After the Copa del Rey draw from Atletico Madrid, the coaching staff convened a meeting of the players in Valdebebas to discuss the team's plans for the second half of the season, with Benitez highlighting two cup competitions.

This basically reveals the manager's plan for the second half of the season, which is to focus on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

For Yang Yang, this was a piece of news that made him feel uncomfortable.

"Barcelona this season is too stable!"

After leaving the conference room, Yang Yang stood in front of the guardrail in the corridor, facing the training ground opposite downstairs, his hands clutched to the fence, and said unwillingly, his tone revealing helplessness.

Barcelona have been extremely solid this season, having lost just one game so far, to Real Madrid, and no other team has been able to beat Barcelona.

Since Yang Yang's comeback at the end of November, defeating Barcelona in the derby of the century to the present, he has played five league games, and Barcelona's scores are 3-0 away against Osasuna, 5-0 at home against Real Sociedad, 5-1 away against Espanyol, 2-1 at home against Levante, and 4-0 away against Deportivo La Coruna.

It can be said that all of Barca's performances so far this season have been a kind of stability that borders on despair.

What's worse is that Real Madrid has lost too many points in the previous period and is now seven points behind Barcelona.

It stands to reason that there are still 20 rounds left in the league, and it is only mid-January, and everything is still uncertain, but Real Madrid has to prepare in advance.

Due to the impact of the Club World Cup, coupled with the disruption of Christmas and winter breaks, Real Madrid have been playing two games in a row since January, but the team's bench has been clearly weak.

In the second leg against Levante, Benitez tried to put Gago and Granero in charge, but Real Madrid lost 0-2 on the road.

Next up is a league away game against Almeria, but next week we will play Atletico Madrid in midweek, the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, with a draw drawn.

In contrast, Barcelona were much more relaxed, and they drew Real Betis in La Liga.

"There's no way, there's pressure from the management, there's pressure from the coaching staff, and for a team like Real Madrid, if you end a season empty-handed, it's definitely a failure, so there's a lot of pressure on the manager." Xavi Alonso walked up to Yang Yang and said helplessly.

If you think of a club as a company, the manager is like a department head, the management is responsible for setting the tasks and the manager is responsible for completing them, and now Real Madrid has no way to guarantee whether they will be able to reverse Barcelona in the next La Liga, if they don't want to be empty-handed, then they can only do their best to fight for the cup.

Facing Barcelona, today's Real Madrid team is not strong enough to fight for anything.

When Benitez was mentioned, Yang Yang was also a little embarrassed in his heart, and even a little self-blamed.

The Spaniard did not leave class early during the winter break, as the outside media and fans speculated, but his position was indeed shaken and not secure, and it has been rumored that Real Madrid's management has secretly initiated a change of manager.

Benitez's main problem is his attacking tweak, and everyone feels that with such a strong attacking line-up as Real Madrid, there is no reason to drop so many points in the first 18 rounds, which is unforgivable.

Even as a die-hard supporter of Benitez, Yang Yang has to admit that tuning the attack has never been Benitez's strength, from Liverpool to Real Madrid, he has always had this problem.

As Benitez's most trusted and most relied on player, Yang Yang is still a little uncomfortable in his heart, because he was injured and absent when Benitez needed him the most.

He knew that he was not to blame because no player was unharmed, but he still felt a little guilty.

Benitez is doing everything he can to ensure the team's results within his purview, so in the meeting he revealed that the team will do everything in their power to ensure the results of the cup.

"You say, if you win the Copa del Rey and defend the Champions League, can you keep Benitez's position?" Yang Yang asked suddenly.

After hearing this, Xavi Alonso and Kaka, who were beside him, glanced at each other, and both shook their heads and smiled bitterly.

Yang Yang still hasn't given up on Benitez, which is normal, because he has always been a person who knows how to repay his kindness.

"Dude, in the 20 years since the Champions League was restructured, no team has successfully defended the title, and the last team to successfully defend the title was Sacchi's AC Milan, which was 21 years ago." Kaka patted Yang Yang's shoulder vigorously and reminded.

Yang Yang understood, "But no one has done it before, it doesn't mean we can't do it, doesn't it?" ”

Kaka and Xavi Alonso were both surprised to find that Yang Yang was not joking, but serious.

Real Madrid's opponent in the round of 16 of the Champions League is Lyon in Ligue 1, and interestingly, last season's opponent in the round of 16 of the Champions League is also Lyon, and the possibility of advancing is still very high.

"Our manager is the king of the cup and we definitely qualify for the title, don't we?" Yang Yang asked again.

It was almost 20 years ago that Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey and the last time a team defended the Champions League was 21 years ago.

It can even be said that it is more successful than Barcelona, which won La Liga.

Because what Pep Guardiola's team wants most is the Champions League!

Thinking of this, Yang Yang suddenly rekindled his fighting spirit, and he found a new goal.

He believes that Benitez must have thought the same way, and that this is the only way to keep his position.

If it is really realized, and Benitez still leaves the class, then he can be regarded as a successful retirement, and Yang Yang has a clear conscience.

…………

…………

Real Madrid's opponent in the round of 19, Almeria, has also had a difficult season.

Almeria, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, has played 18 rounds so far, with two wins, seven draws and nine losses, and is currently ranked 19th in La Liga, with the same points as vice-captain Zaragoza and Sporting Gijón in 18th place.

The worst defeat of the season was a 0-8 defeat at home to Barcelona in the twelfth round of La Liga, which led directly to the resignation of then-manager Lillo and the replacement of former Tenerife manager Ortra.

As the saying goes, a change of coach is like a change of knife, after Ortra took office, although Almeria's results still did not improve much, but the overall mental outlook is still good, including a 3-1 away win over Sevilla, which has greatly boosted the team's morale.

Facing Real Madrid at home in this game, Ortra said very clearly before the game that Real Madrid will not do their best in the game.

'They have a crucial Copa del Rey quarter-final Madrid derby in midweek, a game that Real Madrid can't afford to give up and one they can't afford to lose.

Derby, the word is more convincing than anything else.

Altra was half right, though.

It's true that Real Madrid didn't do their best, but that doesn't mean Real Madrid will give up the league.

Yang Yang took the initiative to start the game, and in the 27th minute, after cooperating with Higuain, he assisted David Silva to score and break the deadlock on the field for Real Madrid.

After facing the heavily defended Almeria, Real Madrid did not give a good solution.

Yang Yang was substituted in the 60th minute to play the midweek Copa del Rey game, but in the 87th minute, the team's defence made a mistake.

Piati, who was on the left side of Almeria, shook off Arbeloa's pass and Real Madrid centre-backs Vermaelen and Sergio Ramos made mistakes and missed Uroa, who found the chance and fired a low shot to equalise.

Three points turned into one, and Real Madrid returned to a draw.

……

In this round, Barcelona beat Malaga 4-1 at home thanks to Villa's brace and goals from Andres Iniesta and Pedro, scoring three valuable points and further extending their lead in the league to nine points.

For this result, the royal horse was mentally prepared, but it was not a good taste.

In a subsequent interview with Real Madrid's official TV, Yang Yang called on his teammates not to give up, and to continue to maintain this determination no matter what, continue to catch up with Barcelona, and do their best to play in the cup.

'It's a nine-point gap but I believe we still have a chance and the most important thing now is that we have to be confident enough.

Benitez will not admit that his team lost La Liga, insisting that Real Madrid still have a chance to turn the opponent around.

However, it is widely believed that Real Madrid has been difficult to catch up with Barcelona in La Liga this season, and the words of Yang Yang and Benitez are more like a morale boost.

Pep Guardiola's side have been significantly more consistent this season after last season's problems, with a more mature pass-and-possession style of play that has reached its peak even in the previous two seasons, which has allowed them to maintain a very consistent performance in La Liga.

As for Real Madrid, there are indeed problems in attack, and Yang Yang's previous injury exposed this problem, plus the team does lack some luck, such as drawing Atletico Madrid, a sworn enemy in the same city.

While Real Madrid were sniped at by Almeria away, Atletico Madrid beat Real Mallorca 3-0 at their home stadium, with Forlan and Reyes both performing very well.

Atletico Madrid coach Flores said in an interview with the media after the game that Real Madrid have lost the race for the La Liga title and that Rafael Benitez's team is at a morale low, which will be a great opportunity for Atletico Madrid.

"We're going to stomp hard at the Bernabeu, on Real Madrid!"

……

As a result, as if Flores had guessed it, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals in midweek, Real Madrid seized the opportunity to play a quick counterattack in the seventh minute of the opening game, Reyes passed through, Aguero was saved by Casillas, Forlan calmly hit the shot.

Zero to one!

Real Madrid hangs!