Racing Santander was fighting to avoid relegation, and Barcelona was rumored to be offering bonus incentives. Many people thought that Sporting de Gijón would be stopped at the Sardinia Stadium, or at least they would not win so easily. However, the final result surprised many people.
Six to zero!
Sporting de Gijón won to their heart's content at the Sardinia Stadium. The Santander players did not cause any trouble for the Gijón players.
After the game, even the jealous Madrid media had to say that the Gijón players exploded with great energy. It seemed that nothing could stop them from winning the league title. As long as they continued to win, even if Barcelona won the next two games, they would not be able to make a comeback.
In this game, Carlos's scissor-kick volley goal, which he scored after bypassing two players in a row, had been named the best goal of the round by the Spanish media in advance. Although Sporting de Gijón was the only one in the 36th round of the league, the other games had not started yet. It was obvious that the media had a high opinion of Carlos's goal.
"A shocking and hot-blooded goal scored by someone you would never have thought of! It's hard to imagine a goal more praiseworthy than this in this round of the league … "The" ABC "newspaper commented.
After scoring this wonderful goal, Carlos was in a good mood. It was not only because of the goal, but also because after the game, his sister, Alice, personally cooked for him and prepared a sumptuous dinner to reward him. Of course, it would have been better if a certain manager had not shared the dinner with him … This boy missed the days when he was loved by his sister alone, but now a certain someone had taken away most of his love.
After eating dinner and seeing Carlos off, Li Ang and Alice enjoyed a wonderful night of romance.
The next day, the Sporting de Gijón manager was refreshed because his team was about to make the final push for a championship title!
They were about to set off for Lisbon!
The European champions were waiting for them!
*****
After the game against Racing Santander, the Gijón players did not have time to savor the victory. Their attention was attracted by the final three days later.
May 18, 2005, Lisbon, Portugal, Estadio Alvalade, 20042005 UEFA Europa League Final, Sporting de Gijón vs Sporting Lisbon.
Sporting de Gijón had never made it to the finals of any of the three UEFA European Cups during their most glorious period. This was the first time in their history that they had a chance to win the UEFA Champions League!
The whole of Gihon went crazy because of this match.
Objectively speaking, this final was disadvantageous for Sporting de Gijón because the venue for the final was Sporting Lisbon's home stadium, the Estadio Alvalade. This meant that in this final, Sporting de Gijón would be playing as an away team.
In fact, as early as half a month ago, the Sporting de Gijón fan club had already issued a call for more fans to go to the away games to support the team.
"Let our boys feel our support!"
"They are not fighting alone! We are with them! "
"Let's go! To Lisbon! "
This call, made by Bader Kurey and Harvey Gradero, received the response of many fans.
On the second day of the match between Sporting de Gijón and Racing Santander, and three days before the UEFA Europa League Final, many Sporting de Gijón fans had already started to head to Lisbon. Some of the fans chose to drive themselves there, and Spain's national television even followed them all the way, reporting on the Gijón people's expedition to Lisbon.
"At this time, it is Gijón who will stand up to defend the honor of Spanish football!" The gold medal football commentator, Dagestino, also expressed his feelings on his show. He called for all of Spain to support Sporting de Gijón at this time.
*****
On May 16, Sporting de Gijón's entire team set off for Lisbon.
For Sporting de Gijón, the match with Sporting Lisbon was a complete encounter. They had never encountered a Portuguese team before.
Li Ang had already repeatedly emphasized to the players to be careful of this opponent. Although the Portuguese team's results in Europe got worse a few years later, the Portuguese team could be said to be in a golden period around 2005.
The Portuguese league could not compete with the five major European leagues in terms of economic strength, but its clubs had many impressive records in European history. In the 1960s, Eusebio led Benfica to break Real Madrid's monopoly in the UEFA Champions League. In 1987, the young Futebol led Porto to win this honor again. In the last three seasons, the Portuguese team had consecutively reached the finals of European competitions. In the summers of 2003 and 2004, Porto won the UEFA Europa League and the Champions League. In 2000, the Portuguese national team became the semi-finalists of the UEFA Europa League. Four years later, they reached the finals. Even UEFA praised Portuguese football on its website as "the new model of Europe."
Compared to the other two powerhouses in Portugal, Sporting Lisbon had never won the Champions League. They had only won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1964. However, if they could win the UEFA Europa League this time, they would become the eighth club in history to win both the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
At Lisbon's Portela Airport, the arrival of Sporting de Gijón received a lot of attention from the Portuguese media. The Portuguese were also very interested in this season's La Liga's biggest dark horse, the current leader of La Liga. Of course, there was also Sporting de Gijón's Chinese manager. As Sporting de Gijón continued to advance in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League, Li Ang's reputation grew. At least now in mainstream European football, many people already knew about the La Liga dark horse.
"Sporting Lisbon is a respectable club."
"Portuguese football is the star of Europe. Last year, they were in the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League. Porto also won the UEFA Europa League in a row. Therefore, this final will be very difficult."
Li Ang was dressed in a suit and leather shoes. Facing the Portuguese camera lens, he looked refined and gentlemanly. He also expressed great respect for Portuguese football and Sporting Lisbon. This made the Portuguese have a good impression of this Chinese man. It was also in line with their usual impression of Chinese people: reserved, humble, and polite.
Seeing Li Ang's attitude, many of the Spanish reporters rubbed their eyes. If they were not blind, then the world had been turned upside down. Was this still the unruly and vengeful Li Ang they knew?
Pretend!
Keep pretending!
Li Ang's humility won the hearts of the Portuguese people. The achievements that he had led Sporting de Gijón, a newly promoted team, to achieve this season also moved the Portuguese people. The strong always won respect. Therefore, they now had a very good impression of Li Ang: a very capable and humble young Chinese coach.
Listening to the Portuguese reporters' praise of Li Ang, the Spanish reporters had strange expressions. They really wanted to remind these Portuguese people not to be deceived by this bastard's appearance and to be careful. However, this final was a confrontation between Spanish football and Portuguese football, a close neighbor of the Iberian Peninsula. Even if they did not like Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón, they had no choice but to stand on the side of Sporting de Gijón. Therefore, the end result was that when they saw Li Ang talking happily with the Portuguese reporters in a refined and humble manner, and that the Portuguese people had a good impression of Li Ang, the Spanish reporters could not stand it anymore.
*****
Sporting de Gijón's hotel was not too far from the final venue, the Estadio Alvalade. On their way to the hotel, they could even see the stadium from afar.
A year ago, the whole of Portugal was crazy about the UEFA European Championship. A year later, a major European football competition returned to Portugal. Near the Estadio Alvalade, and even all of Lisbon, the traces of the 2004 UEFA European Championship had disappeared. The "Lisbon 2005" logo was everywhere, and the background color was Sporting Lisbon's green. For three consecutive seasons, the Portuguese fans had been able to cheer for their team in the finals of European competitions. It was an incomparable blessing.
Sporting Lisbon's home stadium, the Estadio Alvalade, was considered one of the most beautiful stadiums in the 2004 UEFA European Championship. At present, the stadium had been renovated by the UEFA, showing the grandeur of a year ago. According to the media, 528 volunteers who had worked for the UEFA European Championship put on UEFA's green uniforms again to serve the final.
Sporting de Gijón had just arrived in Lisbon, and the players did not have much interaction with the media at the airport. Other than the manager, Li Ang, only the team's old captain, Hierro, spoke a few words to the media. It was just a formulaic response, with no real content.
On the other hand, Sporting Lisbon's players were quite active.
During the interview, the Sporting Lisbon players sent a message that they would go all out on the attack. The team's old striker, Sa Pinto, predicted that the game would be a battle of goals. In addition, Sporting Lisbon's leading striker, Lidson, said that he would score at least one goal.
Instead, it was Sporting Lisbon's manager, Peseiro, who came forward to cool things down. "Lidson is our best striker, but no matter what, playing to our own overall standard is the most important thing."
Speaking of the Portuguese team entering the European finals for three consecutive years, Peseiro said, "Maybe our standard is higher than we think."
When it came to Sporting de Gijón, the Sporting Lisbon manager, Peseiro, said, "It's hard to imagine that a newly promoted team could do this. They faced us in the UEFA Europa League final and led the Primeira Liga. That already explains everything."
The Portuguese media was also offering advice for Sporting Lisbon. The Portuguese media, Abola, analyzed that Sporting de Gijón was good at defensive counterattacks. The players were physically fit and fast. Sporting Lisbon was going all out on their home ground, so they had to be cautious about the opponent's counterattacks.
Another Portuguese media, O Jogo, also warned Sporting Lisbon that the team had to be careful of Sporting de Gijón and be cautious.
The Portuguese media constantly reminded Sporting de Gijón not to underestimate their opponents and to be careful of their opponents. It was not just because Sporting de Gijón was now the leader of the Primeira Liga. For such a team to be able to beat the two powerhouses, Real Madrid and Barcelona, to lead the Primeira Liga, their strength was naturally not to be underestimated. This caution was actually a lesson learned from last year's UEFA Europa League final, where Scolari's Portuguese national team lost to the defense-oriented Greek team 1: 0 at home.
The Portuguese manager, Scolari, also expressed his views on the game. "Big Phil" believed that Sporting Lisbon would win the title, but they had to play more rationally and intelligently. "Big Phil" also said that in this game, he would be a Sporting Lisbon player and would be cheering for Sporting Lisbon from the stands of honor at the Estadio Alvadela.
*****
Sporting de Gijón was playing in the European finals for the first time in its history. The club's president, Manuel Arango, also came with the team to Lisbon.
In the hotel where they were staying, Scott reported to Li Ang that he had made arrangements for the players. Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief. He was under a lot of pressure and was very tired.
"You've worked hard, Jesús. You should rest early too."
Li Ang sent Scott away and was about to close the door to rest when he saw the club's president, Manuel Arango, coming over. He stood at the door and looked at the president coming over, thinking about the old Arango's intentions.
"Li, let's talk," Manuel Arango said straightforwardly.
Li Ang looked at the old Arango in surprise. He did not understand what the old man wanted to talk to him about before the big game, and his expression was so serious.
"Let's go to the coffee shop." Li Ang nodded and said a place.
In the coffee shop on the third floor of the hotel, the Sporting de Gijón president and the manager chose a secluded corner to sit down and casually ordered two cups of coffee.
"What are the chances of winning the final?" Without any pleasantries, the old Arango asked directly.
Li Ang frowned slightly. Since the last quarrel, the rift between the two men had widened. The contradiction was very deep. Now, when they talked, there was no pretense. It was really … The old Arango's attitude made Li Ang feel like an employee being reprimanded by his boss.
"In a final like this, there are many factors that can affect the result of the game." Li Ang replied, "Sporting Lisbon is the host. This team is also very strong, so it's hard to say."
Li Ang told the truth. Although he was very eager to win the title and was very confident in his players, when it came to the result, he was not very sure. As he said, there were too many factors that could affect the final. One of the most important factors was that Sporting Lisbon was the host, which had a great impact. Also, Sporting Lisbon was a veteran European team with rich experience. Sporting de Gijón had never played in a final like this. The pressure and level of a European final was incomparable to the Copa del Rey final.
Hearing Li Ang say this, the old Arango's face turned ugly. Was he ready to find another job, so his heart was no longer with Sporting de Gijón? Thinking of this, he was even more upset.
"You helped the team to win the UEFA Europa League!" Manuel Arango suppressed his anger and suddenly said, "I agree to let you climb up the social ladder. I don't want the penalty for breach of contract."
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