Tuesday, 11 April 2000, Estadio Calderón, Madrid, Spain.

In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona.

This is a legacy from Ranieri.

In February, the tinkerer took Atletico to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

However, he did not make it to this day.

The Calderón Stadium also welcomed 48,000 Atletico fans, as this time against the mighty Barcelona.

Strong conversations are always a special attraction for fans.

At the same time, after nearly four months of absence, Hill and son, Cerezo and others reappeared in the chairman's stand at Calderón Stadium, and the fans at the scene responded with warm applause to the elder Hill to celebrate his return.

Even if this season has reached this point, the old Hill still has a lot of weight in the minds of Atletico Madrid fans.

Everyone seems to be convinced that he can still help the team turn the tide and succeed in relegation.

The Hill father and son were joined by the new sporting director, Paul Futtrey, who was also warmly welcomed by the fans in attendance, and he was one of the favourite players of Atletico Madrid fans.

But the fans couldn't see it at all, and in the chairman's stand, the group of Atletico Madrid's core executives they were cheering for were all frosty, and they were obviously pessimistic about the game.

The odds of winning are not good, and Beybull was injured before the game, how can this be played?

It's true that Barcelona's recent form has not been very good, but the more it does, the more headaches it has.

Because Barcelona are also in desperate need of a win, they will not be paralyzed, but will give it their all.

Today's Atletico Madrid, can stop Barcelona with all its might?

Before the game, no one wanted to say such negative remarks, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't think so.

Yesterday evening, Yang Hao did not attend the pre-match press conference, but asked Cesar Mendio to do the work for him and announced the 16-man squad.

Yes, there are only 5 substitutes available in the Copa del Rey and a maximum of 3 substitutions.

The outside world's evaluation of this is that it is decent and there are no surprises.

Old Hill sat in the chairman's stand, the position that belonged to him, and saw that his son next to him was a little nervous, looking at his uneasiness, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

If he had been before, he would have said two things about him, or even criticized him harshly.

But this time, he only reminded him lightly.

"The live camera will sweep over at any time."

Little Ciel froze for a moment, taking a deep breath in succession, trying to look calm.

In this regard, he is still far from his father.

"You have to believe in your choice, whether he succeeds or fails!"

Old Hill rarely spoke to his son like this, and little Hill was indeed a little uncomfortable, and after looking at his father deeply, he nodded heavily.

He was taught.

……

"There's no Kiko in the starting lineup."

When the Barcelona coaching staff got Atletico's starting line-up, Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho were a little surprised.

Goalkeepers: Molina;

Defence: Capdevilla, Santi Denia, Carlos Gamara and Gaspar;

Midfielders: Pablo Garcia and Baraja trail behind, with Solari, Bellerón and Aguilera up front;

Centre-forward: Hasselbaink.

From the starting list, it is easy to come up with the line-up configuration of Atletico Madrid tonight.

The new head coach is going to play 4231.

"Still dying." Mourinho laughed.

Atletico Madrid has never played a two-back tactic in the past, from Sacchi to Antich, and then from Ranieri to Antich, it is basically a 442 tactic, and now it suddenly changes to 4231, which is a bit big.

Besides, there are not many teams in La Liga that play as a double midfielder these days, but they are also common, such as Deportivo La Coruna.

Irueta's side played in a 4231 formation, but that was because they had two very good midfielders, Mauro Silva and Flavio Conceição.

These two Brazilian players are the best performers in La Liga this season.

There is also Victor Fernandez's Celta Vigo, who also plays 4231, and they also have top La Liga midfielders such as Claude Makelele and Cerrades.

"Does he think that the team that played 4231 this season has good results and wants to learn?" Mourinho speculated.

The Portuguese really didn't take Yang Hao too seriously.

The position of a professional manager is very much about experience and tactical literacy, and it is also a test of a person's management skills, and it is impossible for such a person to appear out of thin air.

"From the moment 4231 was born, it was for defense." Van Gaal said lightly.

The double back is designed to limit a super midfielder like Maradona.

"Generally speaking, there are two ways, one is to pull down one striker, which is actually a 442 formation, and the other is to remove a striker and add a midfielder."

Both approaches look the same, but in reality, the tactics embodied on the pitch are completely different.

"Then he should be the latter one." Mourinho said.

Van Gaal also thinks that this should be the case.

"Pablo Garcia seems to be playing for the first time, right?"

'Yes, I've trained with the first team before.'

'He's partnered with Baraja, the young manager who wants to defend.

Mourinho knew Van Gaal too well, rolled his eyes, and asked: "Then we ......"

"Open Attack!" Van Gaal smiled confidently.

……

This is the first time Yang Hao has stood in the stadium with so many people.

In the past, he could only sit in the stands, just a drop in the ocean of nearly 50,000 people.

But now, he is standing in the stadium, all eyes are on.

This still brought him a lot of psychological pressure and made him a little nervous.

Especially when he looked around the stadium and saw that there were black heads everywhere, and all he could hear in his ears was the deafening shouts of the fans.

He finally understands now that the sentence written in the novel of his previous life: those who are timid will be scared to pee on the spot.

Luckily, he didn't come until he ran out of pee.

"You should go over and meet with Van Gaal." Cesar Mendiodo reminded.

Yang Hao then remembered and hurriedly walked to the away team's coach's seat.

Van Gaal has also been paying attention to him, and when he saw Yang Hao coming, he didn't have any expression, just shook hands with him lightly and said hello, that's all.

He is the world's top handsome, and naturally he has the pride of a famous handsome.

Yang Hao felt that he was looked down upon, but he didn't care too much, but noticed Mourinho next to Van Gaal.

After shaking hands with the Dutchman, he walked over and shook hands with the "interpreter".

"Welcome to Calderón, José!"

"Thank you." Mourinho was slightly stunned.

Obviously, he was wondering, is this new friend too polite?

Do I know you well?

Shaking hands with Van Gaal and Mourinho, Yang Hao was in a really good mood.

Even, he looked inside the stadium, Kluivert, Figo, Rivaldo, Xavi, Pep Guardiola, Cocu, Puyol......

Especially Pep Guardiola, looking at his current thick hair, who would have thought that he would be the world-famous melon bald in the future?

However, don't say it, when the melon is bald, it lacks that sense of wisdom and elegance.

Since I came, can the melon still be bald?

But soon, Yang Hao put aside all his nonsense.

Because the game is on.

……

Although Barcelona was playing away, as soon as the game started, they took the lead in a wave of attacks.

Especially Rivaldo on the left and Figo on the right, both players were active.

This made Yang Hao secretly amused in his heart.

People outside say that Rivaldo is at odds with Van Gaal.

But sometimes, the more contradictions there are, the more powerful the players become.

Barcelona established the advantage from the start and soon had their first threatening shot on goal, from Rivaldo.

I have to say that with his left foot on the left side, Rivaldo's performance has indeed been affected a lot.

At this point, his opinion of Van Gaal is really not in vain.

Of course, that doesn't mean Van Gaal is necessarily wrong.

The manager thinks from the perspective of the whole team, and the players think about themselves.

Sometimes the two coincide, sometimes peacefully, and sometimes opposite.

Yang Hao also noticed that Bogard and Puyol were relatively high, and Barcelona's entire back line also followed forward, obviously to provide more support to the midfield.

Kluivert is still very dominant up front, and Atletico's two central defenders are not taking advantage of him at all.

This led to Barcelona's very smooth start, both on the wings and in the middle, playing very lively.

In the 12th minute, Rivaldo drew a diagonal rib on the left flank, creating a foul on Gaspar and winning a free kick for Barcelona.

The Brazilian Demon Knife took the penalty himself, and a precise curling ball fell into the penalty area.

Santi Denia grabbed the first spot and headed it over.

Pep Guardiola was always in ambush on the periphery, scrambling to catch up and stop the ball on Figo on the right.

Figo picked up the ball close to the right touchline and didn't wait for Capdevilla to come up, and sent the ball back into the box with an elegant cross with his right foot.

In the penalty area, Kluivert was ready to grab points, and Atletico Madrid's central defenders also defended it.

But in the melee, Cocu took the lead and scored with a header from close range to open the scoring for Barcelona!

There was a chorus of regret throughout Calderón.

Conceded in the opening 12 minutes, how to play this game?

Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho cheered and hugged excitedly in front of the visitors' dugout, both looking very happy with the start.

Whether it's from the process or the goal, it's a perfect start.

After Yang Hao glanced at the away team's coach's box, he turned his head to look at the stadium again, and was really a little angry at the goal he had conceded just now.

"The personal ability is too poor." Mendiodo said helplessly.

Gaspar couldn't stop Rivaldo at all, so he had to foul.

But Yang Hao didn't see it that way, he walked directly to the sidelines and called the nearby Baraha over.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't I see you go over to protect you? ”

"I'm ......" Baraha pointed to the middle of the pitch and then at the manager with an angry face, immediately understanding what was wrong with him.

Now playing as a double midfielder, he should pull in in time to help Gaspar defend Rivaldo.

Otherwise, why bother with a double back?

This was repeatedly told by the head coach before the game, but when it came to the game, some habits still couldn't be changed.

"I'm telling you, do it again, I'll make a substitution, don't think I didn't dare to make a substitution in the first half!"

Baraha nodded hurriedly, and when he turned around to leave, he was stopped by Yang Hao again, "By the way, remind Pablo Garcia, Figo's side is also very active." ”

"Also, let go of your arms, don't be so tight, let go of the kick!" Yang Hao encouraged.

Seeing Baraha return to the court, Yang Hao made a gesture towards Beleron, signaling him to hold steady and patiently look for opportunities.

It's still early, conceding a goal, it doesn't matter.

Belleron nodded in agreement.