Chapter 389: Fighting in the Barcelona locker room?
At seven o'clock in the evening on the 12th, the lights came on in Madrid and the Calderon Stadium was bustling with activity.
The battle for top spot will begin here tonight, and it is also the last game of the first half of the season.
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are the only two unbeaten teams.
They will compete tonight at the Calderon Stadium.
In the past, at times like this, the one competing with Barcelona for the top spot should be another Madrid team - Real Madrid.
But this year's results are different. There is a two-point difference between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and a one-point difference between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
If Atletico Madrid can defeat Barcelona at home tonight and Real Madrid can win, Real Madrid will surpass Barcelona in points!
At Calderon Stadium, fans are entering the stadium in an orderly manner, and players from both sides are warming up on the field.
Barcelona finally saw Messi in the team. The Argentine superstar returned from injury, which added a lot of excitement to tonight's game.
The atmosphere at Atletico Madrid was good, and there was laughter from the players during the warm-up.
Atletico Madrid has remained undefeated on all fronts this season, which has given fans a great surprise and also greatly enhanced the team's confidence.
Simeone stood on the sidelines and observed the Barcelona players' warm-up alone. To be more precise, he was observing Messi's state.
After returning from injury, to what extent has Messi recovered?
This is what he needs to know.
Messi was in good shape during the warm-up, which made Simeone frown.
As an Argentinian, Simeone knows how powerful this player is and how terrifying he is on the court.
However, when he turned to look at his team, he took a deep breath and relaxed his frown.
This is an invincible team. Barcelona has Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi, and I have Lee, Costa, and Godin!
Last season, with Malaga's strength, Pellegrini was able to lead Malaga to double defeat Real Madrid and Barcelona, and finally won the La Liga championship.
Pellegrini can do it, can’t I?
Thinking of this, Simeone's confidence increased a bit.
"Let Lee defend Messi?"
Simeone complained about Pellegrini in his heart again: "Only you can think of such a weird tactic!"
However, considering Malaga's "weak" defense, Simeone could understand why Pellegrini did what he did.
How bad was Malaga's defense last season?
With a seven-point lead over Barcelona, they were forced back by Barcelona and even achieved a lead.
If it weren't for the drag of the Champions League, Barcelona would definitely not have given Malaga the chance to achieve a miracle in the last round and lock in the championship early.
Atletico Madrid's defense is second to none in La Liga. So far, it is the team that has conceded the fewest goals among the 20 teams in La Liga.
With such a strong defensive ability, does Li Chuanqi need to be too involved in defense?
At 7:30, the players from both sides ended their warm-up and returned to their respective locker rooms to make final preparations for the upcoming peak showdown.
In the VIP box, Atletico Madrid President Cerezo accompanied FIFA President Blatter, and the two talked and laughed.
Next to them were Atletico Madrid executives and FIFA officials.
Of course Blatter cannot come to Atletico Madrid alone.
Not far away, in another VIP box, Spanish team coach Del Bosque led his team of assistants to greet the fans.
Del Bosque has every reason to watch this game.
The last time the Spanish team gathered for the last two games of the World Cup European Qualifiers, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid had a total of 11 players selected, and many of them were the main players of the team.
In other words, half of the Spanish team players will play in tonight's game, and more than half of the main players will play!
Such a game is certainly worthy of Del Bosque attending the game and observing the condition of the players.
Away team locker room.
Barcelona coach Martino is giving pre-match encouragement to the players: "This is not an ordinary game. I think this game will affect whether we can win the championship in the end!"
This remark caused dissatisfaction among many players. Pique said: "Coach, we must have confidence in Barcelona."
Messi nodded and said: "So far, we have not lost this season. We have won too many times in this stadium."
The words of the two made Martino very uncomfortable. He felt isolated and helpless in the locker room.
Martino is Argentinian. The reason why Barcelona asked him to coach Barcelona is because of his Argentine identity. He hopes to coexist harmoniously with Messi and create sparks.
After having achieved success as a coach in the Americas, Martino was also very eager to achieve success in Europe, so when Barcelona offered him an olive branch, he agreed without any hesitation.
Under his leadership, Barcelona has a good record this season, achieving good results in both La Liga and the Champions League. It remains undefeated in La Liga, has four wins, one draw and one loss in the Champions League group stage, and advanced to the knockout rounds as the group leader.
The only defeat in the group stage was an away game against Ajax, and at that time Barcelona had already locked up its place in the group, so it was considered a careless loss to Jingzhou.
For other clubs, this kind of result would be a superb performance, but for Barcelona, it would be a very ordinary result.
In the words of World Sports News, "Martino's coaching so far can only be described as passing."
Martino thought that Messi would see him as a fellow countryman and support him in the locker room, but what he didn't expect was that Messi didn't seem to buy it and didn't give him much support.
Perhaps in Messi's heart, Barcelona is his hometown, and in his heart, Argentina's only thought is to play for this country.
"I know that everyone has won many honors on the court, but I also know why Barcelona asked me to coach here."
Martino said with a cold face: "If it hadn't been for my poor performance in the past two years, maybe I wouldn't have had the chance to come to Barcelona. Since I am now the coach of Barcelona, you should respect me.
But I don’t see any respect from you!”
These words were very serious. Pique wanted to retort a few words, but Xavi stopped him with a stern look.
Iniesta said: "Coach, we definitely support you, just keep talking."
Martino took a deep look at Messi and said: "I know if you call the president, I will be fired. You don't have to show off this to me every day, I already know it."
The atmosphere in the locker room became tense.
Messi raised his head and looked at Martino, who looked at him without any sign of weakness.
Xavi stood between them, pulled Messi with one hand, looked at Martino and said: "Coach, now is not the time to talk about this, we are about to start the game."
Other players also tried to persuade Martino.
…
Different from the chaos in Barcelona's locker room, Atletico Madrid's locker room was full of fighting spirit. Simeone was spitting on the tactical board and making tactical demands to the players.
"When Barcelona gets the ball in the backcourt, we must counterattack immediately! We must not give them any chance to pass the ball forward quickly! Including using fouls to stop them!"
Simeone shouted: "We want to make the scene chaotic! Only then will we have a chance!"
"Two seconds!"
Simeone yelled at the players: "Two seconds after losing the ball, we must complete the counterattack. We must not give them any chance to easily handle the ball!"
