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Spanish Second Division side have most unique kick off in football
Published 11:38 19 Oct 2023 BST
Updated 11:38 19 Oct 2023 BST
Homesport
Some have described the method as a cheat code
A Spanish Second Division side have gone viral for their unorthodox approach when it comes to taking kick offs.
Racing Santander are eighth in the second tier of Spanish football with 18 points from their first eleven games, winning five, drawing three and losing three so far.
But while they aren't currently sitting at the top of the table, they are the talk of the internet after somebody noticed a consistent theme emerging when it comes to their kick offs.
A 41-second video of their kick offs throughout he 2024/24 campaign was posted to Reddit. For some teams, they like to keep the ball whereas others give it to their centre back who punts it long and tries to put the opposition under early pressure.
Racing meanwhile use the kick off to their own advantage thanks to a rule that was introduced in recent years.
From every kick off, the striker will take the kick off on his own and pass the ball back to the midfielder who then flicks the ball up in the air to himself before volleying it up the pitch.
The team then moves forward up the pitch to try and close down the defence, who nine times out of 10 clear the ball away, to instantly put pressure on them.
Other clubs have tried it in the past, with one of the most iconic recollection's being Paris Saint-Germain's attempt just over a year ago.
From the kick off, Neymar laid the ball off to Marco Verratti who then passed to Lionel Messi. He then produced a sensational pass to pick out Kylian Mbappe who promptly finished off the brilliant move to give PSG the lead against Lille after eight seconds.
WHAT A START! đ±
â Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 21, 2022
It's taken Kylian MbappĂ© just 8 SECONDS to open the scoring for PSG against Lille đźâđš pic.twitter.com/ziibIszhWL
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