Chapter 166 The winner does not change, next
After taking the lead, Li Qi wanted to ask his teammates to retreat a little and play a defensive counterattack, at least to pull the away team's formation out a little before attacking. After all, the opponent was hiding in the defensive zone 3 and it was not easy to attack. The possession rate of nearly 70% before only created two scoring opportunities. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to score a goal, otherwise he would probably still be grinding now...
But to Li Qi's surprise, the lagging Star Team did not attack, and continued to defend: Damn, can they be so patient? The tactics were implemented so thoroughly?
Therefore, Li Qi's wish to withdraw and counterattack was dashed. In addition, Li Qi's two consecutive attempts to divert the defense and create gaps in the defense made the visiting team more cautious and swift to fill the gaps in the defense. This made Li Qi's third attempt to repeat the same trick at the end of the first half be crushed by the unity of the Star team.
However, Sevilla still controlled the game until halftime. In the first half, the Stars had only 30% of the ball possession rate, and only two careless long shots, without any threatening shots. Of course, Sevilla's shots were not many, with 7 shots, 2 on target, and 1 goal...
During the halftime break, Juan Ramos was still a little depressed. If he could score one more goal in the first half, he could adjust the lineup calmly with a 4-goal lead. Although he is sure to win now, there is still a chance of an accident, right? After all, there are still many examples of a team leading by 3 goals at halftime but being overturned.
So let's be cautious and conservative, and attack for another 15 minutes in the second half to see how things go...
However, in the second half, Sevilla, who continued to take the lead, still failed to create many good opportunities; the visiting team also began to double-team and restrict Li Qi's movement space and passing, only allowing Li Qi to walk back or pass back, and strictly preventing Li Qi from passing the ball forward or sideways.
Therefore, Li Qi's offensive creation efficiency also began to decline. Although Li Qi was still connecting the midfield and frontcourt, he did pass the ball less forward, and even the lateral passes decreased. After all, as soon as he received the ball, at least two people would surround him. Even if he delayed for a while, a third person would surround him...
The scene was a bit dull for a while. The home team could not attack. There was no need to force their way into the defensive siege even though they were two goals ahead. The away team also did not attack. Although they were behind, it was not the time to risk their lives. The home team could only shoot long shots from the perimeter from time to time, while the away team also took the opportunity to counterattack. They tried to develop deep into the defense when they had the chance, and immediately retreated and waited for the ball once they lost it.
It was not until the 60th minute that the visiting team started to replace two attacking players at once, which was a signal to strengthen the offense and defense! So the style of the game suddenly changed, and the visiting team began to press the home team frantically, pushing the home team back to the half.
But now, Li Qi was relieved and could go back and fight back comfortably; if it wasn't for the boss's request, Li Qi would have wanted to retreat back to the half and wait for the opponent to attack. After all, they were leading by three goals, so why take the risk... But the home team still had to save face, and Juan Ramos still wanted to lock in the victory as soon as possible and make rotations.
It is indeed difficult to play against a retreating visiting team, but the Star Team that presses forward will leave gaps.
The Star team only attacked for less than 5 minutes, but Sevilla seized the opportunity and completely secured the victory.
Dragutinovic won the header in the penalty area and headed the cross from the sideline out of the penalty area; Marty, who was outside the penalty area, took the lead and poked the ball to Li Qi. Li Qi did not stop the ball and directly passed it to Alves' forward route...
Alves took the ball and rushed across the center line in two steps; the back midfielder of the Estadio also rushed over, intending to block Sevilla's counterattack. However, Alves got the ball first and swept the ball directly to the center.
Fabiano was in charge of the midfield, protecting the ball with his back, and then passed the ball back to Li Qi who was coming in from behind. After Li Qi, who was not being guarded, stopped the ball, he had time to observe for a moment, and then sent a long pass over the top.
Maresca successfully made an offside move and lightly used the instep of his foot to remove the ball that was delivered to him accurately. Then, facing the goalkeeper who came out, he calmly pushed the ball into the near corner near the penalty area!
Sevilla used a textbook quick counterattack to change the score of the game to 2-0, and the total score of the two rounds was 4-0. Juan Ramos was completely relieved now.
With a 4-goal lead, victory was basically secured. There were only about 25 minutes left in the game, and the opponent didn't pose any threat after their attack, so we could finally make substitutions calmly.
So before the visiting team even kicked off again, Sevilla made two substitutions.
Hinkel came on to replace Alves, the most active player in the defense. Alves's pass from the center circle just now scared Juan Ramos. He was afraid that his beloved Brazilian defender would be injured, so he quickly replaced him.
At the same time, Korzakov replaced Kanoute, who played the full 90 minutes in the previous game, to ensure the speed of the counterattack and suppress the possible counterattack of the visiting team.
However, the Stars team was clearly unable to counterattack. They had some ideas at first, but they were counterattacked by the home team just 5 minutes after they started pressing forward. This immediately extinguished the away team's already slim hopes of a counterattack: the total score was 4-0, so all that was left was fighting for honor. However, on the road, the key was whether they could score a goal first, but the key was not to be beaten into a sieve by the home team.
So even though the visiting team further intensified their pressing, they no longer pressed forward rashly, always ensuring that there were enough defensive players in key positions.
Li Qi also gained a little space to move and pass. After all, the Star team had to attack and counterattack at the same time, so naturally there were fewer restrictions on Li Qi.
However, Sevilla's luck seemed to be starting to get bad. Of course, it could also be that the new players hadn't gotten into the groove yet. Not to mention Hinkel's mistake in stopping the ball and missing a good chance to counterattack, Korzakov's half-solo shot actually missed with his thigh kick...
But Juan Ramos obviously didn't care, as long as the visiting team didn't score a goal; then in the 75th minute of the game, Sevilla used up the last substitution, and young player Alfaro came on to replace Li Qi who had scored one goal and one assist.
After Li Qi left the field, Sevilla actually got more chances to attack, but this was at the expense of midfield control and accelerated offense-defense conversion.
15 minutes passed in a flash, especially for the substitute players who were trying their best to perform. Alfaro, Hinkle and Korzakov have not yet obtained any offensive data!
However, from the perspective of Li Qi, who was icing his thigh and knee joints on the sidelines, 15 more minutes would be enough. The attacking style was too straightforward, just rushing into the crowd and creating chaos. Although the opponent was weak, he was not stupid...
In any case, when the final whistle blew, Sevilla defeated Steaua Bucharest 2-0 at home as they wished, and won this round of knockouts with a total score of 4-0 in two rounds to advance to the next round.
Not long after, all the results of the second round of the 06/07 UEFA Cup round of 32 knockout matches were released, and the situation of promotion and the next round was clear at a glance.
All the teams in Italy's Serie A were eliminated, while all four teams in Spain's La Liga advanced to the quarter-finals. Two teams from the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga each made it to the round of 16.
塞维利亚将在3月8日和3月15日晚间对垒乌克兰冠军球队顿涅茨克矿工，争夺一个欧洲联盟杯的8强席位。
Juan Ramos was obviously not in a very good mood after the game. The continuous intensive schedule made not only the players tired, but also the coaching staff had a hard time, especially him in the most stressful position. What's more, in addition to the game, they were also conducting tactical experiments and comparisons in private.
However, the result of this game still made Juan Ramos unhappy, because it was obvious that although Li Qi would be restricted as a defensive midfielder, it was indeed the best solution to maximize Li Qi's effectiveness and the team's offensive threat.
In the first half, facing the visiting team's stubborn defense, Li Qi cleverly discovered the problem early and adjusted the tactics to avoid falling into the opponent's trap. He then used the most traditional but most effective plan to knock on the opponent's door. After taking the lead, he remained calm and controlled the rhythm without getting carried away.
In the second half, the visiting team was late but still fell into the counterattack trap set by Li Qi and was seized by Li Qi to seal the victory... After Li Qi was substituted, Sevilla's obvious offensive organization lost its rhythm and was a little messy.
So before the game, Juan Ramos had actually made up his mind, but he couldn't help but want to conduct another tactical experiment; because Juan Ramos knew that the idea of establishing Li Qi as the core of the midfield and letting him play in the middle of the midfield was right...
But the conditions did not allow it. In fact, Juan Ramos wanted to use an acceptable defeat or draw to completely convince himself to give up the idea of tactical adjustment; however, unexpectedly, the last tactical experiment was the most effective in recent games. This was also related to the team's gradual adaptation to Li Qi's position as a defensive midfielder.
Moreover, the team's teammates began to trust Li Qi more and more. Even if there were no special tactical arrangements, they were willing to hand the ball to Li Qi. After all, Li Qi rarely made mistakes or lost possession of the ball. His logic in distributing and handling the ball was very clear, and his judgment was very decisive, allowing the ball to be transmitted very smoothly... Such a midfield metronome is the dream teammate of all teammates.
However, on the second day of the UEFA Cup, Sevilla's coaching staff held a meeting and made a vote. The minority obeyed the majority, especially Juan Ramos, who made the decision to maintain the main tactics of the first half of the season - flying on both wings and defensive counterattacks. The tactical positioning of Li Qi is still an organizing shadow striker or winger.
Of course, the reason would not be Li Qi's loan status or that Li Qi is too young and not stable enough, but a very high-sounding reason, which is a common saying in football - the winner does not make changes. After all, Sevilla is currently ranked second in the standings and has the same points as the top Barcelona. There is no need to actively seek change. If the team cannot adapt and there are fluctuations in results, the gain will outweigh the loss.
However, when there are slight improvements, once the situation on the field requires it, Li Qi can be temporarily arranged to play the role of organizing midfielder; this can be regarded as leaving a backup plan for the team, or it can characterize the previous tactical experiment: there is an effect, but it is not significant, and the help to the team is limited. It is not worth making too big tactical changes under the current environment and conditions.
In order to add a footnote to this tactical adjustment meeting, Juan Ramos also decided to give Li Qi a rest in the away league at the weekend. After all, Li Qi has played almost every game in recent times, and the original rest plan was changed because of Marty's red card. Of course, in order to emphasize the persuasiveness of the rest and the peace of mind of self-deception, Alves and Palop were also rested in the weekend league.
So this weekend, except for Mati who was suspended due to a red card, Ricardo, Alves and Palop were not included in the match list, and all four stayed in Seville to rest.
2007年2月25日，06/07赛季西班牙足球甲级联赛第24轮，塞维利亚是将前往客场挑战赫塔菲。
Founded in 1976, Getafe Football Club is actually located in the Madrid region, not far from Seville, which saves the team the pain of long-distance travel. The Madrid-Seville high-speed railway, which is almost never late, only takes 2 hours and 4 minutes to get there.
Although Getafe has the least experience among all 20 La Liga teams, it has been performing well since it was promoted to La Liga in the 04/05 season.
In the last season, Getafe once showed its dark horse qualities, which were no less than Real Sociedad. It topped the standings several times in the early stages of the league, which made the other two teams in Madrid feel ashamed. Of course, Getafe's dark horse position did not last long. After the league teams adapted to the 4-2-3-1 tactical play of Getafe coach Schuster, Getafe's performance began to decline sharply, and finally ranked 9th in the league. However, this is a very successful result for a newly promoted small team.
However, in order to prepare for the Seville derby next week and the battle for the lead with Barcelona next weekend, as well as to alleviate the physical and mental fatigue of some key players under the intensive schedule, Juan Ramos' coaching staff and medical team had a joint discussion and made rotation adjustments to the starting lineup of the 4-4-2 parallel formation in the away league at the weekend.
The goalkeeper is substitute goalkeeper No. 13 Kobinho;
The left and right backs are No. 3 David and No. 24 Hinkle, and the double center backs are No. 14 Escude and No. 2 Navarro.
The left and right wingers are No. 5 Duda and No. 15 Navas, and the double defensive midfielders are No. 8 Poulsen and No. 11 Renato.
The two forwards remain the main force, No. 10 Fabiano and No. 12 Kanoute.
Alfaro, Korzakov, Adriano, Puerta, Maresca and Dragutinovic were all on the bench.
However, in this game, Sevilla can be said to have played very poorly. Although Poulsen, Renato and Navas, who were rested in the middle of the week, showed good form, the main two forwards were obviously weak, and the substitutes were eager to show themselves and were completely unable to support the striker. In addition, the previous offensive engines Alves and Ricardo were both on rest, which made Sevilla's offense almost completely paralyzed.
Juan Ramos started making substitutions early in the second half, hoping to reverse the situation, but he failed to achieve any results by sending on Korzakov, Puerta and Alfaro.
In the end, in a dull and error-filled encounter, Sevilla drew with Getafe away from home. Even the media was reluctant to say that Sevilla, who ranked second in the standings, was forced to draw, because Sevilla had few threatening attacks throughout the game, and even the ball possession rate was lower than the home team. It seemed that Sevilla was able to escape unscathed thanks to the Getafe offensive players who forgot to bring their shooting boots and missed several sure-fire scoring opportunities...
Speaking of the ability to finish the game, Sevilla's offense is not much better. After entering 2007, Sevilla's offense is completely weak. Not counting the UEFA Cup, Sevilla has only achieved 8 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses in the last 2 La Liga games, losing 24 points out of 14 points, including 3 draws of 0-0, and only scored 3 goal in 1 games.
In contrast, although Getafe's goal efficiency in this game was not high, it was a real dark horse in 2007, with 8 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in 2 league games. The draws came against league leaders Barcelona and Sevilla, and both losses were away games. In the King's Cup, it also eliminated Valencia in January by first drawing and then winning away, and then defeated Osasuna 1-2 at home in the first leg of the quarter-finals in February.
At the press conference after the game, Juan Ramos had a gloomy face and only gave a few hasty compliments to his opponent. In his heart, he regretted it so much. Why did he let his guard down? If he had known earlier, Alves and Li Qi should have brought at least one person to the away game...
