The Spaniards were able to reach the semi-finals this season, not only their strength has been greatly improved, but their spirit has also been completely transformed, and they have gained a bit of the temperament of a strong team.
If it were last season, with three minutes left in the first half and a two-goal lead, the Spaniard would most likely not attack again.
But now, the Spaniards are unyielding. Under the leadership of young Zhao Yang and Asensio, they suddenly pressed the whole court, as if they were going to seal the victory in the first half.
Athletic Bilbao lost two goals in a row, and their morale was low. Seeing that the game was coming to an end, they were not interested in fighting. Under the pressing pressure of the Spaniard, they immediately lost their position.
In panic, Athletic Bilbao did not dare to pass the ball in the backcourt and kicked the ball towards the frontcourt.
The ball was pushed to the wing by Spanish defender Roco and passed to Perez. Perez then passed to Moreno. Moreno did not stop the ball and did not go down. He passed the ball towards the penalty area.
The Spaniard's Zhao Yang and Caicedo in the center, and Cheryshev on the wing, rushed towards the penalty area together.
Under normal circumstances, this is a pass that poses little threat. Athletic Bilbao's players are still near their penalty area and their defensive position has not been lost.
However, Athletic Bilbao had just conceded two goals, and the players were not only demoralized, but also had no courage, like frightened birds.
Seeing the opponent shooting three arrows together and rushing towards the penalty area, Athletic Bilbao players hurriedly headed the ball to clear the ball. Unexpectedly, they made a mistake in the rush. The centre-back Laporte, who has always been known for his stability, wanted to shake his head to clear the ball to the sideline, but the result was
He headed the ball towards his own goal.
Goalkeeper Ilesos was concentrating on defending the Spanish players, but he never thought that there was an undercover agent in his team.
Fortunately, Laporte's top position was somewhat correct, and Ilesos subconsciously jumped up and swatted the ball with one hand.
Ilesos saved his teammates and prevented Aymeric Laporte from scoring an own goal. But it made it possible for Espanyol winger Cheryshev to succeed.
Cheryshev saw Laporte grab the spot and was about to retreat to the wing. When he saw Laporte "shooting", he quickly stopped to watch the fun.
At this moment, goalkeeper Elisos slapped the ball towards him.
This is a big gift package hit on the head!
Cheryshev almost subconsciously headed the ball, and the ball flew steadily into the unguarded goal.
3:0.
Cheryshev did not expect to score a goal at all. After the goal was scored, he stood there in a daze before he could react.
The other Spanish players reacted quickly and rushed to Cheryshev to hug him and celebrate the goal.
The Espanyol fans in the stands were surprised and happy, they couldn't believe their eyes.
After being stunned for a moment, he started to applaud crazily.
Sergio on the sidelines calmed down after Cheryshev scored the third goal. He just smiled and clapped without making any big celebrations.
Valverde, the coach of Athletic Bilbao, squatted on the ground angrily.
Although he bears a great responsibility for conceding the second goal, he should have made appropriate adjustments and even criticized a few words when conceding the second goal, but Valverde did not make any changes.
However, the direct cause of the goal loss was Laporte's "header", which was followed by Cheryshev's goal.
After conceding three goals in the first half, Valverde knew that this game was basically a settlement. What he could do was to prevent the team from collapsing and being beaten by an embarrassing score by his opponent.
In the commentary box, the commentators were all praising the Spaniard's performance in the first half.
"3:0 at halftime! The Spaniards are so powerful!"
"Athletic Bilbao is no longer considered a weakling. As a result, Espanyol scored three goals in half time. Espanyol is really strong this season. If the bench is deep enough, they may even have a chance to compete for the league championship."
"Although Zhao Yang's performance is not as dazzling as the start, he is indispensable every time he scores a goal. He is the well-deserved core of the Spaniard."
After this goal and celebration, there was really no time left in the first half.
After the kick-off in the center circle, the referee gave Athletic Bilbao a chance to attack, and then blew the whistle directly, ending the first half of the contest.
During the fifteen-minute halftime break, the Spaniards did not make any adjustments to their lineup or tactics and continued to play according to the tactics of the first half.
Athletic Bilbao made major adjustments, replacing a forward and an attacking midfielder, preparing for a desperate counterattack in the second half.
With three goals in hand, the Espanyol team played very easily on defensive counterattacks. They constantly used counterattacks to attack Athletic Bilbao's defense.
Although Athletic Bilbao can cause some trouble for Espanyol's defense from time to time, Espanyol's counterattack has caused greater harm to Athletic Bilbao.
Under the sharp counterattack of the Spaniard, Athletic Bilbao did not dare to go all out offensively, and the game was very difficult.
In the 50th minute of the game, Athletic Bilbao finally scored a goal. The Spaniard immediately counterattacked and the teenager Moreno scored another goal.
Athletic Bilbao is worthy of being called the Basque Lion. Under such predicament, they still did not give up. They continued to counterattack against the Spaniard under pressure and scored a goal in the 80th minute to tie the score to 4
:2, which once made the game tense.
However, the Spaniards played very maturely. At the last moment, they did not fight with Athletic Bilbao, but played steadily and maintained the lead until the end of the game.
After defeating Athletic Bilbao 4:2, due to a draw between Villarreal and leader Barcelona, the Spaniard's lead over Villarreal reached 12 points, and they almost locked in a Champions League spot.
In the subsequent game, Atletico Madrid suffered a big upset and lost to Sporting Gijon, which allowed the Spaniard to tie Atletico Madrid in points and only rank third on goal difference.
If Atletico Madrid continues to fall behind, and the Spaniards can continue to stand strong, maybe they can overtake Atletico Madrid, reach the top two in the standings, and get the chance to directly enter the Champions League.
It's just that after this game, the international match day arrived, and the league needed to be suspended for two weeks to make concessions for the national team.
Originally, this was a happy day for small clubs like Spain, because they did not have many main players from the national team in their teams, so they could recharge their batteries and wait for the start of the league.
Players from wealthy clubs are basically the main players of their national teams and will return to their home countries to compete.
After returning from the national team game, the players are exhausted even if they are not injured.
Most of the wealthy teams are weak after the international match day, and they all call this the FIFA virus.
However, the Spaniards were not spared this time. Their core players Zhao Yang and Asensio, as well as main forward Caicedo, all have to participate in the national team competition. It can be said that this time they not only have no way to wait for work, but have to accept the test of the FIFA virus.