Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

"After the coaching change, Barcelona has now achieved two consecutive victories in the league and the Copa del Rey, with the results being 4-0 Espanyol and 6-0 Cordoba respectively."

"Vilanova has been almost single-handedly responsible for the training of Barcelona's first team before. He is Guardiola's most trusted assistant, and he is also the assistant who is most familiar with Guardiola's style of play. His ability to play in cup matches has yet to be verified. , but he is definitely no stranger to opponents in La Liga.”

"With Barcelona's current lineup, if there are no major problems within the team, there is absolutely no problem for Vilanova to lead the team in La Liga, so our suggestion"

In the conference room, before Karanka said the final suggestion, Mourinho rubbed his temples and opened his eyes.

"Okay, I understand, then let's follow our final decision. We have completed the defense of the Copa del Rey, and I believe the fans will understand."

Karanka and the other coaches in the conference room also breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

The most difficult thing about this matter is actually to first reach a consensus within the coaching staff during the discussion process.

Now that Mourinho has made the decision as the leader, the rest will be easy to handle.

The first is to explain the situation to the players and unify the thinking, and the second is to try to win the understanding and recognition of the fans in terms of public opinion.

In the former, Karanka and Mourinho will communicate with all players in the first team as soon as possible.

As for the latter, then we can only trouble Sanchez and Lafayette to work more.

The day before the start of the league match against Osasuna, Mourinho summoned all first-team players and announced his decision to give up the King's Cup after training.

The Real Madrid players were a little surprised at first, but after thinking about it carefully, they all understood the coaching staff's decision.

You want to say that Real Madrid gritted its teeth and advanced in three fronts in the second half of the league last year, but then who would have thought that Real Madrid would actually win the Triple Crown in the end?

Confidence is self-confidence, but on the road to fighting on the third line, Real Madrid's players have actually been tightening their heartstrings.

They all rely on the energy they hold in their chests, thinking that they will try their best in the end and win a championship if they can, and there will be no regrets if they fail in the end.

And Real Madrid's lead in the league last year was too big.

It would really be possible to sacrifice one or two league games to play in the Copa del Rey, but this year it is obviously not possible.

At this time, Barcelona still maintains an undefeated league record and is ahead of Real Madrid, who has one game less. The competition in the league is too stressful.

Therefore, Real Madrid players can understand that they have sacrificed this season's Copa del Rey to reduce their burden and compete with Barcelona in the league to the end.

Just like what Mourinho said in an internal meeting of the coaching staff.

Real Madrid has defended its Copa del Rey title and has successfully defended its title by defeating Barcelona in the finals for two consecutive seasons.

They no longer have anything to prove in the Copa del Rey.

The most important thing now is defending the league title and more importantly the Champions League.

Therefore, with the players also expressing their understanding and approval, the thinking within the Real Madrid team was quickly unified.

However, Lafayette, after learning Mourinho's true thoughts, quickly called Mourinho for confirmation.

“Jose, you have to know that it’s not the King’s Cup that I value, but the fault tolerance for winning the championship.

It will be harder for you to fight on the front line, but if you prepare for the worst and lose an important championship in the Champions League or the league this year, then at least there will be a Copa del Rey to fight for.

By then, Real Madrid will still have a chance to win the season double crown, which will have a completely different effect in terms of publicity.

At that time, no matter how picky the media is, they will not be able to deny the success of the season between you and Real Madrid. Do you understand what I mean? "

Lafayette's inquiry finally received Mourinho's precise and confident assurance.

"We will successfully defend the league and the Champions League. After reducing the load, Real Madrid will show a dominant performance and advance on both fronts, Mr. President."

As soon as he heard Mourinho's remarks, Lafayette said nothing more and readily stated that he would say hello and gain public opinion.

Anyway, he got the championship guarantee he wanted most from Mourinho.

If Real Madrid really defends its title in the league and Champions League at the end of this season, then everything will be easy to say.

No matter what trouble Mourinho makes in public opinion, Lafayette can personally wipe his ass.

But what if the two-line defense of the title is unsuccessful?

hey-hey

Regardless of what everyone in Real Madrid thinks, they have quickly reached a consensus on the surface.

However, Real Madrid's public relations and publicity department has not taken any action at this time, but has just made preliminary preparations.

On the evening of January 12, Real Madrid lined up a semi-main lineup and went to the El-Sadar Stadium to play Osasuna away.

Alonso took another rest today, so Liang still stayed behind. He formed a three-midfielder with Essien and Modric.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Callejon started to partner up front.

In the defense, Marcelo, Pepe, Albiol and Carvajal lined up.

Adan also started again today instead of Casillas.

This starting lineup is quite normal and is not much different from what the major Western media predicted before the game. After all, they are playing Osasuna, a relegation team. Real Madrid's rotation is very reasonable.

However, during the game, Real Madrid chose to take the initiative in attacking and attacking tactics, which surprised the media and neutral fans.

You know, the main players of Real Madrid had already played two games in the previous week.

Even Li Ang, who has the best physical condition in the Real Madrid team, cannot withstand this kind of game rhythm.

Three games in ten days and going all out. Do you really want to recuperate in the winter?

Most people couldn't guess what Real Madrid's coaching staff was thinking, and a few people began to question Mourinho's rotation policy in advance, thinking that he was drifting.

Only a smaller number of people in the industry have roughly guessed the true intentions of Mourinho and Real Madrid.

However, they did not speak. After Real Madrid won Osasuna 3-1 in the away game, they just looked at the schedule.

On January 15th, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, Real Madrid will face Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu!

Amid the questioning of media public opinion, Real Madrid, which had won another league victory, silently returned to Valdebebas to start their preparations for the Copa del Rey.

On January 14, at the pre-match press conference, Real Madrid released an 18-man roster.

Well, it still looks normal. All the main players are in the eighteen-man roster.

But on the evening of January 15th, one hour before the game started, when Mourinho released the starting eleven, the media and fans exclaimed that they had been tricked by Mourinho again!

It’s true that all of Real Madrid’s main players are in the 18-man roster today, but only half of the main players are in the starting lineup!

These starting main players are completely different from the main players who played in the league!

Li Ang, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Essien, and Pepe all sat on the bench.

The Valencia players were surprised and delighted, and the head coach Valverde, who took over the Bat Corps after the Christmas break, was also confused.

Is Mourinho playing some new tactical trap with him?

Valverde, who was unsure at the beginning, also chose a conservative and cautious start.

But when he confirmed that Real Madrid had indeed started normally and had not made any novel tactical attempts, Valverde slapped his forehead.

After realizing it, he commanded the team to press forward and attack, but Valverde soon discovered that Real Madrid played very conservatively today.

Even though a lot of main players have been rotated, Real Madrid still has a lot of main players starting in the midfield and backcourt.

Casillas, Ramos, Coentrao, Arbeloa, Alonso.

With these main players at their back, Valencia will have to spend a lot of energy to break through Real Madrid's defense.

Another one, Real Madrid also has Higuain and Di Maria on the front line today.

With Alonso's long pass and Di Maria's speed, counterattacks can still threaten Valencia's defense.

The two teams were fighting like this at the Bernabeu. Anyway, the confrontation and fighting on both ends of the offense and defense were fierce, but there was no gorgeous scene or goals.

When the expected boos sounded at home, Mourinho sat back on the coaching bench well prepared and shook his head lightly.

The two teams were tied 0-0 in the first half.

Valencia started the second half with Parejo making a forward pass and assisting Soldado to score the deadlock-breaking goal.

The Real Madrid coaching bench remained unmoved.

Upon seeing this, Valverde also signaled his players to continue their offensive posture.

It was not until the 73rd minute of the second half that Mourinho chose to make the first substitution adjustment of the game.

Li Ang and Ronaldo come on, Matuidi and Vazquez come off.

After this substitution adjustment, just six minutes later, Real Madrid scored the equalizer!

It still came from Li Ang's steal and Long Ge's long pass counterattack.

But this time, Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo at the end, so the choice of attack direction is very simple.

Higuain's play helped Ronaldo have a chance to shoot in the Valencia penalty area.

With his first shot after taking the field, Cristiano Ronaldo allowed Guaita to score a goal that had been holding on for almost 80 minutes!

In the end, Real Madrid also drew 1-1 with Valencia at home at the Bernabeu.

At the post-match press conference, reporters had too many questions that Mourinho needed to answer.

But Mourinho smiled slightly and shied away one by one like he was doing Tai Chi.

After scoring an away goal at home at the Bernabeu and drawing with the powerful Real Madrid, Valencia's players were bursting with confidence.

Valverde also said that in the upcoming league, he and the players will continue to perform excellent performances and compete with Real Madrid again.

However, on January 20, when Valverde saw Real Madrid's main starting lineup, he subconsciously had a bad feeling in his heart.

In the end, Valencia, which chose a slightly more aggressive style of play, suffered an ugly death in the confrontation with Real Madrid's main players that night.

Cristiano Ronaldo once again scored a hat-trick, and Li Ang scored a goal in the forward run.

In the end, Real Madrid gave Valencia a big defeat at the Mestalla Stadium!

7-3!

This is also the first game in La Liga this season with double figures.

After seeing Real Madrid's full firepower, the Western media once again changed the direction of public opinion.

Completely forgetting that just the day before, they were still questioning Mourinho's employment and the performance of Real Madrid players.

However, when the momentum of this tout was still rising, Mourinho announced the 18-man roster for the next round of the King's Cup in advance.

Pure rotation, even with a few youth training players brought up from Castilla!

None of Real Madrid's main players were selected, and they are all resting at home!

Now even the slowest media and fans have reacted.

This is not due to a problem with Real Madrid's previous match status. It is simply because Mourinho decided to give up the Copa del Rey!

If it weren't for maintaining the unbeaten record at the Bernabeu, Mourinho might have used pure rotation and youth training players to cope with the King's Cup in the first Copa del Rey game against Valencia!

If any other coach had given up the domestic cup competition so decisively while taking charge of Real Madrid, he would have definitely been bombarded by public opinion.

But when the coach is Mourinho, it makes sense for him to dare to do this.

Real Madrid's wave is a one-way road in Huashan, and they are going to defend the title on two fronts!