Dick knows that the grouping of the second stage of the group stage is not good, this group does not have a team that is stronger than other teams, whether it is Atletico Madrid, Roma or Liverpool, they are almost equal in strength and form, and the slightly weaker Galatasaray has a home advantage bonus, the situation in this group must be extremely complicated, no matter who wins or loses, the result of any game will have a huge impact on the final result.

Atletico's disadvantage lies in their experience, although they have accumulated in the group stage, but Atletico is still a little unstable, in Dick's view, only in such a group to qualify, Atletico can really be reborn. Their strength lies in the composition of their squad, but the injury to Stam has left the backline a bit shaky, which is also a hidden danger for Atletico.

Liverpool and Roma are much better than Atletico Madrid in terms of experience, they both went to play in the UEFA Cup after losing in the Champions League last season, and the experience of this defeat is invaluable, at least against Atletico Madrid, even Galatasaray, who looked the worst, were the best team in the Champions League last season - they reached the quarter-finals and only lost at the feet of Real Madrid, who can say that they are really an underdog?

After returning to Madrid, Dick began to focus on the league - Atletico did not perform well before, but their rivals did not perform well, Atletico Madrid are now third, Barcelona in second place have the same points as them, and Deportivo La Coruna is only one point above Atletico Madrid, and it is normal for form and performance to fluctuate at the beginning of the season, but if Atletico Madrid do not rise again, it is difficult to say what will happen next.

"We still have three league games to play before the second group stage of the Champions League begins...... My requirement is to win at least two of those three league games. Before that, we were a little too focused on the Champions League and underestimated the league, you know, in the league we have a low win rate now! Out of ten league games, we've only won five games! Two of those games were won at the start of the season, which means that after the start of the two-front battle, we only had that three-game winning streak in the league! I know we're going to have a new situation this season, but that's not a reason why we should give up in the league. The Champions Cup is important, very important, but the league is the fundamental! I made some mistakes like you before, and now we can't make those mistakes anymore, and we have to try to get points in any league game, understand? Our goal this season is not just the Champions Cup! ”

As a latecomer, Dick has seen too many things that reluctantly give up a championship in order to go hand in hand in the league and the Champions Cup, and he knows better that the Champions Cup is too fortuitous.

It's a bit unworthwhile to lose too many points in the league for the Champions Cup.

He is not a manager with a very solid foundation, and he can't risk hurting his team's position in the league for a certain championship, besides, the group stage is not a loss without a chance, instead of worrying about the performance in the Champions Cup now, it is better to concentrate on grabbing points in the league first, anyway, there is a winter break, even if it is overdrawn now, it will not be too much of a problem.

In the next round of the league, Atletico Madrid is at home against Celta, this team has not performed badly this season, they are now in fourth place, only one point less than Atletico Madrid, and in the current standings, there are two teams with the same points as them, plus a seventeen-point Real Betis, now the top teams are biting very tightly, Atletico Madrid really can no longer have any mistakes in the league.

On November 5, Atletico welcomed Celta Vigo at home.

Dick sent his entire main lineup in this game, Celta attacked well, and the defense was a little worse, Dick just wanted to win this game with an attacking hearty and let everyone know that Atletico Madrid's strength in the league is still not weakened.

Because Dick sent all the substitutes in the last Champions Cup game, in this game, Atletico's main players got into form quickly, and they also showed high morale.

Just one minute into the game, Vicente received a beautiful diagonal pass from Belleron and forced his way into Celta's penalty area from the left, and then accurately pushed the far corner to score, Celta's Argentine goalkeeper Caballero could only watch the ball go into the net despite making a save!

Calderón Stadium cheered, such a good start, so that Atletico Madrid fans are extremely happy, the previous two rounds of league one draw and one loss did not make them lose confidence in the team, now even more not!

Celta who conceded the ball at the beginning launched a fierce attack, they were already known for attacking, the front of Mostovoy, Herris, Catania and others are excellent attacking players, in the 30th minute, they finally tore open the door of Atletico Madrid through a beautiful combination in the front, Mostovoy instigated an attack, Catania broke through Marchena's defense and crossed the ball low in front of the goal, and Herris equalized with a tackle from two meters in front of the goal.

It's just that Celta didn't be happy for long, after they scored, Atletico Madrid, who restarted, immediately launched a very threatening attack, Belleron passed back to Baraja, Baraja distributed the ball to Camoranesi, the Argentine forced into the box and was tripped by the opposing defender Juanfrán, the referee decisively awarded a penalty, Jardel took the penalty to hit, and Atletico Madrid took the lead again.

And in the 40th minute, Atletico Madrid's front court played a delicate match, Jardel received the ball and plugged it straight, and the forward Belleron went straight in, facing the attacking goalkeeper to pick up the goal, 3 to 1, Atletico Madrid took a sufficient lead in the first half!

Atletico began to dominate more of the game in the second half, but Celta's tireless attack scored again, Marchena brought down Catania in the box, and the referee also awarded a penalty, with Mostovo converting a point back.

With the opponent chasing the score, Jardel showed his strength as the top scorer, after receiving the arcing cross of Capdevilla who was inserted with an assist, Jardel forced the opponent's central defender to head the ball into the corner of the goal, allowing Atletico to seal the victory, and finally Atletico Madrid defeated Celta 4-2 at home, in such an attacking match, Atletico showed their quality, ending a two-game winless streak, surpassing Barcelona, who lost to Real Madrid in the derby of the century, and returned to second place in the league.

Similar to Atletico's victory, Real Madrid have recently begun to gradually recover their form in the league, they have won three and drawn two in the last five league games, and have risen to eighth place in the rankings, in this round of the derby of the century, they have shown their midfield control, Zidane and Figo completely controlled the midfield, and finally beat Barcelona by two goals, when Zidane begins to play in Real Madrid as a whole, Real Madrid must become more and more terrifying.

"The league is starting to get more and more interesting – Real Madrid is starting to rise, Valencia is silent but making steady progress, Deportivo La Coruna is still strong, and Barcelona is able to rely on Rivaldo's excellent performances to win regularly...... Plus it's a us! It's going to be a fun season...... Dick thought to himself.

Deportivo La Coruna is 23 points in first place, Real Madrid is 16 points in eighth place, and Celta, Alaves and Betis may not have enough stamina, but they are good targets for spoilers in the early days, not to mention Villarreal, who once occupied the first place in the standings in the early stage and now has slipped down.

The current La Liga is a La Liga that rises together, even if it is the team that finally wins the championship, it often overturns in the gutter in the league, if you want to win the championship in the end, you must lose as few points as possible, try to win as many confrontations as possible against teams with similar strength, at least you can't lose!

Real Madrid in Bosque, Deportivo de la Coruna in Iruetta, Valencia in Benitez...... These are tough opponents to play against.

After winning this league, Atletico Madrid ushered in the first round of the Copa del Rey, Atletico Madrid's opponent was the dark horse Rayo Vallecano in the previous two seasons - to say that Rayo Vallecano in the first two seasons of the dark horse after the full performance, this season began to decline, after all, their heritage can support for so long is already a good thing, their female chairman Theresa did not mention anything to let Dick coach - it is obvious that Dick has now moved towards the position of first-line manager, Now Atletico can't afford to use him as a god, let alone Rayo Vallecano.

The season started with eleven league games, and Rayo Vallecano finished bottom of the table with two wins, one draw and eight defeats.

After seven rounds of the league, they started their winless run with one draw and six defeats, and interestingly the only draw came on Barcelona – a testament to the fact that Barcelona are still chaotic this season, and although they have had a good start, many of the victories have been due to the flash of inspiration from stars such as Rivaldo, rather than how well they did overall.

After a serious start to the game, Rayo Vallecano managed to beat Real Sociedad and Deportivo La Coruna with tenacity, but they lost to Valencia in the last round and are still bottom of the table. You have to know that if you take a step forward in the Copa del Rey, it will involve more of their energy.

So even though Dick still sent all the substitutes in this game, and the game was played at Rayo Vallecano's home stadium, the new manager of Rayo Vallecano still sent all the substitutes to cope with this game, but let the main players rest well to prepare for the weekend's home league game against Malaga - it is useless to win Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey, but if they can win Malaga in the Copa del Rey, then their relegation hope is greater!

In this game, Rayo Vallecano's substitutes continued their usual fighting spirit, but in terms of the average strength of the substitutes, Atletico Madrid obviously had the absolute upper hand, Torres and Cruz two strikers scored one goal each in the game, Hagi also scored a goal in the game, Jorgensen completed two assists, relying on such a luxurious substitute lineup, Atletico Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 away and successfully advanced to the next round of the Copa del Rey match.

Next, they will face Villarreal in the twelfth round of the league and travel to Villarreal.