Chapter 453 Lin Quan's ideological imprint on his opponents

In fact, Manchester City had previously implemented a high-pressure tactic. When they played passing and controlling the ball, their formation would inevitably press forward.

In this situation, if Manchester City does not strengthen its pressing in the frontcourt, once it loses the ball and allows the opponent to launch a quick counterattack, its situation will be very difficult.

The reason why Allegri felt that Guardiola had learned from Liverpool was mainly because Manchester City fielded a group of substitutes in this game.

Although Manchester City is one of the strongest teams in Europe, the strength of their main lineup is naturally unfathomable, but the strength of these substitutes is far behind that of the main players, and it is difficult to achieve the effect of passing and controlling the ball with the substitute lineup.

Therefore, Manchester City did not adopt the passing and controlling tactics in this game, but used conventional tactics. Even when Juventus pressed forward, they took the initiative to retreat and play a defensive counterattack.

But Mandzukic's goal made Guardiola realize that the defensive ability of these substitutes was too far behind that of the main players. If they just kept shrinking their defense, it would only be a process of slow death.

It’s better to just go for it and give it a try.

After all, what he is best at is always offense. Only by fully releasing the offensive potential of these substitutes can he create miracles.

Even if they lose in the end, or even suffer a crushing defeat to Juventus, it doesn’t matter. Manchester City has already qualified and they have no pressure to perform well.

Manchester City is not afraid of wearing shoes even if they are barefoot, but Juventus is completely different.

They are not as relaxed as Manchester City. They have a heavy performance burden on their shoulders. If they lose this game, their qualifying situation will be very bad.

So their players were actually very nervous, looking like they wanted to win but were afraid of losing.

In such crucial games, the more psychological burden you have, the more your performance on the court will be affected.

In the 35th minute of the first half, Manchester City successfully intercepted the ball in the frontcourt. Son Heung-min dribbled the ball to the bottom and made a key cross. Iheanacho headed the ball in front of the goal, but Buffon blocked it with one hand. Sagna, who followed up with a shot, kicked the ball into the defender's leg.

There was chaos in Juventus' penalty area.

In the melee, someone kicked the ball into the goal.

The score was miraculously equalized, and the goal scorer seemed to be Manchester City substitute Nasri. After confirming the goal, he was celebrating with his hands pointing to the sky.

Soon, the big screen at the scene showed the replay of the goal that had just been scored.

After successfully stealing the ball, Fernandinho avoided Marchisio's interception and passed the ball to Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min dribbled the ball to the bottom line at high speed and made a cross.

Iheanacho chose a good position, but the angle of his header was a bit straight and the power was not strong enough, so it was easily resolved by Buffon.

However, the ball bounced in a bad position and Juventus players failed to control it immediately, and instead it fell into the feet of Manchester City players.

At least this time Chiellini and Barzagli cooperated very well and blocked Sagna's follow-up shot in time.

But the ball bounced back and landed at the feet of a Manchester City player. Nasri just rushed into the penalty area looking for an opportunity when he saw the ball rolling towards him. He wanted to shoot, but because he was too short and his legs were too short to reach the ball, and Juventus' Sandro had already made a tackle. Nasri had no time to think about it. He fell to the ground without thinking and poked the ball with his toes as hard as he could.

He was extremely lucky. Even though the penalty area was packed with people, the football did not touch anyone's legs and rolled straight into the goal.

Just like that, Manchester City equalized the score through a chaotic battle.

This is even possible? Juventus fans were all stunned. They had finally gained the lead, but it was ruined just like that?

On the sidelines, Lin Quan and others who were sitting on the bench looked at each other in surprise when they saw their teammates equalize the score in this way.

"Isn't it said that Juventus' defense is very strong? Why did they expose so many defensive problems in the previous attack?"

Sagna and Nasri's follow-up shots were the result of Juventus players losing their defensive positions. Such mistakes often occur in some weaker teams, but they should not occur in some top teams! "Haha, maybe they are too nervous!"

Lin Quan said with a smile that when defending, whether to focus on the person or the ball is a very difficult decision.

Especially those players who are not specifically assigned to defend, they all have their own defensive area.

In this area, the first thing they need to do is to stand in their defensive position, and then pay attention to the movement of the ball and the opposing players in their defensive area. This is what is called marking both the person and the ball.

For experienced defensive players, it is not difficult for them to find the right balance and make reasonable judgments based on the situation of the game.

But even for veteran players, their defensive positions will definitely be distracted by the opponent's continuous and intensive attacks, especially the constant shooting, follow-up shots, and more shots. At this time, unless they are very calm, most people will be attracted by the football, forget the task of marking, and a bunch of people will run after the football.

Even the top giants are not immune to this situation.

In fact, for the stronger teams, they are quite afraid of this kind of chaotic battle.

In a chaotic battle, luck plays a bigger role and the influence of strength is not that great.

With their strength, they should not give the opponent such an opportunity, but should firmly grasp the initiative of the game.

Although this process was far from what Guardiola had imagined, he was still very happy to see the players finally score a goal after their efforts, and he gave a thumbs up to the players on the field.

After all, the performance of these substitutes is definitely worthy of praise for forcing Juventus to such a state of panic! Allegri was very angry about the loss of the ball this time. He stood on the sidelines and shouted to the players, asking them to cheer up and boldly attack Manchester City.

"The opponents are just a bunch of substitutes, what are you afraid of?"

In his opinion, this Juventus team definitely has the strength to reach the quarterfinals or even the semi-finals of the Champions League. The reason why they have not performed well in the Champions League is not only because of bad luck and encountering strong opponents in advance, but also because of the players' own mentality.

Although Juventus quickly returned to the top league after the Calciopoli scandal, they had been away from the Champions League for too long and were not used to European-level competitions.

In the past few seasons, Juventus' best result in the Champions League was once in the quarterfinals, twice in the round of 16, and twice they even failed to qualify from the group stage.

This result is totally inconsistent with their status as a Serie A giant. Although it is due to the gradual decline of Serie A, as an invincible overlord in Serie A, Juventus should not perform so poorly in the Champions League.

He knew what the players were worried about. After being tied twice in a row by Borussia Mönchengladbach, Juventus lost the initiative to qualify.

In addition, the game was against a powerful Manchester City, which made the players feel fearful. They were timid on the court and could not show their true strength.

This can't go on!

A draw is not enough for Juventus, what they need is a win, 3 points!

And the opponent is a substitute, not a main player, what are you afraid of?

Allegri's shouting had a certain effect. At the end of the first half, Juventus players finally stabilized their mentality and gradually stabilized their position under Manchester City's crazy pressing.

However, there was not much time left in the first half, and before they could take the lead again, the first half of the game was over.

During the half-time break, Allegri harshly criticized the players who came on the field.

He actually doesn't like to talk too much in the locker room, and he rarely does things like encouraging players and boosting morale.

But today, he made an exception.

"Open your eyes and see clearly. There are only three main players in the opponent's lineup. The rest are all substitutes or even young players promoted from the youth team. With such a lineup, they can only avoid relegation in Serie A at best. Can't you beat a relegation team?"

Allegri's words may be exaggerated. Given the strength of Manchester City's substitute lineup, they should have no problem ranking in the middle of Serie A and will not fall to the level of relegation.

However, he was right about one thing, that is, there is a big gap in strength between Manchester City and Juventus on the field, and Juventus should not be so passive.

"Boss, just tell me, how should we play in the second half?"

"Yeah, boss, you told us how to kill them, and we will do as you say in the second half!"

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The players waited until Allegri had finished venting, then began to express their opinions.

"Very good, this is the attitude you should have in the game. Listen, let's do this in the second half..."

…

During the half-time break, Guardiola did not make any major personnel adjustments, and the score of 1:1 was definitely acceptable to him.

As for the second half of the game, he plans to observe first.

Juventus will definitely not be willing to accept a draw, so they will definitely launch a massive attack in the second half.

So he prepared a defensive counterattack tactic for the team. However, compared with the style of play at the beginning of the first half, he made some changes to the team's defense. He moved the defensive formation forward a little, increased the players' running and pressing, and tried not to give the opponent a chance to shoot directly.

In the second half, Juventus unexpectedly did not attack at the beginning, but patiently organized the attack in the midfield, making full use of the width of the field and using large-scale passes back and forth to coordinate Manchester City's formation and players, as if trying to find flaws in Manchester City's defense.

Seeing the opponent's style of play, Guardiola suddenly felt something was wrong.

The disadvantage of Klopp's tactics is obvious. Due to frequent running and fighting, the players' physical strength will be affected in the second half. If the opponent is not broken, then once the opponent seizes this opportunity, it is possible to break themselves! And Juventus's tactics in the second half are clearly to set a trap for Manchester City players, increase their running distance, increase their physical energy consumption, and make their physical bottleneck period come early.

"Allegri has a good plan!"

Guardiola glanced at Allegri next to him, then turned around and called several main players on the bench, asking them to warm up and prepare to play.

Most of the players on the field are substitutes. They have not played many games this season, so they have abundant physical reserves and should be able to last 70 or 80 minutes.

Juventus’s plan is very ambitious, but it may not succeed.

When the players on the field reach a physical bottleneck, Guardiola can just replace them with some fresh players.

He named three people, Kante, Van Dijk and Zabaleta.

All three are defensive players.

Obviously, with limited substitutions, he only intended to strengthen the team's defense and had no intention of sending offensive players to fight Juventus.

When teammates are not in good physical condition, sending one or two offensive players up the field will make it difficult for them to play a big role due to lack of support from their teammates, and there is really not much point in having them on the field.

Of course, Lin Quan is an exception.

This guy can still play a huge role even without the support of his teammates.

So when making substitution arrangements, Guardiola was also very conflicted about whether to send Lin Quan on the field.

Seeing the movement coming from the Manchester City bench, Juventus coaching staff and fans at the scene also turned their attention.

Obviously, they are also concerned about who Manchester City will replace.

Seeing the other side's reaction, Guardiola came up with an idea. In addition to the players he had named before, he also called Lin Quan up: "Lin, go warm up!"

"good!"

Lin Quan didn't know whether Guardiola really intended to send him on the field or wanted to strategically deceive the opponent.

After hearing what Guardiola said, he took off his coat without saying a word, checked his equipment seriously, and looked like he was ready to play at any time.

Originally, Juventus fans felt relieved when they saw Kante and three others warming up on the sidelines.

The guy on the other side's bench that they feared the most did not show up, which was a great thing for the team! However, not long after they were happy, they saw Lin Quan appear on the sidelines, and judging from his movements, he seemed to be really going to play!

Just by seeing Lin Quan's figure, many Juventus fans have already imagined the scene in their minds of Lin Quan overcoming all obstacles and single-handedly breaking through their goal after he came on the court.

It’s not their fault, it’s just that the opponent is too strong and the impression he left on them is too deep.

This man seemed to have left an invincible mark in their hearts! Allegri felt nervous when he saw Lin Quan warming up on the sidelines. He immediately gestured to the players to seize the time to launch an attack and try to change the score before Lin Quan came on the court.

On the field, Juventus players saw Lin Quan warming up on the sidelines and preparing to play. Without any reminder from the head coach, they all launched a fierce attack on Manchester City's goal as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

(End of this chapter)