Chapter 420-480 Chapter 470 Before the War

As of the 23rd round of the league, Wang Li has played nine times in Real Madrid's La Liga and scored 23 goals, ranking first in the scorer list. Eto'o has not scored in two rounds, but his goal number is still 18, ranking second in the scorer list. Villarreal's striker Diego Forlan is still strong, scoring 16 goals, ranking third in the scorer list?

Since Wang Li's comeback, his strong performance has amazed many Spanish media. ?

"The Alan era of La Liga is coming!" That's what they said. ?

After losing to Valencia and ranking first with only a slight goal difference advantage, the Barcelona media lamented that they hoped that Barcelona could stabilize and play well in every game to strive to still lead Real Madrid in points before the second Spanish derby of this season.

If this momentum continues, Real Madrid's performance will definitely be very strong. Perhaps as long as Barcelona stops for a while, Real Madrid may be able to directly surpass and take the top spot in the league standings. ?

Regarding Wang Li's strength, the Barcelona media complained about the club: If the Barcelona executives were willing to pay the same price, the black-haired boy would have played for Camp Nou. In their opinion, with Wang Li's skills, it would be the right choice for him to play for the most traditional Spanish club, Barcelona. ?

There is no dispute over the best foreign player of this season. There is no reason for a star who has won the Spanish top scorer not to receive this honor. Wang Li's performance is obvious to all. At least in January, he is undoubtedly the best player in La Liga.

If we expand the scope a little, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the best player in the world in January. ?

Regarding the current battle between Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​some media commented: "This season will be another battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Judging from the momentum, Real Madrid has a high chance of winning, and their performance is getting better and better, but Barcelona still occupies the top spot in the standings. It is still unknown who will win or lose. The final suspense may be left until the second Spanish derby. Whichever team wins the Spanish derby is likely to win the La Liga championship."

"However, we should now focus on the Champions League. The knockout rounds of the Champions League are about to begin. Real Madrid's opponent is Premier League giants Arsenal, while Barcelona's opponent is Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich, and Villarreal's opponent is Rangers. Except for the last game, the games between Real Madrid and Barcelona are very eye-catching, and Villarreal also has a good chance of advancing to the next round."?

"It is very likely that Spanish teams will have a great harvest in this Champions League. All three teams have the opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals. If there are three Spanish seats in the quarterfinals, this situation is really exciting!"

Not only the media said so, Real Madrid coach Carlo also had to prepare for the Champions League. ?

Real Madrid's opponent is Arsenal. The first round of the match will be held on February 22 at the Bernabeu Stadium. Real Madrid will host Arsenal at home.

It seems that Real Madrid is firmly in the home court, but in fact, this schedule is beneficial to Arsenal. Playing away first and then at home is always better than playing at home first and then away. ?

After the away game, with a general understanding of the opponent, it would be more advantageous to decide the outcome at home, so Carlo must make more preparations and strive to gain an advantage in the first round of the competition, so as to have a greater chance of advancing to the next round?

Carlo's mentality is quite stable, he is very clear about Real Madrid's goal this season. ?

Although the club has not stipulated what results Carlo can continue to coach Real Madrid, Carlo is very clear that if he wants to continue coaching Real Madrid next season, then Real Madrid must reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and win the league championship. Only such results can satisfy the top management of Real Madrid.

Of course, it also satisfied the fans of Real Madrid. ?

To be able to achieve this result under the mess left by Luxemburg also proves Carlo's strength. ?

Now, Real Madrid is making great strides in the league, and most media believe that Real Madrid will surpass Barcelona and win the league title. This situation makes Carlo breathe a sigh of relief, so he also keeps his eyes on the Champions League. ?

On February 19, the 24th round of La Liga kicked off, with Real Madrid playing against newly promoted Alaves at home. ?

In order to allow the main players to conserve their energy, Carlo only fielded a limited number of main players such as Wang Li, Ramos, and Ronaldo in this match, and all other players were rested. Originally, Wang Li was also on the rest for the next match, but Wang Li went straight to Carlo to explain that there was no problem with his physical fitness and asked to play in the match.

After the physical trainer confirmed that Wang Li's physical fitness was higher than that of ordinary players, Carlo called him abnormal and let him play in the game.

The final result of the game was 3:1. Wang Li scored two goals and assisted Ronaldo with one goal. Although Alaves tried hard to win, they only scored one goal at the Bernabeu Stadium after trying for a long time. ?

After the game, Wang Li accepted an interview. ?

The reporters were not concerned about the outcome of this match. Facing a newly promoted team, it would not be surprising for Real Madrid to win even if they fielded a substitute lineup. What they were concerned about was the Champions League knockout match three days later.

"Alan, can you tell me how it feels to face Arsenal again?" The head of Real Madrid's media, the Marca reporter, asked first. ?

Wang Li smiled and said casually: "I don't feel anything. This is just an ordinary game."

"I heard you were an Arsenal fan when you were a kid?" asked a reporter from Madrid Post. ?

Wang Li nodded, "Yes, but that was a few years ago. At that time, I was still playing football in Arsenal's football school. Of course I like Arsenal."

"So, are you confident about this game? Coach Wenger said yesterday that he admires you very much, what do you think about this?" An English reporter from the London Post. ?

Wang Li smiled and said: "This is just a smokescreen, but I always knew that he admired me, and I didn't refuse to go to Arsenal and follow his command..."?

Hearing this, the non-Real Madrid reporter's eyes lit up, but Wang Li continued: "... But Real Madrid will definitely not sell me, and Arsenal did not show enough sincerity during the summer transfer. I don't play football for money, but when I transfer, a transfer fee that matches my worth is necessary, but unfortunately they can't afford it..." Another explanation is 'they are too poor'. ?

After hearing this, the reporters who supported Real Madrid all smiled with disdain. Compared with Real Madrid, Arsenal is indeed too poor. ?

Arsenal may not be able to afford even 20 million euros, let alone 20 million euros. Now, the team is heavily in debt for the construction of a new stadium. At least in the next few years, they will not make any big moves in the transfer market.

After this game, Real Madrid will start to prepare for the Champions League. ?

In the team training, Real Madrid players strictly follow the coach's arrangement. After the training, they also watch Arsenal's recent game video together and pay attention to the players that the opponent should pay attention to.

There are two key players in the Arsenal team that need attention. One is Henry. The strength of this player is beyond doubt. After Wang Li left for Real Madrid, Henry became the top scorer in the Premier League. He has performed well both in the national team and the club.

The second is the young midfielder Fabregas. This young player is only 18 years old, but he has become an absolute main force for Arsenal last season. He played 46 times for the team in a single season, scored 9 goals and assisted 11 times. As a midfield commander, this data is amazing.

"As long as we hold these two points, defense will be much easier." Carlo kept emphasizing. ?

But saying it is one thing, doing it is another. It is almost impossible to defend Henry or Fabregas. If you want to beat Arsenal, defense alone is definitely not enough. What is more important is the team's offense.

In this regard, Carlo is not too worried. ?

The team has Wang Li, Robinho, Ronaldo and Raul who has returned from injury. Scoring goals is not a problem, the problem is to score more goals than the opponent. ?

In the end, it all depends on Real Madrid's defense. ?

But this is also the weakest point of Real Madrid. Carlo even thinks that Real Madrid's defense is weaker than Arsenal's. ?

This really gave him a headache. ?

In fact, at the same time in Arsenal Football Club in North London, the team's head coach Wenger was more troubled than him, and what troubled him was also Real Madrid's offense. ?

Wenger is more worried about the team's defense than Carlo. ?

Real Madrid has too many offensive players to watch out for. ?

In the midfield there is the artistic master Zidane. Although this player is already 34 years old this year, his skills are definitely world-class. For a world-class star like this, an occasional flash of inspiration is enough to give people a headache. Zidane also often comes forward to assist. He has excellent small-range passing ability. How Arsenal defends against him is an important task. ?

Besides Zidane, there is also David Beckham. Although Beckham's form is declining and his performance in the national team is not good, his "crescent-shaped scimitar" kick has not deteriorated, which makes Wenger emphasize to the players to minimize fouls in front of the penalty area. ?

The forward line also gave him headaches: Ronaldo and Robinho. ?

These two Brazilian players with the surname "Robinho" need special attention, especially Robinho. This young player has performed very well after transferring to Real Madrid. The number of goals in the league is second only to Diego Forlan of Villarreal. This efficiency is really amazing. ?

Although Ronaldo has long passed his prime, his performance is still strong, and his occasional experienced shots and breakthroughs in front of the goal are a great threat to the goal. ?

All of the above are enough to give Wenger a headache, but what gives him an even bigger headache is Real Madrid's No. 21 black-haired boy Wang Li.

This has become Wenger's heart disease!!! ?

How to defend Wang Li?

Wenger, Ferguson and Benítez racked their brains to come up with an answer to this question last season, so what conclusion can Wenger come to if he is left to think about it himself? ?

And now this black-haired kid is still playing as a right winger in Real Madrid. How to defend this position? Should we divide our forces to focus on defending the right wing? ?

Is this unrealistic?

So, what to do now? ?

Wenger had anticipated this moment when the Champions League round of 16 draw was made. He had been calm and had not thought about it, but now he had to think about it.

After thinking for a long time, Wenger felt that everything had to start with Real Madrid's head coach Carlo. ?

Real Madrid's lineup is needless to say, at least not worse than Arsenal's, so if they want to win the game, they must suppress Real Madrid tactically. Wenger is confident in this regard. He has coached Arsenal for so many years, and his experience in both the top league and the Champions League is definitely not comparable to that of a rookie coach in the top league like Carlo. ?

Only by suppressing Real Madrid tactically can we gain an advantage and make up for the shortcomings in the lineup. ?

So how to suppress Real Madrid? ?

This is a problem Wenger must solve as soon as possible, as there is not much time left before the game starts. ?

............?

For Wang Li, Arsenal is definitely a very familiar opponent. Chelsea and Arsenal played against each other three times last season, and they won all three games. He was the key figure in Chelsea's victory.

He knew Arsenal's defense very well, and he felt that it would be difficult to defend him against that fragile defense, so he was not nervous at all before the game.

Wang Li didn't know what his teammates were thinking. He just trained and prepared for the game casually according to his own habits.

However, most of Real Madrid's teammates don't know Arsenal. Many players have never played against Arsenal. For players like Beckham, the last time they played against Arsenal was a long time ago, so they don't know the current Arsenal. ?

"...They have a very strong young player." Wang Li thought for a moment and said, feeling annoyed by his teammates. ?

"Fabregas? Is he really that good?" Robinho asked, and his teammates beside him looked at Wang Li. Wang Li smiled and said, "I know him. I've had a drink with him. That guy has good character. Well... he's also good in ability."

Hearing this, the teammates around looked at each other. To be evaluated as good by this black-haired boy, his strength must be at the world-class level, at least not worse than their ordinary players. ?

"So how's their offense?"?

Wang Li thought about it and said, "It should be pretty good."

After hearing this explanation, the teammates around him shushed collectively, and Wang Li reluctantly explained: "The speed is very fast, it should be no worse than Barcelona..."?

"That means our defensive task is very difficult?" Ramos said with a bitter face. ?

"I think so..."?

In fact, Wang Li was not clear about these things. After all, he was not a defensive player and rarely participated in defense.

At this time, Roberto Carlos joked: "Alan, you have to score more goals, so that we won't have to worry about a few defensive mistakes."

"You should talk to Mr. Carlo about this."

"Oh, I don't want to be out of the starting lineup..."?

............At noon on February 21, the plane that Arsenal was on had arrived in Madrid. ?

The news reached Real Madrid within five minutes. After that, the players began to train more seriously, and the entire training ground looked like it was in the atmosphere before a big battle.

The usual laughter and playfulness are gone, leaving only seriousness and perseverance. ?

No Real Madrid player wants to lose. Last season, they lost in the round of 16. No matter what, they want to get a good result this season, and the one standing in their way is Arsenal.

When two tigers fight, one of them is bound to get hurt. This is a fight to the death, and there is no room for easing.

At this time, the other teammates were arranged by the head coach to do a small-scale confrontation training. They needed to adapt to the physical confrontation intensity of the Premier League team, while Wang Li was doing free kick training with the help of the staff, and the target was a goal post.

Standing on the edge of the penalty area, his chances of hitting the goal post are extremely high. ?

“Boom!”?

“Boom!”?

“Boom!”?

At first, almost no one paid attention to Wang Li, but as he trained, the attention of the other half of the players was gradually attracted. ?

“Boom!” “Boom!”?

......?

At this time, the players who were training on the other half of the field had stopped playing. They were looking at Wang Li in amazement as he was doing this unimaginable shooting training. ?

"I think if we let him play alone, he can win." Carlos said in surprise.

He has always been proud of his strength, but after Wang Li came to Real Madrid, he no longer has this kind of pride. Regardless of the accuracy of this shot, even the strength is far beyond his reach. ?

"Alan's training is really wonderful."?

Baptista, Wang Li's "tail-chaser", reacted and immediately took out a DV from the sidelines, pointed the camera at Wang Li and started his "secret filming" work. ?

Wang Li didn't notice this, he was just immersed in the training, but soon Carlo came over, he also saw Wang Li's training, and while he was proud of it, he also saw the other players' appearance. ?

"What are you doing? Keep training! Don't you want to play tomorrow?" He shouted, and the players dispersed. However, Carlo sat alone on the sidelines and watched Wang Li's training carefully. It was really entertaining.

Well, maybe this is also a benefit for the head coach. ?

Tomorrow they will face Arsenal, and although Wang Li is not nervous, he still works hard in training. ?

He knows Arsenal, and Arsenal knows him very well, and he feels that he must take the game seriously to prevent any accidents. ?

Perhaps these are things that coach Carlo should consider, but as a player, he also needs to win, and what he should do is to restore his peak condition before the game to meet the competition. ?

This is his football professional ethics, and it is also the attitude he wants to show when he faces Arsenal again. ?

Although he no longer has any grudge against Arsenal, he still hopes to be 100% in the face of this team. ?

...........