Football irons are burning

Chapter 414 The hope of leading by 7 points
In the middle of the week, the UEFA Cup group stage started in full swing.

Now that the Espanyol is leading the league, Pochettino naturally wants to focus on the league. After all, the UEFA Cup is relatively tasteless.

Therefore, the team also sent substitutes to the away game to challenge Sparta Prague.

Li Tie did not rest, and Pochettino also read Li Tie's medical report and knew that he was fine.

The result of the score was 0:2. The Espanyol team easily defeated their opponents away and won the group stage.

The teenager Sanchez scored twice, and his speed this time gave full play to his advantage, messing up the opponent's defense line, making him very embarrassed.

In this game, Pochettino did not set up a midfielder, but let Li Tie move freely in the middle, and the defense line was five defenders, and someone could take Li Tie's position at any time.

This also allowed Li Tie to play very easily.

Opponents in the same group, Jultwahrem also defeated Austria Vienna with 2 goals in an away game, leading with the Espanyol, and Ajax, who had a bye, still cannot be underestimated.

Back in the league, Li Tie continued to start. His toughness also impressed his teammates.

You know, the difference between the UEFA Cup group stage and the 7th round of the league is only 2 days.

This is a schedule that is even more intensive than the World Cup.

Although Racing Santander advanced by one goal, it broke the Espanyol's record of not conceding a goal this season.

But then, they were scored 4 goals in a row by Lewandowski, Wu Xi, Tamudo, and Vidic, 4:1, and the Espanyol won 7 consecutive victories!

The Espanyol's victory did not cause much sensation, after all, people are used to them winning now.

The absence of Figo and Owen did not affect the progress of the Espanyol team. The existence of Li Tie once again reassured all Espanyol fans. With Li Tie, there will be victory and a championship!

Now everyone is waiting for the result of the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Once Barcelona loses, the Espanyol's lead will expand to 5 points!
Leading by 7 points in 5 rounds, this is really a big advantage.

A day later, the Spanish derby was played at the Bernabeu.

As a result, Kaka and Modric were brilliant and scored a goal each. Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-0, which indirectly helped the Espanyol lead the standings by as much as 5 points!
With the right time, place and people, as well as the help of the outside world, if the Espanyol team cannot succeed in this season and win the first league championship in history, it would be a bit unreasonable!

The rise of the Espanyol will undoubtedly inspire those small clubs, and they must have confidence from now on.

In the middle of the week, the Copa del Rey round of 16 finals also had the first round. The Copa del Rey is different from other countries' cups. Starting from the round of 16 finals, it is a two-round competition system.

Of course, it would definitely be difficult for those weak teams to have an upset chance.

After all, two rounds, even if the strong team takes a nap, will they give you a second chance?
This time, the Espanyol team, led by Li Tie as a substitute, easily defeated Rayo Vallecano 1:4 in the away game, and entered the top 16 with one foot.

However, other teams are really dozing off.

Atletico Madrid lost 0:1 to Levante, Real Madrid was tied 1:1 by Escha, and Barcelona also defeated Badalona 2:1 with great difficulty. Li Tie had never heard of this name.

Compared with the stability of the Espanyol, these teams are a bit sluggish.

Back in the league, the Espanyol's opponent in the 8th round was Levante. The Spaniard, who played the main force, sifted Levante's goal in the away game.

In the game, after Pochettino saw that the formation without an attacking midfielder was more effective, he continued to let Li Tie be the free man in the midfield.

And Rufete was at his side to assist in the defense.

In the 9th minute, Li Tie made a diagonal pass from the middle, and Wu Xi from the right stepped in and directly entered the penalty area. A scorpion in the penalty area of ​​Lewandowski swayed his tail and scored the ball into the dead corner!

This is an earth-shattering shot!

The excited Lewandowski rushed to the sidelines and fell, which caused the fans of the home team to burst into laughter.

But this does not prevent his goal from becoming one of the candidates for the best goal of the season.

This young man can really imagine.

After taking the lead, the Espanyol team is still in the old rhythm. This rhythm can drag down the average team to death.

Levante's strength is not good, and its offensive power is even worse. Therefore, facing the strong defense of the Espanyol team, they can't think of any way.

Then it was beaten by the Spaniards' counterattack again, and finally lost 0:4.

This also gave the Espanyol 8 consecutive victories.

Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to win and rank second and third, while Valencia and Atletico Madrid continue to lose, and they are basically unable to pose a threat to the top of the list.

The Spaniard has a clear lead, and this winter, he can have a good winter break.

In the second round of the UEFA Cup group stage, the Espanyol team had a bye, which is another good news.

This allows them to have sufficient rest time to prepare for the ninth round of the league with Valencia.

There is no doubt that this is the first real opponent they have encountered since the start of the season.

There is another interesting phenomenon in Valencia this year, that is, since the start of the game, all the goals have been scored by one person. This person is David Villa!

This extremely abnormal phenomenon, of course, allows the opponent to make targeted deployments.

And Valencia still has the Champions League game, which also makes the balance of victory fall further to the Espanyol.

On November 11, the Espanyol team played against Valencia at home.

In the game that has ended before, Barcelona encountered Waterloo and was tied 1:1 by Deportivo. Real Madrid tied Barcelona after winning the game. However, if the Espanyol can win Valencia, then their lead will be extended to 7 points!
The Espanyol team is also fighting for their lives. In this game, they are determined to score 3 points!
After the game started, Li Tie quickly took the ball up to attack, Albelda intercepted it head-on, Li Tie picked the ball directly and was knocked down by Albelda, a free kick!
Albelda and Li Tie have similar characteristics, especially in defense. Although his physical fitness is not as good as Li Tie's, his foul skills are very reasonable.

The home fans also booed Albelda. Now Li Tie has become No. 1 in the hearts of Espanyol fans. Anyone who fouls Li Tie will be booed.

But looking at Albelda's expression, it was clear that he didn't take it to heart.

Li Tie took the free kick himself, but the turf seemed a little slippery today. Li Tie went up and volleyed, but the ball flew directly and he even fell down.

Teammates ran over one after another and asked about Li Tie's situation.

Li Tie got up, patted his buttocks, and said, "It's okay. The turf is a bit slippery today. Everyone should be careful when running. The staff at the arena don't know what to think. The opponent is a skilled player. Isn't that right? The turf is watered so much, how can people kick it?"

On the sidelines, Pochettino was also a little dissatisfied, and he could see that there was indeed a problem with the turf.

It is estimated that the stadium managers also wanted to target their opponents, but unexpectedly, they also harmed their own players.

In this way, the home field advantage has also been reduced.

Looking back, Valencia also launched an attack. Although Vicente succeeded in forcing Wu Xi, after the confrontation, his body could not maintain his balance, and he also staggered and fell to the ground!
(End of this chapter)