On the football field, results were the test of everything.
Victory was the eternal rule. After losing 2: 3 to Osasuna in the away game in the previous round of the league, many media outlets criticized Sporting de Gijón. Even the local media in Gijón also criticized Sporting de Gijón for being overturned by their opponents despite leading 2: 0. In the words of the media, Sporting de Gijón was a newly promoted team, so losing in an away game was nothing. However, losing with a two-goal lead was unforgivable.
Now, just a week later, after Sporting de Gijón won 5: 0 at home against Athletic Bilbao, who was known for their stubbornness, the media's direction immediately changed. There were no more criticisms. The media in Gijón also continued to flatter Sporting de Gijón and Li Ang.
This time, even some of the most critical Spanish newspapers praised Sporting de Gijón. The Spanish people had high standards for football. They wanted to play beautifully and be able to win. Sporting de Gijón's 5: 0 victory obviously met this standard. Sporting de Gijón's five goals were all wonderful. Their offense was as smooth as flowing water, which made people feel good watching.
This time, even the media in Catalonia, which had old grudges with Li Ang, came out to praise Sporting de Gijón. El Mundo Deportivo's reporter, Soult, praised Sporting de Gijón in his report for the first time, saying that Li Ang led the newly promoted team to play beautiful football.
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"In Gihon, this Chinese man has led a newly promoted team. After experiencing the first two defeats of the season, their results have begun to improve. They have won three out of the last four rounds of the league tournament. In the match against Athletic Bilbao, the Red and White Army played a delightful game. The Basque Lions were helpless in the El Molinon Stadium … A month ago, this newly promoted team was in last place in the league tournament. Now, their ranking has risen to ninth place in the league tournament. And look at the team behind them. It's Real Madrid … "
Well, the reason why the Catalonia mouthpiece praised Li Ang was not only that Sporting de Gijón's recent results were indeed relatively good, and that this game was even more beautiful. The most important reason was that after six rounds of the league, Sporting de Gijón had won three and lost three times. With a total of nine points, their ranking was actually above Barcelona's arch-rival, Real Madrid!
There was no doubt that the people of Barcelona were the happiest thing to see Real Madrid being beaten down by a newly promoted team like Sporting de Gijón. This was also the reason why the Catalonia media began to praise Gijón and Li Ang. After all, Li Ang and the people of Barcelona did not have much of a grudge. Moreover, Li Ang and Real Madrid had quite a deep grudge. Based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, many Barcelona fans actually had a good impression of Li Ang after paying attention to Sporting de Gijón. For the people of Barcelona, anyone who could defeat Real Madrid, create trouble for Real Madrid, and embarrass Real Madrid was a good friend.
For some reason, the Catalonia media praised Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón. Then, what about the media in Madrid?!
The media in Madrid did not have the time to talk about Sporting de Gijón now.
Because Real Madrid was now in big trouble.
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In the first round of the league tournament, Real Madrid defeated Real Mallorca in an away game with difficulty.
In the second round of the league tournament, Real Madrid defeated the newly promoted team, Numancia, with a score of 1-0 at home.
Both games were difficult to win. Both were small victories by one goal. The opponents were very weak, which led to a round of criticism from the Madrid media.
Then, after a round of criticism from the Madrid media, Real Madrid lost 1-0 to RCD Espanyol in an away game in the third round of the league tournament!
This defeat caused the Madrid media to denounce the Real Madrid manager, Luxemburgo, both in speech and in writing.
The media's criticism seemed to have worked. In the fourth round of the league tournament, Real Madrid defeated Osasuna with a score of 1-0 at home.
After the fourth round of the league tournament, Real Madrid won three games and lost one game. In fact, it was not that bad. However, the media still did not let Real Madrid go. They wanted to see Real Madrid play beautifully when they win. Obviously, the three 1-0 wins were not enough to satisfy the Real Madrid fans.
"We want beautiful football!" This was the headline of Marca after Real Madrid defeated Osasuna with a goal in the fourth round of the league tournament.
Real Madrid's president, Florentino, also put pressure on Luxemburgo, asking the Brazilian manager to listen to the voices of the fans.
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Beautiful football did not come. Defeat came again.
In the fifth round of the league tournament, Real Madrid lost to Athletic Bilbao with a score of 1-2 in an away game!
That's right, it was Athletic Bilbao, who had been massacred by Sporting de Gijón with a score of 5-0 in this round of the league tournament!
Then, in the sixth round of the league tournament, Real Madrid lost to Deportivo La Coruña with a score of 1-0 at home!
In this way, after the sixth round of the league tournament, Real Madrid's record was three wins and three losses. It was actually the same as Sporting de Gijón's record. Moreover, what was most unacceptable to the people of Madrid was that Sporting de Gijón actually managed to surpass Real Madrid with the advantage of goal difference and ranked above Real Madrid!
Therefore, after the sixth round of the league tournament, Marca's front page headline was the league tournament standings. It showed that Sporting de Gijón was ranked ninth in the league tournament, and below that was the tenth place, Real Madrid!
Then, there was a huge headline: "A Disgrace!"
Obviously, after the sixth round of the league tournament, the super powerhouse Real Madrid's ranking was actually lower than a newly promoted team. Moreover, this newly promoted team was the team that humiliated Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey last season. This was unacceptable to the people of Madrid. They thought it was a disgrace!
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In addition, what made the Madrid media depressed was that Real Madrid was now facing a crisis in the center back position. The performance of Paven, who was supported by Florentino, was average. It could even be said that his performance was terrible. Paven had even become the loophole for the opposing teams to tear apart Real Madrid's defense. And all of this seemed to have something to do with Li Ang. In the final of the Copa del Rey last season, Li Ang criticized Florentino's Zidane + Paven policy and used Paven as a breakthrough to defeat Real Madrid. This seemed to have inspired Real Madrid's opponents this season. Many teams attacked Paven fiercely, and under great psychological pressure, he started to make mistakes again and again!
That was not all. Paven was useless, and Florentino still supported Paven for the sake of his reputation. However, at Sporting de Gijón, the old captain of Real Madrid, Hierro, who was kicked out by Florentino and retired for a year in the Qatar Premier League, was invited back by Li Ang. He actually managed to get a second chance at Sporting de Gijón. His performance was outstanding. He led Sporting de Gijón's defense, which was formed by the young Brazilian Portuguese lad Pepe. Although they were not outstanding, they were indeed improving continuously and made people's eyes shine.
Marca also started to criticize Florentino. They said that the decision to let go of the old captain Hierro was questionable. They blah blah blah blah. Anyway, they started to criticize Florentino.
At this time, Marca had obviously forgotten that during Hierro's last season at Real Madrid, when his condition deteriorated, they were the accomplices and mouthpieces of Real Madrid that expelled Hierro.
Now, Marca and the other Madrid media started to praise their old captain again. They said that if Hierro was still at Real Madrid …
In the comments and reports of the Real Madrid media, it seemed that if Hierro was still at Real Madrid, with this old captain, Real Madrid's current situation would not be so bad … However, more than a year ago, their report was that Hierro's condition deteriorated severely and dragged down Real Madrid's results.
However, they forgot that their old captain, Guardiola, also left the team in low spirits.
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Li Ang sneered at this. In the beginning, it was these media who agreed with Florentino, followed behind Hierro, and wanted to expel and purge the old players. Now, they were saying such things again. They really had no integrity.
After a day of training, Li Ang chatted with the captain, Hierro, and jokingly mentioned the Madrid media's call and praise for Hierro. The former Real Madrid captain responded with a sneer. After more than 20 years of professional career, Hierro, who was accustomed to wind and rain, was well aware of the media's face and did not care about it at all.
"I just want to play football here and spend the last days of my professional career," Hierro said to Li Ang.
Li Ang smiled. He was very satisfied with Hierro's statement. Having an old man at home was like having a treasure. Although Hierro's condition was not as good as before, his experience was the most valuable asset.
Li Ang was in a good mood. The reason was very simple. The team had begun to get on the right track. Of course, seeing his team surpass Real Madrid in the standings was also an important reason.
Real Madrid, the super powerhouse Real Madrid, had the seven kings, Raúl, Ronaldo, Owen, Zidane, Figo, Roberto Carlos, and Casillas.
On this day, September 2004, the results of the La Liga Manager of the Month selection were released.
PS: There was a big bug in the book. When Sporting de Gijón was in La Liga last season, the manager of Real Madrid should have been the Portuguese Queiroz. Luxemburgo was the manager of Real Madrid this season. Xiao Qi made a mistake and wrote Luxemburgo. There is no way to change it now. Therefore, to respect history, the manager of Real Madrid this season is still Luxemburgo. I apologize to everyone, please forgive me.
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