Chapter 365: Not afraid of ten thousand, just in case
Reversing Barcelona 4:3 is indeed a crazy thing, and it has also brought a strong impact on everyone.
But no matter how big the impact is, it will pass, and no matter how happy it is, it is impossible to eat it.
If you are stuck in the mood of this game, it will be unfavorable for the next game.
So when the players resumed training, the first thing head coach Simeone did was to make everyone forget the game, look at the long term, and look ahead.
Barcelona has been eliminated by them, so there is no need to spend their energy on them.
However, in the league, Barcelona still threatens them. If you are not careful, you may be successfully revenge in the league...
Now that Barcelona has been eliminated from the Champions League, they can only compete for the championship in domestic competitions.
This will force them to put all their energy into the league.
A Barcelona that can go all out in the league will surely pose a huge threat to Atletico Madrid.
In order to avoid this, Atletico Madrid must do its own thing well.
So although news about Atletico Madrid's shocking reversal in the next few days has been hyped up in the Internet and media, and Gao Zheng was hyped up to the sky, Gao Zheng himself was very calm, and Atletico Madrid was relatively calm.
In recent years, they have often played against Barcelona and Real Madrid, both in the league and the Champions League, and have become accustomed to it.
It is not incredible to defeat Barcelona. Although it is really amazing to be able to reverse and eliminate opponents in the second round after losing three goals in the first round, it doesn't make them unable to calm down for several days.
In the 33rd round of the league over the weekend, Atletico Madrid will face Granada at home.
Although Granada is currently ranked fourth from the bottom, it is only one step away from the relegation zone. Currently, they are 30, ranking seventeenth, and only two points more than Getafe, the eighteenth.
Therefore, Granada is also a relegation team and has to fight for relegation. Otherwise, with only six rounds left in the league, they are likely to be relegated to the second division.
As we all know, every time the end of the league, the relegation team is the most difficult team to play, and it is even harder to play than the championship team.
After all, the championship is just about honor, while relegation is about life and death.
Life and death are greater than honor.
Atletico Madrid has fought Barcelona for 90 minutes in the Champions League, so this game will definitely be rotated. The rotation lineup and fatigue are combined with the relegation team that is about to fight to the death, this game is not easy to play.
Atletico Madrid's only advantage is that this is their home court. First of all, there is no need to worry about the relegation team having the bonus of home advantage, which will cause them greater trouble.
But even so, Atletico Madrid dare not take it lightly.
After experiencing a 4:0 counterattack against Barcelona, everyone should be more careful. In the world of football, anything can happen. Since they can reverse Barcelona 4:0, the opponent can also defeat them.
In this round, Barcelona also played at home, and their opponent was Valencia.
There should be no suspense for Barcelona to defeat their opponents.
Therefore, Atletico Madrid cannot be missed.
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On April 17, at 5:15 pm, the match between Atletico Madrid and Granada began.
This is the penultimate game of this round of the league.
And the last game was Barcelona's home game against Valencia.
After the Champions League, everyone invested their interests in the league.
Because Barcelona's Champions League is gone, they will definitely fight to the death with Atletico Madrid in the league. In this way, the competition in the league is more intense and the suspense is maintained, so it will naturally look better.
Simeone did rotate the squad in Atletico Madrid and Granada.
Players including Griezmann and Cork were all sitting on the bench.
But no matter how the rotation was, Gao Zheng still appeared in the lineup.
The meaning of this adjustment is very obvious. Rotation is rotation, and I, Simeone, still want to win this game.
Just fifteen minutes into the opening game, Gao Zheng scored his first record for Atletico Madrid!
"High!!! Good goal! He scored the 31st league goal of the season! Help Atletico Madrid lead Granada 1-0 at home!"
The first half ended with a score of 1:0.
After the second half began, in the 59th minute, Gao Zheng assisted Fernandez Torres to score, rewriting the score to 2:0.
By this time, there was basically no suspense in this game.
Atletico Madrid, which leads two goals, has difficulty turning the game over at its home court.
Gao Zheng was also replaced by Griezmann in the 71st minute.
When he left the field, he was treated with a collective standing ovation from Atletico Madrid fans.
In fact, Atletico Madrid fans actually did this in the mid-week Champions League, but Gao Zheng kept playing the whole game and was not replaced in advance, so they could not give Gao Zheng a single applause and respect.
Now they make up for Gao Zheng in the league.
After Gao Zheng left the field, Atletico Madrid did not stop attacking.
In the 83rd minute, Griezmann, who came on the bench, added icing on the cake and expanded his lead to three goals.
In the end, Atletico Madrid defeated Granada 3-0 at its own home court.
Continue to maintain a winning streak, so no matter what the game between Barcelona and Valencia will look like in the next game, Atletico Madrid will be the first in the league.
The pressure has come to Barcelona. If Barcelona still wants to keep their hope of winning the championship, they have to beat Valencia at home.
This should have been nothing suspenseful...
But the actual game was far beyond everyone's expectations.
In the 26th minute of the game, Barcelona midfielder Rakitic scored an own goal, helping Valencia lead 1:0!
Then as the first half was about to end, Valencia's player Santi Mina expanded his lead for Valencia!
"2:0!!2:0!! Barcelona was two goals behind in the first half at home! Three days ago, we said in the Champions League quarterfinal that Barcelona never allowed their opponents to lead two goals this season, but they broke the score in that Champions League, led by Atletico Madrid two goals, and finally lost that key game. And now in the league, Valencia has done it, and they led two goals ahead of Barcelona at the end of the half!!"
"I feel that the Barcelona players have not yet come back from the Champions League in the middle of the week. They seem to be deeply trapped in the psychological quagmire of being eliminated and cannot extricate themselves. Look at their performance on the court, it is no different from sleepwalking. What was Rakitic thinking when he scored an own goal? Did he think he had a nightmare?" The commentator of Catalonia TV criticized the team's performance without hesitation.
Of course he is a supporter of Barcelona, but supporters do not mean that they have to support them without brains. No matter what Barcelona performs, they can only praise and not criticize them. On the contrary, a qualified supporter must dare to spend money on the problem of his team, because he cannot make progress without knowing the problem.
From midweek to now, he has been extremely disappointed with Barcelona's performance...
Manuel Blanco in the media table has a bad idea in his mind. We will not lose the league after losing the Champions League?!
This idea is absurd, but he just can't help but think about it.
Things won't be so bad, right?
But...what if?
Chapter completed!