On Monday, April 13th, Willard spent 12 skill points, increasing his skill from 85 to 86, shooting/passing from 75 to 76, and inverse footing from 48 to 49, leaving a balance of 87 skill points. indivual.
Since the five skills of defense, consciousness, physique, speed, and heading have been added to the upper limit of 90 in the A-League, the required skill point consumption is now much smaller.
The next day, April 14, in the fifth round of the Copa Libertadores group stage, Atletico Hurricanes faced Cruzeiro at home.
Because they have qualified early and are 5 points ahead of Cruzeiro, the advantage is huge. Therefore, the Hurricanes also made a large rotation in this game to rest most of the players who did not get a rest in the previous round of the league. Players who have rested will start the game and maintain their condition through the game.
Even goalkeeper Marcos Dias sat on the bench, with No. 22 Giordano starting.
However, Velarde, who has no worries about his physical fitness, continues to start, and because of the rotation, there are also main players such as Mancinelli, Lucas, Toranso, and Avila on the field, so the weakening of strength is not serious.
If we can get a draw, we can secure first place in the group in advance.
In any case, Hurricane Atletico, which had already qualified early and was 5 points ahead of Cruzeiro, could secure first place in the group with a draw. After the start of the game, the Hurricanes were not in a hurry, shrinking their defense and waiting for their opponents to attack.
If Cruzeiro does not attack, even if it scores 0-0, Atletico Hurricanes will be the winner and will directly lock in the first place in the group.
Of course, Cruzeiro will not be willing to settle for a draw, not because they want to compete with the Hurricanes for first place in the group, but because with 7 points, they are only 3 points ahead of Suker University, and even qualifying is not necessarily safe. If Cruzeiro loses to Hurricanes Athletics in this round and Suker University defeats Fish Belly McNelas, the points between the two sides will be the same, and the final round will become a life-or-death battle.
Therefore, Cruzeiro must go all out to score points in this game.
The progress of the game was as expected. Cruzeiro, who had no way out, after a few minutes of adapting, saw that the home team Hurricane Atletico had made up its mind not to take the initiative to attack, so he had to press forward and take the initiative to attack.
They hope to take advantage of the fact that the Hurricanes have rotated their main goalkeeper and gamble on their luck by taking more shots, hoping that Giordano will make a mistake or perform a buttery hand or something, allowing them to score.
However, it turns out that the core of the Hurricanes Athletic Team is indeed Alan Willard. As long as Willard starts, it will be difficult for the opponent to attack with a threat no matter how they attack.
The reflexes and agility brought about by Willard's defensive ability and awareness ensure that in a one-on-one duel, almost no one can break through him. In addition, his physique ensures the winning rate and injury resistance of physical confrontations, and his speed ensures that Willard can rush forward, return to defense, and cover positions quickly.
There is also technology that ensures that Willard can control the ball when he gets it. It is very difficult for the opponent to counterattack.
It wasn't until the 21st minute that Cruzeiro took a corner kick, and center back Paul Andre grabbed the first point and completed a header that hit the goal frame.
But the ball was too on target, and under the interference of Santiago Echeberria, the force of the shot was not strong. Giordano directly hugged it with both hands, and did not even give the opponent a chance to make a supplementary shot.
In addition to crosses, Cruzeiro's ground attack is really difficult to penetrate the Hurricanes' penalty area. As for long-range shots, unless you are lucky, it will be difficult to even hit the door frame.
Moreover, Willard is a defensive midfielder. Even if he shoots from a long distance, it is difficult to avoid his interference in the middle. If you go for a long shot from the wing, it might as well be a cross.
Therefore, although Cruzeiro has been attacking, it has been ineffective.
On the contrary, the Hurricanes Athletic Team, which seemed to be at a disadvantage, continued to create threats through counterattacks. Although the two wingers, Fabianesi and Dalia, are of average quality, the central axis of Alan Velarde, Toranso, and Avila in the center is much more threatening.
Although Cruzeiro had paid attention to the defense in the middle, he was still unable to withstand it in the end.
In the 34th minute of the first half, Velarde passed in the backcourt by approaching the opponent's full-back Enrique who was holding the ball. The ball was picked up by Lucas Villaruel.
After Lucas first passed the ball to Dalia on the wing, he immediately moved forward, and then formed a four-person pass and cut cooperation with Toranso, Dalia, and Avila, and quickly tore apart the Kremlin through a quick counterattack. Rucero returned to the defense line that could not be defended.
Hurricane Athletics had counterattacked several times before, but failed. This time, the Hurricanes succeeded.
In the end, after Lucas received Toranso's cross, he passed the ball past the last central defender Leo and into the penalty area.
Forward Avila rushed from the side of Leo, completed a single shot against offside, rushed into the penalty area to get in front of the attacking goalkeeper Fabio, and without stopping the ball, he directly volleyed sideways and took the ball from Fabio's armpit. The kick went over and flew into the goal.
Through a quick counterattack as a team, the Hurricanes took advantage of Cruzeiro's massive pressure on the gap in the backcourt and successfully scored. Lucas passed the ball and assisted Avila to open the scoring.
Hurricanes Athletic leads 1-0 at home.
The fans, who thought this game had become a routine, suddenly clapped and cheered excitedly. Avila, who scored the goal, also rushed to the sidelines in excitement and knelt down to celebrate. Then he was pressed to the ground by his teammates who were chasing him to celebrate.
This is really a bit of a surprise.
Originally, it was just to maintain a tie and compete for victory, rotating the lineup and letting the main players rest. Unexpectedly, Cruzeiro was so unlucky that Lucas penetrated the defense with a pass, and then Avila scored with a single volley.
The Hurricanes' defense has become more solid, and their offense has become more and more efficient.
Perhaps this is also related to the fact that the backcourt is stable and the frontcourt offensive players can attack and shoot with confidence. This kind of psychological security will undoubtedly improve the efficiency of frontcourt players.
Avila, who was a substitute in the Argentine League B last season, has become the team's main force this season, and his scoring efficiency has risen to the top of the entire Argentine League and Copa Libertadores. Velarde leads his teammates in the backcourt to ensure stability. Defending the defensive line also contributed greatly to the sense of security it brought him.
Otherwise, Avila himself would often have to retreat to participate in defense, which would be nonsense.
After taking the lead, they naturally played more easily. Even when they got the ball, they were not in a hurry to attack. Instead, they patiently kicked back in the backcourt, allowing Cruzeiro to rush forward impatiently. The frontcourt presses, and after more holes appear in the backcourt, the ball moves to counterattack.
And if Cruzeiro doesn't press, then Atletico Hurricanes can feel at ease spending time walking around in the backcourt, which just allows the main players to rest.
This made Cruzeiro quite uncomfortable.
In the 43rd minute, as the first half was coming to an end, Cruzeiro striker Damion, who had not yet been able to grab the ball and was unable to form an effective attack to deter the Atletico Hurricanes goal, rushed towards defender Nervo who was holding the ball. Press.
But Nervo turned around and passed the ball back to goalkeeper Giordano.
The furious Damian couldn't hold back. When Nervo had already passed the ball, he pushed Nervo hard from behind.
Of course, Nervo was not polite and simply fell to the ground in an exaggerated manner.
Although the referee also knew that Nervo was performing, there is no doubt that Damian committed a foul by pushing someone. In the end, Damian was shown a yellow card warning by the referee, but the Hurricanes continued to waste a lot of time by using this backcourt free kick.
Then, the first half was over. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 1-0. The Hurricanes Athletic Team, which had no intention of winning, actually became the leading side.
After a 15-minute intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. Mario Binco replaced Toranso with attacking midfielder Montenegro at the beginning of the second half, allowing Toranso to rest and prepare for the next A-League game.
Cruzeiro naturally knew the intention of the Hurricanes to make substitutions at this time, and was obviously preparing for the next game. Cruzeiro's players felt a little insulted and continued to attack.
Regardless of whether the Hurricanes counterattack or not, Cruzeiro is behind in the score anyway and has to attack.
However, the existence of Alan Velarde still makes Cruzeiro's offensive efficiency extremely low. Velarde often steals or forces passing errors, or Velarde directs his teammates to assist in defense and interception, and ultimately fails. return.
Until the 59th minute, Cruzeiro finally used the personal skills of full-back William to pass two people and then cut in from the right and pass the ball in an inverted triangle, allowing midfielder De Alas Caeta to take a penalty kick in the penalty area. Nearby got a chance to shoot directly at the goal.
As a result, when Caeta kicked the ball out with a volley and raised his hand to celebrate, Velarde, who was returning to defense, appeared in front of him with a flying tackle, which happened to destroy and shovel out the ball he kicked out. Bottom line.
De Alas Caeta felt quite depressed when he saw Velard sliding past him after completing the tackle.
But Velarde's awareness is so strong. Although he was diverted by Cruzeiro outside the penalty area through team passing and cooperation, he finally understood Cruzeiro's offensive intention and returned to the penalty area to destroy it in time. De Alas Caeta's shot from inside the penalty area.
If it hadn't been for Velarde's destruction, de Arras Caeta might have actually scored.
Unfortunately there is no if.
Even if the Hurricanes Athletics team rotates almost half of its main players, it is still not something Cruzeiro can defeat.
The defense led by Alan Willard is still an insurmountable barrier for Cruzeiro.
Not only that, the Hurricanes also launched another successful quick counterattack in the 72nd minute of the second half. In the end, Fabianesi cut in from the wing and passed the ball in an inverted triangle. Substitute midfielder Montenegro came on to catch up. Then, with an easy push, he kicked the ball into the right side of the goal.
Atletico Hurricanes beat Cruzeiro 2-0, expanding the score and basically sealing the victory.
After the score became 2-0, Mario Binco once again replaced two players in a row, replacing Avila and Lucas Villaruel to rest and prepare for the next Ajali league game.
Cruzeiro was forced into a desperate situation and used up all the substitutions to launch a desperate counterattack and attack crazily.
It wasn't until the 89th minute of stoppage time that Cruzeiro got a penalty kick opportunity by causing defender Santiago Echeberria to commit a handball foul through chaos in the penalty area.
Forward Damian took the penalty kick and tied the score to 1-2.
However, there was not much time left before the end of the game, and Cruzeiro failed to perform another miracle in the remaining time.
After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Atletico Hurricanes beat Cruzeiro 2-1 at home. Not only did they qualify early and advance to the knockout rounds, they also secured first place in the group in advance. It will have a certain advantage in the knockout draw. The opponent will be the second place in other groups, and it can avoid the first place in other groups that will be stronger.
Although the score of this game was 2-1, it seemed thrilling. But in fact, players who watched the process know that Cruzeiro's offense, blocked by the defense led by Alan Velarde, did not create too many threats. The Hurricanes won relatively easily.
On the contrary, Hurricane Athletics wasted many opportunities to counterattack. If not for bad luck, Hurricanes Athletic would have scored more than two goals.
After the game, Cruzeiro left the Thomas Duke Stadium frustrated, leaving the Hurricanes players and fans to celebrate at home.
Velarde also received an experience reward of 1 million as a starter + 1 million as winning bonus + 5 million for A-level performance = 7 million.
Next, you can really give up the final round of the Copa Libertadores and concentrate on the league.
