I Just Can Score

August 26th is Real Madrid's last warm-up match.

Perhaps it cannot be called a warm-up match. Real Madrid ushered in a club-organized event-the Santiago Bernabeu Cup.

The Santiago Bernabéu Cup is a traditional event of the Real Madrid Club. It was established for the sake of former Real Madrid chairman Santiago Bernabeu a few years ago. The club held the first event in 1979, and then held it once every season. Because the event was very tasteless and the trophy was completely It doesn't make any sense, it can be counted as a warm-up match.

Of course.

Real Madrid naturally hopes to win the events held by the Real Madrid Club. The opponents they invite every year are not weak, and they are usually the top clubs in each league.

This year’s opponent is Rosenberg.

Rosenborg is the overlord of the Norwegian league. They have won eleven consecutive Norwegian leagues. They dominate the entire Norwegian football world and are also regulars in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, but they are only in the qualifiers. This is also the case with the overlords of European minor leagues. Qualified to participate in the Champions League, but if you want to enter the main stage, the qualifiers are also a huge test.

This game is different from the previous warm-up games.

Facing a club-sponsored event with opponents from minor league teams, Real Madrid naturally hopes to win.

Pellegrini also arranged a good lineup. He gave up the new formation of 4231 and switched to the traditional formation of 442.

442 is really useful.

Although there are a lot of problems with Real Madrid playing 442, the players will not have adaptation problems. Cristiano Ronaldo plays on the right, Zhen Shaolong and Raul partner up front, Alonso and Guti occupy the center, which also makes the starting lineup look very gorgeous.

In the end, Real Madrid defeated Rosenborg 4-2.

For Real Madrid, winning the Bernabeu Cup is nothing at all. The coaching staff treats the game as a "somewhat stressful" warm-up, and the continuous warm-ups also make the coaching staff more clearly aware of the problems that currently exist in Real Madrid's lineup.

The most troublesome one is the partnership between Kaka and Ronaldo. The two may have a "core conflict" and the effect of playing together is very poor. Whether it is the 442 formation or the 4231 formation, they cannot perform together. Each individual's strength is counted as 'one', and the result of the two together is definitely less than two.

In addition, it is Raul and Higuain.

Both Raul and Higuain are not suitable for retreating positions, and their performance as forwards in the 4231 formation is not very good.

Zhen Shaolong’s problems are not small either.

The coaching staff found that Zhen Shaolong had a big problem with coordination. His ability is very worthy of recognition, but during the game, his performance was very unstable. Sometimes he would be very amazing, and sometimes he would be a little mediocre. His scoring efficiency is worthy of recognition. , but he also takes up a lot of resources. When partnered with others, he will take up almost half of the opportunities.

etc.

Players in other positions also have more or less problems.

After the 'Santiago Bernabeu Cup' ended, Pellegrini organized all the players to summarize their preparations, explained all the problems they encountered, and even talked to Zhen Shaolong alone.

When Zhen Shaolong heard 'his own problem', he felt that the coaching staff really thought too much, "Actually, I don't need too many opportunities. Being fixed in a fixed position will affect my performance, so... just think of me as a free agent in the frontcourt." .”

"Unless I have a request during the game, I will take the initiative to explain it to my teammates."

Zhen Shaolong's statement made Pellegrini a little confused, but Zhen Shaolong's initiative to give up "massive support" seems to be a good thing, because others can use these opportunities, and the offense will be more normal.

This is where the coaching staff gets a headache.

For example, Diarra.

For example, Granero.

These two guys always give the ball to Zhen Shaolong when they come out, and Zhen Shaolong is closely guarded most of the time. After a few warm-up games, his receiving data is appalling. It is normal for three passes to be missed and two to be missed. Anyone else who wastes an opportunity like this will definitely be replaced quickly.

Zhen Shaolong is different.

He can score goals.

Although Zhen Shaolong wasted a lot of opportunities, he also seized the opportunity to score the ball. He scored every time he played. Occasionally his performance would amaze the audience. It gave people the feeling that he was enough in the frontcourt.

This also led to Real Madrid's overall performance being very unstable.

After Pellegrini talked to Zhen Shaolong, he immediately found Granero and Diarra and reminded them not to always pass the ball to Zhen Shaolong on the field, but to perform normally and make the game smoother.

Zhen Shaolong also told the two of them during training, "The game should be more normal. Unless I have a chance, don't pass the ball all the time."

————

In fact, the coaching staff also helped Zhen Shaolong solve his troubles.

Granero and Diarra always passed the ball over, causing him to be intercepted too many times. He didn't pay much attention to it at first. After the continuous warm-up matches, he felt a little depressed. He didn't have time to say, Unexpectedly, the coaching staff discovered the problem and spoke out.

This made Zhen Shaolong feel much more relaxed.

Football is a collective sport. Eleven people on the field form a team. He never thought about playing football by himself. Getting most of the team's offensive opportunities also meant shouldering heavy pressure to score goals.

When there are special temporary mission effects, the more opportunities the better, but usually they are a bit wasted.

This will affect his game statistics and performance evaluation.

For example, in a previous warm-up match, he only scored one goal, but was intercepted 12 times, giving the opponent 12 offensive opportunities. The media's evaluation of his performance was average because he wasted too much. Opportunity.

If he had been intercepted two or three times and scored a goal, his performance evaluation would have definitely increased a lot.

After the 'Santiago Bernabeu Cup' game, the outside media began to look forward to the new season. Real Madrid's warm-up matches in the past can also be summarized. Real Madrid's warm-up match results were not bad, but the media was not optimistic about Pellegrini's work results, mainly because Real Madrid's 'new formation experiment' seems to have failed, as evidenced by the adoption of a 4-4-2 formation in the game against Rosenborg.

"The 4231 formation has too many limitations, and Real Madrid's lineup can only amplify the problem."

"This new formation is not suitable for Real Madrid now!"

"The 442 that Pellegrini is good at can produce good results. The only impact is that stars such as Zhen Shaolong, Kaká, and Ronaldo cannot play together."

That last bit is no longer an issue.

When Pellegrini first took office, the tactical formation was the focus of the Spanish media. They believed that the 4-4-2 formation could not bring out Real Madrid's full strength because it was difficult for several major stars to appear on the court together.

Now that continuous warm-up matches have been held, the Spanish media found that it is simply impossible to get all the big stars to perform effectively.

That only exists in fantasy.

No matter what formation is adopted, there will always be stars sitting on the bench. It is difficult for all famous stars to play and show their full strength. The 'conflict' between Kaká and Ronaldo is proof. Both of them are Top frontcourt star, but no matter how they play together, they feel like they can't perform well.

But in fact, the Real Madrid coaching staff did not give up.

In Real Madrid's tactical training, adapting to the new formation is still the focus. Pellegrini uses various methods to make the players more adaptable, and constantly changes player positions to experiment with performance effects.

Every Real Madrid player has to work hard to adapt.

Among them, the only ones without pressure are the center backs and goalkeepers. Whether they are 442 or 4231, their responsibilities have not changed. Zhen Shaolong has been relatively less affected, or it should be said that he has always been like this. No matter what formation he plays, he just waits for the pass in front. The ball, looking for opportunities.

In the process of continuous training, the time came to the end of August.

Champions League group draw.

In the past few years, Real Madrid has been defeated in the top 16 of the Champions League consecutively, which has also caused their points ranking to drop significantly. They have fallen out of the ranks of the 'first seeds'. No matter how they are drawn, they will definitely encounter the 'Group of Death' '.

In the end, they were drawn into Group C, with AC Milan, Marseille and Zurich in the same group.

Most people think it is a good sign.

AC Milan is no longer the famous era of the past. They have carried out earth-shaking reconstruction work in the summer, and reconstruction means that the team will fall into a painful running-in stage at the beginning of the season.

What is more desperate than reconstruction is the loss of personnel at AC Milan.

Kaká finally went to Real Madrid after six seasons to realize his dream, meritorious coach Carlo Ancelotti also left Chelsea, Leonardo's fledgling ability was questioned, and Ronaldinho, who was praised by Berlusconi as the new core, even more He was pulled out of the nightclub by fans and forced to go home and sleep.

Such an AC Milan team will definitely aim to compete in the pragmatic Serie A.

Although in terms of historical record, AC Milan and Real Madrid are evenly matched with 5 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses, even the Italian media believes that "the current strength of AC Milan is not on the same level as Real Madrid."

In addition to Real Madrid and AC Milan in Group C, another competitive team is Marseille. As the runner-up in Ligue 1 last season, French media reported that "Marseille is expected to become a dark horse in Group C. They will Compete with AC Milan for second place in the group."

really.

In the summer, Marseille was not as generous as Real Madrid, but it also made very strong personnel recruitment. After former Monaco coach Deschamps took office, he introduced 14 players in one breath, including Morientes, Heinze, Luis... Gonzalez and other big names.

Even for teams in the French Ligue 1, Marseille's major recruitment changes will make them full of mystery, let alone other league teams. It is indeed very possible that Marseille can become a dark horse in the Champions League.

Of course.

Real Madrid's Champions League draw results are quite satisfactory, so they are in no mood to pay attention to the analysis of media from other countries.

La Liga is imminent.

August 30th is the first round of La Liga. During the same period, the Premier League has three rounds. The late start time also has the advantage of being late. Each team can be more fully prepared, and it is easier to get into the state after the start of the league.

Real Madrid's first-round opponent is Deportivo La Coruna.

Because it is the opening game of the first round, there will definitely be a lot of fans paying attention. Real Madrid has great signings in the summer, and when they face the official league, there will also be a lot of pressure. The entire team knows that the only way to alleviate the pressure is one--

Get the win!