During the period when Li Ang was suspended for three matches, Sporting de Gijón's results were not good. Ever since they defeated the leading team, Barcelona, 3-1 in the away game, they had two draws and one loss in the league. They had not won in three matches.
In this round of the league, Barcelona had not won either. This time, the referee was not to be blamed. Barcelona and Valencia ended up with a 1-1 draw in the highlight match. They had drawn in two consecutive matches.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, narrowly defeated Racing Santander 3-2 in the away game. They seized the opportunity in two consecutive matches and narrowed the gap between them and the leading team, Barcelona.
After the sixteenth round of the league, the situation in the La Liga standings had changed quite a bit.
Barcelona, 10 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses, 34 points, ranked first.
Sevilla, 8 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses, 28 points, ranked second.
RCD Espanyol, 8 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 27 points, ranked third.
Real Madrid, 8 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses, 26 points, ranked fourth.
Valencia, 7 wins, 5 draws, 4 losses, 26 points, ranked fifth.
Sporting de Gijón, 7 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses, 25 points, ranked sixth.
Atlético Madrid, 7 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses, 25 points, ranked seventh.
Real Betis, 6 wins, 6 draws, 4 losses, 24 points, ranked eighth.
Osasuna, 7 wins, 3 draws, 6 losses, 24 points, ranked ninth.
Sporting de Gijón's ranking in the league had fallen to sixth. Their ranking had been surpassed by Real Madrid and Valencia. Even Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, and Osasuna were tied or very close to Sporting de Gijón's ranking.
Sporting de Gijón was the biggest dark horse of the season. After three consecutive matches without a win, their dark horse halo seemed to have faded a lot. The media's attention had also decreased a lot.
Some media outlets made "accurate predictions" that Sporting de Gijón's dark horse journey had come to an end …
*****
In fact, in Sporting de Gijón's three matches, the team's captain, the veteran Hierro, had only missed the match against Levante due to suspension. Ribéry had also returned after the third match. Only Pepe and Carlos had been suspended. Pepe's position had been replaced by Isma. Hierro and Isma were the center back combination. Even though Isma's ability was slightly weaker than Pepe's, he had more experience. The center back combination was still passable. As for Carlos's absence, with Marcos's presence, Sporting de Gijón's strength had not declined to the point where they could only draw or lose three matches in a row.
The real reason for the team's instability was Li Ang's three-game suspension.
As the manager of the team, he was also the soul of the team. Sporting de Gijón's players were used to Li Ang directing them from the sidelines. When Li Ang was on the sidelines, the players played with enthusiasm. Everyone was used to hearing Li Ang's thunderous roar from the sidelines when the team's situation was not good. It woke them up from their muddled state. When they thought of that person standing on the sidelines and directing the game, they felt a little more confident. Now that Li Ang had been sent to the stands as a punishment for three consecutive matches, the players were obviously affected.
Scottley was just a coach who kept his promise. If you asked him to assist Li Ang in his work and do his job as an assistant manager, he was very competent. However, as a manager, Scottley was not good enough. He lacked something.
Although Li Ang had analyzed all kinds of situations before the game and done his best to prepare for them, when he really stood on the sidelines as a manager, Scottley still felt the difference between a manager and an assistant manager. As an assistant manager, he only needed to do his job well. The manager would take care of everything else, so he had less psychological pressure. However, as a manager, he could immediately feel the mountain-like pressure.
Now that Li Ang's three-game suspension had ended and he was officially back, Scottley was relieved to hand over his position as the manager of the team. He had to admit that the job of a manager was not easy. Without real ability and mental toughness, not everyone could do it.
*****
In China, Li Ang's column in the Huiwen Daily updated with another article. The Sporting de Gijón manager used an extremely bitter and sarcastic tone to fight back against the responsibilities that Daily Sports had placed on him. "… Although the Qing dynasty has been destroyed for a long time, in some people's hearts, there is still a problem. They have low self-esteem, they worship foreign things, and they can only bow and scrape to foreigners. They can only smile and flatter them. They don't even dare to straighten their backs … In my heart, what should a Chinese person be like? They should hold their heads high, straighten their backs, and have the courage to fight against all actions that infringe on their rights. They should do what they want, within the scope of the laws and regulations, and do what they want. Everyone should do their job well. That's very good … "
Even though Li Ang did not name any names, after the article was published, everyone knew that he was targeting the Daily Sports World.
This article, which was in the nature of an essay, immediately stirred up a heated discussion.
Everyone consciously or unconsciously associated Daily Sports with it, especially the other media outlets. While watching the show, they did not forget to add insult to injury. The market share was only so big, and the cake was only so big. If others took a bite less, they would be able to take a bite more.
Li Ang was now very famous in China, and he had a lot of fans. Seeing this manager laughing and scolding people into an article, scolding people without using any vulgarities, they suddenly felt very good.
This incident had a greater impact on Daily Sports, which had just barely walked out of the conflict with Li Ang and was trying hard to repair its image. There was also a lot of criticism towards Daily Sports in public.
This made Zhang Zegang, the editor-in-chief of Daily Sports, so angry that his hair was about to stand up. That bastard was too despicable, too vicious.
Bow and scrape?
Can't straighten their backs?
Flatter?
That mental braid?
Braid your ass! Didn't we just criticize you for being impolite and ungentlemanly? You are so vicious, going straight to the point. You are just short of pointing at our noses and calling us traitors …
When the domestic coaches faced the media, which one of them did not have a proper attitude and tried their best to maintain a good relationship with them? Only this bastard did not take Daily Sports, the leader of the domestic sports media, seriously at all. He scolded them as and when he felt like it, he did not hold back at all. Moreover, he was so vicious.
Zhang Zegang was furious. He really regretted provoking Li Ang again. This guy was a bastard. He had a bad character, was vengeful for the smallest grievance, and was also ruthless.
This bastard was a scoundrel, and he was even the famous Young Marshal of La Liga. Bah!
Zhang Zegang rubbed his temples with a headache. He still had to think of ways to eliminate the impact of this incident as much as possible.
This was a hooligan that could not be provoked.
He was not afraid of hooligans shouting, but he was afraid of hooligans being cultured.
*****
Li Ang did not have time to pay attention to domestic matters. After he had sent the article he had written to Huiwen Daily, he did not pay attention to it anymore. He had been suspended for three matches and was unhappy about it. Now that Daily Sports dared to provoke him at this time, Li Ang was furious. He immediately opened fire. After he finished scolding them, he suddenly felt refreshed and his whole body relaxed …
Now, his attention was on the draw of the UEFA Europa League's knockout round. He wanted to complete the task of "Europe's Light", but there was still a long way to go. The opponent in the match was a very important aspect …
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