Chapter 246 I also have a Zidane
In order to better prepare for the match with Real Madrid, Valencia chartered a plane from Valencia to Madrid in the evening before the match after the team training, and stayed in a hotel near the Bernabeu.
The team bus had arrived in Madrid a day in advance and was on standby.
This is as it should be, after all, this game is related to the championship of this season.
As the league leader, Valencia only has a five-point lead. If they lose at the Bernabeu, this advantage will be shortened to two points. For Valencia, which will continue to fight on two fronts, the situation will become even more difficult.
After a night's rest in the hotel, the next morning, Su Dong, as usual, went to the hotel gym accompanied by Nuno Cruz and others to carry out a set of activation training, in order to ensure his condition for tonight.
After breakfast, the team held its last pre-match preparation meeting.
The meeting place was arranged in the hotel's conference room.
Benítez and Jestedan focused on some precautions for tonight's game, such as what to do if the team loses the ball first? What to do if they lose two or even three goals? What to do if they are ahead? What to do if the referee misjudges the game? All of these were prepared in great detail, because as Albelda said, Valencia encountered very obvious biased referees in the previous four visits to the Bernabéu.
Benítez issued a ban before the game, prohibiting players from discussing the referee, which was also seen by the media as a demonstration. The implication was that I won't say anything, I'll just watch what you do, and the whole world will see it clearly.
Benítez doesn't think Zidane's red card is worth being happy about.
"For a team of Real Madrid's level, Zidane's sudden red card may not be a bad thing, because it may add more variables to the game out of thin air, and Real Madrid's superstars are more capable of controlling these variables on the court."
Benítez first poured a bucket of cold water on all the optimistic players of Valencia.
After three days, the players have basically calmed down.
What Benítez said is right. Just like now, with Zidane absent, how will Queiroz deploy his troops?
Real Madrid has many players on the bench, including Solari, Cambiasso and Portillo, who are all strong substitutes.
Even if we leave aside these substitutes, how will Queiroz arrange the positions of Real Madrid's stars on the field? Ronaldo, Raul, Figo, Beckham, Carlos, Guti...
Which of these Real Madrid stars doesn't shine brightly with a little sunshine?
When Zidane was there before, Valencia would have an expectation in his mind and knew roughly how Real Madrid would play. But now that Zidane is absent, although there is one less big enemy, it also brings more variables.
Benítez doesn't like changes by nature and even hates risks.
"I am thinking that no matter how Real Madrid changes, Zidane's absence will cause a fact, that is, there will be a vacancy in the middle of Real Madrid, unless Queiroz lets Guti move forward to replace Zidane's position, but in this case, the double defensive midfielder position will have problems again."
After more than half a season, Queiroz finally worked out the combination of Beckham and Guti, ensuring that the team has an advantage in passing and controlling the ball, and the defense is also pretty good. Will he break this combination? If so, will he let Cambiasso go up to form a double defensive midfielder with Beckham? Or let Pavon go up and push Elguera to the midfield? Look, the advantage of a strong lineup is fully reflected at this time! "I guess Queiroz will still take the lead in ensuring the integrity of the double defensive midfielder, and Zidane's position may be replaced by Solari, because the Argentine player has performed well recently, but this will cause a problem, Real Madrid has no one in the front court."
Ronaldo is at the front, and Raul seems to be more flexible, but in fact he still plays like a striker.
Without Zidane, who will connect the double defensive midfielders and the double forwards in the frontcourt? "Only the wing!" Benítez made a judgment.
That means playing on the two wings with Carlos Gassolari, Salgado and Figo.
"Our strategy needs to be clearer. If Solari comes on as I expect, it means Real Madrid will play on the wing. Then we will focus more on blocking on the wing and even allow them to cross the ball."
When Benítez said this, he drew the cross routes from Real Madrid's two wings on the tactical board.
"Ayala and Marchena in the middle should pay attention to controlling the landing point. Ronaldo and Raul's headers will basically have no advantage in front of you. I believe you can do it."
Ayala and Marchena both nodded.
"Especially you, Marchena, avoid unnecessary movements if possible. At the Bernabeu, our every move may be magnified and become evidence for our punishment. Do you understand?"
Marchena has never been a stable main player. Pellegrino performed well before, but since Pellegrino fainted, Marchena has scored goals again and been very active, so he has gradually gained a foothold.
But this Spanish central defender has a problem, which is instability and a lot of small movements.
If it happened in any other competition, there might not be any problem, but if the referee wanted to argue with you, it would be hard to say.
"The two defensive midfielders must closely protect the penalty area and give up the flanks to Real Madrid." Benítez looked at the captain and vice-captain.
Albelda and Baraja both nodded.
Once the head coach makes the arrangements, they know what they should do.
Benítez did not make any arrangements for the attack, perhaps he felt there was nothing special to explain.
Facing a team like Real Madrid, Valencia's 4-2-3-1 formation will definitely focus on shrinking defense and playing defensive counterattacks.
In this situation, it would be unrealistic to place too much demand on the offense.
At the end of the meeting, Benítez also mentioned the referee issue.
This is a common problem in La Liga. Not only Valencia, but almost all other teams will jump out to blame the referee from time to time. Even Real Madrid and Barcelona often blame the referee.
Speaking of this, it has something to do with the referee's assignment mechanism.
In Spain, the power to select referees lies in the hands of the Football Association, who will use a random draw to decide who will officiate which game, and the Referee Committee is not involved in this process.
This seems to be open, fair and transparent, but it actually brings up another problem.
The uncertainty of random drawing can easily lead to the selection of referees being not neutral and objective enough.
Referees are also human beings. They depend on where they were born, the education they received, their family background, which teams they like, which teams they have had grudges with, and it can even rise to the level of regional discrimination... Too many factors can cause the referee to be unable to be neutral, objective, and impartial when enforcing the law.
What’s even worse is that the Football Association has no punishment measures for the referee’s mistakes and misjudgments.
In other words, even if the referee makes a very serious mistake, he will not be held responsible for it.
This brings up another question: who will restrict the referee's power to enforce the law?
It can be said that this is an old problem that has affected La Liga for many years and has never been solved.
The most criticized thing by other La Liga teams, including Valencia, is that the two giants of La Liga benefited from the refereeing factors.
This has a lot to do with the fact that they have the most stars, the strongest strength, and the most fans.
For example, in the next round, when Valencia faces Barcelona, the referee will be from Madrid.
Although people in Madrid may not necessarily be fans of Real Madrid, it is still somewhat worrying, isn't it?
Benítez's meaning was very clear. The referee's factor was not something Valencia could control, so they should try their best to do their own thing, reduce unnecessary fouls and small moves, and avoid giving opponents opportunities to take advantage.
The players understand this, too.
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When the Valencia team arrived at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid fans were walking into the stadium one after another.
When Real Madrid fans saw Valencia's bus, they all booed, obviously hating Valencia.
Benítez was the first to get off the bus, his expression looked very complicated.
As a native of Madrid, he has been a fan of Real Madrid since he was a child. Even now, he still feels that it is an honor to coach Real Madrid in his life, but tonight, he appeared in the Bernabeu as Real Madrid's arch-enemy.
This situation is indeed sad and touching.
When Valencia players walked into the stadium, Real Madrid players also entered almost at the same time.
Although they are sworn enemies on the court, they have a good relationship in private.
Whether it is the teammates of the Spanish national team, or Su Dong and Ronaldo, they all seem to be getting along quite well.
Especially Ronaldo.
"How are you preparing?" Ronaldo asked with a smile.
"Pretty good, how about you?"
Ronaldo looked towards the stands of the stadium, smiled and said, "This is my territory!"
"Your territory may not obey you." Su Dong replied with a smile, "Besides, your Zidane is out, but my Zidane is back. What do you think?"
Of course, what Su Dong was talking about was Aimar.
It is well known that Aimar will start in this game.
"I hope you can still keep talking tough after the game."
Su Dong raised his lips slightly, "After the game, I'll treat you to a meal."
Ronaldo, who had just turned around to leave, turned back after hearing this and looked deeply at Su Dong, who was full of confidence, somewhat confused.
Is this guy really so confident? Or is he just pretending? ...
Of course, Su Dong's confidence is not all fake.
Real Madrid's starting lineup has been announced, and Benítez's guess was absolutely correct.
Queiroz did not dare to take the risk of breaking the double defensive midfielder combination and let Solari replace Zidane.
This basically confirms Benítez's judgment before the game that Real Madrid will go more to the wing.
What Valencia needs to do is to purposefully guide Real Madrid to attack the flanks and completely restrict the middle.
Ultimately, the key to scoring in a football match is to score goals through the middle. Even if all the flanks are opened to Real Madrid, as long as they can control the middle, they still won't be able to score.
Of course, this requires the cooperation of the entire team and no mistakes can be made.
(End of this chapter)
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