Bielsa's eyes widened, and he looked at Leon in the last two or three minutes of the game.

Until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, until Mourinho, who had regained his composure, walked briskly in front of him.

"Marcelo"

"Jose, you've found a great lad, he's really good."

Bielsa, who came back to his senses, looked at Mourinho in front of him, shook the other party's outstretched hand, and praised Leon with two "excellent" in a row.

In this match, Athletic Bilbao cannot be said to have lost to Leon in the last moments.

But there is no doubt that without Leon's forced ball push at the last moment, Real Madrid would not have had a chance to kill.

What makes Bielsa even more emotional is the "stubbornness" in Leon who really doesn't give up trying until the last moment.

He likes players like that, very much.

Unfortunately, with the improvement of modern football tactics, there are fewer and fewer young players with this kind of character quality.

"You're going to have a good season, Jose, enjoy it, but I can't congratulate you right now, and we'll have a drink when the second round of the Copa del Rey is over."

Bielsa and Mourinho made a joke after hugging.

Mourinho, who would be in a good mood, also responded with a smile.

On the field, Li Ang, who had celebrated with his teammates again, was also caught by Martinez who was waiting on the side.

"Can I swap jerseys?"

Javi Martinez pointed to Leon's shirt, which would no longer be an opponent on the field, and his tone was kind and welcoming.

Leon also took off his clothes happily, and exchanged jerseys after hugging Martinez.

"You played great, Leon, see you next time, I'll be waiting for you at the San Mamés Stadium."

"Okay, see you next time."

After shaking hands, the two quickly separated.

Leon's eyes were full of joy after victory and confidence in winning the next match.

In Martinez's eyes, a trace of pity and regret inevitably increased.

He is well aware that after Athletic Bilbao rejected Real Madrid's trade request this time, it will be difficult for him to have another chance to move to Real Madrid.

Before fighting Leon, he didn't actually have much thought about it.

can't go to a super giant like Real Madrid and Barcelona, he still has the opportunity to go to other big league giants.

But after seeing Leon's desperate assist just now, Martinez really felt a trace of regret in his heart.

What would it be like if he could form a new midfield combination with Marcos Alonso and Leon?

Could his partnership with Leon become the most successful defensive combination in La Liga history?

Martinez at this stage is clearly qualified to make these assumptions.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the answers to these hypotheticals, and perhaps, for the rest of his career, he wouldn't know either

※※※

It was another early morning that was slaughtered by Real Madrid news.

Early in the morning of January 23, various sports newspapers and magazines with Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat of Athletic Bilbao as the cover were freshly released.

And the whole Spanish football world has been heating up again after last night's thrilling game.

After the fermentation, with "Marca" and "As" as the main force, the Western media were full of praise for the tenacity shown by Real Madrid in the game.

As the absolute protagonist of last night's game, Leon was once again featured in the pages of the all-Spanish sports press.

This time, he didn't attract media reporters with his handsome face and sunny temperament.

It's about playing really well on the pitch.

On the page, his embarrassed but stubborn posture of gritting his teeth forward can poke the hearts of the fans.

For Real Madrid fans, Leon is even more of their big baby.

However, Li Ang, who will be the center of public opinion discussion among fans, is not in a good mood.

He was humming and receiving a physiotherapy massage in the training base.

He was joined by a cast of Real Madrid stars.

And Mourinho and Karanka, who have received the latest medical reports of all the players in the Real Madrid first team, will have a real headache.

The other stars are okay to say that they have been rotated properly before, and they can still play the second round of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao.

It's just that they never expected that Li Ang would become the one with the most injury tendency in the eyes of the team doctor this time.

Looking at the crimson warning word under Leon's physical assessment, Mourinho could only make a decision to remove Leang from the starting squad for the next round of the Copa del Rey first.

Li Ang will also be helpless.

This wave of intensive fixtures after the end of the small winter break in La Liga has made him suffer an old sin.

The physical recovery potion can only be filled once in ten days, and he has been playing double-line games in a row.

With the intensity of consumption in the last game, he had to go forward against Martinez to help Cristiano Ronaldo, and then he had to fight back against the Athletic Bilbao players.

Plus the last twenty minutes of the second half.

No matter how good his physical fitness is, he can't stand it even if he turns to this job.

Although the mid-level physical potion in the system will become usable again in two days, if he has to say, he will be able to catch up with the competition.

However, the team doctor had already given him a red light on his fitness, and he didn't want to attract attention after two days because of the sudden acceleration of his physical recovery.

It is a Copa del Rey game left and right, without him, Real Madrid will advance as long as the second leg is not beaten by Biba in the first leg.

So, this time it's time to rest.

Li Ang pondered that he had been an animal for half a season, and it was time to enjoy it.

On January 24, at the pre-match press conference, Real Madrid released the Copa del Rey squad of players.

Mourinho also announced that Leon needs a round of rest.

This news made the reporters at the scene ask curiously.

Looking at their posture, it was as if they wished to hear the news from Mourinho's mouth confirming that Leon was injured.

And the Real Madrid fans who saw the follow-up report also became nervous instantly, for fear that Li Ang was really injured.

Many fans went to the official website to leave a message for the first time, and as soon as the number of people came up, the Real Madrid official had to quickly refute the rumors and clarify.

Leon received a call from Mendes shortly after, and he also cooperated with a video of himself and Nacho doing recovery training at the base.

As soon as this video was posted on his personal social media, Real Madrid fans were truly relieved.

The next day, the second leg of the Copa del Rey match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao started at 9pm.

The intensity of this competition cannot be compared to the league play-up between the two teams.

After all, while the Real Madrid players are depleting their physical energy, the players of Athletic Bilbao are also not much better.

The physical condition of both sides can only be said to be average, and the rhythm of attack and defense naturally cannot be pulled.

Bielsa has done his best in tactical set-up.

In the second half, the formation of three forwards rushed to the beginning of the game, and almost led Real Madrid again.

Fortunately, Mourinho made timely substitution adjustments, and Essien replaced Khedira in the 62nd minute of the second half, and Real Madrid immediately stabilized their position.

In the last 20 minutes, both teams were a little impulsive, and Mourinho simply replaced Ronaldo and Benzema from the rest, and by the way, he strengthened another wave of defense.

In the end, the two teams drew 0-0 at the San Mamés Stadium.

Real Madrid also reached the semi-finals of this season's Copa del Rey with a 3-0 win in the first leg.

At this point, three teams have been identified in the final four of the Copa del Rey.

Real Madrid, Espanyol in the same half of the district as Real Madrid and Barcelona in the other half.

Barcelona's opponents in the semi-finals will be decided between Valencia and Levante.

The two semi-finals of the Copa del Rey will also be played on January 31 and February 1.

This schedule really highlights a hell.

Li Ang has never figured it out, obviously the final of the Copa del Rey will be held in April and May, so why is he in a hurry to finish the semifinals in early February.

Just looking at the schedule of La Liga during this time, it is actually okay, but with a few games in the Copa del Rey, teams with no bench thickness will really be tired at this stage.

Real Madrid now have the most bench depth in La Liga and have decisively used the rotation ahead of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

After resting for a few days, Li Ang also recovered, and he didn't use physical recovery drugs, so he and his teammates of the "B team" embarked on the league journey.

On the evening of January 28, Real Madrid hosted the 21st round of the league against Zaragoza.

Playing the relegation team, the players in Real Madrid's rotation lineup are gearing up and hitting hard.

Real Madrid were squeezing Zaragoza's fat beatings throughout the first half, and Alvaro Morata was a little less efficient at finishing, but Callejon was not soft-footed.

In the 36th minute of the first half, Callejón received a ball from his brother and burst into the Zaragoza penalty area, and then broke the deadlock with a crisp far corner push.

Brother Face usually plays a strong team with average results, but when he plays a relegation team, his forward threat is very big.

And after this goal, Real Madrid did not panic at all.

After the first half, they opened the second half with a midfield of Zaragoza and then extended their lead again with a sharp counter-attack from the wings.

Leon's straight plug after dribbling forward this time almost fed the cake to Morata's throat, but fortunately, Morata hit it with a single knife this time was quite powerful, and he did not live up to Leon's many feeds to him throughout the game.

After a 2-0 league victory, the well-rested Real Madrid players set off for the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Espanyol.

But the game didn't really get the media attention.

Everyone knows that Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet in this year's Copa del Rey final.

Therefore, compared with the two Copa del Rey matches with no suspense in this round, Western media are more concerned about the upcoming Champions League knockout round.

Real Madrid's road to conquering Europe is about to start in the ice and snow of Moscow.

I was really overwhelmed by the net on the highway today.

Early in the morning, I rushed to pick up my brother with an injured foot.

I was thinking about using my mobile phone code to know words on the highway, and it turned out that this network taught me a solid lesson.

The tmd code is halfway through because there is no network and the manuscript is lost! That's more than a thousand words!

The foodie vomited blood.

This will still be shaking in the car, the first shot, no code, I don't want to code words on the highway in the future, Gan!

(End of chapter)