Midfielder Ruler

Chapter 93: A scholar dies for his confidant

The second leg of River Plate's away game against Fluminense's Copa Libertadores quarter-finals was held at the Maracana Stadium, the holy land of Brazilian football. Tang Zheng, who failed to go to Rio de Janeiro with the team, was with his friend Musacchio. The rich second-generation Honas watched the live broadcast at home.

In the absence of Tang Zheng, Simeone formed a relatively conservative 423 formation. The goalkeeper and the back four were not adjusted. Juan Carrizo, Ferrari, Cabral and Nicolas were still outstanding. · Sanchez, Christian Bele, the midfielder is Poncio and Ahumada.

Sanchez is the midfielder on the left, Rosales is on the right, Nicolas Domingo is in front of the midfielder, and Falcao is the lone striker.

The starting lineup is not much different from what the media speculated, the only difference is that Rosales replaced the excellent Bonannot.

Of course, if Tang Zheng didn't accumulate three yellow cards and be automatically suspended, he would definitely be the best choice to partner with Poncio.

Any River Plate without ifs and without Tang Zheng is still River Plate, it will not become another team because of the lack of someone.

Before the referee blew the start of the first half, the on-site director consciously showed the camera on the face of visiting team coach Simeone, as if trying to discover something from his expression.

In fact, Simeone did not have much confidence in the away game against Fluminense, because it was the first time in his coaching career that he led the team to an away game in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. He was a little nervous and didn't know how to adjust before the game. Team mentality...

At the beginning of the game, the River Plate players strictly followed Simeone's arrangement before the game to complete the defense.

Only one Falcao was left in the frontcourt as a counterattack point, and all the remaining players defended, hoping to hold on to the 0:0 score until the end of the game.

Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the huge LCD screen watching the game, was a little nervous like the other youth team teammates, as if every shot by the opponent would result in a goal.

Simeone, who was a guest at the Maracana Stadium this time, chose to defend and counterattack. It is normal to be beaten passively most of the time, but after most of the first half, River Plate did not get any chance to counterattack. Falcao in the frontcourt Almost dozed off waiting...

Simeone really didn't expect that Fluminense would be so fierce after returning to the home court, wave after wave of attacks, and the riverbed was almost out of breath.

At this time, he thought of Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng will often perform well when the team is passive. Leaving aside his stable defensive state, just his precise long pass can enrich the team's quick counterattack style. , so there is only defense but no counterattack.

Fortunately, at the end of the first half, the score was 0:0.

If this score can be maintained until the end of the game, then River Plate will advance to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores this season.

But in the end, will it be like this?

※※※

The game entered the intermission, Tang Zheng and his former youth team teammates did not listen to the nagging of the commentator in the live broadcast room, they analyzed and discussed the process of the game and the areas that needed to be changed by themselves.

For the first team, Tang Zheng has the highest right to speak. When his teammates asked about what the team might encounter in the second half, he frowned and said worriedly: "The second half is very dangerous!"

"No way?" Musacchio said, "I played very well in the first half, except that there was no offense."

Tang Zheng shook his head, then glanced at everyone, and said seriously: "I'll state my position first, I'm not doing it to make money for myself, the analysis that follows is very reasonable."

"cut!"

Everyone tacitly raised their middle fingers towards Tang Zheng, and even Lamela, a teammate who had just joined the group, also raised their middle fingers.

Tang Zheng didn't pay attention to everyone's attitude. Anyway, he was used to it in the past. He changed his voice and expressed his worry: "To be honest,

Captain Oscar’s defensive ability on the field is far behind mine, and he has a problem with defensive awareness. The problems exposed in the first half may not be too big when his physical fitness is sufficient, but with the decline of physical fitness, the central defender’s stamina The effective barrier in the front will be infinitely weakened, the opponent's No. 18 is very strong, it is difficult to take care of the entire midfield with Leonardo alone, if I am there, it will be different..."

Having said that, Tang Zheng raised his head proudly.

Originally, listening to Tang Zheng's analysis had a sense of soundness, but why did it change afterward?

Thus, Tang Zheng was subjected to a round of inhuman contempt...

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but the trend in the second half was not much different from Tang Zheng's prediction. As Ahumada's physical fitness declined, his defensive enthusiasm dropped rapidly.

In the 65th minute of the game, because he did not step forward in time to defend Conca who received the ball, he allowed the latter to pass a high-quality through ball.

Fortunately, goalkeeper Juan Carrizo was very focused in the game. He had a prediction in advance and rushed to him first.

Simeone, who was standing in the command area of ​​the coach of the visiting team, also realized that there was a problem with the team's defense, but tactics are dead, people are alive, and the decline in physical fitness leading to a decline in running ability is an inevitable result.

At this moment, Diego Simeone thought of Tang Zheng again.

He has almost abnormal physical ability, one-on-one defense and assist defense will do a good job, there is no need to worry at all, and the most important thing is that he has a precise long pass, which can make the team speed up...

As the offensive of the home team Fluminense strengthened, the front of River Plate became jittery and dangerous.

Finally, in the 76th minute of the game, Dario Conca, the core midfielder of Fluminense, easily passed Ahumada, whose physical strength had declined significantly, and then found the 19-year-old teenager who was plugged in. Alan, who faced Juan Carrizo very calmly pushed the far corner and scored.

The Maracana stadium became completely crazy because of this goal, and every home team fan in the stands roared hysterically.

They know that if the game ends with this score, then they can enter the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores for a record...

The on-site director is an expert, and he gave Simeone a close-up shot of his face-with a helpless face.

At this moment, Diego Simeone knew that the game was basically over...

The team was cursed in April, with extensive injuries, and the lineup was already a bit stretched. It is already very good to be able to reach the quarterfinals...

Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV, pondered, "Hey, there is no way to recover."

※※※

When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, the score was still fixed at 1:0. This score can already ensure Fluminense's historic entry into the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, while the defeated River Plate will go home. , waiting for the restart of the next season.

The away loss resulted in the team failing to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. The River Plate players were generally in a bad mood, so they took a flight back to Buenos Aires after returning to the hotel for a short rest.

In fact, losing is not a bad thing for River Plate, they can devote all their remaining energy to the league.

But after the end of the second match day of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals, the River Plate fans were not happy.

In the first round of the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, River Plate defeated Fluminense 2:1 at home, while the archrival Boca Juniors unexpectedly drew 2:2 at home with the little-known Atlas. The River Plate fans just mocked the Boca fans...

Therefore, after the second round of the quarter-finals was over, the River Plate fans were struggling.

Boca Juniors, who was a guest in this campaign, defeated Atlas 3:0 without bloodshed and advanced to the semi-finals with a total score of 5:2.

Facing the river plate that was eliminated from the semi-finals, Boca fans have 10,000 reasons to laugh at the river plate fans...

Because Boca Juniors was the Copa Libertadores champion last season, and now entering the semi-finals means that they have a great chance to defend their title.

However, River Plate fans are not to be ridiculed. Now River Plate ranks first in the autumn league with a four-point advantage. With the last three rounds of the league remaining, it is very likely to win the autumn league championship.

So River Plate fans still have some comfort in their hearts, unlike Boca Juniors who have basically lost the chance to compete for the autumn league championship, and Boca Juniors are still two hurdles away from the Copa Libertadores championship. Who can guarantee it?

River Plate is different, as long as it wins two games in the next three rounds, it can ensure the championship of the autumn league.

The remaining three opponents, except the 18th round and the university students of La Plata, are slightly tricky. The 17th round of Cologne and the 19th round of Banfield are not strong, and it is not a problem to win.

In addition, Sporting Cologne and Banfield have successfully avoided relegation, and the chances of getting a place to participate in the Copa Libertadores and the South American Club Cup next season are infinitely close to zero, so... the remaining games are not too big for them Meaning, it is without desire or desire.

But for River Plate, the rest of the league is nothing less than the last straw.

On the afternoon of the second day back to Buenos Aires, the whole team of River Plate had recovery training.

Perhaps because of the impact of the elimination, everyone was not very interested in training, but Simeone didn't say anything, but called everyone together after the training to determine the goal at the end of the season.

Now the team is four points ahead of the second-ranked University of La Plata in the league, and the hope of winning the autumn league championship is very high.

However, Simeone believes that the first thing that needs to be solved is the mentality of the players. If the feeling of losing continues, the team will really become everyone's laughing stock.

Finally, Simeone repeated his final goal for the team: "Champions, champions of the autumn league!"

Tang Zheng stood on the sidelines, looked up at his mentor Simeone with a serious face, and secretly swore in his heart: "Since you have not advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, I will definitely give you a league championship!"

A woman looks good for someone who pleases herself, and a man dies for a confidant!

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