One day later.
October 30th.
The ninth round of La Liga matches started one after another.
(Away) Real Betis vs. Atletico Santander (Home)
The bottom of the league, Real Betis, is away to Santander, who is currently ranked 14th in the league. Before the match, no one was optimistic about Real Betis, neither the media nor the home team's fans.
Even Atlético Santander, who were unanimous from players to coaches, were sure to take three points from this game! Warm-up.
Entry. Guess the coin. Game on.
Real Betis changed their formation and lined up in a 5-2-3, a sudden change that surprised everyone.
The home team's manager, with a puzzled look on his face, muttered, "I didn't hear the scouts say that Real Betis had used such a formation inside the game, ah? How did the scouts look at it?"
His assistant coach was equally surprised, "Coach, I don't think it's the scouts, I can guarantee that Real Betis has never fielded a five-at-the-back lineup this season! This is the first time!"
The head coach pondered briefly, nodded and said, "Well, if that's the case, I have nothing to worry about. Changing formations on the fly is a big no-no for soldiers! It won't grind into shape without a few games! Looks like we're solid in this game!"
Real Betis still created a lot of trouble for their opponents after the opening game with their numerical superiority in the back line. It was difficult for the home team to get the ball into the hinterland of Real Betis through effective offense.
Center back Mario even felt very good after seeing that his opponent was slow to find anything to do. Because in his opinion, the team never had any big problems, and the backline was well directed by him.
However, Su Yun, who stood on the goal line all the time and was never tested, didn't see it that way. With the help of the attribute Goalkeeper Awareness: 99, Su Yun quickly saw the team's current problems. The three center backs had problems with their standing coordination on several occasions.
Either the defense didn't get a good handle on the space, or there was a lack of unity of thought when it came to creating offsides.
It only appeared that the opponent seemed to be underprepared, which was why he hadn't found a way to crack it for a while.
But as time went by, the home team gradually still found problems in Real Betis' defense through constant testing. "Amaya why are you running to me again? Go over there!"
"Mario, you shouldn't have gone up for that ball earlier, you should have kept from getting out of position!"
"Amaya, Mario, can you two drag yourselves back a bit? The gap behind us is too big!" The three center backs were confused on the field.
The home team finally realized the problem of Real Betis' center backs by attacking in the middle of the field. In the next game, the hosts began to attack the center of the field.
After a few attempts, sure enough Real Betis had problems in the center, and surprisingly they did find a chance. The home team's center forward took the ball on his back and made a two-on-one with a teammate.
The Real Betis players missed their stares, and both of them were attracted by the opponent's center forward, missing the other striker. In the blink of an eye, the other striker had already brought the disc to the front of the penalty area and formed a one-on-one situation with Su Yun.
"It's over!" "Fuck!" "Oh! My God!"
At this moment, the hearts of all the Royal Betis players, coaches and fans were all cold. At such a close distance, even if Su Yun was possessed by God, he probably couldn't stop it. Royal Betis, fallen!
But the next moment, they all couldn't believe their eyes!
Su Yun made a fake move when he struck, pretending to defend the left side, then lunged to the right when his opponent was about to shoot towards the right.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The home team's striker screamed miserably, flopped to the ground and rolled several times.
Su Yun stood up holding the ball and looked at the fallen striker with a look of contempt.
The referee signaled that there was no penalty and told the striker to get up or he'd pull out a card! "Holy shit! Sue! NB up!
"Sue, good job! You saved us!" "Real Betis is reborn!"
Until this moment, the players and coaches of Real Betis, as a relief! They excitedly embraced each other and popped their crowns!
Pepe Mel even applauded while secretly giving Su Yun high praise, "Su, your save saved us!" But just as they were celebrating their team's salvation, they didn't realize that Su Yun was already holding back!
He growled directly at the three center backs in the back line.
"You three guys, what are you doing? How many times have I told you guys to stare down the defense, not zone! Look at you guys, is something wrong?"
Although Mario was very impressed with Su Yun's save just now. But when it comes to defense, he mocked with bravado: "You're a rookie, what do you know? As long as we work well together, area defense will be more effective than man-to-man defense! Besides, the coach also arranged a zone defense
Meanwhile, the home team, despite the failure of the last shot on goal, can already be sure that the three center backs have a huge problem here
Topic!
So, with Mario not listening, the home team once again towards the center of Real Betis, began a continuous attack. For a while, the back line of Real Betis was in the wind!
Even the return of captain Erinay to help with the co-defense didn't help much.
The opponents didn't even need too complicated cooperation to easily break through the defense of Real Betis' three central defenders. And many times there were chances of a hammer blow.
Luckily, with the presence of Suyun, he received the ball high and blocked the opponent's sure goal for the third time in a row. The goal was preserved!
Watching himself being played like a fool by his opponents, Mario had finally and gradually realized that the zone defense was really not working as of now. However, wouldn't it be humiliating to admit that Su Yun was right?
So, even though he knew he was wrong, he still stuck to his guns and didn't follow what Su Yun said. Mario was capricious and angry, but Su Yun didn't, instead he kept encouraging everyone.
"Everyone be a little more decisive on defense! Don't hesitate! There's still me, the strongest goalie on earth, back there! They won't score a single goal!"
And just like that, everyone in the backline, except Mario, started to trust Suyun as well.
It's just that as long as there is one person who doesn't believe in Su Yun, there will always be a problem with the cooperation of the backline. Su Yun's youthful lack of influence is also highlighted at this time.
He was not persuasive in what he said because he was not yet senior.
Even if he could already see that the problems that had arisen in training had appeared and magnified in the official game. The game continued, and in the blink of an eye more than thirty minutes had passed in the first half.
Wave after wave of cheering from the home team's fans! And wave after wave of offense from the home team.
Just as Suyun kept wiping the backline's ass with his heroic saves, Mario's smugness still brought about a huge crisis for his team.
Because he consistently sticks to the zone defense, he once again misses when working with his teammates. Mario, in a hot-headed attempt to make up for his mistake, put a shovel directly inside the box!
The opponent fell down smoothly and the referee didn't have the decency to award a penalty kick. "Oye!!!"
The cheers of the home fans resounded through the stadium, in contrast to the frozen Real Betis players. It was over!
The faces of the Real Betis players all showed a devastated expression.
Pepe Mel even just dropped the mineral water bottle inside his hand to the ground. Mario didn't argue because his foul was uncontested.
Until this moment, he also gradually calmed down, then his mind recalled the words that Su Yun had just shouted at him. "Never touch him! Leave it to me!"
He knew now that Su Yun's words were right, and that he shouldn't have let go of the opponent's striker. But it was too late for anything now.
And at that moment, the opponents quickly set up the ball on the penalty spot.
Pepe Meier gradually squinted his eyes as he watched the penalty kick about to be made.
Because he knows how crucial this penalty really is, how significant this penalty really is. Real Betis can collect, life hangs in the balance!
With the strength of Real Betis now, as long as the ball is lost, it will be difficult to recover, which means losing the game, and also means that this change of formation is a complete failure! The team will not be able to gain confidence again, and when the winter break comes, it will completely fall apart.
Where will the team go from here?
Is it from this moment to fall? Or was it from this moment onwards that Nirvana was reborn? All expectations fell on Su Yun.