i want to be king

Chapter 246 I Have a Zidane Too

In order to better prepare for the game against Real Madrid, Valencia made a special trip the evening before the game, after the team's training, chartered a plane, flew directly from Valencia to Madrid, and checked into a hotel near the Bernabéu.

The team's bus has arrived in Madrid one day in advance and is on standby.

This is also what it should mean, after all, this game is related to this season's championship.

As the league leader, Valencia only has a five-point lead. If they lose at the Bernabeu, this advantage will be shortened to two points. For Valencia, who will continue to fight on two fronts, the situation will be even more difficult.

After resting in the hotel overnight, the next morning, Su Dong went to the hotel's gym to perform a set of activation training as usual, accompanied by Nuno Cruz and others, in order to ensure his state tonight.

After breakfast, the team ushered in the last preparation meeting before the game.

The meeting place is arranged in the conference room of the hotel.

Benitez and Yesterdan focused on some precautions for tonight's game, such as how to play if the team loses the ball first?After conceding two goals, or even conceding three goals, how should we play?
How to play after leading?I was misjudged by the referee, how to kick?
All of these preparations have been meticulously prepared, because as Albelda said, when Valencia was a guest at the Bernabeu in the previous four times, they all encountered very obvious favoritism from the referee.

Benitez issued a ban before the game, prohibiting players from discussing the referee, which was also regarded by the media as a kind of demonstration. The implication is, I don’t say anything, I just see what you do, and the whole world will see it clearly.

For Zidane's red card, Benitez thinks it is not worth being happy.

"For a team of Real Madrid's level, Zidane's sudden red card is not necessarily a bad thing, because it may add more variables to the game out of thin air. Real Madrid's superstars are more capable of controlling these variables on the court."

Benitez first poured cold water on all the optimistic players in Valencia.

After three days, the players basically calmed down.

Benitez is right, just like now, after Zidane is absent, how will Queiroz line up?

Real Madrid has a lot of players on the bench, Solari, Cambiasso, Portillo, these are all good substitute players.

Even leaving aside these substitutes, how will Queiroz arrange their positions for the Real Madrid stars on the pitch?
Ronaldo, Raul, Figo, Beckham, Carlos, Guti...

Which of these Real Madrid stars is not the one who shines when given some sunshine?

With Zidane in the past, Valencia would have an expectation in his heart, knowing how Real Madrid will play in general, but now that Zidane is absent, although there is one less enemy, it also brings more variables.

Benitez dislikes variables by nature, and even hates risks.

"I'm thinking, no matter how Real Madrid changes, Zidane's absence will create a fact that there will be a vacancy in the middle of Real Madrid, unless Queiroz moves Guti's position forward to replace Zidane's position, but in this way, there will be problems with the position of the double midfielder."

After more than half of the season, Queiroz managed to work out the combination of Beckham and Garguti, ensuring that the team has an advantage in passing and possession, and the defense is not bad. Will he break this combination?
If it breaks, is it to let Cambiasso go up and form a double midfielder with Beckham?Or let Pavon go up and push Elguera to the midfield?
Look, the advantages of a strong lineup are fully reflected at this time!
"I guess Queiroz will still take the lead in ensuring the integrity of the double midfielder. Zidane's position can be replaced by Solari, because Argentine players have performed well recently, but this will cause a problem. Real Madrid has no one in the frontcourt."

Ronaldo is at the top, and Raul seems to be more flexible, but in fact he still plays as a forward.

Zidane is not here, who will connect the double midfielders and the frontcourt double forwards?
"You can only go sideways!" Benitez made a judgment.

That is to play Carlos plus Solari, Salgado Gaffigo's two wings.

"Our strategy needs to be a little more clear. If Solari is allowed to play on the field as I expected, it means that Real Madrid will play on the wing, then we will focus more on intercepting on the wing, and even allow them to cross."

When Benitez said this, he drew the lines of crosses from the two wings of Real Madrid on the tactical board.

"Ayala and Marchena in the middle should pay attention to controlling the landing point. Ronaldo and Raul's headers are in front of you. Basically, there is no advantage. I believe you can do it."

Both Ayala and Marchena nodded.

"Especially you, Marchena, if you can avoid unnecessary movements, at the Bernabéu Stadium, our every move may be magnified and become evidence for us to be punished, understand?"

Marchena has never been a stable main force. Pellegrino performed well before, but since Pellegrino fainted, Marchena scored again and was very active, so he gradually gained a foothold.

But this native Spanish central defender has a problem, that is, he is unstable and has a lot of small moves.

If it is in other games, there may be no problem, but if the referee wants to be serious with you, it is hard to say.

"The double midfielders must closely protect the penalty area and give way to Real Madrid." Benitez looked at the captain and deputy captain.

Both Albelda and Baraja nodded.

As soon as the head coach arranges, they know what they should do.

Benitez did not make arrangements for the offense, perhaps he felt that there was nothing special to explain.

Facing a team like Real Madrid, Valencia's [-] must focus on shrinking defense and playing defensive counterattacks.

In this case, it is also unrealistic to make too many demands on the offense.

At the end of the meeting, Benitez also mentioned the refereeing issue.

This is a common problem in La Liga. Not only Valencia, but almost all other teams will jump out and blame the referee from time to time, and even Real Madrid and Barcelona will often blame the referee.

Speaking of this, it has something to do with the designation mechanism of the referee.

In Spain, the selection power of referees is in the hands of the Football Association. They will randomly draw lots to decide who will officiate which game. The referee committee does not participate in this process.

This seems to be very open, fair and transparent, but in fact it will bring another problem.

The uncertainty of the random draw can easily lead to the lack of neutrality and objectivity in the selection of the referee.

Referees are also human beings, where they were born, the education they have received since childhood, their family background, which team they like, which team they have had grievances with, and it can even rise to regional discrimination... Too many factors will cause the referee to be unable to be neutral, objective and impartial when enforcing the law.

What's more terrible is that the Football Association has no punitive measures for the referee's mistakes and misjudgments.

In other words, even if the referee makes a very serious mistake, he will not be held responsible for it.

This brings up another question, who will restrict the referee's law enforcement power?

It can be said that this is an old problem that has affected La Liga for many years and has never been resolved.

Including Valencia, other La Liga teams blamed the most, or the Western Super League duo benefited from the referee factor.

This has a lot to do with the fact that they have the most stars, the strongest strength, and the most fans.

For example, in the next round, when Valencia faced Barcelona, ​​the referee who enforced the law was a Madrid native.

Although Madrid people may not necessarily be Real Madrid fans, this is somewhat worrying, isn't it?

Benitez's meaning is very clear. The referee's factors are beyond Valencia's control, so try to do your best, reduce unnecessary fouls and small moves, and avoid giving opponents opportunities.

The players understand that too.

…………

…………

When the Valencia team arrived at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid fans were entering the stadium one after another.

Seeing Valencia's bus, the Real Madrid fans booed one after another, obviously hating Valencia.

Benitez got off the bus first, his expression looked very complicated.

As a native of Madrid, he has been a fan of Real Madrid since he was a child. Even now, he still feels that he is proud to be able to coach Real Madrid in his life, but tonight, he appeared at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid's deadly rival.

This situation is indeed embarrassing and emotional.

When the Valencia players walked into the field, the Real Madrid players also entered the field almost at the same time.

Although they are deadly rivals on the court, they have a good relationship in private.

Whether it is the teammates of the Spanish national team, or Su Dong and Ronaldo, they all seem to be quite harmonious.

Especially Ronaldo.

"How are you getting ready?" Ronaldo approached with a smile and asked.

"pretty good, how about you?"

Ronaldo looked towards the stands of the stadium, smiled, and said, "This is my territory!"

"Your territory doesn't necessarily follow you." Su Dong replied with a smile, "Besides, your Zidane is absent, but mine is back. What do you think?"

What Su Dong said was of course Aimar.

It is well known that Aimar will start this game.

"I hope that after the game, you can continue to speak hard."

The corner of Su Dong's mouth curled up slightly, "After the game, I'll treat you to dinner."

Ronaldo, who had just turned to leave, heard this, turned around again, and looked deeply at the confident Su Dong, a little puzzled.

Is this kid really that confident?
Or, is he putting on an air on purpose?
……

Of course, Su Dong's confidence is not all pretended.

Real Madrid's starting lineup came out, and Benitez guessed it right.

Queiroz did not dare to take the risk of breaking the combination of the double midfielder and let Solari replace Zidane.

This basically confirms Benitez's pre-match judgment that Real Madrid will take more sidewalks.

All Valencia needs to do is to purposely guide Real Madrid to attack the wing, completely restricting the center.

In the final analysis of a football game, goals still need to be scored in the middle. Even if Real Madrid is freed from the side, as long as the middle is controlled, Real Madrid will still not be able to score.

Of course, this requires the cooperation of the whole team and no mistakes can be made.

(End of this chapter)