i don't want to be king

Chapter 436 No. 17 in Good Condition

Located in eastern France, Dijon is the capital of the Burgundy region and the provincial capital of the Côte d'Or department. It is also the most populous city in the region.Dijon has a long history and was founded in Roman times.

The Dijon club was established in 1998 by the merger of two local teams. It won second place in Ligue 2 last season and was promoted to Ligue [-].

Before this game, 14 of Dijon's 12 league points this season came from home. At home, they only lost to Nantes. They remained unbeaten in nearly 6 home games with 3 wins and 3 draws.

Therefore, although Dijon, which occupies the home court, is only ranked 14th in the league, it is by no means an easy win for Monaco, which has played 9 games in 3 days and is now facing the 11th game on the 4th day. next opponent.

Li Liang was placed on the bench for this game, and finally he didn't have to sit in the stands to watch the match with Pezzotti and De Rosso.

While warming up at Dijon's home stadium, Gaston Gerrard, Li Liang found that the small stadium, which can only accommodate 16000 people, was already packed with home fans.

They are so powerful that they create a buzz that is not inferior to any team's home court.

Lippi's two assistants closely watched Li Liang's every move in the stands.Judging from their many years of experience, Li Liang is in good form, and it is a pity that he cannot play, especially when the team needs rotation most.

At the beginning of the game, Jardim sent 4 substitute players and still formed a 442 formation on the court.

Goalkeepers Subasic, Raj and Diallo replaced Mendy and Remyerson in the starting XI.

Midfielder Moutinho replaced Bakayoko and Fabinho in the middle, Lemar and Silva were still on the left and right, and Germain and Carrillo partnered on the striker.

At the beginning of the game, the players of the Dijon team launched a fierce attack on the exhausted Monaco amidst the cheers of the home fans one after another.

To Li Liang's surprise, the newly promoted Dijon showed a strong combat effectiveness at home, and actually launched a siege to Monaco 10 minutes before the first half.

In an unfavorable situation, Monaco gradually regained the situation by relying on Fabinho who stepped forward. The Brazilian's general style of interception and organization allowed the visiting team to gradually stabilize their position.

After 10 minutes, the two sides gradually began to attack and defend each other.

In the 17th minute, Fabinho made a long pass from the backcourt to Dijon's left-back Bonnard.

Silva rushed forward at high speed and fell to the ground just before the bottom line and swept back to the middle. Dijon's central defender Hamid made a clearance not far away. After getting the ball, Lemar directly volleyed from the left side of the penalty area!

The ball hit Hamid and bounced towards the goal. The goalkeeper Resnais, who had already made a save, had no time to make a second reaction. He watched as Argentine center Carrillo rushed to the goal and easily sent the ball into the small penalty area. It's an empty door!
1:0, Monaco took the lead in the away game first!
There was a huge sigh from the stands as the home fans lamented the unlucky conceded goal.

Pezzotti and De Rosso are very happy. They know that if Monaco can take advantage of the victory and continue to expand their lead, then Li Liang's chances to play will increase greatly!
Li Liang, who was high-fiving his teammates on the bench, thought the same way.

Except for the time when Jardim was excluded from the main lineup because he had to return home early, he could always get a chance to play immediately after the rotation.

Li Liang is confident that his physical fitness has improved greatly, and now he is extremely eager to compete!

The Dijon team was not disrupted by conceding a goal, and they still fought against Monaco tenaciously according to the tactics arranged before the game.

They slowly regained the initiative, and Monaco began to shrink their defense as the home team fought more and more aggressively.

It is a little surprising that Dijon's ball possession rate is still higher than that of Monaco, and they also get more shots. However, the striker is not good at shooting and has been unable to rewrite the score.

At the end of the first half, the home team gained momentum and did not score, and entered the intermission with a 0:1 deficit.

Jardim was not surprised by the passive situation, his team members were too tired.

He rearranged his tactics in the dressing room, replacing the out-of-form Lemar with Bakayoko at the beginning of the second half, allowing Moutinho to switch to left midfielder and strengthen the midfield defense.

At the start of the second half, the Dijon team still took the initiative on the field.

Although Monaco has increased the hardness of the midfield, but the counterattack is not strong enough to create more pressure on the home team's defense.

In the 63rd minute, Jardim sent Mbappe to replace the inactive Germain, and began to try the striker's one-high and one-fast style of play.

Mbappe's appearance immediately changed the situation. Monaco's counterattack improved a lot immediately after speeding up, and began to use the gap left by Dijon's overall formation to make a fuss.

Mbappe got an excellent opportunity not long after he played. After he got the ball from the left, he cooperated with Moutinho to complete 2-1. He used his speed to forcibly overtake in the penalty area, got rid of the opponent's central defender and forcibly played with his left foot from a small angle. The door hit the outer edge of the post.

The audience exclaimed, this is also the best chance Monaco got after Carrillo scored.

Monaco's attack played a threat, Dijon's defense had to be withdrawn, and the even situation was restored on the field.

Both Pezzotti and De Rosso in the stands believed that the current situation is very suitable for Li Liang to play!

Jardim finally made his decision in the 77th minute when Falcao replaced Carrillo.

Pezzotti and De Rosso were even more disappointed than Li Liang on the bench. They understood that Jardim had made up his mind to stick to the 442 style of play.

There is nothing wrong with such a substitution, but both Italians feel that Li Liang's ball control, vision, and ability to attack the goal can definitely help Monaco even more when the game is stalemate.

Li Liang was very helpless. He accepted the fact that he could not play in two consecutive games, and secretly made up his mind that he must use better performance to win playing time.

Self-confidence is like this. After the wonderful reversal at home against Tottenham, Li Liang began to look forward to whether he could enter the main lineup?
But after being unable to play for two consecutive games, Li Liang was shaken when he saw that the substitutes such as Boschlia and Carrillo, who were originally behind him, started and scored goals. I have adjusted my goal to strive for the opportunity to come off the bench.

Up to now, he has not questioned Jardim's decision, and still feels that the coach must start from the team's overall tactics, and his inability to play at least shows that he is not good enough in the eyes of the coach.

When Li Liang was distracted, the game had come to the end of the second half.

In the 87th minute, Dijon made a big clearance from the backcourt, and the ball flew into the penalty area of ​​the visiting team. Glick and Diallo made a mistake in cooperation, and the latter missed the ball and was intercepted by Dijon's substitute forward Dioni.

Dioni volleyed vigorously and the ball was obviously missed, but the home team's 1-meter-tall French veteran Samaritano rushed to the goal like a ghost, stretched out his left foot and hit the ball that was about to go out of bounds into the goal!

1:1, the tenacious Dijon finally equalized the score at the last moment of the game.

Then Dijon, whose morale was boosted, launched a frenzied attack. If it wasn’t for Subasic’s miraculous saves of the opponent’s threatening shots and follow-up shots in stoppage time, it would be almost impossible for Monaco, who was already powerless to counterattack, to keep what came. Not easy 1 point.

The referee finally blew the whistle for the end of the game, and several Monaco players lay down on the turf as if they had been saved.

Li Liang returned to the locker room with everyone.Looking at the exhausted disciples, Jardim felt helpless.

In the next home game against the underdog Bastia at home on the weekend, he still dare not relax. He must score 3 points so as not to fall behind on the way to the league championship.

Only in the away game against Leverkusen next week, can we safely carry out a thorough rotation. After all, Monaco has locked the first place in the group.

(End of this chapter)