football's most handsome

Time is passing day by day, and Deportivo is also getting on the right track day by day. At least for now, their ranking in the standings is also very stable, compared to the other few that are not very strong.

"Wow..." During the lunch break, assistant coach Allen began to sigh.

"What?" All the attention of the coaching staff was attracted by him, Allen smiled embarrassedly: "I'm watching the La Liga standings."

What's so good about the standings?The coaching staff looked at each other. After all, no matter how you say it, Deportivo is now at the top of the list, and there has been no change for several weeks. Even if you look at it now, you just want to see where you have been chasing. There is nothing to watch at all...

Allen also knew the meaning of the expressions on everyone's faces. He was anxious and spread the newspaper in front of everyone: "Look here, look!"

Everyone gathered around and found that the newspaper was indeed the real-time standings of La Liga. Fifteen rounds of the game had passed, and Deportivo ranked first with [-] wins and [-] draws. Barcelona, ​​Valencia, and Real Madrid were all behind. , Villarreal...

No matter how you look at it, there is nothing new. What I have to say is that Atletico Madrid still stubbornly stays in the top ten, which makes them feel very amazing.

There is really nothing to see, right?

Seeing that no one around him paid attention to him, Allen grabbed Juan as soon as he changed hands in a hurry: "Boss, you must be able to find the bright spot!"

Everyone looked in Juan's direction. It happened that Juan had put down the cup in his hand at this time, and then raised his eyebrows and smiled: "I probably know what Alan wants to say..."

Moved by Allen's expression of "I knew you understood me", Juan wiped his mouth, then stretched out his finger and pointed at the last few places on the standings.

"Magala, Vallecano, Getafe, Eibar, Celta Vigo...the five teams are very tight."

"Yes, yes!! This year's relegation zone is really tight!" Alan was very excited, turning a page and pointing.

"Magala is 1-0 down at home, Rayo Vallecano is down by one goal away, Celta Vigo is down by one goal against Sporting Gijon... My God, most of the relegation teams lost."

"Even Getafe lost at home, but they don't care, especially in the current situation, Getafe should be able to announce the success of relegation almost half a season in advance. Oh, and Eibar, who is behind at home, is the same. Even if you lose, you still have a lot of chances to win!"

Indeed, the situation here in the championship zone is very good now. Everyone looks harmonious, which is not worth seeing at all, but everyone in the relegation zone of La Liga is going to work hard.

"I really want to say that the relegation zone is really exciting. Are they winning the game or losing the game?"

Allen is not joking when he says this, but he is actually sighing. According to the jokes of their industry insiders, La Liga is divided into three areas, the championship area, the soy sauce area and the relegation area. The three areas are occasionally interchanged. , but generally speaking, the range of change is still small.

What is even more surprising is that this year's relegation zone is even more tragic than before. It was already so hard to separate before the winter break. After a winter break, I still don't know what will happen. the point.

But La Coruña is not afraid anyway. Their opponent in the 16th round of La Liga is-Real Madrid.

Well, away games.

Now all the newspapers are particularly optimistic about Deportivo, especially the "Marca", which is full of praise for Deportivo.

On the eve of the game, they used the title "New Depor in the Post-Super Deportivo Era" to focus on analyzing Deportivo's performance this season.

"It's no secret that Deportivo have risen this season. This team from the fishing port city has started to make steady progress towards the second league championship trophy and the first Big Ears Cup in the club's history."

"We can see that Deportivo currently maintains a three-point lead over No.2 Barcelona in the league. In the group stage of the Champions League, they relied on a strong shot from the leading striker Portillo. scored a goal, defeated Monaco [-]-[-] at home, and sent home the runner-up of last season's Champions League with a double play in two games."

"They were extremely patient throughout the game, and they were especially good in defense. In the end, Deportivo relied on a set-piece to solve Monaco. There was almost no bloodshed in the game, and they showed a particularly amazing composure. "

"Deportivo's way of winning made us feel strange and panic at the same time. You know...almost all of Deportivo's players joined at the beginning of this season, and their head coach Juan Diaz has managed to keep the team at the top of the list in just a few months and make the whole team complete an excellent run-in, which is simply amazing!"

"This young head coach doesn't know what method to use. It can be said that the team has completed the running-in magically. Among the old players, he reused Belleron, let him serve as the core of the midfield, and then let the newly joined players become the core of the various lines. Let Deportivo form the backbone of the team, with Belleron as the main force, let the team's combat power quickly take shape, and let the newly joined players such as Riquelme, Aimar and others quickly become the backbone... If the season starts Before, we could only say that Deportivo would be the spoiler in La Liga, but now we can only say that Deportivo is the most powerful title contender in La Liga!"

Leading the league by three points, winning the Champions League group stage and becoming the first team to qualify, Deportivo has now been favored by quite a few people, and their odds of winning the league have changed from [-] to [-] before the start of the season It has now become [-] to [-], and after eliminating Monaco and defeating Olympiacos, their odds of winning the Champions League have also risen to [-] to [-].

The odds of Deportivo in the Champions League are very high. After all, it is only the group stage and Yi can't see anything. Moreover, the cup is a common game of the five major leagues, and there are too many chances in it.

And after the winter break, something even more terrible came head-on-the international match day.

The World Cup qualifiers will start soon, and it will be another huge test for the team.

Romario is not afraid at all. After all, he is already at this age, and he has retired from the national team last year. No matter how you say it, Brazil will not be so cruel to dig him out and flog his corpse again!

What's more, Brazil is also full of talents now, and there is no need for him, a veteran, to go up and down.

——Of course, Romario is relaxed, and the rest of Deportivo are struggling.

"Speaking of which, we seem to be almost empty during the Deportivo international match day." Allen was a little worried. After all, according to the urine nature of the national team in the past, the people who sent out were good, and maybe they would come back. Where the injury happened, the national team still didn't pay, it was really embarrassing!

"It's not that exaggerated." Juan smiled. "At most, there are two Greek internationals, five Spanish internationals, five Portuguese internationals, one Uruguayan international, and five Argentine internationals."

……

Dad, that's a lot, how many more do you need? ?

"Okay, let's focus on the game ahead, the last game before the winter break, let's work hard." Juan sighed softly.

——And what's worse, it's still at the Bernabéu.

However, it is clear that some people are very excited about this, such as Casillas...

On the phone, the Spanish goalkeeper was already particularly excited.

"Don't forget what we agreed to!!"

On the phone, Casillas said loudly, sounding very enthusiastic, and he could only sigh and smile: "Yes, of course I remember."

"I will do my best!!"

"Even if you say that..." Juan felt helpless, "Someone wants to talk to you, do you want to hear it?"

"Like?"

"For example, Javier, Diego, Fernando..."

Before Juan could finish speaking, he heard a "beep" sound on the other end of the phone, and someone seemed to hang up the phone in a hurry...

Facing a defending champion like Real Madrid, it is naturally very difficult to beat them in an away game. Juan has already prepared himself to die a few more brain cells-you must know that Real Madrid has played at home for half a season. In the eight rounds of the league, the results are quite outstanding with five wins and three draws to remain unbeaten.

Strong teams such as Villarreal and Barcelona also lost at home, and only Valencia, Rayo Vallecano and Atletico Madrid were able to get a draw. A total of twelve games were won in sixteen games, and five of them were victories at home. Although it cannot be said that they lost a few games in the away game, they are away bugs, but the nickname of the home dragon, it is true. quite fit them.

For this game, Deportivo has also made full preparations. At the strategy meeting, they came to the conclusion that they can be conservative for the time being.

Allen, who was summing up, looked at his notes and said seriously: "We can play a little more conservatively, reduce the space in the penalty area, and let their two forwards not get too many opportunities, and the midfielder uses running to consume them."

"To be more specific, it is to entangle Ronaldo. Originally, he came back from injury. In terms of invincibility, he is not as good as before. Our main goal is to make him more unstable."

"In terms of handling on both sides, we can use running to wear down their two wings, and then continue to attack their defense with counterattacks. Real Madrid's defense is quite sloppy, and the right flank guarded by Salgado is A place that can be used, his running ability is not very strong, the center guarded by Samuel is also a place that can be used, we just need to avoid Roberto Carlos on the left...or try to avoid Him!"

"Also in the penalty area, Raul can't break through Deportivo's midfield and defense... Even if Ronaldo can help him, it won't help much. As for their midfield... we only need to entangle Zida Neil and Beckham, that's all we think."

Juan nodded silently. He is in favor of such a strategy. First of all, Deportivo does not have an advantage in age, and when playing against Real Madrid, it is necessary to prevent possible changes on the opposite side.

To be honest, Real Madrid's bench is really unfathomable, anyone who comes up is very terrible, not even Ronaldo and Raul (of course, as the captain Raul is very difficult to have a chance not to play), there are also Figo, Owen, Morientes...

Which one is taken out is the absolute main force in other clubs.

Thinking of such a lineup, Juan's head was about to grow big.

Of course, this is not to say that Deportivo is not good enough, but that Real Madrid is too difficult to deal with. I don’t feel that much when I am on the court, but once I face it, no matter who is sitting on the opposite head coach’s seat , he felt a heavy pressure hit his face.

But now no matter what, I have to bite the bullet!

After discussing for several afternoons, Laco finally came up with a complete strategy, and it was Juan who made the final decision.

This strategy itself is actually not complicated, and there are only two key points.

The first is passing. Through small-scale running and fast passing and receiving, Deportivo's players can complete a wave of offense before physical problems occur, and try their best to drag the game into their own rhythm.

The second is to attack.Everyone knows how bad Real Madrid's defense is, so Juan directly proposed that they should score goals against Real Madrid!

Although playing against a technical team like Real Madrid is actually quite courting death, Juan compared the midfielders on both sides and found that his own offense and defense are more stable.

Real Madrid's attack and organization may be world-class, but their defense is really only Casillas alone.

The goalkeeper of Real Madrid was poured into the ball last season until he almost vomited, but this season, his performance is gradually improving, and he will gradually make some very good saves. The fans call him "San Igor", although it sounds like a joke, but it is clear that the Spanish teenager is very encouraged.

Although he didn't show it normally, he and Juan had already shown it off more than once or twice on the phone!

On the day of the match, Deportivo's bus drove into the Bernabeu stadium quietly. Compared with the Real Madrid home team entering the stadium on the other side, their place was obviously a bit deserted, but this made Deportivo's players more comfortable.

God, there are more than 8 people in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. If you want to say that the last Deportivo experienced such a big battle, it is only the Nou Camp.

Before the game, Juan didn't say much, but simply arranged tactics in the locker room, and then suddenly clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention. When everyone looked over, Juan smiled.

"Everyone said, what would happen if Depor double-killed Real Madrid and Barcelona?"

Everyone in the locker room became short of breath.

"My friends, welcome to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium! I am your friend Frank, and beside me is my partner Dean. The two teams playing here tonight are Real Madrid and Deportivo Deportivo. Ya, Real Madrid at home field sent their strongest lineup!"

"The main lineup of Real Madrid is Casillas; Carlos, Salgado, Samuel, Woodgate; Gravesen, Beckham, Zidane; Raul, Michael Owen... Although It is said that Irving was still injured when he transferred to Real Madrid, but this does not mean that his trip to Real Madrid was a failure, and now the alien Ronaldo has been squeezed into the bench by him."

"Real Madrid's bench is as luxurious as ever. It is impossible for the seven superstars of the Galacticos to start at the same time. This also leads to some people often sitting on the bench. Guti is no exception. When Real Madrid needs to organize an attack in the frontcourt, Guti Dee will play, I have to say, Real Madrid is really..."

Frank thought for a while, and finally looked at his partner for help. Dean glanced at him and said firmly: "Violence!"

"Yes, yes!" Frank laughed, "Compared to La Coruña, it's much better here... Forget it, I didn't say anything."

"Huh?" Dean was stunned, took the starting lineup in his hand and cleared his throat: "Deportivo's starting lineup, Diego Lopez; Andrade, Capdevila, Pablo Ibáñez, Juan Sorin; Juan Belleron, Fernando Gago, Fernando Redondo, Juan Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Javier Pol Tillo..."

While thinking about it, Dean couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

"Deportivo, once again took out their classic [-]-[-]-[-] formation..."

"..." The two were silent at the same time.

In order to make the atmosphere more exciting, Frank immediately changed the subject: "However, I have to say that Deportivo is a team with a strong South American flavor. They have never lacked South American players in their team. Starting from Bebeto, Mauro Silva, Rivaldo, Dejaminha...these players are all very skilled and have their own unique characteristics, so that the technical content of Deportivo's team has reached a high level, and The current Deportivo is not far behind."

At the beginning of the game, the midfield composed of Gravesen, Beckham and Zidane began to create opportunities for the strikers. Beckham's golden right foot caused a lot of trouble for Deportivo's midfield. Often with a direct long pass, the football flies through a precise arc and lands at the feet of the two players in the frontcourt, with a gap of no more than two meters.

Raul and Irving, who are in the frontcourt, are very comfortable with the ball. As long as these two people are in the penalty area, they are at ease and frequently pose threats to the team.

Under Real Madrid's offensive, Deportivo began to retreat and defend. While fighting in the midfield, the defense also retreated into the penalty area, reducing the chances of Raul and Owen. Pablo Ivar Ness and Andrade deal with Owen, while Capdevila and Juan Sorin are paying attention to Raúl.

Every shooter in Real Madrid is particularly terrifying. The two strikers on the field have their own characteristics. Irving is a typical shooter. He has explosive scoring ability. The title of "chaser boy" is not for nothing - At least during this period, his speed can be said to be unrivaled.

Compared with Owen's high-profile, Raul, as the captain of the Galaxy Battleship, has maintained a very low-key state.

But this does not mean that his threat on the court has been reduced.If Owen is the wind, then Raul is the deep pool, the kind that cannot be reached to the bottom.

But who dares to underestimate Raul, who can ignore his existence?

1976 and 1977 were the luckiest two years in world football. During these two years, a large number of famous strikers were born in world football.

Ronaldo, Raul, Henry, Ruud, Kluivert, Trezeguet, Shevchenko, Totti, Recoba...

Among the strikers born in the two great years of 1976 and 1977, Raul can be ranked in the top three.His footwork is exquisite and magnificent, his shooting skills are superb, and his style of play is elegant. At the same time, as the captain of Real Madrid, he is passionate and leads the team forward again and again.

The appearance of Raul can be said to be the only ray of light in Spain, which has been sinking for 25 years, and it is precisely because of him that Spain has not fallen to a deeper place.

He is the soul of Real Madrid and Spain. It can even be said that before Torres, the term "golden boy" refers to only one person.

Raul Gonzalez.

Torres has been called "Raul II" since his debut, which is enough to show that Raul has a profound influence in Spain. After all, this is actually a compliment for a Spanish striker.

"Speaking of it..." Frank pondered for a while, then looked towards Real Madrid's penalty area, "Portillo was also called Raul II before, and was regarded by the fans as Raul's future successor."

"Come on, this 'successor' almost sat on Real Madrid's bench." Dean waved his hand, "And succeed Raul? Currently no one can do it."

"Yes... In the next 20 years, it will be difficult for Spain to produce a single Raul."

"Raul is very difficult to guard. He is not like Irving pushing hard. He has the tough style of the Premier League... He always shoots lightly. Deportivo's two defenses are working hard to prevent him. Take the ball, and as for Real Madrid's midfield forward, it depends on Redondo, Gago and other midfielders to mop up."

Deportivo's interception ability based on defense is also quite good. At least Andrade and Ibáñez have marked Owen very well. Although Juan Sorin's marking Raul seems to be a bit difficult, he will not be caught. The opponent easily broke through.

With the two strikers staring at each other, a large part of Real Madrid's chances of scoring goals have been stifled. However, this does not mean that they have no chance. On the field, he can quickly break the deadlock and score goals when necessary.

As for Roberto Carlos, who has excellent scoring ability, he will not have too many opportunities under the disturbance of the Deportivo striker.

After a while of flying around, Deportivo's defense line gradually stabilized. Seeing that the situation was gradually under control, Juan was also relieved off the field-at least his first goal has been achieved.

The next step is to let the game enter a fast pace and drag down Real Madrid's slow players...

Gravesen's cross was headed over by Fernando Gago. Alma quickly poked the ball to Vereron, who turned around with the ball and immediately launched a long pass to counterattack!

Riquelme was battling Samuel for the landing, barely got the first point, then headed the ball into the Real Madrid half, Roberto Carlos began to match the speed of Portillo, and the two ran at the same time To the point, and when Carlos advanced, Fernando Gago, Redondo, Aimar and others also quickly advanced towards Real Madrid's halftime!

Seeing that La Coruña is attacking so aggressively just to fight back, the Real Madrid players naturally began to return to the defense quickly—pretending to be able to save the ball by returning to the defense—Garcia Ray on the sidelines Looking at the field with a masked face unchanged, he was thinking about what tactics Deportivo would use in this game.

"Hit us with a quick counterattack? Use Real Madrid's best tactics against Real Madrid, and I don't know what he thinks..." Garcia Ramon thought in his heart. "But it doesn't matter, anyway, I won't stay in Real Madrid for a long time..."

This time, Deportivo's quick counterattack did not achieve very good results. Although Portillo got the ball ahead of Roberto Carlos, and then passed the ball to Riquelme who was plugging in, but Riquelme's Ye Shuan was running, but was blocked by Woodgate who returned to the defense with his body.

Salgado took control of the ball in front of Deportivo's slow No. 5, then raised his head to meet Redondo's face, gave up, and passed the ball directly to Zidane in front.

"Real Madrid's defense was excellent, and it didn't make Deportivo's quick counterattack effective. We have rarely seen such a reliable defense by Real Madrid..." Frank complained immediately.

Garcia Ramon loosened his frowning eyebrows and nodded. Real Madrid's defenders did not disappoint him, and there is still a little merit.

Juan doesn't care if this counterattack is successful or not, Real Madrid's defense is notoriously unreliable, so what if the frontcourt is gorgeous?As long as Deportivo's counterattack is successful once, it is fatal.

And even if it has been unsuccessful, what does it matter?Such a quick return to defense requires a full sprint, once or twice is okay, how about ten times and eight times?

Deportivo La Coruña is just waiting for work.

Zidane received the ball and started to organize the attack. He passed the ball to Beckham. Beckham turned around and was confused on the spot.

The person he faced was Redondo.

But after all, he is a professional player, so he immediately calmed down and didn't force a breakthrough—nonsense, he had to break through by himself, he was not good at surpassing others, and now there is another Redondo, he simply I'd rather die……

Seeing that he had no hope of breaking through, and Redondo was still looking at him with a half-smile from a short distance, the Englishman made a fool of himself, and passed the ball to the right-hander with a rather elegant passing movement. On Samuel, Samuel took the ball and broke through, but was blocked by Belleron. At this time, Roberto Carlos had already inserted from the side, and Samuel immediately passed the ball. To him, facing Capdevila's defense, Roberto Carlos did not break through directly, but passed a low ball and passed the ball to Owen.

After Owen received the ball, he planned to turn around and break through, but Andrade blocked the ball in time. Gravesen followed up and prepared to play again. Pablo Ibáñez appeared in the path of his shot in time Go up and block the ball with his body again.

The ball flew to the left. After Capdevila received the ball, he planned to attack slowly, but he was attacked fiercely by Raul and Owen.

The two forwards are forcing him to be a defender! !

Capdevila felt that he had finally learned a lot!

Reluctantly, Capdevila's ability to protect the ball couldn't bear the steals of the two opponents. In desperation, he passed the ball to Gago, who directly passed the ball to the Real Madrid penalty area with a big kick. Ertillo took a volley shot before Salgado blocked it, but Casillas flew the ball and saved it.

Iker Casillas couldn't laugh anymore. Only 10 minutes into the game, he has made six saves, and each time he made a dangerous emergency rescue within the goal range. Compared with Real Madrid, Deportivo is now The attack seems to be more purposeful.

...He suddenly really envied Diego Lopez who was opposite him.

Don't think he didn't notice, when he was rolling in the small penalty area with high blocks and low blocks here, Diego Lopez ran back and forth in his small penalty area.

Run back and forth! !How free is it to run back and forth there having sex? !

However, Casillas' hard days are not over yet. Samuel, who received the ball, originally wanted to protect the ball safely. However, as a defender, his skills are too scumbag. Gago, who got the ball, immediately put his foot on the ground and passed the ball to Aimar. Aimar didn't hesitate at all, and directly distributed the ball to Belleron in the middle, and then he went forward. Laco Runia's counterattack started again!

This time the counterattack was played at the same high speed, and the speed of the Real Madrid defenders returning to the defense was also quite fast. Roberto Carlos forced Vereron to the side. Gago who went forward, Gago immediately raised his foot to make a pass, and then began to run back desperately...

The football flew to the middle of Real Madrid's penalty area, Riquelme and Samuel were entangled, and Woodgate cleared the ball in time, which relieved Real Madrid's urgent need.

Garcia Ramon looked at the performance of everyone on the field, couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief again, and subconsciously looked at the away coach's bench.

Deportivo's young coach still looked at the field indifferently, as if he had noticed his gaze, and nodded at him. Garcia Ramon also nodded, withdrawing his gaze and sighing.

To be honest, if it wasn’t for Manchester United, if this person tried his best and couldn’t adapt to the rhythm of the top league games, it is estimated that Real Madrid would have joined the ranks of snapping him up this season, even if this person left from Real Madrid. of.

Such an opponent is too dangerous, it is better to buy it back and be a teammate.

But now there is no such trouble.

Garcia Ramon withdrew his thoughts and continued to wait and see the performance of Real Madrid on the court. Real Madrid has always been good at attacking, so it also has a lot of experience in returning to defense, otherwise it might have been lost by other teams (such as Valencia, Barcelona) into a sieve.

Although Deportivo's counterattack is very sharp, it is also very difficult to score Real Madrid's goal just relying on this.

Juan's blue eyes reflected the figures running on the field. Of course, he knew that the success rate of such a counterattack would not be too high, but to implement such a tactic, to be honest, scoring goals was only secondary.

Time began to pass by every minute and every second. Real Madrid was still besieging the gate of Deportivo. Deportivo continued to launch a quick counterattack while holding on. Their counterattack method was very simple, or a few people in the frontcourt The small-scale high-speed cooperation between them is either a long pass to find Portillo and Belleron in the frontcourt, and then Real Madrid's central defenders start to retreat and defend, and then attack again after the block is successful...

Even the smartest people can see that something is wrong. There must be some conspiracy in La Coruña, right? !Garcia Ramon couldn't laugh anymore, he frowned tightly and watched the situation on the field.

When the halftime whistle blew, he finally realized something, and suddenly turned his head to look at the big screen.

In the entanglement between Real Madrid and Depor, the entire first half has passed.

Throughout the first half, Deportivo had [-] shots, while Real Madrid had [-] shots. However, neither side was able to score a goal. The final score in the first half was zero to zero.

As he entered the tunnel, García Ramon sighed.

He was really envious of Deportivo's defense, which was beyond his expectation. Real Madrid almost bombarded their goal for 45 minutes in the first half, but look at how relaxed Deportivo's goalkeeper was. You can tell by the appearance, in fact, the scene is not that dangerous. On the contrary, Deportivo has very few shots here, and every kick is almost fatal.

Of Depor's twelve shots in the first half, eight were within goal range, and half of them made Casillas almost break out in a cold sweat.

When did Portillo become so aggressive in sports?

On the other hand... Real Madrid's [-] shots, the number within the goal range is zero.

Deportivo's players were able to switch offense and defense smoothly beyond his expectations. Facing Real Madrid's fierce attack, they didn't show any major flaws. It seems that this team is indeed already On track.

But fortunately, Deportivo seems to have no way to deal with Real Madrid's suppressing attack, and the counterattack they played is not particularly effective. As long as they continue to suppress like this, there will always be opportunities to score goals!

Compared to Garcia Murray's optimistic estimate, Juan's place is peaceful, but the smile on the corner of his mouth betrays him.

——That is, the laugh of a successful prank.

Obviously, his battle has been at least half successful, and the second half is the moment when the real winner will be decided.

"Although we failed to score in the first half and the quality of the counterattack was not high, at least we have achieved the goal we set at the beginning."

During the intermission, Juan said very calmly in the locker room, but the meaning in his words made people excited.

"In the second half, we played more proactively. Don't be afraid of losing the ball. Press on the whole line and continue to speed up the tempo. We will compare with them in the away game. In the open attack, who has the better offensive ability."