I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 417: Chapter 59: Semifinals, Taunts, Derby (Part 2)

On January 31, 2010, Barcelona defeated Sporting Gijon 1-0 on the road, while Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruña 3-0 away, wrapping up the last match of January.

Three days later, they are set to face Atletico Madrid in a King’s Cup semi-final clash.

Atletico Madrid holds this match in high regard; in the league standings, they know they have no chance of winning against Real Madrid and Barcelona, and in the Champions League, their schedule in the UEFA Europa League is quite generous, but they also have little confidence in winning the UEFA Europa League title.

Right now, their biggest hope is to win the King’s Cup.

In such a scenario, Atletico Madrid will naturally not give up easily, and if they can defeat Real Madrid in the King’s Cup semi-final and ultimately win the championship, it would indeed be a dream come true for them.

Atletico Madrid’s head coach Flores, when faced with interviews before the match, straightforwardly expressed: ”I don’t know where Pellegrini’s confidence comes from.”

”But we will give our all in the game.”

Atletico Madrid even went ahead and announced their starting lineup for the match.

Aguero, Fernando

Jurado, Thiago, Camacho, Simao

Lopez, Domingos, Peria, Ufalusi

De Gea

On the bench, they even have players like Garcia, Reyes, and Moreno.

Besides head coach Flores, Atletico Madrid’s players also appeared full of fighting spirit. De Gea, who has gradually secured the starting goalkeeper position, said during an interview: ”We have made all preparations.”

And when someone asked De Gea about Chen, the young Spanish goalkeeper, who had once dropped a heavy shot from Chen resulting in a goal, paused for a bit, then with a smile said, ”Who is Chen?”

Then he suddenly burst into laughter, saying while laughing, ”Of course, I know who Chen is. I just want to say that this time, I won’t give him any chance to score.”

Besides De Gea, Fernando and Aguero also expressed their fighting spirit in front of the cameras.

Fernando said: ”We’ve never been afraid of Real Madrid. The first leg will be held at the Calderon stadium, which is our home ground, and we won’t disappoint our fans.”

”We will defend the dignity of our home ground, and I will also score the winning goal.”

Aguero unapologetically said, ”I’ve heard many people compare Messi and Chen now, but in my opinion, Messi is irreplaceable.”

”If anything, Chen is a once-in-a-decade genius, but Messi is the kind that you might not see for a hundred, a thousand years.”

”They are simply not on the same level.”

When asked by reporters how he views Chen Zhong’s current top position on the three boards, Aguero smiled and said, ”It’s an unbelievable number.”

”I don’t agree with some fans’ notion of goals harming the team.”

”However, goals scored against strong teams are what’s truly meaningful; he’s racked up too many stats against weaker teams.”

”If I wanted to compete for the top spot on the scoring chart, the team would do everything to support me, but I won’t do it because the team’s performance is more important than anything.”

Aguero’s remarks immediately thrilled many Chen detractors, who enthusiastically forwarded the statement, ”proving” the idea that Chen Zhong’s scoring harms the team.

Facing Aguero’s provocation, Chen Zhong also directly retaliated in a pre-match interview: ”I don’t know why he’s saying these things, maybe because Messi is his friend?”

”But I want to remind Sergio of one thing.”

”Your Atletico Madrid has never won against my Real Madrid.”

”And also, I’d like to remind you that now Atletico Madrid is ranked 11th in the league standings, while Real Madrid is still at the top of the table.”

Aguero: Hehe.

Aguero: No hehe.

Chen Zhong’s remarks left Aguero speechless. Although Aguero is hailed as a genius, and in 2007 his reputation even surpassed Messi, coupled with his father-in-law being Maradona, he’s considered a future leader of Argentina.

However, after Messi’s explosion last season, Aguero has been at a disadvantage in the ”competition” with Messi, and moreover, after Chen Zhong received the highest salary in football history and became Real Madrid’s captain, Chen Zhong overshadowed him in media discussions as well.

It’s understandable with Messi, given Aguero’s close relationship with him.

But Chen Zhong?

It’s worth noting that in 2007, when Chen Zhong just joined the first team, Aguero was already recognized as a genius and a starter for Atletico Madrid.

Their first encounter (although Chen Zhong didn’t start) was marked by him setting a record for the fastest goal against Atletico Madrid for Real Madrid with lightning speed, and he had his moment of glory then.

However, as Chen Zhong pointed out, a Real Madrid with Chen Zhong never lost to an Atletico Madrid with Aguero, and each time Aguero and Chen Zhong faced off, Chen completely got the best of him.

To add insult to injury, he couldn’t refute Chen Zhong’s second ”accusation” against him.

Even though Atletico Madrid made it to the official matches of the Champions League this season, they were eliminated in the group stage and sent to the reformed UEFA Europa League.

Such a performance is actually not bad, at least compared to the previous coach’s era, there’s an evident change in Atletico Madrid.

But their ranking in the league is indeed an undeniable fact.

Real Madrid ranking: 1

Atletico Madrid ranking: 11

It looks like a difference of just 1, but in reality, it’s a difference of 10.

How many teams are there in La Liga anyway! They’re almost in the relegation zone.

This also invalidates Aguero’s claim that Chen Zhong selfishly racks up stats against weaker teams, disregarding the team’s results.

How come, you’re not selfish, and the team is currently 11th, not far from the relegation zone?

Chen Zhong is selfish, and yet the team is ranked 1st?

Then it’s better to be a little selfish!

Aguero could only feel a faint ache in his heart, wishing the time would quickly come to the first leg of the King’s Cup at the Calderon stadium to teach Real Madrid a lesson.

With Kaka injured, many teams felt this was their chance to get the better of Real Madrid.

Although Real Madrid’s performance shows no fluctuations, everyone could feel the impact of Kaka’s absence. At the very least, Chen Zhong’s long passes, which were frequently used, vanished again.

The King’s Cup semi-final is on February 5th. As the most high-profile match recently, combined with plenty of time to prepare, the competition between the two teams in the media has reached a new level.

Pellegrini, as Real Madrid’s head coach, even though he’s planned to wait to be fired after the season (since there’s severance pay, after all), he realized that as long as they beat Atletico Madrid.

No matter if Getafe or Sevilla advances, it wouldn’t pose a significant threat to Real Madrid’s title hopes, so Pellegrini is putting all his energy into the upcoming semi-final.

Faced with recent criticism of Chen Zhong, Pellegrini said in a pre-match interview: ”Some of the accusations against Chen are baseless.”

”The team plays according to the tactics set by the team on the field, and all this is reflected in the pre-game training.”

”Chen is able to score because he perfectly executes the team’s tactics.”

Pellegrini’s statement, in a way, responds to external claims that Chen Zhong is a ”poison” or ”harms the team,” while indirectly touting his own managerial competence.

Look, Real Madrid is now advancing on three fronts side by side all because of my proper use of tactics and effective command!

Amidst the verbal battle between the two teams, time quickly arrived at match day.