Chapter 57 The Rich Butcher
Yang Hao’s first impression of Torres was: Is this guy Torres?
His face is full of freckles, not handsome at all!
When I saw him looking at me again, his face was full of nervousness, as if he had to muster up the courage to even secretly look up. I couldn't help but laugh in my heart, and at the same time, I felt a sense of accomplishment.
This is Fernando Torres!
The future world-class center!
I'm still a little kid right now, and seeing myself shaking with nervousness makes me feel very satisfied just thinking about it.
"Don't think too much about anything. Just do your best. Leave the rest to me. Do you understand?" Yang Hao said soothingly.
For some reason, Torres seemed to trust Yang Hao very much. He raised his head, looked at the head coach, and nodded heavily in agreement.
Facts have also proved that Torres definitely has a big heart.
Or it should be said that all professional players must have a big heart. The greater the fame, the stronger their ability to withstand pressure.
For such players, the tension is only a short-lived process.
For example, Torres, once he got on the field and started training, he got into the game.
And the same goes for Gabi.
Even in 2023, many fans are not very familiar with Gabi, but Yang Hao likes this player very much.
What Gabi left a deep impression on him was a match in the 16/17 season. After Torres collided with his opponent, his head hit the ground first and he fell into a coma. Gabi immediately gave him first aid and pulled out Torres' tongue.
This is to prevent the tongue from falling back and blocking the trachea.
Sure enough, Torres waited for the team doctor to arrive safely.
When Yang Hao saw this news, he felt that Gabi must have received some first aid training in his daily life. Otherwise, with so many people on the court, how could he be the only one who knew what to do?
Another thing is that after Gabi returned to Atletico Madrid from Zaragoza, his performance has always been outstanding and quite stable, with an amazing attendance rate. Even in his thirties, he can still steadily provide the team with passing organization and midfield scheduling.
More importantly, his defensive statistics are even more impressive than his passing. He has always been one of the best performing defensive midfielders in La Liga. It can even be said that he is one of the core contributors to the rise of Simeone's Atletico Madrid.
Unfortunately, the player never made an appearance for the Spanish national team.
It’s not that he is not strong enough, but that there are too many talented people in Spain.
Torres and Gabi, both 16 years old, are still very young. Yang Hao is not in a hurry to use them, but Yang Hao wants to give them a chance and an environment that is more conducive to their growth.
Just as his book friend [Sword God] from his previous life commented: Geniuses do not need to level up, they just need to be given a platform.
Yang Hao could feel that Torres and Gabi were very grateful to him.
…
On the evening of May 18, in the final match of La Liga, Atletico Madrid challenged Real Mallorca away.
Hasselbaink was comforted by Yang Hao and did not travel with the team on the away game this time. Instead, he stayed in Madrid and concentrated on preparing for the King's Cup.
This is true for core players including Solari, Aguilera and Belleron.
Yang Hao fielded a defensive line consisting of Antonio Lopez, Tony Muñoz, Ayala and Zoran Negús, among which veteran captain Tony Muñoz played as a left-back and center-back, serving as captain on the field.
The double defensive midfielders were Fresnedoso and Oscar Mena, with Jose Luque, Hugo Leal and Panovic in front and Kiko as the center forward.
This lineup can be described as an all-substitute lineup, because this game has no meaning for Atletico Madrid.
Real Mallorca's two forwards are Eto'o and Tristan, so Yang Hao adopted a defensive counterattack tactic in the game.
But defense is one thing, and you must attack at the beginning.
Just 5 minutes later, Paunovic received a pass from Kiko and scored the first goal for Atletico.
But in the 15th minute, Eto'o successfully equalized the score.
After that, the two sides exchanged blows until the 31st minute, when Antonio Lopez and Jose Luque launched a quick counterattack on the left. With the cooperation of the two, Jose Luque sent the ball to the middle of the penalty area, and Kiko scored from close range.
2 to 1!
After the second half, the game was still stable and both sides had no desire to win.
Yang Hao made two substitutions in the 60th minute, Torres replaced Kiko and Gabi replaced Oscar Mena.
Both times were positional substitutions, and through training over the past few days, the two young players have also understood the team's 4231 tactics, so they know what they should do after coming on the court.
But they are young after all.
Gabi was diligent but still a little nervous with the ball.
Torres did not know how to be nervous and was very active, but he was poor in physical confrontation. Every time he got the ball, he was knocked to the ground by Real Mallorca's defenders.
It can be seen that both young players are trying hard to prove themselves, but at the moment, they are not very mature.
At the end of the game, Torres had a very good chance. It was a pass from Hugo Leal. Torres stopped the ball and turned around, brushed past the defender, and got rid of everyone in an instant after starting.
But his subsequent handling showed a lack of experience and was tricked by goalkeeper Leo Frank, causing the shot to completely lose its angle.
In the end, Atletico Madrid defeated Real Mallorca 2-1.
Yang Hao's team ended this season's La Liga with six consecutive wins.
When the two young players walked off the court, they both hung their heads, obviously not .
But Yang Hao still encouraged them with a smile.
"You have performed very well. Keep up the hard work next season!" Yang Hao comforted them, holding one of them in each hand.
Both of them looked at their head coach with an expression of disbelief.
Does this mean that from now on we will both be in the first team and follow you?
Yang Hao sensed their doubts, but out of mischief, he chose not to explain anything. Guess what!
The thought of these two young boys suffering from insomnia made him almost laugh out loud.
…
All 38 rounds of La Liga have been played.
Atletico Madrid defeated Real Mallorca 2-1 away. Both sides had no desire and neither tried their best.
Especially Atletico Madrid, they actually played with an all-substitute lineup, and the key is that they still won.
This was indeed something Yang Hao had not expected.
The biggest news for Atletico Madrid in this round is the appearance of two young players.
The 16-year-old Torres and Gabi were both substituted in the second half, especially the scene where Torres replaced Kiko.
At the post-match press conference, Mendiodoro said that head coach Yang Hao commented that this scene was a handover ceremony for the two generations of Atletico Madrid's strikers.
"He firmly believes that Torres will become a world-class center forward in the future!"
But everyone knows that Torres is still too young at the moment.
Especially the physical confrontation on the court, it really is not good.
In the last round, Deportivo La Coruña, who had won the championship in advance, defeated Espanyol 2-0 and successfully won the La Liga championship.
In fact, they already had it.
Barcelona drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo at home.
It is worth mentioning that after the game, Van Gaal announced that he would leave Barcelona.
This was also within everyone's expectations.
Since Barcelona president Nunez stepped down, everyone has basically guessed Van Gaal's ending.
What was really surprising was that Real Madrid, who were aiming to compete in the Champions League, lost 0-1 to Valladolid at home, while Valencia defeated Zaragoza 2-1.
As a result, Valencia ranks 3rd in La Liga, Zaragoza ranks 4th, and Real Madrid ranks 5th.
This is equivalent to pushing Bosque's team into a desperate situation!
When Yang Hao received the battle report, he was overjoyed and said directly in the locker room: "After we successfully avoided relegation, it seemed as if even God was on our side!"
Why?
There are only four Champions League places in La Liga, so if Real Madrid wants to participate in the Champions League next season, they must win the Champions League final and then, as the defending champion, dethrone Zaragoza and replace it.
This is actually the current rule of the Champions League.
Similar to after Liverpool won the championship, there were 5 teams participating in the Premier League (Liverpool had to start from the first round of qualifiers), but there were always only 4 places.
But this is a bit cruel for Zaragoza.
After struggling to get to fourth place in the league, they ended up meeting Real Madrid, who had reached the Champions League final. They could only hope that Valencia would win.
This will inevitably increase the pressure on Real Madrid in the game, which is a good thing for Atletico Madrid.
But what is more interesting is that in this round of games, Real Mallorca lacked fighting spirit and lost , Espanyol lost to Deportivo La Coruna away, Malaga drew 0-0 with Racing Santander, Real Oviedo lost 0-1 to Real Sociedad, and Numancia lost 1-2 to Real Betis.
Because several teams ranked higher either drew or lost, Atletico Madrid's league ranking suddenly jumped to 12th place after getting 3 points, with the same points as Athletic Bilbao, which is ranked 11th.
However, because Atletico Madrid lost to Athletic Bilbao 2-4 and 1-2 in the two rounds respectively, it ranked 12th.
This was definitely something Yang Hao had never dared to think about before.
They clearly just wanted to avoid relegation, so how did they suddenly get to such a high position?
No one expected that Atletico Madrid, which had been in the relegation zone for more than half a year, would suddenly make a comeback in the last month and become a lower-middle-class team.
I can only sigh and say that things in the world are truly amazing!
This also made the media and fans around the world admire Yang Hao even more. Being able to lead the team out of the most chaotic La Liga in history, Yang Hao, who was only 25 years old, successfully proved his strength.
Moreover, he achieved an amazing record of 4 wins in 4 games against two Champions League semi-final teams, Barcelona and Valencia.
It can be said that Yang Hao performed amazingly in the strong dialogue.
Next up is the King's Cup final. If Yang Hao can defeat Real Madrid, he will have completely defeated three of the four teams in this season's Champions League semi-finals.
Even the Spanish National News changed its previous opinion of Yang Hao, believing that he was a true butcher of the rich.
…
Yang Hao would also read the overwhelming news and propaganda from the outside world, and would feel happy and even a little proud, but he would soon put it out of his mind.
However, one piece of news caught Yang Hao's attention.
He couldn't wait to call Xiao Hill.
