"The official website of the Spanish Professional League has announced the winners of the Manager and Player of the Month in La Liga for January. Sporting de Gijón's China Manager, Li Ang, and Sporting de Gijón's Argentine striker, Diego Milito, have been elected. The Manager and Player of the Month were both elected. This had only happened twice last year, and now, in January 2005, such a situation has occurred.
In January, Sporting de Gijón achieved a record of three wins and one draw in four matches in the league, including a 5-1 victory over Sevilla in the away game and a 7-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the home game. In addition, they also eliminated Osasuna and Sevilla in the King's Cup, successfully advancing to the semifinals of the King's Cup. With this outstanding coaching record, Manager Li Ang beat out Barcelona's Manager, Rijkaard, and Villarreal's Manager, Pellegrini, to be elected as the Manager of the Month for January. As for the Argentine striker, Diego Milito, his form in January has been outstanding. Currently, he is the number one scorer in the La Liga with 18 goals. He is the hero of Sporting de Gijón and has been honored as the Player of the Month for January. "
The news was being broadcasted on the closed-circuit television of the team bus.
There was a burst of applause and whistles in the bus. Ribéry was clamoring for Manager Li Ang to treat him to a meal. Milito stayed in Gijón to recuperate and did not follow the team to the away game. In the 23rd round of the La Liga, they would be facing another team in Barcelona, Real Espanyol, in an away game!
The young Benzema looked at the news screen with envy. He longed for his name to appear in such news as soon as possible.
*****
February 13, 2005. The 23rd round of the La Liga began.
Sporting de Gijón hosted Real Espanyol.
Even though it was just an ordinary league match, the Colnella El Prat stadium, which could accommodate up to 40,000 people, was still full.
Sporting de Gijón was the biggest dark horse of the La Liga season. They were currently in second place in the league, which attracted more and more interest from the media and fans. Take the Colnella El Prat stadium for example. Usually, it would only be full when they played against a powerhouse like Real Madrid or Barcelona's Barcelona Derby. However, the game against Sporting de Gijón attracted so much interest from the fans that there were even media reports saying that it was "hard to get a seat!"
The fans of the other teams wanted to see what was so special about the season's dark horse.
The Colnella El Prat stadium, which could accommodate up to 40,000 people, was not big. It could not be compared to Camp Nou, which could accommodate up to 80,000, 90,000, or even 100,000 people. However, there was one advantage to small and medium-sized stadiums, which was that the stands were full. The fanatical fans could cause a lot of trouble for the visiting team in the stands.
RCD Espanyol was not a powerhouse team, but it was still a traditional powerhouse in La Liga. It was only because they had the same city's arch-rival, Barcelona, that RCD Espanyol's presence was very low. Now, seeing a newly promoted team like Sporting de Gijón in second place in La Liga made RCD Espanyol's fans envious and jealous. There was a very unpleasant feeling: jealousy!
The RCD Espanyol's fans, who had been depressed by Barcelona for a long time, found an outlet to vent their feelings. They vented their depression. They sang and shouted non-stop in the stands. From the beginning of the game until they were completely defeated, they basically did not stop.
They hoped that their team could beat Sporting de Gijón and prove that a veteran team in La Liga could not be bullied.
However, things did not go according to their wishes. Sporting de Gijón quickly took over the game.
*****
Considering the UEFA Europa League next week, Li Ang rotated a few positions. The veteran Chiesa started, replacing Di Natale.
And Javier Blanco started, replacing Franck Ribéry.
Nine minutes into the game, Modric, who was in the starting lineup, helped the team open the scoring with a long shot from outside the penalty area.
Modric was unusually excited after the goal. He still insisted on practicing his long shots with Carlos every day. For this young man, there was nothing more exciting than scoring such a wonderful long shot in a game.
Then, in the 32nd minute, Benzema scored with a beautiful header, which made the Colnella El Prat stadium fall into a temporary silence.
“Goooool！”
"Karim Benzema! Karim Benzema! He scored a hat-trick in the last game, and he scored again today! "
"The Frenchman is in great form! This is his 10th goal in the league this season! " The commentator, Dagestino, exclaimed. "Now, this 17-year-old boy is the second player in Sporting de Gijón to score double digits in goals! He has surpassed Ribéry and become Sporting de Gijón's number two scorer! "
After the goal, Benzema was unusually excited and kept waving his arms. Seeing the news of Milito winning the best player award for January stimulated the young player. He also wanted the same kind of glamorous news as last time.
In the first half of the game, Sporting de Gijón had a two-goal lead. The game was completely under Sporting de Gijón's control, and the Spaniards had no power to fight back.
*****
In the second half, Li Ang began to make frequent substitutions for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 next week. Li Ang began to rotate players frequently for next week's UEFA Europa League knockout round.
In the 56th minute, he brought on Juan Arango to replace the veteran Juan Albertini. Li Ang let Modric withdraw from his position to play as the defensive midfielder, and the left-footed player, Juan Arango, appeared in the right midfielder position.
The Venezuelans gradually began to adapt to Li Ang's tactics. Although they did not make a stunning move that made them famous in one game, their performance was getting better and better.
As soon as Arango came on the field, he used a beautiful pass to make the Espanyol defender, García, lose his bearings and then sent a beautiful pass. Unfortunately, his teammates didn't have enough tacit understanding and couldn't plug in in time.
"The biggest problem for the Venezuelans is that they still need to break in," Banderas said.
Li Ang nodded. Arango's feet were flexible, he had a set of moves, and the organization of his passes was also good. Now, their tacit understanding was not enough.
In the 69th minute, Li Ang brought on the veteran, Maikol Pihra, to replace Benzema. With Diego Milito injured, Benzema was the only center forward he could use. He had to protect him well.
Maikol Pihra came on for less than four minutes. He received a pass from Javier Blanco from the side and headed the ball in the penalty area. The Spaniards' goalkeeper, Kameni, subconsciously blocked the football. The Italian veteran, Chiesa, followed up with a push shot. The football flew into the Spaniards' goal for the third time.
This goal completely extinguished the Spaniards' idea of winning.
Before the end of the game, Sporting de Gijón had a chance to set the ball in the front field. Chiesa lobbed the football into the penalty area, Pepe headed the ball over, and the Spaniards' defender, Jarqui, headed the football out of the penalty area. Grosso shot from the top of the penalty area arc, locking in the score at 4: 0!
The Spaniards were truly aware of the gap in strength between them and this newly promoted team!
*****
Sporting de Gijón won a resounding away victory. After the game, the Spanish media raised a question for the first time:
"There's a problem that maybe we didn't notice before. We ignored it. But now, this problem needs to be faced head-on. Li Ang's team is invincible and invincible. Where is their long sword pointing? "
Invincible!
Invincible!
The edge has been revealed!
You!
Where is the sword pointing?!
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