Chapter 296-for-tat

After the final round of the league, there are four days left until the final of the Europa League.

In a way, the 2009-2010 season was the first edition of the Europa League – because the format was different from the previous one, it was a restructured Europa League.

After the end of the league, the team rushed to Hamburg, Germany.

And their opponents, Atletico Madrid, have been waiting in Hamburg for a long time.

Before the game, Flores took the initiative to mention Luton Town in an interview with the media.

'Luton Town are a tough team to play with but I think their players are too young and don't have the experience to play in a final like this. In a way, we're the more experienced side. ”

Before the game, the Spanish coach took the initiative to provoke psychological warfare.

Since the other party took the initiative to arch the fire, Gao Bo's side was not to be outdone.

"I've heard about Flores' results in La Liga, they are.... I don't remember if they finished seventh or eighth in the league, but if they have more experience in finals, I don't know if it's Mr. Flores himself or Atletico Madrid, but whether it's Flores or Atletico Madrid, they probably haven't had any final experience in the last ten years! ”

Gao Bo said in front of the media, and then he smiled proudly.

"And we have real final experience, we won the FA Cup final!!"

Atletico Madrid have really mixed up in the last ten years, with the title of Spain's third giant, but they have been in the middle of the league for a long time, and last season was their first Europa League match since '97....

On the other side, Flores also fought back immediately against Gao Bo's counterattack.

'I've heard his story, fourth and third divisions, they're going to be promoted to the Championship again. It's amazing, haha. Flores said that, but the sarcasm on his face was palpable.

"I've also heard the story of Mr. Flores, and it's pretty remarkable to go from 10th to 8th in the league!"

Gao Bo did not show any timidity in the media.

At this time, both sides want to hit their opponents with a war of words before the game and create an atmosphere in their favor.

Gao Bo rarely fights with his opponents, partly because his opponents in the First Division are not worth it, and his opponents in European competitions don't know much about him.

However, since Flores took the initiative to provoke, then Gao Bo will definitely not give up.

And the media like the two coaches for a long time, spitting on each other, analyzing the speed of battle or something, where is this exciting.

.......

The team spent a few days behind closed doors at a training base on loan in Hamburg.

Gao Bo doesn't allow the media to reach out to his players these days, and it's not a good thing to expose players to the media before the big game. These days, Gao Bo has appeared on the media screen quite a lot.

However, this does not affect the team's preparation and training.

The team's preparation opportunities are proceeding in an orderly manner.

The media is also speculating about the starters of both sides.

The only player in the current Luton squad who has played in the Europa League before this season is Saul Campbell, who has not played in the Europa League final either.

Therefore, Flores is not wrong about one thing, and that is that these Luton players have seen too little of the "big world" of these players these days.

On the Atletico Madrid side, they still have a group of very experienced players.

First up is their number one striker, Diego Forlan.

The 31-year-old Uruguayan played for Manchester United and Villarreal.

Diego Forlan failed to use the fast pace of the Premier League during his time at Manchester United, and was ridiculed by the British media as a "stupid" and "Manchester United's worst recruit in 50 years". The Uruguayan striker, who couldn't adapt to the Premier League, was at home in La Liga, scoring 25 goals in his first season at Villarreal to help the Yellow Submarine reach the Champions League for the first time, and he also shared the European Golden Boot with Thierry Henry!

After three seasons with Villarreal, Diego Forlan moved to another La Liga side, Atletico Madrid, in the summer of 2007 to replace the departed golden boy Fernando Torres. In the 2008-2009 season, Diego Forlan scored 32 goals in 33 appearances in La Liga and won the European Golden Boot again!

This is a real super shooter! And he has a lot of experience in the Champions League.

Atletico Madrid also has a player who has even played in the Champions League final - José Antonio Reyes!

The Spanish midfielder played for Sevilla, Arsenal and Real Madrid before returning to Atletico Madrid from Real Madrid. The career resume can be described as quite extensive.

Atletico Madrid are indeed a much more mature team than Luton Town in terms of age structure, with experienced players on their central axis.

In this Atletico Madrid main lineup, De Gea, who gradually sat in the main position in the league in the latter part of the season, is the youngest player, and the nineteen-year-old De Gea is competing with another young goalkeeper Asenjo for the main position, but De Gea has gradually shown far better talent than Asenjo, in the second half of the league, De Gea's playing time even exceeded the original main goalkeeper Asenjo, if nothing else, De Gea will soon be able to sit in the main position.

And the other young player is Argentine prodigy Sergio Aguero!

Aguero, who was only 21 years old this year, moved to Atletico Madrid in 2006 for a whopping €23 million – and it proved absolutely worth it for Atletico Madrid to shell out so much for the then 17-year-old Aguero.

After joining Atletico Madrid in his second season, Sergio Aguero ranked third in La Liga's scorer list with 19 goals and was named the best Latin American player in La Liga in the 07-08 season.

In addition to these two talented teenagers, the rest of Atletico Madrid's main players are players who have worked hard in the top flight for many years, and most of them are at the peak of their physical and competitive condition, whether it is ability or experience, they are indeed much better than Luton's bunch of young people.

"Atletico Madrid mainly relied on possession in midfield and quick breaks on both flanks to create a threat!!

In the tactical meeting after training, Gao Bo emphasized the technical characteristics of Atletico Madrid to the players.

Although Luton Town sometimes play possession, it is a 'pseudo-possession' around Antoine Griezmann, and it is only used against opponents who are not motivated or have absolute strength. Gobo doesn't think Luton's possession can be compared to that of Atletico Madrid, a team from Spain.

Therefore, Gao Bo was very decisive and determined to use Luton's best tactics to deal with Atletico Madrid.

He asked the team to maintain a tight formation in the midfield and disrupt the rhythm of Atletico Madrid's possession with tough pressing!

"Don't be afraid of fouls!!"

Gao Bo emphasized.

The key to this game is the battle for the midfield!

"For every player who has the potential to get the ball, you have to press them closely, force them to play physical! Don't fight with them!! After the half-time break........."

Gao Bo said and drew two lines on the tactical board, pointing to two sides!

Gao Bo intends to focus his attack on the wings and use the quick assault of two wings to hit Atletico Madrid!

Atletico Madrid have Reyes and Simão on either side, and these are players who can stir up the storm on the wing. And Atletico Madrid is also a team that relies heavily on wing assaults, and in terms of counterattacks, Luton naturally wants to take advantage of the space behind Atletico Madrid!

But Gao Bo did not let Adam and Griezmann go to explode with Reyes and Simão on the wing, the young Adam and Griezmann may suffer when facing the old cannon Reyes or Simao, but Luton does not intend to press up and fight against Atletico Madrid, he is in the case of ensuring defense, staring at the space of the two wings behind Atletico Madrid, so that the team can really fly on both wings.

In this game, Gao Bo still decided to use the cards for defense, and the strength of the opponent is much stronger than Juventus or Hamburg in Gao Bo's opinion - in real history, the champion of this season is Atletico Madrid, which has to make Gao Bo play a hundred and twenty points of spirit to face this opponent cautiously.