"Everyone, maintain maximum focus for this match. I hope no one underestimates our opponents. They're definitely one of the strongest teams we'll face. Don't look down on them just because they're currently behind us in the standings. Understand?"
"Understood!"
"Good. André, you're starting today, but I'll only give you a maximum of sixty-five minutes. Understand?"
Inside the home team's dressing room at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Hierro was making final arrangements and giving a motivational speech for the upcoming match.
In the tenth round of the Segunda División, Real Oviedo hosted the challenge from Osasuna. Among all the opponents in the Segunda División this season, Hierro considered several teams major rivals, and Osasuna was one of them.
Club Atlético Osasuna is a club with a long history in Spanish professional football, having been established as early as 1920. Although the club has no major honors in its history—their best league finish was fourth place in the top division—they once reached the Copa del Rey final, participated in the Champions League once, and played in the UEFA Cup four times. Osasuna means 'healthy strength' in the Basque language, making it one of the few clubs in Spanish professional football named after a linguistic noun. Furthermore, only four clubs in the Spanish professional leagues are member-owned clubs, and Osasuna is one of them.
Osasuna had been very active this summer, aiming for promotion to La Liga. Since being relegated from La Liga several seasons ago, this was already Osasuna's fifth season in the second tier, so their ambition to fight for promotion was not much less than Oviedo's.
Because Oviedo had achieved three consecutive victories in recent league rounds, the Oviedo fans had even higher expectations for the team, leading to a larger crowd attending the match today.
Osasuna's tactics in Spanish professional football are very distinct: tough style, emphasizing defense over offense, carrying a strong characteristic of northern Spanish clubs.
Javier Aguirre, who had served as Osasuna's head coach for several years, had left this summer, and the club eventually brought in Jagoba Arrasate, a Spanish domestic coach. However, right after the season started, Arrasate shared a similar fate to Hierro, facing intense scrutiny due to the team's results. Osasuna, aiming for promotion, could not accept only achieving 15 points from 9 league matches, placing them seventh in the standings.
Therefore, in this round against Oviedo, who had the same 15 points, Osasuna hoped to defeat their opponents away from home to overtake Oviedo in the standings.
The main reason Arrasate faced scrutiny was that he, a former midfielder, immediately changed the perception people had of Osasuna upon arriving. Osasuna, traditionally focused on defense, played an expansive, open attacking style this season. The formation Arrasate consistently used this season was 4-2-1-3. In this match, Osasuna still employed the formation used most frequently this season: Goalkeeper Sergio Herrera; the back line consisted of Nacho Vidal, Aridane Hernández, David García, and Juan Cruz; the two defensive midfielders were Oier Sanjurjo and Fran Mérida; the attacking midfielder was their captain Roberto Torres; the center forward was Brandon, on loan from Rennes in Ligue 1; the right winger was Kike Barja; and the left winger was Rubén García, signed from Sporting Gijón this summer.
It's worth mentioning that their captain Torres had rich match experience, having played for Osasuna for many seasons, moving up and down between La Liga and the Segunda División with the club. Another key player was Rubén García, currently the most valuable player in the Osasuna squad, for whom Osasuna had spent €8 million this summer.
Oviedo, on the other hand, with Hierro matching his opponent, deployed his 4-3-3 formation: Goalkeeper Juan Carlos; the four defenders were Javi Fernández, Cortuno, Hernández, and Christian; the three midfielders were Mossa, Folch, and Teixeira; in the forward line, André appeared as the center forward, with Saúl on the right and Ibra on the left.
Seeing André in the starting lineup caused a stir in the surrounding stands, followed shortly by warm applause and cheers. Although this was only André's third match, the fans remembered the lad who'd saved the team twice very clearly.
Gradually, the chants of 'King Kong' went from sporadic to unified, until finally, all Oviedo fans were chanting in unison: "King Kong! King Kong! King Kong!..."
The fans were thanking André in this manner, and also cheering him on, hoping that André would continue to deliver excellent performances for them.
Soon, the match began with the sound of the referee's whistle.
Right from the start, André gave Osasuna's defense a harsh lesson.
Just 3 minutes into the match, André, who'd dropped back from the edge of the penalty area to receive the ball in midfield, lightly flicked the ball with his heel from Folch's pass, then immediately turned left and slipped past Oier, who was marking him, before accelerating and lofting the ball toward the left side of the penalty box. Ibra had already cut inside without the ball, but unfortunately, his shot while entangled with an opponent couldn't be kept down, flying slightly over the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
However, that play drew attention to the unparalleled agility displayed on the pitch by the tall young player André, creating a strange contrast with his massive physique. Furthermore, his role wasn't limited to just being a forward—that pass was also extremely sharp.
After that, both sides had their chances. On Osasuna's side, Rubén García's attacks on the wing made Oviedo's right flank a bit tense. But as time went on, people gradually noticed that Oviedo was slowly gaining a slight advantage. André frequently dropping back to receive the ball greatly increased Oviedo's competitiveness in midfield. Moreover, André wasn't confined to the center. He frequently swapped positions with Saúl, moving to the left flank to create trouble. This caused some issues for Osasuna's defense, but unfortunately, his teammates failed to convert on two excellent passes.
As time progressed, 42 minutes of the first half had been played, and at this moment, Oviedo found their best chance so far in the match.
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