The atmosphere at the Real Madrid Club was slightly tense before the weekend's league tournament.
The tension stemmed from the strange calm in the club.
It was as if a storm was about to come.
In early May, which was the next round of the league tournament, Real Madrid would face a challenge from Barcelona at the Bernabéu.
Before that, Real Madrid could not make any mistakes. They could not afford to lose the game against Sevilla.
The pressure that had accumulated over a long period of time was about to explode.
Whether it was the players or the administrative staff, they all understood that a season's worth of hard work would be revealed in early May. Whether it would be a complete failure or if they would not lose everything depended on the result of that game.
And that game would be the best opportunity for Real Madrid to create a miracle.
With the pressure that had accumulated for a long time, Real Madrid went to the Pizjuan Stadium to challenge Sevilla.
Sevilla had just returned to the top four in the league tournament, but they were massacred by Barcelona in the last round with four goals. The qualification for the Champions League was up in the air again.
Therefore, this game against Real Madrid was particularly crucial.
At 19 o 'clock in the evening of April 16, the sun had not yet set. Nights in Spain always came late, and there was still plenty of light in the stadium.
The Pizjuan Stadium was full. The players of Real Madrid and Sevilla were ready to go in the players' tunnel. They were all in a fighting stance.
When the players of the two teams walked into the stadium, the stadium erupted in a deafening clamor.
The Sevilla fans shouted themselves hoarse to cheer for the home team. At the same time, when the emcee on the sidelines announced the names of Real Madrid's starting players, they booed harshly to put pressure on their opponents.
"Welcome to the Pizjuan Stadium. The focal battle of the 33rd round of the La Liga will be staged here. The fourth-placed Sevilla will be at home in a heavyweight confrontation with the second-placed Real Madrid in the league.
In the first half of the season, Sevilla had forced Real Madrid to a draw at the Bernabéu. In that game, Sevilla had almost taken away the victory. Now that they were at home, perhaps they could get what they wanted and take down the defending champions, Real Madrid!
Real Madrid's form had been improving since they were eliminated from the Champions League. They were now four points behind Barcelona. Including this game, there were still six rounds left in the league. Real Madrid might have a chance to reverse Barcelona, not to mention that Real Madrid would face Barcelona directly in the next round!
But the road had to be taken one step at a time. The premise of reversing Barcelona was to play the other games well. Today was a key battle to see if Real Madrid could withstand the pressure and show a convincing performance.
Sevilla started 4-2-3-1 today.
Goalkeeper: Palop.
Defenders: Adriano, Prieto, Escude, Navarro.
Midfielders: Navas, Duscher, Romario, Renato, Perotti.
Striker: Kanute.
Real Madrid start 442.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Marcelo.
Midfielders: Van Der Vaart, Diarra, Qin Xiong, Snede.
Forwards: Raúl, Higuaín.
Both teams have key players sitting on the substitutes' bench. Sevilla's striker, Fabiano, has a minor injury, and Real Madrid's Robben has been placed on the substitutes' bench because he was not feeling well during training.
The game is about to start, and this focal battle is about to start! "
Van Der Vaart, who had been sitting on the substitutes' bench for a long time, finally started today.
But he was in a position that he was not particularly good at, and he had been out of the game for a long time. After the game started, Qin Xiong frequently interacted with Van Der Vaart, so that he could interact with the attacking group in the front field.
Sevilla's overall strength was still relatively strong, especially in their home game, which was extremely aggressive.
In the process of launching a crazy encirclement and suppression of Real Madrid's midfield, Van Der Vaart could not keep up with the rhythm at first. He repeatedly failed to pass the ball, failed to break through, or was forced to finally lose the ball, which put Real Madrid into a passive situation.
In the 16th minute of the game, Qin Xiong faced the encirclement of Romario and Duscher in the midfield. He passed the ball diagonally to Van Der Vaart, who cut in front and cut inside.
The result was unexpected. Van Der Vaart wanted to directly break through Navarro's pressing. The football was passed by him, but he also lost control of the football.
Eskuder successfully intercepted the ball and kicked the ball. The football was passed behind Qin Xiong, and Romario rushed forward. After Qin Xiong turned back to chase for two steps, Romario slotted the ball diagonally into the end line of the left flank.
Perotti, who plugged forward, calmly kicked the ball back when Ramos quickly chased back. Ramos could not adjust his center of gravity after pouncing on the air. Perotti dribbled the ball two steps to the outside while observing and adjusting to prepare for the ball.
Kanort in the middle attracted the attention of Pepe and Cannavaro in the penalty area.
The two men closely marked Kanort and followed him like shadows.
Kanort deliberately rushed forward in the direction of the goal to pose a threat. When Pepe and Cannavaro followed, it caused the distance between the defensive line and the midfield line to be pulled apart, and a small vacuum area appeared in the penalty area.
Perotti completed the pass at this time.
The football flew into that vacuum area!
Renato, who was completely unmarked, plugged in from the back and completed a header attack!
He consciously headed the football towards the left half of the goal. The angle was not particularly tricky, but the speed of the ball was fast enough. Casillas could not save in time while he was on the move and could only watch as the football flew into the goal!
The cheers at the Pizjuán Stadium were deafening, and the Sevilla people celebrated the goal wildly.
"The ball is in! Sevilla takes the lead to break through Real Madrid's goal!
Renato received Perotti's cross and scored with a header!
Now almost all teams know that to play teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, they must do a good job of switching between offense and defense. The counterattack must be fast. As long as the ball was successfully intercepted, they must firmly and decisively fight back. This naturally required the team's strong tactical execution ability and keen insight into the situation.
Sevilla did this in this attack. Van Der Vaart's loss of the ball gave them a chance to play a quick counterattack. Romario's ball was on point, Perotti calmly handled the ball and created the goal, and Kanort covered for Renato.
Sevilla's goal can be called a textbook counterattack teaching! "
The Real Madrid players suddenly felt a lot of pressure, especially Van Der Vaart. His poor performance at the start of the game was related to his position and his long absence from the game.
No teammates blamed him, but he himself was a little lost. After 13 wonderful seasons, he seemed to have become a chicken rib in the Bernabéu.
The team no longer had his main position, and when he should have seized the opportunity, he became a burden to the team, which had a negative effect.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
