Chapter 375 Helpless Waiting
Chapter 375 Helpless Waiting
The Manchester City fans in the Etihad Stadium turned into bitter faces. No one expected that today's game would have such an amazing development.
Obviously in the first round of the game, they were chopping up melons and chopping vegetables against Juventus, but today they were stewed by their opponents!
The key is the goal scored by former King Aguero, who left the Etihad last summer. This makes Blue Moon fans have a mixture of love and hate. They love because Aguero is living a good life in Italy, but they hate him. The goal may put the Blue Moon Army into a desperate situation.
After scoring, Aguero did not choose to celebrate, but walked silently back to the Juventus half. This made the Manchester City fans in the stadium feel a lot better. At least Aguero did not forget the Etihad.
After Juventus scored the second goal, Guardiola on the sidelines began to frown. In his eyes, Juventus's attack fully displayed its own technical and tactical characteristics, especially Heady. The few receiving moves of Pull are very critical.
During Juventus' backcourt play, Khedira's retracement opened up space on the wing and did not allow the game to enter the high-pressure rhythm that Manchester City is familiar with.
In the subsequent attack, Khedira's movement prevented Juventus' attack from being pinned down by Manchester City's defensive players on their wing. This is the response awareness that an excellent defensive midfielder should have.
Always understanding and able to provide support to his teammates, in addition, Mandzukic's off-ball movement in follow-up also helped Aguero.
From Guardiola's perspective, it was Mandzukic's containment at the back that prevented Stones from coming forward to form an encirclement with Yaya Toure and others.
It can be clearly seen that Stones retreated significantly during the defense, which allowed Aguero to still have a good shooting space after turning around.
Throughout the entire attack, Juventus players made excellent decisions. When the central blockade was restricted at the beginning, the Bianconeri's midfielders successfully broke through Manchester City's pressure on the wing through continuous transfers. , finally scored their second goal!
After the restart, Manchester City did not choose to retreat, but continued to adopt proactive tactics after the opening.
In Guardiola's view, his team's only option is to attack. Being conservative when only leading by one goal is not the attitude of the Blue Moon Army.
In the 38th minute, Manchester City once again attacked in the frontcourt. Under the leadership of De Bruyne, the football was handed over to Mane on the right.
After the Senegal forward got rid of Alex Sandro's entanglement when stopping the ball, he made a pass to the middle of the penalty area, but Bonucci grabbed the spot and beat Zhao Jinge to head the ball out of the penalty area.
Marchisio intercepted the ball first, took the lead in grabbing the landing point of the football, and then directly passed the long ball to find Douglas Costa who retreated to the center line.
Manchester City's counterattack began.
Gou Sheng started immediately after receiving the ball, sprinted forward with the ball in long strides, quickly advanced to the vicinity of Manchester City's thirty-yard area, and rushed directly into the heart of Manchester City!
In less than ten seconds, Manchester City's players pushed the ball from their own half to the center of Manchester City's half. The counterattack was too fast!
Mandzukic ran from the center to the right, crossed with Douglas Costa and took away the ball.
But he quickly knocked the ball back to Pjanic who followed up.
The Bosnian did not hesitate and sent a pass directly over the entire Manchester City defense without stopping the ball. The football flew over the heads of the Manchester City defenders and entered the Manchester City penalty area with Aguero!
After Aguero diagonally inserted into the Manchester City penalty area, he directly volleyed the ball with his right foot against the landing football!
Joe Hart subconsciously pounced towards the far corner, because at this time, most forwards would choose to hit the far corner. The angle of the far corner is larger, the goalkeeper is not very good at pounce, and Aguero's first goal The choice is also the far blind spot.
But this time Joe Hart's judgment was completely wrong!
Aguero's mid-air volley was aimed at the top of the near corner of the goal!
The football hit hard under the crossbar of the goal like a cannonball, and then bounced into the net, causing Manchester City's goal to tremble uncontrollably!
"GOAL!!!!!"
"Aguero! Juventus used a quick counterattack to slam open Manchester City's goal again!
Manchester City once again launched their own offensive hastily, but under their attack, their defense line today was exposed again and again, which was full of loopholes!
In many games this season, Manchester City has allowed its opponents to be punished by counterattacks. In today's game, Manchester City may feel the same way as their former opponents, because today their defense is vulnerable to Juventus' counterattack!
After Aguero's volley, Juventus led Manchester City 3-0 in the away game!
The total score came to three to three!
Maybe a miracle is really going to happen. As far as this game is concerned, Manchester City is no match for Juventus! "
Guardiola, standing in front of the coaching bench, looked at the figure who had just scored his own goal. There was too much disbelief in his eyes, right? Isn't it really going to be overturned? !
After being scored again, Manchester City's players also began to doubt themselves. Fortunately, the first half of the game was coming to an end. After Manchester City carefully persisted in the first half of the game, it felt like it had not been for a long time. He returned to the locker room in an embarrassed manner.
At half-time, the home team's dressing room at the Etihad was gloomy.
The score was equalized, forcing Manchester City to make offensive changes in the second half. Now it is a game at their home court, and they have been beaten three to zero in this game!
If Juventus can score the fourth goal in the second half, then facing Juventus, which has an away goal advantage, Manchester City will have to score at least two goals to reverse the situation.
Now we are no longer playing to win this game. What Manchester City want most now is to take back their initiative from the game, at least score a goal and ensure the lead in the total score!
The atmosphere in the Manchester City locker room has undoubtedly reached freezing point, but the execution of the players has not been greatly affected.
Several core players of the team, including Guardiola, are thinking about what to do in the second half. Facing Juventus's counterattack, they must respond!
"We had to respond in the second half! Juventus' counterattack started with two defensive midfielders. Our tactics against them in the first half were not wrong, but we didn't really restrict them!
So in the second half, we have to nail them! "
Guardiola's voice rang out in the silent locker room. Uncharacteristically, he did not choose to change his tactics. Instead, he desperately asked his disciples to continue to implement them!
In this regard, Manchester City's players did not object. Since the head coach said that there was no problem with the tactics in the first half, they had no reason to object.
After all, they still had the advantage on the court for most of the first half, but Juventus relied on more running and quick counterattacks in defense to not only carry their offense but also turn their heads to create Caused huge damage!
However, Manchester City players also know one thing, that is, most of Juventus's starting players are older players, and they put in more physical energy in the first half.
So an obvious result appeared in front of the Manchester City players. As long as it continues to drag on, the opponent's physical fitness will definitely collapse in the second half of the game, and that is when they are most likely to win the game!
After the halftime break, the two teams still continued the situation in the first half, but Guardiola encouraged De Bruyne in the midfield to participate more actively in the frontcourt offense, especially his passing ability and his ability to follow Zhao Jinge. cooperation.
After the start of the second half, Manchester City continued to attack, trying to open a breakthrough from the center.
But Juventus was also prepared.
Allegri took the lead in making a substitution, and Juventus replaced Alves with Lichtsteiner.
This looks like a matchup substitution, right? But in fact, after Shi Tai came on stage,
Alex Sandro was moved to the midfield position, Lichtsteiner dropped back into the penalty area, and formed a three-centre defender with the two central defenders. Juventus built an iron wall in the middle!
Needless to say, the effect is really good. Guardiola is really convinced!
Allegri has his own unique understanding of tactics. The key is that his players can execute them well.
The game was deadlocked again.
Time passed like this bit by bit, and the second half of the game was not as exciting as the first half. Although both sides continued to wrestle, neither side had a good chance.
Manchester City's offense was contained by Juventus, but Juventus' counterattack was unable to threaten.
Guardiola stood on the sidelines and watched the game in silence.
He never made a substitution and was always waiting.
Some people say that football is like a war.
The most real war is not like what is filmed in the movies. Attacks are like the wind, invasion is like fire, and once the fight breaks out, it will turn into a storm.
Real wars, especially wars where the gap in strength is not very large, are often stalemates and waiting for the opponent to make mistakes.
Some people may wonder, what if no mistakes are made?
This is impossible.
Because wars are always about attrition, and with the continuous attrition of wars, strategic factors in all aspects will continue to change, one will wax and wane, and when a certain critical point is reached, fighter jets will appear!
Just like the current showdown between Manchester City and Juventus.
After the total score was equalized, both sides made no mistakes in the second half, and both sides restrained their opponents, which turned the game into a stalemate.
But it doesn’t matter, continue to work hard, continue to persist, and see who can’t persist first, and see who can’t afford it.
Of course, unlike war, football matches have strict time limits.
After ninety minutes, if both sides hold on, it's overtime!
With the strength of Manchester City, they have put so much pressure on Juventus. Juventus, which consumes a lot of physical energy, will definitely not be able to bear it. It is estimated that Allegri's team will not have to last until overtime. Problems will definitely be exposed.
As soon as the fighter plane appears, it's Manchester City's chance!
For the same reason, there is a saying circulating in European football.
The moment you walk onto the court, the outcome of the game is already decided.
Kung fu is all outside the competition.
Allegri also prepared a lot for this game.
For example, the whole world knows that Marchisio is crucial to Juventus today and can be called the soul of the midfield.
Able to organize, defend and have a tough personality, such an outstanding midfielder is seriously underestimated by the outside world.
But he is thirty-two years old.
Aging is a serious problem facing Juventus, and Allegri cannot be unaware of it.
Visiting the Etihad and challenging Manchester City, Allegri did not dare to be careless at all. Adjusting the status of the veterans and recharging their energy has become a very important topic for Allegri.
Marchisio played for 60 minutes in Juventus' 1-0 away win over Udinese on April 6.
On April 10, during Juventus' match against Roma, Marchisio came on as a substitute for half an hour.
Obviously, this is just Allegri arranging for him to warm up and familiarize himself with the rhythm of the game, and he is not expected to play anything at all.
All of this is preparation for the battle of Ittihad.
Even tonight, in the second half of the game, Allegri replaced Alves with Lichtsteiner. This was not only to further strengthen the suppression of Zhao Jinge in the middle, but also to share the burden of Marchisi. The defensive pressure from O and Khedira's double midfielders, and more importantly, Alves, who tried his best in the first half, could hardly run anymore!
Like Marchisio, the 34-year-old Alves only played part of the time whether it was Udinese or Roma.
On one side, veteran Alves plays intensively and consumes a lot of money. On the other hand, the attacking power of the combination of Mahrez and Cancelo on the left side of Manchester City is getting stronger and stronger, and their cooperation is becoming more and more skillful and tacit, and Zhao Jinge has also been on the left side. Wandering between the road and the center, these made Allegri clearly aware of the dangers on the left.
Marchisio alone can't make up for it.
Therefore, in the first half, Allegri tried to score a goal, so he put Alves on it. As a result, the veteran really lived up to expectations and provided a key assist!
In the second half, when Manchester City kept threatening Juventus on the left, Guardiola in particular frequently signaled De Bruyne to step in and cooperate with Mahrez and Cancelo to attack Juventus' right. , Allegri couldn't care about anything else.
Lichtsteiner went up to freeze the right wing, and Alex Sandro joined the midfield to harass De Bruyne and others' organized offense.
As a result, the game barely returned to a stalemate.
But Juventus' entire midfield has completely lost momentum.
Of course, even so, it is by no means easy for Manchester City to break through Juventus' defense.
Guardiola continued to wait and continued to let his players wear down his opponents.
Manchester City's players have technical and strength advantages, they are young, have good physical fitness, they are playing at home, and they have one more day of rest than Juventus, so they still have the advantage of exerting themselves.
Guardiola believes that sooner or later cracks will appear in Juventus' iron wall, and fighters will definitely appear.
At that time, it was time for him to make substitutions. Even if the total score had been equalized by his opponent, Guardiola had completely recovered from the panic just now. The game was not even at the last moment, and it was still unclear who would win!
(End of this chapter)
