The move forward of the two full-backs did give Diego Costa, who was at the front, more chances to grab the ball. However, with at least two defenders in the middle of the opposition's defenders, the Spanish striker, who scored a horrific 12 goals in six league appearances, could hardly pose a real threat to Espanyol's goal.

Not only that, but such an adjustment is equivalent to compressing the space for Feng Quan's activities on the wing, and for David Villa, who is not good at attacking on the wing and is difficult to score points in the densely populated penalty area, it is equivalent to "abolishing most of his martial arts".

In fact, Diego Simeone had already realised long before he made this decision that the two players would be affected by the move forward of the full-backs. However, with the opponent's defensive focus concentrated in the heart of his penalty area and the team's attack lacking effective organization, all he can do is further strengthen the team's wide attack.

Moreover, Diego Simeone has already made up his mind to send a wide attacking player to replace David Villa, but because there is no suitable person on the bench who can make him feel "eye-catching", the Argentine did not immediately make substitution adjustments.

In the end, until the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, Atletico Madrid, which had nearly 70% possession, failed to break through the goal of the Espanyol team, and had to reluctantly return to the away team's locker room with a goal disadvantage.

…………

Just before the match between Espanyol and Atletico Madrid began, the Almeria team, which had the advantage of being at home, was "stolen" by the visiting Rayo Vallecano team from their own hands to "steal" the key three points.

Although La Liga has just finished the first eight rounds of matches so far, Almeria has become a complete relegation team for Almeria, who have not won a game and only picked up a pitiful three points. Almeria's opponents, Rayo Vallecano, who are temporarily fourth from the bottom of the standings with six points after the first eight rounds, are undoubtedly their most direct rivals on the road to relegation.

Therefore, such a crucial game will even directly determine the result of relegation for the whole season. After all, Rayo Vallecano's victory has widened the gap between themselves and Almeria to six points.

The decisive outcome of this game was Rayo Vallecano's young player Saul Niguez, who was on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Saul was born in November 1994 and is not yet 19 years old. However, on March 8, 2012, the Spaniard, who was only 17 years and 108 days old, came off the bench in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid at home against Besiktas, completing his debut in the "Sheets".

In fact, if it weren't for Saul, who was born as a striker, who wanted to get more opportunities to play and improve his quality as soon as possible, Atletico Madrid would not have loaned him out at all.

After moving on loan to Rayo Vallecano, Saul not only quickly occupied the main position in the team, but was also "developed" by coach Paco Jémez as an "all-round midfielder".

In the first three rounds of the season, Paco Jemes also put Saul in a midfield position. Although Saul, who is very flexible on his feet, often used his excellent dribbling skills to help Rayo Vallecano win many free-kicks up front, his somewhat "sticky" style of play sometimes delayed the chance.

Moreover, coupled with Saul's relatively thin stature, he also found a good opportunity to attack in the 30-meter area where the opposition defended more intensively.

If it is replaced by La Liga giants such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, it is bound to press players like Saul, who also have distinct advantages and disadvantages, to the bench without hesitation. However, for Rayo Vallecano, who are aiming for relegation, they will try to put him in the starting lineup.

Paco Hermes tried to keep Saul away from the opposition's densely defended areas in training in order to maximise his dribbling skills.

Considering Saul is a left-hander, Paco Hermes first dropped him to the left winger. However, due to the lack of a good centre-forward in the team, even if Saul can use his dribbling breakthrough to deliver cannonballs into the box, his attacking threat will be diminished when his teammates struggle to get the landing.

Immediately afterwards, Paco Hermes tried to put Saul on the right and use it as a Spanish version of "Peter Pan". However, Saul's dribbling skills may not be weaker than that of Dutch star Arjen Robben, but he is not far behind his opponents in terms of success rate and shot selection after cutting inside.

Although Saul was able to perform well on both flanks, he was unable to fully exploit his abilities. And just when Paco Hermes was struggling with Saul's best position on the field, his assistant unexpectedly found new inspiration for him.

On the way back to the dressing room with the players and coaches after training one afternoon, Rayo Vallecano's young assistant coach Miguel Ríos suddenly mentioned his idol Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite returning to AC Milan during a casual conversation with Paco Hermes. Immediately, Paco Hermes had a feeling of brightness.

Kaka quickly made his way into the main field with his high-speed dribbling and long-range shooting ability, and over the next few years he developed into one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.

However, as he grew older, coupled with the continuous injury attack, Kaka gradually lost his most powerful weapon - speed advantage, resulting in him never being able to really get the main position in the Real Madrid team.

However, while Kaka has always reached the heights he was at as he was at AC Milan during his time at Real Madrid, the Brazilian star has continued to try new positions in the game as he has aged, and has been able to perform well as his position has changed.

After returning to AC Milan this season, Kaka, who has almost retreated to the central midfield position, has faintly shown signs of "rejuvenating a second spring".

The competitiveness of Serie A has gradually fallen behind La Liga, which is an important factor in Kaka's "second spring", but it is also an indisputable fact that the defensive pressure on Kaka after the position has been withdrawn has also decreased.

That's why Paco Jemes tried to put Saul in the central midfield position against Almeria.

Although Paco Hermes had expected Saul to perform well in his new position, it was much unexpected that Saul not only won a number of free-kicks in front of the team with his dribbling skills in the game, but also sent very delicate through balls to his team-mates up front on a number of occasions.

It was Saul who scored the only goal of the game for his team-mate Alberto Perea in the 36th minute of the second half, starting from near the halfway line and connecting three opponents before sending a through ball to the left side of the box.