“Atletico’s rise this season is no secret... This team from Madrid has begun to make steady progress towards the tenth league championship trophy and first UEFA Cup championship trophy in the club’s history... It will dominate the league.
After expanding to three points, in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, they relied on a powerful header from Brazilian striker Jardel in the first half to defeat 1-0 at home.
Parma, in this game Atletico Madrid performed more like a Serie A team than Parma. They seemed extremely patient throughout the game and at the same time did a very good job in defense. In the end, they relied on a set kick
The opportunity solved Parma... This way of winning makes us feel scary even when we feel strange. You must know that half of Atletico Madrid's players joined this season, but Dick has joined us in just a few months.
, allowing the team to complete an excellent run-in while maintaining results, this approach is simply amazing... This young head coach used an extremely sophisticated method to allow the team to complete the run-in, among the veteran players
He reused Belleron, let him serve as the core of the midfield, and then made the newly joined players become the backbone of each line. With Belleron as the main player, the team's combat power quickly took shape, and the newly joined players such as
Jardel, Makelele, Thuram and others became the backbone, which allowed Atletico Madrid to perform better and better with time. In the second half of the season, not only did they not fall behind due to lack of experience, but they
Their performance is getting better and better! Their current continuity is even better than Real Madrid... If before we could only say that Atletico Madrid has the ability to become a disruptive force in La Liga, then now we can only say that Atletico Madrid is now
La Liga’s strongest contender!”
Leading the league by three points and winning the UEFA Cup again in the quarter-finals. Atletico Madrid is now favored by many people. The odds of winning the league have changed from 8 to 1 before the start of the season to 8 to 1 now.
1.50 to 1, and after eliminating Inter Milan and defeating Parma, their odds of winning the UEFA Cup have also increased to 1.70 to 1. The reason why the odds are higher than the league odds is because of the cup competition.
The chance of success is much greater than that of the league.
After defeating Parma at home, Dick was not complacent. A one-goal lead at home was not a very good result. He had to be careful when going to away games. More importantly, in the league, Atletico Madrid was about to face
A very difficult time...
The twenty-sixth round of the league will be an away game against Deportivo La Coruña on March 11th, and there will be a UEFA Cup away game against Parma, followed by a home game against Barcelona on March 18th, followed by a FIFA match.
On April 1, Atletico Madrid will challenge Real Madrid away from home - this period of competition will be a big hurdle for Atletico Madrid. If this difficult period can be overcome, the next league will
The opponents are not particularly strong opponents, so Atletico Madrid's chances of winning the league championship will naturally be much greater...
"These three games... we can't lose any of them, but a draw is acceptable." Dick rubbed his chin and thought to himself, Atletico Madrid's current three-point lead is real, ranking third.
Deportivo, who is third, only has 51 points, a full five points behind Atletico Madrid. As long as they don't lose to the opponent in this round of the league, it will be difficult for Deportivo to catch up.
However, in this game, Dick wanted to win - the reason was very simple. His Atletico Madrid had lost to Deportivo La Coruna at home in the first round. He did not want to be beaten twice by his opponent in the same season, even if it was a draw.
It’s not okay to lose and be at a disadvantage!
If you want to win the championship, you must trample all your opponents. At least you cannot lose to your opponents in two rounds. Even if the Riazor Stadium is also a crazy home court, Dick must find a way to win in the away game.
Get the victory!
If there is no such pride, then Atletico Madrid will not have any chance to face Barcelona and Real Madrid in succession, especially after facing Deportivo La Coruna and Barcelona in succession and then going to the Bernabeu to face Real Madrid!
Be careful of a three-game losing streak or a two-game losing streak. The chips you worked so hard to win may be lost in just one or two moves!
If it were in a casino, Dick had won before, and he could choose not to gamble in the next few games. He could leave with the money and go have a good time... Unfortunately, in the league, he was not allowed to not continue gambling -
- This is like playing mahjong. You agree to play thirty-eight games, but you want to run away after winning money before the game is over? Sorry, there is no such rule!
Since Atletico Madrid wants to improve its strong team style, it must go head-on in such games. If it loses to the opponent at home, it must have the pride to kill the opponent on the road! Only in this way can it be regarded as a strong team, and it does not care about the home and away games.
The difference is that we must strive for victory no matter what the circumstances - the team led by Dick must have such pride!
Of course, Deportivo is not an easy team to deal with. Their current state is gradually improving. They can always be ranked in the third position and keep chasing the Madrid duo. This is enough to prove
Their current strength is indeed still at its peak.
Facing such a defending champion, it is naturally very difficult to defeat them on the road. At least it requires Dick to die more brain cells to achieve it - you must know that they have played twelve rounds of league games at home this season, and their results are
It is a very outstanding nine wins and three draws to remain unbeaten. Strong teams such as Valencia and Barcelona also lost at their home court. The only three teams that could get a draw were Mallorca, Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid.
This team has only won a total of fourteen games so far this season, nine of which were at home. Although it cannot be said that they have lost five games on the road, they are away bugs, but they are nicknamed the home dragon.
, which is quite consistent with them.
"Deportivo...is a very strong opponent, but after all, their bench is not thick enough...until now they have no potential to tap, and the main lineup is also very depleted, so it is not impossible to deal with it."
Dick was a little proud when he said this. You must know that several very important substitutes in Deportivo's history this season are from Atletico Madrid. Molina, Capdevila and Belleron are all at Atletico Madrid.
After being relegated, they chose to transfer and leave, and joined Deportivo La Coruna. Although they failed to become the main force this season, they played an extremely important role in Deportivo in the future. Molina later became La Coruna.
Coruña's main goalkeeper, Capdevila also became Deportivo's main left back after Romero gradually aged, and Belleron became Dejaminha's main left back after he started to have problems with his brain.
Deportivo La Coruna's core midfielder... Although not letting them transfer in the summer did not cause any problems with Deportivo La Coruna's main lineup this season, it made Deportivo La Coruna, which had a weak foundation, appear weak in terms of substitute players.
Overstretched.
It is already the second half of the season, and Deportivo has a lot of veterans. For example, Romero, Donato, and Forlan are all very old players, and Donato is already close to forty.
At an advanced age, how much of their current form can they have left after such a season? Although their forward firepower is quite fierce, after Ma Kai was injured, Tristan has scored 11 goals in the league, and Pandey
Yanni also has seven goals, and the two goals account for more than one-third of Deportivo La Coruña's league goals. However, in the midfield, Forlan and Scaloni are not young, they can
Has he always provided enough firepower for the team? Dejaminha has also begun to slowly become unstable. Deportivo's midfielder can no longer provide too much help to the striker...
"In this game, we have to compete with them physically."
Dick said in the tactical meeting before the game: "We can play a little more conservatively, reduce the space in the penalty area, and let their two forwards not get too many opportunities... The midfielder uses running to consume them! Tangle them
Dejaminha made him more unstable, using running to wear down their two wingers, and then constantly attacking their old guys with counterattacks! The left guarded by Romero is a can
Where he can be used, his running ability is not as good as before. Mauro Silva is not young either. The center is also a place that can be used, as well as the penalty area. Jardel, I think you will not lose.
Thirty-nine-year-old Donato's... Even if Nebet can help him, he can't help much. As for their right wing... Vicente, just hang on to that guy, this is victory."
Vicente nodded silently. He didn't feel that Dick looked down on him, but because Pablo, the current right back of Deportivo La Coruna, is considered the best right back in Spain. Now Pablo
He is a top right back, but a serious injury before the 2002 World Cup ruined him - later generations of Chinese fans made wonderful comments about this - Pablo? Before he was injured, he was the level of Maicon.
, after being injured, he became Sun Jihai...
Of course, this is not to underestimate Sun Jihai, but to say that before Pablo was injured, he was able to show a very top level on both ends of the offense and defense, which can be regarded as both offense and defense. However, after the injury, he gradually began to become a bit mediocre.
, is a good right back, but definitely not a top right back...
Facing Pablo who is now at his peak, Vicente can use his speed and impact to entangle his opponent, which is a heavy responsibility in itself.
To deal with Deportivo La Coruna, Dick's strategy was actually not complicated. One was to drag, using large-scale running and fast-paced offense to cause physical problems for Deportivo's veterans. The other was to attack and fight with the opponent.
Rather than scoring goals, defeating opponents in away games by scoring more goals, the remaining one is to rely on Atletico Madrid's recent state which is better than Deportivo La Coruña - although they have won three consecutive victories before, but the recent
In the two rounds of the league, they first drew with Real Madrid at home, and then lost 1-2 to Mallorca on the road. At the same time, they entered the Champions League quarterfinals. They have to distract from the Champions League in April.
In the game against Leeds United, all of this will allow Atletico Madrid to perform better in this game, and give Deportivo's players some more concerns during the game...
"No team can double-kill my team in the league. No matter what, I must win this game!"
Dick said to himself in his heart that when he lost to Deportivo La Coruna at home, the team was in poor condition and had not yet run in well. But now, Atletico Madrid is in excellent condition and there will be no problem in running in. They are facing another challenge.
A series of difficult schedules, then this game must be won, as it is related to the final results of the season!
