Chapter 225: Next time for sure!
The eleventh round of La Liga was another eye-popping round.
Fighting on two fronts continuously, Valencia, who had just fought hard against Bruges in the middle of the week, made a lot of rotations. Three players, Sudon, Aimar and Vicente, all sat on the bench, leaving Rufete, Jorge Lopez, Canobbio and Mista in the starting lineup.
As a result, the whole team performed poorly.
In the 23rd minute of the first half, Santander Racing striker Bodibo scored the first goal for the visiting team.
Just one minute later, Baraja equalized for Valencia.
Valencia lacked offensive threat throughout the first half, and Benítez replaced Jorge Lopez with Aimar at halftime.
As a result, just four minutes into the second half, Bodibo once again seized the loopholes in Valencia's defense and helped the visiting team to increase the score again, putting Valencia into an embarrassing situation.
In the 60th minute, Benítez replaced Vicente, and in the 70th minute, Su Dong came on as a substitute.
Just eight minutes later, Vicente broke through from the left and made a cross, and Su Dong headed the ball in the penalty area to equalize the score for Valencia.
This score remained until the end of the game.
Valencia was tied 2-2 by Santander Racing at home.
…
Deportivo La Coruna reversed Real Sociedad 2-1 at home, and Barcelona narrowly beat Real Betis 2-1 at home.
Real Madrid, who had just risen to second place in the league standings, was slaughtered 4-1 in an away game against Sevilla.
Ronaldo scored a goal in the second half to save face for the Galacticos.
This devastating defeat shook the entire Spanish football world.
First, Deportivo La Coruna suffered a crushing defeat of 8-3 to Monaco, and then Real Madrid lost 4-1 to Sevilla. What on earth happened?
Why do the strong teams in La Liga suffer such big defeats one after another?
Regarding Real Madrid's problems, all media and professionals have a consistent assessment, that is, the imbalance between offense and defense.
There are too many superstars piled up in the frontcourt, which seriously squeezes the midfield defense. Especially after Makelele left the team, the midfield lacks defensive hardness, which directly forces the opponent to face their own defense. This is a very bad situation.
It was also after this crushing defeat that Real Madrid picked up the old news of introducing central defenders. Players such as Ayala, Woodgate, Samuel and Lucio also re-entered Real Madrid's sight.
Real Madrid's crushing defeat resulted in them losing second place in the league.
After eleven rounds of matches, Valencia is leading the La Liga with nine wins, one draw and one loss.
Deportivo La Coruna followed closely with eight wins, one draw and two losses, Real Madrid ranked third, and Barcelona rose to fourth.
Atletico Madrid has also climbed to the fifth place in the league thanks to the outstanding performance of young player Torres in recent times.
Looking at the start of this season's La Liga, Valencia is undoubtedly the most stable team.
Marca believes that after introducing Su Dong and filling the team's offensive deficiencies, Benítez has basically completed the team's transformation. While maintaining the double defensive midfielders unchanged, Su Dong's joining not only improves the team's central axis, but also greatly enhances the team's offensive firepower.
More importantly, this season's La Liga is moving in a favorable direction for Valencia.
Real Madrid is trapped by Zidane and Pavon's policy, their defense is very fragile, and they have focused more on the Champions League.
Barcelona, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo all have the strength to compete, but Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo's results this season are not ideal, either because of changes in coaches or because of distractions from European wars, making it difficult for them to achieve anything in La Liga.
Barcelona could have performed better, but Rijkaard has not yet adjusted a mature style of play, which has made Barcelona play very unstably and their performance this season is not ideal.
Marca believes that Deportivo La Coruna will be Valencia's biggest competitor this season. Irueta's team not only has a strong lineup, but also has relatively mature overall skills and tactics.
After sending away Makaay, although Pandiani appeared in Deportivo La Coruna, the conflict between Pandiani and Tristan made the locker room of Deportivo La Coruna unstable, and the team performed poorly in strong dialogues.
Marca said that Valencia is the team with the most potential to win the championship in La Liga this season. Not only did they perform well in the dialogue with strong teams, but especially in the devilish schedule at the beginning of the season, they defeated Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona one after another, and won a lot of applause.
"Being good at tough battles is a strong guarantee for Valencia to win the La Liga title this season!"
"The continuous goals scored by new player Su Dong have given everyone confidence in Valencia. I believe that the Bats are fully capable of winning another La Liga title this season!"
…………
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After playing against Racing Santander, the team disbanded that night.
Su Dong has been competing and training non-stop for days and is exhausted both physically and mentally.
Nuno Cruz and other members of the coaching team have been working around the clock with him and are also very tired.
Taking advantage of the two-week national team match day, and considering that he really needed proper rest, Su Dong agreed to Nuno Cruz's proposal of a vacation and gave the entire private coaching team a week's vacation.
Although his personal trainers were on holiday, Su Dong did not take a break with them. He just slightly reduced the intensity of his training.
On the 15th, he received a call from Messi.
Because of Aimar, the two had had a meal in Barcelona before. Later, Messi took the time to go to Valencia and watch Valencia's game. At that time, Su Dong scored a goal, so he treated Messi to a meal after the game.
After a few interactions, the two of them became on good terms.
This time Messi called him to invite him to Porto to watch the opening ceremony of the Dragon Stadium.
"Since it is during the national team competition, the main players of the team are not here, so I am in the squad this time and should be able to play."
Although it was over the phone, Su Dong could still hear the excitement in Messi's voice.
This is entering Barcelona's first team!
Of course Su Dong congratulated him. Since Aimar was participating in the national team competition in Argentina and Messi's best friend was far away in the UK, Su Dong was the only friend Messi invited besides his family.
In his first-team debut, Su Dong certainly would not spoil Messi's fun.
"Don't worry, I'm familiar with Porto and will definitely go to support you!"
…
Two days later, Porto held a grand opening ceremony at the Dragon Stadium.
In fact, the stadium has been opened a long time ago, it just lacks a ceremony.
This is a bit like the feeling between a man and a woman who gets on the bus first and buys the ticket later.
Barcelona has many international players, and even the rotation players are often the main players of their respective national teams, so most of them play as the water cooler managers of the first team. On the contrary, Porto plays with a full main lineup.
After all, this is someone else's wedding, uh, no, it's a ticket-buying event.
Needless to say, Barcelona was beaten like a pig and was suppressed throughout the game.
Messi came on as a substitute in the 75th minute, and in just ten minutes, he was knocked down at least five times.
Sometimes it is because the body is too thin and falls down with a push, and sometimes it is because the opponent's defensive movements are too big and they directly tackle the person and the ball.
There were two most threatening scenes. One was when he came on as a substitute for five minutes. His teammate made a long diagonal pass into the penalty area. Messi followed up and stopped the ball beautifully. However, he failed to handle the next step well and was saved by the goalkeeper Baia.
Another time was in the 86th minute. After another direct pass from his teammate, Messi sprinted quickly and kicked the ball behind him before goalkeeper Baia could reach the outside of the penalty area and could not use his hands.
But at the critical moment, Carvalho stood in front of Messi. The Argentine tried to pass Carvalho, but needless to say, the ball was completely intercepted and he missed another great opportunity.
Su Dong was very anxious watching in the stands, and he wished he could go into the game himself and score those two goals for Messi.
"This kid is still young!" Su Dong shook his head in a contemptuous manner.
Little did people know that he is only three years older than Messi.
…
"Ha, Sue, long time no see!"
When Deco saw Su Dong in the player tunnel, he was very surprised.
"Yes, well done, Deco!" Su Dong walked over and hugged Deco.
"Why are you here?" Carvalho, who was behind Deco, instinctively jumped his eyelids when he saw Su Dong.
This is his nightmare!
"Don't worry, I'm here tonight as a fan." Su Dong quickly explained.
Deco and others found it funny.
Although Su Dong used to play for Sporting Lisbon and had many fights with Porto players on the field, they still have a good relationship off the field, especially with Deco.
Benny McCarthy silently watched Su Dong chatting and laughing with Deco and others, and felt mixed emotions in his heart.
He knew that one of the important reasons why he was able to return to Porto was that Su Dong went to Valencia.
Mourinho's first choice was Su Dong, but he bought him back because he couldn't buy Su Dong. This made Benny McCarthy feel very uncomfortable when he saw Su Dong.
Especially when I think about the fact that the other team is now doing very well in La Liga, I feel even more frustrated.
You know, he only played fourteen times in La Liga last season and scored two goals.
But what about Su Dong?
He has already scored 14 goals in La Liga this season, and what's worse is that he is only 19 years old! Suddenly seeing Su Dong, McCarthy really wanted to stay away from him.
…
"Is that boy your friend?" Deco and Carvalho were a little surprised.
Valencia's center forward is friends with Barcelona's rookie? What's the connection? Su Dong was speechless. It was difficult to explain. He couldn't say that Messi was Aimar's little fan, and he had a close relationship with Aimar, so he was also on good terms with Messi...
It’s too troublesome, so I won’t explain it.
"Ricardo, you are a mean guy. Couldn't you have shown some mercy and let him score?" Su Dong looked at Carvalho with ill intentions, making the Portuguese central defender feel a chill in his heart for no reason.
He really didn't know how to defend Su Dong! "I didn't know he was your friend. Now I know. Next time, next time for sure!" Carvalho quickly explained, and then ran away like a fly.
Su Dong and Deko looked at each other and laughed.
(End of this chapter)
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