After the 18th round of the league, the Spanish media began to hype the upcoming battle for the top spot.

"The most watched match in the next round of the league is the confrontation between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, which is a battle for the top spot, and it is also the third time that the Sheets have met Barcelona this season, and in the previous two meetings, Atletico Madrid remained unbeaten with one win and one draw, but each meeting is a new record, and it is difficult to predict who will win and who will lose."

"But against Barcelona, we have to talk about the Chinese star of Atletico Madrid, although he has only played in Europe for one year, he has played against Barcelona four times. In the previous four meetings between the Chinese Rockets and Barcelona, he achieved an advantage of three wins and one draw, and scored a total of 4 goals in four games, and he averaged one goal per game against Barcelona in his career, and it can be said that he is Barcelona's nemesis~~~"

This is a report by the newspaper Marca, which was aimed at provoking a war of words, and they succeeded in doing so. No matter which team it is, if someone is said to be their nemesis, they will definitely not agree.

Pickenbauer was the first to disagree: "He's only played four games with us, and I don't think that kind of stat is worth considering. ”

Recently, Barca president Rosell also came out to support the team: "I think such a statement is simply unfounded, Messi has scored 20 goals against Atletico Madrid, if the Chinese has such a performance, I can admit that he is a Barsac star." ”

It has to be said that Russell, as the chairman, grasped the key points of the issue.

So far, Messi has scored 20 goals in his career, and Atletico Madrid is the second worst team killed by Messi after Sevilla.

Messi has scored three hat-tricks against Atletico so far, Messi wore a hat in Calderon in the Copa del Rey in 08/09, and Messi has scored a hat-trick against Atletico in La Liga in 10/11 and 11/12.

was poked in the sore spot, and the core of the defense, Diego Godin, came out and said: "Messi is the hardest player I have ever faced in my career to defend, but this time, I will not let him score again." ”

Simeone also said: "It's always going to be tough against Barcelona, but we're not going to throw in the towel and the league is a long run, so I think Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will continue until the end of the season, not just one game. ”

Simeone is also saying that there is a way out in advance, Atletico Madrid was beaten by Barcelona in the previous three seasons, and this season's Super Cup is his first victory since taking charge, and Cholo is also a little lacking in confidence.

Although the hype is fierce, the league has to be preceded by another game, the Copa del Rey.

On January 8, it was the first leg of the round of 16 of the Spanish Copa del Rey, and Atletico Madrid drew Valencia, away and then home.

I have to say that the schedule of the Spanish Copa del Rey is still very distinctive. For La Liga teams, the Copa del Rey schedule each season is basically concentrated between December in the first half of the season and February in the second half of the season.

So while the Copa del Rey final is scheduled for April or even May every year, the semi-finals are over around February.

The most direct benefit of such a schedule is that it is more convenient for La Liga teams to participate in European competitions. The Copa del Rey is concentrated in the middle of the season, and there will be no overlap with European competitions, and even if La Liga teams play to the end of European competitions, at most, La Liga and European group stage play on two fronts at the beginning of the season, La Liga and the Copa del Rey play on two fronts in the middle of the season, and La Liga and European knockout rounds play on two fronts in the latter part of the season.

La Liga has long ranked first in European points over the years, and the convenience of the schedule is not a factor.

Since the battle with Barcelona is about to take place, and the Copa del Rey is a two-legged system, Simeone made some rotations in this first leg of the game, and Ringer, Costa, Turan, etc. were all on the bench.

On the bench at the Mestalla Stadium, Ringer even heard the Valencia fans shouting about him.

"Lin, come to the Bat Legion."

"Valencia will welcome you."

Recently, Singaporean Chinese billionaire Lim Fu Wing is in talks to buy Valencia, and Ringer has become their "target".

I have to say that now it seems that whenever an Asian financier buys a team in Europe, he will use him as a gimmick at every turn, and he will say that he will bring in Ringer at every turn.

This may also prove on the side that Ringer is already the most famous Asian in football.

Atletico Madrid, who rotated, took the lead in the first half thanks to a goal from Raul Garcia.

Simeone was satisfied with this result, so he let Ringer and the others continue to rest. Valencia equalised before stoppage time, time was running out and Simeone had no intention of making substitutions to attack again, after all, a 1-1 draw away was an acceptable result.

In this way, Ringer and others sat on the bench for a whole time at the Mestalla Stadium.

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On January 11, in the 19th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona on the day.

"It's a battle for the top spot, and it's also another time for Ringingel to face Barcelona and another time to challenge Messi." This is the Chinese narrator explaining.

"Ringer's performance in Spain in this half season, he has conquered the Spanish media, according to the Spanish media, the most likely to challenge the status of Ronaldo and Messi in football is Ringer, Neymar and Bale, and Ringer is currently in the leading position."

"Messi has just recovered from injury and only came off the bench for 30 minutes in the last Copa del Rey game, while Neymar has been pressed on the bench by Martino since returning from vacation, and according to the starting list announced before the game, neither Messi nor Neymar will start."

When the two teams came out of the dressing room, the whole stadium was filled with the cheers of the fans, especially the team song of Atletico Madrid.

In this game, Atletico Madrid's starters are still commonly used 442,

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois;

Defenders: Juanfrán, Miranda, Godin, Felipe;

Midfielders: Thiago, Gabi, Koke, Turan;

Forwards: Ringer, Costa.

Barcelona's side is also in the regular 433 formation;

Goalkeepers: Valdés;

Defenders: Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba;

Midfielders: Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets;

Forwards: Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro.

Messi has just returned from injury, and it is normal to sit on the bench. Neymar may have gone too far on his return to Brazil during the holidays, much to the displeasure of manager Martino, who has not played a minute in two games since 2014.

Messi and Neymar are substituted at the same time, and they may also be the most expensive bench in football.

At the start of the game, Barcelona kicked off first and started their best pass-and-control play, controlling the ball at their feet.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, began to press the defense and threaten the opponent with counter-attacks.

'Judging from the first few minutes of the game, Atletico Madrid defended well and it was difficult for Barcelona to get the ball into a dangerous position for the time being.

Barcelona were forced to play the ball in midfield, and even in midfield, Atletico would keep pressing and try to push the ball back into their half.

In the 9th minute, Cesc Fabregas couldn't find a chance to take the ball and passed the ball back to Xavi, Koke and Turan seized the opportunity to join forces to grab the ball, and Turan immediately launched a counterattack with a long pass.

Ringer received a pass from the front of the right side of midfield, stopped the ball and turned to shake off the chasing Sergio Busquets.

"Lin~~ threw off the defense, he was advancing quickly!!"

Ringer dribbled up the right flank and Alba met him, and Ringer jumped up and turned to pull the ball at the same time, using a Marseille spin.

"Lin~~Beautiful Marseille Roundabout~~ Over Alba!!"

Although he passed Alba, Mascherano immediately came up to the defense, and Ringer was forced to go to the baseline.

Just as he was about to reach the baseline, Ringer suddenly smashed the ball back, causing the little pony to lose his center of gravity and accelerate past him.

"Lin~~ cut in along the bottom line!!"

Ringer cut in along the baseline, and Professor Bu, who had just been passed, was desperately chasing back, so before the opponent could catch up, Ringer picked up his feet and crossed in front of the goal.

At this time, the goalkeeper has Costa, and although he seems to be completely stuck by Pique, there is also Gabi at the back point to follow.

"Lin~~Pick a pass in front of the goal~~ Barcelona is in danger!!"

"Oh~~Pique~~Header clears ??!"

Not only did Gerard Pique get stuck in front of goal, but when Ringer passed the ball over his head, he jumped hard and hit the ball overhead.

Bang!!

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the back of the net.

The audience was silent for a second, then erupted in loud cheers.

"Well done~~ Pickenbauer!!"

"Spain's No. 1 center forward ~~ Pique scores!!"

Ringer didn't expect that he was just trying to pass the ball to his teammates to create chances. I didn't expect Pique to be so kind and dare to head the ball in such a dangerous position, and then I was happy to see it.

'Ringer, he forced Pique to score an own goal. He continues his excellent performance against Barcelona!! The Chinese commentator was cheering for Ringer.

"Actually, there is no way for Pique to play this ball, if he lets it go, although Costa is stuck behind him, it will be difficult to get a chance, but Gabi, who follows up at the back point, will get a good chance to hit the goal. So overall, this own goal shouldn't be all Pique's responsibility. The Spanish commentator is making amends for Pique.

After Ringer created an own goal, Barcelona was more stable, controlled the ball at his feet and slowly penetrated, and if he was forced to do so, he passed the ball back to the backfield and took the time to find an opportunity again.

This is a typical Barcelona pass-and-control style of play, a hypnotic style of play that many people have said, many times watching Barcelona keep reversing the ball but rarely attacking substantially, and it makes people drowsy.

However, when this style of play first came out, it was able to kill all sides, because all teams have never experienced such an opponent, and when I saw that the opponent kept pouring the ball there, then I had to go up and force it. But once he went up to press, coupled with the intentional guidance of Barcelona's pass, his defense line soon became porous, and the opponent passed the ball with a few kicks, and the ball quickly reached a dangerous position, and finally let the opponent get a good opportunity to attack.

A lot of things are time-sensitive, and when they first came out, they were amazing, and after a long time, they were like that. Barcelona's pass-and-control style of play is the same, and the European teams have been devastated by the Cosmos team in the past few years, and everyone has slowly found a way to deal with it.

Regardless of whether their team is attacking or defending, it is important to face Barcelona that they can drop the ball in inconsequential places, but they must not be allowed to pass the ball calmly and look for opportunities in the threat area.

When the ball doesn't hit the threat zone, Barcelona's passing becomes an innocuous one.

Therefore, in those games that Barcelona lost, they were greatly superior in possession and passes, but there were not a few threatening attacks, and they were not even as threatening as the opponents.

Now Atletico Madrid is also arranged, once Barcelona falls in their own half, basically only Ringer and Costa are forced in the front court to make a show, once it is Atletico Madrid's half, it will be forced by the whole Atletico Madrid team.

In such circumstances, Barcelona kept the ball in control but rarely had the chance to attack, and their first shot on goal did not even come in the 18th minute, except for Pique's header.

And on Atletico Madrid's side, there are not many good opportunities to counterattack.

"Costa seems to be restrained." On the sidelines, Boggs said to Simeone.

'Well, Pique has been effective defensively, but we're leading now.

Barcelona arranged for Gerard Pique to play for Costa and Mascherano for Ringer today.

Although Pique scored an own goal in the opening game, he really had the style of Pickenbauer today, basically restricting Costa by himself and making Costa completely silent. And Ringer's side is not very good, often limited by the combination of Little Pony and Alba, and even Pique will have the opportunity to come over from time to time to make up for the defense, and there are not many opportunities.

In the 20th minute, Ringer's volley from outside the box from Turan was confiscated by Valdés, and the goal was not of high quality, but it was Atletico's first shot from the woodwork.

In the 29th minute, Atletico Madrid got a corner kick opportunity, Gabi drove a corner kick, Miranda headed the cross, Ringer came out from the back post and fell to the ground to tackle, but was finally poked out of the bottom line by Mascherano with a toe poke.

"Oh~~Lin's shovel~~ What a pity!!"

'It was the second time the Sheets threatened the Barcelona goal in this game, and this time Mascherano made a difference, he poked his toe to save Barcelona.

These two threatened attacks, and they were all the threatening attacks of both teams throughout the first half. Other times, both teams were left to try some long-range bets on their luck, but today it was clear that neither side had the luck of long-range shots, and very few of them even hit the back of the net.

"In this battle for the top spot, the only highlight of the first half should be Pique's own goal at the beginning, the rest of the time is boring, Barcelona tries to control the ball in the midfield, but Atletico Madrid keeps pressing in the midfield, the two sides keep strangling, but rarely create attacking opportunities, Valdés and Courtois may both fall asleep."

Here's the Spanish commentary's half-time commentary.