In the 30th round, Espanyol faced Athletic Bilbao at home.
After this round, it will be the national team match day, and Zhao Yang will return to China to participate in the World Cup qualifiers.
When traveling thousands of miles away, even if you are not injured, your physical energy will be greatly exhausted.
If the Spaniard still cannot get rid of the sluggish state in this game, the subsequent leagues will be even more difficult to play.
The Basque Lions are currently ranked 6th in the league, second only to the semi-finals and Villarreal, and they are in excellent shape now. They have just won 4 consecutive victories. The Spaniards will definitely be difficult to win against Bilbao.
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The Spaniards are also aware of this. Before the game, the referee Sergio held a special meeting to emphasize the importance of this game and must not relax just because there are many points ahead of the fourth and fifth players.
Bilbao was tied 2:2 by Espanyol at home in the first round.
This time they came to El Prat Stadium with the lingering power of four consecutive victories and never wanted to go back with another point.
Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde's goal this season is to reach the European League, preferably the Champions League, and at least the Europa League.
However, due to Bilbao's poor performance in the first half, their position in the Europa League is now unstable. Celta Vigo and Sevilla are eyeing them behind, and they must win every point they can.
Although the Spaniards are ranked high, their strength cannot be compared with the top three in the Western Premier League. In recent times, they have tended to fall behind. Bilbao certainly does not want to miss this opportunity to score points.
In the last match, Athletic Bilbao scored a goal from Williams in the first 7 minutes. After that, the Spaniard fell into a passive situation of struggling to catch up.
Valverde's tough defense caused the Spaniards to suffer a lot. This time, with the advantage of home court, the Spaniards did not want to hand over the initiative to their opponents and launched a fierce attack on Bilbao from the beginning.
This time, the Spaniards put together the strongest offensive lineup. Cheryshev, Moreno and Caicedo fired three arrows at a time, while Zhao Yang and Asensio controlled the midfield to strive for a preemptive strike.
Valverde has much more coaching experience than Sergio, and he is prepared for all situations that may arise on the field.
The Spaniards started with a fierce attack, but instead of attacking with attack, Athletic Bilbao adopted a tough defense, harassing from the frontcourt, pressing in the midfield, and blocking the backcourt, not giving the Spaniards a chance to easily organize.
Under the tenacious defense of Athletic Bilbao, the Spaniard's offense was very difficult. Let alone shooting in the penalty area, it was difficult to get a chance to start calmly even outside the penalty area.
Long pass?
Athletic Bilbao people are not afraid of this.
In desperation, the Spaniards could only pin their hopes of scoring on Zhao Yang.
Playing with superstars is a team's tragedy and luck. After all, there are still superstars to rely on.
Otherwise, you can only rely on luck.
Athletic Bilbao must have made the most adequate preparations to defend Zhao Yang, who scored 33 goals.
Full-court coverage and double-teaming can only be regarded as routine operations.
At the front of the penalty area, as long as Zhao Yang gets the ball, Athletic Bilbao can't wait for the entire team to defend Zhao Yang.
Zhao Yang does not yet have the ability of Messi and Ronaldo to score goals out of thin air. Faced with this level of defense, all he can do is try his best to distribute the ball and see if his teammates can seize the opportunity.
The Spaniards are lucky. They not only have players with superstar talents like Zhao Yang, but also players like Caicedo, Moreno, and Asensio who can play as substitutes in wealthy clubs.
When Zhao Yang attracts a large number of defenders, their ability to score goals cannot be ignored.
The game lasted until the 35th minute, when the Spaniard finally got the first good chance to score.
Zhao Yang took the ball in the middle, pretended to pass the ball, suddenly accelerated, and passed between the two defensive players with a "fried meatball" fake move.
This attracted both Athletic Bilbao's center backs.
Zhao Yang did not try to continue passing people, nor did he take a long shot. He decisively distributed the ball to Moreno on the wing.
If Moreno attacks from the wing and passes in, the attack speed will be slower and Athletic Bilbao will be able to organize the defense calmly.
But Moreno also has a high football quotient. This time he did not go down, but made a diagonal pass, returned to the center, and handed it to Asensio who was advancing.
Athletic Bilbao immediately sent out a central defender Laporte to defend Asensio.
Asensio did not stick to the ball. He was running without the ball and had a clear view of the situation in the frontcourt. After receiving the ball, he gently passed the ball overhead and passed it to the space on the right side of Zhao Yang.
There, Caicedo was unguarded and heading towards the penalty area.
As soon as his chest stopped, Caicedo dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Ilesos also had a good vision. When he saw Asensio passing the ball, he immediately moved towards Caicedo and blocked Caicedo's passing route.
At this moment, Zhao Yang was inserting himself into the penalty area.
After Asensio passed the ball, he also entered the penalty area.
On the wing, Cheryshev is also playing.
Caicedo can challenge the goalkeeper one-on-one or cross the ball.
As the former Spaniard's main striker, Caicedo certainly didn't know how to pass the ball. He pushed with the arch of his foot and shot straight into the far corner of the goal.
This is a very good angle. At such a close distance, the goalkeeper has no time to get down to save the ball.
Goalkeeper Elisos reacted quickly. He did a split and stretched his foot to block the ball.
The ball that was originally heading to the far corner was touched, deflected at an angle, and flew out of the baseline.
The Espanyol fans in the stands and the players on the bench were all ready to celebrate. When they saw the ball being blocked, they all sighed.
The on-site commentator He Wei said with regret: "It's just a hair's breadth! Caicedo's shot is very tricky! But Ilesos' reaction was too quick."
Another commentator, Fang Jian, said: "Maybe Caicedo should pass the ball, Zhao Yang has already inserted into the penalty area, and it is an empty goal."
He Weidao: "Zhao Yang has a defender beside him. If he passes the ball over, the probability of scoring is only 50-50."
Espanyol head coach Sergio shook his head repeatedly. Failure to score such an opportunity was really a matter of ability. Apart from an empty goal, this was the best opportunity.
Valverde squatted on the sidelines, his face as calm as water.
In fact, Valverde's heart was in his throat just now.
In a strong dialogue, whoever scores first will take the initiative.
If Caicedo had scored the goal just now, the game might have been in doubt.
Fortunately, the Spaniards only have one Zhao Yang.
On the field
The game is still going on.
Asensio took a corner kick, and the Spaniard left only the goalkeeper and three players to respond outside. All other players ran into the penalty area to compete for the header.
Zhao Yang did not go for the header, but stood at the front of the penalty area waiting for the opportunity to take a long shot.
Naturally, Athletic Bilbao has a player following Zhao Yang closely, like a bodyguard.
Asensio took a corner kick and there was chaos in the penalty area.
Zhao Yang suddenly started, rushed into the penalty area, jumped high, grabbed the highest point of the ball's flight arc, smashed it hard, and headed the ball into the goal.
This strike was like an eagle striking into the sky. Both the players marking him and the goalkeeper were stunned and could only watch the ball fly into the net.