"Mark, congratulations." After Mark returned to the team's training ground in the afternoon, many players sent their blessings to Mark.

It turns out that these players also learned from their agent that Mark was included in the list of 100 people who were selected as World Footballer.[]

This is also something that many players are very envious, and Mark also seems a little fluttering. Mark feels that being surrounded by people is very good, and Mark also likes this feeling very much.

"Everyone trains well and don't bring things off the court to the court." Cooper appeared inappropriately at this time, and at the same time, he also interrupted everyone's praise for Mark inappropriately.

After hearing Cooper's words, the players left Mark's side and went to train.

"It's too harsh. I originally wanted to enjoy it for a while." Mark thought so in his heart. Although Mark was a little dissatisfied with Cooper's approach, he still went to train very obediently.

In fact, Cooper did this to make the team focus more on the team itself and not want the team to be disturbed by some off-court matters. The team's task is to win the game, and there is no other reason except this.

Cooper is a very old head coach. He doesn't like players to have more exposure outside the court. In his opinion, this will affect the players' condition on the court.

Mark is Cooper's favorite player, and Mark's off-court matters have indeed affected his condition, just like Mark's performance was not very good in the game against Numancia. Cooper felt that there were too many things on the off-court matters, which led to a decline in Mark's condition.

"Mark, concentrate on training and don't be affected by things off the field," Cooper walked over to Mark and whispered.

This is also Cooper who gave Mark face, because although Mark's condition has fluctuations, he quickly adjusted after all. It is impossible for athletes to have no fluctuations in their condition. Even the best athletes' condition will be good or bad.

However, the state of top players is very small, which is the difference between top players and ordinary players. Although Mark is not a top player, he has also adjusted his condition very well.

"I know coach, I won't be affected by things outside the court," Mark said to Cooper with some gratitude.

Because Cooper's actions clearly showed his concern for Mark, he was naturally very happy to have such a head coach who took care of him. Anyway, Mark could feel Cooper's love for him. Mark felt that playing football under Cooper should be the best choice, and I don't know how much better than his ex-Ferlando.

Atletico Madrid will continue to go away to Barcelona to prepare for the next round of league competition.

Atletico Madrid's group took a plane to Barcelona, ​​the capital of Catalonia, which is another representative city of football in Spain, because it has the Barcelona Club, one of the La Liga giants.

However, Atletico Madrid's next opponent is not Barcelona, ​​but Barcelona's mortal enemy, Espanyol, the full name is Royal Espanyol Football Club.

The reason why the word "Royal" was added to the name was because the Espanyol accepted the title of the Spanish King, and ordinary teams could not enjoy such honors.

However, there are many grudges between the city of Barcelona and Madrid. Since the dictator Franco occupied Spain, the Catalans began to resist Franco's dictatorship for freedom, which also won the respect of many Spanish people.

However, after Spain's domestic unification, Barcelona was still clamoring for independence, which made many Spaniards very disgusted. Moreover, the independence of Catalans is very reasonable, because Barcelona has become the most profitable city in Spain, and has even surpassed Madrid.

But they must bear high taxes, which is something that Catalans must accept, so many Catalan radicals hope that the entire Catalan region can become independent in Spain.

In fact, the Catalonian region in Spain hopes to be independent, and the people in the Basque Country also hope to be independent. This may be because of the national complex.

Anyway, Mark still has a certain preference for the city of Barcelona, ​​because the scenery of this city is indeed good. Compared with Madrid in the center of Spain, there is no river.

Barcelona is close to the seaside, more like Amsterdam where Mark played for before. In addition, Mark also participated in this game with a relaxed mood.

This is because, although Catalonia has a tense relationship with Madrid, it is just a grudge between their giants Barcelona and Real Madrid. Because only Real Madrid and Barcelona can be the representatives of these two teams, and Atletico Madrid cannot represent Madrid at all because they are not qualified in front of Real Madrid.

The same is true for Real Estate and Atletico Madrid. Espanyol actually accepted the title of the king in Barcelona, ​​a city that hopes to be independent, and they can see their ambition.

Espanyol only has two important games a year, which is the match against Barcelona. As long as they can defeat Barcelona, ​​they will be the highest goal of the season. So for the Spanish team, they are a small club in Barcelona and are not liked by the majority of Barcelona. They are also a small club.

This is the same as Atletico Madrid, but Espanyol is not thorough enough compared to Atletico Madrid. They all fought to the death with Barcelona without relegation.

If Atletico Madrid can defeat Atletico Madrid, it would rather be relegated by itself, the two teams still have some essential differences.

Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean coast in northeastern Spain. It is the second largest city in Spain and the largest industrial center. It has a population of about 1.75 million and has a major economic status in Spain. The climate here is pleasant, the scenery is beautiful, and the historical sites are everywhere. It is known as the "Pearl of the Iberian Peninsula" and is the most famous tourist destination in Spain. It is a cultural ancient city in Spain and is known as Manhattan in the Mediterranean.

According to legend, the city was built by Carthaginian general Hamilka Bacca. For its long history, it also served as the territory of the Count of Barcelona and the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon.

The ancient buildings with Gothic style and the tall buildings complement each other, forming the fascinating skyline of Barcelona. The messy alleys are close to the edge of the new city, and industrial chimneys will suddenly appear in the antique old city. In Barcelona, ​​all this inconsistency seems to be natural.

Of course, Barcelona's greatest pride is the masterpiece of the modernist genius architect Gaudi, who made the pearl of the peninsula even more dazzling. Six works of a person are included in the world's cultural heritage, which is a unique miracle in the world.

Since the game is scheduled to be held at night, players also have time to take a break locally after training, which is also a good time for players to adjust their condition.

Because Atletico Madrid came by plane, although the journey on the plane was not very long, their bodies still felt a little tired. This is because of this, the players also found time to take as much rest as possible.

"Raphael, what does it feel like when you come to Barcelona? I heard that your favorite is Barcelona club," Mark said to Van der Fate after training.

"Yes, because of Cruyff's relationship, the club I most hoped to join was Barcelona, ​​but unfortunately I don't have such an opportunity yet," Van der Fate said to Mark with some regret.

Mark also understands Van der Fate's helplessness. It is not that professional players can join which team they want to join. This depends on some other factors, including the club's financial situation, the players' status, and the club's head coach.

It’s like many world-class players cannot show their own strength after joining a giant team. This is why it is not because the players themselves have poor strength, but because the players cannot adapt to the city or the head coach’s tactical style, so Van der Fate’s failure to choose to join Barcelona was also his helpless move.

Moreover, he is undoubtedly the right choice to join Atletico Madrid, because even if Van der Fate really joins Barcelona, ​​he will not have his position in the formation. He needs to compete with Deco and Xavi to compete with the position of the already poor midfielder.

There is no such thing as Atletico Madrid. There will always be a main position in the team. In addition, although there are Dutch players in Barcelona, ​​Van der Fate may not be able to really integrate into the team.

Because those players are Van der Fate's seniors, Van der Fate is not very familiar with them. Head coach Rijkaard had just played football when he was glorious in Milan, and although Van Bronkhorst was a Dutch player, he played for Ajax's rival Feyenoord Club in the Netherlands.

How could he be as happy as playing football with Mark? Although Van der Fate had some concerns when he first joined Atletico Madrid, he soon felt relieved. Moreover, he is a professional player. Even if Atletico Madrid faces Ajax at this time, Van der Fate will play the game with all his strength, so that he can show Van der Fate's respect for the team.

"It's nothing. I don't want to do it anymore. I play football everywhere and I will have a chance in the future," Van der Fate said relaxedly.

The two of them chatted together without saying a word, and the competition was about to begin soon.

Soon Atletico Madrid went to Espanyol's home stadium Mozuci Olympic Stadium (Spanish: estadiolimpicluis companies), formerly known as Monteuke Olympic Stadium (Spanish: estadiolimpicdemontju?c), a large stadium located in the Monteuke Olympic Ring in Barcelona, ​​Catalonia, Spain. It was built in 1927 and was the main venue for the opening, closing ceremony and track and field events during the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Mozuci Olympic Stadium Exterior Monteuke Olympic Stadium by Spanish architect Pe

edomènechirou

A, designed as the venue for the 1929 World Expo Barcelona, ​​and is prepared to be the home venue for the first People's Olympic Games from July 19 to July 26, 1936. The People's Olympic Games were participated by 22 countries including the United States to resist the 1936 Summer Olympic Games held by Nazi Germany, but it failed due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This venue held the Spanish Cup Final in 1957, with the historic match between two powerful teams, Barcelona Football Club and Espanyol Football Club. Since the 1960s, problems such as failed to make full use of the venue and seats have been disrepaired, so it has not been used as the venue for the 1982 World Cup Football Championship.

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games was selected as the main venue for the Monteuke Olympic Stadium, and was renowned Italian architect Vitto

iog

Egotti's team was responsible for the modernization of the venue. The renovation project was carried out between 1989 and 1992. After completion, the original quaint appearance of the venue was roughly retained, and the number of audience seats increased to 55,000. The internal facilities were completely renewed, and the rostrum was a large dome of 40 meters wide and 130 meters long. There were replicas of Greek sculptures - horse riders on both sides of the entrance to the main entrance. As for the torch platform, it was installed at the entrance of the north side of the Olympic Stadium, about 18 meters high and weighed

About 11 tons, made of titanium and stainless steel [1]. During the 1992 Summer Olympics, the venue accommodated 70,000 spectators, held opening, closing ceremony and track and field events, witnessing Antonio Repolo using bows and arrows to ignite the Olympic flame; Ethiopian black female athlete Tulu and white female athlete Meyer from South Africa ran to the finish line in the last lap of the women's 10,000-meter event, symbolizing classic moments such as the great unity of Africa.

The venue was renamed the Olympic Stadium of Mozuci in 2001 to commemorate the late Chairman of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Mozuci, who was captured by the Nazi German government during the Spanish Civil War and was executed by the Franco regime in 1940. Since 1997, the venue has become the home court of the Espanyol Football Club until the club's new venue was completed in 2009.

Cooper also made final arrangements for Atletico Madrid players in the team's locker room. He was also very worried about the team's away game, because Espanyol is not a bottom team.

Spain ranks fourth in the league in ranking, two places higher than Atletico Madrid's sixth in the league. Moreover, Espanyol is playing at home, so their strength cannot be underestimated. Cooper believes that it would be great if he can score one point away.

So Cooper also arranged a very stable formation, which is a more popular formation in La Liga, which is the configuration of four, two, three, four defenders, two midfielders, three forwards, and one forward.

Atletico Madrid is going to counterattack at Espanyol's home court and use Torres's speed advantage to harass Espanyol, which is also Cooper's ending deployment.

In terms of players, as for the left forward, Glenshare, who played the whole game in the last game, was put on the bench by Cooper, and Nano was replaced by him.

Mark also returned to the starting lineup. In addition to the changes in these two positions, the remaining Atletico Madrid's starting lineup is the same as the previous game against Udinese.

However, the only thing that makes people worry is Torres' physical condition. In the game against Udinese, Torres played for 80 minutes before being replaced by Salva.

In this game, he continued to start and start. Although Torres was young and recovered faster, it was also a bit worried.

Soon both sides walked out of the locker room and waited in the player passage. The captain of the two teams, Atletico Madrid, was Torres, and the captain of Espanyol, was Tamdo.

The two captains walked at the front of the team, and at the same time they were chatting, as if the relationship between the two people was OK, and it was not as good as the contest between the two cities.

In fact, as I have already said before, although the city teams of Madrid and Barcelona are competing, neither of these two teams can represent the highest level of football in their respective cities.

Moreover, both teams are making a living under the bosses of their respective city teams, which is quite a bit of a difficult situation.

"Mark, you have performed well recently," said an Espanyol player next to Mark at this time.

Mark looked down and saw that he was a bald player. Then Mark looked carefully and saw that the player looked familiar, but he seemed to be a little confused. However, although Mark could not remember the player, Mark still said to the player kindly in order to show his friendship.

"Thank you, I've just been lucky recently," Mark said very modestly, and he was thinking about the player's name in his mind.

In fact, although Mark is a professional player, most of them watch games of giant teams and rarely watch games like Espanyol, so Mark naturally doesn't know who the player is, but Mark thinks that this player still looks very familiar, so Mark just can't remember it.

"I hope you can perform well in this game," the bald player said to Mark.

Then the players from both sides walked into the stadium. Mark looked up and looked at the stands of the Olympic Stadium. It seemed that the attendance rate was not very high. Only about 60% of the fans came to the stadium, and many of the stands had some seats left.

Next, after the players of both sides shook hands one by one, the game was about to officially begin, and this small urban derby is about to begin.
Chapter completed!