At 12 noon, Unai Emery led a Valencia delegation to appear at Malaga Airport, and reporters swarmed in.
This makes Unai Emery feel like his opponent tonight is Real Madrid or Barcelona.
This is not because Valencia itself has such a big reputation, but because of their opponents Santa Malaga.
Unai Emery understands this very well.
Facing reporters' questions, the Valencia coach said: "I am confident in tonight's game. We will not make the mistakes we made in the first round again. My players are also ready to win!"
Can you qualify if you win?
Of course not.
Depending on the score in the first round, Valencia will either win by two goals tonight, or they will have to score more than three goals to eliminate Santa Malaga.
Unai Emery further said: "Santa Malaga have good offensive players, and what we have to do in defense is to contain their performance.
As long as we contain their performance, I think we will definitely advance in the end because I am quite confident in our offense."
This is not bragging. After all, Santa Malaga is a D-level team with average defensive ability. They conceded four goals in the last round away game.
Santa Malaga has been able to reach this point by relying on offense. Their strong offensive ability allowed them to win all the way and astonished the entire Spanish football world.
"Some media said that after the game last week, Valencia boss Manuel Llorente made a statement and wanted to grab Li. As a coach, what do you think?"
There are now many rumors about the introduction of Li Chuanqi, and the Malaga media stimulated that Malaga should let Li Chuanqi return.
Malaga President Arsani also stated in front of the media that he wants Li Chuanqi, Pablo and others to return.
Unai Emery calmly replied: "In the last game, Lee has proven his worth. I support the boss's opinion. If Lee is willing to come to Valencia, I will give him the opportunity to fully utilize his talents!"
…
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Juan kept his promise and treated the whole team to a big meal at a famous hotel in the city.
Three hours later, Santa Malaga took a bus to the Rose Garden Stadium. This stadium, which can accommodate more than 30,000 spectators, became the temporary home of Santa Malaga's King's Cup.
Although the weather was still very cold, it still couldn't stop people from the D-League football circles from all over the country. Sitting on the bus, Li Chuanqi looked at the huge crowd of supporters and was filled with emotion.
"Come on Santa Malaga!"
"Saint Malaga, kill them!"
Supporters spotted the Santa Malaga bus and started shouting at the bus.
"With so many people supporting us, there is no reason for us to lose!..."
Miguel pursed his lips and sighed: "This life is enough! A professional team is nothing more than that!"
Liag snorted: "We have no ambition! We should go to Camp Nou to enjoy greater glory!"
Real Madrid was eliminated by Barcelona, and Liag's intention was very clear, that is, he wanted to eliminate Valencia and have a chance to compete with Barcelona.
"Camp Nou...the Camp Nou can accommodate more than 80,000 people..."
Miguel exhaled a long and heavy breath: "You are right, we should go to Camp Nou!"
"So, let's work hard tonight to meet Barcelona in the semi-finals, so that we can go to Camp Nou!"
He turned to look at Li Chuanqi by the window and said loudly: "Li, it's up to you tonight! Come on, young man, I'm optimistic about you, and all of us are optimistic about you!"
How to reply to this...
Li Chuanqi's face was full of melancholy. Liage raised the corner of his mouth and looked at MiG and said: "You don't need to worry about the attack. That is the matter of our two masters and disciples. You just need to guard the gate..."
"Captain! This guy doesn't believe me! I won't be guarding tonight!"
"Mig! What do you mean? When did I stop believing you?"
Seeing that they were about to start a fight, Pablo reluctantly stopped them: "Don't say a few words, the battle of life and death is coming soon. Think more about the game."
The two looked at each other fiercely.
Li Chuanqi didn't make a fuss, that's what this team is like, except for Pablo, many people are not convinced by each other.
…
At 7:15, Santa Malaga ran onto the court to warm up, and Valencia had already started warming up on another court.
Since there is no full-time physical coach, Santa Malaga can only be led by captain Pablo to warm up.
Half an hour later, the players from both sides returned to the locker room to make final preparations for the upcoming life-and-death battle.
In the visiting team's locker room, after Unai Emery announced the starting lineup, he said in a deep voice: "I know everyone is under pressure because this D-level team performed too well.
In the first round, we suffered the loss of not paying enough attention to our opponent, so now we have to work hard.
The first thing we have to do is to forget their identity as a D-level team and treat them as a real opponent!
The level of some of their players has reached the level of professional players, and is even higher than that of many professional players!"
He observed the players' reactions, and some players did not hide their disdain.
Unai Emery had no choice but to continue: "I know some people think that I overestimated my opponents!
But what are the consequences of underestimating your opponent?
In the last game, they scored our goal right from the start!
Some people think it was an accident, so I want to ask, are the second and third goals also accidents?
Especially on the third goal, the opponent passed three of us and broke our defense. Is this also an accident? Is this also luck?"
The Valencia players looked serious, and the defenders looked guilty on their faces.
"Okay, I won't say much more about this. Now I will arrange the tactics for tonight's game..."
…
In the home team's locker room, Antonio is arranging tactical arrangements: "Defensive counterattack! Intensive defense! This is our tactical arrangement tonight! I hope everyone will understand this!"
Except for Liag, when defending, everyone must return to their own half!
Be sure to pay attention to the defense in the middle!
Pablo, you have a very important task tonight, you have to act as a barrier in front of the defense.
Li, once we get a chance to counterattack, you must immediately move forward and prepare to attack.
Liage, you must stand firm in the frontcourt and protect the ball. Once Li gets in position, you must pass the ball to him immediately..."
…
"Dad, can my brother win tonight?"
"Of course we can win! Is there any problem with that?"
Li Xiaofeng happily high-fived her father.
In the stands, Santa Malaga supporters from all over the country expressed their views on tonight's game:
"As long as there is a draw, Santa Malaga will shock the whole of Europe!"
"I hope they can draw from the bottom of my heart, but the difference in strength between the two teams is too great... Santa Malaga is hanging tonight! Can their defense withstand Valencia's bombardment?..."
"What are you afraid of? Even if you can't defend at the back, you still have the golden strike partner of Li and Liage! There is no goal that the two of them cannot break!"
"This... sounds harsh no matter how you hear it, but thinking about it, it seems that no team can really keep them clean..."
"Stop talking! They have already entered the scene! Come and shout together: Santa Malaga! Santa Malaga! Santa Malaga!..."
