After the 16th round of La Liga, UEFA held the draw for the Champions League round of 16 on December 20.
The top 16 teams in this season's Champions League are Real Madrid, Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Arsenal, Schalke 04, AC Milan, Malaga, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich, Valencia, Barcelona, Celtic, Manchester United and Galatasaray.
Apart from Ajax and Manchester City who were unfortunately eliminated from the group of death, only Chelsea's elimination from other groups was surprising.
The other teams are basically the stronger teams in the group stage, so it is not surprising that they qualified.
There weren't many upsets in this season's Champions League group stage.
According to the principle that teams from the same group and teams from the same country will not meet in the group stage, Real Madrid's opponents in the round of 16 will be drawn from the six second-placed teams in each group: Porto, Arsenal, AC Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic and Galatasaray.
In the end, Real Madrid drew Shakhtar Donetsk, which was a really good draw.
As for Barcelona who drew AC Milan and Bayern Munich who drew Arsenal, they can only wish them good luck!
The Champions League quarter-finals will not start until next year.
After the Champions League draw, there is only one La Liga game left this year.
On December 22, just three days after the last league game, Real Madrid faced its last game of 2012: the 17th round of La Liga away against Malaga.
This match attracted great attention from the global football community, with television stations in nearly a hundred countries broadcasting it and other types of media in even more countries reporting live.
Because this could be a game in which Real Madrid makes history.
After the last league game, Real Madrid has tied AC Milan's longest unbeaten record of 58 games in the top five leagues.
As long as Real Madrid remains unbeaten in this game, they will surpass AC Milan and create a new record for the longest unbeaten streak in the top five European leagues with 59 games unbeaten.
This is a new horror record, a new dynasty.
Therefore, even though it was only three days since the last game and the team's physical fitness had not improved fundamentally, Mourinho still sent out all the main players to play, striving to set a new record.
But Malaga is not a weak team.
Their team includes Spain's sharpest right winger Joaquin, the domineering marshal on the back line Demichelis, the European Golden Boy Award and attacking midfielder Isco, and the Argentine talented shooter and South American Footballer of the Year Rabbit Saviola.
If anyone thinks that Malaga is a weak team and underestimates them, that is a big mistake.
This season, they ranked fourth in the league, only behind the top three teams in the Spanish Super League: Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, leaving behind strong teams such as Valencia, Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao.
In the Champions League group stage, they even beat AC Milan to take first place in Group D, 4 points more than AC Milan.
Therefore, although Malaga may not seem to be very famous this season, they are actually in very good form and are very difficult to deal with.
What's more, this is the opponent's home court, and Real Madrid has been through a series of devilish schedules.
While Real Madrid wants to make history by completing a 59-game unbeaten streak in La Liga, Malaga also hopes to defeat the invincible Galacticos in front of the global media and fans and become famous around the world.
If Malaga can end Real Madrid's long unbeaten record in La Liga, it will also become famous.
Therefore, Malaga is not only strong, but also very motivated in this game.
Even though Real Madrid has fielded all its main players, they may not be able to beat their opponents at home, and it is unknown whether they can remain unbeaten.
Mourinho is clearly aware of this.
So, before the game, Mourinho gave a motivational speech in the locker room:
"Playing two games a week in a row, and even flying across half the world to Asia to play two games a week, I know everyone is tired. But this is a rare opportunity. Countless players will hardly get a chance to create an unbeaten record in their entire lives. As long as we win today's game, we will surpass AC Milan and create the longest unbeaten record in the top five European leagues."
After a pause, Mourinho continued: "Besides, after today, it will be the winter break. I hope all of you can concentrate and try your best to fight and grab. Don't save your energy. Let out all your remaining energy this year in today's game. Remember, we want to win, not just force a draw."
Finally, Mourinho raised his voice and said: "In the last game of 2012, we will create a new unbeaten record in the top five leagues. I hope everyone will announce the birth of a new record with a victory and create a glorious football dynasty."
The players were all a little excited by what they said, even Lu Wenbin was infected.
Although he does not love Real Madrid, this dynasty was created by him, so naturally he would have feelings for it and feel proud of it.
After delivering his motivational speech, Mourinho took the initiative to reach out his hand and asked all the players, coaches and staff to stand in a circle, put their hands together and shouted: "Forward Madrid!"
Afterwards, the coaching staff and substitute players went out first and sat on the bench, while the starting players entered the player tunnel, holding the hands of the caddies and preparing to go out on the field.
Under the attention of global media and fans, at 8 p.m. on December 20, with the referee's whistle, the 17th round of the 2012/2013 La Liga match between Real Madrid and Málaga away officially kicked off at Málaga's home stadium, La Rosaleda.
Amid the cheers of the home fans, Malaga played very aggressively and fiercely, but they were also very careful about the location of the foul and would not easily give Lu Wenbin the opportunity to perform his free kick skills.
In the 3rd minute, Lu Wenbin made a wonderful pass to Ronaldo, who dribbled the ball to the wing, but was tackled out of the sideline by defender Sanchez with a fierce sliding tackle.
But Sanchez only received a yellow card.
Although the free kick taken by Lu Wenbin was heading for the blind corner of the goal, the distance was too far, giving the goalkeeper plenty of time to prepare, and in the end it was tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Caballero.
In the subsequent corner kick, Lu Wenbin ran to take the penalty, ready to perform his special skill of zero-degree shot, but was directly caught in Caballero's arms.
Although Lu Wenbin's zero-degree angle shooting skill is at full value, the angle is too small. As long as the goalkeeper does not leave the goal line, it is really difficult to score a goal.
In fact, Lu Wenbin took two corner kicks in the last game, one went directly out of the baseline and the other was confiscated by the goalkeeper.
It's the same again now. It seems that the difficulty of getting started with a corner kick is much higher than that of a free kick!
The game continued, and although Real Madrid stars wanted to score as quickly as possible and eventually defeat Malaga, physical fatigue was a fact that could not be changed.
Except for Lu Wenbin, most of the starting players were unable to run and were entangled with Malaga, unable to launch quick attacks or counterattacks.