Chapter 279 Unlucky Courtois!
De Bruyne's shot was so unexpected!
If he and Lin Quan hadn't conspired loudly and Lin Quan deliberately ran to the top of the penalty area to confuse everyone, the people at Atletico Madrid might not have been so surprised by De Bruyne's direct shot.
After all, although this position is not particularly good, it is not impossible to directly hit the goal.
However, after seeing the conspiracy between him and Lin Quan, Atletico Madrid naturally thought that they would take a tactical free kick. After being expected to be led astray by the two, and then seeing the other party make a normal choice, they instead You will feel uncomfortable.
Courtois' reaction speed was extremely fast. Originally, the focus of his defense was Lin Quan, but after seeing De Bruyne's shot, he immediately made adjustments and pounced in the direction of De Bruyne's shot.
Courtois' body was completely stretched in the air and he threw himself in the direction of the football, like a trapeze artist.
The attention of the fans of both teams at the scene was firmly attracted by Courtois in the air. His save is likely to determine the trend of this game, so it is crucial for both teams.
Although Courtois is not old, he can be said to be famous in the Champions League.
In the last game against Bayern, he saved three must-goals from Robben and Franck Ribery, making a huge contribution to Atletico Madrid's clean sheet against Bayern.
In La Liga, his performance this season has also been very stable, helping Atletico Madrid to keep opponents clean on many occasions. Even against top teams such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, he did not drag down the team, but often contributed brilliant saves. Help the team turn danger into safety.
This time, Courtois once again made a contribution.
He touched the ball with the fingertips of his extended right hand and slightly changed the direction of the football, causing it to fly past the uprights and out of the baseline!
The Manchester City fans at the scene let out a sigh. They were probably only one finger away from scoring.
Atletico Madrid fans were clutching their chests and almost had heart attacks.
Fortunately, we have Courtois, otherwise, the goal would have been scored!
Seeing Courtois save his shot, De Bruyne shook his head. It would have been better if the angle of the ball was more tricky.
"It was a beautiful fight, but the other side had better luck!"
Lin Quan ran over, rubbed De Bruyne's head and said to him.
De Bruyne nodded, throwing away the regret and annoyance in his heart.
Then, he reacted.
Lin Quan is several years younger than me, yet he actually adopts the attitude and tone of a senior!
He immediately reached out to grab Lin Quan, intending to retaliate twice as much as he had just done by rubbing his head.
However, Lin Quan had expected it, took advantage and ran away, smiling and avoiding De Bruyne's capture.
Courtois, who had just completed a great save, was being hugged and kissed by his teammates.
Compared with his excited teammates, Courtois felt a little frightened.
This shot originally didn't pose much of a threat, but it was because the opponent deceived them through such a psychological tactic that such an ordinary shot posed such a huge threat!
I wonder whose hand this tactic just came from?
Is it his national team teammate De Bruyne?
Or the No. 10 player from Manchester City?
On the sidelines, Simeone held his chin and frowned, thinking about the situation of the game.
Manchester City's set kick just now was indeed a threat, and he couldn't help but worry:
Could it be that Manchester City's trick against Atletico Madrid was a set piece?
A few minutes later, Manchester City's corner kick reinforced his thoughts.
This time, Lin Quan discussed the corner kick with De Bruyne as usual, and continued to use the "loud conspiracy" trick.
However, the Atletico Madrid player on the opposite side put on a posture: I will just watch your performance quietly.
The development of things went beyond their expectations again. This time, Manchester City really took a tactical corner kick.
De Bruyne did not send the ball directly into the penalty area, but kicked the ball to Lin Quan on the left side outside the penalty area.
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan once again passed the ball into the penalty area and accurately found captain Kompany.
Kompany shook his head like a lion and headed the ball toward the goal.
Unfortunately, the ball was headed too straight. Although Courtois missed the ball, Kompany's header hit him on the nose and bounced back.
Atletico defender Godin took the lead and kicked the ball out of the sideline with a big kick to complete the clearance.
Kompany scratched his bald head and felt that his luck was a bit behind.
How come the doorframe is so large and it’s right in the goalkeeper’s face?
Courtois also felt that his ideas were lame!
With such a big goal frame, how could the ball hit my nose without any bias?
He smelled the smell of blood, stretched out his hand and touched it, and his fingers were immediately covered with blood.
Come on, the nosebleeds have been smashed out.
The game had to be temporarily stopped due to an injury to Atletico Madrid's goalkeeper.
The team doctors rushed to help Courtois deal with the injury and gave him a new jersey to replace the jersey stained with nosebleeds.
After Courtois dealt with the injury, there was not much time left in the first half.
The referee quickly blew the whistle to end the first half.
Throughout the first half, both sides completed a total of 11 shots, including 7 for Manchester City and 4 for Atletico Madrid.
In terms of the number of shots, Manchester City has the advantage.
However, except for the last two set kicks that created a threat, the other shots failed to pose a threat.
The situation on Atletico Madrid's side is similar. Only one of their four shots hit the door frame, and the remaining three shots all missed the mark.
On the scene, the two sides have similar ball possession rates, with Manchester City leading Atletico Madrid at 55% and 45%.
It can be seen from this data that Atletico Madrid is not the kind of team that gives up the ball and then plays defensive counterattack.
In general, throughout the first half, when both teams were based on defense, it was difficult for both sides to obtain excellent offensive opportunities.
However, as the game time gradually shortens, the tactics of both sides will definitely be adjusted in the second half.
I just don’t know who was the first to lose control and break the deadlock!
…
"Brother, this way, this way!"
During the halftime break, Lin Quan had just walked to the sidelines and was about to enter the player tunnel.
But suddenly I heard a familiar voice coming from the stands!
He looked up and found Guardiola and others sitting in the stands near the players' tunnel. At this time, his sister Maria was waving her arms and trying hard to say hello to Lin Quan.
The reason why I say they are trying hard to say hello is because almost all the fans in the seats near the players' tunnel are doing this at this time.
Some of them stretched out their arms, trying to shake hands or give high-fives to the players.
Some applauded the players loudly and said some encouraging words to them.
Others simply took out paper and pen and wanted to ask the players for their signatures.
As the biggest player in the Manchester City team, Lin Quan naturally encounters the largest number of fans.
Originally he would not stay here, but after hearing Maria's voice, Lin Quan stopped and walked onto the stand.
When the fans in the stands saw Lin Quan coming up, they were all excited.
Not only were the fans sitting around frantically rushing toward him, but even the people behind who didn't know the truth rushed over excitedly when they saw their team's number one star suddenly appearing in the stands.
Seeing that something was going to happen if he stayed any longer, Lin Quan only had time to hug each other with his family, and then left as if he was running away under the escort of on-site security personnel.
With Lin Quan gone, Guardiola will be in dire straits.
He is a celebrity after all. Fans can't get Lin Quan's autograph, but it would be great if they could get Guardiola's autograph!
As a result, the target of containment changed from Lin Quan to Guardiola.
Maria and others on the side were frightened by this huge formation. When they saw a large number of people rushing towards them, they were a little nervous and even afraid.
But after the fear dissipated, they all began to be surprised:
It turns out that my brother’s influence has reached this level?
It feels like even my dad is almost inferior to him!
…
In the Manchester City dressing room, Pellegrini asked the players to take time to rest while starting to arrange tactics for the second half.
"At the beginning of the second half, we still maintained the tactics of the first half. When the 75th minute, if the score is still 0:0, we will start to make substitution adjustments.
He called the names of Nasri and Navas and said: "You two will warm up every five minutes after the start of the second half and be ready to play at any time."
Nasri and Navas were very excited to be able to play as key surprise players on such an occasion. They felt the coach's attention and trust.
"Lin, after Navas comes on the field, we will play without a striker."
Lin Quan nodded. Atletico Madrid's defenders were very difficult to deal with. If they were positioned too far forward, they would be easily targeted and they would not be able to pose a threat.
And if he retreats, he can increase the number of people in the midfield, making it easier for the team to control the situation in the midfield.
Once Manchester City takes advantage of the midfield stranglehold, they have the opportunity to organize a threatening attack.
Pellegrini left a substitution place to prepare for emergencies.
If Diego Costa had not been injured in the first half, he might not have reserved a substitution place, because replacing three people at the same time would have the best tactical effect in a short period of time.
Not only does it increase Manchester City's combat effectiveness the most, it also poses a greater threat to Atletico Madrid.
Of course, this kind of substitution adjustment is very radical, leaving almost no way for oneself to fall back.
If a player on the field is injured, he will be replaced by no one.
On the other side, in Atletico Madrid's dressing room.
Simeone also finished explaining his tactics. Like Manchester City, Atletico Madrid will also attack in the second half.
There is no way to drag it out like this. With the physical exertion of their high-position pressing, it will probably be a disaster if they are dragged into overtime by Manchester City.
Manchester City's defensive strategy in this game made him feel that the opponent's intention was to drag the game into overtime.
Therefore, Simeone cannot let his opponents get what they want.
However, how to break the deadlock is a big difficulty for Atletico Madrid, which is missing Diego Costa.
"Man City's defensive ability is not that strong. There are many flaws in their defense. In the second half, our offense must be more determined and the speed must be played. Don't be timid when passing the ball. Pass forward boldly. It's a big deal if we lose the ball. Get it back again!"
It is better to lose the ball in the opponent's half than in your own half. As long as you can stop the opponent's ball release point in time and interrupt the opponent's counterattack, even if you lose the ball, it will not have a big impact on your own goal. threats.
"If positional warfare doesn't work, you can try to use more set-pieces. Manchester City did a good job in several set-pieces in the first half. We can also learn from this!"
Atletico Madrid is not the kind of team with very strong offensive firepower. They have only scored more than 70 goals in La Liga this season. Compared with Real Madrid and Barcelona, two teams that have scored more than 100 goals, there is a huge gap. big.
Defense can make up for it with discipline and tactics, while offense really requires talent. The forward's personal ability is directly related to the number of goals scored by the team.
As for Atletico Madrid itself, their top scorer Diego Costa has helped the team score 27 goals in the league this season, accounting for more than 35% of the team's total goals!
This ratio is much higher than the ratio of Messi and Ronaldo's goals in Barcelona and Real Madrid!
Without Diego Costa, Atletico Madrid's offensive firepower is equivalent to wasting at least one-third.
Villa's goal efficiency is less than half of Costa's, and none of the remaining players has scored double figures. If you expect them to complete the final kick, it's better to give up as soon as possible!
Therefore, there is no other way to use set kicks to solve the offensive problem!
Villa was a little sad after hearing Simeone's arrangement.
He feels that he is indeed old and does not have the ability to step forward when the team needs him to stand up and help the team the most.
Atletico Madrid actually created several good opportunities in the first half, but Villa and substitute Lopez failed to seize the opportunity.
As long as they seize an opportunity, the game will not be so anxious, and Atletico Madrid may have taken the lead.
Thinking of this, Villa secretly made up his mind.
After this World Cup is over, I will not renew my contract with Atletico Madrid. I will leave the five major leagues and go to the low-level leagues to find gold!
Anyway, he has basically won all the honors he deserves, including Grand Slams at the national team level and six crowns at the club level. Except for things that are out of reach like the Ballon d'Or, he has other honors.
No more regrets!
However, before leaving, Villa decided to work hard with his teammates to win this Big Ear Cup!
…
At the beginning of the second half of the game, the two teams changed sides and fought again.
After the kick-off, the tactics of both sides continued from the first half, and no obvious changes were seen.
However, Manchester City players quickly noticed the difference in Atletico Madrid. When they attacked, they became more aggressive than in the first half.
Atletico Madrid players passed more forward passes and reduced back passes and cross passes.
The result of this is that Atletico Madrid's passing success rate began to decline, and Manchester City got more counterattack opportunities when defending.
In the 47th minute, Zabaleta successfully intercepted the ball and passed the ball to his teammates before the opponent counterattacked.
As soon as Fernandinho got the ball, Atletico Madrid players rushed forward like mad dogs.
He quickly passed the ball to De Bruyne.
The ball was not passed well. Before De Bruyne could catch the ball, he was fouled by Gabi from behind, halting Manchester City's counterattack.
Although he missed the opportunity to counterattack, Pellegrini's eyes lit up on the sidelines.
He saw a chance to score!
If Atletico Madrid continues to make mistakes and give opportunities, Manchester City may be able to score soon!
