Chapter 583 Guardiola and Zidane were both slapped in the face

Modric felt a little confused. There were clearly the same number of players on both sides of the field, but why did he feel like he was always surrounded?

No matter where he receives the ball, there will never be less than two Manchester City players guarding him!

Even once he reaches the center and approaches Manchester City's penalty area, four or five big men will instantly appear around him, trapping him in the middle and unable to move.

Although Modric has experienced countless games, he still can't understand Manchester City's defense.

How many midfielders does the opponent have?

On the surface, it seems that there are only three people, David Silva, Lin Quan, and Kanter, but those who defend him in the middle are often Stones, Fernandinho and other people who should appear on the back line.

This is so strange!

That's it for Fernandinho. After all, this guy has played as a defensive midfielder before, so his appearance in this position is relatively not that surprising.

But Stones is a central defender. What do you want to do when you keep leaving your defensive area and running to the center?

Manchester City has only two genuine central defenders. Once you leave, only Van Dijk will be left. You must know that there is a BBC trio in front of Modric!

Can one Van Dyke withstand the impact of so many people?

Modric can think of problems that Manchester City coach Guardiola also wants to know. Real Madrid's front three are too strong, and it is almost impossible to completely target them.

Therefore, instead of investing heavily in guarding the BBC combination on the opponent's forward line, it is better to completely strangle the connection between the opponent's midfielder and forward line.

As long as Real Madrid's midfielder is prevented from passing the ball into the hands of the three BBC players, it will still have the effect of containing Real Madrid's offense.

And through previous games, Guardiola has completely determined that the main battlefield of this game is in the middle.

Whoever controls the midfield controls victory.

If you cannot control the midfield, not only will the offense not be organized, but the defense will also be unable to defend. The opponent can take advantage of the midfield and launch attacks from multiple directions in the wing and center, making your defense exhausted.

On the contrary, if our side controls the midfield, it may be the opponent who is exhausted.

Manchester City's purpose was too obvious, and Real Madrid coach Zidane quickly understood Guardiola's intentions.

He held his chin, frowned, and thought seriously:

Should we replace an offensive player on the front line and replace him with a midfielder to further enhance the strength of the midfield?

But doing so will definitely weaken Real Madrid's offensive strength. Among the BBC trio, if they really want to change, Ronaldo will definitely not be able to move. Of the two, Bale and Benzema, he is more inclined to keep Benzema. Ma, replace Bell.

Bell, who was physically exhausted and lost the threat on the wing, was mainly responsible for defensive work on the court at this time, and did not provide much help to the offense.

And there is Carvajal behind him. Even if Bell is replaced, Carvajal can still go forward and participate in the attack, which will not have much impact on Real Madrid's pattern on the right wing.

But in this case, Real Madrid's defense on this side will definitely be weakened.

Once the opponent finds a chance, it is easy to take advantage of this and score a goal. This is something Zidane does not want to see.

Therefore, Zidane was somewhat hesitant about whether to make substitutions immediately.

Zidane glanced at the bench, his eyes passing by Isco, Morata, Willenson, Nacho, Kovacic and others.

If someone really needs to be replaced, only Kovacic can meet his requirements.

Isco's offense is stronger than defense. He is good at offense, but his defense can't help him much.

As for another midfielder, Rodriguez, this person has long been excluded from Real Madrid's roster.

If nothing else happens, he will leave Real Madrid this summer.

The Colombian supernova, who was snatched from many wealthy clubs at a high price back then, has not performed well in Real Madrid in the past few years, and can even be said to be deteriorating.

Zidane has long lost patience with him. He has not given him many opportunities to play this season, and will not arrange for him to play in such an important game as the Champions League final. Therefore, poor Ronaldo did not even make the 18-man roster. .

Seeing the head coach's eyes glancing over, all the players sitting on the bench couldn't help but sit up straight, shouting in their hearts: Pick me, pick me, let me play!

This is the stage of the Champions League final, and no one wants to appear in such a game.

Especially since the team is still in a favorable position to lead. Not only can they become familiar when they play, but there is a high probability that they can also win the cup with the team.

In this way, there is not only face but also a championship game. The substitutes are really looking forward to it!

Morata was very eager, but when he saw that the coach's eyes did not stay on him for even a second, his heart suddenly became cold.

Think about it, Ronaldo and Benzema are both present and in good condition. As a substitute for these two, how can he have a chance to play?

However, the team's winger performance is not very good. Will the coach want to replace him with a winger?

Thinking of this, Morata looked at his compatriot Marco Willenson Asensio, who was four years younger than him, with some jealousy.

Although this guy is young, he is highly valued by the club president and head coach.

Maybe there is a real chance of being sent on!

Looking back at himself, as long as the two big mountains above him don't move away, he will have very few opportunities. In terms of Real Madrid's striker selection, Morata can only be ranked third. The first two are too strong, and he has no chance. Can't squeeze.

Morata feels very sad when he thinks that he has been on the bench for most of the season in Real Madrid.

His performance in Real Madrid is actually pretty good. Throughout the 2016-17 season, Morata played 43 times in all competitions and scored 20 goals, averaging close to 0.5 goals per game. His efficiency is really not bad, especially since he was a substitute in many of them. Even though his playing time was seriously insufficient, he was still able to score so many goals, which shows that he is both desperate enough and indeed very capable.

Especially in La Liga, Morata appears to have played 26 times, but 12 of them were substitutes.

In a total of 1,334 minutes of playing time, he scored a total of 15 league goals. In terms of number of goals and goal efficiency, he was second only to Ronaldo and higher than Benzema and Bale.

But he just can't squeeze out the two big guys above. He can't replace Bell's position. Benzema is indeed more useful as a center than him, and he cooperates better with his teammates. This is something Morata can't do in a short time. Shaking.

Thinking of this, Morata had the intention of leaving, although when he was wandering in Serie A, he thought about returning to Real Madrid day and night.

But after sitting on the bench for a year at Real Madrid, he felt that Real Madrid was not that popular anymore. Rather than sitting on the bench for his favorite team, Morata wanted to play the main team.

Just when Morata was thinking wildly, Zidane mentioned Asensio's name.

But more than one was named: "Asensio, Kovacic, you two go warm up!"

Although Zidane can respond to all changes by staying the same, since Real Madrid is in the lead in the score, Zidane actually has the initiative.

But he didn't want to be too passive, so he made two preparations.

If Real Madrid's lead can continue to be maintained and the opponent's offense cannot threaten Real Madrid's goal in a short period of time, then he may replace Kovacic.

Kovacic is not a typical defensive midfielder. He also has good offensive ability and can take on part of the offensive organization work. This can increase the hardness of Real Madrid's midfield and minimize the risk of Bell getting off the field. The weakening of the team's offensive strength.

But if the situation on the field cannot be maintained and Manchester City quickly equalizes the score, then Real Madrid must strengthen their offense. At this time, sending Asensio to play is the best choice.

After being fully prepared, Zidane relaxed and stared at the field seriously.

He wants to know, after Guardiola makes extensive adjustments, what form will Manchester City's offense take?

…

In the frontcourt, Mbappe is a little uncomfortable in the forward position.

He always habitually runs to a familiar position on the wing, but his teammates and even the head coach don't deliberately correct him.

This left Real Madrid's central defender at a loss.

Has the opponent turned into a frontless formation?

So who should I guard against?

Are you going to keep an eye on the opponent's midfielder?

Not only did the Real Madrid players on the field feel strange, but the players on both sides of the stands also felt strange.

Manchester City's formation is very strange. There is no forward-forward center in the middle, but there are forward-forward wingers on both sides. This causes Manchester City's formation on both sides to bulge and the center to lag behind, like a concave edge.

Affected by the opponent's formation, Real Madrid's formation also became a little weird.

In order to support the stranglehold in the middle, their center backs are further forward than the full backs, and the space exposed in the middle is even larger than that on the wings.

If the team is in a defensive state, then fortunately, the overall defensive formation can be evened out.

But once the team is in an offensive state, the disjoint of the overall defense is obvious, and the huge space in the middle is too conspicuous. Whenever the opponent penetrates the defense once, Real Madrid will pay a heavy price.

However, the midfielders of both sides were experiencing a fierce stranglehold at this time. It was difficult for each other to hold the ball, let alone send a threatening pass.

In this case, Real Madrid's defense problem has not received much attention, especially when the opponent does not have a center. Even if someone can penetrate Real Madrid's defense, there are no players in front to respond!

Starting from the 70th minute, the two sides were already fighting in the midfield.

Stealing and being stolen, pressing and counter-stealing were frequently staged, and the fight between the two sides was so fierce that even Lin Quan, whose ability to control and protect the ball was top-notch, could not hold the ball in this situation.

If you take it for a second longer, you will either be surrounded or fouled.

And it's not just Real Madrid who committed fouls. Manchester City also used rough fouls against the opponent's midfield.

In the 73rd minute, Kanter tackled Kroos and received his seventh yellow card of the game.

Three minutes later, Casemiro was also given a yellow card by the referee for fouling David Silva and Lin Quan in a short period of time.

The referee has smelled the smell of gunpowder and tried to control the game to prevent it from getting out of control.

But his yellow card doesn't seem to have much deterrent effect.

Just one minute after he showed the yellow card to Casemiro, Fernandinho flagrantly fouled Modric and also received a yellow card.

Seeing that the referee was so busy, constantly taking out cards and recording, some fans joked that the referee should just change his name to the card dealer.

Counting Fernandinho's yellow card, he has already shown 9 yellow cards in this game.

The referee on the field was busy taking out cards to warn the fouling players on both sides. On the sidelines, the head coaches of both teams protested and complained to the fourth official, asking the fourth official to remind the referee to take care of the opposing players.

"Look, what are the people from Real Madrid doing? Are they playing football? They are clearly trying to kill people!"

Seeing that Lin Quan was brought down again, and from behind, Guardiola jumped angrily, rushed to the fourth official again, and poured out his bitter words to him.

Zidane was standing next to the fourth official and was immediately unhappy when he heard Guardiola's words:

"That was obviously a clean tackle. The ball was tackled first before it hit someone. Please figure it out. Sometimes you should look for your own reasons instead of blaming others for everything!"

Guardiola saw the referee taking out the card for the fouled Real Madrid center back Varane, glanced at Zidane, and said sarcastically:

"I didn't expect that Mr. Zidane's eyesight is so good. Standing on the sidelines, he can see more clearly than the referee on the field. You are really disrespecting your talent by not being a referee!"

Zidane's face was very ugly, and being slapped in the face made him a little angry.

However, only two minutes later, Zidane couldn't help but jump to his feet after seeing Cristiano Ronaldo leaping high into the air like screaming and falling into the Manchester City penalty area:

"Foul, penalty kick! This is definitely a foul. The referee should give the opponent No. 24 a red card. This is not playing football at all, he is murdering!"

After hearing Zidane's words, before the fourth official spoke, Guardiola was unhappy:

"Stones' tackle was very clean, and the foul was committed outside the penalty area. Either your player jumped into the penalty area like a dive, or it must have been a foul inside the penalty area. Besides, the referee said this was a one-time foul." Foul?"

As soon as Guardiola finished speaking, the German referee Bruchy took out another yellow card and raised it high at Stones.

"Ah!"

Zidane sneered. Although he didn't sneer, just this sneer was enough to make Guardiola feel embarrassed.

He also felt the feeling of Zidane being slapped in the face just now!

The slap in the face came so fast like a tornado...

Although the referee showed Stones a yellow card, he refused the Real Madrid player's request for a penalty kick.

He could see clearly that when Stones fouled, Ronaldo had not yet entered the penalty area.

He jumped into the penalty area in an exaggerated way at the moment Stones fouled.

This made the referee hesitate at the first moment, unsure whether Stones had really committed a foul or if someone simply had an old illness and started performing diving again.

Apart from anything else, if Real Madrid is really given a penalty kick, and this penalty kick is scored, then the suspense of this game may be killed, and Real Madrid will win the Champions League trophy as they wish! (End of chapter)