Chapter 229: The Battle for the Golden Boot
It was midweek on 8 May, but on this day Real Madrid played a replay match for the 34th round of the league, and Real Madrid drew 1-1 away at Valladolid.
This game was nothing, Atletico Madrid had won the championship in advance, and this was already an inconsequential game, but Ronaldo started in this game, but he only played ten minutes in the first half and went off, which is said to be a recurrence of an old injury.
This has attracted huge attention from the media, and the Champions League final is coming soon, what is Ronaldo's injury, and whether it will affect the Champions League final, these are all topics that the media are concerned about.
Ancelotti has also been criticized in various ways, Atletico Madrid has won the championship in advance, and at this time, a core player like Ronaldo is allowed to start in unnecessary games, if Real Madrid loses the Champions League because of this, Ancelotti will definitely take the blame.
However, soon there was a new theory in the media, and the media got the news that Ronaldo himself took the initiative to ask to start, just to compete with Ringer for the league golden boot, and wanted to score goals in that make-up game to establish more advantages.
At the same time, Pepe also strained his thigh in that replay, and Real Madrid suffered two injuries in a replay.
While Atletico fans are happy about the injury to their opponents in the final, Ringer is concerned about another issue, Real Madrid's Xavi Alonso is not suspended.
Without Ringer, Xavi Alonso would have received a yellow card in the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, and was suspended for accumulating yellow cards and missing out on the Champions League final.
Xavi Alonso is definitely the core of the current Real Madrid midfield, and he can attack and defend well in the midfield position, especially a long pass is quite accurate, which is very important for the current Real Madrid team that mainly fights back.
It is precisely because Xavi Alonso is suspended for accumulating yellow cards and will miss the Champions League final that Real Madrid's non-stop appeal to UEFA, although it failed to allow Xavi Alonso to attend the Champions League final, finally forced UEFA to make a rule change. Starting next season, in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, the yellow cards accumulated by players in the quarterfinals and quarterfinals can be cleared before the start of the semi-finals (if they are suspended for the second leg of the quarterfinals, the first leg of the semi-finals will be suspended according to the normal procedure), which can prevent many important players from missing the European semi-finals and finals due to the accumulation of yellow cards, so as to increase the spectacle of these important matches.
Unexpectedly, with the emergence of Ringer now, the Champions League semifinals have become Atletico Madrid playing Bayern, Real Madrid playing Chelsea, and Xavi Alonso is not suspended for yellow cards, which is equivalent to enhancing Real Madrid's strength in disguise.
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On May 11, in the 37th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid's last home game of the season, Atletico Madrid hosted Malaga.
Atletico Madrid have already won the title ahead of schedule, and Malaga are in 11th place in La Liga, a position that does not go up or down, and this game will not matter for both sides.
Before the game, though, Ringer was given a one-on-one talk with Simeone.
"Lin, we have two games before the Champions League final, and I plan to make a big rotation in this one, so that everyone can rest well, play Barcelona in the last round, and then arrange for everyone to play and maintain their condition."
This kind of preparation for the Champions League final after winning the championship ahead of schedule was also experienced by Ringer at Bayern last season, when Bayern rotated first and then played all the main players in the last round to maintain his form.
Simeone continued: "You're one goal behind the Portuguese, he's probably not going to play in the last two rounds because of a recurrence of injury, so you only need one goal to get past them to get the league golden boot, so I'm going to start this game and it's easier to score against Malaga." In the final round against Barcelona, you just have to rest on the bench. ”
"So if you want to compete for the league golden boot, it's best to try to score in this round."
"Okay, Coach!" Ringer couldn't agree more with Simeone.
It was Atletico's first home stadium since winning the title and the last of the season, and the Calderón Stadium was already packed with fans in red and white stripes.
"Atletico Madrid~~~ Champion!!"
"Atletico Madrid~~~ Champion!!"
When the whole Atletico team came out, the cheers were so loud that they looked like they were about to overturn the pitch.
Before the start of the match, the Málaga players lined up in two rows on the pitch and applauded the new champions.
This is the first time Ringer has received this kind of courtesy, and it feels a little unique.
"Judging from the starting line-ups of both sides, the Sheets arranged Lin to start, and it seems that he is aiming for the league golden boot." The Spanish commentator is talking about Ringer's start.
After the start of the game, the whole Atletico team was also trying to cooperate with Ringer and help him find opportunities to score, which was arranged by Simeone before the game.
Malaga also fully embodied what a wantless team should look like, and there wasn't much resistance and soon Ringer was on the scoresheet.
In the 22nd minute, Adrian crossed from the left, and Ringer volleyed directly in front of the penalty area, and the ball flew into the opposition goal from the near post.
“Goooooool~~~~”
"Lin~~~ Lin's 31st goal, he once again caught up with Ronaldo's goals, and he returned to the top scorer again!"
"Ronaldo didn't play in this round, Lin still has a chance to open the gap!"
There was a huge cheer in Calderón Stadium.
“Lingoal~~~Lingoal~~~”
If Ringer can beat Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Golden Boot, Atletico Madrid fans will definitely be very happy, because it is the star of the sworn rival Real Madrid.
Ringer continued to look for opportunities, and finally in the 42nd minute, Mario Suarez's through ball, Ringer cut in from the right side of the penalty area to receive the ball, forming a one-on-one chance, and finally pushed the far corner into the goal.
"32 balls~~~ 32nd ball!!"
"Lin has also surpassed Ronaldo in the number of goals, and even if Ronaldo comes back in the last round, he needs to score at least two goals to compete for the league golden boot!"
The first half ended 2-0, and with the team's hard work, Ringer scored twice to bring his goal tally to 32.
At the beginning of the second half, Ringer, who almost locked up the golden boot, was not so desperate and had to prepare for the Champions League final.
In the 56th minute, Malaga finally pulled a goal back and closed the score gap.
However, 10 minutes later, Atletico Madrid took advantage of another corner opportunity, and Belgian defender Alderweireld headed home to extend the gap to two goals again.
In this way, Atletico Madrid beat Malaga 3-1 at home to continue their home unbeaten run, while breaking the team's points record to 95 points.
At the end of the game, all the players on the bench rushed into the stadium to cheer for the championship.
Although Atletico Madrid won the championship two rounds in advance, after losing to Levante in the last round, Real Madrid's game had not yet been played, and Atletico Madrid did not know that they could win the championship in advance, so they did not celebrate at all.
Now there is finally a chance to celebrate at home, and all kinds of celebratory salutes in the stands are constantly being put down, and everyone is celebrating the championship in a colorful way.
But after more than ten minutes of celebration, Ringer began to wonder, what about the championship award? Why is there no one to organize the championship awards?
So he ran over and asked Gabby, "Captain, where are our trophies?" Aren't you ready to award trophies and gold medals yet? ”
"What awards? Who told you that there will be awards today? ”
Gabi's words made Ringer even more strange, Atletico Madrid had already won the championship in advance, and this was Atletico Madrid's last home game of the season, according to common sense, shouldn't it be here in Calderon to present awards to everyone?
Do you have to wait until the last round to go to Camp Nou to present the award to Atletico Madrid?
What's all this weird about?
Gabi seemed to guess what Ringer wanted to ask, and took the initiative to answer: "The La Liga championship trophy is often awarded at the first home stadium at the beginning of next season. ”
“hat? Why wait until next season to win the championship? The people of the Spanish Football Federation have a problem with their brains, right? ”
Gabi continued: "Actually, it is possible to award the prize in advance, but you have to apply to the Spanish Football Federation after winning the championship in advance, and they will consider giving the award to the winner at the last home of the champion team this season, otherwise they will automatically be scheduled to the first home game of the next season. ”
"Didn't we apply?" Ringer asked curiously.
Of course, this kind of award is the best this season, and when it comes to next season, maybe many players and even coaches have already left, what is the point of awarding awards at that time?
"I applied, but at the moment the president of the Spanish Football Federation has gone abroad, so we can only wait until our first home game next season to present the award."
"Okay."
Ringer is speechless, of course, this kind of championship award should be hot, the Spanish Football Association is also strange enough, no wonder there is a pair of aces from Barcelona and Real Madrid, they can't play well, and La Liga's commercial operation has been thrown out of the Premier League by a few streets.