coach legend

Chapter 324 Mestalia

This is the first time George has led the team to Spain.

The current La Liga happens to be in its heyday, surpassing the small World Cup Serie A and becoming the number one league in Europe.This can be seen from the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.There are three teams in La Liga, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Deportivo.

In the small World Cup Italy in the past, there was only one Milan representing Serie A alone.

Even Milan is not easy to appear.If it wasn't for good luck, he would have been eliminated a long time ago.

There is only one Bayern in the Bundesliga.

The influence of the Bosman Act is really great.The European clubs that were full of flowers back then are now only left with the tyrannical four major leagues.

In addition to the four major leagues, other leagues, including Ligue [-] and Eredivisie, have completely declined.Their club is completely unable to compete with the four major leagues.I don't know if this is the inevitable development of football, or the sadness of football development.

Spain in early April is already sunny.

Looking at the warm weather, George thought unconsciously.With such good weather, it is no wonder that Spanish players are reluctant to play in wet England.And even in England, it will be very uncomfortable.The so-called homesickness will appear at every turn.

The place where George came was Valencia.

Valencia is a beautiful city, facing the blue sea in the east, backed by a vast plain, beautiful beaches, and abundant sunshine, this land is like a pearl on the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea.The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Arabs all haunted here successively like ghosts.Today, Valencia has a well-developed agriculture, and its citrus and lemon have a long-standing reputation and are exported to Europe and the United States.

This is the third largest city in Spain and there is a strong La Liga team here.He is Valencia, known as the Bat Legion. Valencia is an old team with a long history, and the number of members is the third largest in Spain.The early teams wore white shirts and white shorts, so Spain was known as the "White Ghost".

Valencia is a completely different style of team from other Spain.Valencia is known for its smooth style, which is characterized by quick offensive and defensive transitions and efficient defensive counterattacks.

Speaking of Valencia's current defensive counterattack tactics, one cannot fail to mention one person.

That is the Italian coach Ranieri.

Ranieri moved to Spain and became the head coach of Valencia in the 97-98 season.He spread the Italian-style defensive counterattack to Spain, where it blossomed in Valencia.Although he was only in Valencia for two years, his tactical thinking has deeply influenced Valencia.Valencia was able to start among the Spanish giants in the late 90s, thanks to Ranieri.

And Cooper, who succeeded Ranieri, perfected Ranieri's defensive counterattack.

Especially Mendieta's genius performance, coupled with the addition of Keeley Gonzalez, made Valencia's counterattack tactics more and more excellent.It has become a force that cannot be ignored in European football.

Cooper also took advantage of his performance in Valencia to become a truly world-class coach.

But the powerful Valencia, George is not afraid at all.

For Valencia, George conducted research early on.

George is confident of a win over Valencia.

…………

On April 4th, this day is the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals.

George led Blackburn to the Mestalla Stadium.

Valencia's Mestalla Stadium has a rich history.The history is more than 70 years old, but it doesn't look too old.This stadium, which can accommodate more than 5 people, is much larger than Blackburn's Ewood Park Stadium.

Every time he sees these courts, George can't help being a little envious.

Even if it can't be compared with Old Trafford and Wembley, but at least there are 6 to 3 seats, that's pretty good.But the current Ewood Park can only accommodate more than [-] people, which seems a bit small.

But after entering the court, George shook his head.

Speaking of which, Valencia's performance in the past few seasons has been very good.And this game is the knockout round of the Champions League, which is a very important game.However, Valencia's home court was not full, at least there were seven to eight thousand empty seats.

This surprised George.

In the Premier League, George played games.Even those relegation teams have a large number of fans.Lots of pitches can be filled.Even when George led Burnley to a low-level league, there were a lot of fans on the scene.

Just like the Preston club in the same place as Blackburn and Burnley.Their club is a low-level league team.

For so many years, they have no idea what the top league is like.But they have a lot of fans, with 2 fans in every game.There are many such clubs in England.

But I really didn't expect that the mighty Valencia didn't even have enough seats for more than 5 people.

And now there are thousands of fans following Blackburn in the Mestalla Stadium.In this way, there are about 4 Valencia fans present today.There are too few fans.

Valencia, what is this place?
This is the third largest city in Spain.As a powerful team in the world's No. 5 league, the number of spectators at the scene did not exceed 5, which is very surprising.If it is placed in Blackburn, let alone this kind of Champions League knockout match, even in the league, [-] fans can easily be called.

Doesn't George know that there are so few fans in Valencia?Or is it because Valencia fans don't care about Blackburn at all and think this game is a no suspense game?

George let go of the disappointment in his heart and looked at the players on the field.Seeing Aimar playing there, he felt a little envious.A player like Aimar can only play in La Liga.With a thin body, if he reaches the Premier League, he will retire within a few seasons.

Clown Aimar, this is a 21-year-old young player, but he is famous.Not only in Argentina, but also in La Liga and world football.

Aimar is a genius from the Argentine giants River Plate. Together with Saviola, he led River Plate to win two Argentine Football League Championships and a South American Super Cup.

Aimar is even considered by the Argentines as the "successor to the king". Of course, there are too many "successors" in Argentina now.But no one can be dubbed this title but Argentina's most outstanding talent.

Aimar, 21, just moved to Valencia this winter.The transfer fee exceeded 2000 million euros.

In the current world football, there are absolutely very few transfer fees that can reach 21 million US dollars at the age of 2000.

Since the winter transfer, Aimar's performance in Valencia is obvious to all.In La Liga, a technically demanding league, Aimar, a talented midfielder, performed with ease.

There is some good news, though.It's just that Aimar was injured not long ago, and it hasn't been long since his comeback.Status is difficult to guarantee.

George just looked at it for a while, and then entered the locker room by himself.Just came out just to get a feel for Valencia's home court.In the locker room, George was analyzing how he should deal with Valencia in the away game.

At this time, the players who finished warming up entered the locker room one by one.

"We are new to the Champions League. Although we were the UEFA Cup champions last year, few people would have thought that we would enter the quarter-finals."

The UEFA Cup champion is too watery.Compared with the strong teams in the Champions League such as Lin, the UEFA Cup is completely inferior.There are also those giants who look down on Blackburn.

"Best eight, you are already amazing. But are you only satisfied with the top eight?"

"Of course not." All the players shook their heads.

The quarterfinals, the quarterfinals are also considered goals.None of the Blackburn players agree with that statement.

"Yes, the quarterfinals, what are the quarterfinals? As long as we beat Valencia, then we will be able to enter the semifinals. After the semifinals, we will be the final. We have already reached this point, how can we satisfy the quarterfinals? score."

"Valencia is a team that focuses on defensive counterattacks. Defensive counterattacks, I let him only defend, not counterattack."

George began to explain the tactics of the game to the players.It's only for a short time, because the tactics in the game have already been explained in the training.

"Valencia were runners-up in the Champions League last season. Go tell them why they are runners-up and not champions!"

Among the quarter-finals on this day, there are two games.One is Valencia vs. Blackburn, and the other is Arsenal vs. Deportivo.In yesterday's game, Manchester United lost [-]-[-] at home to Bayern, and Milan beat Real Madrid [-]-[-] at home.

The qualifying situation of Premier League hegemon Manchester United is already in jeopardy.

Therefore, the English media put their hopes on Blackburn and Arsenal.

"Hi everyone, this is the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The two teams are Valencia and Blackburn."

"Let me tell you about Valencia's starting lineup first. The goalkeeper is Canizares, the back line from left to right is Carboni, Pelligrino, Ayala, Angloma, the midfielder is Kyle Gonzalez, Baraja, Mendieta, Aimar, with Carew and Juan Sanchez up front."

"Let's talk about Blackburn's starting lineup. Cudicini in goal, Riise, Blanco, Ferdinand, Sagnol in the back line from left to right, Pires, Deco, Makelele, Makelele in midfield. Micoud, Duff, Klose up front."

George did not let Panucci, who was in good form, play in this game, but chose to trust Blanco, a veteran.Blanco will miss many games in the second half of the season only because of physical problems.But George didn't doubt his strength at all.

Although Blanco's turning speed is slow, his defense in the front is definitely first-class in world football.And the most important thing is that Blanco's experience is extremely rich.It can make up for Ferdinand's rashness.

For this game, George has enough confidence to beat Valencia.

(End of this chapter)