princely elegance

Chapter 191 Use Offense to Play La Liga

In the opening game of La Liga, Real Madrid defeated Atletico Madrid 3:1 at home.This result satisfied most of the fans, and Schuster did fulfill his promise. He played very openly at his home court. The two teams played a big attack at the Bernabeu, which made La Liga fans who always appreciate offensive football Very enjoyable.

However, after this round, it was not Real Madrid who ranked first, but Sevilla, which lost to Real Madrid in the Super Cup.After losing the first championship, Juand adjusted the morale of the team very well. He swept away Schuster and Getafe, the core of the defense, 4:1 at home in Pizjuan.

Surprisingly, Real Madrid can only be ranked fifth, in front of them is the newly promoted Almeria, Real Mallorca and Villarreal.But the most surprising thing is that Barcelona was actually tied by Racing Santander.Barcelona, ​​who was omnipotent during the warm-up match and maintained a record of unbeaten victories, was ridiculed by all La Liga media at this time, especially Real Madrid's "Marca" and "Aspen".

Before the season, due to Real Madrid's poor warm-up record, the odds of winning the championship were not even as good as Sevilla, let alone Barcelona, ​​which has replenished its lineup again this summer.However, the facts have severely drawn the La Liga media headed by "Daily Sports". Real Madrid first defeated Sevilla 6:4 in the two rounds of the Super Cup. Atletico Madrid, which invested nearly [-] million euros this summer.

But even in the face of the facts, the "Daily Sports Daily" still made various sophistry.

"Barcelona added shortcomings to their lineup in the summer, but it is impossible to integrate newcomers into the team at once. In the first round of the league, Rijkaard sent all four newcomers to the field. Therefore, it is understandable that the team was tied by Getafe with an extreme formation. In contrast to Real Madrid, Schuster's lineup against Atletico Madrid was basically the mature lineup of last season. Raúl, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Gago, Guti, Diarra, and Robinho have already cooperated tacitly during Capello's time, and it is not commendable to be able to beat Atletico Madrid with this lineup."

"Although Rijkaard's approach will be disadvantageous at the beginning of the league, but after the newcomers are integrated into the team, Barcelona will become stronger than ever. And Schuster only knows how to use the card. The midfielder and frontcourt combination left by Perot, if not paired with newcomers to make up for its shortcomings, will be found by La Liga coaches immediately. Even if Real Madrid leads 37 rounds this season, I am confident that Barcelona will reverse at the last minute. "

For the "Daily Sport" editor-in-chief Casanova's defense of Barcelona in the first round, Real Madrid's mouthpieces naturally want to refute.They found out before the start of the season that "Daily Sport" boasted that Barcelona had perfectly integrated the rookies and won the warm-up match, and refuted them with their own words.

However, the reporter has two mouths, no matter what they say, they can find reasons to defend themselves. La Liga fans regularly watch the mouthpieces of the two giants at eight o'clock every day.

Regarding the reaction of the media, the Real Madrid players naturally did not pay any attention to them. They are not fledgling stunned youths, and of course they know that victory is the best way to fight back.

In the second round of the league, Real Madrid's opponent is "Yellow Submarine" Villarreal.Pellagrini was the No.2 best head coach in La Liga last season, second only to Fabio Capello, who won the championship in a reversal.

Last season, due to the disagreement between Riquelme and Pellegrini, last year's Champions League semi-final "Yellow Submarine" was on the verge of the relegation zone for most of the season.The open conflict between the team's top star and the head coach caused the morale of Villarreal's players to drop significantly.After struggling for half a season, the club's top management finally decided to side with coach Manuel Pellegrini.

In the final period of the winter transfer, Riquelme was sent back to Boca Juniors where he debuted, and Pellegrini did not disappoint the fans.After catching up in the second half of the season, after defeating Barcelona in the No.30 round at the end of the season, they brought the team to the No.5 position with a wave of eight consecutive victories.If it weren't for the fact that there are only 38 rounds in a season, their momentum can still make it to the Champions League this season.

However, the prospect of Villarreal this season is not optimistic, because the team's top scorer, Uruguayan star Diego Forlan, moved to Atletico Madrid for a sky-high price of 300 million.The core of the team's defense, the captain of the Argentine national team, Ayala, also moved to Zaragoza.Another main left back, Jose Enrique, was taken away by Newcastle for 1000 million euros.

Villarreal is just a small city and cannot resist poaching from other teams.The team's main striker and half of the defense were sold away in the summer, and Riquelme, the team's core, went to Boca in the winter. It can be said that the skeleton of the entire team was hollowed out.Faced with such incompetence at the top, Pellegrini didn't say anything. He clearly knew the financial situation of the team and knew that this small town could not support a strong team.

Pellegrini is very grateful to Villarreal's top management. If it weren't for them, he would still be unknown in Chile.And after he confronted Riquelme, the team was still on his side, which moved him, who came from a small place, very much.He is a low-key person who won't argue with the board of directors, so in the summer, with the 500 million euros obtained by the transfer department, the Chilean engineer began to rebuild the team's road.

First bought Cassie's substitute Lopez from Real Madrid for 600 million euros to serve as the goalkeeper for the new season, then brought Giuseppe from Manchester United for 900 million euros to fill the vacancy after Forlan left, and finally from Bordeaux Mavba was brought in instead of Riquelme.These three transfers completely spent the budget. In the end, the Chilean engineer on the defensive line could only sign Capdevila, whose contract with Deportivo had expired, and recover Cazorla, who was on loan in Huelva.

Among the [-] teams in La Liga, Villarreal is the only team that can make a profit in the summer transfer.

But relying on this patchwork lineup, Villarreal beat Valencia 3-0 away in the last strong matchup in the first round of the new season.Currently ranked second in the league, second only to Sevilla.

Therefore, the second round of the league, which was originally considered to be a must-win for Real Madrid, attracted as much attention as the first round of the Madrid derby.

"Manuel, indeed, is one of the best managers in La Liga, but Villarreal's players are not comparable to Real Madrid's, so we must win this game."

Before the start of the game, Schuster said in an interview.Regarding the fact that Pellegrini beat him in the selection of La Liga's best coach last season, the Real Madrid coach did not hide the fact that he praised the Chilean engineer generously.But his words made Pellegrini who was sitting on the side hear how harsh.

"Is this ironic that I don't have good players under my command?"

To be honest, Schuster really didn't mean that, because Pellegrini himself was too sensitive.Although the Chilean engineer didn't complain about anything this summer, he was still bleeding mentally.The Yellow Submarine, which he spent four years building, was sold out in one summer.Although he can understand it, it doesn't mean he can accept it. It's just that he is low-key and gentle by nature, so he doesn't dare to compete with the team's top management.

In the mouth of the La Liga media, Pellegrini also has a title called "puppet engineer".It means that he will do whatever the board of directors of the team asks him to do, and he will never dare to resist.

"Do you have anything to say about this game?"

At this time, a reporter finally noticed Pellegrini who had been drinking water silently with his mouth shut, and asked him a question.

"Real Madrid is the most brilliant team in La Liga. They were the champions last season. I just hope my team doesn't lose too badly in this game."

Pellegrini's answer disappointed the reporters. It was too plain. It would be great if he could stir up the anger of both sides like Atletico Madrid's coach Aguirre did in the last round.But they also know that this is the style of "puppet engineer", and never think of him arguing with others, he will only do his own job silently.

However, all media reporters think this sentence is just modesty. Although Villarreal has poached several well-known main players this summer, the performance of the first round victory over Valencia still made fans There are enough expectations for them.Especially the fans of Barcelona, ​​they hope to see Real Madrid lose, no matter how bad the draw is.

But the development of this game blinded the fans and reporters. The "Yellow Submarine" who had just won over Valencia was completely suppressed by Real Madrid from beginning to end at the Love Song Stadium.

In this game, Schuster adjusted the midfield. He adopted a single midfielder formation, letting Diarra sweep the midfield alone, while Gago served as the right midfielder, partnered with Robinho on the two wings, and Guti was in the center. scheduling.

This adjustment made Gago closer to the goal, and also allowed the Argentine prince to give full play to his offensive ability. Just 5 minutes into the game, Gago received a diagonal pass from Guti and entered the penalty area before the opposing defender intercepted him with a low shot.

1:0, Real Madrid made a fantastic start.

And the following scenes showed that Villarreal is always just a team that has just changed most of its blood, rather than the dark horse that surprised the whole of Europe in the past few seasons.

In the No.30 minute, Ramos, who was plugged in from the back, sent a rare pass with a strong penetrating power. After stopping the ball at the back point, Van Nistelrooy calmly evaded the attacking goalkeeper Lopez with a dunk. , Push the empty goal successfully.

Before the end of the first half, Villarreal's makeshift defense was pierced again.Robinho dribbled the ball and was placed by the opponent's defender. Gago took another free kick with a perfect arc, hitting the post and bouncing into the goal.

After the end of the first half, Real Madrid had already led 3:0.

"It's really lucky to be able to get in."

In the locker room, Ramos praised Gago for the free kick. To be honest, Gago couldn't believe that he could score free kicks in two consecutive rounds. This probability is almost like winning a lottery.

"In the second half, Wesley came on to replace Phil and continued to play offense. This season we will use offense to play all over La Liga!"

Since this round of competition is followed by the national team match day, considering that Gago is the absolute main force of the Argentine national team, Schuster decided to replace Gago after a big lead and let him rest more, so as not to be in the national team. Injured, otherwise he wouldn't even know who to cry with.

(End of this chapter)