Chapter 344 The era of Real Madrid is completely over!
"Real Madrid is old!"
On the morning of the national derby, at the routine pre-match tactical meeting, chief assistant coach Ten Cate's first words were to explain his analysis and summary of Real Madrid to all Barcelona players.
This is also his responsibility. Rijkaard is more responsible for the overall situation. Ten Cate is usually responsible for tactics and locker room management. The two of them play the good cop and the bad cop respectively, so that Rijkaard has a very good reputation among the fans, while Ten Cate is mediocre, or even a little bad, because he is always too strict.
Su Dong is very grateful for the compulsory education he received, which taught him to think and look at this issue dialectically. Therefore, he is one of the people who respects Ten Cate the most in the locker room.
"Zidane, 32; Figo, 32; Carlos, 30; Beckham and Elguera are also about to be 30, and Ronaldo is only 28, but we all know that he doesn't usually run much. Raul is younger, but he has been famous for many years and has become mediocre, especially in recent years."
Ten Cate analyzed the current situation of Real Madrid superstars, emphasizing one point, that is, Real Madrid is old.
Really old!
"You know what? The problems Real Madrid is facing now are not uncommon. Throughout the history of football, many successful old teams have encountered similar problems. That is, the players are old and don't want to work so hard or run so much. They want to play comfortably, in the name of enjoying the fun of football."
"But what I want to say is that professional football has never been fun. It is a competitive sport. A game is related to a championship, millions or even tens of millions of euros in interests, and the gains and losses of countless world-class sponsors. You call this having fun?"
Ten Cate's words hit the nail on the head.
Real Madrid now looks indeed old and frail, which makes them lack sharpness and unwilling to train hard.
It is precisely because of this that the conflict between Real Madrid's superstars and Camacho is so great that Camacho, the Real Madrid star, voluntarily resigned.
"Real Madrid is old, so their speed and rhythm are too slow. Even in a life-and-death national derby, it is difficult for these superstars to be fully motivated and put in more passion and fighting spirit. They begin to enjoy comfort and the comfort of playing football on the back of their past glory."
"But we are different. We are still young and we have nothing. If we lose even the national derby, we will have nothing. So we have no choice but to give it a try. Our biggest advantage is our youth, courage, determination, fighting spirit and passion. We will use fierce attacks to defeat our aging opponents!"
Su Dong was sitting among the players, and Ten Cate's words really ignited the fire in his heart.
Compared to these Real Madrid superstars, what does he have now? Nothing, not worth mentioning! But if he can beat Real Madrid, if he can reach the top in December, that would be considered a real success! Only then can he be considered a true world-class superstar! He thinks so, and I believe that most of the Barcelona players think so too.
Looking around, Su Dong saw that his teammates were all ignited with passion.
Ten Cate then began to explain the strategy that Barcelona would adopt in this game.
To everyone's surprise, Rijkaard and Ten Cate decided to adopt a more radical tactic.
Full court pressure!
"We will use continuous full-court pressure tactics and fast-paced offensives to completely suppress the aging Real Madrid and prevent them from raising their heads. From the first minute to the last minute, we will never stop and never let up!"
"We will show our talent, courage and determination to all the Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou and sing a funeral song for the aging Galacticos!"
"We want to tell everyone that the era of Real Madrid is completely over!"
If Rijkaard always maintains a gentle demeanor, then Ten Cate is always emotional.
Maybe he can be very demanding, maybe he can be unkind most of the time, but at critical moments, he is always full of passion and persistence!
…
After the tactical meeting, the Barcelona locker room generally responded positively to the tactics proposed by the coaching staff.
Since this season, no, even since the winter break of last season, Rijkaard and Ten Cate have officially figured out a style of play suitable for Barcelona, which is to adopt high-pressure tactics.
But it is still relatively rough and many ideas are not yet perfect. This has led to Deco and Xavi becoming the players with the most successful steals in the team this season, because Barcelona's defense is focused on this area.
Last season it was Davis plus Xavi, this season it is Deco plus Xavi.
Now, Rijkaard and Ten Cate are no longer satisfied with this, especially in the past period of time, Barcelona suffered two consecutive defeats and such an internal conflict occurred, forcing the coaching staff to make adjustments and changes.
Especially to improve the team's defense.
Therefore, the coaching staff came up with a more radical plan, which was full-court pressure! Barcelona was familiar with this style of play, but it was the first time it was used in such an important game, and the risks were self-evident.
But Barcelona's biggest bargaining chip is the youth of its players and their better running ability, which gives Barcelona enough confidence to adopt such a style of play. Even if they find that this style does not work during the game, it is not difficult to adjust it.
"I'm even more looking forward to tonight's game!" Ronaldinho said with a smile, rubbing his hands.
Su Dong also nodded continuously.
He too! …………
…………
That night, the streets of Barcelona were deserted!
Hundreds of thousands of fans gathered at the Camp Nou, and the scene was filled with noise and roaring! Before the game started, tifo made by Barcelona fans appeared in the stands of Camp Nou. Fans on one side of the stands put together a huge photo of Su Dong with their tifo, which was very visually impactful.
Live television broadcast also transmitted this scene to all parts of the world.
In China, the national television station also broadcast this key match live on the sports channel and arranged gold medal commentators and guests to comment on the game.
"Dear viewers, welcome to watch the live broadcast of the National Television Sports Channel. It is the 2004-2005 season, the 12th round of the La Liga, the battle of the century between Barcelona and Real Madrid at home!"
"This is hailed as the most luxurious national derby in history, with superstars on both sides!"
"Su Dong, a 20-year-old center forward from China who set a record for transfer fees in world football history, will also wear Barcelona's No. 9 jersey tonight and play against Real Madrid!"
"In this world-class professional football match, I believe that all Chinese people are as excited as I am to see our Chinese players in this game."
As soon as the commentator finished speaking, Coach Zhang next to him took over.
“Yes, this is something to be very proud of!”
"Su Dong has performed very well in La Liga this season, which can be said to have surprised everyone. Many people thought he was a flash in the pan before, but this season he has scored 15 goals and made five assists in 11 games. This record is absolutely unprecedented and may even be the last."
"We are also here to wish Su Dong well and hope he can have a good performance tonight!"
"That's right, that's right." The commentator took over again, "Coach Zhang, tonight the peak showdown between the two giants is about to begin. Who do you think will win more?"
"It's hard to say." Coach Zhang chuckled. "Barcelona's performance this season is better, but there have been defensive problems in the last two games. Can Rijkaard fill the gaps in time? This is a test for Rijkaard. Real Madrid's performance this season is not ideal, but after the change of coach, the results have gradually improved, especially in the last few rounds. The performance is very eye-catching. In the last round, they beat Albacete 6-1. This will be a big challenge for Barcelona."
As he was speaking, the live TV screen had already shown the starting lineups of the two teams.
"We can see that the visiting team Real Madrid adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is their regular style of play in recent times."
"The goalkeeper is Casillas, and the defense is Carlos, Samuel, Pavon and Salgado. Elguera was injured and missed this game."
"The double defensive midfielder is still the combination of Beckham and Guti. This double defensive midfielder played very well in the last round. The front court is Zidane, Raul and Figo, and the lone striker is Ronaldo."
"Real Madrid's lineup is full of stars, especially their attacking power, which is world-class. This will be a big test for Barcelona's already weak defense."
"Barcelona still uses the traditional 4-3-3 formation, with Valdés as the goalkeeper and Van Bronckhorst, Puyol, Oleguer and Belletti as the defenders. Rijkaard obviously has no other choice because there is really not much central defender and can only continue to trust Oleguer."
"There are three midfielders, Marcos stays back, Deco and Xavi are in the middle, which is also the normal configuration this season. In the frontcourt, Ronaldinho and Iniesta are on the wings, and our Chinese player Su Dong is in the front."
"This is a bit surprising. French winger Giuly has returned from injury, but Rijkaard did not arrange him to start in this game. Instead, he let Iniesta play as the right winger. This is indeed a bit unexpected."
"It is worth mentioning that Giuly and Messi, the two right wingers, are substitutes, and Messi can also play as a left winger and attacking midfielder."
"Thank you, Coach Zhang." The commentator took over the conversation. "I remember that some media said before that in the Barcelona team, Su Dong has the best relationship with Iniesta and Messi. The three of them are the best of friends. Iniesta and Messi were able to emerge in the first team thanks to Su Dong's support and recommendation."
"I guess Rijkaard started Iniesta in this game because he wanted to make better use of Su Dong. After all, he is Barcelona's sharpest weapon this season!"
"Yes, that's definitely a consideration." Coach Zhang laughed.
"Okay, the players from both teams have walked out of the tunnel, the battle of the century is about to begin!"
Woohoo, I had a lot of things to do today. I could only squeeze out time to write. I'm sorry that I've only just finished writing this chapter now! I've already prepared the draft in my mind, but I just don't have time. I'll try to finish the remaining chapter before the Spring Festival Gala.
(End of this chapter)
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