Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 599 Challenging the Dominance of Errenzhuan

February has arrived.

Granada got off to a good start in their first match of February by defeating Celta Vigo at home, while maintaining their two-point lead over Atletico Madrid.

More importantly, Granada was eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Real Madrid, which means Granada can now focus solely on the league.

With Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Atletico Madrid all having Champions League matches to play, Granada has a significant advantage.

Then, in the next two rounds, they defeated Espanyol and Real Betis, continuing their winning streak.

The match against Espanyol was quite difficult, and they ultimately secured a narrow 0-1 away victory thanks to a goal from Shan Yongzhuo at the start of the second half.

The match against Betis was relatively easy. Shan Yongzhu scored twice at home, and J. Romero scored a world-class goal, making it easy for them to defeat their opponents 3-1 at home and win this Andalusian derby.

And for Granada, there's another piece of good news: Atletico Madrid has fallen behind again.

In the 23rd round of the league, Atletico Madrid were surprisingly defeated 2-0 by Almería at the Mediterranean Stadium, which can be considered a major upset.

This extends Granada's lead in the league to three points, which is a relatively safe margin for them.

Time flew by and it was almost the end of February. Granada was about to travel to the away game to face their last opponent of February, Valencia.

Valencia is a traditional powerhouse in La Liga, having won the La Liga title 6 times, the Copa del Rey 8 times, and the Spanish Super Cup 2 times.

Moreover, they have a very good record in European competitions, having won the UEFA Cup once.

Especially in the first few years of the 21st century, when La Liga was at its peak, it was very different from the later Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. At that time, two super teams that could be ranked among the top in Europe emerged.

Valencia and La Cruz.

Of course, the most eye-catching of them all was Valencia at that time.

During that period, Valencia reached the UEFA Champions League final for two consecutive seasons, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, but unfortunately, they failed both times.

After that, Deportivo La Coruña declined, while Valencia remained competitive.

In 2004, Solaire became the largest shareholder of Bats and served as the club's chairman, marking the beginning of Bats' decline.

Following Valencia's success, in 2006, the management decided to build a new stadium to replace the Mestalla Stadium, with an estimated construction cost of 3-4 million euros.

In 2007, construction began on Valencia's new stadium, but shortly after, the 2008 financial crisis hit, plunging the Spanish economy into recession.

The land for Valencia's old Mestalla stadium could not be sold as expected, and plans for the new stadium were halted in 2009.

Soler was not good at management. Not only the new stadium plan, but a series of his actions brought Valencia a great financial crisis. By the time he left in 2008, he left Valencia with a debt of 4 million euros.

In recent years, the team has had to rely on selling players to alleviate its financial crisis. Under such circumstances, players such as Villa, David Silva, Alba, and Alcácer have left the team one after another.

Valencia's performance has also declined further.

This season, the once-glorious Valencia have finished 24 league matches in tenth place, their worst result since the start of the new century. Upon entering the Mestalla Stadium, which can hold over 4 people, Shan Yongzhuo discovered that the stadium was far from full.

Valencia fans' patience with the team seems to have reached a breaking point.

The team is currently under the trusteeship of the Valencian government.

This was reflected on the field as the players lacked a strong fighting spirit. Shan Yongzhuo felt that Valencia's players seemed to be just there to participate in the game and then relax.

Of course, this Valencia team didn't have any famous players that Shan Yongzhuo was familiar with; they were mostly unfamiliar faces.

From the very first minute of the match, Valencia did not show any particularly strong will.

This surprised Pellegrini, who had initially taken the match quite seriously, as the game ended up being won so easily.

In the first half, Shan Yongzhuo scored twice, giving his team a 2-0 lead at the Mestalla Stadium.

In the second half, Blind assisted Flores to score, and Ziyech's powerful shot miraculously found the net.

4:0.

The team secured another resounding victory away from home.

After the match against Valencia, it's now March, and there are only two months left until the end of the season.

Everything in Granada seems to be on the right track.

Several key players who were injured have all returned. Although there are still injured players, the main lineup is still relatively complete, which is very beneficial for the final two months of the league sprint.

Many Spanish media outlets have also given Granada a lot of attention to their pursuit of the league title, hoping to see a team other than Real Madrid and Barcelona win the championship.

In recent years, the La Liga title race has been a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​leading many media commentators to believe that La Liga lacks competitiveness.

However, now that other teams are able to challenge the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​this is seen as a good thing by many media outlets in other regions.

Several powerful and influential families have also realized this problem.

Real Madrid seems to have realized a problem: they will likely find it difficult to catch up in the league. They are still 8 points behind Granada, which is a significant gap. It will be very difficult to close the gap in the remaining 13 league matches, especially given Granada's poor form.

AS also reported: "It's time for Real Madrid to make a decision. They should focus on the Champions League. It's already difficult for them to achieve anything in the league this season. Maintaining a top-four position is a more realistic issue."

"Compared to the league, the Champions League is the focus that Real Madrid should be paying attention to."

Unlike Real Madrid, Barcelona is currently five points behind Granada, the same as Atletico Madrid.

This score is much better than Real Madrid's; it's not a score that's impossible to catch up to.

The reports by Mundo Deportivo and AS were completely different, with entirely different tones.

(End of this chapter)