Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid - Chapter 395

c388 It’s time to return to the Premier League and win the championship!

“Li Ang actually scored a goal! Holy Mary! Those commentators were right, he is really the Beckenbauer of our time!”

“This shot is so beautiful! The best goalkeeper in La Liga has no way to deal with such a shot. I love such a heavy artillery!”

“Will Li Ang directly switch to center forward next season? To be honest, Li Ang’s performance in the 10 minutes of switching to center forward has surpassed 95% of the so-called center forwards in the current football world. I am optimistic about his future development in the striker position.”

“Then who will be the No. 1 midfielder in football after Li Ang switches to forward? Kroos, Modric, or Fabregas?”

“It depends on Mourinho’s arrangement. As long as Li Ang retreats to play in the midfield, he will be the world’s No. 1 defensive midfielder and central midfielder. When he doesn’t play in the midfield, it will be another matter…”

When Li Ang scored a goal as a guest center forward, fans from all over the world suddenly became excited and kept discussing the possibility of Li Ang switching to center forward in the future on online forums.

They didn’t think that Mourinho just temporarily let Li Ang play as a center forward in order to play a special tactical role.

Almost most fans think this is a precursor to Li Ang’s transformation.

Who made Li Ang give fans too many unexpected surprises after changing his position?

From the world’s No. 1 defensive midfielder to the world’s No. 1 central midfielder and even the world’s No. 1 attacking midfielder, Li Ang has told the fans with practical actions:

Everything is possible for him!

Three years ago, no fans believed that he could play a dominant performance in the attacking midfielder position.

Two years ago, no fans believed that he could really create a dynasty in Chelsea and win the Golden Ball!

But now, all this has become a reality.

The faces of those fans who once didn’t believe that Li Ang could be successful after leaving Real Madrid are still aching.

So, predicting that Li Ang can continue to play the top performance in the center position?

Why not?

After “overcorrecting”, the fans now have a mysterious trust in Li Ang.

If Li Ang knew what the fans were talking about, he might feel flattered:

It’s too much, it’s too much, the fans are really exaggerating!

Although Li had a dream of playing center forward since he was a child, it was a bit ridiculous for him to change to center forward and completely step out of his comfort zone in the midfield.

Although he was happy about the goal, Li Ang knew that his goal was still attributed to the support of his teammates.

In essence, he still scored by joining the attack from the midfield.

If he really went into the Atletico penalty area to fight with a group of defensive tough guys, he thought he would not be as good as Llorente who was sitting on the bench at the moment.

It is important to know yourself. After Li Ang celebrated passionately near the baseline, he turned around and hugged Hazard who assisted him.

It is essential to express gratitude to teammates. Li Ang has never lost his original intention in this regard.

And the Chelsea players who united to celebrate brought great confidence to the Blues fans on the scene!

Mourinho did not waste too much time indulging in excitement on the sidelines. He always kept a little vigilance to keep his mind clear.

The successful restriction of tactics is certainly gratifying, but Mourinho also understands that there is still a lot of luck in Li Ang’s goal.

After all, the formation change tactics he designed used Li Ang as the frontcourt fulcrum and tactical bait, and the responsibility of scoring was still on Suarez.

If everything really went well, then Suarez should be the one celebrating the goal at this moment.

Fortunately, Mourinho has always been very receptive to unexpected surprises on the court, and the result of the goal is also more important for important knockout matches such as the Champions League semi-finals.

After rubbing his hands hard on both sides of his cheeks, Mourinho pulled Holland, who was still celebrating excitedly, and directly discussed with him the countermeasures that Atletico might take next.

The detailed tactical adjustments are hard to guess, but Atletico, which is lagging behind at this moment, is bound to set off a counterattack climax at Chelsea’s home court.

Apart from anything else, wouldn’t it be nice to steal an away goal?

Even if Atletico Madrid loses at Chelsea’s home ground, as long as they lose 1-2, they will have successfully taken the lead in advancing.

So now Chelsea’s game situation looks very good, but in fact they need to be more careful to deal with Atletico Madrid’s counterattack.

Mourinho did not dare to be careless. When he saw his players finish celebrating and walk to their own half, he directly gestured to Li Ang to pay more attention to defense in the future.

Li Ang nodded when he saw this, and soon he pulled his teammates to convey Mourinho’s instructions.

For Chelsea’s players on the field, focusing on defense has never been a difficult task.

When the game resumed, no matter how Atletico Madrid adjusted, they took the lead in shrinking their formation and stood in a defensive position.

And seeing Chelsea put on a half-court defense posture again, the whole Atletico Madrid team was also very headache.

Simeone’s tactical adjustment was not complicated. Without changing players first, he could only choose to change the formation to release the team’s offensiveness.

Carrasco moved forward to the front line, Koke returned to the center midfielder position with Saul, Gabi fell back, and Atletico Madrid immediately changed from 442 to 433.

Carrasco, Diego Costa and Griezmann’s front trident is still very powerful.

Leon is not afraid of Griezmann and Diego Costa suddenly exerting their strength, as he is more familiar with the technical characteristics of these two people.

He is more worried about Carrasco’s sudden explosive performance on the offensive end, giving Chelsea’s defense a surprise.

So when he was defending, he also paid more defensive attention to Carrasco.

As a result, his defensive choice really restricted Atletico’s offensive variation again!

In Simeone’s offensive system, Griezmann needs to organize the offensive direction of the frontcourt in series, and Diego Costa is a battering ram and a stirrer, who must serve as a tactical fulcrum and shoulder the responsibility of scoring.

At this time, Carrasco, who broke through sharply, was a rare explosive point on Atletico’s front line.

This kind of forward combination with different responsibilities is very threatening when it performs normally.

But its defects are also very fatal.

The division of labor is too clear, and the skills of the forward players are not comprehensive enough. If one of them is targeted and restricted by the opponent, the power of their forward combination will be greatly reduced.

Li Ang was lucky this time. He subconsciously wanted to kill Carrasco, the uncertainty factor on Atletico’s front line.

As a result, he just solved the explosive point on Atletico’s front line.

Without Carrasco’s breakthrough threat, Atletico’s offensive system after the change of formation was greatly affected.

Griezmann’s organizational ability on the offensive end is indeed very strong, but he is very good at organizing, and Diego Costa, who received the ball in front, can’t do anything to Maguire!

The passing and running cooperation between him and Carrasco is still very important.

But when Li Ang restricted Carrasco’s activity space, Griezmann’s pass could not reach behind Chelsea’s defense, and Carrasco could not rush through at all.

Simeone was also very annoyed watching this scene. He had no choice but to signal Filipe Luis to move forward more, go to the wing to meet Carrasco, or simply find a way to receive the ball himself.

This can make up for Atletico’s offensive firepower in the frontcourt to a certain extent.

But everything has its pros and cons. After Filipe Luis pressed forward again, the Chelsea midfielders who were waiting to counterattack Atletico Madrid suddenly had a new direction.

In the 29th minute of the first half, Hazard quietly changed positions with De Bruyne in the frontcourt and came to the right.

Before Saul could remind Filipe Luis, Matic, who had grabbed the ball in the backcourt, decisively sent a long counterattack pass!

Atletico Madrid’s left wing without Filipe Luis allowed Hazard to break through!

Saul did retreat to assist in defense in advance, but his defensive ability was really not enough in front of Hazard.

The Belgian winger galloped all the way down the bottom. Although the two central defenders of Atletico Madrid were also calm, they finally couldn’t sit still when they saw Hazard getting too aggressive and breaking into their own penalty area!

Godin decisively attacked and intercepted, and Hazard didn’t send a cross until this time!

Under the tense gaze of millions of fans in front of the TV, Suarez, who was in position, decisively completed the push shot in front of the goal!

However, this time, the one who was 1v1 with him was not Atletico goalkeeper Courtois, but Jimenez who almost fell to the ground and stretched out his foot to intercept at the same time!

The football shot by Suarez hit Jimenez’s calf and flew directly out of the goal and out of the bottom line!

Suarez, who missed the absolute opportunity for the second time in the first half, couldn’t help but roar to the sky again.

And more neutral fans were cheering for Atletico’s defensive tenacity today.

However, after being amazed, they once again looked at Li Ang who was watching the live camera.

It seems that to break through Atletico’s steel defense, it is still necessary to use Li Ang’s unreasonable and violent shooting to be effective…

Li Ang did not participate in the counterattack this time. After seeing Suarez’s shot blocked out of the bottom line in the midfield, he called Maguire to move forward with him to prepare for the next corner kick.

Set-pieces are indeed a very good scoring method for Chelsea now, and Maguire is a famous super aerial master in the football world.

However, under Atletico’s cautious positioning and double-teaming, several Chelsea header players were also restricted.

In the end, Matic was disturbed by the defense of Filipe Luis and Saul and headed the ball off, directly returning the ball to Atletico.

However, in the past few minutes, Chelsea’s counterattack climax still forced Atletico to suspend the attack.

Filipe Luis returned to the defensive end, and Hazard and De Bruyne no longer actively asked for the ball to advance.

Li Ang still stared at Carrasco and directly pressed Atletico’s offensive variation point.

Simeone really had no back-up this time. He did not continue to make new tactical adjustments until the halftime break.

Neither team made major tactical changes in the 15 minutes of midfield.

Chelsea still relied on defense at the beginning of the second half, and Atletico still played a 433 offensive formation and actively sought opportunities to equalize the score.

Regardless of what details the Atletico Madrid coaching staff will make in terms of tactical adjustments, their offensive tactical tone will not change.

A 1-1 draw with Chelsea or a 1-2 loss in this game is completely acceptable to Atletico Madrid.

But if they lose 0-1, the whole Atletico Madrid team really can’t accept it!

In the final analysis, Atletico Madrid still wants at least one away goal.

But for Mourinho, the 1-0 result is enough to satisfy him. Why should he command the team to take the initiative to attack Atletico Madrid, thus giving Atletico Madrid more counterattack opportunities?

If Atletico Madrid can be shut out in this game, Chelsea only needs to score one goal in the second leg at Atletico Madrid’s home field, and Atletico Madrid needs to score at least three goals to turn the tide!

What a beautiful thing!

Besides, what’s wrong with 1-0?

Mourinho has full confidence in the defensive resilience of his disciples.

As long as there is no ideological decline in the team, he does not believe that Atletico Madrid’s three axes on the offensive end can force Chelsea’s steel gate.

So throughout the second half of the game, Chelsea’s counterattack effort was relatively small.

Even though Atletico Madrid pressed forward more and more after 70 minutes of the game, the space exposed in the backcourt became larger and larger.

But Chelsea never launched a fast counterattack with too many players involved.

Seeing that Chelsea was really going to defend the 1-0 result, Simeone was really anxious.

But even though he changed the formation to 424, Chelsea still remained in the half court.

On the stage where he needed to show his offensive coaching ability the most, Simeone handed in an answer sheet that could not satisfy his fans.

Carrasco was finally replaced by Correa after being invisible for most of the game, and another striker on the Atletico bench, Vietto, also got 20 minutes of playing time.

But they failed to play a brilliant performance on the offensive end in the end, or in other words, their personal hard power is still a little far from the top of Europe.

Diego Costa and Griezmann were eventually lost in the strong muscles of Chelsea’s defenders.

When Mourinho replaced Terry and Kalas in the 80th minute of the second half, the game was considered to be coming to an end.

Atletico’s final counterattack was crazy, but Chelsea paid enough price and dragged the score of 1-0 to the end of the game!

Kroos, Leon, Suarez and Kalas, who came on as a substitute in the second half, all received yellow cards.

But in the good situation of winning the first round of the Champions League semi-finals, they didn’t care about such a price.

The slightly frustrated Atletico players had to convince themselves to accept the reality of defeat after trying their best.

After receiving enthusiastic cheers and encouragement from the fans at home with his teammates, Leon also made a mobilization for winning the league championship in advance.

“Manchester City will fail again, and we must be ready to win the third Premier League championship in the past three years!”