Chapter 502 Visiting the Calderon Stadium, Guardiola’s adventure

In fact, not only Real Madrid's young players and female football players came over to watch Manchester City's training, but also many Real Madrid club staff came over curiously to watch.

Manchester City in this era is really shining in European football!

In the lineup, they have Lin Quan, De Bruyne, Aguero, Kroos and other top stars.

In terms of results, they are two-time Champions League winners and the first team to successfully defend the Champions League since its restructuring.

And in the Premier League, an unprecedentedly competitive division, they have just completed three consecutive championships and created the Manchester City dynasty!

Such a team that is at the top in all aspects will naturally easily arouse interest from the outside world.

Real Madrid is no exception, not to mention that Real Madrid is very likely to meet Barcelona in the final, so if you come here to watch, you can not only appreciate the charm of Manchester City's stars, but also spy on the military situation. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.

Guardiola was a little speechless at Real Madrid's approach. If he had known this, he might as well have rented Getafe's training ground.

It's just that compared with Real Madrid, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano are both civilian teams. Their training bases are much worse than Real Madrid's, and the training effect may be worse.

As a player born in Barcelona, ​​Guardiola naturally doesn't like Real Madrid.

Presumably Real Madrid won't look kindly on him, right?

Forget it, just watch, anyway, in this game against Atletico Madrid, Guardiola is not going to reveal anything new, just follow their usual tactics in the Premier League and Champions League.

The three-midfielder tactic used in the last game is not going to be used in this game, because this time Manchester City is going to play a defensive counterattack.

Contrary to what Guardiola thought, Real Madrid's attitude towards him is still very friendly.

Florentillo even considered poaching him and Lin Quan together, but unfortunately due to various reasons, this plan could not be implemented in the end.

And now, after seeing the combination of Guardiola + Lin Quan shine in the Premier League and Champions League, no club in the world can resist being tempted.

Real Madrid now not only lacks good players, but also lacks an excellent coach.

Although Zidane did a pretty good job, he still fell far short of Real Madrid's requirements.

After all, what Real Madrid wants is the tenth Big Ear Cup.

Judging from the current situation of Zidane's leadership, it is very difficult to achieve this goal.

Therefore, even if Guardiola has a very strong Barcelona label, as long as he can help Real Madrid win the championship, Real Madrid will still hire him with a high salary!

However, even if Real Madrid has this intention, Guardiola himself may not agree.

There are many good teams in the five major leagues, so there is no need for him to go to Real Madrid to get scolded!

When Figo moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid, Guardiola experienced how much scolding he received.

When Figo returned to Camp Nou, he was attacked by Barcelona fans throwing pig heads.

This is just the defection of Figo, a player who has only joined Barcelona and is not a player from Barcelona's own youth training.

Guardiola is a direct descendant of Barcelona who came from the La Masia youth training camp. He also served as the captain of the Nou Camp for 4 years and is one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the team.

If he goes to Real Madrid to coach, it's hard to imagine how Barcelona fans will treat him!

Even putting aside the attitude of the fans, Guardiola himself does not have a good impression of Real Madrid.

The president of Real Madrid is too strong and will interfere in the work of the head coach. Firing the coach is as common as eating and drinking.

Not only that, Real Madrid's requirements are extremely high. Not only must they have good results, but they must also play well and conform to Real Madrid's aristocratic temperament.

Guardiola usually stays away from this kind of team.

…

While Manchester City is preparing seriously for the game, Simeone is also racking his brains at Atletico Madrid to think about how to defeat Manchester City at home.

The score of 1:4 in the away game is indeed a disappointing number for Atletico Madrid, but they still do not want to give up easily.

Even if the hope of a comeback is very slim, everyone at Atletico Madrid still wants to give it a try.

After all, at this time, they are only 2 wins away from winning the Big Ears Cup!

If I miss this opportunity, I don’t know if I will have such an opportunity again in the future!

After all, Atletico Madrid is not a real giant. Under the gold and dollar offensive of the top giants, their main lineup may not be able to cover it.

Therefore, Simeone cherishes this opportunity very much!

"In the last game, Manchester City's defense in the middle was very strong. The configuration of three midfielders allowed them to establish an insurmountable barrier in front of the back line. The coverage area of ​​the two sweeping midfielders covered the entire midfield. Our ground It’s hard to deliver results!”

Simeone convened a meeting with assistant coaches and others, and marked the offensive and defensive positions of both sides in the previous game on the tactical board.

According to the heat map statistics and ball possession rate and other game data after the game, Manchester City did not use traditional tactics in the last game.

They seemed to have given up on possession of the ball and took the initiative to retreat a bit in order to reduce the gaps in the midfield and backcourt and not give Atletico Madrid a chance to counterattack quickly.

This trick is very effective, because Atletico Madrid's positional combat ability is not strong, there are only three axes, as long as Atletico Madrid can withstand it, Atletico Madrid will be blinded.

What Atletico Madrid is really good at is their quick counterattack after stealing the ball in the frontcourt. However, such opportunities were very rare in the last game, and Manchester City curbed this very well.

This makes Simeone a little worried. Will Manchester City repeat their same tricks in this game?

Since the previous tactics were so easy to use, and they still have a 3-goal lead, according to the rule that the winner does not need to make changes, he is inclined to Manchester City to continue the formation and tactics from the previous game.

If this is really the case, then Atletico Madrid needs to study carefully now how to break through the opponent's three midfielder system.

It will definitely not work to continue to use the original method. Relying entirely on catching the opponent's mistakes to counterattack is too passive for a team like Manchester City that rarely makes mistakes.

Therefore, they must strengthen their positional warfare capabilities, proactively create opportunities, and enrich their offensive tactics to open up the situation.

However, how to strengthen the team's offense is a bit difficult for a defensive master like Simeone.

After much thought, Simeone felt that he still had to make a fuss about defense and use defense to attack!

As for how to do it, he already had preliminary ideas in his mind.

…

May 4, Calderon Stadium.

At 17:45 in the afternoon, with the referee's whistle, the much-anticipated second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Atletico Madrid VS Manchester City, officially started.

Contrary to the expectations of the Atletico Madrid coach and many outsiders, Guardiola did not use the tactics he had used before in this game, but switched back to conventional tactics.

Manchester City's formation for this game is 4231. The starting forward is Aguero, the wingers on both sides are Lin Quan and David Silva, and the attacking midfielder is De Bruyne.

The two defensive midfielders are the classic combination of Kante + Kroos, and the defense is led by Zabaleta, Kompany, Van Dijk, and Clichy.

Manchester City's lineup has strengthened their offensive capabilities and weakened their defensive capabilities compared to the lineup they deployed in the previous game.

After missing a defensive midfielder, the hardness of the midfield has dropped a lot.

However, De Bruyne's appearance has increased Manchester City's offensive nature and made Manchester City's offensive threat rise sharply.

Moreover, Zabaleta and Clichy are the kind of full-backs who can go up and down, attack and defend.

Both of these two have strong assist abilities and can play a big role in offense.

Seeing Guardiola arranging such a lineup in the away game, the first reaction from the outside world is that Guardiola is a bit exaggerated.

Although Manchester City has a huge lead, this is Atletico Madrid's home court after all. When playing at the opponent's home court, Manchester City should be more cautious.

The 4231 formation is not a defensive formation, it is a formation that is both offensive and defensive, and even more focused on offense.

Since most of the offense in this formation is initiated by the midfielder, the full-backs also have to step in to participate in the attack, which results in the defense being extremely empty, especially when switching from offense to defense.

Because the midfielder has just participated in the attack, he is relatively far away from the two central defenders. The large space in between can be used by the opponent.

If the full back also participates in the attack and does not have time to withdraw, the unguarded area in the ribs is also very deadly. The opponent's wide player can either pass down the bottom or directly cut in and shoot.

To prevent the opponent from threatening the goal, the midfielder needs to have strong running ability, and at the same time he must have excellent positional sense and not lose his position when defending.

Most of the midfielders who meet this requirement are tall B2B players. For example, Yaya Toure, who has been transferred and left, is a representative figure in this regard.

The former Tottenham player who was poached by Evergrande last summer is also this type of player!

However, there seems to be no such presence in Manchester City's current lineup. Kanter does not belong to B2B, and his figure alone does not meet the requirements.

Cross's ball control ability is excellent, but his physical confrontation is a bit poor, and he is not considered an all-around midfielder.

In other words, Guardiola forced this tactic when the team lacked such players.

Isn't this random?

After understanding this, Atletico Madrid fans, including Simeone, seemed to see hope of winning in their hearts.

Isn't it courting death to use this obviously flawed style of play in front of a team like Atletico Madrid that emphasizes high-position pressing?

Simeone tried hard to control his facial expression to prevent himself from showing too much excitement and joy, which would let Guardiola on the side see the clues.

If by chance he discovers something is wrong and re-adjusts Manchester City's style of play, Atletico Madrid will not have such a good chance!

"Director Gong, you are also a player who has played in midfield. Based on your experience, what do you think is the reason why Guardiola arranges his troops like this in the away game?"

In the CCTV studio, in addition to the old partners He Wei and Xu Yang, today's commentary box also invited a guest, who once played in the Tahitian League and won the best player. Guidance from Gong Lei Palace.

Gong Lei also coached in the Chinese Super League a few years ago, but was fired by the Guizhou team due to poor performance in leading the team.

Facing the questions raised by He Wei, Director Gong spoke eloquently:

"I think Guardiola's formation today is to prepare for the final."

"Well, what Director Gong said makes sense. With such a huge lead in hand, it is indeed the best way to try other tactics, test the team's combat effectiveness under other tactics, and accumulate experience for the finals. There is probable cause!”

As a qualified supporter, Xu Yang spoke at the right time and followed Gong Lei's words.

"But would it be too risky to do so? After all, Atletico Madrid is not weak and their record at home is also very good. Manchester City is not yet completely sure of promotion. If they lose because of this, wouldn't it be self-defeating?"

He Wei took the opportunity to ask his own question. This sentence was also asked on behalf of the fans and audience in front of the screen.

Many fans felt anxious when they saw Guardiola being so bold and setting up such a formation in the away game, fearing that Manchester City would mess up and become a clown.

"There is indeed a big risk, but I don't think you need to worry too much. After all, Manchester City has top stars like Lin Quan in the team, and Guardiola is not the kind of person who will never look back until he hits the wall.

Once the situation on the court is unfavorable, he will definitely make timely adjustments. "

Gong Lei seems to be very optimistic about Guardiola, even worshiping him.

He is also a midfielder and has the experience of coaching a team. He knows all too well how difficult it is to do these two jobs well.

But Guardiola was a leader in the industry both when he was a player and when he took up the coaching post after retirement.

Not only did he do his job well, he also pioneered the TIKI TAKA tactic of passing and controlling football.

And in the past few years, he has been constantly improving his passing and control tactics, tapping its potential bit by bit, and constantly pursuing the ultimate!

This kind of spirit and ability are very admirable.

Moreover, Manchester City still holds a 3-goal lead, and it will not be easy for Atletico Madrid to catch up.

After all, although the defense of the 4231 formation has loopholes, it is very strong offensively and can easily create a layered offense.

As long as Manchester City scores more goals than their opponent, it doesn't matter even if they concede a few goals. They will advance in the end.

After the game started, amid the cheers and cheers of tens of thousands of fans at the Calderon Stadium, Atletico Madrid players began to launch a fierce attack on Manchester City.

Not long after the game started, Torres completed a shot.

Although the ball was hit high and flew directly into the stands, it still received rounds of applause from the fans at the scene.

"Atletico Madrid's morale looks very high!"

On the coaching bench, Guardiola's expression looked very relaxed, and he was even able to comment on Atletico Madrid's offense.

Torres's condition has indeed declined a lot, but his sense of smell in front of the goal is still online.

Although the shot just now was shot high, it was indeed the best choice. If it were one second later, there might not even be a chance to shoot.

However, if Atletico Madrid's offense only reaches this level, it will still be difficult to break through Manchester City's defense.

Since Atletico Madrid played very fiercely in the opening stage and Manchester City's overall formation was relatively deep, the problems on the defensive end were not exposed.

But when it was Manchester City's turn to start attacking, this problem immediately became apparent!