The ninth round of the 2004/2005 La Liga season could be said to be a battle between strong teams.
Barcelona's away game was tied with Athletic Bilbao 1: 1.
The defending champion, Valencia's home game was also tied with Atlético Madrid with a score of 1: 1.
After the ninth round of the league, people paid attention to the La Liga standings and were surprised to find that Sporting de Gijón was the fourth team in the league!
Barcelona was first in the league with 23 points.
Sevilla was second in the league with 17 points.
Then Sporting de Gijón was third in the league with 16 points!
Behind Sporting de Gijón was another newly promoted dark horse, Levante, who also had 16 points. However, due to their low goal difference, they were fourth in the league.
Right behind him was the defending champion, Valencia, with 15 points.
Then RCD Espanyol was fifth in the league with 14 points.
Atlético Madrid also had 14 points and was sixth in the league due to their low goal difference.
Real Zaragoza also had 14 points and was seventh in the league.
After Real Madrid lost to Sporting de Gijón, their 13 points did not change and they were eighth in the league!
The whole Spanish football world was shocked.
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Sporting de Gijón and Levante, these two newly promoted teams, actually overtook the three powerhouses, Valencia, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid, to reach the top four in the league. The newly promoted teams were so fierce, this was a situation that had not happened in the La Liga for many years.
Levante was fourth in the league mainly because their schedule was more favorable. Other than Sevilla and Atlético Madrid, they did not meet any other powerhouses. Moreover, Levante lost to Sevilla in the away game with a score of 0: 3. They only won against Atlético Madrid at home with a score of 1: 0. Their results against strong teams were not good, but they did well against relatively weak teams.
Sporting de Gijón was third in the league, which was a little scary. They had met Deportivo de La Coruna and Real Madrid in the league and defeated strong teams such as Athletic Bilbao and Real Zaragoza. There was no doubt about their strength.
Before this, even when Sporting de Gijón defeated Deportivo de La Coruna, the Spanish football world still looked at this team as if they were a newly promoted team. However, after defeating Real Madrid in the away game with a score of 4: 0, the Spanish football world was shocked. They began to realize that this newly promoted team was extremely fierce. Perhaps they could no longer look at this team as a newly promoted team....
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On the way back from Madrid to Sporting de Gijón the next morning, the players were scrambling to read the latest newspaper. They looked at the La Liga standings and saw that Sporting de Gijón was in third place. Everyone's faces were full of pride and joy.
The team's captain and vice-captain, Hierro and Albertini, were also talking softly. The two veterans were also full of emotions. When they decided to come to Sporting de Gijón to spend the last years of their careers, they definitely did not expect this newly promoted team to have such explosive power. After nine rounds of the league, they had actually beaten Valencia, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Deportivo de La Coruna, and other teams to rank third in the league!
Agreeing to Li Ang to come to Sporting de Gijón might be the best decision I've made in my career! Albertini looked at the league standings in the newspaper with mixed feelings in his heart.
Sporting de Gijón's players cheered, and Sporting de Gijón's fans were so excited that they could not control themselves.
When the team's bus returned to Sporting de Gijón, there were even fans who drove out to greet them. Then, they followed and escorted the team's bus back to the Maleo training base.
The Red and White Army, which had been in decline for many years, burst forth with great energy once they returned to La Liga. Their current results and rankings were not inferior to the team's most glorious era!
"Red and White Army!"
"King of the North!"
The fans shouted loudly and at the top of their lungs.
Li Ang rolled down the window and made a victory sign to the fans, which immediately ignited all the passion!
"Li!"
"Li!"
"Li!"
Hierro looked at the scene and smiled. Their manager was really very young, very passionate, very energetic, and of course … very flamboyant!
During his time with Real Madrid, Hierro had worked with famous managers such as Capello, Bosque, Heynckes, and Hiddink. Compared to those famous managers, Li Ang was really too young. This young manager made Hierro feel that it was definitely very interesting. Now, Real Madrid's old captain also began to admire Li Ang in his heart. To be able to lead a newly promoted team to its current results was indeed very good.
Hierro could feel that the whole Sporting de Gijón was just like the young manager, full of passion and drive. Even Hierro, a veteran, felt as if he had become a few years younger. It was a very good feeling.
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For a long time, there had been very few super dark horses in La Liga. This was because, unlike the English Premier League, which generally benefited from the broadcasting share plan, which led to a huge amount of income for each team to enrich their squad, the broadcasting share of the La Liga teams was self-financed by each team. This meant that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and other powerhouses received independent income, which was far more than the funds received by other non-powerhouse teams. Moreover, Real Madrid and Barcelona benefited from the membership system and the advantages of being century-old powerhouses. All kinds of sponsorship contracts came one after another, which made it easier to organize capital investment, so in terms of purchasing power, they completely surpassed the other La Liga teams.
The small teams in La Liga earned very little income from broadcasting, which also meant that they did not have enough funds. Without funds, it was difficult to recruit players and increase their strength.
A few seasons ago, there was a dark horse called Alavés, which shocked La Liga football and Europe. However, Alavés was only a flash in the pan in the end, and the players were all divided up by Europe's powerhouses.
Now, Sporting de Gijón and Levante had appeared out of nowhere, especially Li Ang's Sporting de Gijón. Once again, people saw the scene of a dark horse moving freely.
Now, it could be said that Sporting de Gijón had attracted the interest of the entire Spanish football world and the media. They all wanted to see how good Sporting de Gijón's dark horse was.
They can also play offensive football, slaughtering Zaragoza with an 8-0 and defeating Deportivo La Coruña with a 4-1. Especially in the game against Super Laco, Sporting Gijon's offense was picturesque, their manager was extremely passionate, and their players were passionate. The emergence of such a team is a surprise of this season's La Liga. I'm now very interested in this team and their manager, Li Ang. I'm really looking forward to it and pay attention to it. I want to see how far they can go and what kind of results they can achieve … "— José Villa, a famous football columnist for the Spanish national news agency, Efe, said in his newsletter column.
The name of his column was called "The Dark Horse Moving Freely!"
The background image used was a screenshot of the La Liga league standings. Sporting de Gijón was in third place, and it was extremely eye-catching!
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