Chapter 16 A Perfect Start
Tuesday, April 11, 2000, at the Calderón Stadium in Madrid, Spain.
In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, Atletico Madrid faced Barcelona at home.
This is a legacy from Ranieri.
In February, the tinkerer led Atletico Madrid to the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
But, he couldn't hold on until today.
The Calderon Stadium also welcomed 48,000 Atletico Madrid fans because their opponent this time was the powerful Barcelona.
Strong dialogues always attract fans to the stadium.
This was also the first time that Hill and his son, Cerezo and others appeared in the presidential stand of the Calderon Stadium after nearly four months. The fans at the scene gave Hill Sr. a warm round of applause to celebrate his return.
Even though the situation has reached this point this season, old Hill still holds a lot of weight in the hearts of Atletico Madrid fans.
Everyone seems to firmly believe that he can still help the team turn the situation around and successfully avoid relegation.
Along with the Hill father and son, the new sporting director Paul Futre also appeared. He was also warmly welcomed by the fans on the scene. He is one of the favorite players of Atletico Madrid fans.
But the fans simply couldn't see that the core Atletico Madrid executives they were cheering for in the presidential stands all had frosty faces and were obviously pessimistic about the game.
The chances of winning were not high in the first place, and Beybur was injured before the game. How could they play?
Barcelona’s recent form is indeed not very good, but the more so, the more headache it causes.
Because Barcelona also urgently needs a victory, they will not be complacent, but will go all out.
Can the current Atletico Madrid stop Barcelona from giving their all?
Before the game, no one wanted to say such negative things, but that doesn't mean they didn't think so in their hearts.
Yesterday evening, Yang Hao did not attend the pre-match press conference, but asked Cesar Mendiodoro to announce the 16-man roster on his behalf.
Yes, there are only 5 substitutes in the King's Cup, and a maximum of 3 substitutions can be made.
The outside world's evaluation of this is that it is quite standard and there are no surprises.
Old Hill sat in the chairman's stand, the seat that was reserved for him. Seeing his son beside him was a little nervous and looked uneasy, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
In the past, he would definitely say something to him, or even criticize him harshly.
But this time, he just gave a light reminder.
"The live camera will sweep over at any moment."
Little Hill was stunned for a moment, took a few deep breaths, and tried to make himself look calm.
In this respect, he is still far behind his father.
"You have to believe in your choice, no matter whether it succeeds or fails!"
Old Hill rarely spoke to his son like this. Little Hill was indeed a little uncomfortable. After looking at his father deeply, he nodded heavily.
He learned his lesson.
…
"Kiko is not in the starting lineup."
When the Barcelona coaching staff received Atletico Madrid's starting lineup, both Van Gaal and Mourinho were a little surprised.
Goalkeeper: Molina;
Defense: Capdevila, Santi Denia, Carlos Gamarra and Gaspar;
Midfield: Pablo García and Baraja in the back, with Solari, Valerón and Aguilera in front;
Center forward: Hasselbaink.
From the starting lineup, it is easy to deduce Atletico Madrid's lineup for tonight.
The new head coach wants to play 4231.
"Still struggling to survive." Mourinho chuckled.
Atletico Madrid has never played the double defensive midfielder tactic in the past. From Sacchi to Antić, and then from Ranieri to Antić, it was basically the 442 tactic. Now it suddenly changes to 4231, which is a big change.
Besides, there are not many teams in La Liga that play with double defensive midfielders, but it is common, such as Deportivo La Coruña.
Irueta's team played in a 4231 formation, but that was because they had two very strong defensive midfielders, Mauro Silva and Flavio Conceicao.
These two Brazilian players are the best defensive midfielders in La Liga this season.
There is also Victor Fernandez's Celta Vigo, which also plays 4231. They also have top La Liga midfielders such as Makelele and Celades.
"Does he think that the teams playing 4231 have performed well this season and wants to learn from them?" Mourinho speculated.
The Portuguese really didn't take Yang Hao seriously.
The position of professional head coach requires a lot of experience and tactical qualities, and it also tests a person's management skills. It is impossible for such a person to appear out of thin air.
"4231 was designed for defense from the moment it was born," Van Gaal said lightly.
The double defensive midfielder is designed to limit super attacking midfielders like Maradona.
"Generally speaking, there are two ways. One is to pull a striker down, which is actually a change of 4-4-2. The other is to remove a striker and add a defensive midfielder."
The two methods look the same, but in fact, the tactics reflected on the court are completely different.
"Then he should be the latter," Mourinho said.
Van Gaal also thinks that this should be the case.
"Is this Pablo Garcia's first appearance?"
"Yes, I trained with the first team before."
"He's partnered with Baraja, and the young coach wants to catch the defense."
Mourinho knew Van Gaal too well. He rolled his eyes and asked, "Then we will..."
"Start the game with an attack!" Van Gaal smiled confidently.
…
This was the first time Yang Hao stood in a stadium with so many people.
In the past, he could only sit in the stands and was just a drop in the ocean among the nearly 50,000 people.
But now, he stood in the stadium, the center of attention.
This still brought him a lot of psychological pressure and made him a little nervous.
Especially when he looked around the stadium, he found that there were crowds of people everywhere, and all he could hear were the deafening .
He now finally understood what was written in his previous life's novel: Anyone with a little courage would be frightened to pee on the spot.
Fortunately, he came after he finished peeing.
"You should go and meet Van Gaal," Cesar Mendiodoro reminded.
Yang Hao then remembered and hurried to the visiting team's coaching seat.
Van Gaal had been keeping an eye on him. When he saw Yang Hao coming over, he had no expression on his face. He just shook hands with him lightly and said hello, that was all.
He is one of the world's top coaches, so naturally he has the pride of a coach.
Yang Hao felt that he was looked down upon, but he didn't care too much. Instead, he noticed Mourinho next to Van Gaal.
After shaking hands with the Dutch man, he even walked over and shook hands with the "translator".
"Welcome to Calderón, José!"
"Thank you." Mourinho was slightly stunned.
He was obviously wondering if this new friend was being too polite.
Do I know you well?
Yang Hao was in a really good mood after shaking hands with Van Gaal and Mourinho.
He even looked at the stadium again, Kluivert, Figo, Rivaldo, Xavi, Guardiola, Cocu, Puyol...
Especially Guardiola, look at his thick hair now, who would have thought that he would become the world-famous bald man in the future?
But, to be honest, when the melon is still bald, it lacks that sense of wisdom and elegance.
Now that I'm here, can Gua Tu still get bald?
But soon, Yang Hao put aside all his wild thoughts.
Because the game has begun.
…
Although Barcelona was playing away, they took the lead in launching a wave of attacks at the start of the game.
Especially Rivaldo on the left and Figo on the right, both players were very active.
This made Yang Hao secretly laugh.
People outside say that Rivaldo and Van Gaal have a conflict.
But sometimes, the more conflicts there are, the better the players perform.
Barcelona established the advantage from the start and soon created the first threatening shot from Rivaldo.
It has to be said that Rivaldo's performance was indeed greatly affected by playing on the left with his left foot.
On this point, his opinion of Van Gaal was not given in vain.
Of course, this does not mean that Van Gaal is necessarily wrong.
The head coach considers issues from the perspective of the entire team, while the players consider themselves.
Sometimes the two are consistent, sometimes they can coexist peacefully, and sometimes they are in opposition.
Yang Hao also noticed that Bogarde and Puyol both pressed relatively high, and Barcelona's entire defense line also followed suit, obviously to provide more support to the midfield and frontcourt.
Kluivert was still very dominant in the frontcourt, and Atletico's double central defenders could not gain any advantage in front of him.
This led to Barcelona's start to the game being very smooth, with both wings and the middle playing very actively.
In the 12th minute of the game, Rivaldo dribbled the ball diagonally to the ribs on the left, causing Gaspar to foul and winning a free kick in the frontcourt for Barcelona.
The Brazilian demon sword took the penalty kick himself, and a precise arc ball landed in the penalty area.
Santi Denia grabbed the first point and headed the ball out.
Guardiola had been lurking on the periphery, and he caught up first and passed the ball to Figo on the right.
Figo got the ball close to the right sideline, and without waiting for Capdevila to come up, he made an elegant cross with his right foot and sent the ball back into the penalty area.
In the penalty area, Kluivert was ready to go for the ball, and the Atletico Madrid center back also defended him.
But in the melee, Cocu took the lead and headed the ball from close range to score the first goal for Barcelona!
The entire Calderon Stadium was filled with regret.
We lost the ball after 12 minutes of the game. How can we continue playing this game?
Van Gaal and Mourinho cheered and hugged excitedly in front of the visiting team's coaching bench. Both of them looked very satisfied with the start.
Whether it is the process or the goal, this can be called a perfect start.
After taking a look at the visiting team's coaching bench, Yang Hao turned his head to look at the field. He was really angry about the goal conceded.
"The personal abilities are too different." Mendiodoro said helplessly.
Gaspar couldn't stop Rivaldo at all, so he could only foul.
But Yang Hao didn't think so. He walked directly to the sidelines and called Balaha who was nearby.
"What's wrong with you? I didn't see you go over to protect her?"
"I..." Baraha pointed to the center of the field, looked at the angry head coach, and immediately understood where his problem lay.
Now they are playing with a double defensive midfielder, he should pull over in time to help Gaspar defend Rivaldo.
Otherwise, why have two defensive midfielders?
This is what the head coach repeatedly reminded us of before the game, but when it comes to the game, some habits still cannot be changed.
"I'm telling you, if you do it again, I'll make a substitution. Don't think I didn't dare to make a substitution in the first half!"
Baraja nodded hurriedly and turned to leave when Yang Hao stopped him again, "By the way, remind Pablo Garcia that Figo is also very active."
"Also, relax your arms, don't be so tense, and kick freely!" Yang Hao encouraged.
Watching Baraha return to the field, Yang Hao made a gesture to Belleron, indicating that he should stay calm and look for opportunities patiently.
It's still early in the game, so conceding a goal is no big deal.
Belleron nodded in agreement.
