Chapter 69

**Chapter Pre-Thank You:** Thank you, Grandpa Nanxi, for your generous tip again.

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"Gordia, Gamez, Rosario, Wellington, Alba, Arpon, Gabi, Eliseu, Gundogan, Koke..."

In the dressing room, where the faint sound of Calderon's song could be heard, Lin Sen calmly announced the starting lineup. Normally, the starting lineup should have been informed to the players the day before the match, but Lin Sen decided to keep the suspense until the last moment.

This method of announcing the starting lineup would often be encountered by the players in the future, as Lin Sen had decided to make it a personal habit. As he put it, all players who met the conditions for playing must be prepared to start before he announced it.

"Rondon."

The last name was that of the young Venezuelan forward, Rondon. When Lin Sen called out his name, he saw the green light above the young man's head suddenly become more intense. At the same time, Lin Sen glanced at Lewandowski out of the corner of his eye. The Polish forward's head seemed to ripple slightly, but quickly returned to transparency, which greatly comforted Lin Sen. After all, in the previous five friendly matches, the Polish player had been the starter.

Lin Sen scanned the emotions of the other players. The veteran starters generally showed a light blue, indicating mild excitement. The emotions of the new starters varied. Gabi displayed a color between blue and green, indicating neither excitement nor panic, which was exactly the calmness Lin Sen most hoped to see. Unlike Gabi, Alba and Koke, who often started in the previous friendly matches, were the most excited players in the starting lineup, aside from Rondon. Gundogan's emotions surprised Lin Sen a bit. Originally in an excited state, he became somewhat flustered after Lin Sen confirmed he was starting...

In this match, Lin Sen placed Gundogan in the central position of the 4-2-3-1 formation, instead of the other German, Reus. This was not just due to concerns about Reus's physical condition but also for special considerations. Compared to Reus, Gundogan was undoubtedly better at defense, as his future position shift hinted. What Lin Sen wanted was precisely this. Because in this match, besides serving as the playmaker in the front, Lin Sen gave Gundogan a specific task: Aguero.

So, saying that Malaga's formation was 4-2-3-1 was not entirely accurate. The team would only be in this formation during attacks. When defending, the formation would shift to 4-3-2-1.

Lin Sen paused for a moment, deciding to say something to the team first. He cleared his throat, looked around at the players, and began his first pre-match pep talk in Malaga's official match.

"I know you must be wondering what I will say to you. Yes, because I was once the head coach here, and because of what AS said before. But I don't want to disappoint you on this. I don't want to make this match so complicated, because this is not what you need to think about now. As I said at the pre-match press conference, there are 38 matches in a season, and this is just the first one. No matter what the result is after the match, I will shake hands with Rexach, because that is my duty. Your duty is first to defeat the person you are facing, then to help your teammates defeat the people they are facing, and finally to help the team defeat the opposing team.

You need to remember, this place is called Calderon. Some of you are very familiar with it, and some may be here for the first time. But it doesn't matter. After today, those who are familiar will be even more familiar, and those who are unfamiliar will have a deep impression. Because after today, when we return to La Rosaleda, either we will take revenge on them, or they will take revenge on us. It's that simple.

How to choose, you decide for yourselves."

After Lin Sen finished speaking, the dressing room remained quiet, but the air seemed to become a bit more intense.

Lin Sen did not use his eyes to check the effect of his words again. He just walked over to Gabi, said something to him, and left the dressing room.

A moment later.

Gabi walked over to Gundogan, patted his shoulder, and said something.

"Take a deep breath, Ilkay. Take a deep breath."

Looking at Gabi's smile, Gundogan was taken aback. Gabi nodded at him and then turned away.

So, until the fourth official came to notify them to enter the field, Gundogan, who had forgotten his nervousness, had only one question in his mind.

Who taught Gabi that broken German?

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Lin Sen walked into the Calderon with a leisurely pace.

The moment he appeared in the Calderon, almost all the cameras in the stadium focused on him, and a loud chorus of boos erupted, along with a few scattered claps.

"It's hard to believe he's back here again."

Commentator Cosol, though known for his sharp tongue, couldn't help but feel a bit emotional when the former Atletico Madrid head coach reappeared at the Calderon as the opposing team's head coach.

Lin Sen walked into the field, his gaze straight ahead, neither deliberately meeting anyone's eyes nor deliberately avoiding them. He was very clear in his mind about who would be looking at him and with what kind of gaze.

In the VIP box, Cerezo subconsciously pressed his brow, his eyes slightly narrowed, while the young Hill nearby looked relaxed.

On the coaching bench, Dina, expressionless, looked down, seemingly lost in thought.

On the substitutes' bench, De Gea and Camacho were also expressionless, but a hint of complexity appeared in their eyes as they glanced at Lin Sen's back.

In the stands, Bar and Frank, one sitting and one standing, looked at Lin Sen with the same indifference. Next to Bar, an elderly fan, Jimmy, had joined. On the opposite stand, Rod watched everything with interest, knowing that in less than two hours, he would find out if he had made the right bet.

Lin Sen shook hands with Rexach again. They had already shaken hands at the pre-match press conference, where they had wished each other a good match. This time, both chose to remain silent.

A few minutes later, under the lead of the referee, the players of both teams filed onto the field.

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As a core player of Atletico Madrid, Aguero never greeted Lin Sen, partly because he didn't have the chance, but that wasn't the only reason. Not only before the match, but even after the schedule was announced, he had not contacted Lin Sen at all.

In his relationship with Lin Sen, Aguero always felt it was more of a friendship than a professional one. Compared to Lin Sen's coaching at Atletico Madrid, Aguero's impression of Lin Sen's treatment was undoubtedly deeper. Lin Sen had only coached Atletico for seven matches, and Aguero had only played a full match once, which was the last one. In that match, the returning Aguero scored two goals.

Yes, both goals were under Lin Sen's tactical system, but even before Lin Sen, scoring goals was never a problem for Aguero. So, from a certain perspective, although Aguero admired Lin Sen, he didn't truly appreciate the benefits of any tactical system. He believed more in his own ability, which might be called pride.

Compared to Aguero, the other forward, Forlan, had more to say.

Because in Lin Sen's seven matches, Forlan scored six goals, while in the previous thirty matches, he had only scored fourteen.

Was Rexach more skilled than Lin Sen?

Forlan didn't dare to easily determine who was more skilled, but soon he confirmed another thing: Malaga's defense was not as poor as many people imagined.

In the first ten minutes of the match, everything went as predicted. Atletico Madrid dominated, with the midfield in a parallel formation, and the wingers, Simao and Maxi Rodriguez, frequently assisting. Raul Garcia often appeared in the opponent's penalty area, and Assuncao, who was deeper, seemed almost idle. The only ones who were a bit quiet were Aguero and Forlan, who were at the front.

Because as soon as they approached Malaga's penalty area, it was like stepping into a swamp, with no other outcome except getting deeper and deeper.

Lin Sen, on the sidelines, remained calm. Even though the ball was in Malaga's half for most of the ten minutes, and even near the penalty area, his face showed no signs of tension. Because in his eyes, no Malaga player showed even a hint of blue panic, and even Gundogan, who had shown some signs before the match, was now fully into the game.

"It seems that in Lin's dictionary, there might never have been the word 'attack.' Look at Malaga now; it's almost identical to Atletico Madrid a few months ago, with defense, and more defense." Seeing Malaga's defense, Cosol, who had reluctantly praised them before the match, couldn't resist another sharp comment. But just as he finished speaking, Malaga suddenly sprang into action.

As soon as Aguero got the ball, a figure was already tightly pressing him.

No problem, this was routine. No team in La Liga would let Aguero attack freely. Aguero pulled the ball and turned to break through, but another blue-and-white figure appeared in front of him. He was taken aback, frowned, and turned again, only to find another blue-and-white figure...

Damn Lin, what have you made them do to me?!

Three-sided pressure! This made Aguero a bit frustrated.

Continuing to try to break through was clearly not a wise move. Even Messi, who would become Barcelona's top star this season, wouldn't easily attempt to break through three people.

Not breaking through, Aguero had to choose to pass, but as soon as the ball left his feet, he felt something was wrong. Sure enough, the ball was intercepted in mid-air!

Three-sided pressure, wasn't this the goal?!

The one who intercepted the ball was none other than the former Atletico player, Koke.

Without hesitation, Koke sent a long pass to the opponent's front...

At the same time, a figure that had been lingering near the midfield, close to Atletico's half, shot forward like a rocket that had just been ignited.