Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

”Real Madrid’s compact defense has forced this young Dortmund side into repeated failures early on! The Yellow Wall’s pride and joy—their lightning-fast attacking sequences—have lost their edge tonight.

Robert Lewandowski, third in last season’s Bundesliga scoring charts, seems lost in Real Madrid’s relentless double teams! Without his link-up play, Götze and Reus are being forced to expend far more energy just to get touches near Madrid’s defensive third.

The Polish striker needs to play smarter. Who knows what Klopp will say to him on the sidelines, but one thing’s clear: time is running out. Real Madrid’s counters are getting sharper by the second!”

Tonight’s Champions League clash was being called by none other than Duan Xuan, one of the most seasoned Bundesliga analysts in the business—and a lifelong Bayern fan. It made sense: if anyone understood this Borussia Dortmund team, it was him.

Individually, Dortmund’s front three were elite—not world-class, perhaps, but Klopp’s tactical cohesion had elevated them far beyond the sum of their parts.

But tonight, they’d come up against a sharper Mourinho.

Most coaches, when targeting Dortmund, would focus on stopping Götze first—the engine. Then Reus—the change-of-pace winger. Only last would they worry about Lewandowski.

Why? Because Lewandowski wasn’t the type to dribble past five defenders like Ronaldo Nazário or Ibra. He could shine in flashes, sure, but not consistently beat elite back lines on his own.

But Mourinho? He flipped the script.

He started by shutting down Lewandowski.

Why? Because doing so robbed Götze and Reus of their safety net. No pivot. No link-up. Now they’d have to face Madrid’s midfield wall head-on.

Mourinho deployed three defensive midfielders. On paper, Li Ang was playing a central role—but defensively, he dropped just outside the box, right in Götze’s path.

He didn’t believe Götze and Reus were better than Robben and Ribéry—or Messi and Sánchez, for that matter. And his defensive setup proved it.

Dortmund’s opening attacks fizzled.

Klopp, naturally, wasn’t the type to sit back. If he sensed the matchup wasn’t a clear disadvantage, he always leaned into aggression.

Mourinho knew that.

So he opened the game with his fists drawn in—waiting to strike.

And when the time came, he struck first.

In the 12th minute, Essien intercepted Reus’s cut-in and Li Ang immediately surged forward.

”Beautiful interception! Real Madrid’s counterattack is on!”

Duan Xuan roared from the booth.

Essien’s diagonal pass was perfectly timed. Li Ang saw Götze ahead of him, Reus recovering to his flank.

No dribbling this time. Not with two pressing threats.

Instead, Li Ang went brute force.

He shielded the ball with his left, angled his body to protect it, and exploded forward.

Götze’s attempted interception failed. Li Ang’s control never wavered.

The move wasn’t elegant. It wasn’t flashy.

But it was effective.

A trick he’d learned from Kaká: if you can’t win with flair, win with timing and muscle.

Götze couldn’t stop it.

When Kehl and Großkreutz came to swarm him, Li Ang fired off a low-driven pass down the right.

Arbeloa, surging up the flank, took over.

Li Ang had drawn Kehl away—now Arbeloa only had Schmelzer in front of him.

He pushed the ball forward, accelerating down the sideline.

Dortmund’s defense was quick to collapse. Kehl and Schmelzer doubled up, as they always did.

But Arbeloa didn’t force the issue.

Instead, he fed it back to Li Ang.

Now Dortmund’s defense was tilted to the right, overcommitted.

Li Ang didn’t rush.

With Götze pressing behind him, he calmly held possession, pivoted, and played it back to Alonso at the center.

It looked like a stall. In truth, it was the coiled spring.

Alonso had already seen the gap.

In one motion, he swung his left foot, striking a fast, low-driven long ball to the left side of the pitch—the weak side of Dortmund’s defense.

Ronaldo had already begun his run.

He broke the line with perfect timing, chest-trapped the ball, and—bang—struck it first time.

A classic Ronaldo counter.

What defined Real Madrid’s counterattacks during this era?

This.

Perfect synergy.

Pinpoint timing.

World-class finishing.

Weidenfeller reacted fast—but Ronaldo’s setup was a bluff.

The shot didn’t go far post or near post.

It went center, catching Weidenfeller diving the wrong way.

”Li Ang shields and lays it off! Alonso’s long pass—perfect! Ronaldo chests it down—shoots! GOAL! GOAL!!! Real Madrid lead 1–0 at Signal Iduna Park in the 13th minute!”

”Look at the away section! Look at the Madrid fans—absolute bedlam!”

”Dortmund are reeling. They couldn’t stop the counter. That’s textbook Real Madrid—Alonso to Ronaldo. The whole thing took three seconds!”

”Li Ang’s decision to delay the pass was genius. Götze’s transition defense wasn’t good enough. For this phase, Li Ang outshone him completely.”

Duan Xuan almost said it: Li Ang had outclassed Götze since kickoff.

But he bit his tongue.

Other broadcasters weren’t as reserved.

On Sky Sports, pundits were more blunt:

”This is a mismatch. Offense. Defense. Intensity. Li Ang is operating on another level.”

In England, the debate blew up immediately.

All week, pundits had been arguing over who was the best player born in the ’90s.

Götze’s fans said: ”They’ve never gone head-to-head.”

Now they had.

And Götze? He stayed calm. He clapped his teammates on the back, trying to steady their nerves.

Klopp wasn’t panicking either.

He signaled for Lewandowski to drop deeper—stop lurking at the top, start helping build.

Might as well use him to hold up play at the arc, if nothing else.

There was still time.

Klopp respected Real Madrid’s defense—but he didn’t think they were untouchable.

As play resumed, Dortmund upped the tempo.

They pressed higher. Fought harder.

But Mourinho didn’t bask in the lead.

He gestured sharply: Drop back. Reset. Compact the lines.

Dortmund’s speed meant little without space.

And Mourinho gave them none.

With Li Ang and Essien bulldozing the midfield, every forward pass cost Dortmund energy.

Even when someone slipped through, they still had to beat Alonso, Ramos, and Pepe.

Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.

Dortmund couldn’t find a crack.

Eventually, Götze tried to force his way through—Li Ang picked his pocket clean.

Götze slapped the turf in frustration.

Li Ang calmly passed to Essien and shook his head.

”Don’t get emotional, Mario.”

”Because the truth is—I’m just better than you.”

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