Chapter 038: Madrid Derby, in a desperate situation
"Whoa—"
With Tang Zheng holding the Asian Cup championship trophy in both hands, all the Chinese fans in the Australian stadium fell into an extreme carnival, and the cheers created were higher and higher.
He Wei, the commentator of the Central 5, was already hoarse in his throat, but his passion was undiminished, and he was in a state of madness: "Please remember this moment! Asian Cup champion! Chinese team! As Chinese people, we should firmly remember the historic moment! But this is not our peak moment, on the contrary! This is just the first stop for us to set sail! I firmly believe that the Chinese team will get better and better and go to the world!!"
The Chinese players in the broadcast screen are also very excited, especially the players who touch the championship trophy with their hands, they seem to feel an endless force, even if they encounter the world's top teams at this time, they will fight with the power of a fight!
Tang Zheng handed the trophy in his hand to the captain Zheng Zhi, looking at the excitement of the old captain and other teammates, his heart was full of a sense of achievement.
What is the reason why the Chinese team was able to go from the trough to the Asian Cup championship?
Not because of yourself?
All these years of hard work have been worth it!
What is the slogan of not seeking results but only the process, that is chicken soup for the soul, which is useless at all!
Who doesn't want their efforts to be rewarded?
Now that Tang Zheng's efforts have paid off, it can be regarded as worthy of the hard work of these years.
Money can only be counted as a bunch of numbers for Tang Zheng now, and it is not counting the chemical company with a market value of tens of billions of euros, so feeling the cheerful atmosphere on his face, Tang Zheng suddenly realized that there are still many things he needs to do in the future.
It is gratifying that the Chinese team won the Asian Cup, but there is still a long way to go.
It is easy to fight the country, but it is difficult to defend the country.
If Chinese football wants to develop for a long time, there is still a long way to go......
This night is destined to be sleepless for Chinese fans, the first continental championship since the establishment of the team, and the final championship with the most goals scored and the fewest goals conceded in the history of the Asian Cup, this result is a full score.
The older generation of fans will have the idea of dying without regrets, because they have finally waited for the Chinese team to stand on top of Asia.
It was also a sleepless night for the Chinese players who won the Asian Cup through struggle, leaving traces of celebration in the dressing room and in the hotel.
The Chinese fans in Sydney feel that they are the happiest people in the world, because they can witness the Chinese team win the championship with their own eyes.
All the Chinese are celebrating wildly, but not the internationals who play in Europe, who don't even attend the team's celebration banquet and take flights to their clubs' cities to prepare for the next league match.
Tang Zheng is the most famous player in the Chinese team, and he naturally receives the most attention, so it is difficult to keep Tang Zheng's whereabouts secret many times.
As soon as Tang Zheng took the flight to Madrid, online media platforms at home and abroad had already updated their news.
Countless fans are sighing, why did Tang Zheng succeed?
There are no shortcuts to success!
He led the Chinese team to win the Asian Cup last night and took a flight to Madrid early the next morning to prepare for the midweek replay and the Madrid derby at the Calderón Stadium at the weekend.
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Although the Chinese team's overseas international players were not able to return to China to participate in the celebration banquet, except for a few high-level members of the Football Association, all Chinese fans were very satisfied with the players' approach.
How can Chinese football make the most progress?
Occupation!
What is a profession?
In addition to knowing what they want to do and how to do it, players also need to know what kind of historical mission they are carrying!
The Asian Cup championship of Chinese football does not mean that it does not represent anything today, but only represents the glory of the Chinese team in the past.
In order to chase new glory, professional players should continue to struggle and improve themselves non-stop.
To get back to the point, in the month that Tang Zheng participated in the Asian Cup, Real Madrid had a very good result, except for the first draw against Valencia at the end of the winter break, all other games were won.
However, the rest of the fixtures will be very unfavourable for Real Madrid, starting with a midweek match against Sevilla, a league rival postponed by the Club World Cup, and then a trip to the Stadio Calderón to take on Atletico Madrid at the weekend.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti considered that Tang Zheng had just participated in all six games of the Chinese team, and he was not going to put Tang Zheng in the 18-man squad for the league game against Sevilla at home in midweek, but Tang Zheng's desire to fight was very strong, so he could only retreat to put Tang Zheng in the substitute lineup.
Even Ancelotti didn't expect that Tang Zheng's state would continue after the Chinese team won the championship, because most players often have a period of slump after participating in international competitions, so they are not ready to put Tang Zheng in the 18-man squad, let him rest and adjust his state.
However, Real Madrid was able to win Sevilla at home or rely on Tang Zheng, whose long-range shot from 30 meters away broke through Beto's goal, helping Real Madrid beat Sevilla 2-1 at home and re-consolidating its points advantage in the league.
When Real Madrid has not yet played the make-up match, Real Madrid is ranked first in the league with 18 wins, 2 draws and 56 points, Barcelona is second in the league with 17 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses and 53 points, and Atletico Madrid is third in the league with 16 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and 51 points, so the points gap is not obvious, but with Real Madrid winning Sevilla in the supplementary round, the points gap has become a little bigger.
59 points, 53 points, 51 points, the difference becomes 6 points and 8 points.
Two balls and three balls.
Sevilla were unable to hold back Real Madrid, with Barcelona and Atletico fans pinning their hopes on the Madrid derby at the weekend.
After Tang Zheng returned to Madrid, Atletico Madrid coach Simeone has been paying attention to Tang Zheng's recovery, and it stands to reason that Tang Zheng, who has just participated in the Asian Cup, will have a period of slump, which will continue until the end of the Madrid derby.
If Tang Zheng is in poor form, it is a sure thing for Atletico Madrid to win Real Madrid at home, but who would have thought that Tang Zheng, who returned to Madrid, would help Real Madrid defeat Sevilla to consolidate the league points advantage after only two days of recovery.
According to Tang Zheng's performance in the limited 20 minutes, he is still the best midfielder in the world!
Thinking of this, Simeone couldn't help but have a headache.
Tang Zheng is the most satisfied player in his coaching career so far, yes, but he doesn't want to be an opponent with this most satisfied coaching player.
If Tang Zheng's performance in the Madrid derby is as good as ever, it will be difficult for Atletico to win the game even if he sits at the Calderón Stadium, and even a draw is difficult to guarantee.
In the blink of an eye, the second leg of the 2014-2015 La Liga Madrid derby kicked off at the Calderón Stadium.
It is not without good news for Simeone, Real Madrid, who ended the midweek play-up match, only has a short three-day break from the Madrid derby, and this period of rest is not very enough for Tang Zheng, who has just finished the Asian Cup journey, so Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti still put Tang Zheng on the bench list.
Atletico Madrid coach Simeone, who saw Real Madrid's starting line-up, grinned, and his previous fears could come up in the Madrid derby, but Tang Zheng's absence from the starting line-up was a different matter.
Real Madrid without Tang Zheng, no matter how strong Real Madrid is, it is also a soft persimmon.
Sure enough!
Twenty minutes into the first half, the score was 2:0 on a huge LCD screen hanging at the Calderón Stadium
The home team is in the front, the away team is in the back.
Two goals from Saul and Thiago gave Atletico a lead over Real Madrid.
The on-site director gave a close-up shot of Tang Zheng on the bench when the Atletico Madrid players celebrated the goal of the game, and the intention of this picture was obvious.
If Real Madrid had Tang Zheng in the midfield, perhaps the two goals conceded would no longer exist.
The first goal conceded was a mistake by Toni Kroos and Luka Modric after constant defensive pressure, which resulted in Koke cutting the ball straight behind him.
The second goal conceded was a leak in the defence of a corner kick and was snatched by Portugal international Thiago.
Under normal circumstances, Tang Zheng will control the landing point near the penalty spot, and Thiago's header is from near the penalty spot, if Tang Zheng is in place, it is not that 100% will not concede the goal, it can only be said that the probability of conceding the goal will be minimized.
Tang Zheng, who appeared on the broadcast screen, frowned, he really didn't expect the team to adapt to it, and he couldn't fully adapt after being away from the team for nearly a month.
If we knew this, we should have shown a stronger desire to fight.
And the reason why Tang Zheng did not show a strong enough desire to fight was directly related to his own physical condition recovery was not ideal, six games in 20 days, and then a long-distance flight of tens of thousands of miles, both physically and mentally very tired.
He thought that in the first half, everyone should have played inextricably when they were full of energy, but he didn't expect Atletico to be in such good shape.
Defensively, while pressing from the high post, they also paid attention to cutting off the connection between Real Madrid's players and players, cutting them into countless individuals, coupled with efficient counter-attacks, and only a two-goal lead in the first 20 minutes can be said to be Real Madrid's luck enough.
With less than two goals down in less than 20 minutes, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti thought of making a substitution, but given the superiority of the Real Madrid players, the adjustments in this time period were subtle, meaning denying his starting line-up and expressing his dissatisfaction with the player's performance to the rest of the world.
Real Madrid is different from other clubs, the star is often more important than the coach!
As a result, Real Madrid adjusted their game strategy and strengthened their defense.
With a little bit of luck, the score remained unchanged until the end of the first half, with both sides entering their respective dressing rooms with a score of 2-0.
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Atletico fans at the Calderón Stadium were very proud at this time, the team led Real Madrid by two goals early, and if it wasn't for a bit of bad luck, Atletico Madrid was likely to end the first half with a three-goal lead.
If the score does become 3-0, then the second leg of the Madrid derby of the season basically means that the dust has settled.
It's a pity!
"Whoa—"
But it didn't affect the catharsis of Atletico Madrid fans, even at halftime, the shouts they created were wave after wave.
Before the start of the second half, Real Madrid made the expected substitution.
Tang Zheng replaces Isco, who is not performing well.
Not long after, with the whistle of the referee on duty, Marienco, the second half of the 22nd round of the 2014-2015 La Liga season was officially started in the second half of the match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Atletico, who had the advantage of the kick-off, did not rush to participate in the attack, but deliberately controlled the tempo of the game through the midfield pass.
Although controlling the tempo of the game is not Atletico's best way of playing, Atletico have nothing to fear, because they don't have many ways to attack with the ball, but there are many ways to concede the ball.
Gabi made a passing error under the pressure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema, and Real Madrid switched from defense to attack.
Tang Zheng, who had just received the football, was about to pass the ball out when Saul kicked him to the ground, and the referee Marienko's whistle sounded, but he didn't mean to take out the card, and he didn't even warn.
Tang Zheng touched the ankle of his right foot, which was still a little painful, and shook his head, he knew his mentor Simeone's defensive strategy for himself in the second half.
That's right!
It's a reckless foul!
Try not to let Tang Zheng take the ball comfortably!
If you can destroy, you will destroy, and if you can't destroy, you will foul!
Anyway, playing at home, as long as the action is not particularly big, the referee will still give some face.
At the same time, the corners of Atletico Madrid's coach Simeone's mouth were slightly raised, revealing a confident smile.
Saul's foul was a strategy to defend Tang Zheng, and it was also a test of referee Marienko's penalty scale.
According to the feedback from Saul's foul, Marienko's penalty scale in this game was relatively loose.
Tang Zheng worked hard in the first ten minutes of the second half, but Atletico Madrid's defense was very high, and he did his best to Tang Zheng's defense, and he didn't give Tang Zheng too good a chance to get the ball at all.
Therefore, Tang Zheng played very uncomfortable, and Real Madrid's overall attack was also affected, and it was difficult to find opportunities in Atletico Madrid's heavy defense.
Real Madrid, who are two goals behind, have not created a good chance to score, but Atletico Madrid, who are playing at home, have frequently created killing chances, and if it were not for Casillas' concentration, the third goal conceded away from home is very likely.
Atletico Madrid continued to make killings, and the home fans in the stands created waves of regret.
After 60 minutes, Atletico Madrid, who missed consecutive chances, finally extended the score to three goals.
Turan took the ball on the right side, Tang Zheng didn't have time to retreat into the box, Saul, who ran to the far end of the box, pressed Nacho to head the ball back, Griezmann scrambled in front of Toni Kroos five meters from goal to complete a left-footed shot, and the football flew to the near corner of the goal against the turf.
Due to the proximity, goalkeeper Casillas did not react at all.
"Whoa—"
The Atletico Madrid fans shouted hysterically over the Calderón stadium.
Yang 5 commentator He Wei looked at the Real Madrid players in the broadcast screen, and said worriedly: "An hour after the game, Atletico Madrid sitting at the Calderon Stadium is ahead of Real Madrid by three goals, which is undoubtedly a desperate situation for Real Madrid!"