Starting with Real Madrid kicking the midfielder

Chapter 152 Dortmund has to thank us, and Ajax will have to beat Manchester City in the next round
Mancini is a very good team building coach.

Let him build the foundation of the team steadily from scratch, and give him two or three seasons. He won't spend a lot of money, but the team building effect will not be bad.

He can lead the team to the top four in the league steadily, have the Champions League to play, and with some luck, he can also win the league championship during this period.

But if he wants to achieve results in the European war in a short period of time, then he has no choice.

The scene is relatively stiff, and the shortcomings of adjustment lag make Mancini lead the team to play in the cup.

At least he is still like this now.

After Manchester City was advanced by Real Madrid, he did not choose to stabilize the team first and command Manchester City's players to regroup.

Whether to attack or defend, at this time there is a clear tactical order, and the Manchester City players will not be too flustered.

Too bad Mancini didn't do anything.

Yes, he reassured the mentality of the Manchester City players, indicating that they still have to keep their heads clear.

Then, there is no then!
Mancini copied his hands and stood on the sidelines like that.

Mourinho will probably be able to guess Mancini's thoughts.

Mancini should not think there is any mistake in his tactics.

There is an element of luck in this conceded goal, and Real Madrid may not have such an effect if they counterattack again.

Therefore, he believes that the current Manchester City only needs to maintain the previous offensive thinking, and there is a high possibility of equalizing the score in the first half.

So he chose to continue to trust his players and his own tactics.

This idea is correct. The head coach has to show some courage to continue to trust his tactics at certain moments of backwardness.

But Mourinho completely disagrees with Mancini's approach.

If it were him, he would continue to believe in his tactics while making timely adjustments to his "posture".

Yes, it's "posture", even if it's just a show, it's better than nothing.

To put it bluntly, as the head coach, whether you have measures to deal with the changing situation in your mind, and whether you have a bottom line in your heart, that is one thing.

It's another thing to give your players more confidence that you'll be able to turn things around.

Football is not a sport of simply competing for strength and tactics. In many cases, players on the field have to fight for mentality and tenacity!
Mourinho is undoubtedly a top master in this regard.

Even sometimes he thought in his heart that the game would be difficult to win.

But he will still try to make tactical adjustments on the sidelines, and he will tell the players:
Which side do we focus on, which area we must devote more of our limited defensive energy to.

In this case, at least Real Madrid players will always have hope in their hearts.

They will have a psychological backer, knowing that their head coach still has a way, and is still thinking of a way!

So Mancini's "trust" at this meeting is actually throwing tactical problems to the Manchester City players.

Continue to play the previous set?
But the ball has been lost, will it really be effective to continue playing?
Wouldn't it be better to focus on defense/offense first at this time?
The thinking couldn't be unified. The players in front wanted to seize the time to attack a few more times, while the players in the back were afraid of Real Madrid's counterattack like this again, and were unwilling to press further.

The Manchester City players in the midfield were even worse.

Blame them for not being able to get the offensive ball in the front, and keep asking them to return to defend and intercept because they don't have a sense of defensive security.

After this pull, let alone continue to maintain the previous offensive rhythm, Manchester City's performance on the field highlighted a "split".

And Real Madrid's counterattack here is more resolute each time.

Mourinho was also a little confused, and he even thought that Mancini was setting some tactical trap.

"Could it be that Mancho thought of a deeper tactical aspect, just wanting to return to the defense when our side is playing a counterattack, and then steal the ball to hit our counterattack?"

Mourinho thought from Mancini's perspective, and a seemingly feasible plan really appeared in his mind.

But before he signaled Li Ang not to go forward too often, Real Madrid made another counterattack after stealing the ball in the No. 303 minute of the first half.

Li Ang has already led Matuidi to press forward decisively!
After attracting Yaya Toure's marking while dribbling the ball, Li Ang distributed the ball to Matuidi who was running in front of him on the right.

Matuidi then passed the ball to Carvajal who was plugging in. Callejon cut inside and took Kolarov away. Carvajal took advantage of the situation and sent a cross!
Ronaldo used Morata's cover to catch up again, and Kompany quickly shot in front of Manchester City's penalty area!
The ball stuck to the turf and pierced through Joe Hart's wicket and the Manchester City gate behind him!
Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice, smiled and celebrated by sliding and kneeling at the Etihad Stadium.

A familiar feeling came to my heart, even in the face of the boos and middle fingers of Manchester City fans, Ronaldo still smiled very happily.

More than 4000 Real Madrid fans at the Etihad celebrated happily again!
Mourinho's eyes widened, and his first reaction was not excitement, but confusion.

Didn't everyone chase back, or even arrange someone to protect Kompany's front, did Real Madrid break Manchester City's goal again like this? ? ?

What about playing? !

It wasn't until this moment that Mourinho really reacted.

Emotional Mancini didn't think too much about setting him up, but he didn't think about anything at all!

"Hey, I'm a little confused about who needs these three points more, or is the formation we formed today enough to overwhelm them in Manchester City's midfield?"

Mourinho couldn't help complaining, and Karanka also covered his mouth and suppressed a smile.

If you really want to talk about the strength of the lineup, Manchester City has a normal main starting lineup, and it will still have the upper hand in a reckless fight with Real Madrid's rotation lineup.

But Mancini can't stand it, he just has to work hard today.

As far as Mancini's [-] starting formation is concerned, the front midfielder is Silva, and the back two midfielders are Yaya Toure and Nasri.
Yes, neither the defensive Barry nor Garcia started today.

This midfield combination is simply a bet on offense and control, and there are almost no defensive interceptions.

Isn't that encouraging Real Madrid to fight back against them?

This time, Mancini couldn't sit still after losing 0-2 at halftime.

Maybe he still felt particularly aggrieved and angry in his heart.

Because he traded his trust for worse and worse results.

But this will see that the expressions and atmosphere of the players on the Manchester City field are not right. Mancini also endured it and did not do anything wrong again.

As soon as the whistle blew for the end of the first half, Mancini greeted his disciples and quickly returned to the player channel.

There were sporadic shouts of dissatisfaction.

That was the emotional dissatisfaction of Manchester City fans.

It doesn't matter if Real Madrid, which played all the main players before, lost, but this time at their own home court, playing against a Real Madrid that has rotated most of the main players, it is still a life-and-death battle!
As a result, they simply lost two more goals in the first half, no matter how hardcore Manchester City fans are, they couldn't stand it anymore!

Before the start of the Champions League this season, Manchester City was ambitious, even if they were assigned to the death group, they were not afraid.

Even if they can't beat Real Madrid, the Manchester City fans at that time are confident that they can at least draw with Dortmund and beat Ajax steadily.

As a result, in just two months, Manchester City only got a record of two draws and two losses. This game is about to lose again.

Disgusting, this record is really disgusting fans!

If this game is lost, Manchester City will basically miss the Champions League knockout rounds this season.

If Dortmund on the other side draws with Ajax again, then Manchester City does have a theoretical chance to qualify.

But will Dortmund drop the chain and pull their hips like them?

Manchester City fans only feel that the prospects for qualifying are gloomy.

However, the Manchester City players who played again in the second half seemed to have regained their morale somewhat.

Mancini, who didn't dare to work hard anymore, removed Maicon and replaced him with Barry.

The formation also changed from three-five-two to four-four-two.

Silva and Nasri pulled the side, and matched Yaya Toure with a defensive midfielder who wiped his butt.

In this way, Manchester City's performance finally became normal.

Anyway, the offense and defense are relatively balanced, even if they continue to press the offense across the board, at least there will be Barry in the midfield.

Real Madrid's counterattack momentum slowed down. No. 60 minutes in the second half, seeing that there were no good opportunities for a quick counterattack, Mourinho simply replaced Ronaldo to rest.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored two goals today, had no complaints. When he left the field, he hugged and laughed with Mourinho on the sidelines for a while.

Jesse, who came on as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo, looked very active. Facing Sabaletta, the number one defensive gate on the right side of the Premier League, he was not afraid at all and dared to make moves.

Seeing this, Li Ang simply squatted in the backcourt to stare at Silva and Aguero, and handed over all counterattack balls to Matuidi and Jesse.

Real Madrid has entered a mode of squatting and occasionally hitting counterattacks that are more inclined to stabilize the score.

Once Li Ang and Essien covered and swept the defensive three areas, Manchester City could only take more sideways.

Fortunately, Dzeko is in good form today. Facing the still immature Varane, he has the upper hand in confrontation.

So when Manchester City finally abandoned the redundant offensive routines and began to frequently take the ball from the wings, Dzeko's advantage in the top battle gave Manchester City fans hope again.

It's a pity that at this time, there are only about twenty minutes left in the second half.

Dzeko's header in the 706th minute helped Aguero, who was behind the goal, get an excellent shot.

Aguero did not disappoint Dzeko's chance this time, and with a spiritual stab, he directly broke through the gate guarded by Cassie!

But Manchester City also spelled out this excellent opportunity.

After Albiol replaced Callejon, Dzeko fell silent again, and Manchester City lost the offensive initiative.

When the whole game ended, looking at the desperate score of 1-2, many Manchester City players stood on the court with their hips akimbo in numbness.

The rotation players on Real Madrid's side naturally laughed and clapped and hugged each other to celebrate!

This is not a small achievement for them. They won the home game of the defending Premier League champions. It would be a lie to say that they are unhappy and proud.

After the game, Li Ang readily agreed to the interview request from domestic acquaintances and reporters.

After talking about the feeling of defeating Manchester City, Li Ang also made a humorous joke.

"I think it doesn't matter whether we are happy or not, Dortmund should be happy to thank us."

There was a lot of laughter at the scene, but Li Ang secretly added the next sentence in his heart.

"Ajax will have to give Manchester City a knock in the next round~"

(End of this chapter)