Chapter 84 Capello is tricked
On the evening of April 5th, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was packed.
Real Madrid has shown a strong rebound in recent times, especially after defeating Barcelona at Camp Nou, and has once again launched an attack on the La Liga championship, winning wide praise from the outside world.
Whether it is the media, fans, or bookmakers, their impression of Real Madrid has changed a lot.
The most direct manifestation is that Real Madrid's odds of qualifying have increased.
Although still not as good as Juventus, at least they have the ability to fight.
Real Madrid fans generally approve of the team's transformation, especially after defeating Barcelona, but they still feel a little uncomfortable because the Real Madrid team coached by Gao Shen still plays too conservatively.
Fortunately, it is said that there will be a large-scale attack tonight.
Ronaldo returned against Barcelona, Zidane, Beckham and Raul are all in the team, which makes Real Madrid still star-studded and full of superstars. The players are in good shape too, and they can definitely play offensive football comparable to the Galacticos era and destroy Juventus at home.
Before the game, the media hyped it up like this, especially after the team roster came out and Ronaldo was found on the list, everyone basically thought so.
Everyone can see that Real Madrid needs to attack tonight!
…
Florentino came to the Bernabeu again.
Since the Madrid derby, he has gone to the Bernabeu to watch almost every home game.
Many people believe that this is a signal that he is actively planning a comeback, but apart from going to watch the game, he has kept a low profile in everything else. Even the lawyer on the board of directors named Calderon is more active than him, and it doesn't look like he is going to make a comeback.
He has many friends in Spain, especially after becoming the president of Real Madrid, he made more friends with political and business celebrities.
Before entering his own box, he would visit and greet other friends' boxes first. This has become his routine.
Many people don’t know that Florentino is actually the chairman of a Real Madrid fan club.
Of course, this fan club is not simple. All the members who can enter are the most hardcore fans of Real Madrid, and they are all famous wealthy people in Spain and even Europe.
Real Madrid's current president Martin is also a member of this fan club and one of the earliest founding members.
When Florentino meets his friends, what he discusses most is of course tonight's game, especially Ronaldo.
Among the superstars, Raul, Beckham and Zidane are the players that Gao Shen trusts the most, but Ronaldo is the only one who is put on ice.
Now that he has made a comeback, everyone is still very much looking forward to seeing Real Madrid recreate the superstar lineup of the Galacticos era.
For many Real Madrid fans, watching football is not just about winning, but also a kind of enjoyment and an appreciation of genius art.
So, they can't even accept the team winning in an ugly football way.
After this lap before the race, Florentino collected a lot of information.
Some of them he had known for a long time, such as Martin actually authorized Gao Shen to renew the power of players' contracts, and some of them he heard for the first time, such as Martin was actually secretly contacting Eriksson, and board member Calderon was actually contacting Capello.
"Is the news reliable?" Florentino asked Manuel Redondo when he returned to his box.
The personal assistant also served as his intelligence officer.
"It has been confirmed. The news is true. Eriksson is more willing to take over Real Madrid, while Bosque seems to be very resistant. In addition, Calderon contacted Capello through Mijatovic."
Florentino now connected all the information together.
In fact, the football circle is not big, but also not small.
Just like Calderon, he is a member of the board of directors of Real Madrid and has a lot of say, but what is the reality?
He has absolutely no experience or resources in the football circle.
In other words, if he runs for the presidency of Real Madrid, who would care about him?
He can't even formulate a policy agenda. He knows nothing about how to play football. What's to be done?
Therefore, he needs to bring someone into partnership and someone who understands football to help him.
Florentino brought in Valdano, and Calderon brought in Mijatovic.
But that's where the problem lies.
Barcelona's current president Laporta didn't understand football at the beginning, so he worked with Rosell, who introduced a number of Brazilian stars for him, including Ronaldinho. But soon, Rosell became more successful than his boss and was struck out in December last year.
And there is also Gaspart, the former president of Barcelona. Why did he do so well as vice president but not as president?
Because he lacked personal connections, he could only attract more people to form partnerships. However, the more people there were, the more dispersed the power became. In addition, there were various conflicts of interest within the ruling team, which made it impossible for him to do anything. Barcelona fell into darkness.
"Do you want me to go talk to Calderon?" Redondo asked. He felt that this lawyer had been too active recently.
Florentino raised his head slightly and clicked his tongue twice, "No need, Martin has been doing too well recently, we should put some pressure on him. Calderon is just a supporting role and can't be on the stage."
After hearing this, Lei Dongduo thought about it and realized that it was true.
If you want to run for president, it’s not something that can be accomplished with just a few simple words.
Florentino walked into his box and saw Butragueno and Valdano talking there.
These two are his most trusted right-hand men, and the key is that they both know football very well.
"What are you talking about?" Florentino walked over with a smile.
"We are discussing tonight's game." Valdano replied with a smile, pointing at Butragueno next to him and jokingly said, "Emilio said that even he doesn't know what tactics Gao Shen will adopt tonight."
"Really?" Florentino was a little surprised.
Butragueno nodded awkwardly. "This kid has a very strong sense of confidentiality. Not only has he abolished many of Valdebebas' rules, he has also strictly disciplined the players. It is difficult for us to find out the specific strategies now."
This is contrary to Florentino's policy agenda, which focuses on eye-catching effects.
But Florentino was not angry and even laughed.
"People say he's going to play offensive football tonight. I'm looking forward to it," Florentino said happily.
Valdano shook his head. "That's too risky."
"Yes, we must not let Juventus score away goals." Butragueno frowned.
But no one knows what Gao Shen would think.
The away team was tied at 0-0, so how they will play at home is an interesting suspense.
You can score a goal while not letting the opponent score. How can there be such a beautiful thing in the world?
So many people say that the away goals rule in the Champions League knockout stage is one of the greatest rules in professional football leagues, which greatly enriches the suspense and fun of the knockout stage.
"What about Capello? Will he score the away goal?" Florentino asked curiously.
This is also very possible.
Because as long as Juventus scores an away goal, Real Madrid must score two goals, which is a great thing no matter how you look at it.
But again, risk and reward are proportional.
If Juventus can score an away goal, that would naturally be a good thing. But what if they fail to score an away goal and instead the defense is negligent because of the attack, allowing Real Madrid to score first? What then?
Capello is best at defense and a one-to-zero score. If Real Madrid scores first, with his sophisticated and mean character, he will just hide and defend until the end of time. Then, won't Juventus have to press forward and attack?
When it comes to defensive counterattacks, Juventus is one of the top teams in Europe, but when it comes to attacking, I’m not sure about that.
"Given Capello's personality, it will probably start smoothly," Valdano guessed.
Butragueno thought about it and nodded in agreement.
Character is something that cannot be changed; it is in our bones.
As we were chatting, the starting lineups of both teams were announced.
…
…
The goalkeeper is Buffon, the defense is Chiellini, Cannavaro, Thuram and Zambrotta, the midfielders are Nedved, Emerson, Vieira and Camoranesi, and the two forwards are Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic.
In the locker room, when Gao Shen got the starting lineup of Juventus, he couldn't help but shout excitedly, "Yes! "
4-4-2, Capello indeed chose what he thought was the most stable and secure formation and tactics.
No highlights, no surprises, but it's stable enough!
Lucas, Maqueda, Buenaventura and others beside him were also delighted because Gao Shen guessed correctly.
From the psychological warfare before the game to the publicity campaign, Gao Shen was determined to make Juventus adopt a 4-4-2 tactic.
Because only in this way will Nedved's point be exposed.
Of course, even if Gao Shen did not create momentum, Capello would most likely make this choice, and all Gao Shen did was just add fuel to the fire.
There were not many surprises in Real Madrid's starting lineup.
The goalkeeper is Casillas, the defense is Felipe, Woodgate, Ramos and Arbeloa, the double defensive midfielders are Gravesen and De La Red, the frontcourt is Raul, Zidane and Beckham, and the center forward is Negredo.
This is also the main lineup that Gao Shen has often used in recent times, and there are no surprises.
At this stage of the game, changing the formation can certainly create surprises, but it may also lead to chaos.
This is just like changing the commander before a battle in ancient times.
Winning is certainly a good story and a legend, but losing is more often a joke.
After the players came back from warming up on the field, Gao Shen announced Juventus' starting lineup to them. Everyone felt Gao Shen's excitement and eagerness to try.
Real Madrid has already set up a pocket formation, and now seeing Juventus coming in, how can they not be excited?
Gao Shen looked at the players in front of him with a smile. He felt that he didn't even need to mobilize them too much because they were all full of fighting spirit and determination.
Tonight, Real Madrid really has a chance to advance!
"As for mobilization and encouragement, I believe you all know what to do without me saying more."
"I believe that at this moment, you are as excited and hungry as I am, but I still want to remind you not to make any mistakes and not to give our opponents even the slightest chance!"
The players all nodded vigorously, as if to agree with Gao Shen.
"Finally, Real Madrid warriors, go into the Bernabeu Stadium and take back the glory that belongs to you!"
