As a goalkeeper, carry the team forward

Chapter 188 Atletico Pharmaceuticals, who is more fierce?

For this game, the outside world generally believes that Atletico Madrid can at least remain unbeaten in the away game, and ideally have a chance to score an away goal.

Leverkusen only conceded 6 goals in the league. In some people's eyes, that is because it is the Bundesliga. If it is placed in La Liga, Premier League or Serie A, it is absolutely impossible to happen.

In recent years, under the leadership of Simeone, Atletico Madrid has achieved remarkable results in both the league and the Champions League.

Last season, they once broke into the final of the Champions League, but narrowly lost to Real Madrid in a penalty shootout.

In addition, before the start of this game, Atletico Madrid had not conceded a goal for 524 consecutive minutes.

The starting rosters of both sides are as usual and were not announced until before the game.

For the Leverkusen team, Toprak was suspended and failed to enter the squad. Jedvay was also absent due to injury. Schmidt put on a commonly used 4231 formation. The specific list is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Jose.

Defenders: Wendell, Spahic, Papadopoulos, Hilbert.

Double defensive midfielders: Lars Bender, Castro.

Attacking forwards: Son Heung-min, Charhanoglu, Bellarabi.

Center: Delmic.

In addition, Rolfes, Kisling, Brandt and others sat on the bench.

As for Atletico Madrid, Simeone put up a 442 formation, the specific list is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Moya.

Defenders: Siqueira, Godin, Miranda, Juanfran.

Midfielders: Saul, Thiago, Gabi, Arda Turan.

Forwards: Griezmann, Mandzukic.

In addition, Gamez, Raul Garcia, Torres and No. [-] goalkeeper Oblak were also sitting on the bench.

The set of 11 starters chosen by Simeone has an average age of 28 years and 260 days, creating the record for Atletico Madrid's oldest starter in the Champions League.

This also makes this game one more topic, whether Atletico Madrid has more experience or Schmidt's youth storm is better.

At 20:45 local time in Germany, with the whistle of the referee, the game began.

Delmic kicked off first and passed directly back to Bender.

Bender passed back to Spasic again.

And Spasic passed to Wendell in split.

Wendell had no chance to advance, so he could only pass back to Jose in desperation.

Jose shifted the ball and passed it to Hilbert.

Hilbert advances with the ball.

The Leverkusen team organized the first wave of offense.

It's a pity that Bella Rabbi's cross was broken out of the penalty area by the opponent, and Atletico turned from defense to offense.

Thiago took the ball in the backcourt, passed the midfield quickly with his big foot, and passed the ball to Griezmann's feet.

Griezmann dribbles forward and Mandzukic screens beside him.

Outside the restricted area of ​​the pharmaceutical factory, Griezmann made a cross pass to Saul who stepped in.

Saul broke into the left side of the penalty area and passed back to Griezmann.

From 12 yards inside the penalty area, Griezmann volleyed directly.

The ball turned into a white light and flew towards the center of the goal.

Jose jumped up on the spot, but did not touch the ball.

Griezmann's shot went high.

In just 2 minutes, both sides completed an attack each.

At this time, the broadcast footage was shown in the auditorium. It turned out that both Heynckes and Ballack came to watch the match.

Jose kicked the goal kick, and the pharmaceutical factory attacked again.

On the whole, the pharmaceutical factory's offense is stronger, and the ball possession rate is also higher than that of Atletico Madrid in the away game.

It's just always difficult to break through Atletico Madrid's defense.

In the first 10 minutes, the pharmaceutical factory failed to complete a shot.

In the 12th minute, the pharmaceutical factory got the first corner kick of the game.

Right corner kick, Charhanoglu is responsible for taking the penalty.

He drove directly into the penalty area and was hit directly by Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Moya with a single punch.

However, the ball is still under the control of the pharmaceutical players.

On the edge of the penalty area, Wendell volleyed with his left foot, and the ball bounced after hitting the ground.

Spasic volleys from 8 yards in front of the goal.

Unfortunately, it was cleared by Mandzukic on the goal line.

The ball reached Griezmann's feet and he got a single chance.

Griezmann ran all the way with the ball, and in a blink of an eye he had reached outside the penalty area of ​​the pharmaceutical factory.

Facing Griezmann who came alone, Jose was not afraid at all and chose to attack decisively.

When the distance between the two was still 3 meters, Griezmann was about to change direction and pass Jose.

However, Jose would not give him a chance at all, and directly used "time-space pause".

People only saw that Jose rushed directly towards Griezmann at a sprinting speed, and before Griezmann could react, he stabbed the ball away from his feet.

The home fans applauded immediately.

In the past, Jose used to squat in the penalty area most of the time.

But since seeing Neuer's 30-meter attack, Jose has a new view on the attack.

A long-distance attack will certainly cause the goal to be wide open, but with the plug-in and his running speed, Jose can return to the defense quickly even if the attack fails.

Keeping the ball away from your own goal is the best option in defense.

After destroying Griezmann's one-handed goal, Jose ran back immediately.

Jose was already back in the penalty area when Atletico organized their attack.

Atletico Madrid missed a great opportunity.

The game continues.

In the 22nd minute, Jose scored to form a quick counterattack.

Delmic sprints forward, only to be brought down by Thiago in the center circle.

Thiago destroyed this quick counterattack opportunity of the pharmaceutical factory, and at the same time got the first yellow card of the game.

After 1 minute, the pharmaceutical factory almost broke through.

Outside the left side of Atletico Madrid's penalty area, at a distance of 30 yards, Spasic suddenly shot a cold arrow.

The ball flew towards the upper left corner of the goal.

Moya swooped, but did not touch the ball.

Did the ball go in?
But no, the ball hit the crossbar and was blocked.

Atletico escaped unharmed.

In the 30th minute, Saul took the ball, and just as he was about to advance, a figure quickly approached.

It was Charhanoglu.

Calhanoglu directly shoveled Saul, first shoveled the ball, and then brought Saul down by the way.

Saul fell to the ground on the spot.

The referee temporarily stopped the game, and then called the team doctor to enter the field for treatment.

Seeing that Saul was shoveled and Calhanoglu was fine, Simeone immediately expressed his dissatisfaction to the referee: "This is not a card? It is obviously an intentional foul."

Hearing what Simeone said, Schmidt did not show any weakness, and immediately replied: "What intentional foul? Are you blind? It is obvious that our people hit the ball first."

"He did touch the ball first." The referee explained.

However, the referee's explanation did not satisfy Simeone, and his assistant Burgos also joined the battle group.

Seeing that it was about to lose control, the referee took out cards from his pocket as a gesture, and said to the crowd on the sidelines: "Are you doubting my eyes?"

Seeing this, everyone shut up.

The small episode on the sidelines passed quickly.

After treatment by the team doctor, Saul returned to the game.

The game continues.

As time went on, the movements of both sides started to get bigger.

In the 36th minute, Mandzukic took the ball from the side.

Just when Mandzukic was about to dribble inside, Papadopoulos shoveled him directly, and even dribbled the ball to the sideline.

Papadopoulos has received his second yellow card of the game.

In the 38th minute, Simeone made a passive substitution, and Siqueira was replaced by Gamez due to injury.

After 1 minute, Atletico Madrid got a good chance to score.

Turan made a pass from the right side of the penalty area and passed the ball to Griezmann.

From 5 yards in front of the goal, Griezmann headed directly to the goal. With a light rub of his head, the ball flew towards the upper left corner of the goal.

At this time, Jose was on the right side of the goal in order to block Turan.

Griezmann's header is very fast, and it is still in the upper left corner.

For an ordinary goalkeeper, this ball will be a must-goal.

Fortunately, Jose was prepared with both hands.

When seeing Turan pass the ball, he already knew the opponent's intention in his heart.

Decisively use plug-in stunts.

In this kind of critical game, as long as he is not 100% sure to save, Jose will not hesitate to use the cheat.

In the end, Jose held the ball out of the baseline with one hand.

Atletico Madrid get a corner kick from the left.

The corner kick was taken and Thiago wanted to pass the ball to the back of the penalty area.

However, the height of the corner kick was not enough, and it was confiscated directly by Jose.

Jose throws away the goal kick and passes the ball to Hilbert.

Hilbert made a direct pass from the side, but was blocked by Saul flying out of the sideline.

After blocking the ball, Saul raised his hand to signal that he couldn't hold on anymore.

Simeone had no choice but to replace Saul, who performed very well, and Raul Garcia came off the bench.

For a long time, Simeone's team has been known for daring to fight, and he has also won the title of handsome.

However, today, when they met the more ferocious Schmidt, Atletico became the passive side instead?
The answer was unexpected. Although the Leverkusen players fought fiercely, their movements were extremely clean.

In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Atletico Madrid once again attacked into the penalty area.

On the right side of the penalty area, Turan received a pass from his teammate and shot directly at the close corner.

Facing Turan's shot, Jose stretched his left foot and sank down at the same time, blocking the entire lower left corner of the goal.

Turan's shot was eventually blocked by Jose.

However, the crisis of the pharmaceutical factory has not been lifted.

The blocked ball rolled to Thiago's feet.

At 8 yards in front of the goal, Thiago volleyed sideways and hooked, and the action was very chic.

The ball drew an afterimage in the air and flew towards the center of the goal.

"If you score this goal, wouldn't I be the background board?" An indescribable force surged from the bottom of his heart, and Jose bounced on the spot and jumped towards the center of the goal.

Without any risk, Jose single-handedly lifted Thiago's volley hook shot directly out of the bottom line, completing two consecutive pounces.

Pharmaceuticals avoided conceding a goal before half-time.

Atletico Madrid get another corner kick.

The corner kick is taken to the near post.

The first landing point was pushed by Spasic, and it went directly out of the penalty area.

It is still Atletico Madrid's possession.

Turan took the ball, crossed it diagonally into the penalty area, and accurately found Mandzukic.

From 15 yards in front of the goal, Mandzukic took advantage of the momentum and headed for the goal.

It's a pity that the angle was too straight and was directly confiscated by Jose.

In the end, the two sides played 0-0 in the first half.

Although Atletico Madrid had two players injured in the first half, they actually committed the most fouls.

Statistics show that throughout the first half, Atletico Madrid fouled as many as 14 times, while the pharmaceutical factory only had 3 fouls.

Who is the most aggressive team?
(End of this chapter)