Chapter 70

**Chapter Pre-Thank You: Thank you to book friend love da da for the reward.**

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So fast?!

Watching the figure rapidly approaching the ball, Regino's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Rondon!

The 18-year-old Venezuelan was so fast that when Ujfalusi, who was lagging behind, merely turned around, the several meters of advantage he originally had was suddenly reduced to almost a parallel level with Rondon.

This isn't right!

Feeling the rapidly approaching pressure from behind, Ujfalusi frowned, and his arms instantly spread out seemingly unconsciously.

What the hell!

Seeing the furry arm suddenly appear in front of him, Rondon was startled and didn't have time to react before his body crashed into it. Then, without any doubt, he was knocked down.

Linsen thought he would hear the whistle, but the referee waved his arm, and the game continued.

A yellow flash appeared above Regino's head, and Linsen's anger also flashed, but he knew: this is the Calderón, Atlético Madrid's home ground.

No foul!

Rondon, who had just gotten up from the ground, saw the opponent calmly controlling the ball and preparing to launch another attack, even sparing a moment to look at him indifferently. His anger instantly reached its peak, and he directly charged at Ujfalusi. The field was immediately filled with a hint of gunpowder, and the entire Calderón was filled with boos.

Seeing Rondon's emotional change, Linsen, who was on the sidelines, frowned. Rondon was still too young.

The referee quickly paused the game and quickly made a decision.

Ujfalusi, not guilty.

Rondon, for provoking and retaliating against the opponent, received a yellow card, to be observed.

However, it was clear that the yellow card did not calm Rondon down. Even after being pulled back by Gabi, the blue danger still burned above his head.

Linsen had no choice but to walk to the sideline and grab the nearest Gámez, telling him to pass a message to Rondon: either stand on the field and calm down, or sit on the bench and calm down.

Gámez smiled bitterly and was also a bit surprised because Rondon seemed to be fine at the moment. However, the message still needed to be passed. Linsen's words were quite effective. After Gámez whispered to him, the blue above Rondon's head slowly faded.

In fact, although the referee ultimately did not call a foul on Ujfalusi, the Czech defender's action was actually a foul. The main criteria for judging an obstruction foul are whether the obstructing party has the ball and whether the directions of both parties are consistent. Clearly, Ujfalusi violated the first criterion, but he was smarter and did not use his body to block Rondon but rather used his more hidden arm, which made it difficult for the referee to make a call. Given that this was Atlético Madrid's home ground, the result was predictable.

Linsen turned his head and glanced at Regino, who seemed calm nearby, and smiled inwardly.

Defense and counterattack, defense first, counterattack second. Málaga's defensive system was meticulously divided from the front to the back, but in terms of offense, Linsen's requirements were exceptionally simple: fast and simple. Just like the previous attack, Koke did not deliberately look for Rondon's position but used the fastest long pass, almost reaching its destination in one step, giving Atlético Madrid no chance to counter-press.

"Quite a trouble," Regino sighed inwardly.

Originally, according to his pre-game prediction, Málaga's forward should have been Lewandowski. After all, in the previous five friendly matches, Lewandowski was the starting forward and performed well, with only one defeat. However, in the official match, Linsen surprisingly started Rondon, and from the previous attack, it was undeniable that this young man was indeed a threat.

However, young people are young people and cannot withstand provocation. Regino naturally had not reached the point of abandoning his predetermined strategy due to just one attack.

The game continued.

Málaga still focused on defense, while Atlético Madrid continued to attack.

Agüero was still ineffective, not because of his poor form but because there were too many "Argentine teammates" around him, as Málaga's jersey was too similar to Argentina's. Meanwhile, Forlán was under Gabi's constant surveillance throughout the match. The two forwards were drowned in the sea of opponents. Atlético Madrid had thought about playing from the wings, but whether it was Simão or Maxi, they were basically in a difficult situation. Málaga's two wing-backs retreated deeply, and once they entered Málaga's half, they almost faced two opposing wing-backs. Additionally, Málaga had a midfielder, Apoño, who occasionally supported, so for over half an hour, the two forwards had not managed to pass a single decent ball.

"Málaga's defense is doing well," Frank said from the stands, seeing Atlético Madrid's attack fail again.

"More than just well," Jimmy frowned, "It's like an iron wall. Did the team have such a defense last season?"

"Once," Frank thought for a moment and said.

"Ha," Jimmy smiled bitterly.

This was not surprising. With Málaga's current defense, support from the midfield and even the forward line was essential. Clearly, the current group of Atlético Madrid players could not provide such support for Linsen. Saying "once" was already giving face. La Liga is a league that values offense, and Málaga, as a promoted team, could lower its stance to focus on defense, and few would criticize Málaga's defense. However, Atlético Madrid, claiming to be the third major team in La Liga, could not accept such a situation.

Not to mention last season, even now, although Atlético Madrid seemed to have the initiative, there were few, if any, threatening shots, let alone goals. Regino wanted the team to play a pressing style, but now, it was Málaga's pressing defense that had Atlético Madrid stuck in an offensive quagmire.

"So what if it's an iron wall? Winning ultimately depends on offense. Now, it's Atlético Madrid that's attacking, isn't it?" At this moment, Balle coldly said from the side.

"You're right," Jimmy smiled, seemingly unwilling to argue with his old friend. However, in his heart, he thought: If the offense cannot score, then what's the difference from defense?

Perhaps the only difference was that the entire first half, the Calderón was filled with enthusiasm, and the Atlético Madrid fans were in high spirits, feeling that a goal was just seconds away and victory was within reach. This seemed to be the kind of match the fans wanted.

The Atlético Madrid fans were in high spirits, and so was Linsen.

Because the match was under his control from start to finish. Active defense and passive defense are two different concepts. Málaga, which was almost entirely in a defensive state throughout the first half, did not show even a hint of disappointment, which was a stark contrast to the Atlético Madrid team of last season, which changed drastically just because of a single word. Sometimes, one's stance is indeed determined by one's status.

In the VIP box during halftime, little Hill specially came over to talk to Cerezo, his face beaming. Clearly, although the score was still 0-0, he was very satisfied with the development of the match. Cerezo, however, always smiled, not wanting to draw conclusions too early like little Hill. He knew that whether a movie ultimately makes money depends not only on its reputation but also on its final box office.

Cerezo's restraint was correct.

Because less than a minute into the second half, Málaga, which had been beaten by Atlético Madrid for almost an entire half, suddenly found a brick and hit Atlético Madrid, leaving them with a bloody head.

At the start of the second half, Atlético Madrid continued to attack as they did in the first half, or as Regino said in the locker room during halftime. But at this moment, Málaga scored a goal. The goal came so suddenly, but the attack was so natural. Because this attack was almost identical to the one in the first half.

The difference was that the ball was taken from Raúl García, and the pass was made by Gündoğan. The same was that the final confrontation was still between Rondon and Ujfalusi.

This time, Rondon did not give Ujfalusi any chance to intercept him. Because this time, when Gündoğan passed the ball, his position was better, his reaction was quicker, and his speed was faster!

1-0!

When Rondon scored the first goal against Atlético Madrid, the previously jubilant Calderón instantly fell into a terrifying silence, with only a few Málaga fans who had come to the away game cheering wildly. The excited Rondon did not forget to look at Ujfalusi as he passed by, his eyes mirroring the look Ujfalusi gave him in the first half.

At the moment of the goal, the camera, as expected, focused on Linsen.

Linsen's expression did not change at all; he did not raise his arms in triumph or show extreme joy. Only his clapping hands proved that his team had scored.

Linsen was not pretending to be calm. In any match, unless neither side can do anything to each other, one side will always have to take the first hit. A 1-0 lead is the least secure score, and no one can claim a sure win until the last moment. The goal was indeed worth celebrating, but for now, he would leave it to the young players. He wanted to be happy, but it was too early, especially here.

However, the Calderón should thank the scattered applause at the start. Otherwise, calm as he was, Linsen would not have been able to avoid responding to the boos. Now, gratitude is gratitude, and resentment is resentment. With the entanglement of gratitude and resentment, one must first consider not repaying kindness with enmity.

Looking at the flickering light above Regino's head, Linsen knew that now, all the pressure was on Regino.

What to do?

Regino began to ask himself this question. Yes, what to do? If the opponent was using another tactic, he might still choose to continue observing, but a defensive counterattack? How to break it?

To break a counterattack, one must break the defense and the counter. Now that the opponent had "stolen" a goal, breaking the counter was too late, leaving only the option to break the defense.

Two minutes later, Regino made his move.

Pongolle, in for Assunção.

Replacing a midfielder with a forward, the intention was clear.