Real Madrid's trip to Zurich was a fruitful one.
After returning to Valdebebas in Madrid, the club held a brief welcoming ceremony.
Except for Gao Shen, all the other award-winning players brought out their trophies and shared their joy with teammates. Ronaldo even gave everyone at Valdebebas a valuable and exquisite gift.
In this regard, the Portuguese star still knew how to behave.
Most Real Madrid players were also genuinely happy for their teammates' awards. In addition to congratulating them, Gao Shen also encouraged the others.
At the press conference before the Copa del Rey the next day, Gao Shen encouraged his players to learn from Ronaldo.
Gao Shen said Ronaldo deserved the award and everyone in Real Madrid was delighted.
"He was eager for this honor and worked very hard for it."
Gao Shen said he was not surprised by Ronaldo winning the award, but he emphasized repeatedly that although Ronaldo was extremely talented, his effort after joining the club was the key factor in his success.
"He's the hardest-working player I've ever seen and very disciplined."
"Talent is important, but it has to be proven through hard work. It is impossible to succeed on the pitch with only talent and no effort."
But Gao Shen also expressed some regret.
"I think Toni Kroos and Modric are both world-class midfielders, and I believe they deserve recognition."
"I also believe this will further motivate them to perform even better."
The current atmosphere within Real Madrid was excellent, and Gao Shen was very satisfied.
"As we all know, our training workload is very high, especially during the winter break. We have adjustment plans, but many of our young players are training separately, such as Pogba, Varane, Jese and Morata."
"They all work very hard on the training ground and push themselves to improve. I think this is very positive and reflects the mentality of our team."
"I am satisfied with the current situation of the team. I firmly believe our efforts will be rewarded."
…
On the evening of January 15, at El Sadar Stadium in Navarra.
In the second leg of the Copa del Rey round of 16, Real Madrid faced Osasuna away.
Since the weekend league game was also away, and many players had traveled back and forth to Zurich for the FIFA awards, and given that Real Madrid had already won the first leg at home, Gao Shen decided not to go all out but to rotate and adjust.
He used Casemiro and Illarramendi as a double pivot, with Isco ahead of them to showcase his creativity. Further forward, the trident consisted of Morata, Dzeko and Jese.
In the 32nd, 41st, and 55th minutes, with goals from Dzeko, Morata, and Jese, Real Madrid defeated Osasuna 3-0 away and advanced smoothly to the quarterfinals.
At the same time, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona also beat their opponents and advanced.
After the draw, Real Madrid's opponent in the quarterfinals was Espanyol.
…
Three days later, in the 20th round of La Liga, Real Madrid visited Osasuna.
Just 8 minutes in, Di Maria assisted Pepe, who scored with a header from a set-piece routine.
Three minutes later, assisted again by Di Maria, Ronaldo scored with a long-range strike to make it 2-0.
After that, Real Madrid's attack became unstoppable, dominating the game and bombarding Real Betis.
In the end, they won 7-0 away.
Di Maria scored once and provided three assists, delivering an outstanding performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema both scored twice.
This victory completely washed away the team's sluggishness since the winter break. Both the result and the performance showed the attacking Real Madrid of the first half of the season.
More importantly, Barcelona drew 1-1 away at Levante, and Atletico Madrid also drew 1-1 at home with Sevilla. Both major rivals stumbled.
This allowed Real Madrid to further extend their lead.
Media outlets such as Marca and AS exclaimed: The invincible Real Madrid is back.
…
Three days later, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Real Madrid beat Espanyol 1-0 away.
At the weekend, in the 21st round of La Liga, they defeated Granada 5-0 at home.
In the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-0 at the Bernabeu with goals from Dzeko and Pogba, advancing to the semifinals with a 3-0 aggregate score.
This time, Real Madrid's opponent would be Atletico Madrid.
That weekend, in the 22nd round of La Liga, Barcelona hosted Valencia at the Camp Nou.
Sanchez scored for Barcelona in the 7th minute, but former Real Madrid player Parejo scored one and assisted another to help Valencia turn the game around.
In the second half, Messi equalized with a penalty.
But the joy didn't last long. Feghouli dribbled past three players before crossing from the byline. Alcacer got ahead of Pique and scored to restore Valencia's lead.
In the end, Valencia defeated Barcelona 3-2 away.
At nearly the same time, Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-0 at home with goals from Diego Costa, Villa, and others.
The final match of this round was Real Madrid's visit to Athletic Bilbao.
It was a tough game, and it wasn't until the second half that Real Madrid broke the deadlock. Ronaldo assisted Di Maria to score.
But soon after, Ramos made a mistake in clearing the ball, and Bilbao capitalized with a volley to make it 1-1.
At the critical moment, Toni Kroos fired a long-range shot from outside the box to seal the win for Real Madrid at San Mamés.
With a 2-1 victory, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Athletic Bilbao away.
After this round of matches, Spanish football was in an uproar.
Especially in Catalonia, where criticism of Martino reached a peak.
Barcelona had fallen to third in the league.
Not only were they behind Real Madrid, but even Atletico Madrid had overtaken them.
When had Barcelona fallen to the point of being behind both Madrid giants?
Simeone's team had indeed performed exceptionally well this season. Even after the winter break, they stayed close behind Real Madrid.
On the other hand, Barcelona were gradually showing signs of decline, as if they were running out of steam.
Of course, the most eye-catching team was still the finely tuned Real Madrid.
A perfect record of 22 league wins was truly incredible.
Although Real Madrid's performances varied over those 22 games, they were stable overall and extremely efficient in collecting points. This left people wondering how long the streak would last.
AS editor-in-chief Alfredo revealed that winning the league with a perfect record was not impossible.
In Europe's top five leagues, going unbeaten to win the title was rare but had happened. However, no team had ever won the title with a perfect record.
Gao Shen's Manchester City once had the chance but failed to achieve it.
Now, did Real Madrid have a chance to claim this honor?
In the history of Real Madrid, the longest winning streak was 15 games under Mourinho. In La Liga, the longest was Barcelona's 18-game streak. But now, Real Madrid had reached 22 straight wins.
This led Spanish media to conclude that Real Madrid would surely win La Liga this season.
Gao Shen's team also showed unstoppable momentum.
After the league match, focus shifted to Atletico Madrid, their semifinal opponents in the Copa del Rey.
As usual, Gao Shen rotated between league and cup games. Even though this was a big match, Ronaldo was rested, with the in-form Jese starting in his place.
The young Real Madrid forward expressed his ambition before the match.
"I hope to score against Atletico Madrid."
Midfielder Modric also said the team was in excellent form and confident of beating Atletico at the Bernabeu to take the first step toward the Copa del Rey final.
But Atletico Madrid were just as ambitious, especially Simeone, who even declared they would beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
"We will go to the Bernabeu and let all the fans see our progress."
Simeone boldly stated at the pre-match press conference.
He believed Real Madrid's biggest threat was their midfield.
"Their attack is the best in Europe. They have a superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo. Di Maria has also been excellent this season. Benzema and Dzeko are both top strikers in Europe."
Simeone denied rumors that Ronaldo would be rested but showed no fear.
"Ronaldo is indeed their most dangerous scorer, but we know him well. Whether he plays or not makes little difference to us. We will still win."
Simeone did not reveal exactly how he planned to defeat Real Madrid, but when the game began at the Bernabeu, his strategy was clear.
Midfield stranglehold.
Atletico Madrid's resilience was well known. What was even more shocking was that Simeone benched Villa, played Diego Costa as the lone striker, and packed the midfield with five players.
They lined up with Turan, Diego, Raul Garcia, Koke, and Gabi across midfield, aiming to overwhelm Xabi Alonso, Modric, and Toni Kroos.
Simeone was confident that Gao Shen would not underestimate Atletico.
Real Madrid were strong, but against a fierce Atletico, they couldn't hope to win without their strongest lineup.
Simeone was convinced of this.
In fact, if Gao Shen really rotated, Simeone considered it a good thing for Atletico, increasing their chances of winning.
But when the match actually started, Simeone was shocked to see his strategy only half working.
Under Atletico's intense pressure, Gao Shen had indeed rotated heavily.
Not only did he rotate, the changes were significant.
Ronaldo sat on the bench, replaced by Jese. Toni Kroos and Xabi Alonso were also rested, with Pogba and Casemiro starting instead.
"He actually dared..."
Simeone stood in front of the away dugout, his face showing surprise, disbelief, admiration, and even embarrassment.
"How dare he..."
The Argentine was angry and humiliated.
Filled with rage, he called on his players to charge forward.
(To be continued.)