Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Japan's draw against Australia at home is good news for the Chinese team, who were watching from the sidelines.

As the gap between the Chinese national football team and its competitors continues to widen, the team only needs to win two more of the remaining four matches to have a chance to advance two places ahead of schedule.

China's next two opponents are Uzbekistan and Bahrain. These two teams are not very strong, and as long as the Chinese team doesn't falter, it shouldn't be too difficult to win.

As a result, fans are eagerly anticipating the two matches at the end of March and the beginning of April.

Good news just came from the national team, and there's also good news from the club.

On November 15, the 23th round of La Liga kicked off.

With several players injured while playing for their national teams, an out-of-form Barcelona were held to a draw by Real Betis away from home.

Real Betis has been a nemesis for Barcelona this season. In the first half of the season, Barcelona almost suffered a defeat against them, but ultimately won 3-2.

But this time, playing away from home, with Messi, a key attacking player, absent, Barcelona's good luck finally ran out.

They took the lead twice, only to be stubbornly equalized by their opponents both times. In the final moments, Barcelona were even besieged by their opponents. If Real Betis' strikers hadn't failed to capitalize on their opportunities, Barcelona would have already lost the game.

With Barcelona being held to a draw, the suspense in La Liga seems to have returned a little bit.

If Real Madrid wins their match this round, the gap between them and Barcelona will narrow from 11 points to 9 points.

Although a nine-point gap is still a significant one, it is at least more hopeful than the previous double-digit gap.

Encouraged by this news, the Real Madrid players did not disappoint their fans.

Real Madrid secured a resounding 4-0 away victory against Sporting Gijón, thanks to a hat-trick from Lin Feng and a goal from Raul.

[Thank you Lin Feng, thank you Raul, your performance was fantastic! I'm so proud to have you guys on the team!]

We also have to thank Mourinho; our defensive quality has clearly improved in these last few matches!

It seems we misjudged him before. It wasn't that his defensive tactics were poorly implemented, but rather that the team lacked strong defenders. If he were given a full complement of defenders, Mourinho's defensive style would be utterly hopeless!

Real Madrid have won all of their last seven matches, keeping a clean sheet in six of them, and conceding only one goal in their match against Osasuna.

This level of defensive quality is among the best in Europe.

With strong defensive players at his disposal, Mourinho returned to his comfort zone, silencing those who had previously questioned him.

You can say Mourinho isn't good at attacking, but you absolutely can't say he's bad at defending.

With only one goal conceded in seven games, Real Madrid has instilled fear throughout La Liga of being dominated by Mourinho's defensive style.

Although the gap between us and Barcelona is still large, at least we can now see hope of catching up. I feel there's still some suspense regarding this year's La Liga title!

With 16 rounds left in the league, closing the gap to nine points in those sixteen rounds will be very difficult. Unless Barcelona continues to falter, the title race won't be in much suspense!

[That's hard to say. In the first half of the season, Barcelona dominated thanks to their novel playing style that no one had seen before. But after half a season of research and experimentation, many teams have now found ways to counter Barcelona. I predict that the second half of the season will be much tougher for Barcelona than the first!]

Just like players encounter the rookie wall, when you perform well, you are more likely to attract attention and be studied and targeted.

The tactics pioneered by Guardiola have long been the most eye-catching technical revolution in the entire football world.

Inside and outside the arena, countless eyes are watching them, studying them, and even learning from and imitating them.

As this tactic has been under the spotlight for so long, many loopholes and shortcomings have naturally been discovered, and new strategies developed to address these shortcomings have also emerged.

So the fans are right, for Barcelona, ​​the second half of the league season and the Champions League knockout stage are their real test.

On April 22, the 24rd round of La Liga kicked off.

With the league title race seemingly back in contention, many fans are now paying close attention to the performances of both Barcelona and Real Madrid in this round of matches.

Neither team faced a particularly strong opponent; Barcelona's opponent was Espanyol, also based in Barcelona.

Real Madrid's opponent is another team with royal connections – Real Betis.

Of course, analyzing only the opponent's strength seems unfair to Barcelona.

Because both of these teams are Real Madrid's junior partners.

Although Espanyol is not as strong as Barcelona, ​​they always fight to the bitter end whenever they meet Barcelona.

This one is no exception!
This was the 150th city derby between Espanyol and Barcelona, ​​so the match was full of tension from the start.

Just seven minutes into the game, Espanyol's center-back Barreja tackled Barcelona striker Eto'o from behind in front of the penalty area, and received a yellow card for the reckless action.

Five minutes later, in almost the same spot, Barcelona center-back Pique also made a sliding tackle from behind, bringing Espanyol striker Ivan Alonso to the ground. The referee blew his whistle fairly and also showed Pique a yellow card.

Despite the referee's tight whistle, the players on both sides showed no signs of abating their physical contact on the field.

In the 23rd minute, Barcelona defender Abidal was injured in a challenge, forcing Guardiola to make a substitution, replacing him with Puyol.

When Espanyol fans, who were visiting the away game, saw that the opposing defender had been sent off, they began to sing praises. This behavior greatly angered the home Barcelona fans, and some fans even tried to climb over the fence, causing a riot in the stands.

Although the riot was quickly quelled, the atmosphere still affected the players on the field.

In the 26th minute, Busquets made a fierce tackle, injuring Espanyol midfielder Roman.

Although he received a yellow card for this, his opponent was also unable to continue due to a more serious injury and was substituted off the field.

Ok!

In less than 30 minutes, there were already 3 yellow cards on the field and 2 forced substitutions.

The Catalan derby truly lived up to its reputation!
But the Barcelona players seemed to think that wasn't enough, and their actions on the field remained unrestrained.

In the 37th minute, Keita made a vicious tackle from behind on Moises, another Espanyol midfielder.

Caught completely off guard, Moises fell straight to the ground like a felled log.

This foul was extremely egregious, and it happened almost right in front of the referee.

Realizing that if the players' emotions weren't controlled, the game might get out of control.

Therefore, the referee did not hesitate to pull out a red card and send Keita off the field.

An uproar erupted in the stadium, with shouts of "biased referee!" rising and falling. Guardiola, standing on the sidelines, was also extremely agitated, hugging his bald head in disbelief and protesting to the fourth official.

In truth, he knew in his heart that it was an indisputable red card, but like the vast majority of Barcelona fans, he couldn't accept this result.

With one player sent off, the situation on the field gradually became unfavorable for Barcelona.

In the 50th minute, Nene turned and crossed the ball inside the penalty area, and De la Peña headed it into the empty net at the far post, giving Espanyol a 1-0 lead.

In the 54th minute, Valdes made a clearance error, directly giving the ball to de la Peña, who lobbed it in from 20 meters out to complete his brace.

Espanyol 2-0!

When the opponent scored the first goal, many Barcelona fans felt a chill run down their spines, sensing that something was wrong.

When the team conceded the second goal, most Barcelona fans no longer hoped to win; they only hoped the team could equalize.

But this expectation gradually faded away.

Although Messi returned from injury for this match, his form was not very good, and he was not able to dominate as usual.

However, in the final stages of the match, Barcelona pulled one back through a free kick earned by Messi after a foul, which Yaya Toure headed in.

In the final moments, Barcelona players launched a frantic attack on the opponent's goal, attempting to equalize and maintain their unbeaten record.

But with players like Alves and Gudjohnsen missing chances one after another, Barcelona failed to create a miracle and had to swallow the bitter pill of defeat.

This was Barcelona's first league defeat of the season, ending their 23-game unbeaten run.

While Barcelona was losing, Real Madrid, playing at home, wielded their weapons and wreaked havoc at the Bernabéu Stadium.

Faced with the formidable momentum of their elder brother, Real Betis' resistance lasted only half the game.

In the 11th minute of the first half, Real Madrid scored with a free kick from Lin Feng.

Although the opponent equalized in the 31st minute, the first half ended in a draw.

However, in the second half, as Real Madrid continued to launch attacks, Real Betis' defense finally succumbed to the pressure and collapsed.

In the 50th minute, Lin Feng assisted Raul to score, extending the score to 2-1.
In the 61st minute, Real Madrid took a corner kick into the penalty area, and Ramos outjumped the opposing defender to head the ball into the goal, making the score 3-1.
Just five minutes later, Real Madrid intercepted the ball in midfield and immediately launched a counter-attack.

In a counter-attack, Lin Feng's through ball broke through the opponent's defense and found Higuain, who easily pushed the ball into the net inside the penalty area, making the score 4-1.
Real Madrid, caught up in the excitement, seemed to have forgotten that their opponents were their own allies, and couldn't stop playing.

In the 72nd minute, Lin Feng created space outside the penalty area and unleashed an unstoppable world-class shot that nestled into the top corner, leaving the opposing goalkeeper helpless.

In the 84th minute, Real Madrid strung together a combination play on the wing, with Van der Vaart delivering a cross that found Huntelaar, completing the Dutch link-up play.

Huntelaar seized the opportunity to score, helping Real Madrid secure another victory.

……

When the match ended, the score at the Bernabéu Stadium was a staggering 6-1.

Real Madrid fans who came to watch the game were ecstatic; it was definitely the most exhilarating match they had seen since the start of the season.

They laughed even more maniacally after hearing that Barcelona had failed against Espanyol.

[Haha, who said the championship was impossible? Now the suspense is back, isn't it?]

[We really have to thank Real Betis and Espanyol! They earned us a full 5 points in those two games. If we really turn things around this season, we'll have to give them both a one-ton medal!]

Who could have predicted Barcelona would falter in two consecutive matches? They were leading by 11 points before, but now that's down to 6. If Barcelona loses again in the next round, that gap could easily become 3 points!

I think Barcelona has been exposed for what they truly are. Their style of play looks impressive, but once their weaknesses are figured out, it's really not that great. I suspect other teams will use similar tactics against Barcelona and score against them!

[You know what, it's actually quite possible. Barcelona's next opponent is Atletico Madrid, and Atletico Madrid is a strong team. Facing a Barcelona team that's not in good form, they might actually be able to beat them!]

[Then I wish Atlético Madrid all the best in advance. If they succeed, I promise I won't boo them the next time we meet at the Bernabéu!]

Real Madrid fans were happy, but Real Betis players were not.

Damn it, Real Madrid has no sportsmanship. They beat their own teammate so mercilessly, showing no mercy whatsoever.

Scoring two or three goals is enough to go through the motions.

Why is this never going to end?
Real Madrid were thrilled to score six goals, but Real Betis suffered a humiliating defeat.

Even though they've already suffered such a terrible defeat, the outside world is still criticizing them, saying that Real Betis is fixing matches.

Honestly, who could throw a match and give away six goals?

They should at least put on an act, pretending to fight back with all their might but ultimately be defeated, right?
Losing six straight games is just too fake; even if Real Betis wanted to, they couldn't pull it off.

……

In just one week, the La Liga title race took a dramatic turn.

Barcelona, ​​who had one hand on the trophy, have seen their lead shrink significantly after two winless rounds.

With 14 rounds remaining in La Liga, Barcelona's lead is now only 6 points.

This lead is not so secure, especially since there is still a direct confrontation between Barcelona and Real Madrid that has not yet been played.

If Real Madrid successfully defeats Barcelona at home, Barcelona's lead will shrink to 3 points, which means Barcelona has no room for error.

Even a slight mistake could allow Real Madrid to catch up.

As a result, within just a few days, public opinion shifted from praising Barcelona to questioning them.

Many people believe that Guardiola's tactics are too reliant on Messi's form; once Messi is out of form, the effectiveness of Barcelona's attacking system will be greatly reduced.

As if things weren't bad enough, the team's form hadn't been resolved yet, and the Champions League knockout stage was already upon them.

For Guardiola, this may be the biggest test he has faced since taking office.

If he can't get past this hurdle, his confidence might suffer a severe blow, and he might end up like Mourinho, who left Real Madrid in disgrace, his resolve shattered, unable to achieve any greater breakthroughs. (End of Chapter)