Chapter 89

**Chapter Pre-Thank You: Thank you to book friends Wenzhou Bao and Ziyang for your generous support.**

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Lin Sen sat calmly in the coach’s seat, his ears filled with the enthusiastic cheers of the Malaga fans, wave after wave. The Rosaleda Stadium, which had been absent from La Liga for two seasons, had maintained a good attendance rate this season. Coupled with the team's efforts, even ordinary matches could achieve nearly an 80% attendance rate. When facing stronger teams, the stadium was almost always full, such as the match against Real Madrid, where tickets were almost impossible to come by. For such a Rosaleda, Lin Sen couldn't be more satisfied. The stadium is a stage, and a stage needs an audience, the more the better.

However, regarding whether the fans could play the role of the "12th man," perhaps due to the lessons learned from Atletico Madrid, Lin Sen never dared to hope, let alone expect the fans to follow the team unconditionally and without complaint. On this point, Lin Sen was particularly clear-sighted, even to the point of being a bit extreme. Sometimes he would even maliciously speculate that those fans who claim to be unconditionally loyal to the team, no matter what, fall into one of two categories: either they don't love the team deeply enough, or the team hasn't lost badly enough.

Because, the difference between being unconditionally loyal and being indifferent is very subtle.

In comparison, the fans like the fat driver were more genuine: there are reasons for disappointment, and there are excuses for acceptance. Sometimes, a boo doesn't necessarily mean disapproval, and applause is the same. Therefore, the support of the fans always needs to be earned by the team, not demanded.

After all, for the fans, there is more freedom, while for the team, there is more responsibility.

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Unai Emery is undoubtedly one of the most promising coaches in Spain today.

This Spanish coach, who bears a striking resemblance to the famous Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, has had a less dramatic coaching career than Lin Sen and a lower starting point than Guardiola. Born into a football family, he, like most coaches, became a coach after a not-so-successful playing career and started from a lower-level team, gradually rising to prominence.

Before coaching Valencia, Emery's previous team was Almeria, a young team founded in 2001. Emery took charge of Almeria in 2006 and led the team to promotion to La Liga in his first season, making it the youngest team in La Liga. The following season, despite being considered a favorite for relegation, the team successfully stayed up, finishing in a surprising 8th place.

It was because of his success at Almeria that Emery received an offer from Valencia.

Emery was unaware of the "little story" between Lin Sen and Valencia, so unlike Lin Sen, Malaga was just a regular opponent to him. Although this opponent had been consistently outperforming them this season, even without losing a single match, as he said at the press conference: "I won't underestimate Malaga, and I have no reason to underestimate a team that ranks higher than us."

Emery put his words into action.

Valencia is known for its quick strikes this season, and in the past nine matches, nearly half of their goals were scored in the first 15 minutes of the game. Emery's Valencia seemed to always be able to get into the rhythm of the game faster. However, in this match, after a few initial probes, Valencia deliberately slowed down the pace, playing at a leisurely pace, seemingly determined to play a marathon-style game against Malaga.

Lin Sen knew what Emery was thinking: to disrupt Malaga's rhythm.

As is well known, Malaga plays a defensive counter-attack, which emphasizes speed, whether in defense or in counter-attacks. If the pace slows down, the defense can have more preparation time, but at the same time, the counter-attacks lose their foundation.

Emery's strategy was proceeding smoothly because Valencia indeed had the capital to lead Malaga.

Valencia's "double David" has long been a familiar duo in the Spanish Super League. Mata, who joined from Real Madrid last season, has already shown the potential to be the "second Silva." On the right wing, Joaquin was once the sharpest winger in La Liga. In the midfield, a pair of experienced and skilled partners, Albelda and Baraja, anchor the team. From a purely technical standpoint, Valencia's midfield and attack are not inferior to Real Madrid and Barcelona, and they are very comprehensive, with experience, skill, and attacking power, almost everything they need.

Lin Sen suddenly felt a sense of honor, as Valencia, such a strong team, had to be cautious against Malaga. For a newly promoted team like Malaga, this was truly a cause for celebration. However, at the same time, Lin Sen also felt a bit helpless, as Malaga had quickly lost its underdog advantage. The reason underdogs can become underdogs is partly due to the opponents' underestimation and unfamiliarity. Clearly, these are not advantages that can be relied on for long, which is why underdogs often lack the staying power.

In the pre-match targeted training, Lin Sen once again had the team focus on high-pressure pressing, and now the results of the training were gradually showing on the field.

As the organizational core of Valencia, David Silva now felt like he was hitting a wall, and not just one wall.

In this match, or this season, David Silva's position has been very flexible. Although theoretically he plays as the left midfielder in Emery's 4-4-2 formation, unlike Joaquin on the right, who is a pure attacker, Emery did not restrict Silva's positioning but gave him great freedom. He could cut inside to shoot, move laterally to create space, or pass to create scoring opportunities, all based on his judgment.

David Silva repaid Emery's trust with rich returns: nine matches, four goals, and six assists. Not only that, he also revitalized Valencia's attack. Villa, who is as famous as him, scored 80 goals in nine matches, and Mata, who is gaining fame, scored five goals in eight matches. In other words, these three players alone contributed 17 goals, accounting for more than 70% of the team's total goals.

For Emery, this was a powerful weapon. For Lin Sen, it was a dangerous weapon.

Since it was a dangerous weapon, it couldn't be easily allowed to be used.

Thus, Silva received the same treatment as "Aguero." Whenever he had the ball, Malaga always had three players forming a trap around him, and they kept calling out to him: "Three are missing one, come quickly!"

At first, Silva, not believing in evil, really went to the trap a few times, with predictable consequences. Three against one, no matter how talented you are, you could only shed tears. After several attempts, Silva had to run away in tears.

When Silva ran away in tears, it meant that Valencia's attacks were significantly reduced. With Joaquin, who was being stifled by Koke and Alba on the right wing, also silenced, Emery quickly realized that while Malaga's rhythm hadn't been disrupted by Valencia, Valencia's own rhythm was already in chaos.

Before Emery could make adjustments, Malaga had already seized the opportunity.

Spanish teams that favor attacking have a characteristic that Lin Sen is very pleased to see: they often give too much responsibility to the defensive midfielders, and the bigger the team, the more so. Valencia was no exception. If this pair, Albelda and Baraja, were placed three years ago, they would never have made such a mistake.

Allowing Lewandowski to easily receive a long pass from Gundogan, and then only starting to pressure him after he had turned around? What's the difference from the legendary Western gunfights where the opponent is allowed to draw their gun before aiming at you?

Compared to their talented front line, Valencia's defense was undoubtedly much more ordinary, even though they had a young talent like Albiol. After Marchena's rash tackle was easily avoided by Lewandowski, all Albiol could do was try to change the direction of the ball when Lewandowski shot, but even this last effort became a factor that disrupted the goalkeeper Renan's judgment.

After shooting, Lewandowski's eyes followed the ball, watching it pass over Albiol's toes, bypass Renan's fingertips, and then cross the goal line, hitting the net and causing a ripple...

The fifth!

This was his fifth goal in the league, five goals in ten matches. For a forward, the goal rate wasn't high, and it couldn't compare to his goal rate in the Polish league, but it didn't matter. The coach had said: as long as he can score, the team will make every goal valuable!

The value lies in victory.

Lin Sen's words weren't a joke: his first four goals brought Malaga four victories.

Which is more important, personal goals or team victories? Lewandowski only knew that if they couldn't win, what was the point of scoring more goals?

“Gooooooal...” The commentator from Malaga finally found the opportunity to show off his lung capacity, the long-drawn-out sound ignited the Rosaleda Stadium, and also ignited the many Malaga fans watching the match on TV.

“Which team scored?” When she heard the emotional voice, Mrs. Cruz, sitting in her chair, quickly asked.

“Lin's team,” Old Cruz replied with a smile.

“Oh, then we should celebrate.” Mrs. Cruz immediately became happy, and she got up to pour herself a glass of juice and then poured a glass of wine for Old Cruz.

“To your health. For Lin's team.” Mrs. Cruz's posture was a bit clumsy, but her face was full of smiles. Although she didn't understand much about football, this was the first time she watched a match with her husband, and more importantly, this was the first time her husband invited her to watch a match with him.

“...To your health.” Seeing his wife, who had never done this before, pour him a glass of wine and seemed even happier than he was, Old Cruz seemed to be taken aback for a moment before he finally spoke.

Then, the two glasses gently touched in the air.

Old Cruz actually wanted to tell his wife that this was just a goal, not a victory, and the match was far from over, and celebrations should be appropriate. But when he saw his wife's face, which seemed to relax instantly, he closed his mouth.

Like many older women, after a busy life, his wife had become plump, her face had become slack, and the hands that had held his for half a lifetime were now full of calluses, but she was still his wife. Like many men, Old Cruz had also made many unfulfilled promises to his wife: skiing in the Alps, exploring Loch Ness, strolling around Notre-Dame... Each promise seemed achievable with time, but they were always missed, intentionally or unintentionally. Time passed, and many promises gradually became unfulfillable.

Old Cruz knew his wife was unconditionally loyal, and he didn't feel much regret. But just now, he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, and a strong desire arose in his heart.

At least, he should take her to watch a match in person!