At 23:00 Beijing time on January 15, the 2021-22 Spanish King's Cup quarterfinals, Espanyol lost 1-2 away to Mallorca, missing the quarterfinals. Wu Lei came on in stoppage time, but failed to become the team's savior.
In this campaign, there are a total of 3 Asian players in the two teams' competition roster, namely Wu Lei, Jiu Jianying and Li Gangren. Among them, the 20-year-old youngster Kumiying, known as the "Messi of Japan", won the starting opportunity and scored a direct free kick in the first half to help Mallorca take the lead.
Also only 20-year-old South Korean prodigy Lee Gang-jin came on as a substitute in the 81st minute, and Wu Lei only got a chance to play in the 90th minute. Chinese fans said bluntly, "This is an insulting substitution." Despite this, this is the only performance opportunity in Wu Lei's last 6 games.
In 6 minutes, Wu Lei completed a total of 2 touches and 1 shooting attempt. Unfortunately, due to the coldness of his feet, his performance was also disappointing. Wu Lei's first touch was in the 95th minute, when he picked up the ball on the left and crossed the ball without interference. At this time, the Spaniard wrapped up at 4 o'clock in the penalty area, but Wu Lei's pass was outrageously deflected out of the far bottom line and did not pose any threat.
The second touch was the last attack of the game, Molon arced the ball to the back of the penalty area, Wu Lei excellent running position to shake off the defense, but then the small angle outside the instep shot was out of standard, easily confiscated by the opposing goalkeeper, the Spaniard also completely lost the opportunity.
After missing this perfect opportunity, Wu Lei held his head and blamed himself, several teammates also regretted turning around, and Moranes directly spread his hands and yelled at Wu Lei to express his dissatisfaction.
However, this is not all to blame Wu Lei. In the last 10 rounds of the league, Wu Lei has not been able to start, and has only played 28 minutes in total. Originally, the Copa del Rey could still enter the starting line-up, but only in the first three rounds against lower league teams; this round against Mallorca, who was also a promoted horse in La Liga, Wu Lei was immediately pressed on the bench.
According to the Spaniard and team reporter Bia, the trust value of coach Moreno Team Wu Lei has reached an unprecedented low point, and it is likely to leave the team in the winter window. For a 30-year-old player, now in the golden age of his career, finding another way out may be the best choice in front of Wu Lei.