Villarreal has shown remarkable competitive form in a series of recent matches.
After successfully defeating Europa League opponent Ankaraspor away, the team's morale was greatly boosted, and its form continued to rise.
Especially with the addition of Lin Feng, a player with excellent passing ability, the team has significantly improved in both ball control and offense.
Entering October, Villarreal achieved two consecutive key victories in La Liga.
First, they defeated Las Palmas 2-1, demonstrating tenacious fighting spirit and excellent teamwork.
Immediately after, in the match against Eibar, Villarreal narrowly defeated its opponent 1-0, a victory that further solidified the team's position in the League standings.
These two victories propelled Villarreal up the La Liga standings, directly entering the top four Champions League spots.
This achievement not only showcased the team's strength and potential but also made them the best-performing La Liga team outside of the 'Big Three'.
Such a performance undoubtedly injected more confidence and motivation into the team for its upcoming matches.
For Lin Feng, October brought not only brilliant achievements on the field but also a new breakthrough in his personal life—he successfully obtained his Spain driver's license.
In between training and matches, Lin Feng seized the time to learn driving skills, and through unremitting effort and focus, he successfully passed the exam, marking another important step in his life abroad.
Now, Lin Feng can finally drive independently and no longer needs to rely on his agent, Snyder, as his driver.
This not only makes his daily life more convenient and free but also symbolizes his greater integration and autonomy in Spain.
Entering November, Villarreal once again faced a key opponent in the Europa League group stage—Ankaraspor.
Although Ankaraspor's overall team value is far lower than Villarreal's on paper, the previous encounter made Villarreal's players keenly aware that their opponent was not an easy pushover.
In the previous clash with Ankaraspor, Villarreal struggled in the first half.
Ankaraspor's players displayed tenacious fighting spirit and excellent teamwork, frequently threatening Villarreal's goal.
That experience made Villarreal's players deeply realize that even when facing a relatively weaker opponent, they could not afford to be careless or complacent in the slightest.
Therefore, in this rematch, Coach Escribá particularly emphasized restricting the opponent's offense.
He demanded that the players maintain a high degree of concentration and vigilance during the match, constantly paying attention to the opponent's movements, and not giving them any opportunity to exploit.
In training, Escribá formulated a detailed defensive strategy targeting Ankaraspor's offensive characteristics.
He required the defenders to strengthen their marking of the opponent's key players and cut off their passing lanes; the midfielders needed to actively intercept and tackle, disrupting the opponent's offensive rhythm; the forwards also had to retreat to their own half during defense to participate in defending, forming a comprehensive team defensive system.
Furthermore, Escribá also emphasized the importance of teamwork.
He demanded that the players support each other and cooperate tacitly during the match to jointly deal with Ankaraspor's offense.
Only through the power of the team could they effectively limit the opponent's performance and achieve victory in the match.
On Villarreal's training ground, the players were sweating profusely, undergoing intense and orderly training.
The sun, piercing through the clouds, cast dappled light and shadow across the green field.
Coach Escribá stood on the sidelines, his sharp gaze sweeping over the players on the field.
His brows were furrowed, his expression focused, as if he was contemplating how to break through the opponent's defense.
Suddenly, he stopped, his gaze fixed on the Romania veteran, Lucescu.
Lucescu was practicing shooting alone, each shot appearing so precise and powerful.
Escribá couldn't help but nod slightly, expressing his admiration for the veteran's shooting skills.
He turned and walked towards Lin Feng and a group of other defensive players, his expression becoming serious.
He said in a deep voice, "Do you see? Lucescu, this old guy, his shooting technique is no joke.
In the last match, he scored two goals against us by himself.
This time, we absolutely cannot let him succeed again."
The players nodded in agreement, indicating they understood the Head Coach's intention.
Escribá continued, "Lin Feng, as a crucial part of the defense, you must closely mark Lucescu.
His experience is very rich, and he is good at seizing shooting opportunities, but you must pay attention, his body is not as good as it used to be."
Lin Feng nodded, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.
He said, "I understand, Coach.
I will use physical confrontation to limit his performance and not give him any easy shooting opportunities."
Escribá nodded with satisfaction, then said to the other defensive players, "You must also cooperate with Lin Feng to form a joint defense.
Remember, the strength of the team is the most important.
Only by working together can we effectively limit Lucescu's performance."
Subsequently, Coach Escribá walked aside and called over Sansone, whose characteristics were very similar to Lucescu's.
He patted Sansone on the shoulder and smiled, "Sansone, today you will play the role of our 'opponent' Lucescu, and cause some trouble for our defense."
Sansone nodded, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.
He quickly changed into a jersey similar to Lucescu's and stood at the other end of the training ground.
Escribá then walked to the defensive players and began to instruct them in detail on how to conduct defensive training.
He required the players to closely mark Sansone, constantly simulating a confrontation with Lucescu.
The training began, and Sansone displayed shooting skills similar to Lucescu's.
He sometimes suddenly accelerated to break through, and sometimes cleverly swayed his body to deceive defenders, looking for shooting opportunities.
Lin Feng, as the primary defender, always kept a close eye on Sansone, not daring to relax for a moment.
Whenever Sansone attempted to shoot, Lin Feng would react quickly, using his body to block.
Sometimes, he would use physical confrontation to push Sansone away, and sometimes he would cleverly bypass the opponent, clearing the ball before the shot.
The other defensive players also actively participated in defense, forming a joint defense with Lin Feng to jointly block Sansone's shooting lanes.
Sometimes, they would use tacit cooperation to force Sansone into a dead end, leaving him with no way to proceed.
Throughout the training process, Escribá always observed the players' performance from the sidelines.
He sometimes nodded in approval, sometimes sighed, constantly offering guidance and suggestions.
After multiple simulated training sessions, the players gradually found the feeling of confronting Lucescu.
They understood how to use their advantages to limit the opponent's performance, and at the same time, they learned how to remain calm and focused in defense.
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