Chapter 278 Ronaldo and Mourinho: The key to victory lies in Lin Quan!
"Dad, why hasn't my brother scored a goal yet?"
Maria is not a professional football fan, so when she saw that her brother Lin Quan had not scored a goal after half an hour of playing, she suddenly became a little impatient.
"It's not easy to score a goal in a game like the final!"
Guardiola reached out and wanted to touch his daughter's head like he did when they were little, but Maria slapped his hand away with a look of disgust.
Maria was 14 years old and in the rebellious period of a teenage girl, so she didn't like her father treating her the same way he treated other children.
Guardiola was a little embarrassed, so he had to put his hand on his little daughter Valentina's head and stroke it.
Five-year-old Valentina was very happy to be touched by her father like this. A girl of this age was still her father's close friend.
"Yes, sister, you have to be patient. Atletico's defense is very strong. In La Liga, it is difficult for Real Madrid and Barcelona to score when they meet them!"
The 11-year-old Marius is an absolute true fan. He is deeply influenced by his father and brother and has been interested in football since he was a child.
Because he is Spanish, he often watches La Liga games on TV even though he currently lives in Germany.
Because he was born and raised in Barcelona, his favorite team in La Liga is Barcelona.
As a Barcelona fan, he was very sad to see his home team lose the championship at home.
It is also because of this that Atletico Madrid's draw with Barcelona at home left a very deep impression on him.
In Marius's opinion, his brother and Messi are players of similar styles, and Messi performed very badly when facing Atletico Madrid.
If Atletico Madrid uses the same method against Messi to deal with their big brother, then their big brother's performance in this game will probably be abnormal.
"All right!"
Maria yawned out of boredom, then took out her mobile phone, took a photo of the court, and uploaded it to her Instagram account.
Maria was shocked when she opened her Instagram account.
There were tens of thousands of comments under the photo she uploaded with Lin Quan, and the number of likes exceeded 500,000.
This was a situation she had never encountered since she created her account.
However, after taking a look at the comments in the comment section, Maria was a little confused: "Tell Lin Quan to conserve his energy and wait until the second half of the game when Atletico Madrid runs out of energy before bursting out. They will definitely win!"
"Let Lin tell Pellegrini that they have to use 433 when playing against Atletico. Manchester City has to use the sharpest spear to pierce Atletico's shield!"
"Don't believe the nonsense above. I suggest playing 352, with three central defenders and five midfielders. When returning to defense, it becomes 532, leaving no space for Atletico Madrid!"
"What kind of advice is this? Manchester City has never played with three central defenders. Isn't it a death wish to cram at the last minute?"
"That's right, I suggest playing a variant of 433, using 3-4-3 when defending, because this way there will be double the players on the wing, which can stifle Atletico's counterattack from the wing.
When attacking, returning to 4-3-3 can free up De Bruyne and Lin Quan, and also free up space for David Silva on the wing, making full use of the width of the field to mobilize Atletico. ”
"That makes sense. This formation can provide more protection when defending. The formation should be as narrow as possible when defending and as wide as possible when attacking. It feels like Atletico will be very uncomfortable!"
Well, these fans regard this as a place to offer advice and suggestions for Manchester City's final against Atletico Madrid.
Maria: “????”
What are these people talking about? I can't understand a word!
Although she didn't understand it, Maria's mood suddenly brightened when she saw the number of people following her.
Just by taking a photo with Lin Quan, her number of fans increased by more than 200,000 in just a few days, dozens of times more than before! …
In a box at the Estadio da Luz, Mendes and his two generals, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mourinho, were sitting in the box watching the game.
Since Mourinho left Real Madrid and returned to Stamford Bridge, his relationship with Ronaldo has declined somewhat.
There was a certain rift between the two. Mourinho believed that Ronaldo failed to help him control the situation in the locker room, while Ronaldo believed that Mourinho's tactics dragged down his performance.
Moreover, he also doesn't like Mourinho always making demands on him, especially those he thinks are unreasonable, such as taking on defensive tasks.
As the common agent of the two, Mendes naturally has to step in to ease the relationship between the two most important players/coaches under his command.
He knew that Ronaldo was arrogant by nature, so he didn't start a conversation with him.
Instead, he found Mourinho and discussed tactical issues with him to change the topic.
"Jose, will the defensive strategy Simeone has adopted at Atletico Madrid become the mainstream in football in the future?"
As a master of defensive counterattacks, Mourinho has always achieved success through defensive counterattacks.
Simeone's high-pressure defensive counterattack is very different from the general passive defensive counterattack, which aroused Mendes' interest. He wondered whether Mourinho could learn anything valuable from Simeone's Atletico Madrid.
"High-pressure defense is indeed the current direction of football development. Atletico Madrid's success also proves that even if the team's lineup is not particularly strong, as long as the right tactics are used and the team is united, it can still overthrow the giants!"
When Ronaldo heard this, his face looked a little unhappy.
He felt that Mourinho was making an indirect accusation. The season when he left Real Madrid, the Real Madrid locker room was out of control, which was completely contrary to what he said about the unity of the team.
And his last words 'overthrow the giants' made Ronaldo feel humiliated.
This season, Real Madrid was defeated by Atletico Madrid at their home ground.
Seeing that Ronaldo's face was not looking good, Mendes quickly said: "Since high-pressure pressing is so effective, can the top teams use this method?"
Most of Atletico Madrid's players are not outstanding, and only a few can meet the standards of top clubs.
However, it was this group of mediocre players that made the top clubs powerless to resist.
This is definitely the power of tactics! Since this tactic is so good, wouldn't it be more effective in the hands of stronger giants? "In theory, it is true, but in practice it is more difficult, because big-name players are not as easy to manage as ordinary players. High-pressure pressing requires players to increase running distance and increase the energy invested in defense. Such requirements are considered unreasonable for many big-name stars!"
Mourinho is somewhat exhausted from managing the locker rooms of top clubs. Even at Chelsea, a team he brought up and where he has many confidants, he cannot fully control the locker room.
Simeone's success at Atletico Madrid, in addition to tactical suitability, is also related to his status within the club and the team.
This Atletico Madrid team was almost entirely built by him selecting and building the team, and then gradually brought to its current level.
Therefore, Atletico Madrid's players all regard him as their godfather and treat him like a god! He has the final say in Atletico Madrid, and the players will not only not question him, but will also try their best to implement his tactical arrangements.
Such authority is rare among head coaches of other teams.
For wealthy clubs, the head coach’s authority cannot be too great, as it would be difficult to control if it were too great.
Mendes is no layman in football. After hearing Mourinho's words, he nodded to show his understanding.
He turned to look at Ronaldo, who had been silent, and asked:
"Cristiano, you have played against both Atletico Madrid and Manchester City. If you were to give your opinion, who do you think is stronger?"
C Luo thought for a while and said:
"I think Manchester City is stronger!"
Mendes did not ask the reason, but followed up the topic and asked Mourinho: "Jose, what do you think?"
Mourinho's answer is the same as Ronaldo's, he also thinks Manchester City is stronger.
"Since you all think Manchester City is stronger, does that mean Manchester City will win the championship trophy?"
"uncertain!"
“It’s hard to say!”
C Ronaldo and Mourinho spoke almost at the same time, and both of them were stunned for a moment after they finished speaking.
Mendes laughed: "It seems that you all think alike, but I still want to ask, why do you all think Manchester City may not win the championship?"
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Ronaldo snorted: "Because the football is round!"
Mourinho thought, since you said what I said, I will say it another way: "A final is a game that decides the outcome, and there is a lot of chance. It doesn't mean that a strong team will definitely win. Besides, Manchester City is only stronger on paper, but the strength is very limited. If their tactical play is restricted by Atletico, then they may not be able to fully display their true strength!"
"As the best players and the best coaches in the world, I trust your judgment. So, can you tell me who is the one who determines the outcome of this game?"
Unlike the previous questions, Mendes actually already had the answer to this question in his mind.
Ronaldo looked at Mourinho, and the two made eye contact for the first time.
"Manchester City's number 10!"
"Forest!"
Again, they both gave the same answer.
…
On the court, Lin Quan made an attempt to pass the ball on the wing.
This attempt was not a failure, but it was not successful either.
Although he passed the opponent's full-back, Godin who came to defend him tackled the ball out of the sideline.
This central defender has a really large range of movement, even sweeping to the wing.
Lin Quan took a look at Atletico's defense line and found that after Godin stepped forward to intercept, Juan, the full-back on the other side, shrank to the middle and formed a new defense line with Miranda, ensuring the safety of the goal.
Atletico Madrid's defense on Manchester City players in the frontcourt was too tight, and Zabaleta, who was responsible for throwing the ball out of bounds, couldn't find any good options, so he had to throw the ball to the players in his own half, allowing them to successfully organize an attack.
This was a microcosm of Manchester City's many offensive attempts throughout the first half. It's not that they didn't try hard to launch attacks, but their attacks seemed to have hit a solid wall and bounced back.
With Atletico Madrid players in full physical condition, it would be very difficult to break through their defense unless they could launch a simple, efficient and quick counterattack.
In this case, the real threat lies in the set-piece opportunities.
In the 37th minute of the first half, Atletico Madrid defender Miranda knocked down Aguero who was about to receive the ball on the left side of the penalty area, giving Manchester City a free kick in a not-so-good position.
This place is about 35 meters away from the goal, which is not particularly far and you can shoot directly.
However, due to the angle, if you shoot directly at the goal, there is a high possibility that it will be blocked.
After all, Atletico Madrid's goalkeeper Courtois is not an unknown person.
"Are you going to do it or should I?"
De Bruyne and Lin Quan stood in front of the football and discussed in a low voice.
"Do you think Courtois can save the shot if it's shot directly at the goal?"
Lin Quan gestured the approximate position he was going to hit and asked De Bruyne.
De Bruyne and Courtois are teammates in the national team, and he definitely knows Courtois's saving habits at this time better than Lin Quan.
"It's hard to say. I think he can save the ball. His saves are very smooth. Unless it's a blind spot, the chances of it being saved are very high!"
"Then come on, let's take a tactical free kick!"
Lin Quan gave up the idea of shooting directly. The angle of shooting directly from this direction was too small, and it would be difficult to score as long as the goalkeeper did not make a mistake.
Lin Quan whispered something to De Bruyne in a low voice, and pointed to the penalty area and the flanks of the penalty area.
The Atletico players nearby could only hear sporadic fragments of the two people's conversation, about tactical free kicks, and about not being able to attack the goal directly.
But I couldn’t hear the entire conversation between the two of them, and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have understood it.
Because the two of them spoke German, only a small part of the content was said in English. The purpose...
"Yeah, okay!"
De Bruyne doesn't know why Lin Quan has so many ideas.
But he quickly accepted Lin Quan's proposal and expressed his full cooperation with his plan.
So, Lin Quan left in front of the football and ran to the front of the penalty area, about three or four meters away from the top of the arc, just level with the wall of people formed by Atletico Madrid.
National team teammate Villa looked at Lin Quan suspiciously, wondering what he was doing here.
Is he trying to take a tactical free kick? Many Atletico Madrid players have this idea, because Lin Quanzhan's position is so good.
While most of Atletico's players were forming a wall and staying in the penalty area to mark other Manchester City players, preparing to compete for the header, he came to the front of Atletico's penalty area alone, without any interference.
At this time, as long as someone can pass the ball to his feet and let him take a comfortable shot, the threat will be much greater than if Manchester City directly uses this free kick to shoot.
Thinking of this, Villa subconsciously took a step towards Lin Quan, ready to interfere as soon as possible and prevent Lin Quan from having a comfortable shooting opportunity.
Other Atletico Madrid players had similar thoughts in their minds, and even goalkeeper Courtois was distracted by Lin Quan.
At this moment, De Bruyne took a free kick.
But what Atletico Madrid players didn't expect was that the ball didn't go to Lin Quan, but went directly to the goal!
(End of this chapter)