On December 7, when Atletico Madrid conceded a goal first on their away trip, Brazilian forward Jardel scored a crucial goal. In the end, they tied their opponent 1-1 in the away game and won three games in two rounds.
Entering the fourth round of the UEFA Cup with a total score of 1 - that is, entering the top 16 of the UEFA Cup - Spanish teams occupied five seats in the top 16 - this is a surprising ratio
, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Rayo Vallecano, Alaves, plus Celta Vigo.
There are three teams in Serie A: Inter Milan, Roma and Parma. In the Premier League, only Liverpool is left. The Bundesliga has Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart, the Ligue 1 has Bordeaux and Nantes, and the Netherlands has Eindhoven.
, together with Aek Athens from Greece and Slavia Prague from the Czech Republic, they formed the top sixteen of the UEFA Cup.
The draw ceremony for the top 16 started after the appearance of the top 16. Of course, since the major European leagues are now in a state of intense competition, the head coaches were not allowed to participate in the draw ceremony - this is different from the Champions League.
, every draw for the Champions League will be participated by the head coach of the participating club - this is the difference between the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. The Champions League is a feast, while the UEFA Cup is an existence that is ignored.
It's just that this time the top 16 of the UEFA Cup is not bad at all. Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Liverpool are all teams that can compete in the Champions League. Now they will be included in the UEFA Cup, with various
The reason...
This draw is good news for the La Liga teams because they have not bumped into each other, but of course there is bad news...
Atletico Madrid drew Inter Milan, which is one of the favorites to win the UEFA Cup. Barcelona actually drew a good draw. Their opponent was Aek Athens, Rayo Vallecano met Bordeaux, Celta Vigo met Stuttgart, Allawi
Liverpool met French Ligue 1 team Nantes - in other matches, Liverpool also got a good draw. Their opponent was Slavia Prague, and Roma will start Serie A and Bundesliga games with Kaiserslautern.
In the confrontation, Parma's opponent is PSV.
"It's actually Inter Milan... Atletico Madrid is really not popular in European competitions."
Dick sighed in his heart, but he was not particularly worried. Inter Milan has been relatively weak this season. Lippi was fired at the beginning of the season because he was eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers. Now the team's
There are quite a lot of problems, and it’s not impossible to deal with them. Anyway, Dick doesn’t remember how outstanding Inter Milan’s performance was in this season’s UEFA Cup. Even in the league, their performance was mediocre. In the end, it seemed that they could only play.
In the UEFA Cup competition, Inter Milan's results did not stabilize until Cooper took over the next season.
Besides, the fourth round won't start until February next year, and now is not the time to think of countermeasures - there is still a winter break, and with Inter Milan's current unstable style, maybe the players will be better after the winter break.
Big changes, now preparing for the game against Inter Milan will basically be in vain.
Now Dick's task is to finish the three rounds of the league before Christmas and the winter break. The opponents are Zaragoza, Osasuna and Celta. These three teams are different - Zara
Goza is currently ranked in the middle, Osasuna is surprisingly at the bottom of the points, but Celta was once ranked in the top four, but now its performance has declined and it is also ranked in the top ten. It can be regarded as a team other than the giants.
Representatives of the team - there are teams in all circumstances.
On December 10, Atletico Madrid welcomed Zaragoza at home.
Zaragoza is a far cry from last season's performance. Last season they performed very well in the league and eventually ranked fourth. However, under some pressure, they showed their style and lost the championship.
To qualify for the Champions League, they went to participate in the UEFA Cup - because Real Madrid won the Champions League, but only ranked fifth in the league. UEFA did not want five teams in one league to participate in the Champions League, so La Liga
Internal consultations - perhaps under pressure from the royal family, Zaragoza, who also has a royal title, made concessions and allowed Real Madrid, which could achieve better results in the Champions League, to participate in the Champions League. In a way, this
It is true that La Liga teams have become more competitive in the European arena, but from their own perspective, this approach is quite disadvantageous.
The reason is very simple. Zaragoza's players worked hard for a season to qualify for the Champions League. This is a very rare thing for their players. However, after one season of hard work, they won the championship because of the club's generosity.
How could the players not complain after being given away the qualification for the Cup? After the end of that season, the top scorer Yugoslav Milosevic immediately proposed a transfer, and then this top scorer who scored 21 goals last season
The striker moved to Parma, and other players were also unsettled. The direct consequence was that Zaragoza, which won 16 games in the league last season and scored 60 goals, was completely different this season.
They have become sick tigers. They have only won three games in the thirteen league rounds so far and scored only 13 goals.
This is really not to blame for the players' unwillingness to try their best. When a club gives up the results they have worked hard to achieve for a year due to other reasons, how can the players be mentally focused? This time La Liga's internal resolution has also brought about a problem, then
It's just that UEFA has not made up for the flaws in this system - there are contradictions in their Champions League quota regulations. First of all, it stipulates that the Champions League winner will be eligible to participate in the next season, and it also stipulates that the top three leagues by points.
The top four are eligible to enter the Champions League finals. When the Champions League champion fails to enter the top four in the league, this contradictory situation will result. Now it is resolved internally by La Liga, but after a few years,
When Liverpool was also ranked fifth and won the Champions League, UEFA also wanted Everton, who was ranked fourth, to carry forward their style - but Everton simply quit, and in the end UEFA could only give Liverpool
Issue wild cards and allow them to participate in the Champions League, but they have to start from the qualifiers. After entering the Champions League, the rules for avoiding the group stage of teams in the same league do not apply to them - so the Champions League group of that season
In the match, Liverpool and Chelsea were placed in a group...
After that, UEFA made up for the flaw in this rule and announced that the Champions League winner will automatically qualify for next season's Champions League. However, a league can only have a maximum of four teams participating in the Champions League. If the Champions League winner is in the home country,
If the league fails to enter the Champions League area, the number of teams in the Champions League area will be automatically reduced - so after Chelsea won the championship in the 11-12 season, Tottenham, which ranked fourth in the Premier League that year, was unlucky because Chelsea failed to enter the top tier.
Four won the Champions League again, so apart from Chelsea, only the top three in the Premier League can enter the Champions League...
The topic went off topic. Zaragoza gave up their qualification for the Champions League, which also caused them to suffer a serious blow this season. Needless to say, their results in the league were poor. They were also eliminated early in the UEFA Cup -
—In the first leg of the first round, they defeated the Polish team Krakow 4-1 at home, but also lost 1-4 on the road. They were eliminated on penalty kicks and did not even make it to the second round - La Liga Ben
The number of teams participating in the UEFA Cup this season has reached an unprecedented five. Zaragoza replaced Real Madrid, Alaves participated in the UEFA Cup as sixth place, and Celta Vigo, ranked seventh, came from Tottenham.
Fighting out of the Copa del Rey, Atletico Madrid participated as the Copa del Rey champion. Although Rayo Vallecano was only ranked ninth, he won the best style award assigned to La Liga by UEFA this season and participated in the UEFA Cup as a wild card.
, the other four teams plus Barcelona, which was eliminated from the first group stage of the Champions League, all entered the top 16 of the UEFA Cup. Only Zaragoza was eliminated early. It has to be said that this team's spirit is
Something has gone wrong.
Facing such a team, Zaragoza, whose form and morale are in a very low state, although their recent results have been somewhat ups and downs, it is not difficult for Atletico Madrid, whose morale is high and their form is improving, to win.
Jardel stopped his two-game scoreless streak and scored twice in the game to help Atletico beat Zaragoza 2-0 at home. This was his fourth brace in the league this season.
, although after joining Atletico Madrid, he did not show his continuity, which is because he has not adapted to the La Liga style, but once he found his form, he was able to score twice, which also proved that Jardel is indeed an advanced player.
A shooter with excellent ball skills.
These two goals were Jardel's tenth and eleventh goals in the league. These two goals made him the top scorer, one ahead of Alaves' local striker Moreno.
goals, while previously outstanding strikers such as Raul, Rivaldo, and Kluivert all scored seven or eight goals, while Tristan, who transferred to Deportivo at a high price, only scored six goals.
Concentrated in three games, the efficiency and continuity are obviously not as good as Jardel...
After winning this game, Atletico Madrid's points are tied with Deportivo La Coruna. Now they and Valencia have 28 points, tied for second in the league, and the first is
Real Madrid with 29 points - these four teams are the best performing teams since the beginning of the league. Compared with them, Barcelona looks a bit bleak. They currently have only 23 points and are beaten by
The top four have opened up a considerable gap.
What makes Dick most wary is Real Madrid - when they were defeated by Atletico Madrid at home, they were already five points away from Atletico Madrid. However, in the next five rounds of the league, Real Madrid won five consecutive victories.
Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, lost to Mallorca and Las Palmas successively, and was overtaken by Real Madrid by one point. If Atletico Madrid's problem of easily losing points to middle and lower-tier teams is not solved, it will not be able to compete with them.
It is really difficult for Real Madrid, which is becoming more and more stable, to compete for the league championship position...
“There’s still a long way to go.”
Dick sighed in his heart, and then started leading the team for training again - before the winter break came, he only needed to lead the team to play in the league, which also made the pressure on Atletico Madrid players easier.
But they also know in their hearts that the ease now means the difficulty after the winter break - the 22nd round of the league, the King's Cup, the UEFA Cup... when these games are gathered together, they will be much more tired than they are now, and they
The holidays are also much shorter. The league this season will not end until mid-June. Playing in La Liga is relatively easy, but the holidays are much shorter.
"Play well in the last two rounds of the league and have a comfortable Christmas!"
Dick waved his fists on the training ground to cheer up the players. After half a season of coaching, he also felt tired. After all, it was his first full season, and he had a lot to learn. This lasted nearly half a month.
The winter break is also a good opportunity for him to rest and recharge!
