La Romareda Stadium was in the home team's locker room. Zaragoza's assistant manager, Cubala, closed the locker room door. He also shut out the noise of the stadium.
Zaragoza's manager, Fernandez, had a gloomy face. He lectured all the players, from the goalkeeper to the midfielders to the forwards.
"This is the worst performance I've ever seen. Don't you think it's embarrassing? You were led by a Segunda División relegation team at half time and almost had a player sent off, "Fernandez scolded with a sullen face.
"Jiménez, you idiot. I'm really curious. Who taught you to defend? As a defender, you pounced so fiercely all of a sudden. Don't you know to leave yourself some room to defend? "Fernandez pointed his finger at Jiménez's nose and scolded him.
Jiménez, who was scolded by Fernandez, did not say a word and hung his head. The kid was completely frightened and did not dare to speak at all.
Fernandez then scolded Toledo, thinking that he should not have been so careless to foul Mata when he was defending. He only needed to follow Mata's footsteps in the penalty area and not let him have a chance to shoot.
Toledo felt aggrieved. That kid Mata was fast and nimble. He wasn't as easy to defend against as you made him out to be. In fact, Toledo was completely aiming for the ball at Mata's feet at that time. It was because the kid's footsteps were too fast that he did not manage to shovel the ball and just happened to knock down the dribbler.
After scolding the team's defensive line, Fernandez pointed his finger at the team's offensive line. He criticized Kearney for being restrained by a kid. He also criticized Kearney for not passing the ball when he should have, which caused him to miss the opportunity to attack. The most serious thing was that he actually lost the ball at his feet and was counterattacked by the opponent. Fernandez's anxiety could also be seen from here. At the beginning of the game, Kearney dribbled the ball once and was intercepted by Marx and Carlos. At that time, Fernandez was not angry at all.
As for Villa and Moreno on the frontline, Fernandez also gave a few words of criticism. Villa was still alright, Fernandez only told Villa to run more actively in the second half of the match. He mainly criticized Moreno. It was clear that Fernandez was still brooding over the fact that Moreno had wasted a one-on-one shot in the first half.
It was no wonder that Fernandez was in such a bad mood. On one hand, it was because his team had been led by a Segunda División relegation team in the first half of the game. It was unacceptable and humiliating, especially since the opponent was a young Chinese coach that he looked down upon. Another reason was that Zaragoza was currently in La Liga. They had no hope of entering Europe, and they had no worries about staying in the league. The Copa del Rey was their biggest goal now. As long as they could make it to the finals of the Copa del Rey, they would be able to qualify for Europe next season. That was their only goal for this season.
At the end of the halftime break, Fernandez gritted his teeth and warned all the players that they had to go all out in the second half of the game. They had to go all out from the start of the game and attack! The team had to defeat their opponent by a large margin and minimize the threat of the away goal that their opponent had scored in the first half of the game. It was clear that Fernandez still believed that his team was much stronger than their opponent. In the first half of the game, they had been careless because they had underestimated their opponent. As long as the team went all out in the second half of the game, Sporting de Gijón would not have any chance in the second half of the game.
*****
In the away team's locker room at La Romareda Stadium, Li Ang praised the team's performance. Compared to the storm in the home team's locker room, the atmosphere here was much better. The players were in a good mood. To be able to lead their opponent 1: 0 at the end of the first half on Zaragoza's home ground was definitely something that everyone was proud of. Even Real Madrid and Barcelona did not have any advantage here.
The team played well in the first half, so Li Ang did not make any substitutions. He just emphasized that they had to continue to strengthen their defense against Kani in the second half of the game. With Sávio injured and out of the field, Kani's right flank played an even more important role in Zaragoza's offense.
In addition, Li Ang specifically pointed out that Zaragoza's center back, Toledo, had a yellow card on him. Li Ang specially arranged for Mata and Bilic to take turns attacking this point at the start of the second half of the game. If possible, let Toledo get another yellow card and be sent off. That way, there would be a lot of hope for this game.
Li Ang's arrangement also had a basis. Toledo was a player with a fierce style. For a center back, this evaluation meant that he was impulsive and a little impetuous.
"In the opening stages of the second half of the game, we'll kick off first! This is an opportunity! " Li Ang said. "Zaragoza is behind in the score. In the second half of the game, they will definitely want to attack fiercely. We'll attack fiercely at the start of the second half of the game and try to suppress their momentum. In this way, even if they get the ball later and launch an attack, the momentum and quality of their attack will be reduced!"
Li Ang arranged for the players to try to play high balls in the second half of the game. Although Matt Bilic's header attribute was not as good as Maikel Pihra's, it was still above average. Li Ang wanted to try his luck in case Bilic was lucky and scored with a header.
Therefore, after the second half of the game, people were surprised to find that Sporting de Gijón started to play high balls.
*****
Sporting de Gijón's players desperately passed the football from the side to Matt Bilic's head. Unfortunately, the Saragossa defender, Toledo, was good at headers. Although Gabriel Milito was not very tall, his jumping ability was very good. His judgment of where the ball would land was also quite good. This caused Matt Bilic to be trapped in a pincer defense by the Saragossa defenders and be unable to do anything.
Li Ang observed for a while on the sidelines and found that the same passes from the side were easily blocked by Zaragoza's players. Milito and Toledo's ability to defend against high altitude balls was indeed good. It seemed that headers were not a good idea.
Therefore, taking advantage of a dead ball, Li Ang called Juan Mata to his side. He told him not to pass anymore and instead dribble the ball to break through and cut inside. Zaragoza's full-back, Quattro, was still very close to the front in the assists, and the defender on this side, Jimenez, seemed to have not recovered from the mistake of losing the ball in the first half of the game. He was a little stunned, which was something that could be used.
Quattro was a full-back who was strong in offense and weak in defense. His ability to plug in from the side to assist was good, but on the defensive side, he was a little embarrassed in the face of Juan Mata's speed to break through.
"Juan Mata accelerates … Stop and turn, cut inside! Beautiful, he shakes off Quattro! Shoot! "González shouted.
Zaragoza's goalkeeper, Lionel, hit the ball out with both fists and then roared at Quattro. He was not satisfied with his teammates' defense.
Soon Juan Mata came back again, but this time when Quattro was guarding against him cutting inside to break through. He chose to force the ball down, and then faced Quattro, who was chasing up, he dunked the ball back. After dodging the gap in the cross, he raised his right foot and passed the football into the penalty area.
Unfortunately, Matt Bilic's shot missed due to Gabriel Milito's interference. Even so, it made the Zaragoza player break out in a cold sweat. If Sporting de Gijón scored another goal at Zaragoza's home ground, it would be really bad.
Fernandez was very annoyed. He yelled on the sidelines and directed the team. During the halftime interval, he asked the team to attack at the beginning of the second half and crush the opponent with a tide-like offensive. However, he did not expect that after the second half began, Sporting de Gijón took advantage of the kick-off to take the lead in attacking. Once the offensive started, it was endless. Although it could not be said that they were pressuring Zaragoza to the point of being unable to breathe, it was a fact that Zaragoza had no time to attack. This made Fernandez feel very aggrieved.
This was a f * cking good comparison. He had already pulled out his gun and was ready to go, but the other side directly said, "Sorry, you are the bottom, let me attack for a while."
*****
Li Ang crossed his arms and looked at the field. He was satisfied with the team's performance during this period of time. His tactic was called preemptive, using momentum to overwhelm the Zaragoza people.
The first drum of energy, the second weak, and the third exhausted. Li Ang understood the principle of Cao Gui's debate. The fighting spirit and momentum of the Zaragoza people would definitely be affected by his pressure.
It was almost time.
The game had gone on for 60 minutes. Li Ang saw that Mata's activity was giving the Zaragoza people a headache. He also saw the impact of this kind of speed player on the Zaragoza people's defensive line. He decided to make a substitution.
PS: Third update. Jibao, second update.
It's the end of the month. Urgently asking for support. Thank you very much.
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