19-20 Season Opener (1)
Wow, it looks like Barcelona's momentum will carry over into this season as well. They played the game with such precision to secure the victory.
The sextuple was the highest honor in the football world, earned by winning every major tournament. Normally, it required victories in the league, cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, and the national team's Super Cup—six titles in total. Even in the EPL, where an extra league and cup pushed the total to seven, teams that completed the sextuple became legends in the football world unless they were at the very top like the EPL.
In this world, it had never been achieved before. The closest team had been the 2009 Barcelona, who had reached five trophies but slipped in the UEFA Super Cup and fell just short. This UEFA Super Cup victory had finally opened the door to that glory.
Thinking of the teams that had achieved the treble in the previous life—Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid—I knew they usually completed it by winning the Super Cups and Club World Cup after the treble season. But since we had the qualification for the Super Cups, if we won all the remaining matches, we could reach that glory.
“So, what I want to say to you is that this season is really important. I still have a grudge from not achieving the sextuple during my playing days. With your skills, achieving the treble this season is definitely possible. So, please win all the remaining matches and help this senior fulfill his regret.”
“Uuuu!!! Boring!”
“Don’t pretend to be normal at the end! Lucia!”
The other players were still getting used to Lucia suddenly giving them orders like a principal before her retirement, so they showered her with jeers.
“Alright, alright. Enough. So, are you going to ignore Lucia’s final request?”
“...Coach. If you say it like that, I sound like a dead person.”
Angela’s words calmed the players. Lucia’s usual mischievous expression returned. Angela chuckled softly at her and addressed the team.
“Anyway, our goal this season is, as Lucia said, the treble. We all know the first match is crucial, right? Let’s all do our best to make Lucia’s last match a victory.”
Our home opener and Lucia’s retirement ceremony was scheduled for Lucia to play the last one or two minutes, as planned by Angela. Since the player registration deadline was still two weeks away, it was a clever loophole.
“You look like you’ve lost all your muscles. Can you even run for a minute?”
“Think of it as one player being sent off.”
Of course, Lucia’s body after the intense training was not quite professional, so we needed to rack up as many points as possible in the short time.
Moreover, unlike last season’s Champions League final where we had planned to substitute her only when necessary, this match required Lucia to step onto the pitch in the 89th or 90th minute no matter what. It was crucial to score as much as possible in that short time.
Performing a retirement ceremony after a legendary player’s farewell would be mortifying, after all.
Since the coach felt the same way, our lineup against Athletic Bilbao was composed entirely of starters.
Of course, Bilbao was a formidable team, and as an opener there were no concerns about fatigue. But if the youngest player on the team, who was about to become a legend and retire, didn’t want to throw a grand retirement ceremony for him, that would be a lie.
“Then let’s go out. And give our fans the best retirement ceremony possible.”
Before leaving the locker room, Angela delivered her final words. We were already fully prepared to hear them.
Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao’s opening match is being held at Camp Nou. ... Having won the Champions League last season and reached the top of Europe, Barcelona had shown their strength by winning the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea?
Indeed. Under the command of Coach Angela, they had reached the top of Europe. If asked who the strongest team in Europe is, it might not be easy to give a simple answer, but the team that can always be named among the strongest three in Europe is the current Barcelona led by Angela.
What do you think is Barcelona’s strength?
The flashy passing football, for example. Barcelona, who led the passing football to the world’s mainstream, had pushed it to the extreme under Angela’s system by using a modified three-back. The foundation is the excellent individual abilities of the key players.
Good coach and good players harmonizing properly, right?
Yes. In fact, under the Diene coach system, these players didn’t show this destructive power, did they? Of course, there is criticism that the tactics overly rely on the players’ individual skills, such as passing and ball recovery, but Angela’s coach who pushed the players’ abilities to the limit can’t be ignored either.
The evaluation of a great chef who cooked good ingredients fits perfectly, doesn’t it?
Haha, what a good expression.
Now, let’s introduce Barcelona’s lineup. In goal, Maximilena. On the defensive line, from right to left: Anila, Tiana, Narcis. In the midfield line, defensive midfielder Camila, central midfielder Lorenza, Yelena, attacking midfielder Ryu Ha-neul, and in the forward three-top, from right to left: Eloya, Arnal, Albaria.
The members who won the Champions League last season are playing as is. With this lineup, they won the Super Cup, so the players’ skills still look strong.
Now, Athletic Bilbao’s lineup. In goal, Ainoa. Defensive line: Ane, Arancha, Naia... Last season Bilbao used a four-back, but they brought a three-back?
Yes. The difference from a normal three-back is that Ane and Naia, who will play on the sides of the three-back, played as full-backs until last year. They had used this modified three-back in friendly matches a few times, and it was surprising to see them bring a modified three-back against Angela, as if it were something new that Angela herself had created.
Are they challenging us head-on?
It seems so. If you watch the match directly, it looks like a 3-2-4-1 formation. Unlike Barcelona, there is no attacking midfielder, and they are using two defensive midfielders. I wonder what kind of football they will show.
The match is about to begin. Barcelona kicks off, the ball goes to Ryu Ha-neul. Ryu Ha-neul passes to Camila and settles in.
“What formation is this?”
When I turned the ball around in my mind, I wondered what formation Bilbao had brought.
Looking at the players’ positions, it seemed like a formation using two defensive midfielders in a three-back. This formation was quite different from the one Bilbao had mainly used last season.
As a Spanish team, Bilbao had mainly used a 4-1-2-3 formation focused on passing football, so bringing this formation was a bit unexpected.
“Come to think of it, they said they had used three-backs in the friendly matches a few times.”
But after a while, I roughly guessed what formation they had brought. Bilbao had used a modified three-back similar to ours against lower-ranked teams in the friendly matches.
But I had never expected them to bring a modified three-back against us.
After all, a modified three-back that used full-backs as center-backs and midfielders and somewhere in between was originally our creation. If I traced back the origin of the modified three-back Angela was using now, there was the tactic Maria had created, and we could see ourselves as the inheritors of Maria’s spirit, Maria-ism.
Yet they were challenging us with this counter-strategy? Right here at Camp Nou, our home ground?
The courage was admirable, but honestly, it was ridiculous.
The more ridiculous part was that they had brought two defensive midfielders because they were afraid of us.
Was the counter-strategy not perfect after all?
Well, I would have to watch how Bilbao developed their attack, but either way, both attack and defense would be vague.
By settling in the space in front of the opponent’s center-back, one defensive midfielder marked me while the other formed the defensive line.
And before long, a pass was connected to me.
Thud.
With only a light first touch, he rolled the ball in front of me, and the defensive midfielder who had been marking me stepped back to create space and blocked me.
In the end, tactics were what it took to win a match. So, the tactics of Champions League winning teams were basically the truth in the football world. The Champions League was a stage to determine the strongest team of the year, so in terms of level, it was a higher stage than the World Cup.
And Bilbao seemed to have benchmarked our tactics during the pre-season by following the truth of the football world.
“Then let’s see how good these fake guys are?”
I rolled the ball with the sole of my foot and approached the guy.