On June 12, 2004, the eyes of the world were focused on Porto, Portugal.
On this day, the European Cup in Portugal officially started. Portugal, led by world champion coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, was in Group A with Greece, Spain and Russia.
On this day, Portugal suffered an unexpected 1-2 loss to Greece in the opening match at Porto's Tornado Stadium. A 19-year-old boy named Cristiano Ronaldo scored a face-saving goal for the host in the 93rd minute.
On this day, in the Iberian Peninsula, the 41st and penultimate round of the 2003/2004 Spanish Football League Second Division officially kicked off at 7:15 pm local time in Spain.
In this round of the league, Sporting Gijon went to an away game to challenge Tarragona.
And Cadiz welcomed Huelva at home...
In the next round of the league, Sporting Gijon welcomes Cadiz at home!
I'm afraid before the start of the season, no one thought that the last two rounds of the league, especially the matchups in this round, were so clever. Cadiz and Huelva, who had 70 points together, faced off directly, and behind them were only three places behind them.
Sporting Gijon.
It can be said that no matter what the result of the game between Cadiz and Huelva is, it is an opportunity for Sporting Gijon to close the gap with at least one of these two teams.
If the two sides tie, then Sporting Gijon will be only one point behind these two teams. There is still the last round of the league. Sporting Gijon's opponent is Cadiz. This game will determine life and death. Gijon
Athletic must win against Cadiz.
If Cadiz wins, then Sporting Gijon's points will catch up with Huelva, but Huelva has an advantage in the relationship between the two sides. Then, in the last round of the league, if Huelva loses
If so, Sporting Gijon only needs a draw to be sure of reaching the top six. However, if Huelva does not lose, then Sporting Gijon must win against Cadiz.
If Huelva wins this round of the league, then it will be even simpler. Sporting Gijon must win Cadiz in the last round of the league!
These were the conditions for Sporting Gijon to advance to the promotion play-offs calculated by the Gijon media before the game. Then the Gijon people suddenly discovered that no matter how they calculated it, they would have to fight Cadiz in the final round of the league.
This direct competitor must be defeated!
Of course, before that, they must win the game against Tarragona!
This is a prerequisite for them to still hope to win the final and decisive battle.
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Sporting Gijon must win the match against Tarragona!
Li Ang was sitting on the coaching bench, his face slightly nervous.
The game has reached the final stage. Sporting Gijon leads Tarragona 1-0. Juan Mata scored a golden goal in the counterattack, giving Sporting Gijon the lead.
At this time, the game was coming to an end, but Sporting Gijon was passive on the court.
Tarragona, who had been relegated early and had no hope of promotion, played very relaxedly and took the upper hand at the last moment of the game, while Sporting Gijon showed too much nervousness.
That's right, I'm just too nervous.
Li Ang could see the team's current predicament. The score of 1-0 made Sporting Gijon timid at the last moment of the game. They did not dare to attack and were afraid of the opponent's counterattack. If they just defended blindly, they would also worry about being defeated.
If your opponent scores one, that's bad.
Afterwards, Li Ang immediately made adjustments. Following his gesture, the whole team defended! He had to make adjustments immediately to unify the team's tactical thinking.
At the last moment of the game, Li Ang still chose to be conservative, he did not dare to take risks.
Tarragona played very relaxedly. Their forward Guerriero was very fast and a good counterattacker. If his opponent caught him in a counterattack and succeeded in a sneak attack, Leon would have no place to cry.
He didn't dare to take risks, he chose to be conservative. Li Ang was gambling. He was betting that his opponent would not be able to break through Sporting Gijon's united defense in the last five or six minutes!
In the stands, the fans of the home team Tarragona gave a huge cheer. Their team now has no desire. The fans have a good mentality, are very relaxed, and are more energetic. For them, losing is acceptable, but
, if they can stop Sporting Gijon who want to hit La Liga, they will also be very happy: We can't get promoted, but if we can stop you, we will also be very happy to play together in La Liga next season...
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"Glariro shoots! Carlos blocks it with his body!"
"Tarragona's shot is here again! It's high!"
"Sporting de Gijon looked like they might lose the ball at any time, but they were tenacious," D'Agostino said.
That's right, it's tenacity.
Every player of Sporting Gijon has become a defender, and all players know the importance of this game to the team!
They are really fighting for their lives!
Blocking the hole of the gun!
Li Ang felt his heartbeat speeding up, and he even felt suffocated. Every attack from Tarragona made him feel out of breath.
He was really afraid that his opponent would suddenly score a goal, which would definitely be a nuclear explosion-level blow to him and Sporting Gijon!
The situation that worried Li Ang did not appear, and Tarragona failed to score in the end.
In the end, Sporting Gijon narrowly defeated Tarragona 1:0 in the away game.
In this game, most Sporting Gijon fans were unable to go to the away game. They stayed in Gijon and watched the game at home and in the bar. At the last moment of the game, seeing Sporting Gijon being so passive, it seemed that the team could be defeated at any time.
Losing the ball raised the hearts of all Gijon people. No one in the bar even dared to make a noise. It could even be said that the whole city was eerily quiet!
And when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game and Sporting Gijon finally won the game thrillingly 1-0, the whole city was jubilant!
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Almost at the same time, on another venue, the match between Cadiz and Huelva also ended.
1:1!!
Cadiz and Huelva played to a draw!
In this case, with only the last round of the league left, Huelva, fifth in La Liga, and Cadiz, sixth in La Liga, have 71 points, followed by Sporting Gijon with 70 points.
If Sporting Gijon wants to reach the top six promotion play-off spots in the league, it must squeeze out one of Huelva and Cadiz.
And due to the mutual results between Sporting Gijon and Huelva, they are at a disadvantage.
Therefore, in this round of the league, Huelva and Cadiz ended in a 0-0 draw, which also means that in the last round of the league, Sporting Gijon really must fight against Cadiz and win against Cadiz!
In the last round of the league, if Sporting Gijon draws with Cadiz, then even if Huelva loses this round, although Sporting Gijon will have the same points as Huelva, 71 points, but
Hongjing Jingdong is at a disadvantage in the comparison of the results between the two sides, which means that Huelva is still the one to advance to the promotion play-offs.
It's not okay to tie, and it's even more unacceptable to lose.
Therefore, the 42nd round of the Spanish Second Division, the final game of the league:
Sporting Gijon vs Cadiz at home, they must win!
The only way to survive is to win! (To be continued.)
