Chapter 277: Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid, the Champions League final begins!
"CCTV, CCTV!"
"Dear viewers, welcome to watch the live broadcast of the 2013-2014 Champions League final between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid. I am the commentator He Wei!"
"I'm Xu Yang!"
"Before the game starts, let's take a look at the starting lineups of both teams!"
"It seems that both teams have put a lot of effort into this game, and there are some unexpected adjustments in the starting lineups!"
"That's right. Diego Costa, who was injured in the last game at Camp Nou, was unexpectedly included in the starting lineup by Simeone in this game."
"This makes us wonder whether the news of Diego Costa's injury is a smokescreen to confuse Manchester City."
There are many people who have similar ideas as the two CCTV commentators. After seeing Diego Costa's name appear in the starting list, people couldn't help but wonder if this was a conspiracy from Atletico Madrid?
However, Manchester City on the other side is also trying something new.
Fernandinho, who had been suspended for several months, not only played but also made the starting lineup, replacing the team's main midfielder Kroos.
This makes people curious about Pellegrini's use of players. What exactly is his plan for this arrangement? Giving up the organizing midfielder and putting in a defensive midfielder, is this to start a melee with Atletico in the midfield?
With the referee's whistle, the game officially began.
Manchester City, wearing blue jerseys, attacked from the left side of the field to the right side, while Atletico Madrid, wearing red and white striped jerseys and blue shorts, attacked from the right side to the left side.
After the game started, both sides played cautiously at first.
Atletico Madrid did not launch an attack immediately after the kick-off. Instead, they passed the ball one after another, attracting Manchester City's forwards to cross half court and press them, and then passed the ball to the wing, allowing the players to organize the attack from the wing.
However, Manchester City's defense was solid and did not give Atletico too many opportunities.
Contrary to everyone's expectations before the game, the two sides first started fighting fiercely not in the midfield, but on the wing.
Both teams were very decisive on defense, they stepped down when necessary and committed fouls when necessary without any hesitation.
This caused the game to be intermittent, and from a viewing point of view, it was not very good.
However, after seeing the game situation on the field, the coaches of both sides were shocked and felt that things were not simple.
"It's strange. Manchester City has never been a defensive team. Why did they focus on defense in this game?"
In Atletico Madrid's coaching booth, Simeone couldn't help but feel a little confused after seeing Manchester City's defensive choices after the opening.
Manchester City's offensive group in the midfield and frontcourt is very luxurious, but in this game, including Lin Quan, their four players in the frontcourt did not put much effort in the offense, but instead invested a lot of energy in defense.
What is this doing? Is it to highlight the weaknesses and avoid the strengths? This is so weird, I don't understand!
Simeone couldn't help but look at Atletico's coaching bench, wondering what this guy Pellegrini was doing.
Pellegrini was actually very nervous. His intention in replacing Fernandinho was to stabilize the midfield defense and then launch an attack based on the defense.
The active pressing of the frontcourt players is to consume the physical energy of the opponent's defenders.
They had used this tactic in the previous game against Barcelona and achieved good results.
However, Atletico Madrid has always been known for its ability to run, and Pellegrini himself is not sure whether this tactic will work against Atletico Madrid.
However, after taking a look at his own bench, he felt relieved.
Manchester City has sufficient personnel in the midfield and frontcourt, with two wingers and a forward sitting on the bench. If things really don't work out, they can just make substitutions in the second half.
To the audience, it seemed that this game was not about football but about running, and the players from both sides were running very actively on the field.
Any player with the ball who does not pass the ball within three seconds of receiving it will be pressed.
And the closer you are to the midfield, the stronger the pressure will be and the faster the speed will be.
This made the game very fast-paced, but neither side could hold onto the ball, making it difficult for the offense to pose a threat.
After five minutes of play, neither side had completed their first shot. Not to mention shooting, they couldn't even get into the opponent's 30-meter danger zone.
In the 7th minute, Manchester City finally made their first shot.
Under pressure from the opponent's full-back Juan, David Silva passed the ball back to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne passed the ball directly to Lin Quan without stopping. Lin Quan seemed to have a God's perspective. He did not look at the defensive players behind him, retreated early, received the ball before the opponent's central defender, and knocked the ball with his heel.
The football went through the small door of Atletico Madrid defender Miranda, and Lin Quan turned around and prepared to catch the ball.
Unfortunately, the opponent pulled him down and the referee awarded a free kick.
Lin Quan took the free kick himself, but he failed to control the ball and gave it directly to the fans in the stands!
Although the free kick was too high, everyone in Atletico Madrid still broke out in a cold sweat.
The real danger was not Lin Quan's free kick, but the person who kicked the ball with his heel before.
If he really gets past Miranda, he will be able to face the goalkeeper directly, and then he will have too many shooting options! "Pay attention to assisting defense, and retreat from the midfield to reduce the opponent's space to receive and handle the ball."
Simeone was quite dissatisfied with this defense. The responsibility for this goal lay in the second chance. Escudero failed to put enough pressure on De Bruyne to allow him to make that through pass.
If it weren't for this pass, Lin Quan would not have had the opportunity to perform like this!
The audience at the scene didn't care about all that. After the big screen replayed the slow-motion playback of Lin Quan's ball handling, they all applauded Lin Quan.
Since the game was held in a neutral stadium, in addition to the fans of both teams, there were also a large number of neutral fans.
These fans come with the attitude of appreciating football. They will not deliberately favor or support any particular team. They will applaud whoever performs well on the field.
Lin Quan is the most famous of the two teams, and Portuguese fans have long heard of his name.
However, many people are skeptical about his ability, thinking that he is too young and may not be as powerful as the rumors say.
This is not surprising. After all, Lin Quan has only been in the football world for a short time and has not achieved any high honors or achievements.
If he could win several Ballon d'Or awards like Messi and Ronaldo, I believe the outside world's doubts about him would be reduced by half.
However, after seeing his handling of details this time, these fans who understand football couldn't help but feel their eyes brightened.
Although he was a little young, his technical details and smart handling made them feel that he was indeed a promising talent.
Almost as good as the 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo! Because Cristiano Ronaldo is Portuguese, Portuguese fans have a strong filter for him.
It is not easy for them to give such an evaluation.
If both sides continue playing at this pace, the number of goals in this game will probably be very few and they will come very late.
However, in the ninth minute, a big change occurred on the field.
While competing for the ball with Manchester City defender Kompany, Diego Costa was running and suddenly fell to the ground in pain, holding his leg.
On the sidelines, Simeone felt like his head was buzzing when he saw this scene.
It's over, Costa's old injury has relapsed!
He couldn't help but look up to check the game time. The game had just started for 9 minutes!
Is it necessary to make a substitution so early? However, it is not possible not to make a substitution, as Atletico Madrid's forwards have a heavy defensive task.
If Diego Costa plays with an injury, it will not only further aggravate his injury, but will also affect Atletico's overall defensive strength.
Thinking of this, he decisively called Adrian Lopez and asked him to replace Diego Costa.
It was a very hasty substitution, Lopez didn't even have time to warm up.
After all, who would have thought that a substitution would be needed after only 9 minutes of play? Diego Costa's injury dealt a certain blow to Atletico's morale.
Manchester City took advantage of this opportunity and decisively increased its offensive intensity.
In the 11th minute, Fernandinho intercepted the ball and wanted to pass it to De Bruyne to let De Bruyne organize the attack, but before De Bruyne could receive the ball, the football was intercepted by Koke on the passing line.
Atletico Madrid counterattack! Koke passed the ball to Gabi and immediately chose to move forward.
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However, Gabi was pressed by Yaya Toure and De Bruyne at the first moment and failed to pass the ball. He could only reluctantly pass the ball to central defender Godin.
As soon as Godin got the ball, Lin Quan and Aguero immediately rushed towards him, trying to snatch the ball from under his feet.
Godin didn't dare to carry the ball any further and quickly passed it to another defender Miranda.
Aguero rushed towards Miranda again.
Miranda passed the ball to Juan, who barely passed it to Thiago under the pressure of David Silva.
However, this ball was predicted by Yaya Toure, who successfully intercepted the ball on the passing line.
Seeing the ball lost, the three Atletico players nearby all rushed towards Yaya Toure.
Yaya Toure was startled, and he kicked the ball to the right side and passed it to Lin Quan.
Atletico Madrid's attack just now was concentrated on the left side. At this time, the right side of the court was a bit empty. If Lin Quan could receive his pass, he might have a chance to launch a threatening attack.
However, when Yaya Toure passed the ball, Atletico's overall defensive formation quickly pressed towards the right side of the field.
Looking down at the stadium from the aerial camera, you can see that during this movement, Atletico Madrid's overall defense remained very intact, with the three lines of defense closely connected without any disconnection.
This means that their players made the same choice at almost the same time!
In the stands near the stadium, Guardiola frowned.
It's a suffocating feeling! This is the kind of defense that Bayern encountered on the field when they played against Atletico Madrid before.
How did Simeone train the 11 players on the field into a disciplined and well-behaved army?
On the field, as a person involved, Lin Quan's feelings were more profound than those of the spectators.
Atletico Madrid's left side was very empty the moment before, but when the football flew towards him, the nearby players rushed over at the first time.
After he raised his foot to stop the ball, Atletico's full-back Philippe, center back Godin and midfielder Gabi were all within five meters of him.
Lin Quan only had time to turn around, and before he could handle the ball, he was tackled by Gabi.
Gabi was the farthest away, and he used tackles to disrupt Lin Quan's rhythm, forcing him to make changes. Such changes would create opportunities for the other two teammates to sabotage.
Obviously, Atletico Madrid has very clear tactical arrangements in defending local areas.
Lin Quan dunked the ball and avoided Gabi's tackle.
But he was also hit by Godin and staggered a little. Philip took the opportunity to stretch his foot and try to steal the ball.
Lin Quan managed to protect the ball with great difficulty, but at that moment he had neither the space to move nor the speed to gain advantage. It was obviously impossible for him to break out from the double-team of three opponents.
So he was forced to pass the ball back to the full-back Zabaleta.
As soon as the ball was passed, two of the three defensive players around him immediately abandoned him, either returning to their own positions or continuing to press towards the defensive player with the ball.
Faced with Atletico's cutting into space, Manchester City's offense couldn't find a good solution.
Wherever the ball is passed, the opponent's defensive players can always get in position in the first time, often forming a situation of having more people against fewer.
As a result, it often happens that Manchester City players just get the ball, look around, and see enemies all around them.
In this situation, their breakthrough routes, passing routes and even dribbling space are cut off and greatly compressed.
As a result, the ball was lost immediately.
Not to mention other players, even Lin Quan, who has excellent dribbling skills, had trouble holding the ball in this situation.
He is not afraid of one-on-one defense, but Atletico Madrid does not abide by the ethics of martial arts and will not give you one-on-one opportunities. They are accustomed to two-on-one or even three-on-one.
Moreover, Atletico Madrid players' defensive actions were very rough and their fouls were extremely decisive.
If you can't grab the ball, you'll be fouled. In short, they won't give you any chance to break through their defense.
He had just received the ball and hadn't sped up or even had time to turn around, but the opponent had already blocked all his options. It was as if they had designed a script for him, forcing him to do what Atletico wanted.
Lin Quan finally understood why top teams like Real Madrid, Bayern and Barcelona had such a hard time playing against Atletico Madrid!
The opponent's high-pressure defense is very targeted. It not only limits your midfield, making it difficult for the midfielders to pass the ball well, but also limits your frontcourt, making it difficult for your frontcourt to make effective breakthroughs and attacks.
It seems that Atletico's defensive strategy is very aggressive, and their defense line is almost pressing across half the court.
There are large areas of space in the backcourt, but it is very difficult to break through this line of defense.
No wonder so many experts say that Atletico Madrid's defense is the best in the top five leagues. Judging from their overall performance in the final, this is indeed true.
However, Lin Quan was not in a hurry and just kicked slowly.
You are running so actively and defending so fiercely at this time. I don’t believe that you can run so fast and press so fiercely in the second half?
When your physical energy is almost exhausted, it will be Manchester City's turn to take action.
But before that, Manchester City needs to make sure they don't lose the ball first.
Once you lose your hope, the situation will become very dangerous!
Real Madrid's equalizing header in the third minute of injury time is not something you can always expect!
(End of this chapter)