As one of Li Mudi's little fans, Aspas naturally has a very thorough study of idols, so even if he has to take a more active offensive in this game for various reasons, he still attaches great importance to the interception strength and speed ability of his team's midfield. So the Atletico boss unexpectedly put the veteran Saul on the bench, but instead made the more physical French international Massengo the protector of the backline, and also highlighted the two assist options on the wing, so that they should not rush forward and beware of the surprise of Mbappe and Rodrygo, the two fast horses on the wing.

It's just that he still hasn't been able to accurately estimate the upper limit of Real Madrid's ability, especially the Celestial Dynasty man who praised himself to the media very enthusiastically before the game, is too powerful, and with one or two simple changes, he has been hailed as the second best local Spanish youth coach after Xavi, and he is a little overwhelmed.

In this campaign, Li Mudi still used a 4-3-3 formation, but did not put Pellegri in the starting lineup when he was in hot form, but sent Jorge Solsano, a youth striker with mediocre speed ability, which made everyone feel confused. Because the most important weapon of the rapid counterattack tactic is speed, and the brain circuit of the column center is really not something that everyone can keep up with.

But when Real Madrid's first two attacking tactics were shown, people realized the intention of the world's No. 1 coach, he was using Solsano's scramble and back body protection ability as the first passing target of the counterattack, and then either directly headed the ferry, or held the side behind the ball (you can pass it yourself, and you can also knock it back to the midfield teammates who come up to respond), so that the wingers on both wings can give full play to the characteristics of strong sprinting ability and reduce the slowdown due to dribbling in the early stage. It can be a fatal blow directly to Atletico's defence.

The first two goals of the Galaxy were scored in this way, facing Mbappe with 19 speed and explosiveness and Rodrygo with 18 speed and explosiveness, although the home team has done everything to prevent this extremely passive situation from arising, it is impossible to completely block Real Madrid's attack, which was very efficient to take the lead with 50% success and knocked on Atletico's goal twice, so that the balance of promotion has been almost unshakable.

Ferran Torres, who came off the bench, scored another direct free-kick that completely wiped out more than 60,000 fans who were still frantically cheering for the home team, as if they had been poured cold water.

This face-to-face dialogue between the two Madrid giants also seems to show that the strength gap between them is not as close as the outside world imagined before, and even Atletico Madrid is so strong, and Real Madrid, which has regained the momentum of dominating the entire football world last season, definitely has a chance to go further in the La Liga standings, and people's views have to gradually follow the direction of Li Mudi's previous remarks.

On 7 February, Atletico Madrid, feeling the pressure behind them, took the lead and relied on their tenacious style to score two goals in a late minute to stage a big comeback, beating Alaves away, and all those who supported them breathed a sigh of relief. Just close to the debut, the Galaxy Battleship used a 4-1 victory to pull the difference from the city's rivals back to five points, and continued to maintain a strong sense of pressure on the team in front.

On the evening of the 10th, the second leg of the two Copa del Rey semifinals kicked off at the same time and ended almost at the same time. Boldly using a lot of rotation players, Real Madrid did not suffer any major problems at their home stadium, and still grinded their opponents to death through defensive counter-attacking tactics.

But the final score was not 0-0, because in the last fifteen minutes of the game, Li Mudi suddenly instructed the players to change the previous strategy of hoarding heavy troops in the backcourt, and the investment in the offensive end reached another extreme in an instant. The 180-degree turn caught Atletico off guard, with two major mistakes, and if it weren't for Kudge's bad luck to push a close-range shot over the post, the goal produced after 11 passes would have been in the top 10 of the week.

However, Febas's long-range shot still gave the Millinger, who came to watch the game in the face of a low temperature of only 5 degrees Celsius, a chance to vent, and Real Madrid also defeated their local rivals with a two-legged aggregate score of 4-1, reaching the final stage of the domestic cup for the third consecutive year, and only one step away from the third consecutive championship in this competition.

As for their next opponent, it was not unexpected, although the matchup between Barcelona and Valencia looked more close, but the former still had the last laugh with the advantage established at home in the first leg (2-0), even if the Bats have worked very hard, but the 4-3 victory in the second leg was not enough for them to escape the tragic fate of not being able to break into the final of the Copa del Rey for 29 consecutive years, but they once forced Barcelona to go all out, It can be regarded as indirectly helping Real Madrid.

The Catalan giants, who had spent more energy than expected in midweek, did see some fluctuations in their form in the league game on Saturday, but they managed to secure a strong win and continue to enjoy the advantage of sitting on the sidelines at the top of the table.

However, Atletico, who are also set to play in the knockout stages of the Champions League next Tuesday, were not so lucky, with reservations in their starting line-up failing to break down Espanyol's defensive cover and reluctantly resigned to a draw.

Real Madrid, who were in better physical condition for their league game a day later, did not waste the opportunity to beat Real Betis by two goals away from home, avenging a shock defeat to each other in their first meeting of the season and narrowing the gap to the Bianconeri to three points in one fell swoop. If you take into account the win-loss relationship between the two teams (a draw) and the difference in goal difference of more than eight points, Galacticos only need to win that replay in ten days to complete their first goal of catching up with Atletico.

Until then, they will have to shift their focus to European competition for the time being, as the desire to defend the BigEar Cup is also very strong. Even though Real Madrid faced a formidable opponent in the first round of the knockout round by finishing second in the group, Li Muddy and his disciples did not have the slightest doubt about whether they could get through this hurdle, and this time they faced Manchester City, who had always been their own loser in European competition, and their self-confidence was even stronger.

Blue Moon, which had entered its peak in the summer of 2010, immediately got rid of the old impression of "local tyrant players" given to them by the outside world after taking over the coaching whip, became a new top team, and won the first Big Ear Cup in team history, basically entering the threshold of giants.

Because the Middle East kryptonite father behind him is too rich and can make the most appropriate reinforcement to the team every year, in terms of the results of a single round in the last ten years, except for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, who have always been in a dominant position in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, no other team dares to say that their performance is better than Manchester City, even Arsenal, which has been on top of the world, and Real Madrid last year will not have this confidence.

But with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea in full revival, the Blues have been hampered by too much energy in the domestic league over the past two seasons to replicate the feat they achieved three years ago in European competition.

Last season, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City won only one of the most modest English League Cups, and for a time everyone felt that a legend was coming to an end. After spending heavily on Asensio, Sandro Tonali and Brazilian centre-forward Mateus Cunha last summer, the team's form does not seem to have improved significantly as some expected, not only failing to overtake the Reds in the league, but falling behind a little more than last year.

Pep Guardiola's contract expires in the summer of 2027, so it is believed that the Spanish coach will most likely leave the Manchester City Stadium where he has worked for ten years at the end of the season, or take a vacation that he has not been able to enjoy for a long time, or go to Italy, which he has yet to conquer, to seek the perfect goal in his coaching career.

Previously, in the face of constant inquiries from the outside world in this regard, Manchester City's attitude was very vague, one would say that it was willing to offer a new long-term contract to Guardiola, and the other would say that all the team's current focus was on how to achieve the final victory on multiple fronts, and there was no time to discuss the renewal of the contract for the time being. This situation has been interpreted by the media as a disagreement among the club's top management on whether to keep the manager, and it may be necessary to wait until the team's final results can basically see more clues before making a decision. It's just that this approach is bound to make the team manager feel very cold, so Guardiola's departure seems to be an inevitable thing.

So after seeing the unfair treatment faced by his friend (through Raul's introduction, the two have a good relationship in private), Li Mudi used Real Madrid as an example in the pre-match press conference of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final to illustrate the view that it is difficult for a team to be at the top for a long time, and it is normal to occasionally fall into a relative trough, and not to put all the blame on the manager.

It's just that in the following games, he didn't show mercy because he wanted to support the opponent's position, and took advantage of Manchester City's recent many injuries and distractions on multiple fronts, and directly ended the suspense of this group of duels at home. Goals from Manuel Pellegri, Ernesto Valverde and centre-back Bediachal secured a 3-0 win for the hosts, leaving the Englishman with a theoretical chance of qualifying.

After that, they didn't pay much attention to the various fancy praise from the outside world, and returned to the league Real Madrid to continue to move forward on the road of consecutive wins, first in the 24th round of the 24th round of the away goal away to the strong rival Sevilla. Then on the 24th, they defeated Deportivo La Coruna, who fell into the relegation circle, 5-0 in the make-up match, and with an average record of 17 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses, they overtook Atletico Madrid by virtue of goal difference, and climbed to the second place in the La Liga standings, and it took only three weeks to complete the first goal that Li Mudi had promised.

Over the next 10 days, the Galacticos played three more league games, and without thinking about saving for other competitions, they also showed their ability to crush every opponent, and scored a frenzied 14 goals in a three-game winning streak over Valencia, including Valencia's extremely competitive opponents, and only conceded one.

By the end of the 27th round of La Liga, Real Madrid had played a super strong run of 12 consecutive wins, and the last time they failed to get three points in the league was back in the first national derby of the season. During the same period, Barcelona, which was affected by various factors such as the intensive schedule and the upcoming second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, although it has been trying to harvest one victory after another, it is inevitable that there will be occasional sluggishness in form and a draw.

Therefore, in the current La Liga standings, Barcelona is still at the top of the table with 70 points, and the advantage over the lead chaser behind it is still five points, but the latter has changed from the original Atletico Madrid to Real Madrid. As for the Sheets Army, which originally had some opportunities to try to win the league championship, after being overtaken by the sworn rivals in the same city, their mentality fluctuated to a certain extent, and they suffered another defeat, making the distance between them and the championship trophy a little out of reach.

But what no one expected was that Barcelona, who had been in a good situation before, would make an almost unforgivable mistake before the first international break of the year. After they easily eliminated the Moscow Central Army and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, they immediately had the problem of lack of concentration in the league, facing Real Betis, which is not very strong, conceded two goals in a row shortly after the opening, and some felt blinded by the opponent's stick.

Fortunately, Xavi's adjustment at halftime was very timely and effective, allowing the La Liga leader to regain his normal form after the rematch, and relied on his super strength to tie the score, but he never scored the third goal to complete the reversal, and was very unwilling to get a draw.

Real Madrid, who played in the evening, was encouraged by the defeat of their sworn enemy, and broke through the iron bucket formation of Sporting Gijón twice, narrowing the difference between the top team to a mere three points, which can be said to be a counterattack.