In the game against Zaragoza, the team's main starting lineup was eliminated.
A hearty 5-0 win for the fans at home!
Yelo scored one goal in each half, Isco and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored, and Baptista, who came off the bench, scored the fifth icing on the cake goal.
After playing this game.
Malaga has won four consecutive league games and scored 12 points.
Two hours later, the good news came.
Real Madrid's away game against Sevilla was tied 3-3 by their opponents!
And it was at the last moment of the game that Sevilla tied with Real Madrid!
If neutral fans watch this game, they will find it very exciting. It was a hearty offensive battle. The two sides cooperated to contribute six goals, and there was also a tie goal at the last moment of the game.
But for Real Madrid fans this is definitely not the case.
Because after this game was tied.
Their points were overtaken by Barcelona.
The current La Liga standings situation is as follows:
Malaga has won four games in a row and is at the top of the standings with 12 points.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid all have three wins and one draw, all with ten points.
Barcelona is ranked second with a goal difference advantage, Atletico Madrid is ranked third, and Real Madrid is ranked fourth.
However, the next fifth round of the league will be another difficult choice for Malaga.
Because three days after this game, they will challenge the Bundesliga giant in Munich at Bayern Munich's home court.
This game and the Champions League three days later.
Which game is more important for Malaga?
This requires the team's coaching staff to make a trade-off.
In the end, Pellegrini decided to send out a rotation of half the main team and half the substitutes in the game against Athletic Bilbao.
After finally reaching the Champions League, Pellegrini did not want to pay too little attention to the Champions League. The team defeated AC Milan in the first Champions League game, proving that the team can respond when facing top teams. .
That being the case.
So why the decision so early?
Now the league has just begun, it has not reached the final sprint stage, it has not yet reached the point of either/or.
Therefore, it is normal for Pellegrini to make this decision.
His calculation is that between the two opponents, Athletic Bilbao and Bayern Munich, it is obviously more likely to make a rotation in the game against Athletic Bilbao, because even if It is a rotating lineup, Malaga may not lose to Athletic Bilbao in the away game.
However, when they faced Athletic Bilbao who played crazy at home.
The situation is not as wonderful as Pellegrini planned.
Athletic Bilbao is a founding member of La Liga and has never been relegated since 1928. Only Real Madrid and Barcelona hold this honor at the same time.
And since the establishment of this team until now, only players from the Basque Country have been used in the team's lineup!
This is quite rare in the world.
Even before 2008, the Basque Lions never had any commercials on their jerseys!
This shows how conservative this team is.
But this conservatism has allowed Athletic Bilbao to retain its style since its founding. They are like bulldogs, full of fighting spirit and tenacious willpower.
The Basques are very tough people who live in the mountains on the border between Spain and France.
This tough character is reflected in the Athletic Bilbao team, which is quite difficult to deal with pressing and running.
In addition, crazy coach Bielsa has taken over the Basque Lions, and the combination of crazy and Basque Lions seems to be a match made in heaven.
It makes this team's playing style even more passionate.
As a head coach.
In terms of championship honors, Bielsa, who has only won three Argentine domestic league championships and an Olympic gold medal, is simply not worth mentioning in front of many honorary coaches.
However, as a football theorist, Bielsa undoubtedly has a profound influence on South American football. Since the four-back style of play began to influence the world from Brazil in the 1950s and 1960s, there has never been a South American. Such a huge impact on football tactics.
Bielsa's tactical philosophy can also be seen as a continuation of the total offense and total defense tactical philosophy in a sense.
That's why he's called a madman.
It comes from his tactics, the almost crazy frontcourt press and pressure!
This kind of pressing and pressing seems commonplace today in the 2020s.
But when Bielsa took the lead in implementing this almost crazy tactic, it was indeed a "madman" behavior.
In that era when goalkeepers generally had no ability to play the ball, a suffocating press was carried out in the frontcourt. The opponent could hardly organize an attack from the ground and could only open wide. There were far more defenders than the opponent's forwards, and they could control the high altitude. The probability of hitting the ball is far greater than that of the opponent, so the timeliness of this pressing is naturally quite high.
Many future head coaches have been influenced by Bielsa. Guardiola said in an interview that his tactical thinking was greatly influenced by Bielsa.
Bielsa has not won many championship honors, but he is undoubtedly the founder of the sect.
And he has almost paranoid demands on tactics, and he doesn't even care too much about winning or losing. His team is always pressing, passing forward, and attacking.
This game starts right from the start.
At home, Athletic Bilbao launched a suffocating press.
They started with a 4231 formation.
Two players, Javi Martinez and Herrera, sit in the defensive midfielder, and Spanish international Llorente is supported in the forward line.
The two strong defensive midfielders gave Athletic Bilbao the confidence to press wildly.
Thirteenth minute of the game.
Athletic Bilbao scored.
They relied on their crazy frontcourt press to steal the ball and grab an opportunity!
Camacho was surrounded when he got the ball in the backcourt. He only hesitated a little before he was surrounded by Athletic Bilbao players. He could only choose to protect the ball, preparing to use his body to block the opponent and create a foul so that he could get one. Give the game a break and a chance to breathe.
However, when Javi Martinez knocked him to the ground, intercepted the ball and handed it to the winger Susaeta, who stepped in at high speed and passed the ball without stopping!
In the middle, Llorente and Demichelis competed for the top, and the football hit Demichelis' shoulder and bounced to the penalty area line.
Herrera, who inserted himself from the midfielder position, met the ball and volleyed.
The football shot straight towards the goal like an arrow from the string.
Caballero had nothing to do with this shot.
"One to zero!! Herrera scores a goal!!" Andres shouted.
"Athletic Bilbao takes the lead!"
When the football flew into Malaga's goal, huge cheers rang out over the San Mamés Stadium!
"Athletic Bilbao is ahead! Malaga are behind on the away road! This is the first time they have fallen behind this season. From the beginning of this game, Bielsa's team was merciless and let Malaga down. The frontcourt press was almost suffocating, and in this game, Cazorla and Joaquin were both on the bench. In the midfield were Camacho, Isco, and Juanito, and in the forward line was Yello. , Baptista, Diego Bonanotte, in the midfield, Camacho and Isco are too young. A large part of Athletic Bilbao's pressing in this game was directed at them. , and achieved very good results.”
"Malaga fell behind. Perhaps the happiest people now are not the fans of Athletic Bilbao, but the fans of Real Madrid and Barcelona. They finally see the hope of Malaga losing."
Andres joked in the commentary box.
And after the game resumes.
The competition became more intense.
Malaga wanted to equalize the score quickly, but Bielsa's team was tit for tat and refused to give up an inch.
The Malaga players were angry.
Because they felt that Javi Martinez's grabbing of the ball was obviously a foul, but the referee ignored this, which led to the loss of the ball.
When Athletic Bilbao celebrated the goal, Malaga players surrounded the referee and asked for an explanation.
Ye Luo, who was wearing the captain's armband, questioned the referee's penalty scale.
The referee just explained to Yelo that Martinez did not open his hand and that the collision was a reasonable one.
Naturally, this explanation did not convince the Malaga players.
So after the game restarts.
Malaga's actions are starting to get bigger and bigger.
Athletic Bilbao was naturally not to be outdone, and the match between the two sides began to become more and more heated.
In the 20th minute of the game, Malaga full-back Fernando was shown a yellow card for a foul on Llorente. This made the Malaga players even more angry because they felt that Martinez knocked Camacho and it was not a foul. According to standards, this foul action is not worthy of receiving a yellow card.
But soon.
Twenty-third minute of the game.
After Yelo picked up the ball near the center circle, he was pushed to the ground by defender Iola who followed him all the way - everyone knows how much of a threat Yelo is if he turns around.
Therefore, Athletic Bilbao's strategy is to prevent Yello from getting the ball as much as possible. The next best thing is to prevent him from getting the ball in dangerous areas. The next best thing is to try to prevent him from getting the ball after he gets the ball. Don't let him turn around, just foul him!
This method is of course very effective. Malaga got a free kick, but this free kick was far away from the goal and there was little threat.
After the referee blew the whistle, he also took out the yellow card from his pocket and showed it to Elora.
Elara looked puzzled and aggrieved. This time it was the Athletic Bilbao players' turn to surround the referee.
Within three minutes, both sides received a yellow card each.
The referee finally found a balance.
but
The referee's way of finding balance.
It's like adding fuel to the fire.
Players on both sides are holding fire in their hearts.
Make the game more intense.
The game started to spiral towards a crazy scene
(End of chapter)
