Chapter 059: A Thousand Calls
At the end of the final round of the 2014-2015 La Liga season, Real Madrid had 103 points, thus surpassing the team's record for La Liga single-season points held by Barcelona in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 and becoming the new La Liga single-season points holders.
Tang Zheng has been in the process of recovery since the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, but his contribution is obvious to all, and without Tang Zheng's excellent performance, Real Madrid is likely to have dropped the chain at the beginning of the season.
Coupled with Tang Zheng's help bring Real Madrid back to life in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, he is like a god in the minds of Real Madrid fans.
There are even many Real Madrid fans who affectionately call Tang Zheng - God.
In fact, since Tang Zheng joined Real Madrid, Tang Zheng has always stepped forward at critical times, just like the god of death who judges the life and death of others, but in the minds of Real Madrid fans, Tang Zheng is undoubtedly a god-like figure.
The league is over, but the season is not over for Real Madrid, they still have the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League final.
With the league title in place, Real Madrid will likely become Spain's second treble-winning team, and if they can beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and Champions League final, it will be a great holiday for Real Madrid fans.
Because the champion of La Liga this season is Real Madrid, and the league runner-up is Barcelona, if Real Madrid beats Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League final, then Real Madrid can be crowned the treble, and Barcelona is unfortunately the king of Sanya.
The Real Madrid players trained at the Valdebebas training base are working towards this goal, while Barcelona, who train in the first team at Gamble Sports City, are aiming for the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
Putting aside the possible appearance of the Sanya king, what the Barcelona players hope to do most is to be ashamed.
Barcelona lost to Real Madrid in last season's Copa del Rey final, thus missing out on the title, and the league suffered a double, and must beat Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final to prove themselves.
As for the Champions League final, it is inevitable for Barcelona to win.
It has been five seasons since he last won the Champions League, and Messi has also grown from a star in the big year to a real superstar, and taking into account Tang Zheng's various invincibilitys in various competitions, Messi in preparation has worked extra hard, hoping to prove himself!
He, Leo Messi, is the greatest star on the planet!
With the end of La Liga, the five major European leagues have also ended, and the fans who are football dogs have gradually become a little tormented, because ...... They have no ball to watch, and their lives seem to have hit a bottleneck.
Thankfully, Real Madrid and Barcelona have two finals in seven days, which gives the football dogs something to look forward to.
As the most technical national derby in the world at the moment, those two games are sure to attract the attention of fans around the world.
With just two days to go until the 2014-2015 Copa del Rey final, the two sides are back in Valencia to prepare for the Copa del Rey final at the Mestalla two days later.
There are two points that the media is most concerned about at present, the first is Tang Zheng's recovery.
Since the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Juventus played for 45 minutes, there was also a substitute for ten minutes in the last round of the league, but there was nothing to see in that game, because Tang Zheng's running was not active, and it seemed to be a bit closed to play, so reporters wanted to know whether Tang Zheng's thigh strain was healed, or how much better, would it affect the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League final.
Then Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo did not seem to be back to normal, as managers Carlo Ancelotti and Casillas said, and the two have not interacted with each other so far, and it is easy to imagine that the two were affected by the free-kick competition in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at the last minute.
At the moment of the big war, even if Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo are really estranged, Ancelotti cannot truthfully explain to the media, which will not only affect the team's preparation, but also expose the real relationship between Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo to the light, thus affecting the unity of the locker room.
Even if the locker room has now changed from a unity to a few small groups......
Thankfully, the goal is the same, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League!
No player will turn down Glory because Glory is directly tied to their income.
Rejecting glory is tantamount to rejecting a lucrative income.
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With Real Madrid and Barcelona beating their respective Copa del Rey semi-final rivals, fans sold out early for the 2014-2015 Copa del Rey final at the Mestalla.
The Copa del Rey final is getting closer and closer, and the tickets for the final have been speculated to sky-high prices, and they are still priceless.
The day before the game, as is customary, the coaches of both teams took the starters of the Copa del Rey final at the Mestalla Stadium the following night to the regular pre-match press conference.
The first to be interviewed by the media was Real Madrid, who were drawn by the away team, and the player who followed Carlo Ancelotti in the Mestalla press conference hall was Real Madrid's top scorer this season, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real Madrid and Barcelona naturally have all kinds of feuds, but the reporters on the scene do not want to dig into these things that everyone knows, they want to know whether Cristiano Ronaldo and Tang Zheng are as rumored by the grapevine - there is a feud.
Fortunately, there has been a relevant reminder from the staff before the news play, Cristiano Ronaldo said very officially in the face of reporters' questions: "There is nothing new between me and Don, I think everyone here should pay more attention to the Copa del Rey final tomorrow night, thank you!"
It is precisely because Cristiano Ronaldo's answer is very official that it gives the impression that there is a problem!
However, instead of making a single pick, the focus shifted to the 2014-2015 Copa del Rey final tomorrow night at the Mestalla Stadium, as Ancelotti and Cristiano Ronaldo said.
The best news is not to reveal the suspense directly, but to leave the reader's imagination to use his imagination.
Once the suspense is revealed, who will pay attention to the follow-up?
Only by casting a long line can you catch big fish!
On the day of the match, two hours before the start of the game, the Mestalla Stadium was almost full, with only sporadic empty seats, but these empty seats were still filling up at a visible rate.
By the time both sides of the game had warmed up on the pitch, the Mestalla Stadium was packed in the truest sense of the word!
Real Madrid fans in white jerseys and Barcelona fans in red and blue striped shirts are clearly distinguished, and the north and south are opposed, giving fans in front of the TV a huge visual impact.
The Spanish national derby was repeated in the Copa del Rey final.
Before the game, the media launched a public opinion shock, Real Madrid is likely to become the second team to win the treble after Barcelona, but if Real Madrid achieves the hegemony of the treble, then Barcelona may not be able to raise its head for a long time in the future.
The achievement of Real Madrid comes at the cost of stepping on the corpse of Barcelona.
Who would destroy themselves in order to achieve the fulfillment of others?
If there were, it wouldn't be Barcelona.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are rivals in the national derby, which can be called the derby of the century, in addition to competitive competition, there are also complex political, economic and cultural factors, so Barcelona must beat Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final!
The league championship was won by Real Madrid, so this Copa del Rey final and the future Champions League final, Barcelona are determined to win!
In terms of the starting line-up, Enrique's Barcelona showed the strongest line-up.
Goalkeeper Ter Stegen, four defenders Alba, Mascherano, Pique and Alves, midfielders Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Iniesta, forwards Neymar, Suarez and Messi.
Real Madrid did not send the strongest lineup, and Tang Zheng did not appear in the starting lineup, but was placed on the bench.
Barcelona coach Enrique, who got Real Madrid's starting list, frowned, and it stands to reason that the strongest squad should be sent in the Copa del Rey final, even if Tang Zheng has not recovered at all.
The most important thing is that most of the tactical adjustments made by Enrique are aimed at Tang Zheng, and Real Madrid does not have Tang Zheng in the starting lineup, which means that the targeted deployment he has made for a long time in the past has become useless.
However, from the competitive level, the threat posed by Real Madrid without Tang Zheng to Barcelona is minimized.
While Enrique was annoyed by the tactical reversal, he also breathed a sigh of relief for the first half in the near future.
At the same time, Andy Gray, the British Sky commentator in the on-site commentary seat, looked at Real Madrid's starting lineup twice, raised his eyebrows, and then turned his head to look at his partner Martin Taylor: "Hey ~ old man, Don did not appear in Real Madrid's starting list, what do you think?"
Martin Taylor shrugged his shoulders: "What can you think of this? It's clear Carlo Ancelotti is there to take the lead after the second half? Just like the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals in the past, I think Real Madrid will win the Copa del Rey eventually." ”
Andy Gray shook his head helplessly, and he told Martin Taylor that Tang Zheng actually had an ending a long time ago, because Martin Taylor was Tang Zheng's brainless fan.
But then again, as long as Real Madrid can not make frequent mistakes in the first half to send points, Tang Zheng's substitute appearance in the second half will definitely change the situation of the game!
It was not Isco who replaced Tang Zheng in the starting position, but Khedira.
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, four defenders Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe and Carvajal, two midfielders Toni Kroos and Khedira, Luka Modric burst forward in midfield, and three forwards Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and James Rodriguez.
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Most of Real Madrid's starting list was accurately predicted by media experts before the game, except for Tang Zheng, but thinking that Tang Zheng's thigh strain has not fully recovered, for the sake of protection and the long-term purpose of the game, using Tang Zheng as a substitute is the safest choice, which is also reasonable.
It's just that...... The shortcomings of Real Madrid's midfield without Tang Zheng were vividly reflected in the early stages of the game, Khedira was very defensive, but his movement and anticipation were too poor to keep up with the rhythm of Barcelona's attacking players.
Especially when Messi retreated to organize the attack, the gap between his ability to choose positions and read the game and Tang Zheng was undoubtedly revealed.
The midfield is completely out of control!
Toni Kroos and Modric are both strong and weak in attack, and when Tang Zheng is present, they can still compete with the Barcelona midfield, and it is difficult to compete with Barcelona in the absence of Tang Zheng.
In the nineteenth minute of the game, Barcelona broke the deadlock, Messi sent a precise long pass after breaking through Modric and Khedira in a row on the right rib, left-back Alba inserted at high speed, and swept the ball directly to the middle of the penalty area without stopping, Suarez stretched out his foot before Pepe, and the football rolled into the bottom right corner of the goal.
The Barcelona fans at the Mestalla Stadium were so excited that they created a deafening loud shout: "Whoa—"
Real Madrid fans were unimpressed, believing that the game was a 90-minute battle and that Barcelona's one-goal lead did not mean anything.
Besides, Tang Zheng is still on standby on the bench.
It wasn't until two minutes later that Real Madrid fans panicked.
Khedira was too slow to defend Messi's breakthrough and kicked down Messi, who had already broken through, to give Barcelona a well-placed direct free-kick.
The foul was committed near the right-hand post shown in the broadcast footage, about 26 metres from the goal, which was perfect for a left-footed player.
With such an opportunity, Messi stood in front of the football.
Faced with the opportunity, Messi kicked a perfect curling ball with his left foot, and Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas didn't even react......
Suarez's goal The live director did not give Ancelotti and Tang Zheng close-ups for the first time, and waited until Messi scored a wonderful direct free kick to give Ancelotti and Tang Zheng close-ups respectively.
The meaning is very obvious, the starting lineup did not send Tang Zheng, will Ancelotti regret it?
In fact?
Ancelotti's bowels were full of remorse.
Tang Zheng recovered better than expected, and could have played a full 90 minutes, but after careful consideration of the Champions League final six days later, he decided to put Tang Zheng on the bench after careful consideration, and then come back in the second half at a crucial moment.
Before the game, Carlo Ancelotti also expected Barcelona to take the lead in the first half, but did not expect to score two goals in just three minutes.
The psychological difference between a two-goal deficit and a one-goal deficit is completely different.
When you are one goal down, you will have a good psychology of equalizing at any time, and when you are two goals down, you will have a goal back.
Moreover, Barcelona is not an ordinary team, they are equal opponents.
Tang Zheng, who appeared on the broadcast screen, also felt a little anxious, because the problems caused by the two-goal deficit were complicated.
Six days later, the Champions League final, the Copa del Rey final is two goals down, will the teammates still have the fighting spirit of seeing death as home?
It was not without good news for Real Madrid, who did not concede a third goal against Barcelona, who controlled the pace of the game, otherwise the game would have been abandoned.
Three-goal reversal, not every game can happen.
“Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang——”
Real Madrid fans, who had been in a slump of performances, rejuvenated before the start of the second half because of the ...... Tang Zheng is finally ready to appear after a long time!
When it is in danger, you still have to look at Tang Zheng!