Chapter 254: Manchester City’s secret tactics shocked everyone!
After the 33rd round of the Premier League, it is time for the Champions League.
Similar to Manchester City’s choice, after the game with Real Betis, the entire Barcelona team arrived in Manchester two days in advance to prepare for the game.
They borrowed the training base of Manchester City's neighbor Manchester United. The training bases of the two teams are next to each other, only a few hundred meters apart.
In order to avoid leaking tactics, Pellegrini chose to close the training ground and asked all fans and reporters outside to leave.
This move immediately aroused speculation from the outside world:
"Is Manchester City planning a big move?"
"I think so. I've never seen them in closed training before. Is this the first time?"
"I wonder what tricks Pellegrini has prepared to deal with Barcelona!"
The fans of the Blue Moon are very supportive of Manchester City’s decision to close training.
After all, qualifying for the Champions League takes priority. It doesn't matter if they can't go to the training ground to watch the team training. As long as they can advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League, it doesn't matter if they endure it for a few days.
Of course, if Pellegrini continues to conduct closed training like this, the fans will definitely not be happy!
For Premier League fans, seeing that Manchester United is in a precarious situation, Manchester City may become the only remaining hope in the entire Premier League.
At this time, they naturally hope that Manchester City can defeat Barcelona at home and keep a spark for the Premier League.
Last season, no Premier League team made it to the quarterfinals, making the Premier League a little embarrassed in front of La Liga and the Bundesliga.
This season, Manchester City and Manchester United made it to the quarterfinals, which has restored some dignity for them.
But this is not enough. If they can go one step further and make it to the semi-finals or even the final, it will mark the resurgence of the Premier League! During the peak period of the Premier League, there were Premier League teams that made it to the finals almost every year, and there was even a Premier League civil war between Manchester United and Chelsea.
But last year, with the general decline of giants such as Manchester United, the Premier League's Champions League performance entered a trough.
This season, Manchester United has been plagued by chronic problems, Chelsea has a serious problem with its weak forward line, and Arsenal has a traditional tendency to fail. Seeing that they can no longer be relied upon, they put all their hopes on Manchester City.
But for the Spanish media and Barcelona fans, they are very dissatisfied with what Manchester City did.
Originally, Barcelona's scouts were planning to sneak outside the training ground to spy on the military situation, but when they arrived, they were dumbfounded because the other side had closed the training base.
This made their attempt to gather intelligence fail!
The Spanish media who travelled with the team seized on this point and began to attack Manchester City, believing that the Premier League quasi-champions were afraid of Barcelona, otherwise why would they go to so much trouble?
For a time, news such as Manchester City was afraid of Barcelona appeared one after another.
However, most of the reports were from Spanish media, while the British media chose to turn a blind eye to it.
Manchester City will not pay attention to the ridicule of the Spanish media. Whether they are afraid of Barcelona or not will be known on the field!
At the pre-match press conference, Martino expressed confidence that he had found a way to restrain Manchester City. In this game, Barcelona will leave Manchester with a victory and a place in the semi-finals.
Facing the Barcelona coach's boasting, Pellegrini tried hard to hold back his laughter and answered the reporter's question: "Well, we have prepared something new. As for what it is, haha, please go to the stadium and see it!"
The Manchester City coach kept the reporter in suspense and did not directly answer the question that the reporters were most concerned about.
The whole world knew that Manchester City had conducted closed training, so they wanted to know what they had prepared, but they just didn't say anything, which made them even more curious! After learning what Pellegrini said at the pre-match press conference, Barcelona coach Martino was in doubt.
What kind of surprise did the other team prepare for Barcelona? The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel! …
On April 10, 2014, at the Etihad Stadium, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Manchester City and Barcelona was underway.
Ten minutes had passed since the start of the game and the score was still 0:0, but Manchester City's tactics shocked many people!
"Uh, am I reading this correctly? Manchester City is using our traditional Premier League long pass tactics to deal with Barcelona?"
In the commentary booth, Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Manchester City repeatedly kicking the ball towards the forward in front after the opening.
"It does look like a long pass. This tactic is rarely used in the Premier League now. Why did Manchester City suddenly use it?"
Martin Taylor also couldn't understand that long passes were only used by teams ranked in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League. The giants disdained such tactics without technical content.
Moreover, with the spread of technical football, even the mid- and lower-level teams in the Premier League have begun to take the path of ground advancement, with higher and higher technical and tactical content, and fewer and fewer long pass tactics.
However, Manchester City went against their usual practice and picked up this retro, unskilled tactic.
What is this doing?
Barcelona head coach Martino is also thinking about this question. Is this the secret tactic that Pellegrini mentioned?
Is this what Manchester City has been preparing for after several days of closed training?
Are you kidding me? In the last game, Manchester City's quick counterattacks made Barcelona nervous. In this game, in order to limit Manchester City's counterattacks, Martino specially arranged players to specifically limit Manchester City's two outlets - Kroos and De Bruyne.
In the last game, Barcelona did not have a deep understanding of these two players and did not restrict them in a targeted manner, giving them the opportunity to launch counterattacks in the backcourt.
This time, after realizing the huge role of the two, Barcelona will no longer ignore them.
However, what Martino did not expect was that Manchester City actually changed its tactics.
They no longer have specific players initiating counterattacks. After they steal the ball in the backcourt, all players who get the ball can initiate a counterattack. The method is very simple. Just aim in the direction of the players in the frontcourt and kick the ball towards Barcelona's half.
In this game, Manchester City did not start Aguero on the front line, but chose Negredo, a tall center forward with the ability to stand still, to start.
Negredo is tall and can hold his position to pass the ball to his teammates. He can perfectly act as a fulcrum to pass the ball to his teammates following behind him, allowing his teammates to complete the final offensive task.
In the first ten minutes of the game, Manchester City had launched three such counterattacks.
Although he couldn't figure out what Manchester City was doing, the opponent's tactics didn't work, so Martino decided to sit back and observe first.
Once again blocking Manchester City's counterattack, Barcelona defender Bartra looked with disdain at Negredo who was trying to snatch the ball from him.
Want to deal with Barcelona with such a simple tactic?
It's just a dream! Negredo also saw the other party's disdainful eyes. He resisted the urge to give the other party the middle finger and cursed in his heart: Wait and see, when we succeed later, I don't know if you can still laugh! Although the Manchester City fans who came to the Etihad Stadium didn't know why the team chose this tactic, every time the team kicked forward, they would cheer loudly.
This is pure British football, this is how it should be played!
They felt that Barcelona's game was flashy, with dozens of passes without a single shot, which made the audience feel drowsy.
However, when Manchester City played the same wonderful passing and cutting as Barcelona, they cheered even louder!
Look, our Manchester City can also do the same tricks that only top clubs can do. Our Manchester City is really the best!
Yeah, that's double standards!
…
In the 17th minute, Manchester City got another chance to counterattack.
Unlike the previous three attacks, it was Cross who completed the pass this time.
The German made a precise long pass and found Lin Quan who was running quickly.
Kroos' passing ability is indeed much higher than that of other players in Manchester City's backcourt. His passes are not only accurate, but also have just the right amount of strength.
Lin Quan easily got the ball on the wing. While dribbling quickly towards Barcelona's penalty area, he observed the running positions of his teammates.
In order to ensure the stability of the defense line, Manchester City will not deploy too many troops when counterattacking, and only the four players in the frontcourt will complete the attack.
At this time, among the four people in the frontcourt, only Negredo ran ahead of Lin Quan.
But he was followed by Bartra, and Busquets and others were chasing behind him, so a direct pass to him would be easily intercepted.
Seeing this, Lin Quan gave up the idea of passing the ball to Negredo.
He rushed towards Barcelona's penalty area with the ball!
Alba was ready to rush up to grab the ball when he saw where the football landed, but Lin Quan was faster than him and got the ball one step ahead.
Alba suddenly felt like he was facing a formidable enemy. He knew that Lin Quan was very good at dribbling past the defense, so he didn't dare to rush forward or get too close. He tried his best to block Lin Quan's inside route and give up the wing, intending to force him to go to the wing and away from Barcelona's goal.
This trick may work when facing ordinary wingers, but it is not so effective when facing players like Lin Quan who like to cut inside and shoot.
Lin Quan continuously passed the ball to the left while moving quickly, moving horizontally towards the center.
Alba tried hard to keep up with Lin Quan, but soon he felt that he could not keep up with the opponent's speed. If he continued like this, the opponent would leave him no room for breakthrough.
In desperation, Alba could only make a desperate attempt and kick to intercept! Lin Quan was waiting for this moment, and when he saw him kick, he quickly used an extremely fast fried meatball to pass him.
Seeing Alba being dribbled past, Mascherano had to move sideways to intercept. At the same time, Bartra also moved towards Lin Quan and handed Negredo to Alves who had returned to defend.
As soon as the two of them moved, Lin Quan completed the pass with his back foot.
Negredo stopped decisively, stopped moving forward, retreated to receive the pass from Lin Quan, passed it straight forward, and then passed it back to Lin Quan.
This is a tactic that Manchester City has practiced many times in team training. As long as Lin Quanneng can get through, it will be a one-on-one opportunity.
Seeing that Lin Quan was about to rush over, Barcelona had to commit a tactical foul, and Bartra knocked Lin Quan down outside the penalty area.
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The referee gave the Barcelona defender a yellow card and awarded Manchester City a free kick.
"If you can't defend, foul early, don't wait until the opponent reaches the front of the penalty area before fouling!"
Alves seriously criticized Alba, whose choice almost plunged Barcelona into the abyss.
If Manchester City scores another goal at this time, they will have to score three goals in a row to advance.
Seeing the players block Manchester City's counterattack, Martino breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Damn it, if I get defeated by Manchester City using such retro tactics, I’d really just want to find a piece of tofu and kill myself!
The mighty Barcelona, the team of the universe, was actually defeated by a long pass!
If I tell anyone about this, I'm afraid people will laugh their heads off. The name of the Universe Team is probably going to fall into the Mariana Trench! Manchester City's free kick failed to pose a threat, and it was Barcelona's turn to attack!
Compared with the previous game, Barcelona played more steadily today.
In order to avoid giving Manchester City a chance to counterattack, they passed the ball patiently and would never kick the ball easily unless there was a perfect opportunity.
Barcelona has been playing the passing and controlling style for several years and has already mastered this style of play.
The winning secret of passing and controlling the ball is to engage and mobilize the opponent's defense through constant passing, running, and cross-position switching, thereby consuming the opponent's physical strength and constantly exerting psychological pressure on the opponent.
Most teams can't help but feel anxious when facing Barcelona.
It is not difficult to concentrate occasionally during a game, but it is difficult to maintain extremely high concentration throughout the game.
When facing Barcelona, we need to stay fully focused throughout the game, otherwise it will easily give the opponent opportunities.
Therefore, when facing Barcelona, many players can keep up with the opponent's rhythm at the beginning, but the further they play, the greater the physical and mental consumption, and then they tend to become irritable, and at some point they can't help but rush to grab the ball.
Defense in modern football relies on the whole, and maintaining the integrity of the defense is something that many coaches emphasize.
When a player breaks away from the overall team and rashly tries to steal the ball but fails to successfully grab the ball, it can easily lead to loopholes in the entire defense line.
The reason is very simple. When you are trying to steal the ball, your teammates may not have time to cooperate with you. If you run but your teammate does not run or is a step slower, there will be a gap between the two of you. For a top team like Barcelona that is good at seizing opportunities, such a mistake may mean losing the ball.
Therefore, Barcelona only needs to wait patiently for the opponents to make mistakes, and then seize the opportunity when the opponents make mistakes to punish them!
During its peak period, Barcelona had a particularly strong ability to seize opportunities. Even top teams had to be cautious and dare not make mistakes when facing Barcelona.
Although Barcelona at this time is not as strong as in its peak period, with players like Messi, Neymar and Iniesta still on the field, their ability to seize opportunities is still very strong!
However, Manchester City played very confidently today.
They were not afraid of Barcelona's passing and control at all. The players were very active in intercepting the balls. Even if they made mistakes, their teammates would make up for them in time, making it difficult for Barcelona to seize the opportunity.
This made Barcelona feel very depressed. They felt that their opponents had evolved and upgraded after playing against them, becoming more difficult to deal with than in the previous game.
Pellegrini tasted success in the last game, so as before, he arranged someone specifically to limit Xavi's performance, which made Barcelona's brain very uncomfortable.
Harvey had a strong ability to get rid of things when he was young. The iconic "Magic Circle of Love" was Harvey's forte.
But as he gets older, Xavi's physical fitness is declining.
At the age of 34, Xavi's explosiveness and physical fitness are not as good as before. If it were the beginning of the season now, he could still maintain a relatively good condition.
But now it is the end of the season, and the fatigue accumulated after playing for a whole season has caused Xavi's condition to decline significantly.
Faced with Manchester City's targeting, Xavi felt a little helpless.
It’s up to you, Xiaobai, Messi!
Under the pressure of Yaya Toure, Xavi passed the ball to Iniesta with difficulty.
Iniesta and Messi made a one-two combination, dodged Kroos who was trying to steal the ball, and passed the ball back to Messi.
However, Messi had just received the ball when he was tackled to the ground by Demichelis.
The referee's whistle sounded immediately, awarding Barcelona a free kick.
This was the third free kick in the frontcourt that Barcelona got in the first half. The first two times failed to pose a threat. This time the position was relatively good. Xiaobai and Messi discussed it and decided that Messi would take the shot directly.
Messi placed the ball in the middle of the goal. Joe Hart directed Manchester City players to form a wall on the right, while he himself stood a little to the left of the goal. In this way, no matter which direction Messi shot, it would be difficult to score.
Messi took a look at the opponent's wall and the goalkeeper's position, and made a decision in his heart.
When faced with this situation, most free kick experts will choose to bypass the wall and shoot the ball into the right side of the goal.
Doing so will increase the difficulty for the goalkeeper to save the ball. If the angle is more tricky, it will be difficult for the goalkeeper to save the ball without moving in advance.
But the difficulty lies in the fact that such a ball requires very high footwork from the player, who must be able to get over the wall of people and also play it in a tricky way.
Many times, this kind of free kick is either blocked by the high-leaping human wall, or hit too high and flies into the stands.
But if you choose to hit the left side of the goal, it will be difficult to get past the goalkeeper who is ready to fight.
Messi did not choose these two methods, but chose to hit the goal directly in the middle, as if he was taking a penalty kick! This goal was beyond the expectations of Manchester City players. Goalkeeper Joe Hart rushed to the middle in a hurry, but the ball was too fast and Joe Hart was not absolutely sure to save the ball!
Are we going to lose the ball at home so early?
Joe Hart was a little annoyed! The Manchester City fans at the scene exclaimed, obviously, they also realized the danger!
Barcelona fans have already clenched their hands, ready to celebrate wildly as soon as the ball flies into the goal!
However, at this moment, a figure appeared on the path of the football and blocked the ball with his body.
Joe Hart looked up in surprise and saw the number on the other player's jersey - No. 10! It was Lin Quan who appeared in front of the goal at the critical moment and blocked Messi's almost certain goal! After blocking Messi's free kick, Lin Quan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After seeing Messi's moves, he guessed that he might shoot directly from the middle.
Messi doesn't use this trick often now, but he uses it frequently in another dimension.
Barcelona took a corner kick and Joe Hart rushed out to grab the ball.
He yelled, rushed into the penalty area and threw the ball out with a hand throw.
It's Manchester City's turn to fight back! Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)