Chapter 442: Chapter 441: Barcelona Once Again in the European Battle
"Overhyped! Ronaldinho’s dribbling is indeed fantastic, but the harsh reality is, it doesn’t help the situation on the pitch! He might as well come and play as a substitute for Nedved for a few years!"
"Kaka remains mediocre, his previous shining moments are merely an illusion! In a top Serie A club, he might not even be good enough to be a substitute!"
"Best midfielder in Europe? Tenth in the Golden Ball ranking? Deng Kai’s worth is as laughable as Mendieta at Lazio, he looks utterly helpless in front of Davies and Conte!"
"740 billion lira Mr.? Deng Kai’s price is ridiculously inflated, cut it in half and Italian clubs might still not be interested!"
Faced with these assessments, Sporting Lisbon had no power to refute, nor did they intend to.
Such is the world of football.
If you lose, you admit it, and stand tall when you’re beaten.
Even if you say "winning first doesn’t count as victory, losing first doesn’t guarantee defeat," people will think you’re just being stubborn.
To regain respect, you either beat the opponent directly or knock them out of the competition.
On the first of December, in the thirteenth round of the Portuguese League.
When the main referee blew the whistle to end the game, the only thought in the minds of all Maritimo players and fans was, "First off, I didn’t offend you!"
Deng Kai’s hat-trick!
Kaka with two assists and two goals!
Ronaldinho with one goal and two assists!
Yaya Toure and Ibrahimovic both scored!
Eight to three!
Sporting Lisbon were completely insane, not even thinking about defending, just attacking whenever they had the ball, it was utterly unreasonable.
But even with such a maniacal offensive and scoreline, they still couldn’t gain recognition from media outside Portugal.
What skill is there in being fierce at home?
You’re no good in tough matches, what does it matter if you win ten to zero in other games?
Does it matter?
...
Reporter: "Maxa, what do you think about the universal negative predictions about your match with Barcelona?"
As Barcelona players arrived in Lisbon, a new round of pre-Champions League media storm hit.
Maxa: "We don’t focus on what the outside world thinks, we focus on our opponent."
Reporter: "Is there anything about Barcelona’s success with a three-center-back tactic this season that you think is worth emulating?"
Maxa: "We’ve been using a three-center-back tactic since last season, who do you think is emulating whom?"
Reporter: "But Barcelona’s performances are better."
Maxa: "Are you sure? Are Barcelona in first place in the league? No, I see they are fifth... How many people believe they can win the league this season? Don’t look now, but we are second in the league—guess how many people think we can defend our league title? You might be blind, but the European betting companies certainly aren’t."
Reporter: "You... "
Maxa: "What about me? Or are you saying Barcelona are strong because they won last year’s Europa League? That seems to conflict with my memory; I’ll definitely have to check the Europa League trophy in our trophy room later to see the engraved names and dates."
Reporter: "But Barcelona is a team that has won the Champions League, their heritage is something Sporting Lisbon can’t imagine!"
Maxa: "So what? Are we supposed to hand them victory on a silver platter? If that’s the case, Barcelona should kneel before Real Madrid, because Madrid has won way more championships throughout history than Barcelona! Why on earth should Barcelona compete with Madrid?"
The reporter was floored!
Maxa walked away tall; he was not in a good mood today, and wanted nothing to do with Barcelona’s mouthpieces.
Trigella refused Maxa’s massage, which meant Maxa couldn’t relax on the field for Junior afterward.
This was simply a waste of Maxa’s life.
A single game, and there he was, quietly sitting on the coach’s bench, what a sight!
Unable to contribute to the team, it weighed heavy on his mind!
Trigella: Then you could work on the team’s tactics and the opponent’s player data.
Maxa: I’m afraid that would make Mr. Deng restless!
Trigella: 666!
On December 4th, the second round of the UEFA Champions League group stage kicked off.
Arsenal and Juventus clashed in a major battle.
Juventus, who had dominated their last match, were surprisingly suppressed by Arsenal for the entire game, which was unbelievable to many.
Vieira demonstrated the role of a super defensive barrier, successfully neutralizing Juventus’s midfield core, Nedved.
Henry and Trezeguet, the French forward duo, both scored, but the difference was that Henry’s Arsenal ended up defeating Juventus with three goals.
Juventus lost 1-3 away, with their points caught up by Arsenal.
The next day, Sporting Lisbon hosted Barcelona at home.
If Barça won the game, they would become the leaders of the group with a six-point advantage, greatly increasing their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals.
"Hello to all our viewers. The pitch you see on the screen is the Estádio Alvalade, Sporting Lisbon’s home ground, where fans in green and white jerseys are cheering for the home team."
"Of course, there are also a very few fans in red and blue jerseys. These are Barça fans. They have money to burn, following their team to Lisbon, confident they’ll take home a victory."
"Barça have stabilized their performance since switching to a three-centre-back formation. This change has accommodated players like Rivaldo, Quaresma, Cruyff, Saviola, and Giovane, strengthening Barça’s control over football."
"Their lineup includes:
Saviola, Cruyff, Quaresma
Rivaldo, Giovane
Xavi, Cocu
Deboer, Christanval, Puyol
Bonano"
"Among them, Christanval was specifically brought in by Barça this summer to address aerial defense issues. The header hat-trick scored by Deng Kai against Barça last year left Catalans restless, turning pale at the mention."
"Height and headers have become taboo words in the Barcelona code."
"While Christanval’s aerial ability hasn’t been a complete waste of money, his footwork and capacity to deal with pressure are somewhat lacking, and he’s prone to little mistakes. It’s uncertain how well he’ll perform today."
"Sporting Lisbon’s formation, on the other hand, is:
Ronaldo, Drogba
Kaká, Deng Kai, Ronaldinho
Yaya Touré, Guardiola
Pepe, Vidic, Barzagli
Schmeichel"
"Both teams are playing with three at the back, both with dual defensive midfielders; only their positioning in the forward lines is slightly different. But both sides are quite focused on possession and place emphasis on playing down the wings—their overall play styles are quite similar."
"Barça fans in turn view Sporting Lisbon as having copied their tactics, which they find distasteful."
"However, Trigella publicly stated that this tactical system was mainly developed by Maxa, drawing on some ideas from Van Gaal, but also integrating Rehhagel’s tactical style."
"Afterward, media perception of Sporting Lisbon’s tactics shifted from copying to innovating. Maxa was seen as having combined the wisdom of many, emerging as even better than his precedents."
"Having been dubbed ’Saint Maxa,’ he has now also been called ’the Bruce Lee of Western football’ by some fans or simply ’Lee Maxa’ for short!"
[PS: That’s all for today, let’s go strong tomorrow!]
