Chapter 731: Who's Up?
No! Not yet!
When the Real Madrid players walked into the locker room, changed their jerseys, and were ready, they walked out of the players' tunnel and were about to come out to warm up, as soon as they entered the stadium, they were immediately shocked by the crazy sound of mountains and tsunamis on the scene.
Well, people who are not in it can't experience that kind of taste at all.
If St. Mary's Stadium is a raging sea of rage, then they seem to be in this sea of rage, with no place around them to borrow strength, they can only keep struggling, relying on their own will to survive**.
If you are a little less courageous, I am afraid that when you walk out of this passage, you will feel weak!
"Damn, is this really just over 30,000 people?"
"Yes, why does it look black, there are people everywhere, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like there are only 30,000."
"More than 30,000 people, but the momentum created is bigger than our Bernabeu, no, it's bigger than Camp Nou, this is too good!"
"You have to be careful when you turn around, don't get too close to the front row when you send corners and throw-ins, if you are caught in the stands, you must be eaten alive, and you can't even find the bones!"
"Look at what you said, it's like it's all a man-eating jungle, but...... It's a terrifying sound. ”
"Paper tigers, they're all paper tigers, let's just pretend they're singing!"
"I'm rubbing, are people scolding you? Do you think you're still singing? ”
"That's it, this concert didn't have such a big battle!"
Just when Real Madrid walked out of the players' tunnel slowly and was about to walk into the stadium to start the last warm-up training session before the game, a person ran over from the Southampton crowd who had been on the field for an unknown amount of time.
It's Kaka!
"Ha, welcome to St. Mary's Stadium!"
The Brazilian superstar grinned, grinned, and showed a mouth full of white teeth, looking very friendly.
"Kaka, is this how you Saints fans are welcomed?" Cristiano Ronaldo asked.
He has played in the Premier League for so many years, and he knows that Premier League fans are fanatical, and he has also been to many so-called devil's home stadiums, the most fanatical of which is Liverpool's Anfield.
But now, St Mary's in Southampton gives him the feeling that it is even more fanatical than Anfield!
"It's okay, Cristiano, they're actually just shouting slogans, supporting the team, nothing else, you don't have to worry!" Kaka smiled and comforted.
Everyone suddenly scolded in their hearts.
They're in the same league as you, so of course you don't have to worry, but we'...... Can you not be worried?
"Okay, that's it, let's work hard, come on!"
With that, Kaka ran back to Southampton's half.
Seeing Kaka leave the team, everyone present also had some understanding in their hearts.
When this Kaka was at Real Madrid, how could he ever see him like he is now, always with a heartfelt smile on his face?
After switching to Southampton, although he couldn't play the absolute main force, his performance was not bad at all.
Especially since entering the second half of the season, Kaka first came to the rescue at key moments during the winter break, and then played a big role in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, and anyone can see that he is getting better and better in Southampton.
I guess it's a lot of fun, right?
"Alright, let's go training!" Ramos clapped his hands vigorously and shouted.
Since Casillas was beaten into the cold by Jose Mourinho, and with Carlo Ancelotti coming to power, his status has improved, but it has not improved, and Ramos has gradually become the leader of Real Madrid's dressing room.
Almost everyone knows that after Casillas' departure, the captain's armband will only belong to Ramos.
But when everyone walked into the stadium, came to their own half, and began to warm up for training, the fans in the stands suddenly became angry.
Obviously, in the eyes of this group of Saints fans, as long as they can interfere with and affect Real Madrid's preparations, they will do anything to do it.
And inside the football stadium, there is nothing more impactful than sound!
But Real Madrid's players have not seen the world, and the Champions League finals are over, how can they be easily intimidated by such away fans?
So, they quickly adjusted their mentality and started to devote themselves to the pre-match training sessions.
Carlo Ancelotti was always on the sidelines, and his attention was more on the Southampton half.
When he walked into the field, the Saints players had clearly started training, so how far in advance had they come here to train? What is Bielsa's calculation?
Also, look at their squad, James Rodriguez and Kaka are both in, who is on?
Three days ago, Southampton beat the Magpies Newcastle 4-0 at this stadium.
This victory almost gave Southampton the Premier League title ahead of schedule!
At present, the Premier League has played 32 rounds, and Southampton has 27 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses, with 84 points and leading the Premier League standings.
In second place is Manchester City, with a record of 23 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses, with 73 points, 11 points behind Southampton; In third place is Arsenal with 71 points, followed by Tottenham Hotspur with 69 points and Chelsea with 67 points.
With six rounds left in the league, the eleven-point lead is undoubtedly quite huge.
But it can't be said to be a peace of mind, because Manchester City, after being eliminated from the Champions League in the recent period, has concentrated on domestic competitions, performed quite well, grabbed points very fiercely, won consecutive victories, and has the momentum to catch up with Southampton.
This once again confirmed everyone's pre-season speculation that this season's Premier League would eventually be reduced to a battle between Southampton and Manchester City, but no one would have thought that the Saints would have such a big advantage.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are currently fifth, and if they don't beat Tottenham Hotspur in the final six rounds, the Blues are likely to miss out on the Champions League again, which is not good news for Chelsea.
Perhaps it was the clear lead in the league, so Bielsa was very comfortable with rotating the line-up, but it was also very confusing.
For example, James Rodriguez, who played Newcastle in the league, performed quite eye-catching, made two passes and one shot, and was elected as the best player, and his state can be described as red and purple, but this time against Real Madrid, will Bielsa arrange him again?
You know, Kaka's performance in recent times has also been very good, and it is reasonable for anyone to be on and who is not.
While Carlo Ancelotti was frowning and thinking about what to do, assistant coach Paul Clement walked over.
"I just found out that they came to the pitch fifteen minutes early to warm up."
"Fifteen minutes?" Ancelotti's brow furrowed even deeper, as he vaguely guessed Bielsa's intentions.
"Does he want to attack after the opening?"
Because they plan to adopt the strategy of attacking after the opening, they warm up in advance so that the players can enter the state earlier from the beginning of the game, which is also the strategy of many teams that adopt offensive tactics.
"Absolutely!" Paul Clement nodded.
When he first received this news, he also made this judgment, because only this explanation is reasonable.
'Bielsa's tactics have always been very targeted, after the first leg of the battle, he must have understood us better, our defence is too weak, he will definitely take advantage of that!'
Ancelotti nodded helplessly.
Real Madrid's weakest link lies in the midfield, especially in defence.
Although Vidal, who has both offense and defense, has been introduced this season, and Di Maria has also been transformed, the defensive problems in the midfield are still very serious, and the core crux is that the stars in the front court are unwilling to participate in the on-the-spot counter-attack.
In other words, the attitude of participating in the defense is not positive.
This makes it the same technical midfield configuration, but Real Madrid's midfield bears more defensive pressure than Barcelona, Southampton, or even Arsenal's midfield.
In this case, the weakness of the lone midfielder Xavi Alonso will be exposed.
Therefore, comparing these teams, it is not difficult to find that Real Madrid's attack is extremely sharp, but the defense is quite weak.
For example, in the league, in this season's Madrid derby, Real Madrid was beaten by Atletico Madrid in both games, and there was a miserable 0-4, which directly made Real Madrid lose face.
Carlo Ancelotti knows better than anyone that as a matter of overall defence, Real Madrid's defense is unlikely to improve as long as there is still a group of superstars who are not involved in defending in the frontcourt.
Therefore, if it is to fight against Southampton again, Ancelotti is not sure.
The first leg of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu was a testament to that.
"What to do? We have to come up with a strategy as soon as possible! Paul Clement reminded.
As the head assistant coach, he has to work out the team's starting tactics as soon as possible.
Do you want to continue with the previous arrangement? Or are they adjusted and changed on an ad hoc basis according to the situation?
This will require Carlo Ancelotti as head coach to make a decision as soon as possible.
Ancelotti is also very difficult, no matter what decision he makes, he is not absolutely sure, he can only rely on gambling.
But he is the leading coach in Europe, and he knows that he can't mess with himself at this time, so his mentality of seeking stability in his bones made him choose a conservative starting tactic.
"Paul, wait a minute, in the locker room, tell all the players, except for the front trident, all the players will retract, we will leave the trident in front to play a counterattack, and survive this wave of Southampton's attack first!"
Jokes aside, the Saints' opening three goals are also well-known in European football, and Carlo Ancelotti is worried about scoring goals, so he has to be careful.
Paul Clement thought about it and felt that this was a relatively safe strategy.
Although Real Madrid is a giant, but in the end it is St. Mary's Stadium, playing away, and it is the second leg of the crucial quarter-finals, the strategy is a little more conservative, as long as you can get a good result, it is understandable.
"Okay, then I'll arrange it right away!"
With that, Paul Clement immediately turned around and went.
With Carlo Ancelotti's plan settled, he has a lot to do as an assistant coach, as he has to adjust each player's game tasks and how to deal with them when the situation changes.
I don't know if I'll be able to sort it out before the players go back to the dressing room!
Carlo Ancelotti watched his assistant leave, then turned around again and looked at the pitch, only to find that the Southampton players seemed to be finishing training.
So fast?
Ancelotti looked at the time, and it was indeed a little earlier than usual.
This also strengthened his judgment.
Bielsa wants to attack!