Chapter 1006 It’s Hu Lai’s turn
Zhang Qinghuan's first goal in his overseas career finally helped Saria draw with the powerful Catalan United 2:2 at home.
Saria finally ended their embarrassing record of losing all games against Catalonia since returning to Serie A.
So even though we only got one point at home, this point is of great significance to Sarria.
Of course, being able to draw with Catalan United may be related to the fact that Catalan United’s thoughts have shifted to the Champions League group stage in the middle of next week.
After all, Catalonia United only got the right to qualify in the group in advance, but they did not win the first place in the group.
For a giant like Catalonia United, how can it be possible to satisfy them with just the right to qualify for the group stage.
What they want is not only to qualify from this group, but also to qualify as the first in the group.
Although they are now five points ahead of Vesuvius, the second place in the group, there are still two rounds left in the group stage. In the last round, they challenged Vesuvius away from home, and that game was very difficult to win.
If they want to get first place in the group, they must defeat Leeds City at home in the next fifth round of the group stage.
This is not an impossible task for them, but it is not a result that can be achieved casually.
In order to ensure that they could defeat Leeds City at home, Catalonia gave up the league in terms of technology, tactics and mentality.
This led to their eventual draw with Saria away from home.
And when the game ended, it could be seen from their expressions that they were not very annoyed. In fact, they didn't particularly care about the result of this city derby.
Or... I can’t say that I don’t care, I just say that I don’t care as much as everyone thinks.
Their calmness made the Sarria players who celebrated wildly after the game look like clowns...
After all, seeing the appearance of Saria's players, one would think that Saria had won this city derby...
The result was just a draw.
It does seem a little ridiculous that a draw can make Saria's players so excited.
Therefore, there is a strong contrast between the calm Catalan United players and the ecstatic Sarria players. This contrast fully illustrates the difference between the two teams:
The super-rich Catalan United have the world in mind and the whole of Europe in their eyes. They may not care much about the gains and losses in this game with their rivals in the same city.
After all, they only tied with Saria away from home, not lost to the opponent. If we lose, it may be completely different from the peace we have now.
At this stage, it is more critical to ensure first place in the Champions League group.
On the other hand, compared with Saria and Catalonia, there is only one Catalan United in my eyes... The structure is too small!
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Despite the obvious performance, at the post-match press conference, Catalan United head coach Jose Bernal denied that the team's failure to win this game was related to the Champions League group stage next week:
"... We were a little relaxed after taking the lead. But this relaxation is not because of the Champions League. We respect our derby opponents very much and will not consider other opponents until the end of this game... I will not win if we fail. It’s a pity that even in the away game, we came here to pursue victory... Zhang’s appearance as a substitute was the turning point of the game, and his performance was great..."
Bernal admitted that his team's performance was not good enough in this game, but did not admit that the poor performance was related to the Champions League.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is a cover-up.
As the team's head coach, of course he cannot blatantly state at the press conference that his team does not take Saria seriously and is only thinking about the Champions League next week.
Bernal is by no means a crazy coach, and he would not say this in front of media reporters anyway.
But just because he didn't say it didn't mean he didn't think so.
In fact, judging from the fact that Campuzano and Pettersson were replaced after only leading by one goal, we can guess what Bernal was thinking.
He is indeed preparing for the Champions League group stage next week.
It is not unfair that Catalonia did not win this game, because from the head coach to the players, they were not 100% focused on Saria.
In an interview after the game, Catalonia United's main center back Jimenez also took the initiative to mention the Champions League: "It is indeed a pity not to beat Saria. But the game is over, we should set our sights on the next game... We want to make sure we beat Leeds City at home and finish first in the group... We will go all out to play that game well.”
He was quite right.
The match against Saria is over. There is nothing we can do if we fail to win. What else can we do?
Isn’t it true that life will be over if you don’t win the Derby?
You can only look forward, and you should look forward.
As long as they defeat Leeds City in the next game and secure first place in the group, the shadow of being tied with Saria in the away game will naturally disappear.
After defeating Leeds City at home, they went to challenge Vesuvius away from home in the final round of the group stage. The Catalan United team was able to deal with it with a relatively relaxed mentality, and they also had greater flexibility in personnel selection and tactical arrangements. room.
After all, no one wants to fight Vesuvius, the Serie A powerhouse known for its tenacious style, when Christmas is approaching. Defeating Leeds City at home is the safest and safest way.
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The La Liga match was really late, it was almost 12 o'clock when the game ended.
Normally Hu Lai would have been lying on the bed sleeping at this time. Today, in order to cheer Brother Huan on, he stayed in front of the TV until he finished watching the live broadcast of the game. He also waited until he finished watching Brother Huan's interview with a Spanish TV station before turning off the TV.
Fortunately, most Premier League games are in the afternoon, so this round of Leeds City's home game against the Highlanders was completed in the afternoon.
Hu Lai not only has time to watch the game at home, but also does not have to worry about watching the game too late and affecting the next day's game - there is no game the next day.
Similar to Catalonia United's lack of focus in the league, Leeds City was not able to use its main players in the home game against the Highlanders, but allowed some main players to rotate and rest.
Obviously, they are saving their energy for the away game against Catalonia United in the middle of next week.
This makes many people not understand.
After all, judging from the current points ranking in the Champions League group stage, it cannot be said that Leeds City has completely lost hope of advancing to the knockout rounds, but the hope is also very slim:
After four rounds of the group stage, Leeds City has only three points, ranking third in the group, two points more than the fourth-placed Gulf Lighthouse. Let alone qualifying for the knockout rounds, they might not even be able to play in the Europa League—— According to the rules, although the third place in the Champions League group stage cannot participate in the Champions League knockout rounds, they can participate in the Europa League knockout rounds in the second half of the season. So as long as Leeds City can keep third place in the group, at least it can continue to play in the European war.
As for the Champions League knockout rounds... Leeds City basically doesn't have to think about it.
Catalonia, the first in the group, has 12 points, and Vesuvius, the second in the group, has seven points. As long as Vesuvius wins another game or Leeds City loses, they will completely lose the chance to advance to the Champions League knockout rounds. .
Under such circumstances, there is really no need for Leeds City to go to the away game to compete with Catalonia United.
Even if they want to compete for the Europa League qualification, they still have the last round of home games against Gulf Lighthouse.
As long as they defeat the Bay Lighthouse in that game, Leeds City can still overwhelm their opponents in terms of both points and win-loss relationship, and secure third place in the group.
Therefore, what should be abandoned is definitely not the league match with the Highlanders, but the Champions League group stage match with Catalonia United.
Take this opportunity to make up for the missed lessons in the league to avoid being too low in the league rankings.
In the past two months, rumors about the dismissal of the team's head coach Tony Clark have been made public from time to time. Is it really just nonsense from the media?
If there is no breakthrough in the European war and the league continues to slide towards the relegation zone... maybe Clark, the meritorious coach who once led the team to win the league championship, will really be fired.
Don't say it's impossible. What's impossible in the football world?
Grades are everything. If you have good grades, you are like a god. If you have bad grades, God will dismiss you.
So if Clark still has sense, he should choose what is best for him.
But he didn't.
This is very confusing.
Of course they can't understand it, because they are outsiders and inferred the conclusion through Leeds City's personnel arrangement in the game against the Highlanders.
The conclusion is that Clark still bets on the Champions League.
But Hu Lai, as an insider, obviously knows more than outsiders.
Unlike those who can only rely on some clues to guess what Clark is thinking, as a Leeds City player, he knows what the boss is thinking without having to guess.
Because the boss told them.
The boss still wants to compete in the Champions League... or in other words, he wants to try to compete with Catalonia United again.
Since losing 1:3 at home to Catalonia United, the boss has been brooding about this failure. He always believes that a large part of the failure in that game was due to Leeds City's lack of luck.
So he wants to give it another try when he challenges Catalan United away from home this time to see how he can fare against Catalan United.
For this reason, in the game against the Highlanders, he chose to let most of the main players rest in rotation, recharge their batteries, and save their best condition for the away game.
Even if Leeds City eventually lost to the Highlanders 2:4 at home and fell out of the top ten in the league to 11th place, he would not hesitate.
There has always been talk in the media and social networks of calling Tony Clark a "madman", which is an evaluation of Clark's tendency to adopt more risky offensive tactics in games rather than being willing to defend.
Hu Lai now feels that their boss's madness is not just reflected in the multiple-choice question of offense or defense.
There is a kind of madness in this head coach that will not give up until the goal is achieved.
This kind of madness is sometimes difficult to understand, but sometimes it is resonant.
Just like now.
Hu Lai especially hopes that their boss is really a lunatic who dares to risk anything in order to challenge the wealthy, instead of "pretending to be crazy and acting stupid".
After all, the latter can easily show timidity when faced with huge setbacks and pressure...
A truly crazy person will never show fear, because he doesn't know what "fear" means at all!
What about Catalan United?
The top wealthy families are amazing, right?
Stan Park Rangers is a top club like Tramed, didn't they still get fucked by us?
Is Catalonia better than these two?
There are also Manchester Athletic and wealthy teams like London Bridge. They are also a force that cannot be underestimated in the European arena.
Hulay is also worried about the previous 1:3 loss to Catalonia United at home.
That game was a failure for him, the team lost the game and he personally failed to score.
He always gave people the impression that he was joking and not serious, but it definitely didn't mean that he was indifferent to when he performed poorly.
In the first round against Catalonia, there was no need to make any excuses, it was just a poor performance.
Therefore, he is also eager to avenge his disgrace in the second round against Catalonia United.
Standing in front of the turned off TV, Hu Lai stretched.
Brother Huan's game is over, and it's his turn to play next. (End of chapter)