Chinese champion

Chapter 128 Rick Liz
After getting a good start in 2003 with Sevilla, the Mallorca soldiers had no time to rest and immediately returned to Mallorca, because on January 1, they will usher in the second leg of the third round of the UEFA Cup. The game is against the Premier League powerhouse Leeds United.

In the first round of the game, Mallorca once drew their opponents 0:0 in the away game. In this home game, they only need to beat their opponents to advance to the next round of one-eighth matches. is more favorable.

Among the teams in the Premier League, Leeds United is the youngest team. They only have a history of more than 70 years. The title is not only because they have young talents such as Viduka, Kewell, and Bowyer in their team, but their relatively young history is also one of the sources of this nickname.

But it was this young team that achieved good results in the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2000-2001 season. Although they were eliminated by the Valencia team led by Cooper in the semi-finals, they were still in the Champions League that year. The best Premier League team, even Barcelona, ​​one of the two giants in La Liga, was eliminated by them in the group stage, which shows their strength.

Although the team's performance has been affected by the club's financial problems this season, they can only maintain a stagnant situation in the league, but the ambition is still there. For Mallorca, Leeds United is definitely not easy to deal with. opponent.

Goalkeeper: David Robinson, Defenders: Miles, Radebe, Woodgate, Hart, Midfielders: Buck, Kewell, Bambi, Bowyer, Forwards: Fleur, Viduka.

Holding the list of Leeds United, Aragones frowned: "It seems that Leeds United are all elites. Ten of the eleven players on the field are active international players, and the only one, Fleur, is also a member of the Premier League." One of the most famous forwards ever."

He said this sentence to a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa in his office.

That middle-aged man was the coach who was dismissed by Racing Santander in the first half of the season, Gregorio Manzano, a master of psychology.

During this winter break, Aragones, who felt that his body was becoming more and more unable to bear the intense coaching position, was not idle. He stayed in Madrid for a week, and his purpose was to persuade Manzano to come out again and become his coach. assistant coach.

Under the unfavorable hospitality, Manzano agreed, but he had one condition, that is, he would not show his face in public, but only give advice to the old man behind the scenes.Manzano became very cautious after his first managerial failure.

Aragones naturally agreed, and Manzano did a very good job. Most of the credit for the victory against Sevilla in the last game was due to Manzano's plan, that "lure the enemy deep" plan He created it all by himself.

When he heard what Aragones said, he couldn't help but smile slightly: "I don't think there is anything to worry about."

"Huh? Do you see any problems? Why do you think so?" Aragones asked with his eyebrows twitching.

Manzano stood up and pointed to the list: "This lineup is indeed very strong, all of them are international players. Even Buck, the least famous midfielder, is the main force of the Norwegian national team. But if you look carefully, It's just a vain appearance!"

"Tell me about it." Aragones thought thoughtfully.

"First of all, let's talk about the defense. Although their right back Miles is an England international, it can be seen from his performance in the 2002 World Cup that although he is in good physical condition, he is actually a reckless man. His biggest weakness is his recklessness. , if it weren't for Philip Neville's injury, how could the England national team have no one in the right back position? With him, Leeds United's defense has a dangerous time bomb, and the two Although the frontal defenses of the central defenders are good, they don't have the awareness of assisting defense. Eto'o is superior to them in terms of flexibility, and Delgado is also strong enough to kill them physically, although their goalkeeper Robinson is strong. , But even if he is full of iron, how many nails can he hit? We just need to hit their right flank more, and then make good use of our forward advantage, scoring goals is definitely not a difficult task."

"Makes sense."

"Secondly is the midfielder. Their midfielder is definitely the most powerful part of their lineup. Three talented offensive players plus a Buck who silently does dirty work in the back. The strength of this midfielder is not superior to our team. Next, but again, they also have a dangerous time bomb!"

"Bowyer, a young midfield genius, became famous in his youth and has excellent skills, but his fame also brought him arrogance and a fiery temper. He is not calm at all. We just need to let Panovic take good care of him for a while. When he starts to be impulsive, that's when we win!"

"Makes sense."

"As for the striker...Although Fleur is not old, his skills are already old. He is no longer the talented striker of Liverpool. Although his skills are still there, he rarely shines. Nino is enough to stare at him. And Viduka is indeed a big problem, his body, strength, speed and shooting skills are all top-notch, so I propose that in tomorrow's game, let Ballesteros start and use his body to deal with Viduka, Just let the captain rest, Nadal couldn't stand Viduka's several collisions."

"It makes sense!" Aragones sighed: "Okay, I will do as you said!"

The progress of the game on the second day was much smoother than expected.

O'Leary, the head coach of Leeds United, cursed the FA in his heart. Just this Monday, they fought against Tottenham Hotspur in London, and then rushed to Mallorca without stopping. However, Mallorca's last league game was on Saturday - the extra two days of rest time were so obvious on the field, and their players were completely suppressed by their opponents physically.

The Football Association of the Premier League is the one most criticized by the clubs in the four major European leagues. The schedule of the entire Premier League is the most chaotic. Often, one team has only five games left in the league, while the other team still has The scene of the eight games appeared.

But it’s no wonder that the Premier League’s schedule is probably the most intensive in European leagues. In addition to 38 league games, their teams also have to play two events, the FA Cup and the League Cup. Cups and leagues are often delayed due to collisions. For the game, take the Manchester United team that won the "Triple Crown" in the 98-99 season as an example. According to statistics, Manchester United played a total of 76 games in that season. On average, they have to play a game every four days in a month. It is normal to have two games a week, and sometimes even three games a week, so the Premier League teams generally rarely get good results in the European arena. , in addition to not paying attention to technology, this also has a certain relationship with their too intensive schedule.

Manzano's judgment was correct at all. Pei Wei, who was instructed by him, frequently changed positions to the left, and Ibagaza and Ibaga took turns to attack Miles. Even Curtis, who usually does not assist, would occasionally Come up for a sneak attack, the slow Miles was really overwhelmed by their impact. He had two fouls in just 10 minutes of the first half, one of which was a collision with Ibagaza and was rejected by the referee. Yellow card shown.

When Ollie saw Mallorca's intentions and prepared to remind the players on the field, Mallorca scored a goal!

Pei Wei pulled to the side to get the ball, and Miles immediately went up to meet him.

He was drumming in his heart. Pei Wei's unpredictable dribbling and agile speed made him suffer a lot in the short 10 minutes just now, and he didn't dare to foul when he already had a yellow card. I feel that he is very familiar. In the confrontation with teammate Michael Owen in the national team, he often felt that kind of powerlessness.

"Impossible?" Miles comforted himself in his heart: "Who is Irving? He became a first-team player for Liverpool at the age of 16, became the top scorer in the Premier League at the age of 17, and became a blockbuster in the World Cup at the age of 18. How is this kid in front of him? Possibly on a par with the pride of Great Britain, Liverpool's golden boy: Michael Owen?"

He overlooked one point. The person in front of him became the champion of the World Youth Championship at the age of 17, and also won the Golden Globe Award. It seems that even Owen has never won this achievement...

Just as he was thinking, Ibagaza ran over from his side, and Pei Wei moved his feet, as if to pass the ball to him.

"Wait until that guy gets the ball and he can make a pass without hindrance again, that won't work!"

Miles knew the danger of the tall Ecuadorian man in the penalty area to his own defense, so he moved his mind and immediately stretched his feet to block Pei Wei's pass!
But Pei Wei stretched out his left foot, hooked the flying ball back abruptly, then twisted his body, and rushed from the right side of Miles, straight to the penalty area!

Leeds United's South African international Radebe rushed over immediately. Pei Wei didn't wait for him to get close, and immediately picked the ball over his head, and the ball flew into the penalty area!
Delgado rushed over, and since Radebe who was defending him was no longer by his side, he could head the goal without interference!
Woodgate rushed forward desperately but failed to block Delgado's shot, but Robinson showed the strength of England's national goal and swiped the must-go goal with one hand!
The ball was rolling in the small penalty area, O'Leary's heart just let go, but a black shadow quickly approached the rolling ball, and volleyed vigorously towards the empty goal!
Hart, who was desperately chasing back, did not have time to clear the ball. The ball hit his hard-stretched foot and bounced into the net!

It was Eto'o who scored the goal!He grabbed this point astutely and opened the scoring for Mallorca!

Leeds United did not perform better after conceding the goal. Under Panovich's close marking, Bowyer didn't even have a few chances to get the ball. This also made him more and more angry, and his technical moves began It was a bit out of shape, and Kewell had a great time fighting Pablo on the left. Pablo was already familiar with this kind of one-on-one confrontation after the last game against Zhu Jun, and he defended impeccably.

On the other hand, Bambi on the right had the upper hand in several conversations with Curtis. Unfortunately, his pass was wasted by Fleur a few times, and Ballesteros' body also made Viduka feel temporarily Nothing to do.

With the advantage of the scene, Mallorca strengthened the offensive. After all, the advantage of one goal is not enough. If the opponent is relieved to equalize the score, then the one who will be eliminated will be eliminated.

Leeds United's defense lasted only 10 minutes under Mallorca's three-dimensional attack. In No. 305 minutes, Panovich's early start intercepted Buck's pass to Bowyer, and then he unexpectedly led The ball is going forward!

Buck, who just missed the pass, hurried up to intercept him. Panovich immediately passed the ball to Pei Wei in front of him. Derbe's defense, and then kicked a volley in the penalty area, Robinson couldn't make a save, and Mallorca made another victory!
Two goals behind caused a serious change in the mentality of the Leeds United players. When facing elimination, their anger finally exploded at the end of the first half, and the fuse of this outbreak was before the game. Bowyer, considered a ticking time bomb by Manzano.

Robinson's long pass from the backcourt, Bowyer and Panovich jumped up to compete for the top. Of course, Bowyer, who is only 1.7 meters 1.7, cannot compete with the [-]-meter-eight Panovich. Bowyer saw himself competing for the top in the air Hopeless, he couldn't help but fly into a rage after being entangled by Panovich for the whole half.

When the ball was pushed out by Panovich, Bowyer, who had been dazzled by anger, hit Panovich hard with an elbow. Nuo was horrified.

Bowyer was mobbed by angry Mallorca players and was about to savor those agitated punches when the referee intervened to save him.

Bowyer was sent off with a red card. It can be expected that his rough behavior will be severely punished by UEFA. Panovic, whose face was covered in blood, could no longer persist in the game, and Marcos replaced him.

After the start of the second half, O'Leary replaced Fleur, who was doing nothing, with Alan Smith. No. 70 minutes, Smith was brought down by Marcos after a breakthrough, and Leeds United won a free kick in an excellent position.

Left-back Hart came up to take the penalty. The first penalty shooter of Leeds United and the Irish national team sent a beautiful free kick. The ball drew a beautiful arc in the air and went straight to the dead corner of the goal. Leeds United pulled it back one cent.

Leeds United, which has one less player, saw the hope of promotion again, but their defense line inevitably had loopholes. No. 801 minutes, Eto'o's counterattack made Mallorca get a corner kick, when Leeds When the defenders of the United team focused on marking Delgado and Eto'o, Pei Wei calmly sent the ball to the back point, and Nino, who assisted and stepped forward, blasted Robinson's fingers away for the third time with a powerful header. Off, 3:1, this is also the final score of this game, Mallorca broke into the top 16!
(End of this chapter)