Chapter 298 The key game against Real Madrid (Happy New Year, brothers)

Valencia returned to Spain with a happy mood after snatching a precious draw from Hebrey. For them, they could breathe a little relief after this draw and also had a slightly relaxed schedule - three days later, they would usher in the 29th away game against Vallecano, and there would be a week's rest, and then two consecutive home games against Real Madrid and the Champions League against Arsenal in the league.

Compared with the previous continuous back and forth, Valencia's schedule is very relaxed. For Tiger, after the next game, he will be able to stay in Valencia for nearly two weeks, which will also make him feel relaxed.

Cooper was also a little worried about the core physical fitness problems that had played 360 minutes in four different games in the past two weeks, so before the game against Vallecano, he specifically emphasized that he had to gain enough lead in the first half!

As a newly promoted team last season, Vallecano played very well and had a long time to occupy the first place in the standings. Although he still fell out of the European competition area, it was really eye-catching. However, the newly promoted teams often have a characteristic, that is, even if they played well in the year of the new team, they would often fall into trouble in the second year. Vallecano is no exception. Their current ranking is not up or down, and they have been hovering around ten places. Although there is not much threat of relegation, there is still a huge gap compared to last season.

Cooper still sent all the main players in this game. Aimal returned to the main lineup to replace Alberda's position. Such a starting lineup proved Cooper's determination to win with offense - in fact, the process of the game was the same. At the end of the first half, Valencia had already taken the lead with three goals. Tiger first assisted Killy and Mundeta to score points respectively, and then received a straight pass from Aimal and then scored the third goal, which was his fifth goal in four consecutive games.

Seeing that the team had already led the lead with a big score, Cooper replaced two players in a row after the start of the second half. Tiger and Mödita were replaced by Karu and Alberta respectively. Although two absolute main players were missing, Valencia still scored one goal with the opponent in the second half, and finally defeated his opponent four-one, continuing to press forward to defeating Real Madrid in this round with a goal.

"The next league game will be when we return to the top of the standings, and we will make every effort to win the final championship!" At the post-match press conference, Cooper officially challenged Real Madrid, which ranked first: "In the past two seasons, we have won enough championships, but we just lacked a La Liga championship... and now, it is the time for us to win the La Liga championship!"

Cooper's unusually high-profile actions made Valencia's fans crazy, and made everyone look forward to the game in Mestalia a week later, which was related to the destination of the league championship - now Valencia and Real Madrid have 62 points, and Valencia's goal difference is two more than Real Madrid, but he ranked second because he lost to Real Madrid 0-1 away. If he tied this game, Valencia will continue to be runner-up. After this round of league, there are still eight rounds left in La Liga. For Valencia, who has to meet La Coruña and Barcelona in the last few rounds, he must win this game to gain a certain initiative in the remaining leagues.

Valencia and Real Madrid are tied to the Champions League match. Valencia's situation is slightly better. After winning a 2-2 draw away, they only need one zero-to-zero at home to enter the semi-finals. However, Real Madrid's situation is not bad. In the first leg, they lost to Turkey's Galatasaray 2-3 away. Although they lost the ball, as long as they can beat their opponents at home, there will be no problem qualifying.

It is precisely because the situation in the Champions League is good and there is plenty of rest before the start of this league, so this game is destined to become an extremely important game.

Valencia's staffing has no problem. Several players who had minor injuries have returned from injury. Instead, Real Madrid is in trouble. McManaman is injured and unable to play will have a certain impact on Real Madrid's midfield.

On April 12, Real Madrid arrived in Valencia in a low-key manner. Their results in the past two years were a bit average. In the past three seasons, they were suppressed by Barcelona and La Coruña and failed to win the league championship. After Figo joined this season, their results improved. However, they encountered Valencia's powerful challenge in the league. If there was no championship with enough weight, Florentino would not be easy to explain to the members.

So Real Madrid's head coach Boske is also under great pressure. After putting out the fire in the middle of last season and entering the finals of the Champions League, Boske's position is not very stable. Florentino has always wanted to replace the head coach left by the former chairman Sans. However, Boske is a standard Real Madrid man. It was already a very impressive result to bring a mess of Real Madrid to the finals of the Champions League last season. He is also supported by Real Madrid fans, so Florentino is not easy to do.

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"I plan to get Tiger back to midfield in this game!"

On Valencia's training ground, Cooper announced his decision.

He was not worried that his decision would be leaked. After returning to Valencia from Vallecano away, Cooper announced that the team had entered a closed training camp and refused all interviews - he knew the importance of this game and shouted out loud. If he couldn't do it, Cooper would become a laughing stock.

After hearing Cooper say this, Valencia's players all looked at Tiger. It is obvious that Tiger has been in good shape recently and has scored many goals. If he returns to the midfield rashly, will it affect Valencia's offense?

"Real Madrid's main midfielder, Marc Lail, is a midfielder with excellent prediction ability... I think Tiger should be clearer about this, so let Tiger talk about it." Cooper pointed at Tiger and said.

Tiger laughed and then stood out from the players group: "Yes, although I only played with this guy once, I already understood his defense method...Marklele's physical confrontation ability is excellent. However, when he defends, he does not often use physical confrontation to defend, but starts the route of blocking the pass in advance. This defense method makes people feel very annoying, but it has to admit that it is a very effective defense method. Guys, I think you all know that I am a player who needs to control the ball to play the most. If you return to the midfield, I think I will have more opportunities to get the ball."

"Teger is right." Cooper took the conversation: "So in this game, Tiger will be farther back and more responsible for organizing the offense, so that he can free Gezka and strengthen our right offense... Carlos' assist ability is excellent, and on his left, it is a place we can grasp."

"Then on the front line, we will use double strikers. Real Madrid's air defense ability is not very good. John, you partner with David on the front line. Your task is to use your height to create opportunities. We must win this game, so strengthening the offense is a must! We are going to play against Real Madrid! Our offense is not worse than them, and our defense is one level higher than them!"

Cooper waved his fists and said, "Tiger returned to the midfield and used a double striker. The impact on defense will definitely be on the defense. However, Real Madrid's offense is not impeccable. Figo has become the source of their offense. When he is in the middle, Ruben is responsible for dealing with him. When on the right, Keelli and Amedeo jointly pinched him and stared at Figo. Real Madrid's offense will reduce the threat by half! This is the tactics of our game. Do you understand?"

Tiger retreated to get more ball control opportunities, sent Carru to target Real Madrid's average air defense ability, and liberated Mendeta's gap after assisting Carlos - after Cooper explained the reasons for the tactical changes, Valencia's players understood what he meant, which was very necessary, at least to let the players clarify the tone of this game.

That is to strengthen the offense, use offense to win this game, and lay a foundation for the league's championship advantage in one fell swoop - for Valencia, this is quite necessary. Whether it is the winning or losing relationship or the schedule, it is not very beneficial to Valencia. Only by defeating the biggest competitor at home can the entire team gain sufficient confidence.

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April 14, Mestalia.

Forty-five thousand Valencia fans and 5,000 Real Madrid fans from afar occupied the entire stadium. Valencia fans cheered loudly with the help of the number of people, and Real Madrid fans shouted loudly without being outdone. This season, their arch rival Barcelona performed averagely. The Champions League was kicked into the League Cup, and the league basically did not have much hope of winning the championship. However, this is not enough for Real Madrid fans. They also hope to win the league championship trophy that they have not won since the 1996-97 season, thus announcing the revival of Real Madrid!

In the player channel, both sides are waiting to play. In such an important game, both sides are naturally star-studded. Needless to say, Real Madrid is basically international players in various countries, and there is also Figo, the world's number one value. Although Valencia's starlight is slightly dimmer, the existence of Tiger, Mendeta, Baraja, Ayala and others makes them not inferior. Perhaps only Villa and Karu are the only forward partners, the fame of the opponent Raul Morientes, is much worse than the opponent's forward team, and they are not bad in other positions.

Valencia's starting lineup is 442, goalkeeper Canisales, defenders Anguema, Caboni, Ayala and Pellegrino, midfielder Baraja and Tiger are in the middle, Kili and Mendeta on both wings, and Karu and Villa on the front line.

Real Madrid's starting lineup is also 442, with goalkeepers Casillas, Jero and Carlanca partnering with the center back, Salgado and Robert Carlos on both wings, Midfielder Marklele and Elgra partnering with double midfielders, Guti and Figo in front of them, and Raul and Morientes on the front line.

McManaman was unable to play, and Boske sent local midfielder Guti. nicknamed "Golden Wolf", he has always been a talented player. Although due to various factors such as personality, he cannot fully exert his full strength, as long as he performs normally, he can perform at the top level.

Cooper almost expected that Boske used Guti to replace McManaman's position. There were not many people available to Real Madrid this year. In addition to Guti, Munitis was the one who could replace McManaman's position. Munitis was a typical wing player. He could easily suppress Carlos' offensive space on the court, and sending Guti was more useful.

Figo and Guti, Real Madrid's midfield offense organization is basically initiated by these two players. Although Valencia's midfield only has Baraja, one full-time defender, Kili and Mendeta have both defensive abilities and are not worried that the opponent will gain the advantage of the midfield.

On the contrary, Cooper's move surprised Boske by removing one defensive midfielder and adding a striker. Although Cooper often used offensive football to direct games before, he was a very conservative coach at heart. There were two defensive midfielders at the front of the penalty area, which was his minimum configuration. Keelli, a midfielder with both offense and defense, who can beat Vicente, who is better off offense, and becoming the main player, also shows Cooper's characteristics. Being able to do this in this game is beyond Boske's expectations.

This also means that at the beginning of the game, Valencia will have the advantage.

When the players on both sides shook hands, Tiger looked at Marklele carefully. This low-figure and honest back midfielder deliberately used more force when shook hands with Tiger, as if he was telling Tiger that it was me who was responsible for defending you in this game!

"If it weren't for you, I'd be a little disappointed." Tiger said in his heart.

Real Madrid was the first to kick off. They did not rush to attack, but slowly launched the organization in the midfield. Real Madrid's offense was very distinctive. It was obvious that Bosque also wanted to surprise Valencia in this game - Figo was not the main organizer, but handed the organization to Guti in the middle.

Seeing Guti control the ball in the midfield, Tiger forced her up. Although he was unwilling to defend, it did not mean that he did not have the ability to defend. In the data of the main god space, Tiger's tackle attributes were more than 200, and the defensive ability of most top players was just such a value.

And his evaluation of Guti quickly passed through Tiger's mind - this is a player with excellent technology and consciousness, but he is easily affected by emotions. If he can constantly interfere with him, even if he can't stop the ball, he can still cause him a lot of trouble.

Tiger's pressing was originally just trying to interfere with Guti, which was what Cooper asked for - in such an important game, Tiger was willing to pay more - but even Tiger himself didn't expect that this pressing almost won a big prize...

Seeing Tiger pressing up, Guti made a fake pass and wanted to dunk Tiger. However, Tiger dunked, but the moment he broke through Tiger, Tiger stretched out his foot and poked the ball under his feet!

The ball that got out was taken by Barahan who was inserted into the back row. Seeing that Mendieta had started running from the right, he immediately passed the ball without hesitation.

Carlos had already run far ahead just now, which is also his characteristic. After seeing Guti conceding the ball, the Brazilian immediately ran back desperately, but was still a step slower. Mendieta received the ball in a relatively forward place, and immediately dribbled forward. Before Carlos caught up with him, he decisively made a cross near the sideline!

"Follow their two forwards!" Casillas shouted loudly. Real Madrid also knew the characteristics of Valencia's two forwards. Karu's heading ability is quite excellent. After all, he is tall here, but the one that makes Real Madrid even more troubled is Villa. This is an opportunistic forward who can score goals with the opportunity...

Jero and Karanca immediately targeted Valencia's two forwards, but Mendeta's cross passed a lot, crossed the two forwards in the penalty area and flew to the back point...

Kili, who inserted it, got rid of Salgado's defense, and then immediately volleyed and shot directly!

At this time, Elgra, who returned to defense, saved Real Madrid's life. He appeared on Kili's shooting route, flew over and blocked the ball out of the baseline with his body, and a corner kick.

"Oh! What a pity! Kili's shot was blocked by Elgra from the baseline... If Elgra hadn't returned to defense in time, maybe this shot would be very dangerous. Casillas just prevented Valencia's forward from stealing the shot from the middle... Valencia completed the first shot of the game. This time the shot was initiated by Tiger stealing Guti's dribbling. Guti should be careful. You can't stick too much in the midfield, otherwise Valencia's counterattack would be quite sharp!"

The commentator kept talking, Guti on the field glared at Tiger, and then ran back to the penalty area to help defend - Tiger, who was recognized as not participating in the defense, formed an interception, and the Golden Wolf felt that he was very embarrassed...

"Are you just starting to get angry? It seems that this guy has a strong self-esteem!" Tiger thought thoughtfully, completely forgot about self-esteem, and was afraid he would be more perverted...
Chapter completed!