Chapter 503 Is Barcelona’s orthodoxy in Manchester City? The most gorgeous passing and cutting coope

Although it was expected that Atletico Madrid would use the high-pressing tactic, Guardiola was a little surprised by the area where the opponent pressed.

It seems that it was affected by the previous game. Atletico Madrid felt that they could not take advantage of the midfield battle, so they selectively moved the pressing area earlier.

Atletico Madrid's players pressed harder on Manchester City's midfield and backcourt, especially the two central defenders, making it more difficult for them to play the ball and forcing them to make long passes forward under the pressure of their opponents.

Although long passes seem to be able to send the ball out of dangerous areas, compared with short passes on the ground, it is not so easy to control the placement of long passes.

Opponents have a greater chance of fighting for the ball, so many times, long passes mean mistakes and losing the ball.

For Atletico Madrid, the first thing to do when getting the ball is to counterattack.

This is what Simeone arranged, and Atletico Madrid did the same!

Taking advantage of the huge space between the midfielder and defender in the 4231 formation, especially in the area in front of the top of the arc, Atletico Madrid's counterattack threat is great.

As long as the ball can be passed, Atletico Madrid can easily form a 4-on-4 or even 4-on-3 situation in the frontcourt.

In the 15 minutes of the first half, Atletico Madrid had successfully launched two such threatening counterattacks.

If it weren't for the outstanding performance of Van Dijk and Navas, who defused one opponent's counterattack respectively, Manchester City would have probably conceded the ball at this time.

"This guy Simeone looks like he has prepared something new for us!"

Guardiola has studied the defensive strategy of Atletico Madrid under Simeone and knows that the opponent likes to press high, so he also made some special arrangements.

However, Atletico Madrid's choice was somewhat beyond his expectation.

Simeone made adjustments to his choices of applying pressure, pressing areas and recovering the ball. He gave up strangling Manchester City in the midfield and instead launched a counterattack directly near Manchester City's penalty area.

Obviously, Simeone hopes that Atletico Madrid can directly put pressure on Manchester City in the most advanced position of the frontcourt, rather than in the midfield position.

This has many advantages, because the pressing position is very close to the goal. Once Atletico Madrid successfully steals the ball, it directly threatens the goal, and there is almost no chance for Manchester City to reorganize the defense. Even the goalkeeper does not have much reaction time.

The greater the suddenness of the attack, the greater the hope of success.

Moreover, the pressing close to the penalty area also reduced the running distance of Atletico Madrid players on the field and reduced the physical consumption. It would not happen again like in the last game. In the next ten minutes, the players' lack of physical fitness caused a significant decline in condition.

Just as Guardiola was thinking, the referee blew the whistle again on the court.

Cross was brought down to the ground by Atletico Madrid players and was holding his leg in pain.

Although Guardiola did not see the entire process of the opponent's foul clearly, he saw Kroos injured and fell to the ground.

He immediately became angry and angrily ran to the fourth official to protest and put pressure on him.

During this period, Atletico Madrid committed a lot of fouls in Manchester City's half.

In order to get the ball from the feet of Manchester City's backcourt players, they did everything they could.

This made Guardiola very angry. Manchester City had just experienced a wave of injuries not long ago, and many of the main players in the team had missed games due to injuries.

This makes Guardiola a little worried. Now, what he is most afraid of seeing is the injury of the team's main players.

The Champions League final is coming soon. If you get injured at this time, you may not be able to make it to the final in a few weeks.

Even if the injuries are more serious, these players will not even be able to make it to the European Cup in France this summer.

Whether it is for the team's performance or the players' own career prospects, Guardiola does not want to see them injured.

However, Atletico Madrid's style of play is infinitely magnifying their risk of injury.

Especially those in the midfield and backfield, De Bruyne and Kroos, the two players who hold the ball more often, have been violated the most.

However, their role in the team's tactics is irreplaceable. If they are injured, Manchester City's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced!

Thinking of this, Guardiola immediately made adjustments.

He took advantage of a dead ball opportunity and gave Lin Quan some instructions on the sidelines.

After the game restarted, Atletico Madrid coach Simeone quickly discovered that Manchester City's style of play had changed.

Manchester City did not make much adjustments in other positions. Guardiola made some adjustments to the full-back attack on both sides, but the adjustment was not significant.

What worries Simeone even more is Manchester City's adjustments to the frontcourt players.

Lin Quan and De Bruyne swapped positions. Lin Quan changed from a wing player to a central midfielder and became an attacking midfielder?

As for De Bruyne, he took Lin Quan's position and became a full midfielder.

What changes will this bring to the situation on the court?

Simone is full of curiosity!

The exchange of positions between De Bruyne and Lin Quan has brought about very obvious changes.

Lin Quan's ball control ability is stronger than De Bruyne's, and it is much more difficult to steal the ball from his feet.

Based on their fear of Lin Quan, Atletico Madrid players subconsciously focused their defense on Lin Quan, and De Bruyne, who moved to the wing, immediately received a lot less attention.

After the opponent's pressing intensity dropped, De Bruyne's performance gradually became more active.

Although he does not have Lin Quan's strong offensive ability and cannot cut in from the wing and shoot, his crosses from the wing are a great threat. He often does not need to dribble the ball down the floor. He only needs to open up a little space. Send a very penetrating cross.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, De Bruyne took the ball from the wing. A second before receiving the ball, he observed the positions of the players on both sides in the frontcourt, and then decisively sent a 30-meter long pass to the ground.

Long passes at this distance are usually overhead passes, so defensive players have plenty of time to judge where the football will land, and then block and intercept it.

However, De Bruyne's choice was to pass the ball on the ground, and it was also a cross with a huge arc from the side.

This kind of pass can often be seen in the Premier League, and it can often assist teammates in scoring goals that are pleasing to the eye!

Atletico Madrid players obviously did not have a deep understanding of this. When De Bruyne was preparing to pass the ball, he did not intervene in time, allowing him to pass a very high-quality cross.

Aguero was originally running alongside the opponent's defenders. When he saw De Bruyne taking the ball on the wing, he immediately accelerated and surpassed Atletico Madrid's defense almost at the moment De Bruyne passed the ball.

De Bruyne's pass found Aguero accurately, and the latter easily stopped the ball with almost no effort.

Atletico Madrid players raised their hands to indicate that Aguero was offside, but the linesman did not raise the flag.

Aguero ignored the opponent's protests, and after receiving the ball, he took advantage of the situation and rushed into Atletico Madrid's penalty area.

Oblak immediately chose to attack and pounced on Aguero like a hungry wolf.

Aguero did not expect the opponent to attack so quickly. He was worried that he would lose the shooting angle if he moved forward, so he decisively chose to shoot.

Oblak reacted extremely quickly. He judged the right direction at the moment the opponent shot, and quickly stretched out his palm to swat the ball.

Aguero saw the opponent save his shot and put his head in his hands, feeling annoyed.

He felt a little sorry for De Bruyne, such a good opportunity was wasted.

De Bruyne couldn't help but shook his head, feeling quite regretful.

But he didn't blame Aguero. He knew Aguero's strength, but the opponent's goalkeeper reacted too quickly. There was no big problem with Aguero's handling of the ball.

Of course, if the person who just caught the ball was Lin Quan, the result would probably be different.

Based on De Bruyne's understanding of Lin Quan, when faced with an attacking goalkeeper, his usual approach is either to pass the opponent, or to score a goal with a lob that the opponent cannot catch.

Guardiola saw that Aguero's shot missed and made the same move as Aguero.

Such a great opportunity, what a pity!

Not far away, Simeone broke out in a cold sweat. The ball just now was so dangerous.

If Manchester City scores, then Atletico Madrid's coffin will be completely nailed.

Oblak has done a great job!

When Courtois left, Simeone was worried about the team's goalkeeper position.

Fortunately, Oblak's timely joining allowed him to have no worries at all.

However, the goalkeeper's highlights often mean that the team is passive, especially when there are problems in the defense.

The ball just now was too dangerous. If he tried it again, he might score.

Therefore, this kind of attack by Manchester City must be stopped and they cannot be allowed to do it again.

Through Manchester City's attack just now, Simeone has been fully aware of the threat of De Bruyne.

No wonder Guardiola would rather abandon the three-midfielder system in the previous game and arrange for him to play in this game.

With him on the field, Manchester City's offensive threat has increased to a higher level.

In this game, Atletico Madrid's defensive pressure was much greater than in the previous game.

However, it is not difficult to restrain him, just send someone to keep a close eye on him.

De Bruyne's performance in the first 20 minutes was mediocre because Atletico Madrid's restrictions were too strict, leaving him no room to perform.

Now that this trick has proven to be effective, keep using it.

Simeone's choice did not surprise Guardiola. On the contrary, Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the other party do this.

Atletico Madrid was fooled!

Thinking of this, he walked to the sidelines, made gestures, and asked the players to execute the second set of tactics.

After seeing the coach's gesture, the players understood it and immediately adjusted their playing style and began to focus on the left side.

After Lin Quan got the ball, he no longer passed it to De Bruyne. Instead, he went to David Silva on the left and started a wall-to-wall cooperation with him.

David Silva's style is completely different from De Bruyne's. De Bruyne is good at passing the ball, especially sending fatal long passes from the wing.

David Silva is good at short passes, especially good at cooperating with teammates in short passes within a narrow range.

Although David Silva is not as tall and burly as De Bruyne, his physical confrontation ability is actually better than De Bruyne.

David Silva can dribble and control the ball in the frontcourt, hold the ball firmly under the pressure and physical confrontation of the opponent's defensive players, and can also complete turns, breakthroughs and passes.

These are completely different from those 'midfield masters' who can only pass the ball!

Therefore, when Manchester City's offensive focus shifted to the left, the fans watching the game at the Calderon Stadium and in front of the TV seemed to have returned to the World Cup and saw the shadow of the Spanish national team.

Lin Quan and David Silva successively performed two-on-one, two-on-two and even two-on-three coordination in a small area in the frontcourt. Atletico Madrid's backcourt was turned upside down and it was chaos.

David Silva can run, pass and control, and Lin Quan can do the same, and even has more explosive power than him. Together, the two play a 1+1\u003e2 role.

It is not easy for Atletico players to guard one of the two on their own, but now that the two have formed a connection and cooperated, it is even more difficult to guard them.

Atletico Madrid's players were in agony, but the fans were mesmerized.

What a gorgeous combination of passing and cutting!

Sure enough, only Spanish players can complete such wonderful cooperation.

Many people think of the Barcelona team four or five years ago. During Barcelona games at that time, Messi, Xiaobai and others could often be seen completing such passing and cutting cooperation on the court.

After several consecutive amazing passes, Manchester City's offense had unknowingly reached Atletico Madrid's penalty area.

The most terrible thing is that the person holding the ball now is none other than Manchester City's No. 10 Lin Quan!

Thinking of this, Atletico Madrid's defenders felt numb and subconsciously focused their defense on Lin Quan.

The space in the penalty area is so small and the people are so dense. It is impossible for these guys from Manchester City to continue their passing and cutting cooperation here, right?

However, to their surprise, Lin Quan still chose to cooperate with his teammates in passing and cutting.

Faced with the opponent's defender's attack, Lin Quan did not act recklessly, but chose to pass the ball to Aguero in the middle of the penalty area.

Aguero kept the ball with his back and knocked the ball across to David Silva who had just entered the penalty area.

David Silva also made a pass without stopping the ball, sending the ball to Lin Quan's feet again.

At this time, Lin Quan had already thrown away the opponent's defender and got the opportunity to face the goalkeeper.

Oblak's heart was in his throat!

Here he is, finally here!

He calmed down and squatted down slightly, ready to make a save.

Left or right?

It was too late to attack at this time. Oblak could only try his best to judge the direction of the opponent's shot and choose to take a gamble!

Although Oblak is not well-known now, his strength cannot be underestimated.

His footwork, reaction speed and saving ability can even rank among the top three among active goalkeepers!

In these two games, he has made several difficult saves, including Aguero's and even Lin Quan's shots.

Therefore, Lin Quan did not look down upon him at all, but instead attached great importance to him.

Seeing Oblak's action, Lin Quan's movements suddenly paused, as if he was preparing to shoot.

Oblak was shaken. Although his body didn't move much, his center of gravity had changed!

Lin Quan was waiting for this opportunity!

He immediately aimed at the right side of the goal and completed the shot. In order to prevent the opponent from using his extreme reaction speed to save his shot, Lin Quan used a lot of force when shooting. The speed of the ball was very fast, like a cannonball. !

Oblak was indeed amazing. Although he was shaken, when Lin Quan shot, he still made the save immediately, and his fingers even touched the ball.

However, the speed of the ball was too fast and the power was too great. The strength of his fingers was not enough to change the flight direction of the football.

With a swipe, the ball flew into the net!

Manchester City 1:0 Atletico Madrid, the total score also reached 5:1!