"Real Madrid will not change their style of play because of the opponent."
"Our style never changes because of other teams."
"ssi scored 4 goals? Yes, so what, we are Real Madrid, and we won’t craft a special tactic just for ssi."
Saying one thing and doing another, facing the caras and reporters, Pellegrini showed his "renowned coach deanor," or rather, the pride typical of Real Madrid.
And his current achievents are enough to support his pride.
"This is a crucial match."
"At the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid will not fear any team."
"ssi? He has long proven his capability, and we don’t need to overly praise him."
Pellegrini clearly intended to play down ssi, saying, "Football is a team sport, and while individuals can change a ga, I don’t care about how well he plays, I only know we must do our part."
"Chen and ssi?"
"I won’t compare them."
"They’re both very young, with many more years ahead."
Just as everything started to calm and people focused on the match itself, Guardiola did another "big thing," he actually gave the entire team a day off on April 8th.
This scene inevitably reminded people of last season, when Barcelona was preparing for the epic clash at the Bernabeu after a grueling battle with Chelsea, at that ti, Barcelona had defeated Real Madrid 6:2.
When reporters asked Barcelona players for their views, no one answered directly, clearly indicating Guardiola had again issued a gag order, prohibiting them from discussing the pre-match epic battle.
The match between Real Madrid and Barcelona was on April 10th, and with Guardiola giving the players a day off on the 8th, on the 7th, under the organization of vice-captain Xavi, the entire Barcelona team went to a suburban restaurant for a team al and also attended the launch of Pique’s autobiography, "Journey Back and Forth."
The entire process was attended by every teammate, with ssi joining the team. Considering the reporters’ adulation of ssi, the protagonist Pique humorously called out to ssi, "ssi, co over here, sit here." Pique arranged for ssi to sit in the first seat of the front row, making the introverted ssi a bit embarrassed, so he just lowered his head to flip through Pique’s personally penned autobiography.
Pique tried his best to steer clear of questions about the epic battle, but the reporters focused all their questions on this match, making Pique quite awkward. Pique jokingly said, "If you want to know more about the epic battle, there’s a Chapter in my book called ’2 to 6’, everyone can read it."
Barcelona’s "relaxation" and Real Madrid’s "tension" ford a sharp contrast.
In such circumstances, Chen Zhong stepped forward, inviting the entire team, including the coaching staff, to have a dinner at a newly opened Chinese restaurant in Madrid.
Pellegrini and Chen Zhong had discussed this privately, but Chen Zhong said, "We are the advantageous side, it’s never us who should be nervous."
And after so adjustnts by Pellegrini, Chen Zhong’s words beca:
"Yes, Chen Zhong and I discussed, initially, I was against it."
"But he said, we are now at the top of the league, since they have given up."
"Why can’t we enjoy ourselves?"
Pellegrini’s words were clearly saying that Barcelona went for a team al before the match because they knew winning at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium would be tough, so they simply gave up...
Chen Zhong had no reaction upon hearing Pellegrini’s words, but Raiola and Florentino frowned.
Other coaches try to ease the pressure on players, so why is it that Pellegrini instead seems to be adding more weight?
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