Chapter 467 This is the strength of Manchester City, Zidane is shocked!

"This is not how Mahrez should be used, it's a pity!"

Guardiola felt a little sorry when he saw Mahrez working very hard on the court and trying to help the team.

Mahrez's abilities are actually very comprehensive, he has good footwork and outstanding awareness.

With Leicester City's lineup, such talents should be developed into the offensive core of the frontcourt.

But in this game, Ranieri used Mahrez in the opposite way. He used him as an engineer and asked him to do the dirty work that defensive players do.

It’s not that this is completely impossible, but the players’ energy is limited. When Mahrez is assigned too many defensive tasks, the energy he can devote to offense is very limited.

Leicester City's offense is already weak, and without Mahrez, their offensive threat is even smaller and their means are limited.

Guardiola had actually seen the little thoughts in Ranieri's mind a long time ago.

But he didn't pay much attention to it, because he firmly believed that as long as Manchester City scored one more goal, Leicester City's morale would collapse.

Leicester City’s weaknesses are actually very obvious. The midfield is not strong enough and it lacks a defensive midfielder with outstanding defensive capabilities.

If they can find a suitable player to make up for this shortcoming, then they may still have a chance to compete with Manchester City and then look for opportunities to counterattack Manchester City.

But in this game, Leicester City's midfield has been in a suppressed state. If they can't control the midfield, they can't deliver ammunition to the frontcourt.

In this way, Ranieri's arrangements in the frontcourt will naturally be in vain.

Instead of targeting the opponent's arrangement, it is better to continue to increase pressure in the frontcourt and not give the opponent a chance to pass the ball.

…

Ranieri was very nervous after Vardy missed the chance just now.

But after seeing that Manchester City had not made any adjustments, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that Guardiola didn't seem to realize his intention?

However, they had waited for a long time for this opportunity, and they didn’t know how long it would take for them to get such an opportunity next time.

"Manchester City has stepped up their pressure in the frontcourt!"

In the stands, Zidane keenly noticed the change in Manchester City's tactics. He glanced at the game time and saw that just sixty minutes had passed.

Before the team changed its tactics, Guardiola did not make any gestures, which means that this tactical change was prepared by Guardiola in advance!

So, what was he trying to do by changing tactics at the 60-minute mark?

After Manchester City intensified their pressing in the frontcourt, Leicester City players found it more difficult to play.

The opponent's pressing forced them to speed up the passing, and after the speed increased, the passing success rate began to decline. Manchester City had completed four successful steals in just five minutes.

You have to know that this is Leicester City's half. Losing the ball in their own half means that their goal will be threatened immediately.

The situation on the field was the same. Of Manchester City's four steals, three were converted into shots, with Son Heung-min, Lin Quan and Aguero each taking a shot.

Although no goal was scored, the situation in front of Leicester City's goal was tense and almost all the players were on edge.

This situation is too dangerous. If they continue playing like this, it is only a matter of time before they lose the ball again.

Therefore, there are two options before Ranieri now: continue to stick to the previous tactics and bet that Mahrez and Vardy can make contributions and help the team turn the defeat around.

It is better to make decisive adjustments, give up unrealistic fantasies, strengthen the team's defense, and hold on to this wave of offense first.

If the score was 0:0 at this time, Ranieri would most likely prefer the second option.

But the terrible thing is that Leicester City is now behind in the score.

This means that even if they defend against Manchester City's attack this time, it will be useless. As long as they don't score a goal and the situation continues like this, they will be waiting to die.

Ranieri hesitated for half a second, then clenched his fists and stopped hesitating.

Although he felt that if they continued playing at this pace, Manchester City would be more likely to score early, he had no other choice.

Even if we retreat to defend now, we may not be able to hold on. Vardy and Mahrez are not players with outstanding defensive abilities and cannot play a big role.

In order to strengthen the defense, we must make substitutions and replace them with specialized defensive players.

But when the score was behind, he, like other coaches, wanted to replace all the offensive players on the bench. How could he possibly replace the team's two offensive generals?

At this moment, a scene on the field further strengthened Ranieri's determination.

In the 69th minute of the second half, Leicester City, who had waited for a long time, finally got another great opportunity.

After a successful defense, Drinkwater suddenly dribbled forward, and under the opponent's interception and pressure, he managed to break free and made a crucial pass.

Mahrez was overjoyed when he saw the football rolling towards him.

The flowers he had been waiting for here were all about to wither, but finally the opportunity had come.

Mahrez took the initiative to retreat to receive the ball. After receiving the ball, he made a beautiful Cruyff turn, got rid of the defender, and quickly dribbled the ball towards Manchester City's half.

After seeing this scene, the Leicester City fans at the King Power Stadium couldn't help but clench their fists and stretch their necks to look at the field.

This was the best chance they had encountered in the second half of the game.

If we can seize this opportunity, both sides will be back on the same starting line.

On the sidelines, Ranieri and Guardiola stood up from the coaching seats almost at the same time, and looked at the field and Mahrez at the same time.

Mahrez ran at high speed with the ball, accelerating while paying attention to the positions of his teammates.

As Leicester City's top scorer, Vardy has received special attention from Manchester City.

Van Dijk stuck close to him, not giving him space to receive the ball.

If the ball was passed directly to Vardy, even if he finally received the ball, it would be difficult for him to get rid of the defender and make a high-quality shot.

So, Mahrez decided to do it himself.

The situation on the field is now 2 vs 2, he and Vardy have to deal with Manchester City's two central defenders.

Vardy has Van Dijk next to him, and in front of him is Manchester City captain Kompany.

But Kompany is in the middle and he is still on the wing, which gives him plenty of space to move around.

However, Kompany has already started moving towards the wing. If he continues to dribble the ball forward, he will definitely be intercepted by the opponent.

Therefore, the best way for Mahrez is to complete the shot before the opponent intercepts it.

Or when he is dribbling the ball, he finds other better opportunities, for example, Vardy runs into an open space and his teammates come in from behind to support him.

Although the football field is large, when the players run at high speed, they can run half the distance in just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, the latter assumption does not hold true.

Vardy was tightly guarded by Van Dijk and had no chance.

His other teammates were unable to catch up at this time because their previous formation was too far back.

On the other hand, several players from Manchester City were almost catching up with him.

This means that he must make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise he will be double-teamed by the opponent and will not even have a chance to shoot.

Mahrez quickly made his choice - cut inside and shoot.

“Well, good choice!”

"Yes, his teammates couldn't support him, Vardy's position was closely watched, so Mahrez had to do it on his own!"

In the commentary booth, both commentators expressed their understanding of Mahrez's choice.

With the overall formation being suppressed, it is indeed impossible for Leicester City to deploy too many troops in the frontcourt.

This also means that when counterattacking, their players must rely on their own personal strength to open up the situation.

Although modern football increasingly emphasizes overall performance, in many games we can still see big-name stars who, with their superb individual combat capabilities, can rewrite the outcome on their own.

Leicester City's opponents have such a player in their team.

When Guardiola saw Mahrez's choice, a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

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He is looking forward to Mahrez's next performance. Cutting inside and shooting is an essential skill for an excellent winger.

Guardiola has been fortunate enough to coach the best of these players.

Therefore, using these people as a reference, it is easy to detect Mahrez's true strength.

After realizing that Mahrez was going to shoot, Kompany finally moved.

He put his hands behind his back and tried to block Mahrez's shooting angle.

Kompany was not sure about the opponent's breakthrough ability, but because there was a dribbling maniac in the team, he became very cautious when facing the opponent's inside shooting. He would never kick the ball easily and would not give the opponent a chance to pass him in one step.

Therefore, blocking the opponent's shooting angle and reducing the opponent's shooting accuracy is the best option.

After seeing Kompany's actions, Mahrez realized the opponent's intention. He passed the ball sideways to prevent the opponent from getting close.

He wanted to aim at the blind corner of the goal after creating an angle and complete a high-quality shot. However, Van Dijk also moved at this time. He abandoned Vardy, took a step forward, and moved closer to Kompany.

Now, Mahrez is in a difficult situation.

Vardy was in an offside position at this time, so it was impossible to pass the ball to him.

The teammate behind him could not arrive in a short time, and if he did not shoot, he would be double-teamed by two opponents.

Therefore, he only had time to create a slight angle before shooting directly.

Mahrez was lucky. Although Kompany and Van Dijk tried to block the ball with their bodies, the ball still passed between them.

Mahrez's luck didn't seem to be so good, because Manchester City goalkeeper Navas happened to be sitting in the gap in the middle.

Because there was no angle for him to shoot in the blind corner, Mahrez's shot was a bit straight and was saved by Navas.

After Navas got the ball, he saw Kroos retreating to the penalty area line and threw the ball directly to him from the ground.

Seeing Navas's actions, the Manchester City players who had just been retreating quickly braked, turned around and rushed towards the opponent's half.

Because of the attack just now, Leicester City's formation has already broken out.

At this time, seizing the opportunity to counterattack and launching a quick counterattack will be Manchester City's best chance to score.

Kroos understood what he meant, turned around with the ball, glanced at the position of his teammates, and then made a long pass to the left side of Leicester City's half.

The force with which he passed the ball seemed a little too great, and it did not reach his teammate's feet directly. Instead, it passed over the heads of his teammates and defensive players and landed on the grass behind the two of them.

Good post, Mr. Tony!

Son Heung-min was accelerating, and after seeing where the football landed, he couldn't help but give Son Heung-min a thumbs up in his heart.

This ball was passed really well!

If the ball is passed directly to his feet, he must slow down to receive the ball, and once he loses speed, it will not be easy to get rid of the opponent's full-back.

But Kroos passed the ball directly to the gap behind the opponent, which meant that Son Heung-min did not need to slow down, he just needed to speed up and rush forward.

On the contrary, the opponent's full-back had his back to the football at this time. If he wanted to compete with Son Heung-min for the ball, he had to turn around, and turning around takes time. Even if the full-back turned very quickly, this one second and a half was enough for Son Heung-min to create distance.

The opponent obviously knew this, so he went straight for it and threw Son Heung-min to the ground with a hug.

Son Heung-min was stunned by the fall. Damn, is this football or wrestling?

Is this still possible? Hey, why didn't I hear the foul whistle?

The referee had the whistle in his mouth and was about to blow it, but when he saw Manchester City's No. 9 driver rushing over and receiving the ball, he immediately gave up the whistle, made a gesture in favor of the attack, and signaled for the game to continue.

After receiving the ball, Aguero was immediately pressed by the opponent's defender.

He didn't dare to carry the ball further and immediately transferred the ball to the middle.

De Bruyne was already in position in the middle. After receiving the ball, he immediately passed it straight into the penalty area again.

This is almost the same position as in the first half, even the person passing the ball is the same.

Of course, the same went for the person who received the ball. Lin Quan was like a ghost, appearing in the penalty area at some point in the future. He received a pass from De Bruyne in an open space and easily pushed the ball into the goal, scoring his second goal and changing the score to 2:0. The King Power Stadium was silent, and Leicester City fans looked at the football rolling in their own net in disbelief.

This round of offense and defense transition happened so quickly that none of them could react.

Just a few seconds ago, they were on the attack and even had a chance to equalize the score.

However, less than ten seconds later, the opponent scored the second goal of the game.

Not only did their attempt to equalize the score fail, but the gap between them and the opponent was even further widened.

"Hiss, what a terrifying counterattack speed!"

In the stands, Zidane was so shocked when he saw Manchester City's second goal that the hairs on his body stood up.

Manchester City’s counterattack efficiency made him a little scared.

Strong teams like to seize the opportunity of the opponent's counterattack to counterattack. The changes in offense and defense are the best standard to test a team's hard power.

After all, the top teams all have strong lineups, and once they get ready, it will be difficult to defeat them in positional warfare.

But as long as the team starts moving, there will inevitably be loopholes and flaws.

Therefore, in the confrontation between giants, whoever can better seize the opponent's flaws will win the game.

And now, Manchester City showed him its terrifying ability to seize opportunities.

If Real Madrid encounters this Manchester City team without preparation, I'm afraid it will be in big trouble!

As expected, there is no false reputation. Manchester City, the defending champion, is indeed formidable.

This trip was not in vain, and this game was not in vain! (End of this chapter)