Chapter 210 Reflection (62/136)

Before the quarter-finals of the Champions League with Milan, there is still a league game.

In the league, Valencia continued to use the 442 of the previous game, but Canizares entered the injured list, and Palop temporarily secured the position of the main goalkeeper.

In this game, in order to ensure that the Champions League in the middle of the week can be passed smoothly, Changsheng carried out a rotation, and a large number of main players rested. The lineup that was already tense because of the red card suspension became even more tense.

Chang Sheng even promoted several players from the B team to the top.

With such a patchwork team, plus a temporary head coach who doesn't even have a coaching certificate, the final result can be imagined.

Valencia lost 1-2 away to Real Valladolid, their second defeat of the season.

After this defeat, Real Sociedad caught up. The point difference between the two teams was originally five points, but now it has become two points.

There are still eight rounds before the end of the league, and the current top four teams in the league have a chance to win the championship.

Valencia scored 68, Real Sociedad 66, Deportivo 61 and Real Madrid 59.

The competition intensified, but at this time, Valencia had to be distracted.

They are leaving for Milan.

※※※

Milan's defense is very good, they mainly play defensive counterattack tactics.

In response to this situation, Chang Sheng decided to use mad dog tactics to control the ball, delay time, and consume the opponent's fighting spirit.

Just don't let the opponent have a chance to fight back.

Anyway, it is Valencia, not Milan, who leads the total score.

As long as I can guarantee not to concede the ball in the first half. Milan will definitely become more and more impatient in the second half.

Then it's Valencia's chance.

There is no problem with Changsheng's tactics, using the ball to defend and suffocating Milan.

This trick has often worked in La Liga.

But this is the Champions League.

The passing speed in the Champions League is much faster than that in La Liga. Can this be compared?

And Chang Sheng ignored an important factor. That's what... superstars do.

He thought that as long as he firmly controlled the football on his side, the few attacks by the opponent would not be able to threaten the goal guarded by Palop at all.

In theory it is.

But it is not the case.

Only eleven minutes into the game, Valencia's goal was conceded.

Filipe Inzaghi, Milan's world-class star, appeared where no one expected it, then received a pass from Rui Costa and scored.

Faced with his ghostly blow, Palop had nothing to do. Can only watch helplessly as the football flies past him into the back corner of the goal.

This conceded goal disrupted Changsheng's deployment and also shook the players' confidence.

Originally, during this period of time, Valencia was very unlucky, suspended, injured, and various situations attacked them.

Now that they conceded the ball in the first eleven minutes of the game, it seems to confirm the fact that they were "bad luck". This makes many players feel powerless-no matter how hard we try, we are unlucky anyway, and nothing works.

Forty-third minutes before the end of the first half. Another world-class striker, Andrei Shevchenko, extended the score for Milan, and they took a 2-0 lead at home!

Chang Sheng's face was very ugly. But he didn't give up, he clenched his fists.

With a total score of 2:1, as long as Valencia can score a goal, they can eliminate Milan with the advantage of away goals.

During the intermission, Chang Sheng issued a mobilization order to the players.

"We only need one goal to qualify! So there is nothing to be upset about. Never give up until the halftime whistle blows! Always!"

※※※

After the start of the second half, Valencia gradually grasped the situation of the game. They used tactics to firmly control the football at their feet, and slowly dealt with Milan, looking for opportunities to score goals.

The manager is right, they only need to score one goal to qualify, there's really nothing to worry about or be upset about.

Their efforts paid off in the 63rd minute.

Reyes did not pass the ball on the left, but chose to break through, which surprised the Milan players.

After breaking through Milan's defense. He sent a cross.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic attracted Milan's defensive firepower from the front point, and Angulo inserted a header in the back and put the football into Milan's goal!

"Valencia came back from the dead! They equalized the total score! And an away goal!! If this score is maintained until the end, it will be Valencia to advance to the semi-finals!"

Chang Sheng waved his fist vigorously. Look very excited.

※※※

But the Valencians were not happy for long, because two minutes later, in the 65th minute, Shevchenko stepped forward again and shot a long shot from outside the penalty area, extending Milan's lead again!

"Total score 3:2, Milan regained the lead!"

"Go to hell!" Seeing Milan score so quickly, Chang Sheng looked very angry.

But he didn't know who to vent his anger on.

Is your team doing badly?

No, they've done well enough.

This ball is completely a reminder of Shevchenko's personal ability. After forcing a breakthrough with speed, he suddenly shot the goal. The goalkeeper Palop was caught off guard and the football flew into the goal.

It's that simple.

Milan was completely restrained by himself on the scene and tactics.

But Milan has Shevchenko, and they don't have...

Chang Sheng saw the Milan players cheering and celebrating, and he remembered a sentence he often saw in game reports before.

"XXXX performed better than XXX. It stands to reason that XXXX should have won, but it is a pity that XXX has XX, while XXXX does not. This is the difference between winning and losing..."

Now, I have experienced this feeling for a while...

We performed better than Milan. We deserved to win, but Milan had Shevchenko, Valencia didn't...

※※※

Valencia was still very tenacious in this game. They equalized the total score again in the 78th minute. This time it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who scored the goal.

The total score is 3:3, Valencia has two away goals.

The initiative to advance has returned to their hands.

Milan then launched a mad attack, while Valencia continued to use ball possession tactics to deal with them.

Time passed by every minute and every second. Seeing that Valencia is about to succeed.

Chang Sheng's tense palms were covered with sweat, and his heart was beating at a high speed.

But at the last minute, Inzaghi appeared in a place no one expected. But the fatal position...

"Filipe Inzaghi - no one can stop him anymore! He shoots - the goal! The goal! The goal!! 4:3! The total score, Milan took the lead again! This is in the ninth Lead at ten minutes! Valencia can't recover!"

In the 90th minute, Milan relied on Inzaghi's brace to beat Valencia twice.

※※※

On the plane back to Valencia from Milan, the Valencia players were busy with their own affairs. Some chatted, some listened to music, some watched movies, some played games, and some got up too early. Restoring sleep.

The atmosphere is normal, there is no way to see that this is a team that has been eliminated.

The atmosphere in this team yesterday was still suffocating.

One night passed. Many people have returned to normal. As a professional player, perhaps the most important thing is this kind of self-psychological adjustment, otherwise it is easy to be overwhelmed by pressure.

Losing is something every professional player has to face. Even if you lose the final, you must accept and adapt as soon as possible, and then start a new life.

Losing in the Champions League quarter-finals, many people didn't think there was anything unacceptable.

After all, this is the first time they have participated in the Champions League under the leadership of Chang Sheng.

In the contest with Milan, they fought to the last moment, but the luck was really bad...

It would be a lore at the last minute by the opponent.

Chang Sheng was lost in thought alone.

The game failed though. But even if you are a good head coach, you have to learn from your failures. You can't even know how you lost. Then the next time the same situation happens, you will definitely lose again.

This game touched Chang Sheng a lot.

He has always believed that football tactics and the whole are greater than everything else.

Even before he was reborn, he thought so, and he rarely chose to buy those big-name stars when playing games. His pleasure lies in digging the calves. Then train them and watch them grow under your own hands. After they become talents, they will be sold to maintain the operation of the club, and then they will dig out the calves and cultivate them into talents. Repeat the process.

He believes that this is what a real head coach should do.

He is very disdainful of those practices of piling up superstars, because it is too superficial.

So he scoffed at Real Madrid's superstar policy.

Even without his personal grievances with Real Madrid, with his temper, he would say that Zidane and Pavon's policy is rubbish.

When he was reborn and had the opportunity to become a head coach, he has always insisted on his coaching philosophy-less superstars, more overall. There are few stars in the team, which is convenient for him, a grassroots with little experience and qualifications, to manage. Relying more on the whole is the future development direction of football.

So no matter whether it was in Getafe or Valencia, he didn't dig those superstars very much, even if he had them in the team, he sold them all.

He buys players who will be famous in the future but not yet.

Then knead them tactically into a whole.

Rely on a strong overall team to defeat those teams that rely on stars.

In these two seasons, Valencia has not lost against Real Madrid, which is the best proof of his coaching philosophy.

He's always been proud of it.

I feel that what I admire can be successful not only in the game, but also in reality.

But being eliminated from the European competition for two consecutive seasons, he had to start to reflect.

Playing against Inter Milan, his team can be said to have been defeated by Vieri. His own tactics restrained Cooper's tactics, but could not restrain Vieri.

The same is true for Milan. His tactics are fine, but he ignores the explosion of the stars.

Inzaghi and Shevchenko, each scoring two goals, beat themselves just like that.

If it was just one time, he could say that it was his bad luck.

But what about twice in a row?

Can you still close your eyes and say bad luck?

In fact, it’s okay, after all, it’s not past three...

But Chang Sheng didn't want to deceive himself.

He was introspecting deeply and felt that he had overcorrected.

It is good to pay attention to the whole, but it is not worth completely denying the role of stars.

Just like when he opened up the situation, he would also think of relying on Ibrahimovic's personal ability...

And there's a little more. He can rely on tactical advantages to win the championship in the league. That's because the level of opponents in the league is uneven.

But if he wants to make a breakthrough in the European war, he can't just rely on the whole.

First of all, the UEFA Champions League is based on a knockout system, and the winner will be determined after one or two games. This kind of game is more likely to be accidental, and maybe an accident will determine the final result. If there is an accident in the league, you can also make up for it in other games.

This is why the winning teams perform well in the group stage, but not in the knockout stage.

Secondly, the UEFA Champions League has a higher level and a higher level. The teams participating here are stronger and have more stars. If you want to improve the strength of the team and compete with it, you have to buy stars. The stars have the ability to make the final decision. When they can't solve the problem, they can solve it with a flash of light.

Football is an overall confrontation, and it is actually a stage for stars.

Florentino only valued superstars, but ignored the role of the whole and tactics, and went to an extreme.

And looking down on him, isn't it going to another extreme?

Chang Sheng smiled wryly and shook his head.

With this in mind, he made a decision.

Next season, if he wants to achieve results in the European competition, he must improve the strength of the team, and to improve the strength... buy world-class stars!