Chapter 57: The Temptation of the Unpopular
In the 30th round of La Liga, Barcelona will challenge Malaga away.
Although Barcelona had good luck in the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, drawing the weakest Portuguese Super League team Benfica, Rijkaard still did not dare to be careless and made a large rotation in the match against Malaga.
Ronaldinho, Deco, Xavi, Puyol and others all had a rest, and the team played against Malaga with almost an entire substitute lineup.
Among the regular starting players, only Eto'o and Giuly, who became the main player after Messi was out for the season, started.
But unexpectedly, at the Rose Garden Stadium, Barcelona encountered Malaga's tenacious sniping.
Without Ronaldinho, Xavi, Deco and Iniesta, Barcelona's frontcourt attack seriously lacked creativity, and they created more opportunities through the cooperation between Eto'o, Larsson and Giuly.
But it was difficult to break through Malaga's defense.
Giuly was very active on the right and completely dominated Barcelona's attack.
In the stoppage time, it was Giuly who created a free kick on the right, Larsson headed the ball, and Eto'o followed up in front of the goal to score.
But Malaga players protested against Larsson's handball foul during a header, which caused a strong reaction at the scene.
The referee ruled the goal invalid on the field, but the slow-motion replay of the live TV broadcast showed that Larsson did not actually commit a handball foul. This was an obvious misjudgment.
After failing to score in the first half, Barcelona's offense .
What is puzzling is that Rijkaard replaced the most active player, Giuly, in the 60th minute.
Although Iniesta came on as a substitute soon after and Barcelona's midfield organization improved, they were ultimately unable to break through Malaga's goal and the two sides shook hands in a 0-0 draw.
Twenty-two shots, ten on target, and no goals, Barcelona returned home from the Rose Garden in disappointment.
…
Real Madrid's game will be one day later than Barcelona's.
Gao Shen and the coaching staff watched the live broadcast of Barcelona's game in Valdebebas. The result of 0-0 was unexpected by no one, because Malaga is currently ranked at the bottom of La Liga, and relegation is basically a foregone conclusion.
The top team in La Liga drew with the bottom team, which is an upset no matter how you look at it.
In fact, Rijkaard dared to make such a drastic rotation because he thought he could easily beat Malaga, but who could have thought that the Rose Garden Stadium would be so difficult.
The upset was caused by many factors, including the referee's misjudgment, but this cannot be changed.
The actual situation now is that Barcelona has lost points again.
After watching the live broadcast, the coach's office was very quiet.
Gao Shen was pondering a question, a very tempting question.
Should we take this opportunity to further shorten the points gap?
According to Gao Shen's original plan, there will be a large rotation in the home game against Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend. The purpose is very simple, which is to better prepare for the challenge of Juventus in Turin next Wednesday.
To see how difficult Capello's team is, just look at their lineup and think about Capello's style.
Not to mention the current old, weak and sick Real Madrid, even Real Madrid in its peak form would be quite cautious when facing Juventus. Gao Shen had to conserve his energy and go all out.
But now Barcelona is tied.
What does this mean?
After Barcelona drew with Malaga, the points gap with Real Madrid widened to eight points, but Real Madrid has one game less.
If Real Madrid can beat Deportivo La Coruna at home tomorrow night, the points gap will be shortened to five points.
From ten points shortened to five points, Real Madrid will be more confident and motivated for next weekend's national derby.
But this will inevitably affect the Champions League next Wednesday.
When Rijkaard faced Benfica, he chose to make major rotations, but Gao Shen faced Capello's Juventus.
The Champions League is tempting, but so is the league.
"What do you think?" Gao Shen asked.
Everyone knew what Gao Shen was asking.
"There is a chance, but... it's too risky." Maqueda said cautiously.
Gao Shen said nothing, but nodded encouragingly, motioning for him to continue.
"We all know how strong Juventus is, and this team is very stable. Even if we gather all our elite players and go to the Alpi Stadium in the best condition, we may not be able to gain an advantage. If we are distracted by the league, I am afraid..."
Everyone nodded.
As a time traveler, Gao Shen knew that Serie A was about to encounter the Calciopoli scandal, followed by a rapid decline.
But it is difficult for later comers to understand and appreciate how strong Serie A was before the Calciopoli scandal.
Especially Capello's Juventus is so strong.
Almost every position has the best players in the world. With such a lineup, plus Capello who is as steady as an old dog, it is easy to imagine how difficult it is to play against Juventus.
"That's true, but now Barcelona has made a mistake again. The opportunity is right in front of us. Shouldn't we take it?" Lucas expressed a different opinion.
He now understands Gao Shen's style of doing things. Whenever Gao Shen proposes for everyone to discuss, everyone will express their opinions together.
"We have worked hard to catch up with Barcelona. Now we need to grit our teeth and try to beat Deportivo La Coruna in the league to narrow the points gap. In the Champions League, we need to hold on away from home and decide the outcome at home."
As soon as Lucas finished speaking, Maqueda said: "This is too risky and ideal, but in fact, we may not be able to leave Turin intact. Once we lose the ball, Capello's team will not give us any chances."
Capello believes in the one-to-zero principle, which, as the name suggests, means scoring one more goal than the opponent.
From this point it is not difficult to see how good the team he coached is in defense.
Of course, Gao Shen has recently been nicknamed Capello II because his Real Madrid also played with a score of 1-0, which is very conservative.
"I still stick to my opinion. It's already the 30th round and the league is about to end. If we can't narrow the gap as soon as possible, the pressure on us will increase and we will have to give up the league. But the Champions League..."
Lucas didn't finish his words, but the meaning was very clear, Real Madrid's situation in the Champions League is not much better than in La Liga.
Gao Shen knows Lucas well. He wants to give it a try and thinks the team can create opportunities in both La Liga and the Champions League.
Maqueda's idea is also very reasonable, because after playing against Deportivo La Coruna, they will play against Juventus in the middle of the week and Barcelona on the weekend. There are three games in a row. The pressure is extremely high. Even a team in its prime like Barcelona can't do it. That's why Rijkaard has to rotate the players, which gives Malaga an opportunity to take advantage.
The original strategy of the Real Madrid coaching staff was to compete against Juventus and Barcelona.
Gao Shen turned to look at Buenaventura, "Lorenzo, what do you think?"
Buenaventura has just joined the team not long ago, but he is highly valued and entrusted with important tasks as soon as he arrived. His opinions must be heard in every game, and now is no exception.
"Both opinions make sense, it just depends on whether you want to be aggressive or more cautious."
After a pause, Buenaventura looked at the people around him and suggested, "In fact, several Brazilian players in the team are in good shape and have good physical fitness. Can we..."
"It's not the right time yet. Let's not discuss this matter." Gao Shen interrupted Buenaventura before he could finish.
Buenaventura was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Gao Shen to be so determined.
Looking at other people, I immediately understood why no one raised this suggestion.
"That's it for now. Let's all think about it carefully. I'll also think about it carefully. We'll talk again tomorrow morning."
In fact, Gao Shen knew in his heart that several people from the Brazilian gang would be a great help now.
Ronaldo, Baptista, Carlos, Robinho and Cicinho, if these five players can participate in the game, it will be a great help to Real Madrid.
But he cannot just focus on the present, but must consider the overall situation.
During the time he has been in charge of Real Madrid, he has been suppressing the Brazilian gang in order to make them submit and obey.
As long as they are submissive and obedient, Gao Shen will be able to use them easily in the future. They will obey the team's overall tactical discipline and fight hard on the court Real Madrid can fight as a whole.
Now, the time is not ripe, especially since Gao Shen took the initiative to let the Brazilian gang appear. Wouldn't the Brazilian gang become even more arrogant in the future? Wouldn't everything Gao Shen did before be in vain?
Judging from Ronaldo's statement, he can hardly hold back any longer, just a little bit more.
These Brazilian players definitely want to participate in the World Cup in Germany, and they will definitely give in.
It’s not worth giving up now.
…
After leaving Valdebebas, Gao Shen rode his bicycle back to the Hortaleza district.
Along the way, he was weighing and considering this matter.
In fact, it is never about right or wrong, but about trade-offs.
In the field of professional competition, if you win, even your fart will smell good and everything you do will be right. But if you lose, no matter how many justifiable reasons you have, they are all excuses.
This is especially true for head coaches.
That’s why some people say that being a head coach is the riskiest profession in European football, riskier than being a player.
At the very least, when the team's performance is poor, the first thing to do is to change the head coach rather than the players.
Gao Shen returned home, washed up, lay down in bed, and went straight into the tactical library.
During this period, he spent all his time in the library, continuing to study Benítez's books, while also reading the works of other people, such as Ferguson, Wenger, Ranieri, etc.
Before every game, he would carefully read the books of the opponent's head coach to understand the opponent's tactical concepts, game ideas and some command styles, which was of great benefit to him.
It can be said that Real Madrid’s consecutive victories in the past period of time are inseparable from Gao Shen’s improvement in the library.
In recent days, Gao Shen has been reading the books of Juventus's two former head coaches, Lippi and Capello, trying to find ways to deal with Juventus.
The books of these two tactical masters are profound and extensive , especially their understanding and practice of some tactical theories, which made Gao Shen fascinated. Not only did he have a deeper understanding of Italian football, but he also had a deeper understanding of the essence of football tactics.
For example, how are great teams made?
