Messi was receiving a massage from Barcelona's physiotherapist, Frodo. At the end of the day's training, he felt that his muscles were a little stiff. He did not want to affect his chances of playing in the match, so even though the team doctor did not say anything, he still insisted on the massage to relax.
Messi's name was on the 18-man roster announced by the Barcelona manager, Rijkaard. The young man, who was about to turn 18, was very excited. Of course, he wanted to play in such an important match.
"You're just a little nervous and tired muscle," said the physiotherapist, Frodo.
"I'm not nervous." Messi, who was lying on the bed and enjoying the massage, argued. In the shy young man's eyes, being nervous before a match was shameful behavior. He was a coward.
"Haha, don't be nervous, don't be nervous," Frodo said with a smile. "Little Leo is going to be a big star player in the match."
Ever since the young Messi joined Barcelona, he was highly regarded. The staff of the Barcelona club also liked this shy young man. It was not an exaggeration to say that Messi's situation in Barcelona was very good.
Messi smiled a little embarrassedly, then closed his eyes to enjoy the massage, but his mind was a little wild. Sporting de Gijón's sudden rise this season had shocked everyone, especially Messi. He could not imagine that the coach from China, who had once led Real Madrid's under-17 A team, could now lead Sporting de Gijón to achieve such incredible results.
Messi could not forget the match against Real Madrid's under-17 A team. He could not forget the manager of Real Madrid, Li Ang. That loss to Real Madrid was Barcelona's first victory in that season's youth competition. Messi and his friends, who were in hot condition and had been progressing triumphantly, were hit in the head by that loss.
Who would have thought that the manager of Real Madrid's youth team, in less than two years, would coach a La Liga first team and lead them to become the dark horse that shocked the entire La Liga? Now, they were competing with Barcelona for the league title!
Messi felt that it was incredible.
He admired Li Ang a little. That person was really good.
However, no matter how good you are, the championship will still be Barcelona in the end! And if he had the chance to play, he would definitely work hard to score goals and contribute to the team's victory — Messi thought. In fact, he had a little bit of revenge. He wanted revenge for losing to Li Ang's Real Madrid's under-17 A team.
The young Argentinian was holding back his anger for revenge.
Just as Messi's imagination was running wild, the physiotherapy massage ended.
The physiotherapist, Frodo, patted Leo's shoulder lightly, waking him up from his daze. "Leo! Leo, you have to do it! "
Messi nodded hard.
*****
Barcelona's assistant manager, Tenkat, noticed that Rijkaard was a little distracted. He couldn't help but worry. Did Rijkaard have no confidence in the game? That would be terrible. So, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Franck, tomorrow's game …"
"Do you want to ask me how confident I am in winning?" Rijkaard said with a smile. "To be honest, I don't know."
The assistant coach was a little surprised by Rijkaard's answer. He did not expect Rijkaard to give such a negative answer.
"Franck, this …" Tenkat said.
"Don't worry!" Rijkaard knew what his assistant was worried about. "Although I don't know how confident we are in winning, we have to give it our all in this game! As long as we do our best, we have a great chance of winning this game. "
"What are you worried about?" Tenkat asked.
"The pressure of this game is on our side." Rijkaard said, "We have to win this game. Li Ang has a lot of leeway. A draw is something they can accept. So, they have a lot of room to change their strategy."
"Are you worried that they will be more conservative?" Tenkat asked.
"Yes." Rijkaard nodded. This was his biggest worry. If Sporting de Gijón adopted a defensive strategy, it would be difficult for Barcelona to win. It would be difficult to break through the dense defense.
"I don't think so." Tenkat thought about it and raised an objection.
*****
"Oh? Tell me about it. "Rijkaard was interested.
"I think Sporting de Gijón won't be conservative in this game! They might even be more proactive than us? "Tenkat said.
"Why do you say that?" Rijkaard asked.
"Because of Li Ang." Tenkat touched his nose. "I've studied this person carefully. Although he is sometimes a little conservative, sometimes he is very radical. He is a gambler! If Sporting de Gijón can win this game, they will be five points ahead of us in the standings. This is a temptation for Li Ang. I think they will choose a more proactive strategy. "
Rijkaard touched his chin and thought.
"There is another reason why I said that." Tenkat saw that his words had attracted Rijkaard's attention. He was very happy and continued, "In addition, I still think that Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón want to win the title. This is just their slogan. Maybe they do want to win the title, but maybe it is not that strong. They should be aware of the gap between them and Barcelona! So, this will make Sporting de Gijón more relaxed. Even if they lose this game, even if they only end up as the runner-up in the league, it will be a great achievement for them. So, in this game, their mentality will be relaxed, and they will play more actively. "
Tenkat spoke frankly. As he said, he had been studying Li Ang, Li Ang's psychology, Li Ang's leadership style and tactics, and he had come up with his own understanding. Now that he had the opportunity to give Rijkaard some advice, he was very happy.
Rijkaard was stunned when he heard what he said. Then, he said, "What you said does make some sense. This has given me some inspiration. I need to think about it carefully."
At the same time, Rijkaard breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Sporting de Gijón was not so conservative, Barcelona's chances of winning the game would increase greatly. "Thank you, Hank." He expressed his gratitude to his assistant. Tenkat's analysis sounded quite reasonable. Rijkaard felt that maybe things were as his assistant guessed. That would be great.
"I'm happy to be able to help you," Tenkat said happily.
*****
On Sporting de Gijón's side, Li Ang was also having a meeting with his coaching staff.
"Our scouts got a video of Barcelona's training. They are practicing offensive tactics. Of course, there is nothing strange about it. In this game, they must win. They must attack." Li Ang's words caused everyone to laugh. Obviously, being able to pull down Barcelona and force Barcelona to fight with their backs to the wall was something to be proud of.
Li Ang suddenly turned to look at Banderas. "Pablo, how do you think we should play this game?"
Pablo thought for a moment and said, "The safest way is to defend and counterattack. However, I'm guessing that maybe you want to go head-to-head with Barcelona?"
Sporting de Gijón had practiced two sets of tactics in the past few days. One was very aggressive, and the other was somewhat conservative. This showed that Li Ang and the coaching staff had been preparing for both. They had not finally made up their minds.
"Go head-to-head?" Li Ang did not answer, but Scotteri frowned. "This is a bit crazy."
"We do need to show our offensive strength in this game," Li Ang said.
Scotteri frowned and was about to refute. He was a more conservative person. Sporting de Gijón could accept a draw in this game. There was no need to take risks under the premise of a draw.
*****
Li Ang waved his hand and motioned for Scotteri to not be anxious. "Let me finish. This game is divided into two stages. The first stage is called the stalemate stage! The so-called stalemate stage means that we have to defend well. We have to consume Barcelona's offensive energy and try our best to defend the goal! We have to exhaust their patience. Of course, we still have to fight back if there is a chance, but defense is the most important thing! "
Both Banderas and Scotteri nodded. This was the safest tactic.
"What about the second stage?" Banderas asked.
"The second stage, I call it a thunderous strike!" Li Ang said with a little excitement. "Whether our defensive counterattack is successful or not, when the game has progressed to a certain extent and I think the time is right, we will press forward. As Pablo said before, we will go head-to-head with Barcelona!"
"According to human logic, we have defended for most of the game and are getting closer and closer to a draw. Barcelona must think that we will be satisfied with a draw. Then, our sudden aggressive counterattack is likely to catch them off guard," Li Ang said.
"Of course, we have to defend well. If we concede the goal early, then this tactical idea will be meaningless," Li Ang added.
Banderas and Scotteri thought for a moment. They both expressed their support for Li Ang's two-stage tactical idea. Of course, as assistants, their main task was to support Li Ang's work and make up for the gaps. The real decision maker was still Li Ang.
*****
"I suddenly have an intuition." Banderas finally said, "Maybe Barcelona will think that we will be more proactive and that we will go head-to-head with them from the beginning."
"Why do you think so?" Li Ang asked in surprise.
"Because it is more in line with your personality," Banderas said.
"Am I that strong of a gambler?" Li Ang touched his nose and felt a little guilty at the same time. Banderas might not know that Li Ang's original intention for this game with Barcelona was to go head-to-head with Barcelona at the beginning of the game. He wanted to have a big fight with Barcelona. However, after thinking for a long time, Li Ang finally gave up the idea that seemed to be big but had a lot of hidden dangers. It was better to be safe and secure and start with a defensive counterattack! In this game, Barcelona was more anxious than Sporting de Gijón. Since that was the case, Sporting de Gijón could just sit back, defend well, and wait for an opportunity to counterattack. There was no need to gamble and take risks.
At this stage of the league, the points of the two teams were so close. Every game, every detail could affect the result of the league. The most important thing was to be safe and not make any mistakes.
Now was the time to compete with their internal strength. Although Barcelona was far stronger than Sporting de Gijón, Sporting de Gijón could not panic or take advantage of the situation. Everything should be done steadily and surely.
Li Ang did not expect that his "epiphany" to be a handsome man who was steadily moving towards the championship would unknowingly dig a hole for Barcelona.
*****
April 17, 2005, Gijón, El Molinón Stadium.
The entire stadium was full.
The players from both teams entered the stadium, stood in line, shook hands with each other, and guessed sides.
Sporting de Gijón's captain, Fernando Hierro, won against Barcelona's captain, Carles Puyol. Sporting de Gijón was given the right to choose sides. Barcelona kicked off first.
Li Ang nodded on the sidelines. It was good that Barcelona kicked off first. Sporting de Gijón just had to stick to the status quo and defend well.
Not far away, in the visiting team's technical area, Rijkaard frowned. It could even be said that he was quite angry.
He was holding Sporting de Gijón's starting list in his hands. Looking at the names and looking at the Sporting de Gijón players on the field, Rijkaard was very depressed. What happened to Sporting de Gijón going head-to-head with Barcelona? What happened to Sporting de Gijón being more proactive?
The script that Rijkaard saw now was different from the one that had been planned. It could even be said that it was very different.
He had forgotten that Sporting de Gijón being proactive and even going head-to-head with Barcelona was completely his judgment after being influenced by his assistant manager, Tenkat's "very reasonable" analysis. It had nothing to do with Li Ang.
Rijkaard felt very bad now. From Sporting de Gijón's starting list, Li Ang was determined to play conservatively. Barcelona's starting list was completely arranged by Rijkaard based on his guess that Sporting de Gijón might play a strong attacking style. Now he had made a wrong judgment and lost at the first step. It was a terrible feeling.
The battle between the two managers started from their own starting list and guessing the other team's starting list. After a game, the two managers were completely in a battle of wits and courage!
PS: Weakly asking for support.
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