas had tried to use his wife’s embrace to help him forget, and even thought that if Chen Zhong came to him, he could step back a bit.

He is currently being put on the spot, and he hopes for a way down, to step down gracefully.