"… After taking over the team, Sporting de Gijón achieved five wins and one draw in the league. This is a very crazy performance. Li Ang's performance has proven that he is a true genius. Although Sporting de Gijón is still ranked 18th in the league, they have opened up a gap with Leganés behind them. It looks like their road to survival has become wider. "
"… Sporting de Gijón is unstoppable. Under Li Ang's management, this team is like a nirvana rebirth. This China manager has done something that his predecessor, Sporting de Gijón, did not even dare to dream of. Sporting de Gijón is currently the best team in the Segunda División in the last two months! "
"Juan Mata was voted the most popular player of the month by the Sporting de Gijón fans. This young striker, who followed Li Ang from Real Madrid to Sporting de Gijón, said in an interview that the person he wanted to thank the most was the manager of the team, Li Ang. He said that his manager was very good, and he believed that the rest of the team would agree with him …"
"There are still nine rounds until the end of the league. Sporting de Gijón is starting to show their strength. Above them, the closest teams to them, Messi City and Malaga B, feel the footsteps of this latecomer getting closer and closer to them. No one dares to make a mistake. No one wants to make a mistake. Once they stop, Sporting de Gijón will overtake them, and they will have no choice but to face Leganés' pursuit directly. They will be dragged into the cruel relegation zone. "
"Based on Sporting de Gijón's current performance, they should have a place in the La Liga. Unfortunately, they have to pay back their debt for their terrible performance in the first half of the season! Li Ang's team's mission this season is to stay in the Segunda División. If they stay in the Segunda División at the end of the season, it is obvious that this team will be a strong contender for the La Liga next season. "
The media began to praise Li Ang and Sporting Xi Hong. Although they were only ranked 18th in the league and were at the bottom of the rankings, many people felt that the rankings were no longer enough to explain the problem. They definitely could not judge Sporting Xi Hong as a team that could avoid relegation.
*****
"The next month will be crucial for Sporting de Gijón. They will play against Elche and Leganés in the league, and then face Galácticos Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. After the Copa del Rey final, Sporting de Gijón will face Messi, one place above them. These four games are crucial for Sporting de Gijón. For Li Ang and his Sporting de Gijón team, the long battle to avoid relegation has not come to an end. When the season ends, anything can happen." This was what the Gijón Post said the day before the 34th round of the league.
Yes, anything could happen …
Li Ang's face was gloomy at this moment. He was thinking about this sentence in his head. Then, with a pale face, he walked straight to the players' corridor …
This was the 34th round of the league. Sporting de Gijón was facing Elche in an away game. They had been leading until the last second of the game, but at the last moment of the game, Elche used a corner kick opportunity to score with a header!
This was a true goal from the countdown!
Elche's midfielder, Guadrado's header turned Sporting de Gijón's almost three points into one.
The referee was just one second away from blowing the whistle and the three points were in their hands, but they lost the ball at the last moment.
Li Ang was quite angry. He scolded everyone in the locker room.
At that time, all the players relaxed and were ready to hear the referee blow the whistle to end the game. In fact, the referee's whistle was already in his mouth and he was ready to blow the final whistle. However, at this time, Elche scored. The referee's whistle, which should have been blown by the referee, became the goal whistle.
Li Ang was furious about the goal concede. He had always emphasized that the team had to strengthen their focus and be focused. As long as the game was not over, they could not relax for a moment!
However, this time, the team showed a fatal relaxation.
When Elche's corner kick was taken, the team's defensive line seemed a little absent-minded. Perhaps they thought that the opponent's attack would fail, and then the referee would blow the whistle to end the game and the three points would be in their hands.
However, Elche took advantage of Sporting de Gijón's relaxation and scored the goal!
*****
Back at the hotel, the team's atmosphere was still very depressing.
The next day, the team returned from Elche to Gijón.
On this day, the team did not have a break. Li Ang canceled the "benefit" of at least half a day's rest the next day after every game. This was a punishment for the team's lack of concentration at the last moment of the game.
During training all day, Li Ang had a straight face, which made the players tremble with fear. They put in more effort and put in more effort in training. Everyone knew that the manager was now angry and no one wanted to be unlucky.
Later in the morning, the atmosphere at the Maleo training base finally improved.
This was because they had received good news.
The game between Sporting de Gijón and Elche was the first game of this round of the Segunda División.
And one day after this game, the other games of the Segunda División were carried out one after another.
Sporting de Gijón received good news.
Behind them, Leganés and Tenerife played to a 0-0 draw. The pursuers did not take advantage of Sporting de Gijón's loss of points. As a result, Sporting de Gijón still led Leganés by seven points.
In addition, Messi City, which ranked ahead of Sporting de Gijón, played to a 2-2 draw at home with Gaddis. As a result, Messi City still had the same points as Sporting de Gijón. They only ranked ahead of Sporting de Gijón on goal difference.
As a result, Sporting de Gijón lost a goal at the last minute and was equalized by Elche. However, Messi City in front of them and Leganés behind them also played to a draw with their opponents. Sporting de Gijón was lucky that the pursuers behind them did not narrow the gap between them and Messi City in front of them.
After knowing the results of the following games, the Sporting de Gijón players finally breathed a sigh of relief. The situation that they were worried about being chased from behind and being pulled apart by the front did not happen.
However, before the start of the day's training, Li Ang saw the smiles on the players' faces and scolded them.
*****
"You all look very happy," Li Ang said with a smile.
All the players had smiles on their faces. When they heard the manager say that, some of the more energetic players wanted to say something, but their teammates next to them pulled on their jerseys.
Idiot, don't you understand the meaning behind the manager's words? Didn't you hear the sarcasm in the manager's words?
Sure enough, Li Ang's face immediately changed and became gloomy.
"Look at how happy you are. Can't you be a little more mature?" Li Ang scolded.
"If I were you, at this time, I wouldn't be happy because of the draw with our opponents. Instead, I would be depressed and upset. I would be so angry that I would jump up!" Li Ang said coldly.
Some of the players did not understand. Some of the players' faces changed, as if they had thought of something.
"Why would I say that? Why would I say that? " Li Ang snorted. "If we had successfully taken down Elche, what would the situation be in the rankings now? Have you thought about it?! "
The players' hearts trembled. They really had not thought about it. At this time, when they thought about it and calculated the rankings in their hearts, their faces changed.
If Sporting de Gijón had taken down Elche, then with the current Messi City in the rankings, Sporting de Gijón's ranking would have surpassed Messi City and they would be ranked 17th in the league!
At the same time, with Leganés behind them having been forced to a draw by their opponents, Sporting de Gijón would be able to extend their lead over Leganés to nine points. This was a victory in three games. This would be a great advantage for Sporting de Gijón to avoid relegation!
However, there were no ifs! The fact was that Sporting de Gijón had been forced to a draw by Elche in the last second of the game. They had lost the three points that they had obtained, and they had also lost the good opportunity to widen the gap between them and their pursuers, as well as surpassing Messi City in front of them!
The players who were originally happy that Messi City and Leganés had both been forced to a draw by their opponents, at this moment, after listening to Li Ang's words and thinking about it themselves, their happiness immediately disappeared. Each and every one of them was so depressed that they stomped their feet. What a good opportunity they had missed!
"Remember one thing!" Li Ang said sternly. "In every game, we must give our best. Keep your spirits up. Don't relax until the game is over! We must do our best, so that when the opportunity comes, we can enjoy even greater joy! "
"Opportunities are only given to those who are prepared!" Li Ang finally said.
*****
"Final Battle!"
This was the headline on the front page of the Gijón Post!
The huge, bold red font took up more than half of the page, making this word even more conspicuous. Just looking at this word made people's blood boil!
That's right, it was a final battle!
This was not referring to the final of the Copa del Rey between Sporting de Gijón and Real Madrid, but the Segunda División match before the Copa del Rey final.
In the 35th round of the 20032004 Segunda División season, Sporting de Gijón's home opponent was Leganés!
That's right, it was the same Leganés that was constantly chasing Sporting de Gijón!
Twenty-two teams in the Segunda División were relegated. There were four relegation spots, which meant that the teams ranked between 19th and 22nd were relegated.
Currently, Sporting de Gijón was ranked 18th in the league, and Leganés was ranked 19th!
Eighteen had successfully avoided relegation, and nineteen had been relegated!
This was the difference between heaven and earth.
Therefore, Sporting de Gijón and Leganés were mortal enemies in the truest sense of the word. The two teams were at each other's throats.
Currently, Sporting de Gijón was leading Leganés by seven points. There were still eight rounds of the league, so a seven-point lead seemed relatively large. However, because the two teams were going to face each other in this match, this was the crux of the matter. If Sporting de Gijón won against Leganés at home, then Sporting de Gijón's lead over Leganés would increase to ten points. There were still seven rounds left in the league, so Sporting de Gijón's lead over Leganés would be quite large. Furthermore, the two teams would not meet again, so Leganés would not have the opportunity to gain a six-point lead. On the other hand, if Sporting de Gijón lost to Leganés at home, then the point difference between Leganés and Sporting de Gijón would be reduced to four points. This was an extremely dangerous point difference!
Therefore, this match was the crux of the matter!
The Gijón Post described this match as a decisive battle, which was not an exaggeration at all.
*****
In the press conference before the match between Sporting de Gijón and Leganés, the media was still talking about the goal conceded by Sporting de Gijón at the last minute of the match against Elche. Li Ang did not wait for his players after the goal was conceded, and went straight to the players' corridor. They asked Li Ang if he had an argument with his players.
However, Li Ang flatly denied this. No matter how the reporters bombarded him with questions, he ignored them all. Li Ang talked about the team's current form, the team's desire and expectations for the match, and so on.
However, there were a few reporters who did not give up and continued to ask questions about it.
This annoyed Li Ang.
"I don't understand what you're trying to say." Li Ang sneered. "My team has been undefeated in the last eight matches of the league. With a record of six wins and two draws, we have every reason to be proud of ourselves! It's just a draw, what's there to say? In the away game against Elche, we got a point. This is a result that I'm satisfied with! Our opponent is ranked higher than us, and they have a strong will. This is a team worthy of respect! "
The reporters knew that Li Ang was quibbling. Now, the whole of Spain knew that although Sporting de Gijón was ranked last in the league, they could not be regarded as a team that could avoid relegation in the Segunda División. Elche's ranking was only four places higher than Sporting de Gijón, which was really not high.
"Besides, what I want to say is that this is a press conference before the match between us and Leganés. Sporting de Gijón's opponent is Leganés. At this time, you keep asking about the previous match. Isn't this a lack of necessary respect for Leganés?" Li Ang asked coldly.
Leganés's manager, Espard, heard this and snorted coldly. Seeing the reporters surrounding Li Ang and asking him questions, he was already unhappy. Were they not putting him and Leganés in their eyes? Hey, hey, hey, this is a battle between us and Sporting Gihon!!!
The reporters also felt that the reporters who kept asking Li Ang about the previous match were a bit too much. Yes, this relegation battle was the focus.
*****
"Manager Li Ang, what do you think the result of the match with Leganés will be?" This reporter, who had been "causing trouble" and seemed to have ulterior motives, changed the topic.
Li Ang stared at the young reporter for a long time, and the young man looked back at him without flinching.
Li Ang was annoyed. This question was very tricky.
Leganés was Sporting de Gijón's direct relegation opponent. At this time, Li Ang definitely couldn't say that he had no confidence in the match. That would disappoint the players and fans!
However, if Li Ang declared too strongly that he had confidence in the match, it would anger the opponents. This was a relegation battle, and it was bound to be tragic. Coupled with other factors, it could very well make the match even more difficult.
Li Ang's personality determined his answer.
In the end, Li Ang left the press conference with a sentence.
"Victory is in my hands!"
PS: Two-in-one chapter.
Everyone can add me on WeChat. My WeChat ID is Love77xjh, and my username is Young Seven.
My WeChat ID is woaizhutou7, and my username is Zhu Tou Seven Talks Ball.
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