Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid - Chapter 404

c396 He who has the midfield wins the world

Pogba didn’t understand why Li Ang, who usually communicated with him in a friendly manner, suddenly changed his face at this moment, and was so cold as if he didn’t know him.

Being treated like this by his “idol”, Pogba subconsciously felt aggrieved and wronged. He wanted to ask Li Ang for an explanation, but Li Ang had already turned and walked away.

If Pogba was a player born in the 1980s, he would definitely not be confused by Li Ang’s behavior at this time, let alone feel aggrieved.

After all, compared with their generation of unrestrained young players, the football predecessors born in the 1980s still adhere to the game principle of “the court is like a battlefield”.

No matter how good the personal relationship with a certain player in the opponent’s team is, they are 100% enemies on the court.

Dare to laugh and greet with opponents before and during important games?

Then wait for the hair dryer from the head coach and the team’s big brothers during the halftime break!

Although Li Ang is a real post-90s player, and is only two years older than Pogba, his views on the game and his concept of the game are completely different from Pogba.

If he really wants to compare himself, he thinks he is very similar to Keane or Vieira back then.

His playing style is smart and tough, and he is willing to sacrifice for the team. At the same time, he also likes to compete with tough opponents on the field.

Maybe he can become good friends with such opponents off the field, but on the field, he will only try his best to defeat such opponents head-on.

In this sense, Li Ang is indeed a “remnant” of the old era.

Even Hazard, who is a few months older than Li Ang, sometimes can’t help but complain that his style on the field is too old-fashioned.

So it is very reasonable that Pogba and Li Ang’s brain waves don’t match at this moment.

After regaining the ball, Li Ang quickly invested in a new round of organized offense, and he didn’t care about Pogba’s emotional changes.

After the attack was frustrated, other Juventus midfielders also quickly shrank their formation and quickly took their positions, not giving Chelsea too many opportunities to counterattack.

It can be seen that after last year’s failure, Allegri was also very wary of Chelsea’s counterattack, and this year’s tactical preparations were also quite sufficient.

However, Chelsea’s offensive means are not only quick counterattacks. Chelsea still has more advantages than Juventus in attacking and penetrating.

It is clear at a glance when looking at the technical characteristics of the offensive line and the organizing players.

Chelsea’s midfield and frontcourt can play any tactics, after all, the players themselves have enough technical support.

And Mourinho’s ability to coach the offense is also unquestionable.

Although the requirements for the players’ personal abilities are a bit high, as long as his requirements are met, the offensive stars under his command can often perform exceptionally.

At present, every player in Chelsea’s front trident can satisfy Mourinho, and their personal abilities are also above the first-class in football.

Juventus’ offensive line is naturally unique in the Serie A, but whether it is Morata or Cuadrado, Mourinho still has many technical flaws.

Dybala, who has delicate skills, is slightly lacking in confrontation and physical fitness. No matter how you compare, Juventus’ offensive line is far behind Chelsea.

As for the midfield organization point, Chelsea has two midfield cores supporting the offensive and defensive system.

As long as one of Leon and Kroos can play normally in today’s game, Chelsea’s offensive organization will not have any problems.

Juventus may be able to limit the performance of one of Chelsea’s core points, but it is absolutely impossible to make Leon and Kroos perform abnormally.

On the other hand, Juventus itself can only achieve the organizational effect of Pirlo last year if Marchisio and Pogba play normally together.

Marchisio lags back to sort out the ball, and Pogba moves forward to organize and distribute the ball. Both are indispensable, otherwise Juventus’ midfield will be directly lame.

After all, Pogba sometimes sticks to the ball too much. When he plays as a defensive midfielder, the team’s tolerance for error will be reduced. Once the opponent steals the ball, the pressure on Juventus’ defense will be very great.

Marchisio’s ability to get rid of the ball is not enough. Expecting him to break through and pass the threatening ball? That’s not realistic at all.

As for Khedira, the midfielder who Mourinho once loved and hated is not a core player at all.

He can charge forward or retreat to assist his teammates in sweeping the defense. When he is not sick, he is an excellent midfielder, but he has nothing to do with the core of the organization.

In comparison, Chelsea’s personnel configuration in the frontcourt is much better than Juventus.

The side with absolute strength on the field may not necessarily laugh to the end, but the upper limit of the team with strength is definitely stronger than the opponent and more stable in theory.

Mourinho sees this very clearly, and Li Ang is also very confident in leading the team to suppress Juventus on the field.

Because he believes in the stability of Kroos’s performance.

Even if he puts more energy into limiting Pogba and counterattacking, he believes that Kroos can organize Chelsea’s ball possession by himself.

After losing a normal Pogba, how much support can Juventus’ midfield provide to their forwards?

No matter how good the forward is, he needs strong midfield support. Without the ball and ammunition, even Messi and Ronaldo can only return empty-handed in their offensive runs again and again.

Unfortunately, Pogba, who was a little emotional at the time, did not understand this truth, or he actually understood it, but he cared more about regaining the “scene” he had lost.

He began to raise his hand stubbornly for the ball, and constantly challenged Li Ang in offense and defense, but the final result could only push Juventus further into an unbalanced embarrassing situation.

He could not get past Li Ang, at least in one-on-one situations, his dribbling breakthrough was not successful once.

The ball that Juventus’ backcourt players had finally recovered was handed over by Pogba again.

Without offensive threats, Juventus’ forwards did not even get a few touches of the ball, and could only helplessly watch Chelsea launch a new round of counterattack attempts.

Chelsea had Li Ang and Matic’s counter-grabbing, plus Kroos’s calm organization, and the three forwards could get a steady stream of offensive opportunities.

As one side gained and the other lost, the balance of the two teams’ mutual probing at the beginning of the game quickly disappeared, and instead, Chelsea took the initiative in the midfield and continued to attack Juventus’s defense!

Allegri was somewhat angry, and he rushed to the sidelines and yelled at Pogba who was still making mistakes!

Pogba’s emotions got out of control very quickly, and he also backed off very quickly.

He actually regretted it after seeing the situation get out of control, and Allegri’s roar at this time gave him a way out.

Pogba, who had returned to normal, no longer took the initiative to take the ball to break through Li Ang. He had a high football IQ, and now he wanted to re-establish a stable passing channel with several offensive players.

But he didn’t take the initiative to make trouble, but Li Ang took the initiative to squeeze his activity space and interfere with his retreat to get the ball!

Many neutral fans who saw this scene immediately recalled the famous scene of Li Ang locking down the opponent’s core players again and again in important Champions League games in the past!

Even as strong as Messi, when he was at the peak of his personal ability, he would feel anxious and uncomfortable when facing Li Ang’s sticky defense.

Not to mention Pogba, whose mentality and temper are not yet mature.

When he found that even if he retreated to get the ball, he would be targeted by Li Ang’s tough defense and suffocating confrontation and interception, he inevitably felt nervous and irritated.

Seeing this, Marchisio could only give more ball rights to Khedira and let him go forward to drive the attack.

But at this moment, with Kroos’s targeted defense, Khedira had used up all three axes on the offensive end, and could only awkwardly choose to pass back repeatedly.

Juventus’ offensive organization came to a standstill, and in the end it had to rely on Dybala to retreat significantly to receive the ball and dribble.

This completely disrupted the offensive tactics formulated by Allegri before the game!

Dybala’s physical fitness is precious, and Allegri hopes that his disciples can get close to Chelsea’s goal in limited offensive opportunities to threaten.

Instead of using all their physical energy to retreat to get the ball and then find a way to advance forward like now!

However, seeing that Pogba had been locked up by Li Ang one-on-one, Allegri knew that he could not rely on him for the time being.

After thinking for a moment, Allegri waved his hand to signal Cuadrado to retreat more to help Dybala share the pressure of getting the ball.

Pogba was really panicked now. If the ball didn’t go to him, his effect of playing without the ball would be far less than when he played with the ball.

Li Ang could happily put aside the meaningless “status” and devote himself to defense, sacrificing himself for the team.

But Pogba really couldn’t do it!

Allegri usually asked him to pay more attention to the defense, but he didn’t take it seriously. How could he accept the situation of no longer being the focus of the team and exploding with Li Ang one-on-one at this time?

Pogba finally started to run actively and abnormally in his own half.

But his active running at this moment was not to contribute to the team’s defense, but to regain his possession of the ball.

Li Ang still stared at his “prey” closely.

When other Juventus midfielders didn’t pass the ball to Pogba, he didn’t rush forward to press.

As long as Marchisio showed signs of passing the ball to Pogba, he would immediately press forward to squeeze Pogba’s dribbling space!

After finally getting the ball back from his teammates, Pogba was knocked down on the grass by Li Ang after he turned around and his mentality was a little exploded!

He spread his hands and looked at the referee with hopeful eyes.

But when the referee indicated that Li Ang did not commit a foul and asked him to get up quickly, an angry expression soon appeared on his face, and he slapped the grass hard to express his dissatisfaction!

At this moment, Pogba was like a spoiled child.

His relatively smooth career not only affected his character, but also greatly reduced his ability to withstand pressure.

Maybe Juventus’ coaching staff would spoil him, and his teammates would protect him and let him be humble.

But the referee at this moment was not so easy to talk to.

Pogba’s negative emotions were obviously sent to the wrong place. The referee asked him to stand up in a serious tone and gave him a severe verbal warning directly!

Pogba looked very unconvinced and wanted to defend himself. Fortunately, Marchisio saw that the situation was not good and persuaded him to leave.

Li Ang just smiled at this scene, but the Chelsea fans in front of the TV did not have so many concerns and began to applaud!

Pogba, who was unbalanced in mentality, had a lot of problems in his performance, and the scene of Juventus’s lame midfield finally appeared.

Mourinho was sitting more steadily in the coaching seat.

Li Ang was not in a hurry at all. Even though Pogba seemed unable to recover his normal mentality for a while, he still stared at Pogba to restrict him defensively.

The Chelsea frontcourt players who had been making offensive attempts step by step finally ushered in the first threatening opportunity of the game in the 21st minute of the first half!

This time, it was Kroos who directly launched a long pass from the backcourt after receiving Trippier’s lateral pass.

The precise long pass guidance allowed Hazard, who was speeding up on the wing, to get a one-on-one opportunity with Lichtsteiner!

There were no extra fancy dribbling moves. Hazard lowered his shoulders and changed direction, then dribbled past Lichtsteiner, who was unbalanced, and galloped forward along the sideline!

His ball-carrying speed was very fast. Even if Lichtsteiner chased back without the ball, he could only watch himself and Hazard get farther and farther away!

Fortunately, Khedira returned to defense in time this time, which made Lichtsteiner feel a little relieved.

“Maybe Sami can delay Hazard’s bottom move!”

Lichtsteiner just comforted himself in his heart, but when he looked up, he saw Khedira confidently approaching Hazard to intercept, but the next moment he was separated by Hazard’s ball…

Every Juventus fan at the scene was subconsciously swearing in their hearts at this moment!

Li Ang looked at Khedira with surprise on the court.

As expected, you are worthy of it, Brother Lian!

When everyone thinks he is going to make a mistake, he can give you a surprise and let you have expectations for him again.

But just when everyone has expectations of him that they shouldn’t have, he will resolutely make a mistake and give fans a big surprise on the offensive or defensive end!

At this moment, the surprise is that Hazard successfully broke into the Juventus penalty area and directly tore through Juventus’s defensive system!

Uncle囧 almost fainted watching from the sidelines!

Fortunately, Chiellini was able to block the space for Hazard to continue cutting inside.

But the crisis of Juventus’ defense line was not resolved, because Hazard sent a roundhouse cross directly after breaking out!

Facts have proved that Bonucci is still a long way from the top of the football world in terms of defense.

After Chiellini blocked Hazard, he did not stand in the defensive position in the middle of the penalty area in the first time, but was forced to return to defense by Suarez who squeezed in!

Therefore, when Hazard sent a cross, Suarez jumped up first, and Bonucci could only strike back and interfere with Suarez’s header as much as possible.

Fortunately, his height was an absolute advantage. Suarez, who was over 1.8 meters tall, finally hit him together. Both of them failed to hit the ball correctly, and the ball finally flew to the back of the goal.

De Bruyne, who was actively moving, rushed to the ball one step ahead of Evra, but at this time his shooting space was very small, and Buffon also quickly adjusted his pace to block him, so he simply gave up the idea of ​​shooting.

Almost in an instant, he caught a glimpse of a figure with arms raised outside the Juventus penalty area. Without thinking too much, De Bruyne “carried” the ball over.

Li Ang, who had just stepped on the Juventus penalty area line, had almost no room for adjustment. He faced the flying football and swung his right leg slightly, making a gesture of volleying!

Buffon’s eyes were solemn, and he confidently rushed to the top of the far corner of the goal at the moment when Li Ang shot!

This is also the tricky angle that Li Ang likes to play in the penalty area.

Buffon did a thorough study of Li Ang before the game.

He thought his save would be foolproof, but seeing the ball that Li Ang pulled out this time heading straight for the middle of the goal, his high confidence also sank all the way and fell to the bottom!

“Did he predict that I would predict his shooting angle?”

At the moment he fell to the grass, such a question flashed through Buffon’s mind.

But no one would answer his question at this moment.

The football crossed the line clearly and hit the net!

The huge cheers that erupted in the San Siro Stadium seemed to tear the night sky above the stadium apart!

In the “vibrating” stadium, Li Ang had already spread his arms and ran wildly towards the corner flag area, and then happily completed a long-distance slide to celebrate!

On the stage of the Champions League final, Li Ang scored a key goal again!

At this moment, commentators from various countries no longer knew what words to use to praise this tough king!

Since his debut, Li Ang has achieved personal data in the four Champions League finals he participated in!

Even in Real Madrid, where he is not the core of the midfield, his performance will always shine in the final.

Such a big-hearted player is rare in the world!

In front of the boiling bench of Chelsea, Mourinho also couldn’t suppress his excitement.

Li Ang did not let him down!

His most proud disciple once again fulfilled his tactical promise and opened the door to victory for him!

Football tactics are developing rapidly, and every well-known coach has his own tactical understanding and tactical pursuit.

But no matter whether it is pursuing offense or defense, whoever wins the midfield can win the world!

This is the supreme truth in the world of football!