Chapter 38 The Mysterious Riazo
Recently, Real Madrid fans have been very unhappy. They probably have won the La Liga for three consecutive seasons and have reached the limit that other teams can tolerate.
Real Madrid has never lost before, so other media can't find any thorns, but with the defeat of Athletic Bilbao in the last round, the entire La Liga was suddenly accused of taking advantage of Real Madrid. A typical example is Cruyff. Real Madrid's performance in the past was too good and there was no time for him to interrupt. Now decades of experience in the martial arts world have made the Dutch geniuses see some brows, and he came out and instantly aroused the dissatisfaction of all teams with Real Madrid.
Although the media in these places followed Cruyff to belittle Real Madrid, saying that their good luck was over, and after losing the first game, they lost the second game, even the third game, and the fourth game. As Real Madrid's archenemy Barcelona has not lost a game yet. Although the draw is two more than Real Madrid, the Red and Blue Army is recognized as the only giant in La Liga that can shake the rule of the White Army.
Other teams cannot beat Real Madrid, but they can verbally support Barcelona, hoping to change the color of this La Liga sky.
To be honest, Real Madrid wins the championship every year. Except for Real Madrid fans, everyone is tired of it. Most people are eager to have a hero stand up and break Real Madrid's dominance in La Liga.
Schuster naturally understood this, so at this time he could never show weakness. If he really did this, other teams would use rough means to snipe Real Madrid.
Why was Athletic Bilbao able to defeat Real Madrid at home? In addition to that game, Real Madrid was really unlucky. It shot 38 shots and five goal posts. More because the style of the northern team really restrained Real Madrid and was rude and destructive. The ubiquitous foul pressing in the game made Real Madrid's always smooth attack unable to be played.
Through this game, everyone thought that fouls could organize Real Madrid's attack. If they had known this, Schuster would definitely send two big men, Pepe and Ramos, to see who is more violent.
In the game against Malaga at home, the opponent already had the prototype of Athletic Bilbao. However, in that game, Gago showed great power. When he was behind with one goal, he used two unsolvable world waves to help the team reverse the score and scored 3 points.
But Schuster knew that nothing could rely on one person in anything. Even if Gago was strong, he was only one person. He would always be tired. He hoped that he could stand up and reverse it every time, it would be better to expect God to be a Real Madrid fan.
So in the second leg of the Copa REE quarterfinals, Shuster sent a lineup in the away game that made Osasuna players brow.
Goalkeeper Casillas, defense line, Marcelo, Pepe, Albiol, Ramos; midfielder Diarra, Alonso, and Mascherano's three midfielder; frontcourt Sneider Hunteral, Robben's Dutch trident! Gago, Higuain, and Raul were routinely resting in the Copa del Rey.
Osasuna's head coach Mendi Liba turned a blind eye to the begging sent by his players and waved decisively to let them act according to the original plan.
So after the game started, Sneider, who had just got the ball, was tackled by the opponent's midfielder Kamunias. Although the referee blew the whistle, he did not give the card for the sake of the home team.
This action did not attract the attention of Real Madrid players at the beginning, and being put on the spot is common for Real Madrid players. Who told them to be stars?
But the next thing made them understand that the other party came for people.
As the core of the offensive offense in the frontcourt, Sneider was put on by the opponent several times in a row. This is not a coincidence, but the opponent did it intentionally. Before the game, Schuster's key instructions to "protect" his teammates, Pepe and Ramos, the two fierce men of Real Madrid, naturally had to stand up.
However, before their two nuclear weapons were taken, the black and hard Diyala couldn't help but get a yellow card first. A flying tackle that was extremely dangerous almost kicked the opponent's player out of the field.
Since that big injury in the Club World Cup, Diyala's position in Real Madrid has plummeted.
In addition to the impact of two top midfielders, Alonso and Mascherano, Real Madrid began to play more of the 4-3-3 formation that he was not used to. This formation requires everyone in the midfield to be able to attack and defend, and to be versatile. Although he and Mascherano are both first-class and strong in today's football field in defense, their contribution to the team in the offensive end is minimal. So since then, he has appeared more as a rotation player, but Diyala is a serious player.
Although African players value money very much due to their background, it is undeniable that they are very serious about doing things after taking the money. Even as a role player, Diyala has done everything he has done.
He is not a dull player either. It is obvious that Osasuna's players want to use fouls to keep Real Madrid away. This time, the reason why Schuster sent a lineup like three midfielders was to let La Liga teams know how hard they compete, and Real Madrid was not afraid of anyone. The reason why they could not play Athletic Bilbao was because the Germans' most capable players were not on the roster.
Real Madrid's offensive players in the frontcourt are basically the kind of good guys, but they are a big bully in the middle and backcourt. Osasuna's players naturally also know the infamous reputation of players such as Pepe and Ramos, especially the name of Master Pepe. Last year, the invincible posture of one person who was intact in the Cup of Rey was repeatedly called out by the media.
Originally, the media intended to render Pepe a peerless villain, and they did it through developed online TV. However, it also made Master Pepe's notoriety all over the world. Now, any player who sees Pepe's feet is already a tough guy.
So in this game, Osasuna's head coach Mendy Liba used this foul tactic to definitely arouse the anger of Real Madrid, and players such as Pepe, Ramos, and Diyala are not people with good tempers. Once they arouse anger, they will definitely suffer a loss when they fight.
This is also the reason why Osasuna's players looked at their head coach with pleading eyes at the beginning. They really couldn't beat them.
And they didn't expect it. In the first ten or twenty minutes, they could still gain some advantage by relying on foul tactics. But as the matter was exposed, the men such as Pepe, Ramos, Diarra, Mascherano, and Alonso also began to fight back. And the attacks were heavier than each other.
A minute ago, Robben was put in, and Alonso immediately made the opponent lose his breath and almost fainted. When Ramos dribbled the ball on the side, when the ball was snatched away by the opponent, he chased after him and strangled the opponent's neck with his arm, and simply knocked it down. Pepe even kicked the opponent's forward "inadvertently" kicked the opponent's forward off the field in front of the penalty area.
At the end of the first half, the referee had already shown six yellow cards in a row. Several of Real Madrid's tough guys all had yellow on their backs, but during the halftime break, Shuster kept praising them, without any reproach, and he clearly showed an encouragement attitude.
After the second half, Osasuna's players began to move much more gentlely, and they began to use real skills and tactics. There were finally some shadows of La Liga teams between the two teams.
Under this circumstance, Real Madrid's strength was more than one step further, and the tacit understanding between the Dutch Trident was also the reason why Schuster was relieved. In the 65th minute, Sneider passed the ball to the wing, and Robben cut inward and broke through the opponent's cross from the bottom.
Hunterlaal showed the strength of a talented center forward, heading before the opponent's defender, breaking the deadlock for Real Madrid. This is also the only goal in the whole game. Real Madrid relied on this goal to defeat Osasuna 1:0 away and entered the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a total score of 3:1 in two rounds. The opponent of the White Army is his mortal enemy second only to Barcelona in La Liga... Atletico Madrid!
It’s just that Real Madrid’s league game before the King’s Cup semi-finals attracted the attention of the media and fans!
In the 20th round of the league, Real Madrid's opponent is La Coruña in the first round!
For La Coruna, the glory of the past "Super Laco" is no longer visible. Although fans are looking forward to the team being able to reproduce the "super" style in the early 21st century, the cruel fact that the team relegated every year makes them understand that all this is basically impossible within decades. Unless the ancestral grave is like Chelsea and Manchester City, they meet a rich oil father!
As the last glory of "Super Laco" and the last fig leaf, the only one is the "Riaso Curse"! As the strongest team in today's football world, Real Madrid has not been able to win the game in this mysterious stadium of Riaso for 19 years!
For Real Madrid, losing here has obviously become a habit, because even Raul, who is the oldest player in the team, never knows what it feels like to win in Riaso.
The last win dates back to 1991, when Real Madrid defeated Laco 3-0 with goals from Jero, Butragno and Mitchell. Now these three players have long since withdrawn from the football world, but the winning record they left has not surpassed to this day.
Since November 2, 1991, Real Madrid has been visiting Riasso Stadium 18 times, but the results are only a bad 5 draw and 13 losses. The ratio of goals conceded also makes Real Madrid fans feel ashamed: 11 to 42!
From Redondo to superstars like Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Beckham, and gold medal coaches like Bosque and Capello, none of them allowed Real Madrid to win in Riaso.
For Gago, he has already won all the honors he can get in Real Madrid, and the only regret is this "Riaso Curse"!
Things that countless superstars cannot do, Gago hopes to end in his own hands!
By the same token, Schuster feels the same!
Chapter completed!