Chapter 503: Barcelona's orthodoxy in Manchester City? The most gorgeous pass-cut combination since the Cosmos!

Although Guardiola expected Atletico to adopt the high-pressure tactic, the area where the opponent pressed surprised Guardiola.

Seemingly influenced by the previous game, Atletico Madrid felt that they could not gain an advantage in the battle in the midfield, so they selectively moved the pressing area forward.

Atletico Madrid players increased their pressure on Manchester City's midfield and backcourt, especially the two central defenders, making it more difficult for them to pass the ball and forcing them to make long passes forward under the opponent's pressure.

Although long passes seem to be able to get the ball out of the dangerous area, it is not so easy to control the landing point of long passes compared to short passes on the ground.

The opponent has a greater chance of competing for the ball, so many times, long passes mean mistakes and loss of the ball.

For Atletico Madrid, the first thing to do after getting the ball is to counterattack.

This is how Simeone arranged it, and this is what Atletico Madrid did too!

Atletico Madrid's counterattack is very threatening by taking advantage of the huge space between the midfielder and defenders in the 4231 formation, especially in the area in front of the top of the arc.

As long as the ball can be passed, Atletico can easily form a 4 vs 4 or even 4 vs 3 situation in the frontcourt.

After 15 minutes of the first half, Atletico Madrid had successfully launched two such threatening counterattacks.

If it weren't for the outstanding performances of Van Dijk and Navas, who each resolved the opponent's counterattack, Manchester City would most likely have lost the ball by now.

"This guy Simeone looks like he has prepared something new for us!"

Guardiola has studied Atletico's defensive strategy under Simeone and knows that the opponent likes to press high, so he also made some special arrangements.

However, Atletico's choice was somewhat unexpected to him.

Simeone made adjustments to his choices of pressure, pressing areas and recovering the ball. He gave up on strangling Manchester City in the midfield and instead launched a counterattack directly near Manchester City's penalty area.

Obviously, Simeone hopes that Atletico can put pressure on Manchester City directly at the front of the field, rather than in the midfield.

There are many advantages to doing this, because the pressing area is very close to the goal. Once Atletico Madrid successfully steals the ball, it will directly threaten the goal, and there is almost no chance for Manchester City to reorganize its defense. Even the goalkeeper does not have much reaction time.

The more sudden the attack, the greater the hope of success.

Moreover, the pressing close to the penalty area also reduced the running distance of Atletico players on the field and reduced their physical energy consumption, so as to avoid a situation like the previous game, where the players' condition declined drastically in the last ten minutes due to lack of physical energy.

Just as Guardiola was thinking, the referee blew the whistle again on the field.

Kroos was knocked to the ground by Atletico players and was holding his legs in pain.

Although Guardiola did not see the entire process of the opponent's foul, he saw Kroos fall to the ground injured.

His anger immediately flared up and he angrily ran to the fourth official to protest and put pressure on him.

During this period, Atletico Madrid committed a lot of fouls in Manchester City's half.

In order to snatch the ball from Manchester City's backcourt players, they tried every possible means.

This made Guardiola very annoyed. Manchester City had just experienced a wave of injuries not long ago, and many main players in the team missed the game due to injuries.

This made Guardiola a little nervous. What he feared most now was seeing the team's main players get injured.

The Champions League final is coming soon. If you get injured at this time, you may not be able to make it to the final in a few weeks.

In fact, if the injuries are more serious, these players may not even be able to make it to the European Cup to be held in France this summer.

Whether for the sake of the team's performance or the players' own career prospects, Guardiola does not want to see them get injured.

However, Atletico Madrid's style of play is infinitely magnifying their risk of injury.

Especially those in the midfield and backcourt, De Bruyne and Kroos, the two players who had the ball more often, suffered the most fouls.

But their role in the team's tactics is irreplaceable. If they are injured, Manchester City's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced! Thinking of this, Guardiola immediately made adjustments.

He took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to give Lin Quan some instructions on the sidelines.

After the game resumed, Atletico coach Simeone quickly discovered that Manchester City's style of play had changed.

Manchester City did not make any major adjustments in other positions. Guardiola made some adjustments to the attacking runs of the full-backs on both sides, but the extent of the adjustments was not significant.

What Simeone is more concerned about is Manchester City’s adjustments to the frontcourt players.

Lin Quan swapped positions with De Bruyne. Lin Quan changed from a winger to a central midfielder? As for De Bruyne, he replaced Lin Quan and became a winger.

What changes will this bring to the situation on the field?

Simeone was full of curiosity!

The changes brought about by the position swap between De Bruyne and Lin Quan are very obvious.

Lin Quan's ball control ability is better than De Bruyne's, and it is much more difficult to steal the ball from him.

Out of fear of Lin Quan, Atletico Madrid players subconsciously focused their defense on Lin Quan, and De Bruyne, who moved to the wing, was immediately less targeted.

After the opponent's pressing intensity decreased, De Bruyne's performance began to gradually become active.

Although he does not have the same strong offensive ability as Lin Quan and cannot cut in from the wing to shoot, his crosses from the wing are extremely threatening. He often does not need to dribble the ball to the bottom. He only needs to create a little space to deliver a very penetrating cross.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, De Bruyne got the ball on the wing. One second before receiving the ball, he observed the positions of the players from both sides in the frontcourt, and then decisively sent a 30-meter long pass.

Long passes of this distance are usually over the top, and the defensive players have more time to judge where the ball will land, and then position themselves and intercept.

However, De Bruyne chose to pass the ball on the ground, and it was a cross from the wing with a huge arc.

This kind of pass can often be seen in the Premier League, and it often helps teammates score pleasing goals! Atletico Madrid's players obviously did not have a deep understanding of this, and did not intervene in time when De Bruyne was about to pass the ball, allowing him to pass a high-quality cross.

Aguero was originally running side by side with the opponent's defender, but when he saw De Bruyne get the ball on the wing, he immediately accelerated and almost surpassed Atletico's defense line at the moment De Bruyne passed the ball.

De Bruyne's pass accurately found Aguero, who easily stopped the ball with almost no effort.

Atletico Madrid players raised their hands to indicate that Aguero was offside, but the linesman did not raise the flag.

Aguero ignored the opponent's protests and rushed into Atletico's penalty area after receiving the ball.

Oblak chose to attack at the first moment, and pounced on Aguero like a hungry wolf.

Aguero didn't expect the opponent to attack so quickly, and was worried that if he went forward he would lose the shooting angle, so he decisively chose to shoot.

Oblak reacted extremely quickly. He judged the direction correctly at the moment the opponent shot and quickly stretched out his hand to hit the ball out.

Aguero saw the opponent save his shot and held his head in his hands, feeling very upset.

He felt a little sorry for De Bruyne for wasting such a good opportunity.

De Bruyne couldn't help but shook his head, feeling quite regretful.

However, he did not blame Aguero. He knew Aguero's strength. It was the opponent's goalkeeper who reacted too quickly. There was no big problem with Aguero's handling of the ball.

Of course, if the person who just caught the ball was Lin Quan, the result would probably be different.

Based on De Bruyne's understanding of Lin Quan, when facing an attacking goalkeeper, he usually either dribbles past the opponent or scores with a lob that the opponent cannot save.

Guardiola saw that Aguero's shot missed and made the same move as Aguero.

Such a good opportunity, what a pity! Simeone, who was not far away, broke out in a cold sweat. The ball just now was so dangerous.

If Manchester City scored, Atletico Madrid's coffin would be completely nailed shut.

Oblak has done a great job!

When Courtois left, Simeone was once worried about the team's goalkeeper position.

Fortunately, Oblak's timely joining has completely eliminated his worries.

However, the goalkeeper's performance often means the team's passivity, especially when there are problems in the defense.

That kind of shot was really dangerous. If it happened again, it might have gone in.

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Therefore, we must put an end to this kind of attack from Manchester City and not let them do it again.

Through Manchester City's previous attack, Simeone has fully realized the threat posed by De Bruyne.

No wonder Guardiola would rather abandon the three-midfielder system in the last game and arrange him to play in this game.

With him on the field, Manchester City's offensive threat was raised to a higher level.

In this game, Atletico Madrid was under much greater defensive pressure than in the previous game.

However, it is not difficult to restrict him. Just send someone to keep a close eye on him.

De Bruyne's performance was mediocre in the first 20 minutes because Atletico Madrid restricted him too much and left him no room to perform.

Since this method has proven to be effective, let's continue using it.

Simeone's choice did not surprise Guardiola. On the contrary, Guardiola felt relieved after seeing the other party do this.

Atletico Madrid was fooled! Thinking of this, he walked to the sidelines and gestured for the players to implement the second set of tactics.

After seeing the head coach's gesture, the players understood and immediately adjusted their playing style, starting to focus on the left side.

After Lin Quan got the ball, he no longer passed it to De Bruyne, but went to find David Silva on the left and played a wall-to-wall pass with him.

David Silva's style is completely different from De Bruyne. De Bruyne is good at passing the ball, especially sending deadly long passes from the wing.

David Silva is good at short passes, especially cooperating with teammates in a small area.

Although David Silva is not as tall and strong as De Bruyne, his physical confrontation ability is actually stronger than De Bruyne.

David Silva can dribble and control the ball in the frontcourt, hold the ball firmly under the pressure and physical confrontation of the opposing defensive players, and complete turns, breakthroughs and passes.

These are completely different from those "midfield masters" who can only pass the ball! Therefore, when Manchester City's offensive focus shifted to the left, the fans watching the game at the Calderon Stadium and on TV seemed to have returned to the World Cup and saw the shadow of the Spanish national team.

Lin Quan and David Silva performed two-on-one, two-on-two and even two-on-three wall-style combinations in a small area in the frontcourt, causing chaos in Atletico's backcourt.

David Silva can run, pass and control the ball, and so can Lin Quan, who even has more explosiveness than him. The two of them combined together have achieved the effect of 1+1>2.

It is not easy for Atletico Madrid players to defend one of these two players alone. Now that the two have formed a connection and cooperated with each other, it is even more difficult to defend them.

Atletico Madrid's players were defending with great pain, but the fans were watching with fascination.

What a gorgeous passing and cutting combination!

As expected, only Spanish players can complete such a perfect cooperation.

Many people thought of the Barcelona team four or five years ago. In Barcelona's games at that time, Messi, Xiaobai and others could often be seen completing such passing and cutting cooperation on the court.

After several consecutive amazing passes, Manchester City's attack had unknowingly reached Atletico Madrid's penalty area.

The worst thing is that the one holding the ball now is none other than Manchester City's No. 10 Lin Quan! Thinking of this, Atletico's defenders felt their scalps go numb, and subconsciously focused their defense on Lin Quan.

The space in the penalty area is so small and the players are so dense, it is impossible for these Manchester City guys to continue their passing and cutting cooperation here? However, to their surprise, Lin Quan still chose to pass and cut with his teammates.

Faced with the opponent's defender's targeting, Lin Quan did not act recklessly, but chose to pass the ball to Aguero in the middle of the penalty area.

Aguero passed the ball with his back to David Silva who had just entered the penalty area.

David Silva also passed the ball without stopping and sent it to Lin Quan's feet again.

At this time, Lin Quan had already shaken off the opponent's defender and got the opportunity to face the goalkeeper directly.

Oblak's heart was in his throat!

Here he comes, he is finally here!

He calmed down, squatted slightly, and prepared to save the shot.

Left or right?

It was too late to attack at this time. Oblak could only try his best to judge the direction of the opponent's shot and take a gamble!

Although Oblak is not very famous now, his strength should not be underestimated.

His footwork, reaction speed and save ability can even rank among the top three among active goalkeepers! In these two games, he has completed several difficult saves, including Aguero and even Lin Quan's shots.

So Lin Quan did not look down on him at all, but instead took him very seriously.

Seeing Oblak's move, Lin Quan suddenly paused, as if he was preparing to shoot.

Oblak was shaken, and although his body didn't move much, his center of gravity had changed!

And this is the opportunity Lin Quan was waiting for!

He immediately aimed at the right side of the goal and shot. In order to prevent the opponent from using his extreme reaction speed to save his shot, Lin Quan used a lot of force when shooting. The speed of the ball was very fast, like a cannonball! Oblak was really amazing. Although he was shaken, he still made a save in the first time when Lin Quan shot, and even his fingers had touched the ball.

However, the ball was travelling too fast and with too much force, and his fingers were not strong enough to change the direction of the ball.

With a swish, the ball flew into the net! Manchester City 1:0 Atletico Madrid, the total score was 5:1!

(End of this chapter)