Chapter 44 Chapter 44 Report to the first team now
On February 3, Castilla travelled to the Molinon-Quini Stadium to challenge Sporting Gijon.
Gijon's youth training is quite good. Outstanding players such as Angulo, David Villa and Enrique all come from here. This team has been hovering between La Liga and the Spanish Second Division for many years.
Neither side made much of a splash throughout the first half, and the defensive work was particularly satisfying to the coaches of both teams.
Sporting Gijon wants to maintain its second place in the league, so it does not play aggressively. They are 5 points behind Manusia at the top of the table, and the points lead over the third and fourth places is not enough to ensure safety. Today's opponent Castilla is not a weak team. In the next game, they will go away to challenge Elche. I don't know why, but Sporting Gijon has never won in the previous five encounters with Elche. If they lose at home today, there are still 19 rounds of league left, and their possibility of promotion to the First Division may easily be affected.
Castilla played against Manuccia, who was at the top of the table, in the last game. Challenging the first and second place consecutively is also a tough battle for them. Redondo's requirement for today's game is to get a point in a draw and continue to suppress the team that is eyeing the fifth place.
Both sides involuntarily played conservatively. Once the ball crossed the half court, the other side's players would fill in, steal the ball, and intercept the ball, preventing any threatening attack from forming.
In the full 45 minutes, both sides had a total of 10 shots, 3 of which were on target, all from Castilla.
Leandri didn't put in much effort in the first half. He returned to the locker room and sat quietly to drink water while listening to Redondo's tactical arrangements.
Sporting Gijon defended very well, but perhaps they focused too much on not conceding goals, which led to weak offense throughout the game. The performance of 0 shots on target in the first half made it clear at a glance that their forward force was weak in this round. Redondo has now changed his mind and is ready to grab 3 points here.
The points lost in the first place can be regained from the second place. How can this not be considered a kind of conservation of points?
Redondo gave Callejon a few words about the tactical arrangements and asked him to go outside to warm up.
In the 57th minute, taking advantage of a dead ball, Callejon waited for a substitution on the sidelines. He was not alone, as there was a spirited young man standing next to him. The head coach of Sporting Gijon seemed to have the same idea as Redondo. They were also preparing to replace a defensive midfielder with a forward to enhance the team's offensive firepower.
In the 62nd minute, Sporting Gijon took the lead in finding an opportunity to launch an attack, with a long pass from the backcourt accurately finding the player who was roaming on the right waiting for the hunting moment to come.
But today, Vera seemed to have awakened his magical powers, and he communicated with Kafu in front of everyone.
He used his body to block the opponent's position first, and even though the opponent moved his legs faster and faster, he did not lose his balance. He blocked the opponent's advance on the sideline, and even frowned and kicked the ball out from his chest.
What's the meaning? Do you look down on me? A few days ago, the coach called me a wooden stake. Do you really think I can’t defend?
Vera made a prompt move and kicked the ball, glaring at the opponent coldly. Before he could react, he quickly went around to receive the ball and prepared to move forward.
The offensive and defensive situations of both sides changed directly.
Facing Sporting Gijon's tight defense, Xavi Garcia used smart positioning to create a gap for his team. Although Villarra proved himself to be a big leak with his performance in the previous few games, it is undeniable that his ability to provide assists is indeed very strong. Otherwise, even if he was the tallest among the short guys, Redondo would not let him directly replace Arbeloa.
Villarra cooperated with Javi Garcia and continued to move the ball forward. When he saw Parejo reaching out for the ball at the flank, he directly passed a half-high ball to him and continued to run towards the goal.
Parejo was in a good position and calmly unloaded the ball and continued to move forward. At this time, Sporting Gijon's half was in chaos.
As soon as he stepped into the penalty area, the opponent's substitute player came over to block Parejo's path. Parejo was not weak either. Although his physical condition was not as good as the opponent's, he also staggered and began to swing his legs.
With a bang, the ball was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper with one hand!
But before the Sporting Gijon players could breathe a sigh of relief, the fans on the sidelines started exclaiming again.
In the desperate eyes of the Gijon goalkeeper, Villarra appeared. When the goalkeeper saw the back of his shoes hit the rebounding football hard, he knew that the ball could not be defended.
Sure enough, with Vera's powerful kick, the ball went straight into the net.
0-1, now Castilla is leading by one goal away from home.
After the celebration, Redondo immediately gestured to the players on the field, asking everyone to pay attention to defense starting from the frontcourt.
Although everyone in Castilla is a gifted player, Redondo is able to use his own methods and temper to achieve the achievement of making the forwards start to defend.
Except for center forward Negredo who remained in the front, the others said that as long as Gijon dared to press forward, Castilla would launch a defensive counterattack. The further forward you rush, the faster Negredo's goal will come.
Sporting Gijon, who were falling behind at home, began to get anxious and attacked desperately to try to break through Leandri's goal.
In the 73rd minute, the opponent used a two-pass wall combination to break through Nacho. Vera didn't need anyone to remind him and started running over to assist in defense accurately.
Seeing that there were not many opportunities, the striker of Gijon gritted his teeth and shot as soon as he entered the penalty area.
Leandri fell to the ground quickly, and the ball hit his glove and flew to the baseline.
In the corner area, Gijon's number ten used a first-level arc to send the ball to the goal guarded by Leandri.
This time he was looking for the defender who was supporting from the backcourt. He simply jumped his right leg high and shot directly at the goal without stopping the ball!
The powerful shot from close range caused Leandri to lose his grip on the ball.
The opponent's No. 9 was coming up for a follow-up shot, but Leandri reacted quickly and agilely and pressed the ball 30 centimeters in front of the goal line.
In the 79th minute, Sporting Gijon took possession of the ball.
It was still the No. 10 player who pushed the ball forward. Javi Garcia took the initiative to defend, but he was extremely eager to equalize the score and was able to get past him with a few cool feints. Sporting Gijon once again had a good chance to score.
Castilla's big center back hurried over to fill the position, but the No. 10, who was behind at home today, was brave and skilled, and picked up the ball with his foot before the center back's shoes were about to touch the ball.
Leandri was standing in front of the goal line at this time. When he saw the opponent kicking the ball, he guessed that the opponent was going to make a lob shot. He immediately stepped back a few steps, jumped up, turned around in the air and took the ball off.
In the 86th minute, Xavi Garcia failed to pass the ball and Sporting Gijon seized the opportunity to start a counterattack.
Everyone quickly spread out their formation. It was already the last few minutes. If they couldn't score a goal, they would most likely be chased by the team behind them.
Gijon's No. 8 sent the ball forward through multiple short passes, and No. 10 received the ball and kicked it again without stopping, directly sending the ammunition behind Castilla on the right.
Still on the right, Verra was originally near the center line preparing to cooperate with the team in an attack, but now he can only try hard to chase back.
No matter how he chased back diagonally from the center line, he could not outrun the winger who was well prepared. The winger almost got rid of Verla with an abrupt stop. Although he was not as fast as the opponent, Verla kept putting pressure on him from behind and kept interfering with the winger's advance.
Leandri bent over and stood in front of the goal with his hands wide open, constantly moving his position according to the frequency of the opponent's players touching the ball.
As the winger of Gijon just stepped into the small penalty area, Nacho rushed back to block him. With Nacho in front and Villarra behind him, his chance of shooting was very slim.
The winger had attracted most of Castilla's defensive firepower. He pretended to shoot, but kicked the ball to the left with his heel, and the ball landed lightly at the feet of the center forward who came to cooperate.
Shoot the ball!
Leandri's defensive energy had been focused on the winger who had just dribbled forward with the ball. All his focus and all his saves were in preparation for his kick.
The opponent's fake move had fooled him, but the moment he touched the ball with his heel, Leandri's heart sank, and when he saw the opposing center kicking the ball, he immediately reacted and turned slightly to the left.
Fortunately, Leandri reacted quickly enough, and the opponent really pushed a low and fast ball!
He kneeled down subconsciously, and the football immediately bounced onto Leandri's knees. He immediately lowered his head and hugged the ball tightly in his arms.
The center on the opposing team was furious and angrily punched the non-existent barrier in the air several times. The atmosphere on the bench was also polarized.
The players and coaches of Sporting Gijon all had their faces twisted in tears, and many of them covered their faces with their hands in pain. But it was different on Castilla's side. Seeing Leandri's wonderful save, everyone jumped up from their positions excitedly. Adam even grabbed his coat and screamed. Redondo and the assistant coach also clapped. The bearded assistant coach's broad palms were already red from clapping, and he was muttering to the goalkeeper coach some blatant compliments like "You coached Ryan so well, his talent is so amazing".
The goalkeeper coach is even more proud. With Leandri, Antonio Adán and an experienced old captain as the goalkeeper, how many teams envy Castilla's current goalkeeper configuration.
The two minutes of extra time granted by the referee were also successfully used, and Castilla took advantage of Villarra's foot shot to get back 3 points.
On the way back, they learned that Elche, currently fifth in the Spanish Second Division, only got a draw in this game, and they widened the gap again.
In the 24th round of the Spanish Second Division, Castilla beat Atlético Ferrol 2-1. At the same time, Real Madrid also slaughtered Valladolid 7-0 at the Bernabeu. Both the first team and the youth team performed well, and the fans were holding beer in bars and on the streets.
However, less than two days later, Meilingge and others saw the injury report issued by the team.
Pole Dudek was injured again during training. This is not his first elbow injury. The results of the expert consultation have not yet come out, but according to the preliminary judgment of the team doctor, he will miss the game for 3 months.
Leandri had just arrived at the training ground, changed his clothes and was about to go out for warm-up when Redondo appeared in front of everyone with a notebook in his hand.
"Ryan, you report to the first team now."
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