The Espanyol team will play three warm-up games in the Netherlands.
The third game was against the Dutch Eredivisie team Rotterdam Elite.
After two warm-up matches, the Spaniard gradually entered the state and his cooperation became more and more tacit.
Facing this Eredivisie relegation team, Espanyol played very easily.
Less than 20 minutes into the game, Perez broke the deadlock.
Seven minutes later, Baptisto scored his first goal for Espanyol, rewriting the score to 2:0.
At the end of the first half, Zhao Yang shot a long shot from outside the penalty area, helping the Spaniard expand the score to 3:0.
In the second half, the Spaniards made a large number of substitutions and continued to fine-tune their formation and experiment with their style of play.
The players have changed, but the Spaniard's offensive power has not weakened much.
In the second half, Rotterdam Elite attacked aggressively, hoping to get an early win.
Unexpectedly, the Spaniard made a quick counterattack, Caicedo scored another goal, and the score was rewritten to 4:0.
In a warm-up match, it was still at the opponent's home court. The Espanyol team did not continue to chase and strengthened their ball control and cooperation.
Before the end of the game, Rotterdam Elite finally got one point back with a penalty kick.
In the final warm-up match, the Espanyol team defeated the Rotterdam Elite 4:1, successfully ending their training in the Netherlands.
After playing a warm-up match against the Rotterdam Elite, the Spaniard took a flight to England the next day for the second stage of training and warm-up matches.
The Spaniard's first warm-up match in England was against Southampton, the sixth-placed team in the Premier League last season.
At present, La Liga has the highest points in the European competition among the five major leagues, followed by the Premier League.
European War points accurately illustrate the level of major leagues, with the Premier League and La Liga being the strongest.
The level of the mid-range teams in the Premier League is certainly not comparable to that of the mid-range teams in the Eredivisie.
Last season, Espanyol played a warm-up match with Southampton, and the game ended in a one-on-one draw, but the Spaniard did not have the upper hand on the field.
At that time, the Southampton team's fast pace and high-intensity physical confrontation left a deep impression on the Spanish players.
Against Southampton, the Espanyol team made full preparations before the game.
They not only watched Southampton game video clips, but also conducted targeted tactical drills.
Southampton is playing at home, and there is not much time left before the start of the new season. They also hope to play this warm-up match well to boost their morale and give the new season a good start.
The game will be held on August 4th at 7pm.
There are still 14 days left before Espanyol's first Champions League game.
The Espanyol team continues to fine-tune the team and adjust the personnel mix in the midfield and frontcourt.
Judging from the performance of the three warm-up matches, the front three of Reyes, Zhao Yang, and Baptistan left Sergio a bit disappointed.
Previously, Sergio believed that the abilities and experience of Reyes and Baptistan should exceed Caicedo and Moreno. He hoped that the arrival of these two people would make the Spaniard's forward line better than last season.
One floor.
But judging from the warm-up matches, Reyes has fallen too far from his peak.
But Baptistan's only advantage seems to be diligence.
Even if Reyes and Baptistan get along well with Zhao Yang, they may not be able to replace the combination of Zhao Yang, Caicedo and Moreno.
However, except for the absolute core Zhao Yang, these five forwards have different technical characteristics. Sergio is still constantly matching them to see if he can find the optimal combination.
This time against the powerful Southampton, Sergio sent the combination of Reyes, Zhao Yang and Caicedo.
Reyes is familiar with the Premier League, Caicedo is physically strong, and Zhao Yang, needless to say, is the unstoppable main force, and several other forwards are here to assist him.
After the game started, the Espanyol team immediately felt the difference between the Eredivisie and the Premier League.
Southampton played very concisely, often passing the ball to the forwards, crossing the midfield, and directly attacking the Spanish penalty area, which put great pressure on the Spanish defense.
Southampton is no longer completely the long-passing style of England. Once the opponent's defense is complete and there is midfield protection, they will start a fierce fight in the midfield to seize the ball and then quickly counterattack.
The Dutch team had just finished playing against a Dutch team that was technically poor. Facing a Premier League team that was physically poor, the Spaniards were not used to it. They were beaten very awkwardly at first. After ten minutes of tenacious resistance, they were finally defeated by Southampton striker Tadi in the 15th minute.
Qi scored a goal.
However, the Espanyol team also played against Southampton. After twenty minutes, they adapted to Southampton's rhythm and began to use their technical advantages to control the ball and initiative.
Yes, the Espanyol team has a technical advantage.
In La Liga, the Espanyol team is considered to have a rough style of play and rough skills, but compared with Southampton, their skills seem to be more refined.
However, Southampton does not care about the amount of possession of the ball. They pay more attention to the number of shooting opportunities in front of the penalty area.
In the first half, the two sides played very anxiously. Southampton had the upper hand in the front, and the Spaniard had some advantages in the back. However, Southampton still led by 1 goal.
Neither Espanyol nor Southampton made any substitutions in the second half, and both sides continued to fight with the same lineups as in the first half.
Although the players have not changed, the Espanyol team has changed in their playing style. They have reduced their dribbling, focusing on passing and coordination, and not giving their opponents a chance for physical confrontation.
The Spaniard's offense was more concise than in the first half, and the follow-up was sharp.
Less than five minutes into the second half, they got a chance to shoot through continuous cooperation in the frontcourt.
After Zhao Yang attracted the defense, he knocked his heel and passed it to Reyes who was intervening.
Reyes volleyed vigorously from the front of the penalty area, but the defender desperately blocked the ball from the bottom line.
Three minutes later, the Spaniard made a comeback. This time Zhao Yang tried to use the "Cruyff Turn" at the edge of the penalty area to get past his opponent. As a result, he was kicked down by his opponent as soon as he finished the fake shot. The referee gave the Spaniard a penalty area.
Free kick in front.
Zhao Yang personally took the free kick, and he easily broke through the gate guarded by Southampton goalkeeper Foster, who did not know him well enough, and rewritten the score to 1:1.
In the subsequent games, the Spaniards still had the upper hand.
The power of Zhao Yang's free kick prevented Southampton from committing a foul at the front of the penalty area.
This gave the Espanyol team the opportunity to cooperate in the frontcourt.
In the 75th minute of the game, Jurado made a wonderful pass, Zhao Yang missed it, and Caicedo got the chance to shoot directly in front of the goalkeeper.
Caicedo wasted no time, he shot through the crotch and scored, and the Spaniard overtook Southampton 2:1.
In the 85th minute, Southampton was eager to equalize the score, but was attacked by the Spaniard again. This time it was Zhao Yang who scored.
After Reyes made a pass in the midfield, he went straight behind the defender. Zhao Yang started at high speed, creating a chance to go to the meeting alone. He passed goalkeeper Foster with a pendulum style pass and hit the empty goal, locking the score at 3:1.