Football giants

Chapter 708 I'm Back!

Some people say that if you want to be a qualified head coach, you must first become a qualified gambler.

What this means is that in some games and certain games, the head coach has to use a gamble-like, life-and-death approach to change the situation, such as Benitez in the Istanbul Miracle and Ferguson in [-].

The only difference is that these people all won the bet, so they became famous, recorded in the annals of history, and became famous coaches known all over the world.

But Mancini was unlucky. Looking at his many bets on his life in the past, the result was that he ruined his life time and time again.

After Hazard scored the first goal for Southampton in the first half, Galatasaray did not collapse, but immediately stabilized the situation under the advice of coach Mancini, and kept the score of zero to one until the end.

But the problem came in the second half.

Before the game started, Mancini replaced a midfielder with Dutch winger Amrabont.

Obviously, this is a gambler's substitution, Mancini wants to bet his life with Bielsa!

And since it is a gamble, it must have supporting tactics, so Galatasaray played more proactively after the second half.

But Southampton is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and soon seized an opportunity in the battle between you and me.

Varane made a long pass from the backcourt to the frontcourt. German central defender Bauerta made a header error and the ball fell to the left.

Suarez quickly plugged in, faced the ball, and sent the ball forward without waiting for it to land, and sent the ball behind Xie Zhu.

Of course, Zlatan Ibrahimovic would not let go of such a golden opportunity. Like a heavy tank, after hitting Xie Zhu, he entered the penalty area. After receiving the ball, he volleyed vigorously and broke Galatasaray's goal again, [-]-[-]!

But the Italians and the Turks are still not convinced.

In the case of two goals behind, they continued to attack Southampton.

Perhaps, they feel that they are going to lose anyway, losing two goals is a loss, losing three goals is a loss, and they might still have a chance if they give it a try.

But what kind of team is Southampton?
It is the characteristic of Southampton to get stronger when you meet the strong!

Less than 7 minutes after Ibrahimovic scored, there was another counterattack. Modric took the ball straight behind him. Hazard went offside and entered the penalty area. After receiving the ball, he deftly dunked the attacking goalkeeper.

Three to zero!
But just 2 minutes away from the third goal, Hazard made another forced breakthrough on the left and was tripped by Eboue. The referee unceremoniously showed a yellow card and gave a serious warning, giving Southampton a chance to take a free kick in a very good position.

Toni Kroos took the penalty. In the penalty area, Ibrahimovic grabbed the first spot and shook his head to attack the goal, but the ball hit the opponent's body. After rebounding and landing, Suarez, who inserted in the back, missed a push and scored again, four to zero!

The audience suddenly became silent!
All the fans were stunned watching what happened on the field, as if it was a nightmare!

It's hell, but it's hell for all Galatasaray fans!

After that, Southampton followed the demeanor of the visiting team and began to slow down the pace of the game. After all, the score of [-]-[-] could ensure that the team reached the quarter-finals in advance, so the Saints did not intend to continue to force the home team.

Bielsa also made substitutions successively, such as replacing Modric with Kovacic, Pogba with Kaka, and then simply replacing Suarez who scored twice with Sanchez.

In this way, Southampton's frontcourt became a combination of Hazard, Ibrahimovic and Sanchez, while the midfield became a combination of Kovacic, Kaka and Toni Kroos.

This is also a move for Bielsa to consider staying in the Premier League.

But what I didn't expect was that Galatasaray suddenly launched a rush attack while taking advantage of Southampton's substitution.

On Southampton's side, many substitute players were also very eager to prove their strength, and they were quite active, especially on the right side where Sanchez and Kaka were on, and they created several threats in a row as soon as they came on the field.

Whether Sanchez breaks through, cuts inside, or scores in the penalty area on the right, the threat is not lost to Hazard on the left, especially behind him there is a Kaka who is also eager to prove himself again.

But Sanchez was a little impatient. He entered the penalty area twice, both of which threatened Galatasaray's goal, but once turned into an anti-aircraft gun, and once he missed the opportunity to pass the ball, which led to Southampton's offensive failure.

And these two attacks came from Kaka's pass planning.

Perhaps seeing that Sanchez's mentality was a little out of balance, Kaka chose to cooperate with Ibrahimovic next.

After the Swedish center pulled out of the penalty area, he received a pass from Kaka and turned around to pick a pass to the left.

After Hazard quickly inserted, he crossed from the baseline to the goal. Kaka, who had passed the ball to Ibrahimovic just now, had already quietly rushed to the goal.

When the ball arrives, the person arrives, just push it lightly, and the ball will be there!

"Wow!!!!! Kaka!!!!!!!!!!!!"

After the Brazilian superstar scored a goal, he rushed into the goal with excitement, picked up the ball, hugged it tightly to his chest, bowed his head and kissed it, then turned around and rushed out of the field.

Anyone can see that Kaka is very excited and excited!
He has not scored in the Champions League for too long!
It's been so long that many people have probably forgotten it and no longer look forward to it!

But now, he is back!

Although this is not St. Mary's Stadium, he can still hear the voices supporting him!

It was very faint, but he heard it very clearly!
Yang Huan in the stands applauded vigorously after Kaka scored.

"It's not easy, it's really not easy!" Yang Huan said to Platini with emotion.

Platini, who was born as a player, of course knows better than anyone else that it is really not easy for Kaka to return to the game and have such a performance.

Especially in the Premier League in January and February, Kaka performed quite eye-catching.

Southampton's schedule in December and January this season can be called a devil. In just two months, they have to play the Champions League group stage, the domestic League Cup, the FA Cup, and eleven Premier League games.

As a result, Southampton, who won the top spot in the group early, played all substitutes in the last group match of the Champions League and got a draw.

Afterwards, both the League Cup and the FA Cup were played with full substitutes and young lineups, and they were all won steadily.

But in the eleven league games, they encountered five rivals, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal. Among them, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Chelsea were all concentrated in the Christmas schedule, which can be described as quite cruel.

The results of it?
Except for tying Tottenham Hotspur after Christmas, Southampton won all other games!

Especially in the game against Chelsea at home on New Year's Day on January [-], Southampton relied on three goals from Ibrahimovic, Kaka and Oscar to beat Chelsea [-]-[-] at home.

After playing West Bromwich Albion, Southampton was in poor form. At the critical moment, Kaka, who came off the bench again, scored the winning goal for Southampton. In this goal, Kaka showed everyone the demeanor of his long-distance attack at his peak.

Then at the end of January, they played Arsenal at home. After scoring twice and being equalized by the Gunners twice, at the critical moment, Kaka scored another lore. Southampton finally defeated Arsenal [-]-[-] at home!

After entering February, the state of Southampton's main lineup generally recovered, and the teams they encountered were not strong.

But with the astonishing performance in January, Kaka can announce his return to everyone!
However, tonight, in Istanbul, the city where he once created the pinnacle of glory, he used the Champions League goal to shout to all the Champions League fans, I am back!

"It seems that Kaka is going to be resurrected in Southampton!" Platini laughed.

As a former professional player and a player born in Serie A, Platini has a good impression of Kaka.

Yang Huan nodded, but felt a little bit emotional in his heart.

So far this season, the Premier League has played 26 rounds. As a result, Southampton scored 23 wins, two draws and one loss. They scored 71 points, far ahead of the standings.

Currently ranked second in the standings is Arsenal, with only 56 points, while Manchester City is third with 54 points, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are tied for fourth, both with 53 points, but Liverpool has more goal difference.

Villas-Boas is also controversial now. With a lineup like Tottenham Hotspur, he played very poorly on offense. He only scored 26 goals in 36 league rounds, 32 fewer than Southampton, [-] fewer than Manchester City, and [-] fewer than Liverpool.

If it's just a poor offense, then forget it, but Tottenham Hotspur's defense conceded 32 goals, not only losing to the teams ahead of him, but even Chelsea, Everton, Manchester United and other teams behind him.

Everyone also concluded that with such a poor performance, Boas will be dismissed after the end of this season.

Both Hamad and Daniel Levi called before, and Yang Huan also said that Boas must leave get out of class.

Therefore, now Tottenham Hotspur has quietly started the coaching process, and is secretly contacting a few people they like. Without exception, they are all well-known coaches in Europe.

Leading No.2 Arsenal by as much as [-] points, February has not yet finished, but almost everyone thinks that Southampton has won the championship ahead of schedule, but only Yang Huan knows that it is actually a fluke behind it.

Among the outstanding players in the Christmas schedule and January, Kaka is not to be mentioned. Oscar was not in Southampton's plan. If Joorabchian hadn't recommended himself, the Brazilian midfielder might not have come to Southampton.

Nastasic and Kovacic were almost sent to Inter Milan during the winter break.

But it is the outstanding performance of these players, which has formed a strong supplement among the main lineup and rookies such as Ravel Morrison and Pogba, ensuring that Southampton can survive the winter break and the devil's schedule stably.

Yang Huan really couldn't imagine that if Kaka was seriously injured, if Oscar hadn't come, if Nastasic and Kovacic were really sent to Inter Milan, then Southampton might collapse during the winter break.

Therefore, even though Yang Huan was very reluctant to admit it, he still had to admit that there was some luck in it.

But at the same time, he also believes that this experience is very valuable to everyone on the team.

At least, everyone in Southampton has a better understanding of the difficulty of the winter break and the devil's schedule.

Just when Yang Huan was afraid, another change occurred on the court.

Oscar made a precise through ball and sent the ball to Ibrahimovic's feet in the penalty area.

The Swedish center, who was closely guarded by the opponent's players, insisted on using his strong physical fitness and exquisite footwork to make continuous movements in the penalty area. After shaking a gap, he volleyed vigorously and scored again.

Six to zero!
Galatasaray is over!
It's all over!
You don't even need to fight the second round, the outcome is already decided!

(End of this chapter)