Football: After listening to the advice, I became the strongest free man! - Chapter 348

c348 Real Madrid almost never succeeded in passing forward

At the beginning of the second half, both sides threatened the opponent’s goal by taking advantage of the opening momentum. Aguero’s shot was slightly higher, and Bale’s breakthrough almost caused a foul in the penalty area. In the second half, Real Madrid defender Pepe and Manchester City defender Otamendi began their own performances. The two people rushed to the ball many times and perfectly blocked the opponent’s attack.

Pepe even had two performances of high-speed dribbling after stealing the ball.

In the second half of the game, Manchester City’s double defensive midfielders began to be fully suppressed. Fernandinho may have consumed his physical energy in the first half and made many consecutive passing errors. At this time, Manchester City’s offense began to lack patience. Otamendi and Kompany tried to find Aguero with long passes many times.

On the one hand, Pepe’s defensive position selection is excellent. On the other hand, Aguero is about 15 cm lower than Pepe, so this offensive routine is easily resolved. Iheanacho, who replaced Silva, rarely ran to contain the opponent’s defenders for Aguero and De Bruyne. On the other hand, after Benzema left the field, Bale began to take more responsibilities for Real Madrid. He was no longer limited to the right side like in the first half, and began to expand his range of activities.

Manchester City knew Bale’s speed threat and had been limiting the size of Bale’s surrounding area. When the players could not keep up (including Silva’s foul in the first half), they decisively chose to foul to minimize Bale’s threat. In this case, Bale also pulled out an arc in the penalty area to try to kill the game.

After Real Madrid established a ball possession advantage after 50 minutes, the two full-backs attacked more frequently, but Manchester City’s defense was very deep. These brought Real Madrid multiple corner kicks and a free kick on the penalty area line. In terms of corner kick defense, Manchester City did not do very well. Ramos, Casemiro and Pepe each created an opportunity to directly kill the game, and Hart’s positioning was very good, and Real Madrid’s goal was a bit out of reach.

In the final stage of the game, Real Madrid began to speed up, but this also brought certain hidden dangers to the team’s backcourt. After the attack was resolved, Manchester City had two opportunities to play 3 on 3 in Real Madrid’s half. If it weren’t for Pepe’s heroic performance, Manchester City players might have killed the game. In the final stage, De Bruyne forced a breakthrough through Carvajal to create a free kick. De Bruyne, who took the penalty, chose to shoot directly to create a threat.

Manchester City’s counterattack in the final stage of the game continued to create threats, which also explained why Real Madrid had been trying to suppress the rhythm before. The final score was fixed at 0-0, which also left suspense at the Bernabeu Stadium. In general, Real Madrid had a greater advantage in this game. Real Madrid’s midfield advantage is really huge. Kroos’s pass is stable, while Modric’s pass is weird. The performance of these two people completely suppressed Fernando and Fernandinho.

On the back line, the defenders of both teams are very stable, and Otamendi and Pepe’s performance is perfect. As for the attackers, Bale raised the banner of Real Madrid’s attack, but he did not make a breakthrough. Aguero could only create two chances in the absence of midfield offensive support, and Iheanacho had no presence, which means that Manchester City needs to think about how to get the ball from the backcourt to the midfield in the best way to the striker’s feet.

In the battle at the Bernabeu, judging from the level of performance in this game, if Ronaldo continues to miss the game, Real Madrid will be 64-64 against Manchester City, and if Ronaldo recovers from injury in time, the game will be more difficult for Manchester City. Personally, I feel that Real Madrid will win Manchester City by at most 2 points in the next game.

Whether Manchester City can advance depends on whether Pellegrini can improve Manchester City’s offense.

This game is full of drama. Both sides have key players missing, and there are also players who are injured and retired midway. Overall, fate is fair.

For Manchester City, Yaya Toure watched the game, and David Silva, the only metronome in the midfield, was injured and left the field. God threw the only indicator of opening to Joe Hart.

De Bruyne used his undisputed performance to show that he is qualified to be the core of the city. After Silva left the field, the only tactical unfamiliarity of Manchester City’s midfield disappeared, causing Fernando and Fernandinho to be “exhausted”. This was one of the reasons for the disconnection between Manchester City’s midfield and backcourt in the second half. On the Real Madrid side, Ronaldo was watching the game on the bench, and Benzema’s old injury recurred, resulting in a loss of personnel in the battle. Fortunately, the forward line led by Modric and Toni Kroos faced the squeeze-type frontcourt pressing and gained enough tactical weight, playing the best offensive and defensive balance of the season.

Based on Casemiro’s defensive hardness, the two’s game reading ability and technical advantages were fully utilized. The focus of this game is the cooperation and orderliness of the midfield’s offense and defense, emphasizing the high coordination of local tactics. To put it bluntly, it is to consider the understanding of the most cutting-edge tactical ideas in modern football, and who is higher and who is lower.

The result of the game was a dull draw, and there were too many highlights from the local to the overall scene.

The lack of goals did not make the game exciting enough. If you don’t just look at the scene, this Champions League semi-final% can help many fans deepen their understanding of modern football at the offensive and defensive balance level.

Comparing the key players of the two teams, Real Madrid has an obvious advantage in the midfield. The Galaxy battleship, playing away, is actually at a disadvantage in terms of confrontation. When the two full-backs reach the center circle, the technical advantage and overall teamwork immediately surpass Manchester City. This is enough to show how much the injury lists of the two teams affect the game.

Manchester City’s most prominent defense line reflects from the side that the loss of midfield has added too much pressure on the defenders.

Pellegrini%’s tactical thinking is quite clear. He relies on the strong double defensive midfielder to implement high-position pressing in the midfield. He tries to find scoring opportunities by suppressing the BC combination because it is not tough enough.

The only problem is that when Manchester City has the ball, the midfield is sufficiently mobile and aggressive, but the horizontal connection and passing accuracy are insufficient. As the controller of the organization and offensive rhythm, David Silva is under too much pressure, which makes people miss Yaya Toure very much. The strategic mistake is that Pellegrini underestimated the technical advantages of the visiting team in the midfield.

As the game progresses, Real Madrid players, after adapting to the intensity of the fight, discovered Manchester City’s weakness: because of the technical disadvantage, the frontcourt penetration ability is not enough. This means that Manchester City will easily lose the ball in the local confrontation, so the key point of the game becomes the fight for the ball. Zidane, as a new coach, has not “exposed his weaknesses”. He has unparalleled practical experience in the world when he was a player.

He has also experienced the dilemma of “weak striker” in the French national team% for many years, which is a valuable asset for future coaching. In addition, he is very good at comparing opponents. Here we have to mention again the second round of the national derby Q this season. Barcelona provided a very practical match scale for Real Madrid’s “rookie coach”.

Comparing the two, Manchester City has the following disadvantages

Uneven skills and game reading ability.

Single forward function (especially De Bruyne and Navas).

In the dense defensive situation, the forwards cannot get better support.

Insufficient bench depth – specifically refers to the midfield (Real Madrid actually does not have enough depth).

These disadvantages make Manchester City’s ball holding effect in the opponent’s penalty area very poor, and the passing route map faithfully restores the problems existing in the home team in actual combat.

Both are fighting hard in the midfield. Manchester City still has rules and methods through the center circle, but encountered strong defense in the middle of the 20-meter area.

Even if the two wingers once hit the edge of the visiting team’s penalty area (i.e. the ribs), what does it matter? Without reasonable transfer, the wingers and ribs cannot be fully utilized, and the offensive rhythm is too single. Most of the direct passes in the middle end up at the red line (failure). The result of frequent loss of ball possession is the running ability of back and forth. If it continues like this, the midfield advantage will be directly given to Real Madrid in the second half.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Battleship was successful in holding and passing the ball within the 30-meter area of ​​the home team, especially the number of diagonal passes from the two ribs to the two sides. When the attack was launched, the trend of Real Madrid’s back line holding the ball to open the width of the field at the first time was obvious. When the middle encountered high-position pressing, Real Madrid moved forward by changing the rhythm, returning and transferring.

The activity hot spots of the two teams’ back waists are almost synonymous with the advantages and disadvantages of midfield offense and defense. Fernando and Fernandinho were almost strangled in the center circle. They had too many defensive tasks to undertake, and their organizational attributes could not be played normally. After Silva left the field, the offensive and defensive rhythm was completely out of control.

The intensity of the Champions League semi-finals is completely different from that of the Premier League. When the three Manchester City midfielders were trapped by six Real Madrid players, they needed to push the back line upwards to increase the passing points. At the same time, the frontcourt teammates had to retreat to receive the ball to increase the success rate of forward penetration. Unfortunately, before Manchester City’s overall operation was normal, Silva was off the field.

Manchester City’s three offensive forwards (including Iheanacho who replaced Silva) can still take advantage of the wing and left rib, but please pay attention to the middle, which is a vacuum zone. Without Yaya Toure, Manchester City’s central attack has almost no presence, and the home team’s offensive efficiency has been greatly discounted.

The encirclement formed by Vazquez, Modric, Casemiro, Pepe and Carvajal was too tight, besieging Silva and De Bruyne, and Clichy had to directly pass the ball. The black circle is the unguarded area in the middle. Real Madrid’s capital to press Manchester City’s attack group to the wing is that the home team does not have enough resources to invest in this position.

The power of the away team’s coordinated defense is reflected in the local personnel stacking. From the left half heat map of the two thirty-meter areas, it can be seen that Real Madrid has sufficient numerical advantage in both offense and defense, and also has good off-ball running connection.

In terms of position, Casemiro is in the middle. Whichever side the offensive side is on, he will support the side with the ball. Toni Kroos and Modric are only on the two ribs, and the distance with the two full-backs is close, forming a numerical advantage. With the help of Bale and Vasquez, a small group of 4 to 5 people is formed when defending, which directly strangles Manchester City’s wing attack. Manchester City’s right side, with Iheanacho and Navas attacking, Sagna backing up, Fernando or Fernandinho only limited support, and De Bruyne changing positions as the main method, this is where Pei Gong miscalculated. In fact, Real Madrid’s left side can open up a gap because Marcelo’s defense is not good.

The change is that Casemiro pays attention to the defensive investment on this side, Ramos only frequently presses forward and forms a wall with him, Toni Kroos only returns to defense with Bale, and with Marcelo’s contraction, Navas is simply alone.

The hot spots of the right half of the two 30-meter areas are similar.

Manchester City still uses the left half where De Bruyne and Silva are located as the axis, and with the assist of Clichy, the space between the three people is severely cut. They can only get in touch with Fernando, but only backwards, and it is even more difficult to communicate with Aguero. How good is the right-wing attack and defense coordination of the Galaxy Battleship? The long-term passing and running make the hot spot spread directly from the wing to the middle.

The picture doesn’t lie. Casemiro and Modric’s cooperation is obviously better. In the actual game, the German uncle led the high-position pressing, and the space after his insertion was filled by Casemiro and Vazquez in turn; the Croatian uncle led the counterattack organization after the ball was intercepted. Both of them can change the rhythm of the game and have clear responsibilities.

Modric, who is more physically fit and more adapted to the rhythm of the Premier League’s pressing, also brought a faster advancement speed, so Manchester City’s midfield was completely passive after halftime. The following picture helps to deepen the understanding of Real Madrid’s right-wing coordination. Real Madrid’s passing and running are obviously higher than Manchester City. After Manchester City’s overall pressing intensity decreased in the second half, the visiting team can easily get rid of the high-position pressing from the backcourt and quickly engage in offense.

At 75 minutes and 09 seconds, Sterling only got the ball at the end of the 30-meter area of ​​the visiting team and the right rib of Real Madrid. At this time, Real Madrid led the defense with Pepe in front. As many as five defensive players all acted, quickly completed the double-teaming, cut off Sterling’s space to handle the ball, and cut off his connection with Clichy (left), De Bruyne (center), and Fernandinho. As for the response with Aguero, it was completely impossible.

1 second later, the encirclement was completed, and Sterling’s limited talent and escape technique could not continue to keep the ball. If the encirclement was against a starting player, it could be said that Real Madrid had a physical advantage, but it was against a substitute. Such local defense is the essence of technical football represented by La Liga.

From the three data of overall passing, frontcourt passing, and counter-grabbing, we can see the great power of Real Madrid’s coordinated defense in the midfield and backcourt.

This game is a model of technical and tactical confrontation between the two sides. The rhythm and speed of offense and defense conversion have reached the top level, and the resulting defensive scenes are also wonderful.

Both teams are teams with the problem of focusing on offense and neglecting defense, but in this game, Master Pei’s steadiness vs. Joe Hart’s rebellion, Modric’s master-level tactical vision vs. Silva’s offense and defense conversion hub, the forwards of both sides were restricted by the opponent’s midfield and defense, and there were few opportunities. It can be said that except for the unsatisfactory reflection on the score, the game scene is definitely a classic of the Champions League confrontation in recent years.

Such a game will also be boring. There are only three explanations. One is to only watch the score and not the game, the second is to read the text and not watch the live broadcast, and the third is to specifically blacken it. It can be seen that there are two types of fans: one is to only pay attention to the score, and the other is to appreciate the game itself.

This game may be a very dramatic game that Real Madrid has encountered this season. Let’s start with the starting lineup. In the game against Rayo Vallecano, Ronaldo did not play, which made people mistakenly think that Zidane was saving his strength for this game. But when the starting lineup was released before the game, everyone found that the smoke bomb became a grenade.

For Real Madrid fans, there is one good news and one bad news. The good news is that Pellegrini was also deceived by this news before the game. It can be seen that many defensive settings from the opening to the halftime are based on the assumption that Ronaldo is on the field, but in fact, when Ronaldo is not on the field, this setting seems to be a luxury first, and second, it puts a great test on his physical strength. But the bad news is that the previous rumors that Ronaldo may have a serious injury may be true.

And Lucas’s appearance means that he is in the lead in the competition with Hesse. After all, his attitude is more favored by Zidane.

On the other hand, the appearance of Conte made the back line less undercover than before. However, the absence of midfielder Yaya Toure made Pellegrini’s midfielder basically have no choice of controlling the ball and fighting in the midfield and other changes when facing Real Madrid. He can only use the double defensive midfielder mode and hope that Silva and Ding Ding will organize the connection.

It can be seen that the two handled the ball in the backcourt in the first half. It can be said that there was basically no flaw in the scientific research. On the whole, Modric would insert more, and TK would be more inclined to stay in the midfield. The passing errors of the two also basically came from the through balls in the frontcourt. In fact, Real Madrid basically did not create any opportunities in the first half, not to mention the through balls behind.

In fact, it can be seen that the degree of pressing in the frontcourt of both teams is very high, and the passing errors in the backcourt did create some opportunities.

Among them, Manchester City’s defensive system is to try to prevent Real Madrid from entering the 30-meter area of ​​the goal. It can be clearly seen that Real Madrid’s most forward pass is in front of the top of the penalty area. It can not pose a threat when it really hits the penalty area. Both threatening balls come from mid-range and long-range shots. On the other hand, Manchester City basically focused on the two flanks after halftime, and there was almost no passing in the midfield.

This is because Pellegrini has a clear understanding of the space behind the two Real Madrid full-backs, especially Marcelo, after the assist. At the same time, he also understands that it is difficult for both Tintin and Silva to open a gap from the middle without the help of Yaya Toure. In addition, Real Madrid prefers to pass the ball in the midfield, complete the transfer of the ball and wait for an opportunity to launch a through pass attack.

However, due to the inverted triangle position adopted by Real Madrid, Manchester City has a certain control in the midfield. When Real Madrid started to counterattack, Manchester City’s 4231/4141 defensive position had already taken shape. The compression of the three lines of space is reasonable, so that Real Madrid can only pass in front of the penalty area but can’t find space, and it also increases the possibility of passing errors.

It can be seen that Real Madrid has almost no successful through passes forward.

Manchester City sought to simplify the attack in the frontcourt. Before Silva left the field, it mainly centered on Silva, through the cooperation between Silva and Tintin on the left, and on the right it mainly relied on Navas’ speed and Tintin’s breakthrough to attack the space left behind after Marcelo’s insertion.

In the first half, there were several successful attacks on Real Madrid’s left wing, and Pepe received a yellow card. However, after the opening stage, Marcelo’s insertion range decreased, and it was difficult for Ding Ding to make any moves on the right wing. Therefore, Manchester City’s attack was generally rough, mainly relying on one-shot through passes.