Chapter 1392 It’s hard to beat the relegation team
After reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, there is no need to draw lots to decide the matchup. Based on the distribution of the upper and lower halves, everyone will know which two teams will meet in the semi-finals.
The Madrid Kings and Madrid Pirates were placed in the top half of the quarter-finals draw, and according to the rules, they will meet in the semi-finals.
This is also the first "Madrid Derby" in the history of the Champions League.
These two rivals in the same city have never met in the Champions League before.
In two weeks, it will be the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Before that, they still need to play two rounds of league games each.
The league is also important to them because they are also competing for the league title.
The good news is that in these two rounds of the league, the opponents of the Madrid duo are not strong, and can even be said to be "weak".
But the bad news is that their opponents are all fighting to avoid relegation, so the game may not be as easy as supporters of both teams hope.
On Saturday, April 8, in the 33rd round of the league, Catalonia United challenged the 15th-ranked Real Huelva away. On the same day, the Madrid Kings faced the 19th-ranked Phoenicians at home, while the Madrid Pirates traveled south to challenge the 18th-ranked Getafe 1326.
The top three teams in the league, Madrid Pirates, Kings of Madrid and Catalonia United, have 82 points, 80 points and 78 points, with the largest point difference of four points.
Their opponents Getafe 1326 have 31 points, the Phoenicians have 30 points, and Real Huelva has 34 points. The maximum point difference is also four points.
The top three are fighting for the championship, and they are fighting for relegation.
Getafe 1326, the opponent of Madrid Pirates, is a professional team located in the Getafe Municipality in the south of Madrid. It is very young and was only born in 1970. He is an absolutely young junior in La Liga.
In order not to lose momentum to other opponents, Getafe did a very strange thing at the beginning of its establishment:
If other teams add a year number after their name, it usually represents the time when the team was founded. For example, so-and-so 1900 means that this team was founded in 1900.
To show that their team has a long history.
If Getafe added 1970 to the name of their team, their momentum would be much weaker. In European professional football, teams that were only established in 1970 are simply inferior to their opponents.
So Getafe Club made a cunning move. They added the time when the city of Getafe was founded to the end of its name - Getafe was founded in 1326 AD, which is comparable to the founding time of all football clubs in the world. Earlier.
So Getafe 1326 was born.
Some people who don't know the truth are surprised when they see this name - was the Getafe team founded seven hundred years ago? !
People who couldn't figure out the situation were confused but also in awe.
The purpose of Getafe 1326 has been achieved.
But in fact, despite the fact that the name of this team is very bluffing, the real strength of this team is very weak.
Since their establishment, most of their short 58-year history has been spent in low-level leagues.
It was not until eleven seasons ago that they were promoted to La Liga for the first time, and then fell back to the Second Division a year later.
After struggling for three seasons, they were promoted again. This time they were not relegated, but their goal every season was basically to fight for relegation.
Last season was their highlight moment. Under the leadership of head coach Juan Ursueta, Getafe 1326 achieved the best result in team history - fifth in the league and entered the Europa League.
However, after achieving this achievement, the meritorious coach Ursueta left the team and was poached by Atletico Malaga with a high salary.
Getafe 1326, which lost Ursueta, fought on two fronts this season, and the result was that both sides stretched their hips. It did not reach the knockout stages of the Europa League and was only ranked 18th in the league, in the relegation zone. Maybe it will be relegated back to the second division...
As for Ursueta, who was poached by a high salary, he is actually no better than his former club.
After he went to Atlético Malaga, he magically disappeared.
Atlético Málaga recruited him originally hoping that he could lead the team to qualify for the European Cup - they were impressed by Ursueta's record of leading the weak Getafe to qualify for the Europa League with 1326.
As a result, Ursueta coached the team for twenty rounds, and Atlético Málaga was only ranked fourteenth, including a five-game losing streak.
So halfway through the league, Juan Ursueta, the meritorious coach in the history of Getafe 1326 Club, was ruthlessly fired by Atlético Malaga.
This is really a lose-lose for Getafe 1326 and Usuet...
In the first half of this season, Getafe challenged Madrid Pirates away at 1326, but was beaten 7:0 by Madrid Pirates.
Hu Lai scored a goal in that game and also contributed an assist.
But the man of the match was not him, but his strike partner Di Kunzo. The Italian striker scored a hat-trick in the game.
That "tragedy" also became a turning point in the fate of Getafe 1326 this season.
Before that game, Getafe's highest league ranking of 1326 was fifth, and it was also sixth at the time. There was no sign of collapse.
After losing to Madrid Pirates, Getafe's league ranking of 1326 began to decline. They were winless in fifteen league games.
If they had not defeated Valentia 3:1 in the Champions League quarter-finals against Madrid Pirates while Valentia was distracted, their winless streak would have continued to this day.
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Because he had just played in the Champions League, Parotti continued to rotate the team's starting lineup.
Maxi Carey, a member of the "atmosphere team" who came on as a substitute in the last ten minutes of garbage time in the Champions League, started in this league match.
Hu Lai did not start. After all, he has started four consecutive games in the past two weeks. No matter how strong his physical recovery ability is, Parotti feels that Hulay needs to rest.
So Kyrie's partner in this game is DiCunzo.
This was also the starting striker combination of Madrid Pirates for most of the second half of last season.
But this combination doesn't work well.
There was no spark between the two last season.
Although there was a reason for Kyrie's poor return from injury at the time, it is also true that the two people's playing styles were indeed incompatible.
Because both of them are players who can only perform well if they have the football at their feet. They appear at the same time. If no one sacrifices himself, there will be overlapping styles and conflicting functions.
Today's match against Getafe 1326 once again proved that Maxi Carey and Di Kunzo really can't pee in the same pot.
On the other hand, Getafe 1326, who are aiming to avoid relegation, played very proactively at their home court. They took advantage of the fact that the Madrid Pirates had just finished playing in the Champions League and were a little tired. The two main strikers could not cooperate with each other, and frequently created threats.
As long as they have a forward who is better at seizing opportunities, they might take the lead in the first half.
In the 40th minute, it was Madrid Pirates' centre-back Riva Moreno who took advantage of a free kick in the frontcourt to grab a header in the penalty area and successfully scored, breaking the deadlock for Madrid Pirates.
At halftime, Parotti replaced Dikunzo with Hulay.
The effect may be better if Hu Lai and Kyrie, who do not occupy the ball, are paired together.
After the start of the second half, Getafe 1326, which was only one goal behind, was not affected by the loss of the ball at the end of the first half. Perhaps their head coach re-energized the players' fighting spirit and morale during the halftime break.
In short, even after the Madrid Pirates took the lead, they failed to rush past and completely suppressed Getafe 1326.
The latter fought for survival and broke out with extremely high combat effectiveness on their home court.
Because they fought so hard, their main midfielder, Venezuelan international Angulo Castro, even received his second yellow card in the game and was sent off with a red card.
Even though there was one less player, Getafe 1326 did not collapse. They continued to grit their teeth and deal with the Madrid Pirates. Moreover, they did not shrink back and set up a bus in front of the goal just because there was one less player. Instead, they were able to use counterattacks to threaten the Madrid Pirates' goal.
Commentator Sanchez said with emotion: "The performance of Getafe 1326 is awe-inspiring..."
He Feng lamented: "You have to wait until you are about to be downgraded before you can unleash such combat effectiveness. What have you done earlier!"
His subtext is - don't drag Hu Lai into the water just to save yourself from relegation! If they had performed well earlier, there would be no need to fight to avoid relegation now, and there would be no need to fight so hard against Madrid Pirates. We are all from Madrid, why don't we save some face for each other?
Getafe 1326 said who the hell is a team from the same city as you? We are the team of the municipality of Getafe!
Then in the last ten minutes of the game, they pressed forward with all their strength and attacked crazily, not caring that the large amount of space behind them might be seized by their opponents.
At this moment, they are no longer qualified to look forward and backward.
So Getafe, who was pressing all the way, was counterattacked by the Madrid Pirates in the 84th minute.
Carey made a long pass from behind the center circle and accurately found Hu Lai who was penetrating forward.
The latter used his chest to stop the football forward to the top of the penalty arc outside the penalty area. Facing the attacking Getafe 1326 goalkeeper, he calmly pushed the ball into the far corner.
The football rolls into the goal!
He sealed the victory for Madrid Pirates!
"Oh oh oh oh! HUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!! He scored again! At the same time, this is the second consecutive league game where Kyrie has provided assists to Hu! Even though Kyrie has rarely pressed forward due to poor physical fitness in the past ten minutes, he has He can still contribute to the team's offense with his excellent skills and awareness! This long pass is not only accurate, but also decisive! ”
"Hu Lai! The 31st goal in the league! He is only one goal away from the league record of 32 goals he set in Leeds City!" After confirming that the Madrid Pirates won, He Feng was more concerned about Hu Lai's success. personal performance.
Now it seems that Hu Lai is very likely to win the La Liga Golden Boot after just landing in La Liga!
In front of the visiting team's coaching bench on the sidelines, Parotti applauded and said to Valentine with a smile: "Call it! Replace Kyrie and let him have a good rest! He will be a substitute in the next league game against Aher."
Hearing this, Valentin was a little surprised: "Are you going to let him start in the Champions League against the Kings?"
Parotti smiled slightly: "Why not?"
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