Today, 5 more.
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On March 14, Real Madrid went to Athletic Bilbao's home ground to challenge the Basque Lions.
The media unanimously looked down on the White Army, believing that Real Madrid might not be able to recover after being eliminated from the Champions League. They might even collapse and end the season, handing the league title to their arch-rival, Barcelona.
Before the game, Bosque was once again asked by the reporters when he would leave Real Madrid.
Bosque actually knew that his time was up. In a club like Real Madrid, someone had to be responsible for even the smallest mistake!
People still remembered how brilliant Real Madrid was last season.
But because of this, expectations for Real Madrid this season were too high.
And the gap in reality caused Bosque to bear an unshirkable responsibility.
Now, Boruda didn't dare to fire Bosque because no top coach would sit at the negotiating table with Boruda, who was the interim chairman. It was simply a joke with his own future.
As for the summer, Bosque knew that even if he did not resign, he would be fired by the club.
But for the sake of the Real Madrid team, he would not talk nonsense in front of the media, let alone reveal his next stop in advance.
He did not lack a next club. In fact, after the Spanish national team won the UEFA European Championship last summer, the Spanish Football Federation contacted Bosque, not because Aragones did not do well, but because Aragones wanted to retire.
Bosque had a gentleman's agreement with the Spanish Football Federation at that time.
Aragones would hold on for two more years. If Bosque was still the manager of Real Madrid in two years, then the Spanish Football Federation would choose someone else.
But if Bosque could not stay in Real Madrid, Aragones could retire with glory, and Bosque could go to the Spanish national team to take up a new position.
So Bosque did not have to worry about a way out, but he was still the manager of Real Madrid!
He would work hard to do a good job as a manager.
Athletic Bilbao, which was in the middle and lower reaches of the rankings, was not strong, but they had the courage of the Basque people.
Naturally, they wanted to beat them while they were down and make things worse for Real Madrid.
Therefore, they adopted the conservative counterattack tactic of 4321 at home. They also wanted to use the more successful tactics adopted by Liverpool, RCD Espanyol and Atlético Madrid to restrain Real Madrid.
Real Madrid's transformation task had been settled, and Qin Xiong's return to the midfield was a foregone conclusion.
It was something that caught Athletic Bilbao off guard. They probably thought that because Liverpool had defeated Real Madrid at home, Real Madrid would not improve much even if they withdrew Qin Xiong back to the midfield.
But it was clear that they had overlooked the passive nature of Real Madrid's situation when they went to Anfield in the second leg.
Since they had just experienced a Champions League life-or-death match in the middle of the week, Real Madrid's first priority in the away game over the weekend was to stabilize their game state.
This made Athletic Bilbao mistakenly think that their tactics made Real Madrid unable to find the direction of their attack, making it difficult for them to show their true strength.
This was a big mistake!
The 22nd minute of the game.
Qin Xiong controlled the ball in the midfield midline position. He was surrounded by four Athletic Bilbao players. When Martínez, Toquero, López and Yester surrounded Qin Xiong from four directions, Qin Xiong calmly passed the ball to the front left.
Snede cut inside from the flank to the middle. He easily stopped the ball with his chest and followed up with a diagonal kick.
Robben cut inside from the right flank into the penalty area. After stopping the ball, he dribbled the rhythm and paused. Then he suddenly burst out and started to bypass the defender, Ossio, and shot to break the goal!
Real Madrid opened the scoring in the away game!
The Athletic Bilbao players were a little distracted, especially the four players who surrounded Qin Xiong.
Compared to Guti and Gago, Qin Xiong's calmness and clarity of thought when he was the commander in the midfield were absolutely above everyone else.
He was able to make the offense go smoothly in a small area with an elegant posture. From the overall situation, he put the team's offense on the best track.
After Robben scored, he deliberately ran to Snede for a hug, as if to fight back against the media's attack on the two men. He also told the outside world: Is the Dutch gang guilty? Even if they are guilty, Real Madrid needs us now!
Athletic Bilbao was hit hard again ten minutes later.
Martínez pulled Qin Xiong in the backfield and was awarded a free kick. Qin Xiong's free kick assisted Heinz's header to break the goal!
Real Madrid extended their lead.
Athletic Bilbao understood that their pre-match tactical arrangement that could restrain Real Madrid could be thrown into the trash can.
The wildness of the Basque lion was reignited.
The game began to open up. After all, Athletic Bilbao had no way out.
Their bravery quickly paid off.
Real Madrid's rear defensive line still had problems. Metzelder, who replaced Cannavaro in the starting lineup, failed to stop Yester's forward plug in the 36th minute of the game. Casillas bravely saved Yester's volley in the penalty area, but Lopez swept the ball in front of the goal from the right side of the penalty area. Heinz, who was already a little panicked, blocked the ball into his own goal!
1:2
Before the end of the first half, Qin Xiong instigated a wave of deadly attacks in the midfield for Real Madrid.
He sent out a scalpel-like straight ball. Raúl charged into the penalty area and selflessly passed the ball to the back of the goal from the right side. Huntelaar, who was unmarked, pushed the ball into the empty goal from the back!
At the end of the first half, Real Madrid led the away game by 3: 1.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides again. Athletic Bilbao launched a wave of lightning attacks, which caught Real Madrid a little off guard.
Athletic Bilbao broke through Real Madrid's left defense, and Heinz once again rashly let Lopez stir up trouble in his own defensive zone.
Lopez passed the ball from the right, and Llorente pressed Pepe from the back to head the ball into the goal. The football hit the inside of the goalpost and bounced out. It originally bounced in the direction of the goal, but Casillas could not react in time and the football hit the back of his hand and bounced back into the goal!
2:3
Athletic Bilbao quickly pulled a goal back in the second half.
Real Madrid's players were speechless at the two goals conceded.
The first was Heinz's own goal.
The second could also be counted as Casillas' own goal.
Both goals were lost with signs of bad luck.
It seemed that even God was creating difficulties for Real Madrid in this eventful period!
But perhaps the Real Madrid players were used to the team conceding goals one after another.
No matter what kind of method it was, whether it was broken by the opponent's mobile play, broken by counterattacks, broken by set pieces, even if it was an own goal, the rear defensive line was full of holes.
What was there to be surprised about?
They were going to concede anyway!
This defensive line had been riddled with holes for more than a day or two.
They were already used to it.
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