Midfielder

Mourinho's lineup was not kept secret for long. The football circle is not a secretive front. The speed of gossip spreads can exceed many people's imagination. It took only a few hours from the time Benfica finalized the 11-man lineup to the time the newspapers and Atlético got the news, but everyone looked at the lineup and personnel configuration and began to scratch their heads because they didn't know what that guy wanted to do.

Atlético's head coach Ignacio may be the most surprised one. He didn't know what the newbie named Mourinho was thinking. In such a national derby, he put a child soldier? Is he crazy? Or is there something wrong with my eyes? Ignacio has stared at the lineup many times. He is sure that there is nothing wrong with his eyes, but that the guy from Benfica has gone completely crazy.

Mourinho used a child instead of an experienced person. This is simply a suicidal act for Ignacio, who believes that experience determines everything. He does not deny the ability that Lin Yi has shown on the field, but such a game will obviously create a lot of psychological pressure on a 15-year-old child.

Just like Ignacio is used to using old players to fight against the pressure of the field, he will never let Cristiano Ronaldo play the main role in such a game. This is a kind of protection for the players.

But Mourinho will not hold the same view as others. In his mind, only players who have been beaten on the field are qualified to stand up and say that they have learned how to grow. Under the care of others, they can never really make progress.

A national derby may be a great battlefield in the eyes of others. It will make some people successful and destroy some people, but Mourinho never thinks that the field will choose players. Only after such a big scene will some people grow up, just like his current choice.

Lin Yi has strong nerves, and except for his age and physical confrontation, Mourinho can't feel that there is any gap between this little guy and him. The midfield configuration he built for him is enough for this kid to show his strength.

Mourinho believes that this game will be the beginning of this little guy shocking the whole of Portugal, unless the kid himself loses his level.

Everyone is questioning Mourinho's choice, and many people are saying that he will pay the most painful price for his choice. In such a crucial duel, on-the-spot experience will determine many things, and a child cannot have such experience. This is a stupid choice!

The external disturbance is nothing to Mourinho now. He has already expected such a reaction. Because those people are not him, unlike him, they do not stand in the team's position to see the value of the players on the field.

If Maniche had not been injured in the last game, he would not have risked making such a decision. He might be more inclined to let Maniche and Thiago control the midfield together, and let Petit as a backup, so that the defensive thickness of the midfield would be more guaranteed.

But now Maniche can only sit in the stands with his ankle wrapped to endure the torment of this national derby. Such a change gave Mourinho an idea of ​​gambling. In the absence of a qualified midfield organizer in Benfica, he could not bet on the fight in the midfield.

Instead of using two defensive people to look after their own portals, why not ambush a time bomb behind the two forwards? Only by continuously putting pressure on the opponent during the attack can the defensive pressure on Petit be reduced.

Pushing the opponent's offensive line back is the safest defense. Instead of entangled with him, it is better to let Lin Yi organize the attack directly.

After all, Petit is not the mad dog of Maniche. His defensive skills are still a little worse. Even if he has Thiago to help him, Mourinho does not want to throw all the pressure on his midfielder.

The midfield is the place that Mourinho is least likely to give up, so he replaced Maniche with Petit and pushed Lin Yi to the position of attacking midfielder.

Let the little guy get as close to the opponent's penalty area as possible, let this sharp blade that others are not familiar with hit the opponent's chest, so that the opponent's midfield and backcourt dare not rush forward, use Lin Yi's wide vision to pass the ball reasonably, and create enough offensive opportunities for the two forwards Simao and Cardoso.

And Mourinho also gave Lin Yi the greatest free space to move, and set up enough protection depth behind him. Especially if the front midfielder loses the ball in the confrontation, it will not immediately put pressure on Benfica's defense. This is why Mourinho did not let Lin Yi stay in the most accustomed midfield position.

He needs Lin Yi to hold off the opponent in the frontcourt. Although his physical condition is average, Mourinho can see that this kid is still a bit fierce when pressing. As long as he can play normally, he will definitely give the backcourt of the competitive team a headache.

A person who can deliver a fatal blow at any time is always a time bomb on the defense of others. Moreover, the speed of this kid's improvement in shooting has made Mourinho clearly know what he can do. Despise Lin Yi? There will definitely be a time when you cry.

Everyone is trying to use their own reasons to deny Mourinho's choice, including such voices in the Benfica team, but Mourinho will not change his decision because of other people's criticism. He believes that the black-haired little guy has the strongest fighting spirit.

These voices of criticism always surround the Benfica team. Even when the team is ready to leave for the Stadium of Light, they can hear such protests, just like the situation when Mourinho just took over the team. Those people's eyes are full of doubts.

No one believes Mourinho's decision, and not many people believe that a little guy like Lin Yi can create miracles in such a big scene.

From the moment Lin Yi was confirmed as the starting player, he fell into silence. The voices outside never affected him, but now he only thought of one thing in his mind, that is, this game will be Mourinho's farewell game.

And he will use a chance to start to witness this moment. He doesn't want to make his performance look so bad on the court. It's not to fight back against those boring criticisms. He just wants to use this last chance to tell Mourinho, "I won't embarrass you!"

This past week may be the most ups and downs in Lin Yi's mood since he was born. From knowing that Mourinho is leaving to starting in the national derby, Lin Yi can feel that his brain is messed up.

However, during training, Lin Yi has always kept a clear mind. He will do his best for every request made by Mourinho. He hopes to tell Mourinho in this way that he is fully qualified for this position, and Mourinho's choice is right.

Until entering the locker room of the Stadium of Light, Lin Yi has not yet let his brain fully sober up. This is not that he is deliberately thinking about something, but those things have been interfering with his thinking. Perhaps it is the concentrated outbreak of these things that makes his mood unable to stabilize now.

Lin Yi rarely worries about what he will do wrong on the court, but today, everything is very different. He is indeed a little nervous, and even sweat is oozing out of his palms. It is not that he has no confidence in playing well, but he is afraid that Mourinho will be disappointed when he sees his mistakes.

After all, this is the highest level confrontation in Portugal. He does not want to be a weak rib on the court. Such psychological pressure still gives Lin Yi a lot of troubles, which also makes his spirit a little scattered and unable to concentrate.

"Hey, kid, don't be nervous, this is our home court." When the team entered the locker room, Maniche, who had an injury on his foot, also slipped in. He could see that Lin Yi was a little uneasy now, so he took the initiative to step forward and patted the kid to remind him to concentrate.

"Nothing, just a little confused, thank you, Nuno." Lin Yi forced himself to concentrate. He didn't want to embarrass himself on the court in this state, so he turned around and smiled at Maniche to express his gratitude.

"Kill them! It's not difficult, just deal with them like you played tricks on us in training." Maniche gave Lin Yi a thumbs up. Although he didn't spend much time with this little guy, the impression he left on him was really good.

Except that he often didn't save face for himself when attacking in training games, he was a very good little guy. Although many people are now questioning whether this kid is qualified to play in such a game, Maniche only said one sentence to such criticism.

"Let these flies go to hell, they have never seen how this kid tortured his teammates with his feet during training, a group of self-righteous guys!" Maniche never thought that Mourinho would make a mistake in his choice, and that kid has the ability to do it.

Maybe Maniche's pat made Lin Yi concentrate again, or the team song coming from outside the locker room has made Lin Yi start to relax his nervous nerves. At least at this moment, his brain is clear.

Mourinho ignored the communication between the players. He just turned around and wrote the name of Sporting Lisbon on the blackboard in the locker room, and then drew a cross heavily.

"This is what I want to say to you." Mourinho patted the name of Sporting that was pierced by the cross heavily, and he reminded all Benfica players loudly.

"Victory is the only requirement. I won't go into the process. I only need the result. After 90 minutes, I will applaud you for rising to the top of the standings." Mourinho didn't say much, it was very simple. He used this way to instill the determination to win in everyone.

"Get ready to play! Use the score to tell those guys from the Athletic team that they came to the wrong place today!" Mourinho said loudly.

There was no roar in the locker room. Only 11 people stood in a row and opened the door of the locker room and walked out neatly. At this time, no language could be more practical than going on the field to kill the opponent. The Benfica team has made all preparations and is ready to fight at any time!

Silence, silence, the entire Benfica team in the player's tunnel is more like an army ready to go to war. They didn't talk to each other jokingly, but just focused all their attention on the exit of the player's tunnel. Such a calm performance also made Sporting Lisbon feel a sense of pressure.

When Lin Yi was making final preparations in the player tunnel, he did not pay attention to the expressions of the competitive team members around him. He only saw the green at the exit of the tunnel. Today, that would be his stage.

If he was a little nervous just now, then at this moment, Lin Yi has calmed down everything. Even if the cheers from the outside stadium have penetrated into the passage, he can ensure that every step he takes is solid.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yi followed the team's pace and ran into the center of the Guangming Stadium to accept the almost worshipful cheers. Although this was not for him alone, Lin Yi swore that this place would be like his first game, with the kind of intoxicating cheers, and the whole stadium cheering for him.

The moment he walked onto the court under the questioning eyes of others, Lin Yi had clenched his fists and told himself that he would use his feet to make everyone here exclaim. Whether it was the opponent or the fans of Benfica, they would be conquered by him.

He would prove to everyone that they were wrong. . . He was qualified to stand here and to be a conqueror. . .

This was a farewell gift for the uncle. Lin Yi swore that he would use the most gorgeous performance to send Mourinho off. . .

Whistle, Lin Yi was now only waiting for the moment when the referee's whistle sounded. . . This will be his game. . .

(I will update more often after it is on the recommended list on the weekend. Please forgive me this week. There is really no other way... I can only say that I will try to update more often...)