The match between Atletico Madrid and Espanyol is settled.
Each side takes one point and shakes hands to make peace.
Since Real Madrid and Barcelona both won this round, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have the same points, but with the advantage of goal difference, they once again surpassed Atletico Madrid and ranked second. The Spaniard once again returned to the fourth position.
The equalizer in the last minute was a victory for the Spaniards.
At the post-match press conference, Espanyol head coach Sergio was very happy, even a little carried away. He said that this was a tough game, and the draw with the powerful Atletico Madrid proved that the Spaniard's current ranking is not luck.
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Sergio strongly praised the twin stars Zhao Yang and Asensio who made great contributions to the draw with Atletico Madrid. "Marco is a versatile frontcourt player. He can organize the organization and score goals unexpectedly. He is the brains of the team; Zhao Yang
He is a natural shooter, and he has the ability to decide the situation of a battle in an instant. The tacit cooperation between the two of them is an important reason why the Spaniard can achieve his current results."
What was surprising in the end was that Sergio also praised the young player Gerard Moreno who came on as a substitute.
In this game, Moreno neither scored nor assisted, but he did create a very crucial free kick. It was this free kick that allowed Zhao Yang to complete the final blow to equalize the score.
"Although Moreno is young, he is brave and tenacious. At the last moment, he dared to take the ball and break through, and created a key free kick. In time, he can become another striker killer for the Spaniard."
Compared with Sergio's complacency and high spirits, Atletico Madrid coach Simeone is a bit sluggish.
The Spaniards were ranked third before the game. It is not a shame not to beat them, but a draw widened the point gap between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to 6 points.
Barcelona is powerful, but with superstars like Neymar and Suarez at the helm, the fault tolerance rate is extremely high. Six points is almost a chasm that cannot be caught up.
For a strong team like Atletico Madrid, with so much investment in summer transfers, failure to win the championship is almost a failure. It is normal for Simeone to be frustrated.
"The Spaniards played very tenaciously. They never gave up from beginning to end, and we underestimated the enemy in the end. This was an important reason why we lost...and were tied. I have to say that compared with last season, the Spaniards
With great progress, they are a team that can disrupt the overall situation."
Simeone also praised Zhao Yang and Asensio, the culprits of the draw with Atletico Madrid.
"These are two geniuses! They caused us a lot of trouble, and Zhao Yang even scored two free kicks. The future of these two players is definitely very bright. I think they are both very hopeful of winning the Ballon d'Or.
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Simeone's high praise for Zhao Yang and Asensio shocked the fans. After the news was broadcast that day, football forums in various countries intensely discussed the possibility of Zhao Yang and Asensio winning the Ballon d'Or. Although Zhao Yang is now Lianda
None of them made it onto the list, but the Chinese Maopu forum server almost crashed due to too many fans.
After beating Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard breathed a sigh of relief, but had no time to rest.
The Copa del Rey has entered the fourth round, and now La Liga teams must also participate. The Spaniards will go to Valencia to challenge their fourth-round opponent Levante in the middle of the week.
For a small club like Espanyol, the depth of the bench is poor, and there is a huge gap between the strength of the main players and substitutes. Two-line operations test the coach's command and coordination ability the most. Unreasonable rest and physical arrangements may even lead to the collapse of both lines.
Therefore, some small teams that are under great pressure to avoid relegation even give up the cup competition completely and only send substitutes and youth players to play.
The Spaniard has some difficult choices this season.
The new owner took over the team at the end of the summer transfer period and had no time or energy to rebuild the team. Many key players left through transfers, but no new players were added. The initial goal was just to avoid relegation.
The Espanyol team has always had no worries about relegation, so they put more energy into the Copa del Rey and achieved good results. They reached the semi-finals last season and lost to Athletic Bilbao.
But a third of the way into the match, the Spaniards suddenly discovered that they were ranked fourth in the standings.
Champions League seats!
This is a height that the Spaniards never dreamed of.
If they can get a spot in the Champions League, the broadcast fees from the Champions League and La Liga will be enough for the Spaniards to make a small fortune. The Copa del Rey is useless and it doesn't matter if they give up.
The Spaniard's bench depth this season is simply not enough to cope with two-line operations.
However, the Spaniard has never played in the Champions League since the team was founded, and its best result was in the Europa League, where it was runner-up once.
Therefore, even the Spaniards themselves cannot believe that they can get a Champions League spot, and they will be satisfied if they can get a Europa League spot.
If we fail to get a spot in the European competition and give up the Copa del Rey, Espanyol fans will definitely not be satisfied in the end.
Whether to fight on two fronts and whether to change the goals for this season is not decided by the head coach. It needs to be made by the top management of the Spaniard.
In fact, the Spanish management started discussing this issue in the last round, but the opinions were not unanimous.
The local managers of Espanyol believe that they should not aim too high and should not be fooled by the results in front of them. They should recognize their true strength. Espanyol is only a mid-range team with no worries about relegation and no hope of European competition.
The current position is only due to the poor state of the traditional strong teams. As long as there is a winning streak, Sevilla, Valencia and other teams will catch up.
Vice Chairman Garcia and Technical Director Berard both said that if they want to fight on two fronts, they must vigorously introduce players during the winter transfer, with at least three main-level players in the midfield and backcourt. Otherwise, they should follow the goals at the beginning of the season.
Chen Yansheng, the Chinese chairman of Espanyol, is also in a dilemma.
When he acquired Espanyol, he once set a banner to enter the Champions League in three years and build Espanyol into a giant club like Barcelona.
If we enter the Champions League in one year, it will naturally be better and the benefits will be greater, but Chen Yansheng also feels that this may be too small.
After acquiring Espanyol, Chen Yansheng made almost no investment in the transfer market. Compared with last season, his strength should have declined.
Asensio came, but Vazquez left as well.
Zhao Yang was a miracle, but the old captains Garcia and Stuani who left were both killers who could score more than a dozen goals.
While the strength remains unchanged, it is impossible to enter the Champions League from 10th just because of Chinese capital.
It is definitely necessary to buy players during the winter break, but it is difficult to say how much role the players who have just been transferred will play without getting used to each other. It is not impossible to even destroy the current chemical reaction. The team cannot just accumulate a few stars.
A layman like Chen Yansheng also understands this.
Therefore, although they drew with the powerful Atletico Madrid in the away game, Chen Yansheng finally agreed to the suggestions of the local managers of the Espanyol. The goal of relegation remained unchanged, the Copa del Rey would not give up, and the European Cup berth was guaranteed.