The biggest fanatic in football

"Dip, drip, drip~~~"

On November 24, amid the snowflakes and cold wind in St. Petersburg, Valencia stopped its ten-game winning streak in all competitions.

At the Petrovsky Stadium on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the Bat Corps, which was full of injured soldiers, was completely defeated by the host Zenit!

0:2!

Captain Parejo took a helpless breath and shook his head as he looked at the lawn that was almost completely covered by heavy snow.

【Who knew it would snow today!】

[We are on the warm and humid Mediterranean coast, and there are only a few days a year where the weather is below freezing!]

In the post-match press conference, Nuno Santo did not show too much pessimism:

"We have been so unlucky recently. Two of our main defenders are collectively injured, and many players have physical and muscle problems. As a result, we can only play with a rotating lineup in this game. But fortunately, this defeat will not affect too much.

So many things..."

What he said is absolutely correct.

Zenit, with five wins from five games, has already advanced to the knockout round as the top of the group one round in advance. However, French Ligue 1 hegemon Lyon, who was previously recognized as the favorite, still only has 1 point after five rounds and is definitely eliminated.

As for the other team, Belgian champion Gent, after defeating Lyon, their points reached 4 points. Even if they defeated Valencia with a big score in the last round, they only had 7 points. It is impossible to catch up with 3 points in any case.

Valencia has 9 points with 2 wins and 2 losses.

Therefore, this defeat was completely acceptable to Valencia, and Nuno generously allowed Negredo, Vizo, Ryan and other substitute players to experience the experience of the Champions League.

They just didn't expect that as soon as they stepped into the stadium, dark clouds came over St. Petersburg, and a burst of sleet rolled in. Not only did the temperature drop sharply, but the field became slippery and muddy. Many Spanish and Argentine players had never even seen it in their lives.

Get through this "extremely bad" weather!

In the end, they did nothing in the away game. Vizzo, who replaced Lee Polo, even received a yellow card in each half and was sent off in the 88th minute...

Seeing Vizzo walking back to the locker room dejectedly, Nuno was so angry that he didn't want to speak.

[Some players’ minds are really unclear!

There are only 2 minutes left in the game, and the defeat has been decided. What's the point of receiving this yellow card?

Is it to show off his indomitable, tenacious and unyielding sportsmanship and never give up until the last second?

Now, even if I want you to have a sense of presence in the last round, you won’t be able to appear!]

-

Ruben Vizzo certainly knows that his evaluation in the head coach's mind has been deducted several points.

So he was very depressed, and he even wanted to open a bottle of strong liquor and get drunk.

But when he woke up, he learned the great news:

"Mustafi slipped and fell in the shower! He strained his thigh muscle! I'm afraid he will have to rest for another two weeks!"

Vizzo immediately got a new haircut and announced to the head coach:

"I, Ruben Vizzo, will change my mind and start a new life from today on!"

Looking at the high-spirited substitute defender, Nuno sighed helplessly.

[If you don’t use him...who else can you use?]

[Orban who is less than 180cm tall? 】

[Are they just two young guys who were transferred from the youth team? 】

-

On November 29, the fifth day after losing the Champions League, the entire Valencia team arrived in Seville, a city hundreds of kilometers away.

This is also a famous coastal city with pleasant scenery and spring-like weather all year round. Although it has entered winter, the afternoon temperature is as high as 16 degrees.

Compared to St. Petersburg, which is freezing, windy and snowy, this place is simply paradise!

But sometimes, Li Poluo will think of a difficult old saying:

"Hardship and hardship will bring you success."

Or in other words that are easy to understand:

"Flowers in a greenhouse cannot withstand wind and rain."

If a team only pursues favorable objective conditions, it will be difficult for them to achieve final success!

On this day, reality also taught them a lesson.

In the warm and comfortable Pizjuan Stadium, facing Sevilla, which ranked only 12th in the league, the Bat Corps fell into an unexpectedly hard battle!

Less than 20 minutes into the game, two full-backs Cancelo and Gaya, and center back Vizo received yellow cards one after another. Their defense suffered a huge impact!

Standing in the middle of them, Li Polo... turned out to be the only defender who didn't get a card!

Seeing that the defense line was tight, Nuno Santo could only command the team to appropriately shrink the formation and stabilize the position first.

But Sevilla has a bit of a "kill you while you're sick" mentality, launching a fierce attack on the weakest area of ​​Sevilla's defense!

Compared with Gaya and Lipolo's left wing, Mustafi and Cancelo's right wing seemed to be more popular with them, so much so that the home team's full-backs rushed into the 20-meter area to participate in the attack. Parejo had to

Drop back into the penalty area to help defend.

Despite this, accidents still happen.

In the 34th minute, Sevilla left back Escudero broke through with the ball, and Cancelo slapped the opponent in the face when he was already stuck!

Escudero immediately covered his eyes and rolled on the ground. The referee hesitated for half a second and then showed Cancelo a second yellow card!

Two yellows turned into one red, and the right back of the Bat Legion was expelled after only playing for half an hour!

Barragan on the sidelines slapped his thigh:

"Why is he so reckless! There is no need to hit anyone!"

But he was already happy!

[The prayer I said in church yesterday really worked!]

【I want to take back my starting position!】

Seeing that the defense on the right was on the verge of collapse, Nuno could only let midfielder Enzo Perez play on the wing, barely holding on until the halftime break.

Under the opponent's aggressive offensive, Valencia didn't even have a shot in the 45 minutes of the first half! There wasn't even a chance for a corner kick or a free kick in the frontcourt!

Without a set kick, even if Lee Polo's header skills were 100 times better, he still wouldn't be able to score a goal with a lob from 80 meters in his own penalty area!

-

"The defeat in the Champions League five days ago obviously affected Valencia's performance today. Their players were so eager to score goals and win that everyone seemed to be stuck in the dilemma of working alone. Even if they cooperated, it seemed

It's too simple and can easily be seen through by opponents. Sevilla seized on their eagerness to attack, successfully launched counterattacks many times, and frequently threatened their front door."

A Spanish television commentator commented:

"Nunno's biggest problem now is how to choose between offense and defense!"

Nuno knows the question, but he doesn't know the answer.

Perez's defensive ability is good, and there is no problem playing as a full-back, but in this case, the midfielder's interception ability will be weakened...

[The two starting forwards...should one be replaced?]

[Or replace 19-year-old midfielder Danilo Barbosa? 】

【But who should be replaced? 】

[DePaulo? Piatti? Or the unstable Figouli? 】

He thought about it for a long time and finally decided to stabilize his defense:

"Remove Mina and replace him with Orban to play right back."

[Defense is the foundation for a team to win!]

His plan is very sound, but God is going to go against him today!

Only 4 minutes were played in the second half, and Valencia's defense exploded again!

The location of the accident... was on their right side!

After the home team's midfielder Ivan Banega attracted many defensive players on the right side of the penalty area, he suddenly passed the ball. The ball directly passed through Lipolo's defense zone and landed accurately on Mustafi and Austria.

In the space between urban areas.

Escudero, who was active in the first half, advanced at high speed, caught the ball before Orban and shot past Matthew Ryan!

Ryan, who finally got the chance to start, was on the verge of tears!

Sevilla leads by one goal at home!

"Oh shit!"

Li Polo, who had been entangled with the opponent's forward Llorente before, couldn't help but uttered a curse word:

"Come at me if you have the guts!"

"Don't bully a full-back who comes off the bench!"