Hierro later described in his autobiography when he heard the team's manager, Li Ang, talk about the team's desire for the league title and the possibility of it.
"Of course, everyone was dumbfounded. Whether it was the young Pepe, the mischievous Ribéry, or the mature Di Natale, everyone was dumbfounded. Of course, that included me. We were all dumbfounded by the 'ambition' that our coach displayed."
"'Hey, hey, hey, you guys aren't scared, are you? Is the glory of the league title that scary?' The coach said this. He thought it was humorous, but in fact, no one laughed because we were still shocked. Finally, Pepe shouted, 'Champion! God, that's really … 'Then the whole locker room became noisy and lively. Everyone was discussing this topic like crazy. The coach did not speak. He just looked at everyone. After a few minutes, he clapped his hands and signaled for everyone to stop. He said,' The championship may require us to put in a lot of effort. Maybe we will succeed, maybe we won't succeed. But it's right in front of us, within reach. Do we want it? '… Everyone shouted' yes' like crazy! We were so excited that even the people from Bilbao knocked on the door and asked us to keep our voices down. They were not in a good mood after losing the game. Just like that, for the first time, we were officially united. The desire for the league title made everyone excited. I won the La Liga title many times when I was at Real Madrid. But now, I'm 36 years old and I'm still excited. I think it's unbelievable that Sporting de Gijón has the hope of winning the league title. God … "
Just as Hierro said in his autobiography, after the shock of the Sporting de Gijón team, everyone's enthusiasm was stimulated by their coach's ambition.
On the second day of training back at Sporting de Gijón, Li Ang noticed that the team's mental state was better than ever.
"Everyone is excited," Scottley said happily.
"Yes, the league title. I don't even dare to think about it," Banderas nodded.
*****
Even though the entire team had a unified understanding, when he was interviewed by the media and asked about Sporting de Gijón's influence on the La Liga title, he flatly denied it.
"League champion? No, no, no! We don't have that ability. The league championship is a game for powerhouses like Barcelona and Real Madrid. We don't have the qualifications to participate, "Li Ang said seriously into the microphone.
After hearing his words, even the Sporting de Gijón fans were slightly disappointed, but they did not think much of it. Yes, the league title was a game for the powerhouses. Even though Sporting de Gijón was only three points behind Barcelona, they really did not have the right to covet the league title. It was better not to dream about it.
The Voice of Sporting de Gijón also said in the feature that Sporting de Gijón's current ranking was already a miracle. As for the league title, it was better not to dream about it. It did not belong to Sporting de Gijón, and the fans were already proud of the current team.
Li Ang's words and the Sporting de Gijón media's statement sent a message to the Iberian Peninsula that Sporting de Gijón had no intention of coveting the league title.
This cooled down the topic of a newly promoted team winning the league title that had just been hyped up by the media.
In fact, even though the media had hyped up this matter, almost no one really thought that Sporting de Gijón had a chance to covet the La Liga title. Some of the media originally thought that with Li Ang's personality, he would definitely stand up and boast shamelessly about his desire for the league title. This way, they could hype it up without restraint. They did not expect him to not fall for it.
Sporting de Gijón's players listened to their manager's words in front of the media. If it were not for the fact that they had a unified understanding of the league title, they would have believed it.
"The manager is too cunning," Milito, who was recuperating, said.
This gained everyone's agreement. Now Sporting de Gijón was like a hidden poisonous snake, ready to strike at any time, using its deadly venom to hunt its prey and complete the fatal blow.
*****
Accumulating luck!
That's right, Li Ang was accumulating luck. He learned this trick from the Premier League's Leicester City manager, Ranieri, before he was reborn.
Ranieri, who led Fox City to the Premier League title, had been accumulating luck all season.
In the 20152016 Premier League season, Ranieri led the previous season's relegation team, Leicester City, to lead in the first round, even though they later became the favorite to win the title. However, Ranieri's statement could not be more low-key. It was obvious that he was accumulating luck.
In the middle of the season, when Leicester City was at the top of the list, Ranieri: Our mission this season is still to avoid relegation.
In the middle of the season, when they received last season's points, Ranieri: I'm very happy that our mission to avoid relegation is about to be completed.
In the middle of the season, Ranieri: We have to ensure a place in the Europa League and strive to participate in the European competition.
In early April, the season was about to enter the final sprint stage. With Leicester City still leading the Premier League, Ranieri's attitude was: Is the Europa League in the bag? Try the Champions League.
Then, until the 35th round of the Premier League against Swansea City, Leicester City led Tottenham Hotspur by five points with four games left. Under such circumstances, Ranieri finally stopped accumulating luck and loudly shouted the slogan of winning the title.
*****
It was undeniable that the main determining factor of a football game was the strength itself. Luck and whatnot were just legends. However, keeping a low profile and accumulating luck, being able to see oneself clearly, face up to where one's problems were, and reduce hatred, was conducive to creating a harmonious external environment. Without authorization, lowering one's luck would make the players subconsciously appear blind and arrogant, which would cover up many potential problems. Once these problems exploded together, the retribution of lowering one's luck was inevitable. From this level, the law of conservation of luck might still make some sense.
Of course, it did not mean that one could not be high-profile. If everyone accumulated luck, then football would be a lot less interesting. It was precisely because of the existence of people like the madman Mourinho, who dared to speak and act without thinking, that football would attract more people's attention. Counting the rich and powerful teams in the football world, most of them were more high-profile in declaring their great ambitions for the season. After all, the vast number of fan groups needed the club's ambition to motivate them. The club and the players' bold words would deeply delight the fans of the team. However, in case it did not happen, they would be ridiculed by other fans. This was normal. Everyone had the heart to take pleasure in other's misfortune.
Therefore, it was worth noting that the ones accumulating luck were some small teams. In fact, Li Ang's understanding of accumulating luck was: sinister!
Hiding and lying in wait until the time for the final strike came.
This could also numb Barcelona. After all, according to Li Ang's intuition, Barcelona really did not pay much attention to Sporting de Gijón at the moment. It was clear that whether it was Rijkaard or Barcelona's top management, or star players such as Ronaldinho and Eto 'o, none of them really regarded Sporting de Gijón as an absolute threat.
This was Sporting de Gijón's opportunity.
With Li Ang's temperament, if possible, he would naturally be more willing to express his desire for the championship title with great fanfare. That would be more exciting. However, their strength was far inferior to Barcelona's, so they naturally had to keep a low profile. This could not be helped.
*****
Li Ang's statement also numbed Barcelona's people. The Catalonia media no longer hyped the threat of Sporting de Gijón. Instead, they began to praise their players.
Taking a point from the icy and snowy El Birdie Stadium was no longer a loss of points for others. The media also found something to praise.
As long as you wanted to find it, you could always find something to shine.
And the shining point that the Catalonia media found was the team's Mexican star player, Marcos.
"This is a game like a trap. Don't look at how Barça and Numancia are competing for first and last place in the league. Barça has never won at the El Birdie Stadium. We have no right to be proud. " The course of the game proved that Rijkaard's analysis before the game was very accurate. Barça only began to enter the game after 10 minutes, and even if they dominated the field, Barça was very lacking in the creation of scoring opportunities. In the 43rd minute, they really encountered a trap: a player made a defensive mistake, and Juan Llewellyn scored with a reverse hook in the penalty area.
"This was an accident, but Barça still has time to reverse the score!" The media shouted. On the low-temperature ice and snow field, who would play the role of Barça's savior? Would it be Ronaldo Jr., Eto 'o, or Maxi, who killed Chelsea in the last game? None of them. The answer was quite surprising: Marcos! The Mexican national team captain equalized for Barça just two minutes into the second half: Harvey kicked a corner kick from the right side, and Marcos broke the net with his right foot from the edge of the penalty area at a small angle, and Barça narrowly escaped death!
"This is a beautiful and important goal," Sport Daily commented after the game.
Li Ang also joined in the fun. He published an article in his column in the Voice of Gihon, systematically analyzing and praising Marcos.
"Marcos first appeared in the defensive midfielder position in the game, and after Belletti was injured and left the field, he retreated to the center back position to defend. The statistics after the game showed an interesting phenomenon: Marcos shot three times in the game, which is the player with the most shots on the Barça team! In addition, he also created a scoring chance for his teammates and intercepted the opponent three times. Marcos was quite active in the 90 minutes: in the fourth minute, he helped the team to break the siege; in the 28th minute, he sent a precise deep ball to Decaux; in the 47th minute, he successfully broke the goal and scored his third goal of the season …
At the beginning of the season, Marcos had a falling out with Rijkaard because he could not play as the main force in the team. But after Mota, Gabriel, Edmílson, and others were injured one after another, the Mexican became one of the most indispensable players in the Dutch coach's lineup. Marcos could play as a center back with Puyol when he retreated, and he could take on the heavy responsibility of the defensive midfielder in advance. He also had the skill for a long shot. More importantly, when Barça got a set piece in the front field, he could actively plug in to look for an opportunity to attack the goal. The Mexican's headers also played a huge role in making up for the shortcomings of Barça's frontline players in this area.
The analysis of Marcos's three goals this season verified the Mexican's all-weather ability: against Getafe, he scored with a direct free kick, against Real Zaragoza, he scored with a header from Harvey's corner kick in front of the goal, and against Numancia, he scored with a powerful shot in front of the goal. Rijkaard recently emphasized the importance of the defensive players participating in the offense. Puyol and Marcos's plugging in to assist was one of their performances. In addition to completing the defensive task well, Marcos could also launch unexpected attacks when the conspicuous players such as Decaux, Ronaldinho, and Eto 'o were marked by the opponent.
Overall, Barça's scoring rate on set pieces was not high, but Marcos's appearance was expected to improve Barça's weakness in this area. The Mexican's performance was excellent. "
Li Ang's article was very sudden. No one thought that the Sporting de Gijón manager would write a column praising the players of the leading team, Barcelona. Was it really as the Chinese man said, that Sporting de Gijón had no intention of winning the league title?!
"Between Real Madrid and Barcelona (who will win the league title), I choose Barça!" Li Ang said this in an interview later.
This also made many people realize that the old grudge between Li Ang and Real Madrid was well known in the Iberian Peninsula. It seemed that, as the man said, he wanted to see Barcelona win the title.
However, everyone ignored the trap in his words. If he had to choose between Real Madrid and Barcelona, he would choose the latter. However, if he reached the top, it would be a different story.
*****
On March 2, 2005, in the 26th round of the 20042005 La Liga season, Sporting de Gijón welcomed their strong rival, Deportivo La Coruña, at home.
In the first round of the game, Sporting de Gijón defeated Deportivo La Coruña in an away game. That game was also regarded as the beginning of the decline of the "Super Laco" this season.
Since that game, Deportivo La Coruña seemed to have suffered a huge blow and could not recover.
At present, after the 25th round of the league, Deportivo La Coruña's record was only 7 wins, 11 draws, and 7 losses, with a total of 33 points, 20 points less than the league leader, Barcelona, and 17 points less than Sporting de Gijón!
For Deportivo La Coruña, who had reached the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League last season and won third place in La Liga, this was definitely a terrible result.
In this game, Deportivo La Coruña's manager, Irueta, and Deportivo La Coruña's star players came to Gijón with a vengeful mentality.
At the same time as the game between Sporting de Gijón and Deportivo La Coruña was going to start, there was also a highlight game, the Barcelona derby: Barcelona was going to play their city rival, RCD Espanyol, at home.
Li Ang's wishful thinking was that Sporting de Gijón would take down Deportivo La Coruña at home, and at the same time hope that RCD Espanyol would be able to stop Barcelona. No matter what, it was a derby game. Could RCD Espanyol make a comeback?
Play well and wait for Barcelona to be stopped or make a mistake. This was the counterattack strategy that Li Ang had formulated for Sporting de Gijón.
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