During the halftime interval, Ruby did not criticize Mark Roca's low-level mistake too much in the locker room, even though Mark Roca himself appeared to be very guilty.
On the contrary, Ruby highly affirmed everyone's performance in the first half, especially Xia Ruofei and Wu Lei's performance.
Of course, due to Xia Ruofei's special status, Ruby did not praise Xia Ruofei like he did Wu Lei. To be honest, he felt a little uncomfortable when he spoke to Xia Ruofei in a coach's tone.
The halftime interval was not long, so Ruby seized the time to lay out the tactics for the second half.
He spoke quickly, "We still have to stabilize our defense in the second half! Everyone has to perform their defensive duties. Barça will definitely launch a fierce attack in the opening stage because they know that as time goes on, the situation will become more and more disadvantageous for them. What we have to do is to block their attacks thirty meters away. Even if we have to use foul tactics, or even pay the price of a yellow card, we will not hesitate! "
Ruby looked at Naldo and the others and said, "The rear defensive line must pay attention to the coordination defense! Their ground penetration is very sharp, but as long as we don't lose our position, it will not be easy for them to get an absolute chance! "
Ruby did not say that there were many times when it was not an absolute chance, but it could still form a threatening attack. The ones who could do this were star players. They could turn opportunities that were not opportunities into goals.
For example, Messi and Suarez.
What Barça did not lack were star players.
Many teams in La Liga would choose to concentrate on defense when facing Barça, but Barça's winning rate was still very high. Most of the time, they relied on the brilliance of their star players.
Ruby was very clear about this point, but he would not say it at this time. At this time, he could only boost the morale.
In fact, the players were also very clear. They knew that in order to win against Barça, in addition to focusing on defense, they also needed a little luck.
But luck was also reserved for those who were prepared.
If the offensive line did not score two early goals to establish an advantage, they could only pursue a draw at most.
And if their players were not focused and made another low-level mistake like in the first half, they would not be able to withstand it no matter how lucky they were!
Ruby continued, "Of course, I have always been against the bus! Even when facing the powerful Barça, it is the same! I don't think we can hold the current score purely by concentrating on defense. So! We need to seize every opportunity to counterattack! "
Ruby's gaze swept over Wu Lei, Iglesias, and Xia Ruofei. He continued, "Barça's large-scale pressure is foreseeable. Although our defensive line will be severely tested, it is also an opportunity for us. Once we intercept the ball in the backfield, the attacking players must press firmly! As long as our counterattack can be a threat, then the Barça players will have scruples when they press on. If we can take this opportunity to score another goal, that would be even better! "
Xia Ruofei nodded and said, "I agree with Coach Ruby! In the second half of the game, I will stand a little further back. Everyone, try your best to pass the ball to me. I will organize the offense! "
Ruby nodded and said, "Remember Mr Xia's words! In short, as long as Mr. Xia's position isn't too bad, everyone should try to pass the ball to him! "
Finally, when Ruby saw that it was about time, he clapped his hands and shouted, "Boys! Go up and fight! Now we are ahead of the damn Barça! There are only forty-five minutes left before we defeat our nemesis in the same city! You are the best! "
…
The players from both sides returned to the field, and the referee blew the whistle for the start of the second half.
Barça kicked off the second half of the game. As expected, Barça launched a fierce attack on the Espanyol team as soon as the game started. Except for Langley, who was at the back, the other players quickly pressed across the half of the field.
Barça's intention was obvious. They wanted to take advantage of the Espanyol team's unstable footing and use a wave of fierce attacks to equalize the score.
However, Ruby had made targeted arrangements in terms of defense, and everyone was mentally prepared for such a situation. Therefore, in the face of Barça's fierce attack, the Espanyol team did not panic.
Their defense was still very methodical. The players in the middle and back field assisted in defense and made up positions in time. No matter how Barça moved and moved, the Espanyol team's defense was always watertight.
In the opening five minutes, the football was always controlled by the Barça players. The Espanyol team did not even touch the ball once.
However, Barça did not find a good opportunity to attack. They could only continue to conduct through the ground and use the width of the field to frequently carry out large-scale movements, hoping to drive the Espanyol team's rear defensive line and pull open a gap.
In the 53rd minute, the Espanyol team finally intercepted the ball through a two-man pincer defense.
The second half of the game had already started eight minutes ago, and the Espanyol team only had their first touch. It was a little pitiful.
The one who intercepted the ball was Mark Roca, who played as the defensive midfielder today. Although Manager Ruby did not reprimand him during the halftime interval, he held back his energy and wanted to make up for his mistake.
After Mark Roca intercepted the ball, he immediately thought of what Xia Ruofei said during the halftime interval. He quickly turned his head to look around and found that Xia Ruofei had appeared six or seven meters away from him, and there were no Barça players around to defend.
Mark Roca decisively passed the ball to Xia Ruofei.
Xia Ruofei ran towards the ball and shouted, "Guys! Charge forward! "
In fact, before Xia Ruofei had shouted, Wu Lei, Suárez, and Granello had already fired three arrows and rushed in the direction of Barça's penalty area.
After Xia Ruofei received Mark Roca's pass, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He very deftly knocked the ball with his heel, and the football just happened to pass Atel, who was rushing over to intercept.
At this time, Xia Ruofei's position was near the center line, near the left flank. After he knocked the ball, he immediately turned around and chased in the direction of the football.
Atul once again became the background of this extraordinary freehand painting.
He looked very embarrassed. Even after he could not stop the car and hit Xia Ruofei, Xia Ruofei only staggered a little before he quickly steadied himself and caught up with the football.
Xia Ruofei did not even look up to observe. He directly swung his leg and sent out a long pass.
This long pass was indeed very "long." The football flew high from the left flank near the sideline and flew towards the right flank of Barça's penalty area, almost across half of the field.
The football drew an elegant arc in the air, like a beautiful rainbow, over the heads of all the Barça defenders and fell two or three meters in front of the penalty area line.
At this time, Wu Lei just rushed to this position.
He had his back to Barça's goal and leaped high in the direction of the ball.
Wu Lei's jump was a little late, and the height he jumped was not high enough. If he were to head the ball in this position and then attack the goal, his aim would definitely be poor. Moreover, such a header would be difficult to exert force. So, even if the header was within the goal range, the most likely result was that it would be confiscated by the opposing goalkeeper, Terstegen.
Therefore, Wu Lei did not choose to force the goal on impulse.
After he jumped into the air, he found that he had jumped a little too high, so he struggled to lean back a little. Then he used his forehead to point the ball to Iglesias, who was plugging in at high speed in the middle.
At this time, Barça's defenders were basically attracted to Xia Ruofei's side. Langley, in the middle, did not even have time to return to his defensive position, so the middle was basically empty.
Iglesias had just run into Barça's penalty area. Wu Lei had already sent the ball in front of him. Now he only needed to face half of the empty goal.
Although Iglesias's reputation was not as prominent as a big star like Luo Messi, how could he spit out the meat that was fed to his mouth?
He did not wait for the ball to fall to the ground and directly shot with his foot. The football immediately flew in the direction of Barça's goal.
At this time, Barça's goalkeeper, Terstegen, had been focused on guarding against Wu Lei's header, so his position was a little off.
The angle of Iglesias's shot with his foot was quite tricky. Terstegen was completely out of reach. He could only wave his hand symbolically and then watch the football drill into his own goal.
3 to 1!
The RCD Espanyol team once again widened the score gap to two goals.
There was a frenzied celebration on and off the field. Ruby constantly waved his arms and showed his trademark laughter.
Up until now, the team members had perfectly executed his tactics. Their defense was united and watertight, and their counterattack efficiency was unexpectedly good. They had only had one chance to counterattack, and they had succeeded.
At this time, Ruby was even more glad. If he had not worked hard to get Xia Ruofei to come back to play in this game, the score on the field today might have been different.
Xia Ruofei also laughed happily. He ran from the center line and hugged Iglesias and Wu Lei.
The RCD Espanyol players rushed over. Even the veteran goalkeeper, Diego López, rushed up from the backfield. Everyone forgot to celebrate the goal amidst the loud boos of the Barça fans.
Xia Ruofei touched Iglesias's head and said with a smile, "Hey! Panda! Well done! "
Iglesias's nickname was Panda, which also won him a lot of recognition among the Huaxia fans. Of course, the more important reason was that he was willing to cooperate with Wu Lei on the field, which created a lot of opportunities for Wu Lei.
Iglesias grinned and said, "Mr. Xia, your pass was beautiful! Of course, Wu's ferry was also very beautiful. I just needed to touch it gently, and the ball was there! "
Xia Ruofei smiled and said to Wu Lei, "Lei, this guy praised your header for a beautiful ferry!"
Wu Lei laughed and said to Iglesias in shaky Spanish, "Thank you for the compliment!"
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