Espanyol's opponent in the fourth round of the Copa del Rey, Levante, is a typical relegation team.
Last season's league ranking was 14th, which was its worst record since being promoted to La Liga in 10 years.
Levante coach Lucas Alcaraz has coached a total of 10 different teams so far. Except for Aris in Greece, the others are all middle and lower-tier teams in Spain.
Lucas is very familiar with La Liga, can familiarize himself with the team in the shortest time, adjust the lineup, and is good at leading small and medium-sized clubs to avoid relegation.
With the Spaniard's current strength, it stands to reason that it would be easy to deal with a team like Levante, but what is interesting is that despite Levante's average strength, it is very restrained against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid.
Levante has 4 wins and 3 draws against Espanyol in the past 7 La Liga home games and remains unbeaten. It has 3 wins and 2 draws against Atletico Madrid in the past 5 La Liga home games and remains unbeaten.
The Spaniard is only slightly stronger than Levante. If their playing styles are incompatible, it is understandable to achieve such a record. However, Atletico Madrid is a Spanish Super League team and is not inferior to Barcelona and Real Madrid at all.
Being defeated by Levante shows that there is still something good about this Levante team.
After playing Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard had a day off and two days of targeted training before heading to Valencia to start the Copa del Rey match.
December 3rd at 10pm
Valencia City Stadium
Zhao Yang sat on the bench, enjoying the game with a relaxed expression.
He, the core of the Spaniard's forward line, did not play today.
Because the historical record with Levante is so bad, head coach Sergio is not prepared to finish in one game. Levante is a typical home team. Sergio is prepared to maintain a draw in the away game and win again at home.
The decisive battle at Levante.
In this case, Zhao Yang, a striker with average physical fitness, must recharge his batteries in order to cope with the tough three games a week.
Although Asensio also needs a rest, it is impossible for the two core players of the Spaniard to be put on the bench. Although Levante is weak, its style of play restrains the Spaniard. If Asensio, the core midfielder, is not available,
Sergio is worried about not getting a point away from home.
If Levante's record against Espanyol was not so good, Sergio would not even want to bring Zhao Yang to Valencia.
Bringing Zhao Yang and putting him on the bench was mainly because he was worried about the disadvantages in the away game, so he prepared a backup plan.
In fact, even if Zhao Yang does not make the squad, he will still come to Valencia.
Although Levante is not a strong team, it still has some history, and the stadium has not been rebuilt. There must be talent, and Zhao Yang hopes to sign a skill here.
Zhao Yang was lucky. When he stepped on the court yesterday, he successfully signed in and acquired the shooting skill "Heel Knock Shot".
Although this skill is the same as the skill "Scorpion Tail", which is a bit useless, in a small stadium like Levante, it is good to have one skill. The stadium is ever-changing, and irregular shooting movements can sometimes be decisive.
effect.
Since it is three games a week, after the first leg of the Copa del Rey, Levante and Spain will also play against each other in the league at the weekend. Therefore, Levante, who is focusing on the league, did not send all its main players for this game.
After the game started, both sides gave a little test, and Levante took advantage of the home court to launch a fierce attack on the Spaniard.
The Spaniards have had a brilliant record recently and are ranked in the top four points. They no longer pay attention to the relegation teams that were on the same level as them. Now they are attacked by Levante at the beginning, and the players are very annoyed.
However, Levante has a psychological advantage. In addition, they are fighting on their own doorstep. They are familiar with the stadium and have fans cheering for them. They play more proactively. The Spaniard has room for anger, but he is suppressed by Levante.
Not much chance to fight back.
Twenty minutes into the game, Zhao Yang's demeanor gradually became serious.
Levante is ranked second from the bottom in the league and is a favorite for relegation, but when playing against Espanyol, who is ranked fourth, they are full of confidence and are in great shape. Everyone dares to take the ball and make moves.
“Confidence is such a good thing!”
Zhao Yang shook his head repeatedly.
"Zhao, what did you say?"
Moreno, the young striker sitting next to Zhao Yang, asked.
Zhao Yang cannot play, and the Spaniard still needs an experienced striker on the front line, so Moreno, who has been in the limelight recently, also sits on the bench, and Caicedo is on the front line.
Zhao Yang smiled and said: "I said Levante is really confident in beating us."
Moreno took a sip of water and said with a smile: "If we don't lose to any team for 7 consecutive games, we will definitely be very confident when we see them again."
Zhao Yang said: "This time we are going to play three games with Levante, two in the King's Cup and one in the league. I think we should play with all the main players in the first game to teach Levante a lesson, lest they think that we Spaniards
The team is easy to bully, so it will be easy to fight in the next two games."
This is an open question of the coach's tactical arrangements.
Zhao Yang is the core of the team's forward line, the coach's favorite, the fans' darling, and the chairman's compatriot. He dares to say this, but Moreno, a young substitute player, does not dare.
"The coach should have his own ideas. He may be afraid that the main players will be too tired and won't be able to play in the next two games."
Moreno speculated.
While the two were talking, the situation on the field suddenly changed. Levante made a sudden attack from the left wing, reached the baseline and then crossed into the penalty area.
The Spaniard was severely suppressed. There were many people in the penalty area. The two sides fought for the top, but no one touched the ball. The ball flew directly to the right.
This time the ball was passed to the right but was deflected, stretching the Spaniard's center defense.
After cooperation from the right, the Levante full-back crossed again. At this moment, there were more Levante players in the Espanyol penalty area than before.
Both sides jumped up to compete for the header. As a result, Espanyol defender Ziani wanted to push the ball out of the baseline, but he pushed it directly towards his own goal.
The Spaniard's substitute goalkeeper Baldi couldn't react in time and could only watch the ball go into the net.
1:0
In the 23rd minute of the game, Levante unexpectedly took the lead thanks to an own goal from their opponent Espanyol.
Seeing more than 10,000 fans cheering and cheering, they completely forgot about their situation in the league.
Only head coach Lucas looked calm, not nervous or excited at all, and his applause was rather formulaic, as if he was thinking about something.
Zhao Yang on the sidelines looked even more frustrated. Not only did Levante have the confidence to beat the Spaniards, but they were also very lucky. Even the usually stable Spaniard defender Ziani scored an own goal.
Moreno smiled bitterly and said: "Levante is so lucky. Every time we play, some weird things happen, injuries, own goals, red cards, whatever you want..."
Zhao Yang also smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that if you want to get a draw, you have to work hard."