Ultimate Demon Sword

Chapter 279 Intentional?

With Atletico Madrid's championship moment just around the corner, the club has also begun intensive preparations for the championship celebration.

There are a total of five squares in the city of Madrid. After the watershed was determined in the weekend league, in a short period of time, the club's top management arranged them in a unified way, and all of them were decorated in Atletico Madrid's representative red and white tones.

Atletico Madrid's high-profile plan to win the championship will naturally arouse some people's attention and dissatisfaction. "World Sports News" satirized Atletico Madrid in a very bitter tone that they have been dizzy by the sense of superiority.

Although the media in Madrid have a good starting point, they also have concerns in this regard objectively. It is inevitable that the club's fanfare will affect the team's mentality.

Regarding such reports, Atletico Madrid Chairman Perezzo stood up to support the team at the right time: "We have excellent, experienced players and an excellent head coach. We fully trust Coach Simeone's control and the self-regulation ability of all players. Such statements are completely unfounded. Of course, it does not rule out that some media have bad intentions."

At the same time, Perezzo also revealed an important message. This arrangement is not only for the league championship. If the team can win the unprecedented triple crown, an unprecedented city-wide parade will be held to share the moment of glory with all Madrid fans.

According to Perezzo's expectation of the Triple Crown, Atletico Madrid is only close to one of them.The Champions League and the Copa del Rey still need to pass two hurdles in a row, and Real Madrid in front of them is a difficult hurdle.

The difficulties facing Atletico Madrid are still not small.

In the following week, the most urgent task is not only to ensure that the league champions are won in advance, but also to do their best to play the first round of the Copa del Rey semi-finals and lay a favorable situation for advancing to the finals.

The same as the home and away order of the Champions League semi-finals, Atletico Madrid is still the first host and then the away schedule.

In the fourth Madrid derby of the season, not to mention the numbness of the players on both sides, even the commentators were disgusted when they saw the rosters of both sides-so boring that they wanted to vomit.

The media always likes the new and dislikes the old, and they are eagerly looking forward to presenting some different game content.

After getting the starting list before the game, the commentators from all sides glanced at each other, and immediately showed an extremely surprised expression, and their eyes recovered.

Spanish commentator Garcia’s eyes were full of excitement and curiosity. He said: “The two sides really brought surprises from the starting list. This derby is destined to be different. It’s understandable that Real Madrid didn’t use Bale. After all, his glass man attributes are easy to be injured in consecutive high-intensity derbies. What I can’t understand is that Atletico Madrid’s starting lineup does not have Wen Zhihao and Griezmann!

Of course, He Wei didn't know the specific reason. Seeing Wen Zhihao sitting on the bench, he felt worried and his voice became much deeper.

"Wen Zhihao is actually a substitute! This kind of situation is rare throughout the season. If he is healthy and in good condition, Simeone has no reason not to let him start. Wen Zhihao has never been slightly injured and cannot go to the front line."

He Wei's words made the Chinese fans feel like fifteen wooden barrels fetching water, and they were uneasy.

Xu Yang was a little more optimistic, and said: "He Wei should be worrying too much. If Wen Zhihao is seriously injured, he will definitely not be able to hide it from all the media. We have not received any news about this before the game. Moreover, he just contributed two assists in the league last weekend, which does not seem to be a sign of any hidden health problems. He Wei and the fans in front of the TV should be at ease. I believe this is a tactical arrangement deliberately made by Simeone."

Xu Yang's point of view is not accepted by most fans-unless Simeone doesn't want the Triple Crown, it would take a lot of risk to remove Wen Zhihao.

But thinking of the possibility that Wen Zhihao may suffer another serious injury, the fans lost their mood to watch the game.

In the barrage comment section of post bars, forums, and webcast rooms, people kept asking: "What's wrong with Wen Zhihao?" "Is Zhihao injured? Don't worry about it!".

However, including the explanations of all the supernatural powers, they cannot give a clear answer.

From time to time, the live broadcast cuts to the bench. Wen Zhihao and Griezmann had a happy conversation, and Simeone also stood calmly in front of the seat.

Wen Zhihao did not play, and Atletico Madrid returned to the simple and direct style of play in previous seasons.Simeone changed to 4-4-2, and Koke moved to the core of the midfield. This is Wen Zhihao's role on the field.Veteran Torres and Costa partnered with double strikers.

Simeone's drastic change did not bring about a collapse, but made Real Madrid very uncomfortable.The coaching staff emphasized how to prevent the connection between Wen Zhihao and Griezmann.Such a change made Real Madrid lose focus on defense all of a sudden.

While Zidane's side dominated the situation, it was Atletico Madrid who created more of a threat.Costa and Torres are well rounded.Fully activated Carrasco and Gaitan, who did not have many chances to appear.The two are very active, Carrasco cuts in from the wing, and Gaitan's iconic lateral dribbling shot in front of the penalty area is still very effective.

Atletico Madrid does not have many opportunities to hold the ball, but the counterattack is quick and deadly, which keeps Real Madrid's back line in a state of high tension at all times.

Garcia quickly forgot about the fact that Wen Zhihao was not on the field, because although Atletico Madrid changed to a simple and direct style, the threat did not diminish in the slightest: "Wen Zhihao did not play, and Atletico Madrid played more like they used to. Maybe Simeone did want to surprise, but it must be admitted that this adventure was very successful. Tough defense and sharp counterattack are the magic weapons for Simeone to press the bottom of the box. But... Will Real Madrid have trouble in the second half?"

Zidane watched the situation on the field and remained silent.Simeone's risky move was something he didn't expect.

Atletico Madrid's final start was announced half an hour before the game, and Simeone caught him off guard again, and it was too late to change tactics temporarily.

He just temporarily explained to the players that the two core players of Atletico Madrid did not start, and they attacked with all their strength, and scoring goals as soon as possible is beneficial to the game.

In the first half hour, Real Madrid's offense was fruitless, and they had actually lost their strategic initiative in the game.

"Zidan, do you need to change it?" The assistant asked for Zidane's opinion.

Zidane touched his bald head, then put his hand in his pocket, and said: "The other party is waiting for us to change first. At this time, whoever makes the move loses."

Zidane knows that he has lost to Simeone in terms of tactical arrangements, and now he can only hope that Ronaldo will use unconventional means to break the game.

In fact, he also has a backup, but compared with Simeone, his courage is not strong enough.In other words, he is not as crazy as Simeone.

Simeone can let Wen Zhihao play as a substitute, but he doesn't have the courage to let a healthy Ronaldo not start.

(End of this chapter)