In the last game, the Spaniard defeated Barcelona and climbed to the top of La Liga. Almost the entire European football world was shocked.
Sports media in almost all countries reported the news with great fanfare.
The Spaniard has become the biggest dark horse in European football, and Zhao Yang has become the superstar most likely to end the era of Messi and Ronaldo.
But this time Barcelona defeated Espanyol in the Copa del Rey but it did not cause much repercussions.
This is just like a person biting a dog is news, but a dog biting a person is not the same.
Cosmos Barcelona's 3-goal victory was expected by everyone.
The Spaniard's last victory over Barcelona was just an accident.
The only surprising thing is that the Spaniard was sent off two people in one game, and they were two very important people, one was captain Xavi Lopez and the other midfielder Diop.
This also means that the second round of the Copa del Rey has lost its suspense.
The Spaniard, whose bench strength was originally very weak, will not fight Barcelona in the second round after losing two main players.
Now, the Spaniards, who are temporarily ranked first in the standings, will definitely focus on the league. The dream of competing for the championship may be a bit big, but grabbing a Champions League spot is not too much.
The Spaniards certainly think so.
In the first round of the Copa del Rey, they had no intention of giving up at first.
It's just that the situation is better than the others. They are lagging behind by a big score and have not been able to score an away goal. Promotion is already a luxury.
Therefore, after sending off Diop, head coach Sergio decided to give up the King's Cup to conserve energy and prepare for the next 19th round of the league against Eibar.
After the game, the Espanyol management also realized that the Copa del Rey was out of the question and set the goal of this season to achieve good results in the league.
As for whether the goal is to compete for the league title or a Champions League spot, the Spaniard's management believes that we can wait until the game against Eibar is over before we can seriously discuss it.
The Spanish take Eibar very seriously.
Last season Eibar ranked only 18th and should have been relegated to Segunda División. However, due to 17th-placed Elche's arrears in taxes and club staff wages, the Spanish Professional Football League ordered it to be relegated to Segunda División. Eibar ended up
Fortunately, he stayed in La Liga.
Eibar cherished this opportunity very much. After 18 league rounds, they were ranked 8th in the standings, only 2 points away from sixth-place Celta Vigo. If the Spaniard hadn't been so amazing, Eibar would have been the best.
The biggest dark horse in La Liga this season.
Eibar played fiercely last season and liked close combat, a bit like a Spaniard. After defensive master Mendilibar coached Eibar this season, he retained the fierce style of last season and incorporated his own defensive counterattacks.
This style of play has greatly improved Eivar's combat effectiveness.
Of course, this is not the only reason why Eibar turned around. Another reason is that Eibar is similar to the Spaniard. They were extremely lucky to find a super forward in the second division: Borja Baston.
Borja is 191cm tall and was born on August 25, 1992. He was trained in Atletico Madrid's youth training. After joining the team, he broke Torres's scoring record in all Atletico Madrid echelons.
Last season, he performed well on loan at Real Zaragoza in the Spanish Second Division, scoring 23 goals and winning the Bronze Boot Award in the Spanish Second Division.
The summer transfer was spotted by Eibar and he joined Eibar on loan.
Borja also performed very well at Eibar this season, scoring 10 goals in 18 rounds, and was one of the biggest contributors to Eibar's top 8 ranking.
In addition to Borja, Eibar's Japan international Takashi Inui also performed well.
Although Gan Guishi has not scored a goal in Eibar so far, he has created many opportunities for Eibar on the left, partially making up for the gap left by Saul's departure.
In the last battle of the half, the Spaniard is determined to win and keep its position as the leader of the half. Eibar, who has won two consecutive games at home, also hopes to win the Spaniard and reach the top six in the standings.
However, Eibar is very low-key on the surface. They take the initiative to put themselves in the position of the underdog. Head coach Dilibar said that the Spaniard is the leader, and if Eibar can get a point at home, it is a victory.
Even the young and energetic forward Borja said humbly that this is not a competition between him and Zhao Yang. He and Zhao Yang are not yet comparable. Zhao Yang has scored 21 goals and is the top scorer. is a popular candidate, but he is still far from it.
Japanese international player Takashi Kan also complimented Zhao Yang highly before the game, "Zhao Yang is the pride of Asian football. He actually scored 21 goals before the league was halfway through. No player has done this since Messi and Ronaldo." ,In the game against the Spaniard, I just hope that his ball handling is not good and he scores fewer goals."
Espanyol has always been a relegation team. It is common to be despised before a game, but it is extremely rare to be complimented and awed by others.
With the media and fans being optimistic and opponents being fearful, it is impossible for the Spaniard not to win.
In the eyes of Spaniards, Eibar is ranked high but has average strength, and Eibar played in the Copa del Rey like the Spaniards in midweek.
The Spanish Copa del Rey was not at full strength, but Eibar and Palmeiras played for 90 minutes and lost 2:3 in the end, which was almost a double drain on physical fitness and morale.
Although Eibar has home field advantage, the Spaniards can't see what Eibar can do to defeat them.
On January 11, the Spanish bus arrived in Eibar, Basque Country.
This is a small town with a permanent population of less than 30,000 people. There is only one professional stadium in the town, which is the Ipurua Municipal Stadium.
The stadium can only accommodate 5,000 spectators.
Obviously it is very difficult for Zhao Yang to expect what skills he can sign in this stadium.
When adapting to the venue at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, Zhao Yang did not receive any prompts from the system.
Zhao Yang is not worried. Even if he cannot sign new skills, the skills he has accumulated before should be enough. After all, no matter how strong Eibar's home court is, it cannot be as good as Camp Nou.
Eibar fans seemed to be playing the role of the Spaniard and Zhao Yang. When the Spaniard stepped onto the field, many Eibar fans came to watch and applauded them.
This makes the Spaniards feel more relaxed.
However, after the game started, the Eibar people suddenly showed their fangs and pressed the Spaniards with high intensity from the first minute.
Eibar is the team with the third highest number of steals among the 20 La Liga teams this season. The first place is Atletico Madrid and the second place is Espanyol.
However, the Spaniard today was too relaxed and could not compare with Eibar in terms of pressing and running.
Under the pressure of the Eibar people, the Spaniards made frequent mistakes in cooperation and were constantly counterattacked by Eibar.
Espanyol head coach Sergio suddenly realized that Eibar had used a arrogant strategy before the game.
Sergio shouted from the sidelines, asking the players to get nervous and run, not to act like sleepwalking.
However, the Spaniard has relaxed his mentality since the Copa del Rey, whereas Sergio can become nervous with just a few words.
On-site commentator He Wei was worried, "The Spaniards are too relaxed. If this continues, it is inevitable that they will lose the ball."
Another commentator, Fang Jian, was very relaxed and said: "Losing the ball may be a good thing, only losing the ball can stimulate them."