Chapter 25: The Battle of Relegation

In this game, Antić, who only took over the coach position from Ranieri last month, lined up the strongest lineup in his hand.

The goalkeeper is Molina, and the defense line is Capdevila, Gamara, Ayala and Aguilera respectively from left to right.

Midfielders Solari, Baraja, Berellon and Palovic lined up.

On the front line is a combination of Haselbaink and Kiko.

For Betis, Hiddink also arranged a four-four-two formation today.

On the front line is Oliga Alfonso, Joaquin and Finidi George on the midfield are respectively Joaquin and Two Miroslav Colhan and Alexis are arranged in the middle as protection.

Front midfielder Pablonino was on standby on the bench.

From left to right on the back line are Crosa, Vidakovic, Filipescu and Otlo.

The goalkeeper is still the main goalkeeper Antonio Platz.

beep.

With the referee's whistle, the highly-watched relegation battle officially began.

Atletico Madrid had an absolute advantage on the field at the beginning!

Their midfielders, Belleron and Baraja, are both midfielders who can defend and have excellent organizational skills, so they are very good at controlling the situation on the field.

After losing control of the midfield, Betis could only be at the mercy of Atletico Madrid.

In terms of offense, Haselbainke, who has transferred from the Premier League Leeds United, has a strong impact. Even when facing Betis' two Eastern European defenders, he is still fearless.

His forward partner Kiko played a good auxiliary role.

This forward, who had partnered with Vieri on the team, once contributed double-digit assists to Vieri in a single season and is an absolute assist.

When the first half was less than halfway through, it was the cooperation between the two who made a tear-out breaking the Betis team's defense!

Haselbaink retreated and received a cross pass from Sorari on the left. The Dutch leaned against Felipescu, turned around but failed and knocked the ball to Kiko beside him.

After passing the ball, Haselbaink quickly turned around 360 degrees with lightning speed and rushed into Betis' penalty area!

Kiko, who received the pass from Haselbaink, made a fake shot. After attracting the blocking, he turned his ankle and stuffed the ball into the penalty area.

The ball happened to be delivered to Haselbaink's running route!

After the Dutch shooter caught up with the ball, he dunked over the defense of Otero, and then directly shot and scored!

Boom.

The atmosphere of the entire Calderon Stadium was ignited by Hasselbaink's goal.

"goal! The 21st goal! Haselbaink continues to make great strides in the scorer list!"

"Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!"

The entire Calderon Stadium was shouting Haselbaink's name.

This season is undoubtedly a very disappointing season for Atletico Madrid fans, and Hasselbaink, who is still ahead of the scorer list, can be said to be one of the few excitement points at Calderon Stadium this season.

Side-side!

When Haselbaink and Kiko made the two-way and one-time cooperation, Tang Feng closed his eyes in despair.

He knew that the Dutchman was a natural shooter. If he broke into the penalty area, the only goal was left to be broken.

Hasselbaink did not "failed" Tang Feng's trust, and his goal hit the Betis' heart!

After the Atletico Madrid players celebrate, the game resumes!

The Betis team, who was behind by one goal, was obviously forced into a desperate situation.

During this period, Hiddink's full-game pressing tactics instilled in the team began to be reflected on the court.

The frontcourt, which was not active in pressing in the past, became extremely combat-effective because of the two new forces, Olympian and Joaquin.

Their tight press in the frontcourt made Atletico Madrid unable to control the rhythm and delay time by using the backcourt's backcourt. Instead, they could only keep moving forward.

Even as we move forward, Atletico Madrid still encounters the Betis fight without hesitation.

Obviously, the Betis has reached its most dangerous moment.

All Betis players, whether for the team or for themselves, have reached a time when they have to fight to the death.

In the 32nd minute, Joaquin formed a steal through a front court press.

After intercepting the ball, Joaquin went down the bottom directly along the left high speed and sent the ball into the penalty area.

It's a pity that his left foot cross was obviously not as accurate as his right foot, and the ball was passed a little high. Although Oli in the middle got the point, he failed to form a threatening shot.

Four minutes later, Joaquin made a comeback.

This time, after breaking through the bottom, he consciously passed a low ball. The ball was very fast and drilled straight in front of the goal.

Unfortunately, Alfonso and Oli in the middle lane were slowing down half a beat when they were circulating, and the ball finally slipped past the goal.

Even so, the Atletico Madrid fans in the stands couldn't help but exclaim.

Tang Feng on the sidelines saw that Hua Jin was gradually entering the state, and he waved his fist excitedly.

In this way, after Atletico Madrid took the lead, the initiative on the field was grabbed by Betis.

The second half of the first half almost became the offensive performance of Betis.

Especially the young player Joaquin on the left, he performed extremely actively. His speed and breakthrough made Atletico Madrid's right side chaotic.

Joaquin's performance surprised Antic on the sidelines and Atletic Madrid in the stands.

They all had the same question in their minds, who is this No. 17? Where did it emerge?

Especially Antich, in the information obtained before the game, he only knew that Joaquin was promoted from Team B by Hiddink. He was a full-back, and he knew almost nothing about the others.

Antich could only wait until the halftime break before making adjustments to allow the team to defend against Joaquin in a targeted manner.

However, Joaquin on the court gave him a "surprise" before the end of the first half!

After all, Atletico Madrid's right-back Aguilera is already a veteran over 30 years old. Faced with the continuous speed impact of Joaquin, the new force, he was already a little overwhelmed. He urgently hoped that the first half would end quickly and allow him to make up during the halftime break.

Joaquin seemed to have seen this point of Aguilera, and he used his speed to rush his side as soon as he had the chance.

Of course, Aguilera is an experienced veteran after all.

Through several consecutive conversations with Joaquin, he also understood Joaquin's offensive routine. In his opinion, Joaquin is a traditional winger with a bottom-bottom style. Speed ​​is his advantage.

Therefore, in the subsequent defense, Aguilera consciously strengthened the defense strength of the side below and defended with her own predictions.

This effect was good, and he completed a direct steal against Joaquin!

Humph, little guy. Fight with me, you are a little tender!

After intercepting the ball, Aguilera thought disdainfully. But this guy obviously forgot how embarrassed he was when he was hit by Joaquin.

Before we knew it, the first half was coming to an end and it was about to end.

Betis once again formed a steal in the midfield, and the ball was once again sent to Joaquin's feet on the left.

Although he was stolen just now, Joaquin still bravely rushed towards Aguilera.

"What? Don't admit defeat? Boy? Then you can try it again!" In Aguilera's opinion, the young man in front of him must have been kicked red after being intercepted by him just now and wanted to seek revenge on him. So he was also talking trash in his mouth, hoping to anger Joaquin.

The expression on Joaquin's face was indeed like a young player who was anxious.

After he dribbled the ball to Aguilera, he accelerated and started again, as if he was about to force a breakthrough towards the bottom line.

Aguilera is very familiar with this way of breaking through Joaquin, so he once again made a prediction in advance, moved the center of gravity, and prepared to complete the position of Joaquin.

However, soon Aguilera discovered that the plot did not seem to be moving towards his script.

Hua Jin had just stepped out of the ball and suddenly braked. He also used the outside of his right foot to push the ball back, and the ball obediently passed behind Ajilela who had moved in advance.

Then, Hua Jin caught up with the ball again and went to the penalty area!

"Beautiful!" Tang Feng shouted excitedly on the sidelines.

Before, Hua Jin broke through to the bottom line again and again. Tang Feng thought that he did not dare to try to change blindly during his debut, but decided to play football in a way he was better at.

But now it seems that everything before is paving the way for this breakthrough!

Hiddink, not far away, also looked at the field with excitement.

In his opinion, although his incisiveness is not as smooth as Denilson and his movements are gorgeous, the effect is not bad at all.

On the field!

The other defensive players of Atletico Madrid didn't seem to have expected that the young man who only knew the bottom would suddenly come to the middle.

Therefore, almost no one came to guard the situation at the first time.

Hua Jin, who had successfully broken through, was also very excited, but he still suppressed his excitement and began to observe the situation in the penalty area.

While observing Joaquin, Atletico Madrid's defensive players also reacted.

Baraja, who is closer to Joaquin, and Gamara in the penalty area rushed towards him. As soon as they moved, the entire defense line in the penalty area began to tilt towards Joaquin.

Hua Jin knew that he had to react in time. Such an opportunity was fleeting!
To be continued...