The national team match day is called the FIFA virus by wealthy teams.
Because every time after a national team game, the players in the team are either injured or tired, and the next league game is often either a draw or a loss.
The FIFA virus has the greatest impact on wealthy teams. Almost all of the wealthy teams are national teams, and even the substitutes are all national teams.
Espanyol is a mid-to-lower team with very few international players in the team. Even Asensio, one of the twin stars, has not been called up to the national team. The national team match day does not have a big impact on them.
Even so, head coach Sergio did not allow Zhao Yang to participate in the training the next day and asked him to follow the assistant coach for physical recovery.
The day before the match against Malaga, after training, Sergio personally approached Zhao Yang and said that his opponent Malaga was not weak. If the Spaniard wanted to win, he might not be able to rest, at least not
He has to be put on the substitute list and may not play depending on the situation.
Zhao Yang actually wanted to rest. He had just played professional games for half a year and his physical fitness was not very good. He could hold on, mainly because he was young.
This time, after flying thousands of miles and playing two games in a row, both of which he had to win, he was under a lot of pressure. Zhao Yang could be said to be physically and mentally exhausted. He really wanted to rest.
However, this round, Real Madrid and Barcelona will have a El Clasico. Currently, Real Madrid has 24 points and Espanyol has 22 points. If Real Madrid loses and Espanyol wins, then Espanyol may reach the top three in the standings.
I don’t know how many years ago it was the last time the Spaniard reached the top three in the standings. If it can be done, it will be a great encouragement to the team and fans.
In this situation, how could Zhao Yang say rest, and how could he rest?
Therefore, Zhao Yang said that he was not tired yet and would follow the instructions of the coaching staff.
In fact, Malaga is not only not weak, but actually very strong.
Malaga ranked ninth last season, with better results than Espanyol. They are also a veteran mid-table team, and they are also one of Espanyol's opponents competing for European qualification.
In the first half of this season, Málaga was a little depressed. After 11 rounds of the league, they lost 6 games, drew 1 game, and won only 3 games. They ranked 17th in the league.
But no team dares to underestimate Malaga.
Malaga, which has such poor results, defeated Barcelona in an away game last season, drew with Real Madrid this season, and narrowly lost to Barcelona by 1 goal. This is not something ordinary teams can do.
Malaga was able to draw with the giants mainly because of their excellent defense and a super goalkeeper, Cameroon international Kameni.
Malaga coach Javier Gracia took over the coach from German Schuster last season. Gracia is good at coaching defense. His usual formation is 4-4-2, and his coaching style seeks stability.
Home. Last season, relying on a solid defense and quick counterattacks, the team defeated the giant Barcelona in the away game.
This season's weakness is not due to defense. The main reason is that the head forward Juanmi has been transferred to Southampton in the Premier League, resulting in a decline in offensive power.
In this round of the league, Málaga, which is defensively on the line, will challenge Espanyol, who has superior attack power, in an away game.
Zhao Yang, who previously scored 9 goals in 11 rounds of La Liga, scored 12 goals in two games for the national team. Zhao Yang's firepower was so fierce that even Malagueños were frightened.
Before the game, Malaga head coach Gracia said that taking one point from Espanyol at home is a victory, and that Espanyol has the ability to qualify for the Champions League this season.
This is obviously a compliment.
Although the Spaniard is outstanding this season, it is still very difficult to get a Champions League seat. You can dream about a Europa League seat.
Al Thani, the owner and chairman of Malaga, said it more realistically. He said: "Malaga and Espanyol are equally strong. Last season, one of us was ninth, one was tenth, and the other was good at attacking.
If one is good at defense, whoever wants to win the game depends on who performs better on the spot."
Both Gracia and Al Thani also talked about Zhao Yang.
Gracia said: "Zhao Yang is a legend. His experience will surely inspire countless young people to enter the professional football field. Zhao Yang has comprehensive skills and superb shooting skills. He is a dangerous killer. We will take special care of him."
Al Thani said: "I scored 12 goals in two games. I couldn't believe it when I saw the game highlights. I was very envious of the Espanyol team's discerning eye and talent, and they actually dug such an outstanding talent from the Spanish Third Division. Like this
It is difficult to stop the forward, but it is not impossible. I believe Gracia will have a way to deal with Zhao Yang."
Espanyol head coach Sergio made a big show before the game. He told reporters that Zhao Yang was too tired and had not even recovered from jet lag. The team doctors suggested that Zhao Yang rest. Zhao Yang himself wanted to play in this game, considering that
In the long term of the team, he will communicate with the team doctor and assistant coaches to see if Zhao Yang will be sent to play.
Sergio also didn't forget to praise Asensio, who was depressed about not being in the national team.
"Even if Zhao Yang cannot play, we still have Asensio, who is also a genius who can change the game. Malaga has been in poor form recently. I believe we have a chance to beat them at home."
Sergio's smoke array did give Gracia some confusion, because Zhao Yang was not even on the squad at first, and was later added, but the starting list was never announced. No one in Malaga knew until one hour before the game that Zhao Yang
Didn't start, but sat on the bench.
The derby of the century between Real Madrid and Barcelona started two hours before the match between Espanyol and Malaga.
When the match between Espanyol and Malaga kicked off, the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona was already over.
Although Messi did not play in this game due to injury, Barcelona still swept Real Madrid in the away game with a big score of 4:0, continuing to lead the standings, and widening the points gap with arch-rival Real Madrid to 6 points.
Although Barcelona is the rival of the Spanish in the same city and Real Madrid is the ally of the Spanish, the Spaniard is a little happy when Barcelona wins this time.
Because the Spaniard definitely has no hope of winning the championship, it doesn't matter who wins the championship. But if Real Madrid loses, the Spaniard will see hope of reaching the top three in the standings.
So after the game started, the Espanyol players and fans were very excited and wanted to eat Malaga in one bite.
Málaga's offensive power is not good, and it is even worse on the road. After 11 rounds of games this season, Málaga has not scored points in the away game. It is a typical away bug.
However, it is not so easy for the Spaniard to quickly attack Malaga's goal.
Facing the Spaniard's fierce attack, the Malagueños sniped tenaciously in the midfield, preventing the Spaniard from easily attacking their penalty area.
Even so, the Spaniard still found a chance to score. In the fifth minute of the game, midfielder Perez broke through on the right, entered the penalty area, dunked past the defender, and volleyed into the lower left corner of the goal.
This was almost a sure-shot opportunity, but Cameroon international Kameni reacted quickly and blocked the ball with his feet.