Chapter 198: Unable to defend

Ye Qiu didn't know about Elisa's meeting with Evariste Mutra. After returning home, the latter simply told him that Evariste Mutra was just here to get information. After hearing that Ye Qiu was not free, he didn't say much.

"Don't worry about them. That's how the rich are. They act high and mighty. There will be a time when they beg us for help!" Ye Qiu patted Elisa on the shoulder and said. The two are now close friends who advance and retreat together.

Elisa continued to do her own things as if nothing had happened, and Ye Qiu was not idle either.

On April 12, Ajax challenged Breda away.

Because they had just fought hard against Juventus, Ye Qiu made appropriate rotations in this game. In the end, with Sneijder's first goal and Van der Meyde's second goal in the second half, they defeated Breda 3:0 away.

It is worth noting that in the last 20 minutes of this game, Ye Qiu replaced Huntelaar with Ibrahimovic. This was the first appearance of the Swedish center in nearly a month, but his performance was average and he failed to contribute to the team's offense.

Regarding Ibrahimovic's performance, Ye Qiu gave a positive answer after the game, believing that Ibrahimovic would gradually regain his form, and he needed the training of the game to get used to the rhythm and atmosphere of the game again.

As for whether he would arrange Ibrahimovic to start in the second round, Ye Qiu did not give a clear answer, but only stated that whoever is in good condition will play.

But in De Tokmost, Ye Qiu asked Peter Brandt to conduct a detailed physical examination of Ibrahimovic, and specially arranged targeted training to help him adjust his form and integrate into the rhythm and atmosphere of the game.

In the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup in the middle of the week, Ajax won Feyenoord 1:0 away with Van der Vaart's goal. Ibrahimovic came on as a substitute in the second half again, but his performance was still average.

Three days later, the team played against Roda JC at the Arena Stadium.

The starting striker in this game was Huntelaar. The Dutch striker scored against Roda JC in the 16th minute, opening the scoring for Ajax and showing his excellent competitive state. Before the game, he also said that he would work hard to continue to start in the match against Juventus.

In the 18th and 27th minutes, Van der Vaart and Sneijder scored in succession, and Ajax took a 3:0 lead in the first half. However, in the second half, Roda JC began to exert its strength and took advantage of a mistake made by Ajax to score a goal.

Ye Qiu replaced Ibrahimovic in the 65th minute. After a week of adjustment, the Swedish center forward's state has obviously improved a lot. In the 83rd minute, he took advantage of his physical advantage, held off his opponent and shot hard in the penalty area, scoring another goal for Ajax, 4:1.

As many people have said, this goal is an Ibrahimovic-style goal, from which we can see that the Swedish center forward has adjusted his state well, and many people are looking forward to whether he can start in the second round against Juventus.

In the last two rounds, although Ajax has won consecutively, PSV Eindhoven has also performed well, continuing to win two consecutive victories and chasing Ajax, showing the determination and fighting spirit of never giving up until the last moment. The same is true for Van Marwijk's Feyenoord.

But so far, there are only 6 rounds left in the league. Is there still a possibility of reversal?

After the 28th round of the Eredivisie, Ajax finally welcomed Juventus at home.

…………

…………

Someone once analyzed that the reason why the Champions League attracts attention is not the group stage, but the knockout stage.

To some extent, the group stage is more like a process of eliminating the weak and retaining the strong. It is difficult for teams with too weak strength to stand out from the group stage, especially in the current two-round group stage. Basically, the teams that can reach the quarterfinals are the teams with the best strength and status in Europe this season.

Because they are all collisions between the teams with the best strength and status, the quarter-finals of the Champions League have become a real showdown between strong teams with different styles, and different sparks have been created between different tactics, which has feasted the eyes of fans all over the world.

At the same time, because of the two-round knockout system, coupled with various knockout factors such as away goals, all fans are very concerned about the situation of the two teams in the knockout stage, from the coach's deployment to the players' status, all of which have become the focus of media and fans before the game.

Just like the match between Ajax and Juventus, in the first round at the Alpi Stadium, Ajax reversed Juventus 2:1, which put Juventus in a very passive situation. Ajax's 2 away goals meant that Juventus had to score at least 2 goals at the Arena Stadium to have a chance to win.

So, in this case, what tactics will Lippi adopt? Offense or defense?

What kind of response tactics will Ye Qiu adopt? Is it to maintain the score of 2:1, or continue to stick to his offensive philosophy?

All of this was revealed on this night at the Arena Stadium.

Juventus, playing away, still adhered to their 4312 tactics, and Lippi's starting lineup was only partially changed compared to the first round.

The goalkeeper is Buffon, the back line is Bilindelli, Montero, Thuram and Zambrotta, the midfield is Tacchinadi, Conte and Camoranesi, the front midfield is Nedved, and the two forwards are Piero and Trezeguet.

Bilindelli started as the left back, Thuram, who was in better form, returned to the middle to play as a central defender and partnered with Montero, while Zambrotta was moved to the right, and the midfield gave up Tudor, who performed poorly in the first round, and chose veteran Conte to start. This series of changes are positional substitutions, which makes it difficult to see through Lippi's thoughts.

Compared with Lippi's secrecy, Ye Qiu's changes are very obvious, from the original 4222 to the traditional 433 tactics.

The goalkeeper is Van der Sar, the back line is Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon, the midfield is Arteta, Mascherano and Sneijder, and the front trident is Robben, Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart.

This is Ajax's main lineup this season, and it is also the strongest lineup that Ye Qiu can currently arrange. What is more worrying is whether Ibrahimovic can show the strength that everyone expects after his return from injury?

This answer is still worrying even after the game starts.

Just 3 minutes into the game, Ajax cooperated with Maicon and Van der Vaart on the right, and the latter cut inside with the ball and passed it behind him. Ibrahimovic inserted and wanted to shoot, but Thuram was very precise and blocked the Swede with his body first, preventing Ibrahimovic's shot, and Buffon got the ball steadily.

Not long after, when the two competed for a header, Ibrahimovic fell to the ground after landing. Ajax's team doctor immediately rushed into the court, tested Ibrahimovic, and then carried him out of the court.

With one person missing, Juventus began to perform, especially Nedved.

After losing the close defense of Yaya Toure in the first round, the Czech player immediately got more play. When Zambrotta passed the ball to him, the Czech player rushed into the penalty area without hesitation, but his shot was too high due to his haste, which made Ajax feel the pressure.

Then Juventus launched another attack. Piero took the ball from the left and cut inside. Mascherano's precise position blocked Piero's angle, but Mascherano failed to steal the ball. Then the ball fell to Nedved's feet. The Czech player took another long shot, but the ball was too straight and Van der Sar held the ball steadily.

"Zlatan!" Ye Qiu walked over while Ibrahimovic was standing on the sidelines, waiting for the dead ball to return to the court. "Tell the players not to press too high. We will focus on defending near the center line. Also, when attacking from the right, you should stand to the left or retreat a little to give Van der Vaart more space."

From the opening, Van der Vaart entered the game faster, and he got enough rest in the Eredivisie. In the last game against Roda JC, Ye Qiu replaced him early, and his physical strength seemed to be more abundant. At the beginning of this game, he was very active after returning to the right winger.

Relatively speaking, Robben seemed a little quiet, but this does not mean that Robben is completely without threat.

For such a player with very strong personal ability, as long as you are careless, he can make you suffer a great loss.

Ibrahimovic nodded in agreement. He had no way to think more now. He could only do what Ye Qiu said. Moreover, from the past few years, Ye Qiu rarely made mistakes and could always find the opponent's loopholes.

Back on the court, Ibrahimovic immediately conveyed Ye Qiu's words to his teammates.

Before the game, Ye Qiu had told Arteta that the organization line should be placed in the midline area. In this game, Ajax's focus on defense will start from the midline to pull Juventus out, which can bring more space for offense.

Juventus's offensive advancement speed is not fast, Ajax starts to deploy from the midline area, and Ye Qiu is confident that he can defend.

With Ibrahimovic's reminder again, the players quickly responded to Ye Qiu's arrangement.

At the Arena Stadium, they are very familiar with it. They know every inch of soil and every piece of grass here, so they enter the game state faster than Juventus, and they know more clearly how to play in the game than Juventus.

After adjustments, the two sides began to fight fiercely in the midline area, and the ball possession was frequently and quickly changed.

But shortly after Ibrahimovic returned to the court, Ajax launched another attack on the right.

After Arteta got the ball, facing Camoranesi's defense, the Spaniard chose to dribble the ball horizontally to the right, and passed it horizontally to the right, to Maicon who came in from behind.

The Brazilian right back performed very well in the first round. Tacchinardi rushed up at the first time to stop Maicon from crossing the ball. After all, there was a super abnormal Ibrahimovic in the penalty area. It was not a good thing to let Ajax cross too much.

But this time, Maicon did not cross the ball, but passed it directly to Van der Vaart in front.

Van der Vaart retreated to get the ball, and Bilindli was waiting behind him, but the Dutchman did not choose to break through, but took the opportunity of retreating to get the ball, dribbled the ball sideways and cut inward, directly approaching Montero.

The Uruguayan defender was furious with Van der Vaart. In the first round at the Alpi Stadium, it was Van der Vaart who knocked him to the ground and made him lose face. This time, when he saw Van der Vaart coming towards him again, he immediately rushed out of his defense area and rushed to steal the ball.

Van der Vaart had been waiting for him to steal the ball. When he saw Montero coming, he immediately kicked the ball forward, and the ball quickly passed between Montero and Birindelli, and Van der Vaart himself rushed forward at the first time.

You know, Van der Vaart now is not injured like Ye Qiu in his previous life. After Ye Qiu introduced a series of physical examination methods, the injuries of many players in the team have been effectively estimated and controlled, just like Robben's testicular cancer, which was treated and resolved early. It was just a minor operation.

Therefore, although Van der Vaart's speed is not as fast as Robben, he is still very sharp and quickly passes between the two.

As early as when Van der Vaart cut inside, Ibrahimovic noticed that Robben was also approaching, so he chose to retreat, which could not only support Van der Vaart, but also create space for Robben and pull Thuram out for Van der Vaart.

Sure enough, as soon as Ibrahimovic retreated, Thuram had to follow him out. If he didn't follow him out, Van der Vaart would pass the ball, and Ibrahimovic would turn around. At a distance of about 25 meters, the Swede could directly fire directly.

For professional players, 30 meters can almost be said to be the range of shooting, and their feet are very hard.

As soon as Thuram came out, Robben immediately shook off Zambrotta and rushed into the penalty area. After Van der Vaart shook off Montero and Birindelli, he didn't stick to the ball and passed it diagonally to Robben at the first time.

The Dutch Peter Pan made a stunning debut, leaving Zambrotta behind at an extremely fast speed and rushing straight into the penalty area. After receiving a pass from Van der Vaart at the front of the penalty area, he continued to rush to the right side of the goal, attracted Buffon's attention, and made a low shot, the ball went straight to the lower right corner, 1:0!

Robben's speed did not slow down at all after the low shot. He seemed to have seen his goal in advance. He rushed out of the Arena Stadium quickly and ran along the sidelines quickly, accepting the cheers and cheers from tens of thousands of Ajax fans throughout the Arena Stadium. They were all shouting Robben's name and congratulating the flying Dutchman!

The whole process is very long, but it only happened in a few seconds. Ajax's advancement speed was very fast, and Juventus couldn't even keep up with Ajax's rhythm and pace. Especially Montero, who was almost fooled by Van der Vaart and was as stiff as a puppet.

"Too fast, Ajax's attack speed is really too fast!"

"As early as last season, we all deeply felt the speed and impact of this Dutch team. At that time in Europe, almost no defensive team could stop the Dutch attack. Even in the end, Ajax was regrettably defeated by Real Madrid. More people also felt that it was the credit of Zidane's flying kick."

"But this season's Ajax seems to have more control than last season, but when they want to rush up and fly, we see a faster and more impactful young guard than last season!"

"Before at the Alpi Stadium, Ajax The attack of Ajax was somewhat contained by Juventus, but now that they are back at the familiar Arena Stadium, they immediately showed their strongest fighting power. Their entire offensive rhythm was very fast, and the speed was amazing, especially on the two sides, where they really achieved the flying of both wings! "

You know, on the two sides of Ajax, Robben and Van der Vaart are both players with excellent speed. Maicon on the right is better at attacking than defending, and his speed is also very fast. Although Abidal on the left is better at defending than attacking, he is actually very fast, but Maicon's insertion is a resolute attack, while Abidal's insertion is to support and receive the ball, which makes the French look inconspicuous and not as conspicuous as Maicon.

Not only that, Lucio and Kivu are not slow, Arteta is also relatively fast, Sneijder and Mascherano are not bad, Ibrahimovic's speed and flexibility are also very good among the high center forwards, coupled with the team's one-touch ball and simple pass-and-receive cooperation, Ajax's overall advancement speed is very fast.

This kind of speed is not reflected when encountering a stubborn and solid defense, but Juventus's starting tactics in this game are obviously not conservative. They obviously want to actively open up the situation and strive for goals, which makes it impossible for their defense to be as unbreakable as in the previous game.

As Ye Qiu consciously arranged the team's defense on the midline, allowing Juventus to stretch out their formation and gradually press out, the space in the half court is large, giving Ajax more opportunities to use, which led to the offensive cooperation just now.

Despite this, Ajax's offensive advancement speed is still amazing!

"This time, I see how you can play!" Ye Qiu turned his head and looked at Lippi, who seemed furious because of the loss.

According to the current total score, Ajax is leading 3:1 and has two away goals, so if Juventus wants to advance, they must score at least 2 goals to equalize the total score and allow the game to enter overtime, and if they want to advance, they still need to score a third goal.

There is only a limited time left in the game, and Juventus doesn't have much time left.

Ye Qiu knew this very well, so he waved his hand and did not ask the team to retreat. He directly deployed defense in the midfield, but focused on defense and actively counterattacked on the spot.

As early as the first round, Ye Qiu noticed that Juventus's ball advancement speed was not fast, and it could even be said to be slow compared to Ajax. Therefore, Ye Qiu dared to arrange the focus of defense in the midfield in this game.

This made it easier for Ajax to counterattack.

Lippi had no other choice, and he could only attack to win!

Therefore, after conceding the goal, Juventus did not surprise Ye Qiu, and directly formed a siege on Ajax's goal, actively launching an attack. Birindelli on the left, Zambrotta on the right, and Camoranesi in the midfield frequently participated in the attack.

Ajax did not give up an inch, and set up a defensive line in the midfield with Sneijder, Arteta and Mascherano as the main players. Maicon also stayed on the right side, and the active interference strategy of the front trident made Ajax's defense very solid even though it did not retreat. It would not be easy to break through for a while.

On the contrary, Juventus frequently showed flaws behind them, and Ajax found opportunities to counterattack several times.

"Juventus is too risky to play like this. It really gave Ajax a good opportunity to counterattack. They couldn't defend at all!" The commentator shouted loudly, but his tone was somewhat like he was afraid of chaos in the world.