Chapter 498: Saul's flash of inspiration, Manchester City's mad dog tactics
Even after Atletico Madrid made the first substitution, everyone's attention was already on Manchester City.
The two Manchester City players who had warmed up earlier had now completed their warm-up and were listening to the instructions of head coach Guardiola on the sidelines.
"It looks like Manchester City will make a substitution soon!"
De Bruyne and Son Heung-min were already dressed and had all their equipment ready, waiting for the fourth official on the sidelines to raise a sign to allow them to enter.
Before Aguero shot, Guardiola had not yet decided who to replace De Bruyne with.
As a result, Aguero missed such a good chance. Since you have such bad luck, it's your fault. Come down and have a rest! In fact, Guardiola originally planned to replace Fernandinho.
Fernandinho was arranged to play in order to protect Kroos.
In the second half, the opponent's physical energy was almost consumed, and the intensity of their harassment of Kroos was greatly reduced. They could no longer threaten him, so there was little point in keeping Fernandinho on the field.
But he also felt that this was risky, because although Atletico's physical energy had been greatly depleted, it was not completely exhausted. At least their players had not yet suffered from widespread cramps.
So Guardiola plans to observe and decide not to replace Fernandinho for the time being.
As for Aguero, the team's next tactics don't require much of him, so there is not much point in keeping him on the field.
Secondly, he had been injured before, and when the outcome was already decided, Guardiola was worried that his old injury would relapse, so he let him come off the court to rest early and prepare for the next tough battle.
After using up two substitutions, Guardiola called Fernando's name and asked him to warm up as well.
Fernando had already despaired after seeing Guardiola replace two offensive players, thinking that he probably wouldn't have a chance to play.
However, unexpectedly, Guardiola didn't know what was going on and actually mentioned his name again.
He didn't think much about it and rushed out quickly, as if he was afraid that Guardiola would regret it if he was a second late!
"Manchester City is preparing to make another substitution?"
Seeing Fernando come out to warm up, the commentators all cast concerned glances at him.
This is not the era when a team had five substitutions. Now there are only three substitutions. Compared with a few years later, the current substitutions are undoubtedly more valuable, so the head coaches of major teams will be very cautious when making substitutions.
This is to avoid using up all the substitution slots too early, which would result in you having no cards to use when unexpected events occur in the subsequent games.
"That's not right. Isn't Fernando a defensive midfielder? But Manchester City already has three defensive midfielders. Why would they replace him? Does Guardiola want to play four defensive midfielders?"
After the commentator finished speaking, he was amused by his own words.
He has been commentating on games for so many years and has seen formations with five or even six defenders, but four defensive midfielders?
I've never seen this before!
If Lin Quan knew what the commentator was thinking, he would probably laugh at his lack of knowledge.
On April 28, 2019, in the third-to-last round of the Premier League.
After Manchester City took the lead, Guardiola decisively replaced three defensive players to form a 541 formation. When defending, Stones retreated to the back line and Jesus retreated to midfield, and the overall formation became 640!
With such an extremely conservative formation, Manchester City defeated their opponents 1:0 away from home and got three valuable points! Although Guardiola advocates offense, it does not mean that he is a pedantic person.
The main reason why he made such an extremely conservative decision was that the battle for the Premier League title that season was unprecedentedly fierce, with Liverpool chasing closely behind Manchester City, with only one point between the two teams.
Moreover, in the league that ended the day before, Liverpool defeated Huddersfield 5-0 at home and overtook Manchester City by 2 points in the standings.
So Manchester City had to win that game and could not accept any other result.
Therefore, after Aguero scored the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute of the second half, Guardiola immediately made substitutions, replacing three offensive players including Aguero, Sterling and Sane.
Don't attack in the remaining time, just park the bus and defend this ball.
As for replacing Sane with Jesus, Guardiola sent him on the field because he is comprehensive in both offense and defense and has a fast speed, and can play a significant role in counterattacks, so that Manchester City has a little counterattack power, making the opponents afraid to attack them in a large-scale manner.
The outside world doesn't understand Guardiola, so they are surprised by this.
Simeone frowned involuntarily when he saw Fernando warming up.
What the hell is going on? Do you guys in Manchester City still have any shame?
The three defensive midfielders have already left us helpless, if there is another one, then we will be at a loss!
Atletico Madrid's offensive ability is not outstanding, Torres is old and his condition has declined. He is no longer as brave as he used to be.
Although Griezmann has great potential and good offensive ability, he is not a genuine striker after all, and his ability to break through is average.
If Atletico Madrid can play the kind of quick counterattack they are familiar with and not get too entangled with the opponent in the midfield, Simeone will still have some confidence.
But Manchester City did not give them such an opportunity, forcing them into a tough positional battle. To be honest, Simeone didn't have any good solution for this kind of attack and could only hope for luck!
As the game time passed, Manchester City's defense was still impenetrable, and Torres was blocked by Van Dijk and had no way out.
As for Griezmann, he was locked down by Kante and had no room to perform at all.
In this situation, who can stand up?
Simeone's eyes finally fell on a young player, he was Atletico's right winger, Saul wearing the No. 17 jersey! In the 73rd minute of the second half, just when Manchester City was about to make the third substitution, Atletico launched an attack.
Oblak passed the ball to right-back Juanfran, who dodged Son Heung-min's attempt and passed the ball forward to Saul who retreated to receive the ball.
Saul handled this ball very beautifully. He moved in advance before his teammate passed the ball and retreated actively, shortening the distance between him and his teammates while also getting rid of the defensive player behind him.
This bought him time to handle the ball. Before De Bruyne caught up, Saul predicted the opponent's movement in advance, pulled the ball and turned around very beautifully, dodged De Bruyne and completed a breakthrough over De Bruyne.
There was a space in front of him, Fernandinho immediately moved towards him, and De Bruyne also chased back.
Saul dribbled the ball along the sidelines while observing the positions of his teammates, as if he wanted to pass the ball to them.
Seeing his move, Fernandinho subconsciously moved a step towards his passing line.
However, it was this step that gave Saul the opportunity.
He kicked the ball hard to the front court, and sprinted along the side, shaking off Kolarov who had not yet completed the blocking. A few seconds later, Saul, whose speed had increased to the extreme, caught up with the ball in Manchester City's half!
At the same time, Torres, Gabi, Griezmann and others in the middle were also running towards Manchester City's penalty area at high speed. Atletico Madrid finally achieved the counterattack speed they wanted!
"That's it!"
Simeone couldn't help but stand up from the coaching seat, clenched his hands, and stared at Saul and Manchester City's goal without blinking! Saul and the ball under his feet were getting closer and closer to Manchester City's goal.
What will he choose?
Should I cut inside and shoot, or pass to my teammates in the penalty area?
Faced with the opponent's quick counterattack, Manchester City's defenders did not panic. Van Dijk in the penalty area was directing his teammates to set up the defense line.
Goalkeeper Navas closely watched his opponent's every move, moving constantly to choose the most suitable position.
At this time, Saul had become the focus of the entire audience. Countless fans couldn't help but stand up and even held their breath.
Atletico Madrid's counterattack this time was different from the previous ones, and it made people smell danger.
Because Rudiger was rather impatient and worried that he would make a mistake if he rushed to grab the ball rashly, when Saul gradually approached the penalty area, Van Dijk personally stepped forward to intercept him.
Seeing Saul facing Van Dijk, the Manchester City fans at the scene couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
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This big guard from the Netherlands is like a stabilizing force on the court. Just seeing him makes people feel safe.
At the same time, Atletico Madrid fans couldn't help but worry.
This defender of Manchester City seems to be very strong, with a very high success rate in one-on-one defense. The forwards of major teams rarely get the upper hand when facing him.
Saul was also very clear about his opponent's strength. He wisely did not choose to challenge Van Dijk alone, nor did he try to get past Van Dijk.
Instead, he took advantage of Van Dijk's inertia when he was intercepting the ball, and pushed the ball sideways, before the opponent could adjust his body's center of gravity, he suddenly launched a long shot from outside the penalty area.
The timing of this shot was just right. Navas was adjusting his position and his sight was slightly blocked by the tall and strong Van Dijk for a moment. Just after he finished adjusting, he saw the ball flying towards him.
He immediately flew over to save the ball, but was still a beat too slow, and saw the football whizzing into the net.
After confirming that the ball had gone in, Saul rushed to the sidelines excitedly. The Atletico players were even more excited than him. Like a group of hungry wolves, they excitedly pounced on the scorer, knocked him to the ground, and celebrated wildly.
On the sidelines, Simeone waved his arms excitedly, his joy beyond words.
"Saul has done a great job!"
"This 21-year-old young player actually scored against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium!"
"This goal was crucial. It not only narrowed the gap between the two teams, but also allowed Atletico to score a valuable away goal. This has made Atletico's prospects brighter, as they had little hope of advancing!"
"Here, I have to praise the young player Saul. He may not be so famous, but he should never be underestimated. Every choice he made in the attack just now was the best choice. Even if it was Lin Quan, I'm afraid he couldn't do better than him!"
"Yes, I think, after seeing his performance in this game, Bosque should consider whether to recruit this young player into the Spanish national team!"
Saul's goal made the commentary booths of major TV stations boil with excitement. A one-sided game is definitely not as exciting as a game full of ups and downs and suspense.
Moreover, Manchester City is too strong, which makes many people stand on the side of the weak and sympathize with and support Atletico Madrid.
Therefore, the commentators' reactions to Saul's goal were obviously bigger than the previous ones!
Spain's head coach Bosque was in the stands at this time. As the European Cup approached, he began to appear frequently in major stadiums to closely observe the status of the national team's main players.
As the core of the Bullfighting Corps, Lin Quan was naturally the focus of his observation.
In addition, Atletico Madrid has many international players, so Bosque will naturally not miss this kind of game.
After seeing Saul's goal just now, Bosque's eyes lit up.
This young player's performance is very outstanding. It seems that we can give him a chance to try out for the national team.
Spain has always been known for its strong midfield, but with the departure of many veterans such as Xavi and Xabi Alonso, Spain's midfield strength has been declining.
After the golden generation of 1985 retires, if there is no fresh blood to replenish the team, Spain's strength will probably drop sharply.
Therefore, the emergence of young midfielders like Saul makes Bosque feel very pleased and he is willing to give them opportunities.
On the sidelines, Guardiola looked gloomy.
I was about to make a substitution, but the opponent actually scored a goal!
Forget it, it doesn’t matter, let’s continue changing players!
Guardiola then used his last substitution, replacing center back Rudiger with Fernando.
Seeing this substitution, the fans and commentators were stunned!
There were really 4 defensive midfielders! ? However, Manchester City's lead was reduced to one goal, and the opponent had an away goal.
What is the point of Manchester City strengthening its defense at this time?
Maybe Atletico is already satisfied and ready to call it a day! Guardiola doesn't care whether the other side calls it a day or not, and he doesn't care what Atletico does. He didn't send Fernando on the field to defend!
Soon, the fans and commentators were stunned! Fernando, who was substituted in, actually appeared in the forward position!
They rubbed their eyes vigorously, wondering if there was something wrong with their eyes.
Why is Manchester City's defensive midfielder on the front line? What kind of new play is this? Can defensive midfielders still be used like this? Fernando didn't have time to pay attention to the outside world's doubts. He closed his eyes and recalled the instructions of the head coach before the game.
"You don't need to think so much. Just remember one thing when you get on the court. Act as a troublemaker. Go and grab the ball from whoever has it. Go and grab it from him like a mad dog!"
I glanced at the game time on the big screen, it was the 77th minute of the second half!
Are you going to grab the ball like a mad dog?
Boss, don't worry, I promise to make them so poor that they can't take care of themselves!
(End of this chapter)