I started with Torres, to revive German football

Chapter 178 The opening move with a slight upper hand!

Manchester City players returned to the visiting team's locker room despite the boos of the audience after a simple and orderly training session.

The tense atmosphere began to pervade, 180 minutes of the game, the only promotion ticket, a strong opponent, everything tortured the nerves of the Manchester City players before the game.

"Are you nervous? My soldiers! I don't know what you think, anyway, my nervous palms are trembling now.

Focus, keep your nerves up and keep all your attention on the court. "

"I still say that, everyone outside said that this game will be a wonderful confrontation, because we and Barcelona are both attacking teams, but I want to say that this is an all-round game. In the contest of position, both offense and defense are crucial."

Guardiola saw this important matchup very clearly and spoke very firmly.

"We will not be conservative, and we are not good at being conservative, but for us in this game, the most important thing is to focus on targeted defense!
As long as we can defend Barcelona's offense and pass, then with Barcelona's defense, I can guarantee that our offense will definitely not be bad, and we will get a lot of offensive opportunities. "

"On the contrary, if we don't do a good job defensively, then Barcelona's pass and possession will be like a flood, pouring in and penetrating until we fall apart."

"So I have to remind everyone that we are very strong, but so is Barcelona. We must choose to play against Barcelona where we are best at, instead of fighting against Barcelona where they are strongest."

"I hope you understand that in a game like this, there are often many variables.

We might concede the ball first, or even concede two at once, or something,
But no matter what extreme situation we are in, we must keep in mind, stabilize our position, calm our emotions, and face the game calmly and rationally.

This is a 180-minute duel, don't be discouraged until the last moment! "

Today's Manchester City is mostly young players after the replacement. This has many advantages. For example, Manchester City's players will have more physical strength, but it will also bring some disadvantages, that is, lack of experience.

There are very few players on the team who have experience in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Most of the players, including Zhao Jinge and De Bruyne, have reached this point for the first time in their careers.

On the other hand, on the Barcelona side, for stars such as Messi, Iniesta, Suarez and Neymar, this is not the first time they have experienced such a crucial game. Even in the Champions League final, they have experienced it many times.

Their rich experience can ensure that they can handle any sudden changes in the game with ease.

But fortunately, Manchester City also has Guardiola, an experienced coach in the Champions League, who can make up for the team's lack of experience and background.

In addition, Guardiola also emphasized one point, that is rhythm.

"Be sure to disrupt the rhythm of Barcelona!"

Many people say that Manchester City's current tactics are very similar to Barcelona.

When you lose the ball, you will rush to grab the ball, and if you get the ball, you will slow down and pass the control patiently.

Manchester City basically adopted this style of play when they had the advantages of pass and control and technology, and it was tried and tested. However, in the Champions League, Guardiola appropriately reduced the pass and control of the ball and played more directly and concisely.

"Barcelona's tactical characteristics lead to a large gap behind them when they press up as a whole, and we just have such strength to attack their back;
Xiao Kuailing's pass and control style of play is certainly their advantage, but their physical weakness makes them suffer in physical confrontation and set-piece defense, which is also our advantage.

We are a team with excellent passing and control skills, solid physical confrontation, speed and strength.

It's the perfect team that I've always wanted to build that is great in every way.

Defend them, break them, take away the victory! "

There are only a few players in Enrique's Barcelona team, which is basically the same style of play, this kind of rhythm, as long as they adapt and defend, they will be finished.

They simply have no other backup plan.

Of course, in many cases, on the football field, for talented players like Messi and Iniesta, their flash of inspiration is the biggest variable.

But the flash of genius is something that can be encountered but not sought after, and in terms of talent, the current Manchester City team is not inferior. This is a real challenger with the strength to compete for the championship!
The conversation in the locker room has come to an end, and a staff member has come to inform them that they will be ready to play in ten minutes.

Before playing again, Guardiola still couldn't help saying his final entrustment:

"By now, we've got everything ready."

"I still emphasize a few places."

As soon as Guardiola finished speaking, the assistant coach next to him pulled over the tactical board, and Guagua immediately pointed to Messi on it.

"Although Messi's position is on the side, after the opening, his main range of activities will still appear in the middle.

And he will withdraw very deep. At this time, our midfielders must keep up. He is not only the receiving point of the Barcelona midfielder. After getting the ball, he will directly take the ball forward. , we have to stop him! "

The players all nodded.

This is what Guardiola has repeatedly emphasized and practiced before the game.

"There are Alves and Rakitic on the right. Messi retreated. After Rakitic got in, he must have crossed into the penalty area diagonally to the right rib. He will move closer to the center and give way to the right.

Alves will assist very frequently, so our defense must pay attention to Rakitic on the right side, obliquely inserting into the penalty area behind Messi, and Alves' back penetration, this is very important! "

Chrissy on the left, Yaya Toure in the midfield, and Zhao Jinge, the left winger tonight, all nodded in agreement.

"Barcelona's left side is Neymar and Alba. Neymar will not say much. Alba should also be careful about this point. Iniesta's dribbling is very threatening. You must stay focused at all times during the game. Missing people!"

This is a tactic against Barcelona, ​​and once the ball is grabbed, Manchester City's quick counterattack is to resolutely hit the opponent's center.

Zhao Jinge and Aguero are Manchester City's corkscrews tonight, which also shows Guardiola's attitude, attack to the end!
Having said that, Guardiola paused.

"Don't worry, I will still stand on the sidelines, watch you all the time, and fight side by side with you as usual!"

Guardiola's last words made all the players in the locker room feel at ease. They have one of the best coaches in the world. They are Manchester City and they are here to win the game.

When the referee led the players from both sides into the field, a huge TIFO symbolizing their victory in the Triple Crown last season had already risen in the main stand of Barcelona.

Fanatical Barcelona fans held up red and blue cheering banners, filling every corner of the stands except the visiting team stands.

When the Barcelona fans saw the Barcelona players, they touched the fire with the dry wood, and it ignited in an instant.

Crazy Barcelona fans are shouting the name of Barcelona, ​​shouting the names of the players, cheering for them.

When the live TV camera swept over, you could see the faces that were flushed with excitement. Everyone was excited and excited for the upcoming game.

After winning the championship last season, great confidence filled the hearts of every Barcelona fan. Everyone expected Barcelona to reach the final again and become the first team to successfully defend the title since the restructuring of the Champions League.

Especially after slaughtering Manchester City at home in the second round of the group stage, everyone in Barcelona is full of confidence in advancing to the semi-finals, because they have the best superstar in the world, an outstanding head coach, and the best team. fans.

Every Barcelona fan in the stands seems to be transformed into a wave of energy, which is injected into every Barcelona player in the stadium, making them more motivated and more powerful.

"Sky Sports audience friends, we are now at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, ​​and we will report to you on the spot this wonderful match that has attracted worldwide attention!"

"Through the live broadcast, we can see that players from both sides have already entered the field, and Barcelona fans are demonstrating frantically, and they are applauding the Barcelona players entering the field."

"Manchester City players are also entering the field one after another, but what awaits them is a tsunami of boos from the Barcelona fans."

"It's a huge test for City's players in the first leg of the quarter-final as they have to face the Barcelona attack under a mountain of pressure and at the same time Make a strong counterattack!"

"This is an extreme challenge for any team."

"Now the whole game is about to start, the referee blew the whistle to start the whole game! Barcelona kicked off first, and the game officially started!"

With Andy Gray's opening remarks over, Barcelona launched their first tentative attack on Manchester City's defense after kick-off.

In the face of Barcelona's temptation, Manchester City quickly put up a tight line of defense.

There are some changes in Manchester City's starting lineup today. Yaya Toure started, Gundogan returned to the bench, Stones replaced Otamendi who had consumed too much in the America's Cup qualifiers, and Guardiola's previous face to Bayern Made minor adjustments to Manchester United's starting XI.

It still uses the basic structure of defeating multiple powerful enemies not long ago, but entrusts Yaya Toure and Kanter with the heavy responsibility of guarding the place of the Fourth World War.

Just like facing Barcelona in the first round of the group stage, Manchester City's formation is not the standard four-three-three. Yaya Toure and Kanter formed a double midfielder (4231) when defending to curb the opponent's pass in the middle. Browne waited for an opportunity to fill the right rib to ensure the safety of the wing.

The last time he was a guest at Barcelona, ​​Kompany and other players were injured, and Fernandinho struggled in the deep midfield area.

Barcelona relied on quick passes and cuts to continuously penetrate Manchester City's defense from the junction of the side and the center, and soon took the lead.

Facing Barcelona again this time, Guardiola put De Bruyne's position in front of the two defensive midfielders, used his organization and scheduling ability to control the overall situation, and relied on an outstanding midfield combination to ensure the backcourt Security in the hinterland.

Facing the tight fence of Manchester City, the Barcelona players who started to test the attack, under the pressure of Manchester City, calmly handed over the ball to the center line and looked for opportunities to attack again.

But as the game progressed, Enrique on the sidelines realized something was wrong.

In their impression, Aguero, as a center forward, should be at the top, to compete with Mascherano and Pique,
But in the actual game, Manchester City almost gave up the pressure on Pique and Xiao Ma. After Aguero retreated, he cooperated with Zhao Jinge, who was retracted, to pinch Busquets.

The whole world knows that Busquets is tall, but a little slow. Although his technique is good, his movement frequency is slow.

Zhao Jinge and Aguero are like a pair of gloves, wrapping Professor Bu tightly. No matter how Busquets changes his position, he will strangle the converter between Barcelona's midfield and backcourt.

Moreover, Manchester City's entire midfield is not pressing forward as before, launching a fierce press against Barcelona's defense, and more is to build a defense line around the center line.
As soon as Barcelona's pass enters this area, it will immediately fall into Manchester City's strangulation range, and the pressure of passing and receiving the ball will increase sharply.

At first, Barcelona thought this was Manchester City's strategy to seek stability at the beginning.

Iniesta and Messi began to retreat frequently, pulling back to respond to the passes of their teammates, but every time they tried to pass to the area near the center line, they would be interfered with.

It’s fine if they’re just close. When Manchester City’s players get close, they always use their physical advantages to run and oppress, which makes the thinner Barcelona players miserable.

Fortunately, Messi and Iniesta helped Barcelona control the ball, but it was difficult to cross the center line after several attempts.

It's like City built a wall there, making it impenetrable for Barcelona's passing and receiving.

The most important thing is that among Zhao Jinge and Aguero, one of them is always keeping a close eye on Busquets, which disrupts the operation mechanism of Barcelona's midfield and is forced to pass more back to the defense.

This led to Pique and Mascherano having more chances to get the ball than Busquets.

Fortunately, Manchester City's pressure on the central defender is not strong, but when the two people in poor condition hold the ball in the backcourt, they occasionally face Manchester City's risky pressure, which always seems extremely thrilling.

Enrique realized that this should be Manchester City's strategy.

After all, if you really want to force the central defender, Manchester City will need to pay a lot more running and consumption.

As it is now, concentrating our forces near the center line does not consume much.

Barcelona didn't have many ways to face Manchester City's opening style of play, they could only keep passing back and falling in the backcourt.

It can only rely on the players on the midfielder and striker to frequently retreat to a deep position to receive the ball and organize.

"Manchester City's tactical discipline without the ball is really strong!"

In the live broadcast room, Andy Gray praised repeatedly after seeing the game on the court.

More than five minutes into the game, Barcelona didn't even make a pass into Manchester City's penalty area, let alone a shot. There was only one pass near the center line and into the 30-meter area, but Manchester City quickly settled down to defend , forcing Barcelona to knock back again.

"The defense is very layered and flexible. If you look at the running and positioning of their players, Guardiola's hard work this year has not been in vain."

Another commentator Lineker also appreciated Manchester City's stability after the opening.

Barcelona hardly get any chances.

Guardiola is too familiar with Barcelona, ​​and he has the essence of their skills and tactics, so his tactical arrangement in this game is very targeted, concentrating his forces near the center line and confronting Barcelona.

Barcelona tried to infiltrate again and again, but failed again and again.

The players basically mentioned the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. They lack experience and seek a stable start. This is also a normal thing. "

After Barcelona started the game, they had a lot of possessions, but in Manchester City's half, they had very few opportunities to organize an effective offense. Obviously, this is Guardiola's defensive strategy. "

Andy Gray analyzed.

Just at this time, in the stadium and during the game, Barcelona finally passed back and forth across the center line. Rakitic retreated, Iniesta retreated, and even Messi in front also retreated.

When Messi took the ball, Yaya Toure immediately posted on the former teammate, forcing Messi to dribble the ball laterally, but Kanter also came up after taking two steps.

Both Manchester City midfielders followed Messi, firmly restricting his forward position.

Messi, who noticed something bad, immediately knocked the ball back and reorganized, and Manchester City also patiently reorganized the defensive formation.

It is difficult for the two sides to maintain such a confrontational situation, and it is difficult to tell who is more beneficial.

"Tonight, the whole world is looking forward to seeing how Guardiola will break through Barcelona's pass control and high-position pressing, but unexpectedly, he chose to play like this, neither willing to defend nor attack."

how to say?It's really surprising, but it makes sense.

"Aggression easily exposes the flaws in defense. For a pass-and-control team like Barcelona, ​​Guardiola probably doesn't have much confidence. Too conservative is not enough. With Manchester City's age and experience, for Barcelona, ​​​​to be conservative is to be slow. suicide."

"And you didn't find out, the confrontation is between the center line and the 30-meter area of ​​your own side. For Manchester City, it is easy to get a position, but there is a big loophole behind Barcelona."

Lineker offers his own insights.

Andy Gray nodded, and was about to say something, but saw that Barcelona's Alves suddenly dribbled the ball along the right, and tried to pass the ball after being targeted by Clichy. Looking for Messi, Yaya Toure rushed out first and intercepted the ball.

As soon as the Côte d'Ivoire midfielder grabbed the ball, he immediately took two steps forward and sent a diagonal kick to the left.

Zhao Jinge advanced at the fastest speed and caught up with Yaya Toure's pass in Alves' defense zone, but at this time Alves was still in Manchester City's half.

I saw the German striker quickly speeding up. After catching up with the ball, he dribbled the ball diagonally towards the penalty area, ready to cut inside at any time.

Pique rushed over in time, staring at Zhao Jinge like a formidable enemy, guarding against his incision kick.

As soon as the two sides made contact, Zhao Jinge feinted and passed the ball back to the left baseline.

Yaya Toure rushed forward quickly, ahead of Alves, caught up with Zhao Jinge's pass, passed the ball with his left foot, and sent the ball to the middle of the penalty area.

Aguero rushed forward quickly, ahead of Mascherano, with a header.

The entire Camp Nou stadium was shocked into a cold sweat.

But unfortunately, Aguero's header was too high.

Enrique was so angry that he almost ran away on the sidelines, and kept calling the players.

Although the current scene is dominated by Barcelona, ​​Manchester City's defense is very tightly organized, and it is difficult for Barcelona to get a chance.

Instead, it was Manchester City's quick counterattack that penetrated Barcelona's defense.

"If Aguero, who responded from the center just now, had hit the ball a little more squarely, the goal would have taken the lead."

Andy Gray cried out regretfully.

After Barcelona's false alarm, Ter Stegen took the goal kick, and Mascherano on the back line started to advance with the football.

With Professor Bu himself in danger, Makoto was forced to take on more important responsibilities, and Barcelona reorganized their offensive.

(End of this chapter)