Chapter 109 The Suspense of the League Championship Reappears
Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich with a total score of 5:0 to advance to the 2013-2014 Champions League final. The next day, Atletico Madrid was a guest and defeated Chelsea 3:1 to join city rival Real Madrid in the Champions League final held at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal, on the Iberian Peninsula.
This duel has attracted the attention of the world. Looking at the past 58 years of the Champions League, teams from the same league have appeared in the finals, but teams from the same city have never appeared. The meeting between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final means creating a new history. .
Therefore, the coverage of sports media around the world centered on the 2013-2014 Champions League final at the Stadium of Light in late May. However, the two sides did not pay too much attention to external reports. They devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the preparations for their respective leagues.
However, judging from the current points situation, Atletico Madrid has a greater hope of winning the league championship. They are seven points ahead of Real Madrid in one more game, and their error tolerance is relatively high.
Although Real Madrid has one game less, it is very difficult to catch up with Atletico Madrid when there are still three rounds left. Moreover, Atletico Madrid has the upper hand in the mutual victory. Even if the points are the same, Atletico Madrid will win the league championship.
On the weekend, Real Madrid will face Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, while Atletico Madrid will challenge Levante away from home.
Judging from the current points situation, Valencia and Levante have no worries about relegation this season and have no hope of European competition. In other words, they have nothing to ask for in the remaining games and can properly train their newcomers to prepare for the competition. Preparing for next season.
At 7 o'clock on Saturday night, Real Madrid took the lead in facing the challenge of Valencia. Considering that there is still a glimmer of hope for the league championship, head coach Ancelotti did not make many adjustments to the starting lineup. Tang Zheng, Cristiano Ronaldo and other main players were all included. Go into battle.
But the effect is not good. Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished playing in the Champions League in midweek, can all see varying degrees of physical fatigue. Other players are not much better and are very motivated to run. decline.
No one thought that Real Madrid, which had beaten Bayern to a pulp in midweek, would be oppressed by Valencia at home, and even the offense could not get past halftime.
Tang Zheng played very hard, but his teammates around him were not in good condition, so he could only focus on defense and had no time to take care of offense.
However, personal efforts are limited. Ramos, who contributed two goals in the Champions League in midweek, made a fatal mistake in the 27th minute of the game. He accidentally fell while defending a corner kick, which caused Mathieu to finish easily. The header was out of reach of goalkeeper Diego Lopez and the football fell into the lower right corner of the goal.
Valencia led 1:0 away from home until the end of the first half.
In the second half, the team changed sides and fought again, but Real Madrid did not make any choice to make substitutions.
Of course, this has something to do with Valencia's tactics.
Valencia, which took the lead in the away game, gave up possession and defended with all their strength, giving Real Madrid an absolute advantage in possession.
Maintaining control of the football allows players to reduce their running range, save energy, and then use frequent ball guidance to draw holes in Valencia's defense.
However, Valencia, who was visiting as a guest, was well prepared and had a deep study of Real Madrid's tactics. The revitalization remained very stable and did not lose position due to Real Madrid passing back and forth.
Just when Ancelotti didn't know how to adjust, Real Madrid equalized!
Di Maria took a free kick from the right frontcourt. Tang Zheng ran forward in the middle and dived to header the ball. Ramos copied his second goal in the Champions League in midweek and received Tang Zheng's header and then hit the ball. The ball headed towards the goal and Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves could only watch as the ball hit the net.
With Tang Zheng and Ramos' headers connecting, Real Madrid equalized the score!
However, the home fans at the Bernabéu Stadium were happy for less than two minutes. Parejo from the Real Madrid youth academy took advantage of a direct free kick to overtake the score!
At this moment, the Real Madrid fans in the stands were very anxious, because in another game at the same time, Levante led Atletico Madrid by two goals at home.
In other words, if Real Madrid wins Valencia at home,
Then the points will be reduced to four points, and with three games left in the league, a shocking reversal is very likely!
But good news just came from another venue, and Real Madrid also fell behind here.
If the two teams with Champions League tasks lose at the same time in midweek, then the points difference between each other will remain unchanged and Barcelona will probably benefit.
Ancelotti, who had just received the good news, could only be anxious. After all, there were eleven players on the field in charge of the battle.
With no other choice, Ancelotti had no choice but to follow Clement's suggestion and choose to make substitutions, letting the slightly tired Di Maria and Xabi Alonso take a rest, while Khedira and Morata came on.
And Valencia, who took the lead again, played more and more carefully, not giving Real Madrid a chance at all.
This situation lasted until injury time, when Ancelotti replaced Benzema with Illarramendi who could no longer run.
Of course, this is not to adjust the defense, but to push the 1.94-meter-tall Tang Zheng to the front line, and use the dead horse as a living horse doctor.
Many commentators in the commentary box thought Ancelotti was making a stupid move, but it was your move that brought Real Madrid back to life.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Carvajal made a pass from the right. With his back to the goal, Tang Zheng forced Mathieu to push the ball back with his body. Cristiano Ronaldo lost his balance. Under the circumstances, he knocked the ball hard towards the goal with his right heel. Diego Alves' body reacted, but his fingers did not touch the football...
"Ouch-ouch——"
Accompanied by huge cheers from the Bernabeu Stadium, the football fell towards the lower left corner of the goal.
2:2
In five minutes of injury time, Real Madrid equalized the score in the second minute of injury time. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a wonderful goal, did not choose to celebrate. Instead, he got up and ran to the goal to pick up the football and then put it away. Kick-off spot at center circle.
Obviously, Cristiano Ronaldo hopes to use the last minute time to overtake the score in one fell swoop!
Valencia, who had equalized the score, were obviously unwilling to do so. They delayed as long as they could, so that Central 5 commentator He Wei said depressedly: "Valencia has no worries about relegation this season, and there is basically no hope of advancing to the European Championship. It’s not very useful…”
The implication is that since Valencia can't get three points, why bother trying to get one point?
However, many times there are not so many reasons. Valencia used to be the third largest club in Spain. Although it is now in decline, the spirit has not been removed. Parejo, who failed to gain a foothold in Real Madrid, also wants to prove himself. , the same goes for other players.
Therefore, Valencia played very tenaciously, and the score did not change until the end of the game. Both sides scored one point.
As Atletico lost to Levante by two goals in an away game, Real Madrid's draw with Valencia at home seemed particularly regrettable, with the seven-point gap reduced to six points.
What's interesting is that Barcelona also lost points on the second day. They drew 2:2 at home with Getafe.
In this way, with two rounds of Atletico Madrid's league left, they are still six points and seven points ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona, which have one game less. This means that Atletico Madrid can win Malaga at home in the next home league. They will Won the league championship again after 18 years...
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The Real Madrid players in the broadcast looked very depressed. They are very likely to win the league championship and the Champions League after winning the King's Cup this season, but the possible league championship may no longer exist because of this draw.
Of course, Real Madrid still has a theoretical possibility of winning the championship.
Atletico Madrid still have two games left in the league and Real Madrid have three games left. It doesn't matter if they are six points behind or not in a dominant position. As long as Atletico Madrid loses all the next two games, Real Madrid has seven points in the remaining three games. You can reverse the situation and win the championship, that is, two wins and one draw.
But... this chance is very small, because Atletico Madrid only needs to win one of the two remaining games to win the championship early, and Real Madrid no longer has any room for mistakes.
The most important thing is that the league match between Real Madrid and Barcelona will not be made up at the end of the season, but will be placed in the middle of next week.
It means that after participating in the Champions League semi-finals, Real Madrid needs to play double matches in a row. Atletico Madrid does not have this kind of trouble. After losing, they have enough time to reflect on why they lost on the road, and then try to win Malaga at home and win the championship. League Championship.
So Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has a headache. He doesn't know whether he should give up the league and focus all his attention on preparations for the Champions League final.
After all, Atletico Madrid can win the championship one round ahead of schedule as long as they win Malaga.
Instead of focusing too much attention on the illusory league championship, can we focus on studying Atletico Madrid, our opponent in the Champions League final?
Assistant coach Clement was still smart and suggested that Ancelotti talk to the players.
With two days left before the make-up match, Ancelotti held a meeting with the players in the tactical hall of the living building of the Valdebebas training base about the focus of the future game.
Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Ramos and captain Casillas and others believe that the team should pay more attention to the Champions League final. Now the league championship is completely at a disadvantage, and it is only theoretically possible. In addition, the league has reached the end. Fitness is an issue.
Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo have the same opinion. They believe that the team should not completely give up the league for the future Champions League finals.
There is still half a month until the start of the Champions League. There is enough time to prepare. The remaining opponents in the league are not particularly strong. It should not be a problem to win if we play hard.
As the head coach, Ancelotti hopes to give up the league, because the job of Real Madrid head coach is very stressful. He is worried that in the end, he will not win the league and the Champions League. At that time, Ancelotti, as the head coach, will definitely take full responsibility. .
But then again, the opinions of the superstars Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be ignored. Ancelotti, who has a mediocre personality, finally chose a compromise, which means Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo lead the lineup.
As for other main players, those with serious physical fatigue are not included in the 18-man roster, and relatively tired main players sit on the bench.
In the middle of the week, Real Madrid and Barcelona will play a 34-round make-up match.
Real Madrid travels to challenge Valladolid, while Barcelona faces Athletic Bilbao at home.
There were not many surprises in the game. Real Madrid used a semi-main lineup to score 1:0 in the away game with Tang Zheng's corner kick and beat Valladolid, which was facing relegation pressure. Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 2:1 at home.
After all 36 rounds of La Liga in the 2013-2014 season, Atletico Madrid has 89 points, Real Madrid has 86 points, and Barcelona has 85 points.
With two rounds left in the league, all three teams are likely to win the 2013-2014 La Liga championship. However, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have a mutual advantage in winning and losing, which means that they can advance as long as they win Malaga at home. Winning the league championship in one round...
Compared with other league champions, which have basically settled, the La Liga champion still needs time to be decided.
Four days later, Real Madrid traveled to Celta Vigo, Atletico Madrid faced Malaga, and Barcelona challenged Elche away.
These three games are the three focus battles that receive the most attention except the relegation battle, because the outcome of the game will directly affect the final ownership of the league championship.
Before the game started, European mainstream media speculated on a variety of possibilities, the most likely of which was that Atletico Madrid would win Malaga at home and win the league championship after 18 years, because Malaga has nothing to desire.
In fact, Atletico Madrid unexpectedly drew with Malaga, while Real Madrid and Barcelona both won, and then the suspense of the league championship remained in the final round.
However, the results of the three games were unexpected. Atletico Madrid unexpectedly suffered two consecutive defeats, unexpectedly losing to Malaga at home, and Real Madrid drew with Celta Vigo 2:2 away from home.
Fortunately, Barcelona failed to defeat Elche as a guest, and the two sides shook hands with each other 1:1.
Therefore, after thirty-seven rounds of La Liga in the 2013-2014 season, the points are very close. Atletico Madrid suffered two consecutive league defeats and accumulated 89 points, Real Madrid still ranked second with 87 points, and Barcelona ranked third with 86 points.
No one expected this outcome, but Barcelona fans are very happy. After they missed the Copa del Rey and were eliminated from the Champions League, they turned around before the last round of the league!
Although he is still ranked third, three points away from Atletico Madrid, he unexpectedly got a chance to win the championship by taking advantage of the consecutive points lost by Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid...
The final round is against Atletico Madrid at home, which means that as long as they defeat Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid lose points in the last round, they may win the league championship!
The next day, the French newspaper L'Equipe headlined: "La Liga's magical 2013-2014 season!"
Atletico Madrid coach Simeone and his players are under great pressure after suffering two consecutive defeats in the league. Originally, the league championship was already a cooked duck, but who would have thought that it could fly off the lips?
However, Atletico Madrid still tops the list and they only need to remain unbeaten in the final round to win the league title.
Before the final round of La Liga, in addition to the suspense of the league championship becoming the focus of media attention, there are also relegation places.
Real Betis was relegated early, and the other two places will be generated between Valladolid, Osasuna, Granada, Getafe and Almeria.
Of course, what attracts the most attention is the competition for the league championship.
Is it Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid? Or Barcelona?