26 August was Real Madrid's final warm-up match.

Perhaps it can't be called a warm-up match, Real Madrid ushered in a club-hosted event - the Santiago-Bernabeu Cup.

The Santiago Bernabeu Cup is a traditional event for Real Madrid clubs, the reason for which it was established for a few years after the former president of Real Madrid, Santiago Bernabéu, the club held its first tournament in 1979, and it has been held every season since then, because the tournament is very frivolous, the trophy is completely meaningless, and it can also be counted in the warm-up matches.

Of course.

Real Madrid naturally hopes to win the tournaments held by Real Madrid clubs, and the opponents they invite every year are not weak, and they are generally the top clubs in each league.

This year's opponent is Rosenborg.

Rosenborg are the hegemons of the Norwegian league, the eleventh consecutive Norwegian league champions, they dominate the entire Norwegian football scene, and they are also regulars in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, but they are only qualifiers, and the hegemony of the European minor leagues is the same, they qualify for the Champions League, but if they want to enter the main stage, the qualifiers are also a huge test.

This game is different from the previous warm-up games.

Faced with a club tournament against teams from minor leagues, Real Madrid naturally wanted to win.

Manuel Pellegrini also had a good line-up, abandoning the new 4231 formation and switching to the 442 traditional formation.

442 really works well.

Although Real Madrid also has a lot of problems playing 442, the players will not have problems adapting, C-Ronaldo plays on the right side, Zhen Shaolong and Raul partner in the front, Alonso and Guti occupy the middle, which also makes the starting formation look very gorgeous.

In the end, Real Madrid beat Rosenborg 4-2.

For Real Madrid, winning the Bernabeu Cup is nothing at all, and the coaching staff is also a warm-up for 'a little pressure' when they look at the game, and the continuous warm-up has also made the coaching staff more aware of the problems existing in the current Real Madrid squad.

One of the most troublesome is the partner of Kaka and C-Ronaldo, the two may have a 'core conflict', and the effect of playing together is very poor, whether it is the 442 formation or the 4231 formation, they can't play together, everyone's strength is counted as 'one', and the result of the two together is definitely less than two.

In addition, it is Raul and Higuain.

Raul and Higuain are not comfortable with the position of retreating, and the 4231 formation does not play well as a defender.

Zhen Shaolong's problem is not small.

The coaching staff found that Zhen Shaolong had a big problem with cooperation, his ability was very positive, but in the game, his performance was very unstable, sometimes it would be very amazing, sometimes it would be a little mediocre, and the goal efficiency was worthy of recognition, but he also took up a lot of resources, and when he partnered with others, he would almost take up nearly half of the opportunities.

Wait a minute.

There are more or less problems with players in other positions.

After the end of the 'Bernabeu Cup', Pellegrini organized all the players to summarize the preparations, explained all the problems encountered, and talked to Zhen Shaolong alone.

When Zhen Shaolong heard 'his own problem', he felt that the coaching staff was really thinking a little too much, "Actually, I don't need too many opportunities, being fixed will affect my performance, so ...... Just think of me as a libero in the front court. ”

"Unless I ask for it in the game, I'll take the initiative with my teammates to explain it."

Pellegrini was a little puzzled by Zhen Shaolong's statement, but it seems to be a good thing for Zhen Shaolong to take the initiative to give up 'a lot of support', because other people can use these opportunities and the attack will be more normal.

That's where the coaching staff gets a headache.

For example, Diarra.

For example, Granero.

These two guys always give the ball to Zhen Shaolong when they play, and Zhen Shaolong is closely guarded most of the time, and the receiving data after a few warm-up games is miserable, and it is normal to not be able to catch two feet with three passes.

Zhen Shaolong is different.

He can score.

Although Zhen Shaolong wasted a lot of opportunities, he also seized the opportunity to score the ball, and he was able to score goals every time he played, and occasionally his performance would surprise the whole game, giving people the feeling that it was enough for him to have himself in the frontcourt.

This has also led to a very inconsistent overall performance of Real Madrid.

After Pellegrini talked to Zhen Shaolong, he immediately found Granero and Diarra, reminding them not to always pass the ball to Zhen Shaolong, but to behave normally and make the game more fluid.

Zhen Shaolong also said to the two in training, "The game is normal, unless I have a chance, don't always pass the ball." ”

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In fact, the coaching staff also helped Zhen Shaolong solve his troubles.

Granero and Diarra always pass the ball over, causing him to be tackled too many times, he didn't pay much attention to it at first, and after continuous warm-up games, he felt a little depressed, he didn't have time to say it for a while, but he didn't expect the coaching staff to find a problem and say it.

This made Zhen Shaolong a lot easier.

Football is a team sport, with 11 men on the pitch as a team, he didn't think about playing on his own and getting most of the team's attacking opportunities, which also meant shouldering a lot of pressure to score.

When there is a special temporary mission effect, the more opportunities the better, and it is really a waste in normal times.

This will affect his game stats and performance evaluations.

For example, in a previous warm-up game, he only scored one goal in the whole game, but was tackled twelve times, which is equivalent to giving the opponent twelve opportunities to attack, and the media's evaluation of his performance is also average, because he wasted too many opportunities.

If you get tackled two or three times and score a goal, the performance evaluation will definitely increase a lot.

After the end of the 'Bernabeu Cup' match, the outside media began to look forward to the new season, and Real Madrid's warm-up matches in the past can also be summarized, Real Madrid's warm-up results are not bad, but the media is not optimistic about the results of Pellegrini's work, mainly because Real Madrid's 'new formation experiment' seems to have failed, and in the game with Rosenborg, the use of the 442 formation is proof.

"The 4231 formation has too many limitations, and Real Madrid's squad situation can only magnify the problem."

"This new formation doesn't suit Real Madrid right now!"

"The 442 that Pellegrini is good at can play a good effect, and the only impact is that stars such as Zhen Shaolong, Kaka, and C-Ronaldo cannot play together."

That last point is not a problem.

When Manuel Pellegrini first took over, the tactical formation was the focus of attention in the Spanish media, and they felt that the 442 formation could not bring out the full strength of Real Madrid, because it was difficult for several stars to appear on the field together.

Now that there are back-to-back warm-up matches, the Spanish media have found it impossible to get the big stars to work.

That only exists in fantasy.

No matter what kind of formation is used, there will be stars sitting on the bench, and it is difficult to let all the famous stars play and play all of them, as evidenced by the 'contradiction' between Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whom are top frontcourt superstars, but they can't play together to play.

But in fact, the Real Madrid coaching staff did not give up the 4231.

In Real Madrid's tactical training, adapting to the new formation is still the focus, and Pellegrini uses various methods to make the players more adaptable, and constantly changes the position of the players to experiment with the effect of performance.

Every player at Real Madrid has to work hard to adapt.

Among them, there is no pressure only the central defender and the goalkeeper, whether it is 442 or 4231, their responsibilities have not changed, and Zhen Shaolong has been less affected, or it should be said that he has always been like this, no matter what formation he plays, just waiting for the pass in front and looking for opportunities.

In the process of continuous training, the time came to the end of August.

Champions League group draw.

In the past few years, Real Madrid have fallen in the last 16 of the Champions League, which has also caused them to drop sharply in the standings, and they have fallen out of the 'first seed' ranks, and no matter how the draw is made, they will definitely encounter the 'Group of Death'.

In the end, they were drawn in Group C, along with AC Milan, Marseille and Zurich.

Most people think it's a good sign.

AC Milan are no longer the famous times they used to be, and they have undergone a massive rebuilding over the summer, which means that the team will be in a painful run-in at the beginning of the season.

Even more desperate than the rebuilding is the loss of personnel at AC Milan.

Kaka finally went to Real Madrid to realize his dream after six seasons, the meritorious coach Carlo Ancelotti also left Chelsea, Leonardo's fledgling ability was questioned, and Ronaldinho, who was hailed by Berlusconi as the new core, was pulled out of the nightclub by fans and forced him to go home to sleep.

Such an AC Milan team will definitely aim for a pragmatic Serie A.

Although AC Milan and Real Madrid are evenly matched with 5 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses in terms of historical records, even the Italian media believe that "the current AC Milan is not on the same level as Real Madrid." ”

In addition to Real Madrid and AC Milan in Group C, another competitive team is Marseille, as last season's Ligue 1 runners-up, French media reports say, "Marseille will be expected to be a dark horse in Group C, they will compete with AC Milan for second place in the group." ”

Truly.

Marseille did not spend as much as Real Madrid in the summer, but they also made very strong personnel additions, with former Monaco coach Didier Deschamps taking office and bringing in 14 players in one go, including many big names such as Morientes, Heinze and Luis Gonzalez.

Even for the teams in Ligue 1, Marseille's blood-changing signings will be full of mystery, not to mention other league teams, and it is indeed very possible to say that Marseille can become a dark horse in the Champions League.

Of course.

Real Madrid's Champions League draw is quite satisfactory, so I am not in the mood to pay attention to the analysis of other national media.

La Liga is imminent.

August 30 is the first round of La Liga, and the Premier League has played three rounds in the same period, and the late start time also has the advantage of being late, so that each team can have more adequate preparation and it is easier to get into the groove after the league starts.

Real Madrid's opponent in the first round was Deportivo La Coruna.

Because it is the opening match of the first round, there will definitely be a large number of fans to pay attention, Real Madrid's summer recruitment is unlimited, and when facing the official league, there will be a lot of pressure, and the whole team knows that there is only one way to relieve the pressure-

Take the win!