What Dick didn't expect was that this conversation with Hill directly prompted a legend of Atletico Madrid to leave after the end of the season - after he talked with Hill, at the end of the season, the old Hill had a secret meeting with Kiko, and after that meeting, Kiko announced that he would leave Atletico Madrid, but joined the third division team where he debuted on a free transfer, Córdoba, and two years later, Kiko quietly retired, because even in West C, his performance was not good- Since being sidelined for a year at the end of 1998 with a serious injury against Barcelona, Kiko is indeed no longer the Kiko who led the Spanish Olympic team to the 1992 Olympic title, nor is he the Kiko who led Atletico Madrid to the double.

In this respect, it is much better for Kiko to leave peacefully when Atletico Madrid was relegated successfully, and to be relegated with Atletico Madrid in the history but did not play a role in La Liga, which led to Atletico Madrid's failure to be promoted quickly, and the result of leaving in disgrace amid the scolding of Atletico Madrid fans, Kiko leaving in this way, at least for a long time, Atletico fans will miss those wonderful days he bringed.

Sometimes Dick can't help but sigh when he thinks back - in fact, in his original intention, he was unwilling to treat such a banner player, but he had to face too many problems when he was in charge of Atletico Madrid, and all his energy was used to quickly control the team and continue to win in the next games to complete the relegation cause, and there was no time to find out the reason for Kiko's decline, and find a way to make his performance a little better, which can play a role...... If he had been in charge half a year earlier, he might have helped Kiko recover his form when the team's situation had not deteriorated so much, but the only thing he could do in a hurry with only six rounds left in the league was to use Kiko to establish his authority.

Establish authority by taking down Kiko, which is also something that has been carefully considered by Dick, first, Kiko's stone is big enough, and if Kiko is moved, he can show all the players, even Kiko I dare to move, others want to be disobedient, I can still deal with him! With Hill's support behind him, he was able to do the miracle of being able to command the entire team in a day or two. Second, Kiko's strength has indeed dropped a lot, and it has not had much effect on the team, and taking him will not damage Atletico's already quite weak strength at that time. The last point is more important - because he knows what kind of person Kiko is, this man has no doubt about his love for Atletico, and he has never been a ball tyrant, he has not been in the dressing room when he has taken him from the main position, and he has remained silent when the team can win.

Of course, this is a bit sorry for Kiko, but in that case, Dick can only choose to do it, which is the only way that can allow him to get the whole team done in just over a month.

So Dick actually felt a little guilty about Kiko, so much so that later in 2021, at the party for the centenary of Atletico Madrid's official establishment (although they were established in 1903, it was not until 1921 that they separated from Bilbao to become a separate club), Dick, who had already left Atletico Madrid, met the long-retired Kiko at the party, Dick, who claimed to have never admitted his mistake, apologized to Kiko in front of countless reporters, and Kiko laughed and did not show any concern- He had already figured it out in those two bad seasons in West C, and he was really unable to be the main player of Atletico Madrid at that time!

Of course, that's a story for later.

After talking to the elder Hill, Dick went on to prepare for the next round of the league – where Atletico travel to Barcelona and then they will stay there for a while because they will travel to Barcelona again in midweek in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.

Playing Barcelona three times in a row, this makes Dick feel very happy - to be able to make trouble with Barcelona at the critical moment when Barcelona hit the treble, this can be regarded as taking his fate into his own hands, and if he can't beat them, he will drag them down, so that they can't win a championship!

And Dick also has a desperate reason for this game, anyway, he wants to get at least one point when facing Barcelona, in this round, Real Betis is away to challenge Mallorca, who has been relegated in advance, and I don't know if this island team will slack off at this time, Numancia is also against Racing Santander, which has been relegated in advance, although La Liga is unlikely to have the habit of giving favors after the team succeeds in relegation - Serie A teams have more such habits, There are also cases where points are sent to send themselves to the second division, such as Bologna after a season or two - but Atletico Madrid is also a strong team, and seeing the bad luck of the strong team is a happy thing for all middle and lower teams, before Malaga chose to fight with Atletico Madrid when there was no danger of relegation at all, I have to say that it is out of this mentality.

So in this game, Atletico Madrid need to get at least one point, so even if Numancia wins away at Racing Santander, four points ahead of Atletico, and still have to chase in the last three rounds, if it is five points behind, it will be very difficult......

This game is also a hurdle for Atletico Madrid, after the Barcelona pass, Atletico's next three opponents do not have any top teams, as long as the command is good, it is still possible to win.

When Dick led Atletico to Barcelona, they were unwelcome from the whole of Barcelona.

Barcelona fans naturally hate Atletico Madrid, but they hate Dick even more, who made him openly claim that Barcelona can't win a championship this season when he was coaching La Liga? You must know that the team coached by Dick at that time had nothing to do with Barcelona, he seemed to hate Barcelona so much, Barcelona fans would naturally hate him, not to mention that he still seemed so ungraceful after winning Barcelona in the last round, coupled with the TV and media in Catalonia criticizing Dick, it would be strange if Barcelona fans still treated Dick like a passerby......

The other small group of non-Barcelona fans in the Barcelona area, namely Espanyol, also have little affection for Atletico Madrid, who played well away in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and are likely to reach the Copa del Rey final, but of course have little affection for Atletico Madrid, a team that could be their rivals in the final - besides, Espanyol is one of Real Madrid's hardcore allies, and Atletico Madrid, as Real Madrid's sworn rivals, their relationship is not very good......

Coming to Barcelona, Atletico Madrid can be said to have come to a place where all are hostile to them, and although the players of Atletico Madrid are all experienced, they are also a little worried.

In the face of this hostile atmosphere, Dick doesn't seem to care at all, every day is hanging around the hotel, seeing him like this kind of serious appearance, Atletico Madrid's players feel settled - at least the last few games have been good because of this manager, since he doesn't seem to care at all, what do we care? We all did what he had arranged, and even if we were demoted in the end, we wouldn't be blamed......

Although Dick's hangy appearance made the always old-fashioned Marriner a little unaccustomed, he had to admit that the casualness shown by Dick was a good way to resolve the nervousness of the Atletico players......

'What's there to be afraid of, guys, their fans hate us and they can't rush out of the stands and beat us up, at most after we beat them and when we celebrate at the Camp Nou, they turn on the pitch sprinklers and douse us...... Don't forget, what we're here for – at least one point, three points, and make them depressed to death! How did they lose to us last time? It's because of our defense and counter-attack! This game is to do a little bit better defensively, so that they are in a hurry to attack but can't get into our door, then our goal is accomplished! Barcelona's biggest focus is on the Champions League, and as long as we put on a look like we're going to spend the last minute with them, it's going to be them who are scared, you know? ”

Before the start of the game, after arriving in the dressing room at Camp Nou, Dick said this to the players, this tactic was originally the tactic he arranged for the players in the past few days, so the players also knew what to do in this game.

From midfield to inside the penalty area, everything has to be consumed with Barcelona until they can't stand it anymore, Atletico can pour all their energy into every game, can Barcelona? Now Atletico Madrid is barefoot and not afraid to wear shoes, even if you lose, it can drag you to exhaustion, that is victory!

As long as you show such momentum, the attention is more on Barcelona in the Champions Cup, and the heart will also beat the drums, right?

Knowing this, the Atletico players began to relax a bit, and then they saw their manager start wandering around the dressing room at Camp Nou like a hillbilly.

"Well, Barcelona are so rich, I thought the faucets in their dressing rooms were made of gold...... It turns out to be similar to Calderon, and it doesn't seem to be as good as Calderon's dressing room. ”

Dick's tone of disappointment made the players laugh, they had all been to the dressing room at the Camp Nou, but it was the first time Dick had come - to say that despite the fame of the Camp Nou, the Calderón Stadium was no worse than them, the Calderón Stadium was the first football stadium in Spain to have a capacity of 60,000 people, and it was later reduced to the current 57,500 people after the renovation, and even a few years later when UEFA began to rate five-star stadiums. The Calderón Stadium was also the first stadium in all of Spain to be rated a five-star stadium, and also before the Camp Nou and the Bernabeu were rated five-star stadiums!

In addition, there will definitely be a bit of a gap between the facilities in the home team's dressing room and the away team's dressing room, so Dick's performance is nothing more than telling all the Atletico players, what do you have to worry about? We are also a top team like Barcelona and Real Madrid, at most our performance has been a little bit worse in the past two years, and psychologically, we have no disadvantages!

I have to say that this kind of performance is still very useful, especially against a strong opponent like Barcelona, Dick has always been to improve the morale of the team and increase their self-confidence, so that they can rely on more!

"Go and let Barcelona know that it wasn't an accident that we played in the last game!" Dick waved his hand and said loudly.