Chapter 1074: Began to Fall Behind
On the evening of January 9th, the Bernabéu Stadium.
In the second round of the knockout round of the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid played against Celta Vigo.
One hundred seconds into the game, Azpilicueta threw a throw-in from the left. Yang Yang stopped the ball and turned around. He volleyed from a small angle and kicked a world wave. He broke the opponent's goal and opened the scoring for Real Madrid.
Yang Yang, who just won the sixth FIFA Ballon d'Or in Zurich, showed a surprising state at the Bernabeu.
In the 24th minute, Modric sent a direct pass, and Yang Yang succeeded in countering offside, forming a one-handed push and scoring again.
Then in the second half, they changed sides and fought again. Real Madrid intercepted the ball in midfield and launched a counterattack. Hazard forced the ball and sent a pass. Yang Yang broke into the left side of the penalty area and hit a small angle volley.
hat trick!
Just two minutes later, it was Yang Yang's hit-the-wall cooperation that helped Harvey Alonso score a low shot.
Four to zero!
Relying on Yang Yang's hat-trick and assists, Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 4-0 at home and advanced to the quarterfinals.
As Real Madrid advanced to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, the originally scheduled league match had to be postponed again.
The results of the draw for the knockout round of the quarter-finals came out soon, and Real Madrid drew Valencia.
This is another tough opponent.
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On the evening of January 12th, King Navarra Stadium.
In the nineteenth round of La Liga, Real Madrid challenged Osasuna away.
The game was played in torrential rain, and the stadium was muddy.
Due to continuous battles and going to Zurich to receive the award, Yang Yang was rotated for protection in this game and sat on the bench. The young player Morata replaced him in the starting lineup and appeared on the front line.
But without Yang Yang, Real Madrid's frontcourt attack suddenly became weak and lacked threat. Under the strict marking of the opponent, Morata was never able to run out of position, and there were very few threatening shots. This made Anche on the sidelines Lottie was very helpless.
Everyone knows the importance of Yang Yang to Real Madrid, but like tonight, after losing Yang Yang, the attack power will plummet. Not all coaches are willing to see it, but Ancelotti has no good plan.
In the 65th minute, Ancelotti had no choice but to replace Morata with Yang Yang.
As soon as Yang Yang came on the field, Real Madrid's frontcourt attack immediately came to life, and all the players on the field seemed to have found their backbone. The whole team began to unify their thinking, and launched and organized the offensive around Yang Yang.
In the 78th minute, Di Maria made a pass from the left, and Yang Yang made a follow-up shot from the middle and scored the only goal of the game for Real Madrid.
It was also this goal that allowed Real Madrid to beat Osasuna 1-0 away.
...
With 30 consecutive victories on all fronts and 16 consecutive victories in La Liga, Real Madrid is only one step away from Mancini's Inter Milan's record of five major leagues. As long as they beat Valencia in the next round, Real Madrid will tie history record.
But it is not an easy task to beat Valencia, because Real Madrid will have three consecutive games with the Bats, including two knockout games in the Copa del Rey and a La Liga twentieth round match.
While Real Madrid narrowly beat Osasuna by one goal, Barcelona defeated Malaga 3-1 in the away game. Messi, Fabregas and Thiago scored successively.
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On the evening of January 15th, the Bernabéu Stadium.
Real Madrid face Valencia in the first round of the Copa del Rey knockout round.
Recently, Real Madrid, who have been fighting continuously and under the pressure of a winning streak, had to rotate, which led to an overall decline in the team's midfield organization and efficiency. In this scene against Valencia, Real Madrid was even at a disadvantage on the scene.
The Bat Corps is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Even in the Bernabeu Stadium, they are still on par with Real Madrid.
But Real Madrid's defensive counterattack is obviously sharper and more efficient than Valencia's.
In the 37th minute, Carvajal counterattacked and sent a diagonal pass. Yang Yang headed back to the midfielder. Herrera followed up with a long pass over the top. Yang Yang quickly inserted in the back row to form a single-handed shot. Score, one to zero.
After changing sides to fight again in the second half, it was Yang Yang's active counterattack at the front of the small penalty area, which caused a mistake by Valencia defender Guardado, resulting in an own goal.
In the end, Real Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0 at home. The process of the game was dull, but there were no dangers.
...
It's different from Real Madrid's poor form, but still relying on defensive counterattacks to win Valencia 2-0.
Barcelona played against Malaga at home, also in the doldrums, but suffered a draw at the Nou Camp.
Within five minutes of the first half, the two sides scored three goals in a row. First, Malaga scored, then Messi and Puyol reversed. draw.
This put Barcelona into a crisis. Vilanova's team was obviously weak and began to fall behind.
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Three days later, in the twentieth round of La Liga, Barcelona challenged Real Sociedad away.
In the first half, Messi and Pedro scored successively to take a 2-0 lead. Castro received an assist from Carlos Vela and scored a goal for Real Sociedad, and then scored in the sixth. In the 12th minute, with an assist from Illjaramendi, the score was equalized.
In the final stage of the game, in the second minute of stoppage time, Real Sociedad relied on a corner kick to beat Barcelona.
Three to two, the home team is at the front and the visiting team is at the back.
Barcelona suffered their first defeat in recent months, and as long as Real Madrid wins Valencia in this game, Real Madrid will catch up with Barcelona in the standings and reverse their way to the top.
But you must know that Real Madrid still has one game less than Barcelona so far.
...
When the news came, Real Madrid was in the hotel preparing to set off tomorrow, heading to Valencia to challenge the Bats away.
When they got the news of Barcelona's loss, everyone couldn't help cheering, even the head coach Ancelotti and Zidane were overjoyed, obviously excited about Barcelona's loss at this time.
"As I said earlier, Real Sociedad is very tenacious, and Barcelona will definitely suffer in an away game."
"Haha, when we played against Real Sociedad, we led three times and were equalized three times before we narrowly won. However, Barcelona led by two goals and were finally defeated by the finale. This team can be said to be tenacious."
"I heard that Ilya Lamendi is doing well. Given time, he will become a master."
"Barcelona should be a headache now. The initiative has changed hands. As long as we win Valencia now, it will be a three-point advantage."
Teammates, you talk to each other, talking happily, as if the team has already led Barcelona by three points.
But you must know that the three points are still hanging on the Spaniard. As a Catalan team, although the Spaniard and Barcelona are rivals in the same city, they will definitely do their best to attack Real Madrid.
Therefore, Yang Yang reminded his teammates vigilantly, "Don't be careless, let alone the three-pointer against Valencia, even the Spaniard's three-pointer may not be sure of winning, even though it is at our home court."
As soon as Yang Yang spoke, everyone became more cautious.
Although Real Madrid and Barcelona are known as the duo of the Western Super League, in fact, when it comes to the field, every team encounters these two giants will fight desperately. It ended miserably.
How fierce is the competition in La Liga?
Atletico Madrid, currently ranked third in La Liga, was the champion of the Europa League last season, and it is also in the Europa League this season; Malaga, currently ranked fifth in La Liga, defeated Chelsea and AC Milan and qualified as the first in the group , advanced to the top sixteen of the Champions League, and Valencia, ranked seventh, also advanced to the top sixteen of the Champions League.
It can be said that these La Liga teams are also full of competitiveness when they get into European football.
So why does the pattern of La Liga seem to be so disparate?
The reason is simple, Real Madrid and Barcelona are too strong!
It is precisely because Real Madrid and Barcelona are too strong that everyone has an illusion that La Liga is too weak.
As everyone knows, these La Liga teams are very competitive in the European arena.
Therefore, Real Madrid and Barcelona are strong, but if there is a slight difference, they will lose immediately.
Real Sociedad, who reversed Barcelona at home, almost killed Real Madrid not long ago, and this team is currently ranked ninth in La Liga.
Ancelotti and Zidane both agree with Yang Yang's analysis.
"Barcelona's loss is indeed a very good opportunity for us. If we can maintain the current winning streak, we will be able to widen the gap, but it is also a test for us." Ancelotti looked solemn exhorted.
Recently, not only Barcelona's state is not good, but Real Madrid is not much better.
Especially considering the pressure brought by the winning streak.
Sometimes, the more consecutive victories, the heavier the psychological pressure and burden on the players. Both Ancelotti and Zidane have a clear enough understanding of this, so they have been trying to create a relaxed atmosphere recently. .
Everyone knows that the winning streak will stop sooner or later, but no one wants to see this game in front of them.
"In the battle at the Bernabeu, Valencia obviously fought hard. If I guessed correctly, the Bat Corps should stay properly in this weekend's league game, because for them, they want to rush into the league. Fourth, there is still a lot of pressure, so they hope to play well in the cup."
The cup is a knockout match, which focuses on the current formation and state, while the league is a long-term competition, and it is okay to give up one or two games occasionally. For a team like Valencia, the goal of the league is the Champions League or the Champions League. European theater, but the current pressure is too great.
Needless to say, the three strong teams of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Real Betis, Malaga and Real Sociedad are also very competitive this season. Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao are also very competitive. The traditional strong team of China has even been squeezed to the bottom half of the league, which shows how fierce the competition in La Liga is this season.
In this case, it is undoubtedly an option to play well in the cup first.
And Valencia is no better than Real Madrid. They don't have the ability and financial resources to maintain two lineups to fight on two lines, so they can only specialize in the first line, which makes them smash Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
I believe the second round next week will be even more difficult.