The green devil

Chapter 353 Strong Enemy Monaco

An away draw with Juventus in this way is enough to make the world look at the Espanyol with admiration.

Unbeaten in 7 warm-up matches.

Among them are giants like Juventus and powerful teams like Everton.

This is enough to prove that the Espanyol team this season is still not to be underestimated, it can cause trouble for any team.

Of course, the warm-up match is just a warm-up match, which does not explain too many problems.

Both the media and the fans believe that the real test for the Espanyol team is the upcoming Champions League play-offs.

Even the Spaniard's players think so.

The Espanyol team is a veteran team in La Liga. "Aspen" once made a statistics. The total points of the Espanyol team in La Liga ranked seventh among all teams.

It can be said that the Espanyol team understands La Liga.

But the Champions League is uncharted territory for Espanyol, who have never played in the Champions League.

After the warm-up match against Juventus, the Espanyol hurried back to Barcelona early the next morning.

Three days later, they will face the challenge of Ligue [-] giants Monaco at their home court.

There will be two play-offs, with the winner going to the Champions League group stage and the loser going home.

These two games are crucial to the Espanyol team, and it almost determines the success or failure of the Espanyol this season.

During the offseason, the Espanyol did not have a Spanish team in the warm-up match, which is to prepare for the Champions League.

Espanyol's opponent Monaco is very difficult.

A total of 20 teams participated in the play-off draw. Manchester City, Porto, Espanyol, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Roma directly qualified for the draw based on their league rankings, and another 15 teams advanced through the third qualifying round.

Manchester City, Ajax and Borussia Mönchengladbach were very lucky, and they all drew weaker opponents, while the Espanyol and Roma were a bit unlucky.

The Espanyol team drew Monaco, while the Roma team had even worse luck and drew the Portuguese Super League giants Porto.

In terms of reputation, Monaco is a bit worse than Porto, and in terms of strength, the two are comparable, but in terms of state, Monaco is definitely much better now.

Monaco is No.15 in Ligue 16 in the 3-[-] season. They entered the play-off draw through the qualifying round.

In the third qualifying round, Monaco's opponent is the giant Fenerbahce of the Turkish Super League.

In the first leg, Monaco lost 1:2 away.

Back at home, Germain and Falcao scored three goals and reversed the powerful Fenerbahce 3:1, showing their strength and will to the world.

In this team, the most famous is of course the Brazilian forward Tiger Falcao, but Bernardo Silva, Lemar, the talented young Mbappe and Mendy cannot be underestimated. players of the game.

But the backbone of this team is their Portuguese coach Jardim.

Before coaching Monaco, Jardim's coaching resume was very glamorous.

In the 2011-2012 season, Jardim led the little-known Portuguese team Braga to miraculously beat the Portuguese Super League giants to win the third place in the Portuguese Super League.

In the 2012-2013 season, Jardim set a six-month unbeaten team record during his coaching of Olympiakos, and finally easily won the Greek League Championship with a 10-point advantage ahead of the second place in the league.

In the 2013-2014 season, Jardim led Sporting Lisbon to the Portuguese Super League runner-up.

Since the summer of 2014, Jardim has become the coach of Monaco. In the first season, he led Monaco to the third place in Ligue [-] and kept Monaco's Champions League qualification.

The players are talented and capable, and the coach is experienced and wise. Such a team is definitely not easy to deal with.

Back in Barcelona, ​​the Espanyol team only rested for two hours, and immediately put into training.

The Espanyol team returned undefeated from training, and the fans of the Espanyol team were very excited. On the same day, more than 3000 fans flooded in Jarke Sports City to watch their training.

I have just flown to three countries and played seven warm-up matches. This training cannot be a real practice, that is, to warm up, recover, and meet the fans.

The training ended early, and the players did not go home directly, but went to the tactical room of the base for a meeting.

After everyone found a place to sit, Sergio said: "Our first Champions League match is only three days away. Today we will hold a tactical seminar. Let's take a look at what Coach Ruben did for us. Highlights from Monaco."

After watching the game highlights, the Espanyol players were silent.

Even if it is a collection, they can see that this is a strong team, both in terms of tactical quality and personal strength.

Sergio said: "It's over, come on, let's talk about your opinions."

Captain Lopez wanted to take the lead. He took the lead and said: "This is a strong opponent! Their offensive power is quite strong! Falcao can't give a chance... Their defense seems not so reliable, this is our chance. "

Sergio smiled and nodded.

Lopez has been semi-retired this season and is more involved in the team's coaching. Now it seems that he has made great progress.

Next is the deputy Sanchez, "Captain Lopez said that Monaco must not be underestimated, but we can take advantage of their offensive strength and defensive weakness. As long as we can withstand their attack, the balance of victory will fall to us." This side..."

Before Sanchez finished speaking, defender Duterte interjected: "Falcao and Silva are extremely capable in individual combat. Our defense alone cannot withstand it. The front line must return to defense more often."

Sanchez said: "The main thing is not to rely on the striker to return to the defense. The striker needs to put pressure on the opponent. If you don't score, the defense is useless."

Zhao Yang said: "Lemar and Silva are very important, lock them up, and if no one sends shells to Falcao, we will have a great chance of winning."

The midfielder Diop said: "That little guy named Mbappe has a strange speed. We have to be careful not to let him rush up."

Sanchez said contemptuously: "Is that little guy 18 years old? He's still young, and Jardim might not let him play."

Defender Alvarez said: "Although our defense cannot be said to be solid, it has also experienced the test of Real Madrid and Barcelona's forwards, and we are still afraid of a child."

Zhao Yang smiled and didn't say anything, thinking in his heart that he has been tested, but conceding five or six goals in a game is not a good idea.

After some discussion, everyone had their own opinions, but the overall opinion was unified: Monaco is very strong and should not be underestimated.

The head coach Sergio let the players watch the highlights and speak, just to achieve this goal.

La Liga is the No. 4 league in the world. The Spaniard won the fourth place in the league last season, and he has not lost a single game abroad.

Sergio was very worried that they would underestimate the enemy. Now it seems that the players are still very sensible and have not been dazzled by the victory.