The 27th round of La Liga started with an upset.
At the José Zorrilla Stadium, Barcelona lost 0-1 away to relegation-threatened Valladolid despite having the advantage on the field, which shocked the entire Spanish football world.
Just the day before the game, at a press conference at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barcelona head coach Martino had made a strong promise, "In order to take control of our own destiny, we must win every league game!"
But who could have imagined that a day later, Barcelona would lose a league game at the home of the near-relegation team Valladolid.
Although Martino repeatedly emphasized after the game that there was nothing wrong with the players' attitude, almost everyone directed their criticism at the Barcelona stars whose attitudes had already become lax.
"Barcelona played a shameless game, without football, without stars!" This was the headline of El País, Spain's largest newspaper.
This media outlet, which has always maintained a relatively neutral attitude, believed that Barcelona's loss to a team that is about to be relegated was a great humiliation.
Especially in such a negative manner.
Even the Daily Sports newspaper, which is close to Barcelona, sarcastically said after the game, "Barcelona is trying hard to push the championship to Real Madrid!"
Barcelona's mouthpiece used the word "disoriented" to describe the team's performance, arguing that they did not show even the slightest determination and fighting spirit to win.
Just after the game, when the team returned to Barcelona, the club held an impromptu high-level meeting.
President Bartomeu, Vice President Mestre, who is in charge of sports, head coach Martino and technical director Zubizarreta sat down together to discuss various plans for this summer.
According to Daily Sports, although Martino's contract with the team will not expire until 2015, he clearly told the Barcelona management at the meeting that he will leave after the end of this season.
As for Barcelona, Martino gave some sound advice, namely that they must bring in at least six players.
Goalkeeper, center back, midfielder and center forward.
In other words, Barcelona's entire central axis needs reinforcements.
Daily Sports revealed that Barcelona has set its sights on German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen for the goalkeeper position, and Paris Saint-Germain's Thiago Silva for center back. Porto's Mangala is also one of Barcelona's targets, but neither player is easy to sign.
There is no need to talk about Thiago Silva. Paris Saint-Germain has already made a harsh statement that if Barcelona dares to seduce Thiago Silva, they will go all out to poach Messi.
As for Mangala, the center back has performed well in the Primeira Liga, but last summer, Porto had already set a sky-high price of 50 million euros for him, which scared off many potential buyers. After one season, Porto's asking price will only be higher than this.
There is still no suitable candidate for midfielder and center forward.
"Martino suggested introducing a player with strong running and impact, as well as excellent passing ability. Vidal, who plays for Bayern Munich, is a good candidate. Coutinho of Leeds United in the Premier League is also within Barcelona's consideration."
As for the center forward, there is not even a specific target yet.
But as everyone knows, Barcelona has no money at all, so in order to make signings, Barcelona must clear out existing players.
Sanchez can be sold for a good price, and players such as Alex Song, Cuenca, Afellay and others will be cleared out.
"Bartomeu promised our reporter that this will be a hopeful change!"
…
Gao Shen could not empathize with Barcelona's misfortune.
Because in the subsequent league match, Real Madrid defeated Levante 4-0 at home and won cleanly.
Simeone's Atletico Madrid defeated Celta Vigo 2-0 away.
Interestingly, former Barcelona player Villa scored twice.
This made many Catalan media reflect, after all, they sent Villa away at a bargain price.
Simeone smiled and overtook Barcelona to become second in La Liga.
As for the league title, Simeone said the gap was a bit too big.
What this meant was that the championship belongs to Real Madrid.
Gao Shen was not very interested in Barcelona's overhaul plans because he knew that the players Barcelona wanted to buy were not very realistic and that the club would have to compromise in the end.
For example, as a center back, they would not dare to try for Thiago Silva. If they went after him again, Paris Saint-Germain would get anxious.
If the Qataris really got angry, Neymar's buyout clause might be triggered early.
As for Mangala, he definitely could not be taken away for less than 50 million euros.
Speaking of which, this was also partially Gao Shen's fault.
Koulibaly's transfer to Chelsea cost the Blues 45 million euros, which was already a bit high.
When Porto saw that a young player like Koulibaly could be sold at this price, they demanded that Mangala be worth at least 50 million euros.
As a result, no one was interested.
At least Koulibaly had been tested in the Premier League, but what about Mangala?
Porto said, "Our Mangala has at least played in the Champions League, but what has Koulibaly played in? And that Marquinhos, why is he worth 40 million euros?"
If these two Leeds United players could be sold at that price, our Mangala should definitely be sold for more.
So far, Porto's asking price is 60 million euros, with no discount.
In Gao Shen's previous life, when Mangala transferred from Porto to Manchester City, the transfer fee announced publicly was 40 million euros, but there were always reports that his actual transfer fee was more than 55 million euros. The reason was that a third-party ownership company held a share of Mangala.
Now it seemed definitely higher.
However, Gao Shen did not take it too seriously.
Just imagine, if Mangala is 60 million euros, what about De Vrij?
In Gao Shen's previous life, De Vrij had only one year left on his contract with Feyenoord, so after shining at the World Cup, he was sold cheaply to Lazio. But that is not the case now.
After a season of outstanding performances in the Premier League, if he can shine at the World Cup, when Mangala can fetch 60 million euros, how much would De Vrij be sold for?
Therefore, Gao Shen hoped that Porto would bid even higher and drive up the center back market. That would be good for Leeds United.
…
A week later, in the 28th round of La Liga, Real Madrid traveled away to face Málaga.
Right after the start, Real Madrid's relentless attack caused huge problems for Málaga.
In particular, Gao Shen put out a trident of Ronaldo, Benzema and Di María in the front line tonight, with Isco sitting behind them, and Toni Kroos and Modric forming a double pivot.
This aggressive attacking setup created a steady stream of firepower for Real Madrid's front line.
In the 22nd minute, Di María drove in from the right and passed to Ronaldo, who controlled the ball on the left, shook off the defender, cut inside and shot, beating Málaga's goalkeeper.
Early in the second half, in the 50th minute, Di María had another brilliant moment. He went past three players and produced a wonderful pass. Isco finished with a one-on-one, making it 2-0.
In the 73rd minute, Di María assisted again, and Ronaldo scored with a close-range finish, his second of the night. The Argentine completed an assist hat trick.
In the end, Real Madrid defeated Málaga 3-0 away.
Atletico Madrid beat Espanyol 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Diego Costa.
Barcelona beat Osasuna 7-0 at home thanks to Messi's hat trick.
…
Three days later, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, Real Madrid hosted Galatasaray at home.
Since qualification was already decided, Gao Shen did not go all out in this game, instead rotating and using substitutes.
Galatasaray clearly wanted to take advantage of Real Madrid's mindset of being confident of advancing, turn the situation around on the road, and try to create an upset.
In fact, everyone knew that after a 7-0 defeat at home, the possibility of a comeback at the Bernabéu was extremely low, and the Turkish team simply wanted a decent result.
In the end, the two sides battled for ninety minutes.
Real Madrid took the lead through Morata, but Galatasaray quickly equalized through Brut.
This goal was assisted by Drogba.
After that, Hesse recorded a goal and an assist, Pogba scored as well, and Real Madrid finally defeated Galatasaray 4-1.
The aggregate score was 11-1, and Real Madrid advanced to the quarterfinals with an astonishing advantage.
…
Some are happy, some are sad.
Here, Real Madrid advanced to the quarterfinals with a huge aggregate score, while many teams elsewhere were eliminated and left in tears.
For example, Manchester United, who were in the same group as Real Madrid in the group stage.
Today's Red Devils are performing well in the Premier League, but they also suffered a disastrous defeat in the Champions League.
As Manchester United only finished second in the group, they drew group winners Napoli from Serie A.
As a result, Sarri's team drew 2-2 with Manchester United in the first leg at Old Trafford, giving Moyes two loud slaps in the face.
Back at their home ground, Sarri's team defeated Manchester United 3-1 again, sending the Red Devils home with a total score of 5-3.
At the same time, teams such as AC Milan and Arsenal also failed in the round of 16.
What made Moyes even more embarrassed was that when Manchester United were eliminated, the British Daily Mirror suddenly broke the news.
Although it was only March and the World Cup had not yet been held, the famous Dutch coach Guus Hiddink had already formed an assistant team in advance because he would take over the Dutch national team after the World Cup.
This seemed to have nothing to do with Manchester United, but the connection soon emerged.
The current head coach of the Dutch national team is Van Gaal. How would Hiddink take over?
Van Gaal would leave the team.
So where would Van Gaal go after leaving?
When the Daily Mirror put this question to Van Gaal, the Dutchman was forced to admit that he would coach a top Premier League team after the World Cup.
"I haven't experienced the atmosphere of English football yet, and I want to win the league title in a fourth country."
Wasn't this obvious?
The Daily Mirror concluded that Manchester United's management had already started the process of changing coaches and had reached a consensus with Van Gaal early on. Therefore, Van Gaal publicly indicated his intention to leave after the World Cup, which is why the Dutch Football Association had already lined up Hiddink early.
But Moyes seemed to be unaware of all this.
Regardless, almost the whole world concluded that Moyes would definitely be sacked.
Gao Shen was not surprised, because Moyes' poor performance made his dismissal inevitable.
What he was more concerned about was Real Madrid's draw in the quarterfinals.
Who is the next opponent?
(To be continued.)