Chapter 110 Controlling the Rhythm

Chapter 110 Controlling the Rhythm

Kanter passed the football, Mahrez took the ball diagonally, and then completed a long shot outside the penalty area.

But because of the slippage underfoot, the football was too high.

In this way, Udinese's first attack of the game ended.

Benfica fans laughed happily in the stands.

Amid laughter, Mahrez got up from the ground and stepped hard on the place where he had slipped. The turf and soil there were turned out by his actions.

Martin Taylor, the famous commentator of British Sky TV, said: "Udinese showed their strong desire to attack from the beginning of the game. On the contrary, Benfica, who played at home, behaved very conservatively on the court. What a strange game. , The lagging side is not impatient, but the leading side is eager to attack..."

Martin Taylor certainly didn't know that this was a very crucial game for Udinese, which had never made it to the European semi-finals.

The players of Udinese hope to leave their names in the Europa League. Being eliminated in the quarter-finals is obviously not a feasible solution, so the players of Udinese play under such conditions. Not as leisurely as usual.

In fact, this is also a sign of Udinese players' lack of European experience. Although Udinese has been participating in the European War in recent seasons, due to limited strength, they have ended up hastily in the European War without thinking about making a difference in the European War.

This season, with the joining of Bruno, Udinese has ambitions, but so-called care is chaos, which also makes them regard the game as too important and cannot treat it with normality.

As for Benfica, although Benfica has suffered from the "Gutmann Curse" and has lost seven consecutive European Cup finals, this Portuguese Super League giant does not lack European War experience. They only reached the European Cup last season. In the League Cup final, most of the players on this team have experience in key matches in the European competition, so they appear to be much calmer than the players in Udinese.

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After Mahrez failed to take a long shot, he soon got another chance to take a long shot. In fact, if he passed the ball to Di Natale, the effect might have been better, but after receiving the ball and turning around, Mahrez decisively chose A long shot. As a result, under the pressure of the opponent's defender, his shot missed the baseline.

Then Bruno also took a long shot from outside the penalty area.

When it rains, it is natural to strengthen long-range shots, because the football is heavier and slippery, which can easily cause the goalkeeper to lose his hand, or simply prevent them from catching the ball.

But it would be wrong to blindly shoot from a distance no matter what the situation.

As the team's captain on the field, Di Natale is also very experienced in the game and must criticize his teammates for constantly wasting offensive opportunities.

"Don't always shoot from a long distance!" He shouted to the two people, "There are obviously better opportunities, why are you so anxious?"

After taking a long shot without any effect, Bruno had already realized his problem, so he agreed with Di Natale's words. However, Mahrez had not calmed down yet and defended himself: "We want to Score a goal as soon as possible..."

"It's not more than a few minutes. If you end the attack so blindly, you just hand over the ball to the opponent. We have to talk about the success rate. If there is no better chance, don't shoot from long range, even if you really can't find the way to go. Don’t take long-range shots easily when you have the opportunity. Give the football to Bruno and let’s reorganize. Football doesn’t have twenty-four seconds of attack time, so what’s the rush?”

"Okay..." Mahrez curled his lips.

Di Natale looked at Bruno.

Bruno raised his hand and said: "I only shot one shot. The field was a bit slippery and I couldn't control the ball well, so I chose a long shot..."

"Pass more and dribble less." Di Natale also knew that the field was slippery, but this was not a problem he could solve.

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The happiest person to see Udinese shooting from long range was Benfica head coach Jorge Jesus.

He knew why Udinese shot from distance, because they wanted to score.Taking more shots can increase the chance of scoring a goal, and long-range shots are obviously easier to score than shots that require complicated coordination.

But he is not afraid of long shots because he has made targeted deployments specifically for this.

Today's weather is not good for Udinese. It is raining and the ground is slippery, but it is a favorable condition for Benfica. Because under such circumstances, as long as the opponent's long-range players put a little defensive pressure on them, their shots may go wide.

So he asked the Benfica players not to give them space when the Udinese players shot outside the penalty area, but to interfere.

Look at these ridiculous long-range shots. His players have implemented his requirements very well.

"Shoot, shoot, the more shots like this, the further away you will be from the semifinals..." Jesus murmured.

It's a pity that Udinese didn't let him get what he wanted, because they reduced blind long-range shots and increased constant passing cooperation.

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<divclass="contentadv">Benfica decided to defend and counterattack in this game. Facing Udinese's possession of the ball in the second half, they all shrank in their own half and did not come up to disturb them. . Bruno can calmly catch the ball, turn around, observe the situation, and then decide how to play this offense.

After captain Di Natale prevented his teammates from blindly shooting from long range, Bruno also discovered a problem.

Because they are eager to score, Udinese players often press hard when attacking and focus on the center.This resulted in Benfica's defense being compressed very tightly and in the middle. There were very few and almost no openings that could be exploited.

Typical intensive defense!

In previous games, everyone would consciously retreat to respond, and the opponent's players would be pulled out. It was like a net. It was originally crumpled into a ball, but not many holes could be found. Now it is spread out and the loopholes are found. All kinds of things.

But because everyone is in a hurry to score goals, they don't care about retreating to support them, and they push forward as much as possible. It seems that the closer they are to the goal, the closer they are to scoring.

In this way, it is easier for Benfica to defend, because Udinese players do not move after standing still, and standing opponents are the best to defend.

On the other hand, because Udinese's front pressed forward, Benfica's defense also shrank and retreated, so that the space that could be used in front of Benfica's goal became smaller and smaller, or even none.

This has no impact on the forwards. They only need to stand in front and pass the ball to their teammates anyway. But for a midfield passer like Bruno, this situation is very uncomfortable.

If there is no space, they cannot pass the ball, and if they cannot pass the ball, they cannot organize an offense. At the same time, they have to face the pressure of the opponent's defensive players and may lose the ball at any time.

Every time Bruno wanted to pass the ball forward, he was unable to do anything when facing the crowded front edge of the penalty area. In order to avoid holding the ball for too long and being intercepted, he turned around and passed the football to the back, and then hooked to the teammate in front: "Pull Come out!"

In the final analysis, blind long-range shooting and swarming to the front are all caused by wanting to score goals as soon as possible.

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Bruno knew that there was something wrong with the mentality of the entire Udinese people, they were too eager.

In any case, Udinese is the leading side and they don't need to be so anxious at all.

Isn't it just defense? Then everyone should defend well. The best is 0:0, no one scores a goal, then Udinese is still the winner.

Of course, this situation has a lot to do with Udinese's poor defense, especially the inconsistent performance of the goalkeeper.

From the team's head coach Guidolin to the Udinese players including him, everyone has no confidence in defending the opponent's offense.

Bruno, aware of the problem, began to organize the attack patiently and control the rhythm of the team.

He doesn't care how his teammates in front wave for him to pass the ball, he just plays with the defenders in the backcourt. Anyway, if Benfica doesn't press, he won't be afraid of conceding the ball.

Sky TV commentator Martin Taylor said: "Udinese seemed in no hurry to attack again... After fifteen minutes of constant shots and failed goal attempts, Udinese slowed down."

"This is how they should perform. After all, Udinese won the first leg at home. In this game, they only need a draw to ensure they eliminate Benfica and advance to the semi-finals. Therefore, Benfica should really be anxious , not Udinese!”

"It seems that Udinese midfielder Bruno Fernandez is deliberately controlling Udinese's rhythm. What a smart little guy, he realized the problem so quickly!"

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Bruno's current thinking is very simple. Udinese is the leading side and is not afraid of spending time with its opponents.

If there is no good opportunity, he would rather drop the ball in the backcourt than pass the ball up easily. Then once the football is passed, he will yell at the front, asking his teammates to come back to pick him up, and even make gestures to let his teammates They started running.

How do you pass the ball when you're standing still?

Open spaces all appear during running. If you don't run, you will never have a chance.

Under Bruno's guidance, the teammates in front finally realized that if they didn't change the way they played, the football would always be passed around from behind.

They have been teammates with Bruno for almost a year. They all know that this Portuguese boy, despite his usually smiling and easy-to-get-to attitude, once his stubborn temper rises, even nine cows can't bring him back. .

So Udinese players started running according to Bruno's request.

Bruno still passed the ball unhurriedly, as if he hadn't seen the changes in his teammates.

When he fell back with the defenders in the backcourt, Benfica's players did not press and defend. Forwards Cardoso, Rodrigo and Suleimani only defended symbolically. As long as Bruno put When the ball advanced, they ignored it and waited for their teammates to intercept the ball so they could counterattack with long passes.