Chapter 520: The Cold in Moscow

Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty Cold in Moscow

After the 22nd round of the league, Atletico Madrid ushered in a league away game!

They are away to Sporting Santander.

Since Atlético de Madrid drew CSKA Moscow in the Champions League round of 16 draw, Atlético de Madrid made a substantial rotation in this game in preparation for the difficult away game in Russia four days later.

Nonetheless, Atletico Madrid still managed a victory away from home.

With Mario Suarez's header in the 78th minute of the second half, Atletico Madrid continued their unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win over Sporting Santander, and their unbeaten streak has extended to sixth Eleven games!

After the game, Atletico Madrid flew to Moscow immediately.

Russia's away game has always been a nightmare for Western European teams.

Especially for teams from the warm Iberian Peninsula, they are located in the southern tip of Europe, and the minimum temperature every year will not be below zero, while in Russia at this time, the temperature of more than ten degrees below zero is just the most common daily meal.

Ice and snow, severe cold, all this is a big test for the teams in the south.

Historically, Russian teams have repeatedly defeated giants from the west by virtue of the cold climate at home. Just as they used the severe cold of winter to repel foreign enemies many times in their history.

Even Napoleon lost his troops in this severe cold.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​AC Milan, Manchester United and other well-known giants in Europe, when they play away games in Russia, they also lose more and win less, especially at a time like February, when Russia is icy and cold. .

This was felt from the moment the Atlético de Madrid players stepped off the plane at Moscow airport.

Although they put on thick cotton wool coats early, every player, including the coaches, wrapped themselves tightly.

But the moment they got off the plane, almost every player shivered.

Even Gao Bo couldn't stand the cold weather.

He's also a southerner - southern China, of course.

Guangdong is one of the southernmost provinces in China - of course, Hainan is further south than them, but since Hainan was also part of Guangdong Province in the past, traditionally, Cantonese people have a concept - except for brother provinces The masses of Guangxi and other provinces are all from the north.

Although the latitude of Guangdong is similar to that of Spain, it is actually much colder than Spain in terms of temperature in winter.

Affected by the warm and humid Atlantic Current, Spain is a place where you don't need to wear winter clothes all year round.

Gao Bo's nose is red from the cold, not to mention a group of Atlético Madrid players who live in Spain all year round.

Some of them wrapped their coats tightly with their hands, others rubbed their hands, ignoring the microphones and cameras of the surrounding reporters, and walked quickly to the bus waiting outside the airport.

There is a heater on the bus, which is what the players need most at this time.

Almost every player who boarded the bus breathed a sigh of relief.

......

The trembling figures of the Atlético de Madrid players after getting off the plane were recorded by the Russians and put on TV.

"The Spaniards can't get used to the climate here, and looking at the performance of their players, we know that CSKA Moscow will once again win a battle at home against the Western giants!! The weather forecast shows that the temperature will be warmer than the day after tomorrow. Today is even lower. This is an excellent opportunity for CSKA Moscow. If they can take this opportunity to score as many goals as possible and defeat Atletico Madrid, CSKA Moscow may be able to eliminate Atletico Madrid and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. !!!”

On a local TV station in Moscow, a host said this.

In fact, he is right, the cold climate is indeed a big challenge for Atlético de Madrid.

The second day of training, the players first jogged to warm up, and then took off their jackets. Almost everyone was bubbling with white gas, as if drowning in smoke.

After a training session, the players' cheeks and noses were flushed with cold. Gao Bo had to urgently instruct the logistics staff to buy a large number of masks and warm hats in Moscow.

As the players practiced, Gao Bo frowned the entire time.

Under such weather, it is difficult for players to be in 100% form - in fact, Gao Bo is very satisfied when they can be in 50% form.

In the afternoon, the team went to CSKA Moscow's home stadium, CSKA Arena, for training on the field.

Here, Gao Bo looked even more solemn.

He walked to the center of the court, squatted down and pressed the playing field with his hands!

"The pitch is hard, it's an artificial grass pitch!"

Moya, who was behind him, came up, frowning on his face.

Gao Bo grabbed a handful of pellets from the court.

The crumbs were like sand, slipping from between his fingers.

"In such a stadium environment and weather, I'm afraid it's easy to get injured..." Gao Bo shook his head, "This game, we need to stop and play, we can't make the game more intense, even if it's a draw or even a small loss. Opponents, it's no big deal. Our goal in this game is to not have injuries and attrition, and not lose a big score!"

Mo Xie stopped Gao Bo's words and nodded.

CSKA Moscow is not a strong team, they rely on the harsh environment at home.

Therefore, Atletico Madrid, who are playing away from home, should not have to work hard with their opponents in such an environment. Anyway, the Champions League knockout game is two rounds. At the home, Atlético de Madrid will teach CSKA Moscow how to behave.

......

On the second day of the game, when the players on both sides were in the player tunnel, they could see the difference between the two teams.

Atlético de Madrid players are all wrapped in thick cotton coats, while CSKA Moscow players are just short-sleeved jerseys with a thermal underwear inside.

Before the two teams entered the field, they were able to see the different degrees of adaptation to such a cold climate.

Gao Bo and his coaching staff looked towards the stands.

In the stands, the Russian fans were even more sturdy. Many people took off their shirts, shirtless, waving their clothes and shouting.

Lin Sen was speechless, he wrapped his coat tightly.

"This old man is really not afraid of cold..."

Gao Bo smiled.

"They can only do it for a while, and teach them a lesson when they arrive at our home court!!"

With that, he sat back on the coach's bench.

......

The game was very dull, with Atletico Madrid controlling the ball and trying to slow down as much as possible.

The CSKA Moscow players were very excited, and they pressed very high-intensity on the court in an attempt to bring the rhythm of the game up.

In such a field environment, Atletico Madrid's control has dropped significantly.

CSKA Moscow's offensive wave after wave, in this case, Atletico Madrid can only shrink half-court defense.

Gao Bo had already anticipated such a situation. He had a defensive formation on the starting list.

Diego Costa was in front alone, with Aguero next to him.

In midfield, Kante, Gabi, Mario Suarez, and Modric started.

As for Griezmann, the French boy is now sitting on the bench rubbing his hands.

His ears were red from the cold.

On the pitch, Atletico Madrid was even under siege.

But until the end of the first half, CSKA Moscow failed to score.

In the second half of the game, Atletico Madrid also completely made a dead-end posture.

Koke replaced Aguero, and Gao Bo continued to strengthen the number in midfield.

After more than 80 minutes, the score on the field was still zero to zero.

For this situation, Gao Bo can still accept.

0-0 away, back to Calderon, he will never give CSKA Moscow any chance.

And CSKA Moscow obviously knows this. If they want to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, they must at least win at home!

Now that the right time and place are on their side, if they can't win this, the Champions League quarter-finals will definitely miss CSKA Moscow.

In the 89th minute of the game, after high center Dombia grabbed the high point, he gave the top of the ball to the Russian star Zagoyev, known as the "New Tsar"!

Zagoyev's volley after stopping the ball on the penalty area line went through Atletico Madrid's goal.

Atlético de Madrid defended the majority of the time, and was eventually scored by CSKA Moscow.

The goal brought some variables to the two-legged format.

At least the Russian commentator was quite excited: "Zagoyev's goal gave CSKA Moscow hope of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League!!"

In the CSKA Arena, the Russians went completely crazy!

As the Russian commentator said, this goal really gave CSKA Moscow the hope of advancing.

Zagoyev's scorer gave CSKA Moscow a 1-0 home win over Atletico Madrid.

CSKA Moscow won the first leg of the two-legged clash and has yet to give Atletico Madrid an away goal, which looks to be in their favor.

Gao Bo shook his head slightly when the whistle sounded at the end of the game.

In fact, he had expected the result of such a game.

The severe cold weather and the extremely unsuitable artificial grass field have created considerable difficulties for Atlético de Madrid.

It's acceptable for the team to lose just one goal.

In their own home, Atletico Madrid has absolute confidence.

CSKA Moscow is only able to rely on the Russian environment to be aggressive in their own home field. When they arrive in Spain, their strength is probably not even second-rate!