Chapter 167: Barcelona, Despite Using All Its Main Players, Still Fell in the Second Half of the Season [Please Subscribe! ]
"When Mourinho's team has a three-goal advantage in the Champions League away game, what is the probability of the home team turning the tables in the second round?"
An Arsenal fan posted such a tweet on social media in the 80th minute of the game.
As you can imagine, he got many different versions of the reply, but the central idea was surprisingly consistent.
"Still thinking about turning the tables? Arsenal is going to be finished!"
The tens of thousands of Arsenal fans in the Emirates Stadium have lost their confidence at this moment.
Even if Wenger sent Wilshere and Chamberlain to make a desperate fight at the last moment, these fans were very pessimistic.
Perhaps, before the start of this game, after watching Real Madrid's home game against Sevilla, they had already prepared for the worst.
It's too difficult.
They couldn't do anything with this slightly conservative Real Madrid at home, and they really didn't know how Arsenal would face Real Madrid's stormy offensive at the Bernabeu.
When they faced Barcelona at home two years ago, they still won 2-1.
At that time, they still had Fabregas, Nasri and Alexander Song in the team.
At that time, Arsenal's forward line was not very strong, and the back line had loopholes.
But with the balanced and strong midfield combination, they were not afraid to compete with Barcelona in controlling offense and defense in the middle line.
Comparing the midfield configuration of the year before and this year, Arsenal fans are also very sad.
In the past, I always felt that the team lineup was not good enough and needed to be strengthened.
But after a few years of suffering, I found that Arsenal already had one of the top midfield combinations in football.
Now the midfield is not strong enough, even if they hate those "traitors", Arsenal fans have to admit it.
In those years, although the team was still stingy in the transfer market, they did not envy any midfield of any football giant!
What a pity.
Arsenal may not have such a midfield combination again.
There won't be any more.
The referee didn't give even one extra second of extra time.
He blew the whistle the moment the second hand jumped to the right position.
The 3-0 number on the electronic scoreboard was very eye-catching.
The Real Madrid players who had finished the game smiled and hugged each other at the Emirates Stadium!
After leaving the field, Mourinho also took off the sharp needles on his body and took the initiative to walk towards Wenger.
At this moment, the two of them were really like old friends, patting each other's chests and arms on the sidelines to reminisce about the past.
"It's time to find a defensive midfielder who can support the team. Do you want to train another one yourself? Arsene, these days, those youth training bases will not easily give up good defensive midfielders."
"I know that's why I asked you to buy Li Ang in 2011, or in other words, you sell him to me now?"
"Hey, I'm using Li Ang, why do you have to buy this kid? Change it and see if there is a suitable one in my team."
"You. The game is very exciting. See you in the second round."
"Okay, after the second round, let's have a drink in Madrid."
The two finally said goodbye with a smile and walked towards their own disciples.
Not long after the end of this Champions League focus game, the first round of the match between Manchester United and Shakhtar Donetsk was also decided.
Manchester United lost the game unexpectedly, but Manchester United fans were satisfied with the result.
1-2, Manchester United got a valuable away goal in the ice and snow at the Metalist Stadium.
Back at Old Trafford in the second round, all Manchester United fans are confident that they will see the home team win heartily.
So far, half of the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals this season has been played.
Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid won one after another as expected, and Manchester United lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in a small upset.
But looking at the overall form of the game, the four strong teams still have more or less initiative and advantage.
This is the scene that UEFA wants to see most.
Among the teams participating in the Champions League, UEFA's top management hopes to see more new faces.
It would be best if there were one or two dark horses that made it to the group stage or even the quarter-finals of the Champions League every season.
But in the quarter-finals, UEFA's top management hopes that all the remaining teams are giants.
This idea is really a double-edged sword, wanting both the event revenue and the event reputation.
But it must be said that their operation has allowed the current Champions League to operate in a healthy manner and further expand its territory.
In terms of the fans' reputation, they are destined to be criticized.
The remaining eight teams will appear one after another in a week, and the Champions League war will come to an end for the time being.
In the previous four games, in addition to many exciting scenes that fans talked about with relish.
There was also an interesting thing that aroused the interest of many fans.
That is, after Juventus defeated Celtic 3-0, young star Pogba, who came off the bench in the second half, did something.
When the reporter asked him about his feelings about the game and his vision for the future, this guy directly said that his idol was Li Ang.
He also said that he wanted to get the club Grand Slam before the age of 22 like Li Ang.
Pirlo was amused by what he heard and said directly to the camera: "Okay, I will introduce this kid to the little lion."
Generally speaking, stars say such polite words, and fans just listen to them.
But fans who like to have fun can't help but be serious. These days, they have been leaving messages on Li Ang's social media to ask questions.
It was not until Li Ang posted screenshots of his communication with Pirlo and Pogba on the chat software that this group of people who like to have fun ended their harassment of Li Ang with satisfaction.
Li Ang also felt very novel at this time.
Originally, he thought Pogba just mentioned it casually. Master Pi greeted him, and he didn't think much about it, thinking that Pogba just wanted to make friends.
Unexpectedly, this kid really greeted him enthusiastically as soon as he came up:
"Li Ang Li Ang! I'm your fan!"
Good guy, this sentence "I'm your fan" instantly made Li Ang feel bad.
Fortunately, after communicating with Pogba for a while, he finally figured out the other party's brain circuit.
It turned out that Pogba envied him for winning so many championship honors at a young age and making a lot of money from Mane.
If you put it this way, it makes sense.
Just envying his championship title instead of liking his football skills can't be considered a football fan.
Well, it can only be considered a champion fan!
With this relationship, Li Ang and the young Pogba started chatting enthusiastically.
Although Li Ang was very ashamed of the Pogba who later stabbed Mourinho in the back and whose professionalism was questionable.
But what he was facing now was just a dream chasing kid who was not even 20 years old.
It was not fair to apply the events that "might" happen later to Pogba now.
Li Ang just talked about the exciting process of winning the championship last year in an occasional connection, and Pogba began to sigh and exclaim.
The tone was full of envy and longing.
After all, Pogba is still slowly leveling up in Juventus, and he hasn't even played as a main player yet, so he can only be regarded as an important rotation.
He hasn't even tasted the taste of the Serie A championship, and the titles of the Champions League champion and the six-time champion are even further away from him.
Li Ang routinely encouraged him a few words and said that he would pay attention to his performance in the Serie A.
Unexpectedly, this sentence made Pogba excited, and he also formally invited Li Ang to go to Turin to watch Juventus's game later.
Li Ang was speechless now, and could only say that he would go to Turin to see him and Pirlo if he had the chance.
After the two-day exchange, Li Ang felt that he had not gained any fans. Isn't this just like recognizing a younger brother!
Encouraging him and promising to watch his game later, Li Ang felt that this feeling of paying attention to other people's growth was somewhat strange.
Fortunately, the time was not fixed, and Li Ang did not have to worry about not being able to make time and breaking the appointment for the time being.
Real Madrid's next league opponent is another tough one, Rayo Vallecano, which caused them a lot of trouble in the first half of the game.
This team is really tough, and has persisted from the beginning to the second half of the league.
Not only did the results not get pulled apart, but they stubbornly nailed it in the top six of La Liga!
Their record is also very interesting, with 12 wins, 1 draw and 10 losses.
There are not many goals, and there are not many goals lost, which highlights the tenacious struggle during the game.
They will never give up if they have the hope of winning, and they seldom consider the possibility of stopping and keeping the tie.
Such a sticky and upper-level team, Real Madrid and Barcelona will feel headache when they meet each other.
Many Barcelona fans have a lot of hope because of this, and they cheer for Rayo Vallecano and wish them to get points against Real Madrid.
As for Valencia, which ranks fifth in La Liga, which Barcelona will face in this round of the league, Barcelona fans feel okay.
Previously, Barcelona's performance began to fluctuate because there were too many games and the main players did not rest enough.
Is the situation different now? Barcelona has rested for a week since the end of the last round of the league, and has not played in the Champions League or the King's Cup during this period.
There is no reason why they can't beat Valencia!
With absolute confidence, countless Barcelona fans turned on the TV on time on the evening of February 16 or the early morning of February 17.
Real Madrid's game will start on the evening of February 17 local time.
Therefore, many Barcelona fans are ready. After watching Barcelona's victory tonight, they will watch Real Madrid's possible upset tomorrow night.
No matter whether the probability is big or small, there is always a certain probability.
How comfortable it will be to witness Barcelona successfully overtake Real Madrid in the standings~
But when the focus of this round of La Liga ended after 90 minutes of fierce battle, many Barcelona fans turned red!
1-1!
Valencia made Barcelona's offensive disorder at home. Messi's desperate performance this time only helped Barcelona to equalize the score in the second half!
There was no lore. Valencia used Real Madrid's set of defensive center tactics to reject Barcelona's last-minute siege.
As soon as the game ended, Barcelona's players looked quite tired on the court.
Maybe their physical condition was okay, but their mental fatigue was obvious.
Vilanova's eyebrows were also full of worries.
He knew that the disadvantages of the previous period of time had been exposed.
But what could he do? Guardiola couldn't solve the problem of the weak rotation lineup when he was there.
Guardiola at that time could only keep pumping up his core members to encourage his teammates to fight Real Madrid to the end.
But this set is not useful now.
Guardiola's disciples certainly respect Vilanova, but they obviously can't fight for Vilanova as hard as they fought for Guardiola.
People, after all, have their own feelings.
Not to mention, some players in the Barcelona locker room have begun to act like heroes.
The top management wants results, but rotation can't stabilize the results. Vilanova can't take strong measures to clean up the locker room at this time.
Because Barcelona's first Champions League knockout match is about to start, if he dares to take strong measures now, then Barcelona may not even get through the first round of the knockout match.
Guardiola may have anticipated today's situation a long time ago, so he chose to retreat before Christmas last year.
Barcelona is once again at the forefront of public opinion.
The angry doubts of their own fans and the sharp comments of the media are like a sharp sword, stabbing the silent Barcelona players invisibly.
Real Madrid, which benefited from Barcelona's unexpected draw, continues to keep a low profile and silence.
The Real Madrid players were naturally very happy, but they did not choose to add insult to injury in the public opinion, just like before.
Mourinho and the members of the coaching staff also celebrated behind closed doors.
Real Madrid currently has two games less and is only one point behind Barcelona in second place in La Liga.
Barcelona, which seemed to have a strong record in the first half, finally began to lose its chain in the second half.
Real Madrid, which had always adopted scientific rotation, would naturally not let the opportunity slip away.
On the evening of February 17, Real Madrid played against Rayo Vallecano at home under the attention of almost all Spanish media.
The match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano was also the final match of this round of La Liga, and only this La Liga match was broadcast live at the same time.
Therefore, whether in Spain or in overseas markets, the ratings of this game are quite high.
The players of Rayo Vallecano are still very motivated, and they set up their posture to fight Real Madrid in the midfield at the beginning.
But today Mourinho rarely deployed four midfielders to fight with Rayo Vallecano.
Alonso was delayed, Essien and Matuidi were on both sides of the midfield, and Li Ang was the central midfielder.
As for Real Madrid's midfield configuration today, Rayo Vallecano wanted to play a confrontation, but it can only be said that it completely chose the wrong opponent.
In the first half, Real Madrid scored two goals against Rayo Vallecano. Higuain, who started today, was in excellent form and scored twice directly. The feeling of shooting was hot!
In the 63rd minute of the second half, Ronaldo made a hard breakthrough and created a penalty, but he did not choose to take it himself, but gave it to Higuain.
Seeing this, the little smoker was not hypocritical. He was grateful and steadily scored the penalty, performing his first hat trick of the season!
After winning Rayo Vallecano 3-0, Real Madrid's league points surpassed Barcelona by two points, and once again topped the La Liga list with one game less!
Such a result made many Barcelona fans unbalanced.
Real Madrid's record is still terribly stable, and now Real Madrid only needs to fight on two fronts, and there is a stable and reliable rotation lineup to reduce the burden on the main players.
Does Barcelona really have a chance to compete with Real Madrid for the La Liga championship this season?
The headlines of major media reports the next day were quite straightforward.
"Marca" once again took advantage of the popularity and published a report praising Real Madrid.
"Real Madrid, striding forward on the road to defending the title! "