Chapter 731 Who will go up?

No! Not yet!

When the Real Madrid players walked into the locker room, changed their jerseys, got ready, walked out of the player tunnel and prepared to warm up, as soon as they entered the stadium, they were immediately shocked by the crazy cheers from the scene.

My goodness, if you haven’t been in that situation, you can’t really understand how it feels.

If St. Mary's Stadium was a raging sea, then they seemed to be in the middle of it, with no support around them. They could only struggle and rely on their own will to maintain their desire to survive.

If someone is a little timid, they would probably feel weak in the knees when walking out of this passage!

"Fuck, are there really only more than 30,000 people here?"

"Yeah, why does it look so dark and crowded, with people everywhere? It doesn't look like there are only 30,000 people."

"With more than 30,000 people, the noise they created was even louder than at the Bernabeu, no, even louder than at Camp Nou. This is incredible!"

"You have to be careful when you look back. When taking corner kicks or throw-ins, don't get too close to the front row. If you get caught in the stands, you'll be eaten alive and not even a bone can be found!"

"From what you said, it seems as if this place has become a cannibalistic jungle, but... this sound is indeed quite terrifying."

"Paper tigers, they are all paper tigers, let's just pretend they are singing!"

"Fuck, people are scolding you? And you think you're singing?"

"That's right, this concert isn't that grand!"

Just as the Real Madrid players were slowly walking out of the player tunnel and about to enter the stadium to start their last warm-up training before the game, a person ran over from the Southampton crowd who had been training on the field for who knows how long.

It was Kaka!

“Hah, welcome to St. Mary’s!”

The Brazilian superstar smiled, his mouth wide open, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, appearing very friendly.

"Kaka, is this how you Saints fans welcome us?" asked Cristiano Ronaldo.

Having played in the Premier League for many years, he knows that Premier League fans are very fanatical. He has also been to many so-called devil's home stadiums, the most fanatical of which is Liverpool's Anfield.

But now, Southampton's St. Mary's Stadium gave him the feeling that it was even more fanatical than Anfield!

"It's okay, Cristiano, they are just shouting slogans to support the team, there is no other meaning, you don't have to worry!" Kaka comforted with a smile.

Everyone cursed in their hearts.

They are in the same group with you, so of course you don’t have to worry, but for us...how can we not worry?

"Okay, that's it, let's all work hard, come on!"

After saying that, Kaka ran back to Southampton's half.

Watching Kaka leave the team, everyone present had some understanding in their hearts.

When Kaka was in Real Madrid, have you ever seen him like he does now, with a smile that always comes from the heart on his face?

After transferring to Southampton, although he was unable to become an absolute starter, his performance was not bad at all.

Especially since the second half, Kaka first saved the team at critical moments during the winter break, and then played a significant role in the Champions League knockout rounds. Anyone can see that he is getting better and better in Southampton.

Come to think of it, I should be very happy!

"Okay, let's go to training!" Ramos clapped his hands vigorously and shouted.

Since Casillas was sidelined by Mourinho, his status has improved since Ancelotti took office, but it has not improved. Ramos has gradually become the leader of the Real Madrid locker room.

Almost everyone knows that after Casillas leaves the team, the captain's armband will only belong to Ramos.

But just as everyone walked into the stadium, came to their own half, and began warm-up training, the fans in the stands suddenly got angry.

It is obvious that in the eyes of this group of Saints fans, they will do everything they can to interfere with and affect Real Madrid's preparations.

And on a football field, nothing is more influential than sound!

But the players of Real Madrid are not new to the world. They have even been to the Champions League final. How could they be easily intimidated by such visiting fans?

So they quickly adjusted their mindset and started to engage in pre-match training sessions.

Ancelotti stood on the sidelines the whole time, and his attention was more on Southampton's half.

When he walked into the stadium, the Saints players had obviously already started training. So how long in advance did they come here to train? What was Bielsa's plan?

Also, looking at their roster, James Rodriguez and Kaka are both on it, who will play?

Three days ago, Southampton defeated Newcastle 4-0 at this stadium.

This victory almost allowed Southampton to win the Premier League title ahead of schedule!

The Premier League has played 32 rounds so far. Southampton has 27 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses, and has 84 points, leading the Premier League standings.

In second place is Manchester City, with a record of 23 wins, four draws and five losses, getting 73 points, 11 points behind Southampton; in third place is Arsenal with 71 points, followed by Tottenham Hotspur with 69 points and Chelsea with 67 points.

With six league games left, the 11-point lead is undoubtedly huge.

But we cannot say that we can rest easy, because after being eliminated from the Champions League in recent times, Manchester City has been concentrating on domestic competitions and has performed quite well, grabbing points fiercely and winning one after another, and is showing signs of catching up with Southampton.

This once again confirmed everyone's speculation before the season. This season's Premier League eventually became a battle between Southampton and Manchester City. However, no one would have thought that the Saints' advantage would be so great.

On the contrary, Chelsea is currently ranked fifth. If they cannot reverse Tottenham Hotspur in the last six rounds, the Blues will probably miss the Champions League again, which is not good news for Chelsea.

Perhaps because of the obvious lead in the league, Bielsa rotated the lineup very calmly, but this also made people feel confused.

For example, James Rodriguez performed very well in the league match against Newcastle, with two assists and one goal, and was selected as the best player. His form was very good, but will Bielsa arrange him to play again in this match against Real Madrid?

You know, Kaka's performance in recent times has also been very good, so it is reasonable for him to play or not.

As Ancelotti frowned and thought about countermeasures, assistant coach Paul Clement came over.

"I just found out that they came to the stadium fifteen minutes early to warm up."

"Fifteen minutes?" Ancelotti frowned even deeper because he vaguely guessed Bielsa's intention.

"Could it be that he wants to attack right after the start?"

Because we plan to adopt a strategy of offensive after the opening, we warm up in advance so that the players can get into the game earlier from the beginning. This is also the strategy of many teams that adopt offensive tactics.

"Absolutely possible!" Paul Clement nodded.

He made the same judgment when he first received the message, because this was the only reasonable explanation.

"Bielsa's tactics have always been very targeted. After the first round, he must have a deeper understanding of us. Our defense is too weak, and he will definitely seize this opportunity to make a fuss!"

Ancelotti nodded helplessly.

Real Madrid's weakest link is in the midfield, especially the defense in the midfield.

Although the team introduced Vidal, who is good at both offense and defense, and also transformed Di Maria this season, the defensive problem in the midfield is still very serious. The core problem lies in the stars in the frontcourt, none of whom are willing to participate in the counter-attack on the spot.

In other words, the attitude towards defense is not positive.

This means that, although Real Madrid has the same technical midfield configuration, its midfield has to bear greater defensive pressure than Barcelona, ​​Southampton, and even Arsenal's midfield.

In this case, the weakness of single defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso will be exposed.

Therefore, by comparing these teams, it is not difficult to find that although Real Madrid's offense is extremely sharp, its defense is quite weak. Once it encounters a team with super defensive ability and excellent counterattack ability, Real Madrid can only suffer a setback.

For example, in the league, in this season's Madrid derby, Real Madrid suffered a double defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in both games, including a horrific 0-4 loss, which directly made Real Madrid lose face.

Ancelotti knows better than anyone that in today's world where more and more emphasis is placed on integrated defense, Real Madrid's defense will not improve as long as the frontcourt is still piled with a group of superstars who do not participate in defense.

Therefore, Ancelotti is not sure if he has to fight Southampton head-on again.

The first leg between the two sides at the Bernabeu Stadium was a good example of this.

"What should we do? We must come up with a strategy as soon as possible!" Paul Clement reminded.

As the chief assistant coach, he must formulate the team's starting tactics as soon as possible.

Should we continue with the previous arrangement, or make temporary adjustments and changes according to the situation?

This requires Ancelotti, as the head coach, to make a decision as soon as possible.

Ancelotti was also in a difficult situation. No matter what decision he made, he was not absolutely sure and could only rely on gambling.

But he is one of the most famous coaches in Europe after all, and he knows that he cannot lose his composure at this time, so his inherent desire for stability made him choose a conservative starting tactic.

"Paul, tell all the players in the locker room later, except for the trident in the frontcourt, all the players will retreat. We will leave the trident in the front to fight back and survive this wave of attack from Southampton first!"

Just kidding, the Saints' opening three moves are well-known in European football. Ancelotti was also worried about being scored, so he had to be careful.

Paul Clement thought about it and felt that this was a relatively safe strategy.

Although Real Madrid is a wealthy club, this is St. Mary's Stadium after all, and they are playing away in the crucial second round of the quarter-finals. A slightly conservative strategy is understandable as long as they can get good results.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"

Having said that, Paul Clement immediately turned and left.

As Ancelotti's plan becomes finalized, he, as an assistant coach, has more things to do, because he has to adjust the game tasks of each player in a targeted manner, as well as the response strategies when the situation changes.

I don’t know if we can sort it out in time before the players return to the locker room!

Ancelotti watched his assistant leave, then turned around and looked at the field, only to find that the Southampton players seemed to have finished their training.

So fast?

Ancelotti looked at the time and it was indeed a little earlier than usual.

This also further strengthened his judgment.

Bielsa is going to attack!