Chapter 183: Fighting Atletico Madrid Again (I)
The grievances between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid are enough to make a TV series, but today their grievances can only be the condiments of this game, and the main course is still the fight for the first qualifying spot in the Champions League group stage.
To be honest, this person has experience in playing against Atletico Madrid in the King's Cup. No matter how you look at it, Real Madrid's luck is worse, because this season Real Madrid does have a new lineup and a new style of play. Only those who have played against it know it.
At this time, Atletico Madrid was like someone who had seen the moves, which meant that it would be useless if you used the same moves against him. Of course, this was what Atletico Madrid thought, at least they said so in the locker room.
"This time we are at our home stadium, and Real Madrid's newcomers Bale and Eggsy are no better than them."
Atletico's head coach pointed at the running positions on the tactical board and used his hands to simulate the legs of two little men running quickly. Then the head coach smiled and changed the subject: "Blocking both flanks is Real Madrid's favorite way of attack. In the first half today, we will let Real Madrid know what it means to be futile and unable to move forward."
All the players of Atletico Madrid were excited by these words, especially today when they brought out Atletico Madrid's trump card, their new 4-4-2 formation. This time, winger Griezmann even moved back, and he and Torres were stuck in the two main roads on the left and right, trying to block Eggesie and Modric.
Then there are the four midfielders this time. To be honest, Atletico Madrid knew that they were badly hurt by Eggsy's full-court ball control last time, so this time they almost went with 4 plus 1, with Carrasco, Augusto, Thomas, Gaitan, and Griezmann who retreated as winger. This was a typical high-intensity midfield control.
At this time, Atletico Madrid is going all out, and they are playing a midfield battle with Real Madrid. However, it is strange that Real Madrid is the first one to be involved. After all, this is a club that has been strong in defensive counterattacks for generations. How come they suddenly started to play the same passing and controlling game as Barcelona next door?
Zidane certainly would not change Real Madrid's tactical characteristics without telling the higher-ups. For example, today, Zidane came up with a tactical model that completely widened everyone's eyes. Although the tactics were different, Zidane's core remained the same. He liked to take advantage of the opponent's strengths and suppress them until they could not move.
Before the game, Zidane used to give everyone some words of encouragement or reminders. But today was different. After talking to many players, Zidane didn't say anything. He didn't even want to stand up. He originally planned to sort out the data with Guti and then go to the stadium, but now it was time for all the players to go to the player tunnel. But seeing his own players still looking back at him before leaving, Zidane had no choice but to look at Guti helplessly.
Guti turned around with a smile, holding the tactical board and acting as if it had nothing to do with him, completely selling out Zidane. Then, in the expectation of all the players, Zidane stood up and asked them to look at him, then smiled and said, "Okay, boys, what do you want me to say?"
Ramos and Marcelo looked at each other and said, "At least say something encouraging."
"And what are the expectations for us in this game?"
Zidane was stunned for a moment, then said, "Actually, I don't really ask much of you. Well... just be like me on the court."
As soon as these words came out, the entire Real Madrid team was stunned. Eggsy and Modric looked at each other in surprise. To be honest, Modric could even see that Eggsy's bright golden eyes dimmed instantly.
Are you kidding me? All the Real Madrid players were terrified. Let them be like Zidane? Even Cristiano Ronaldo, the most powerful player here and the one who wins the Ballon d'Or every year, pursed his lips.
You have to know why Zidane was able to quickly take over as coach in Real Madrid. It was entirely because of his outstanding record when he was in Real Madrid. To be honest, no player in the locker room dared to say that my current achievements and abilities are better than Zidane's.
Since it's not enough, then just be obedient.
Zidane didn't know that his words were like a severe whip to all the players. When they came on the court, they all worked hard and even felt that they must perform well, at least... to fight harder than Atletico Madrid on the opposite side!
Moreover, at the beginning of the game, Marcelo even got the first attacking right by tossing a coin with the referee. Marcelo even clenched his fist excitedly to show that he got the starting position.
All the Real Madrid players along the way clenched their fists happily and patted Marcelo on the shoulders to show encouragement. This move really made Atletico a little confused. What was going on? Real Madrid didn't think that getting the first ball meant winning, right?
But when the game started again, Atletico knew that Real Madrid had no intention of slowly playing to break through, and they attacked the midfield right away, with Eggizi and Modric pressing forward on both lines, and it was obvious that the two were ready to pass the ball to each other, using the same old trick to attack Atletico's back line.
Griezmann and his teammates exchanged glances and rushed out immediately. Griezmann directly found Eggsy and intercepted him in front of him. Even though Eggsy did not have the ball at the moment, such behavior confirmed his threat to Atletico Madrid, which immediately excited many female fans at the scene.
What the female fans are excited about is not Eggsy's ability, but the looks of Griezmann and Eggsy. No matter what, the two dogs against each other are really eye-catching.
On the other side, Modric had received the ball from the defender behind him. Seeing that Eggsy was intercepted, he immediately started his own independent attack. In any case, Real Madrid's attack power in the first half today must be in place in the first 3 minutes. Afterwards, they can play according to the tactical arrangement.
It has to be said that when Modric and Eggesie were about to press into Atletico's penalty area, they began to panic. How should I put it? Although Atletico put all its focus on the midfield today, and the midfield area was indeed well controlled, but...
Real Madrid won’t be fooled!
Not only did he not fall for it, he reduced his ball possession to the lowest level. It was as if Real Madrid had given up possession of the ball in the midfield. But as long as Atletico Madrid come to snatch it, I can guarantee one thing: you can't!
Yes, it’s really reached the point where you can’t get it!
All the midfielders did give up controlling the field, but that doesn't mean they gave up dribbling. Modric's dribbling attack can be said to be his strongest point among his strengths. Atletico's three lines of defense were immediately broken, making all of their hearts tremble.
Why didn't Real Madrid play the passing game today? This is different from what we agreed on!
After reaching the penalty area, Eggsy and Modric started to pass the ball to each other, but only once. The probability of Real Madrid passing the ball to each other decreased this time, and they were all playing single-line breakthroughs. Now approaching the penalty area, Modric saw that he and Bale did not have many offensive opportunities, so he passed the ball to Eggsy.
Eggsy was indeed a bit troubled by Griezmann's defense, as Griezmann stuck to him the whole time, too tightly, to the point where Eggsy felt the difficulty of attacking, and Ronaldo was also struggling to position himself in the penalty area, so Eggsy had to pass the ball to him without risking interception.
It is said that Eggsy's reaction speed is very fast. When he looked at Griezmann in front of him, Griezmann felt that the little player with golden eyes in front of him seemed to flash suddenly. Griezmann immediately took a step to the right to defend himself.
Cross
This step was not because Griezmann saw Eggsy's move, but in fact it was just his instinctive reaction. He instinctively felt that Eggsy was on his right side, and when he took this step, he even went back a little. This quick reaction was not ineffective, and Griezmann's reaction was quite good and he successfully intercepted Eggsy.
"Beautiful! Griezmann intercepted Eggsy. Hahaha, this omnipotent little midfielder of Real Madrid got shut out today!"
Just when Atletico Madrid fans and the host were still celebrating Griezmann's timely interception, they discovered something was wrong...
Where's the ball? The ball at Eggsy's feet... when did it get passed? !
The host was dumbfounded, but the director was not. He quickly looked through the video and immediately released Eggsy's trick of passing the ball that was so convincing that it was impossible to pass the ball.
Eggsy is not only loyal to high-altitude passes now, this kid has been obsessed with sneaky gap passes in crowded areas recently. This is something that his technical teacher Zidane could not have thought of, after all, the positions on the field change rapidly, and you may not be able to control them even if you want to.
But Eggsy was able to use this momentary gap to seize the opportunity and make a move. But to be honest, Zidane was not optimistic about this move, because such a defensive gap could be exposed, which was a gamble for the opponent to make a mistake. Fortunately, Eggsy did not persist for a long time. He only occasionally practiced some strange behind-the-back passes, heel passes, and even dribbling passes.
Strangely, Zidane thought he was just playing, and Eggsy was indeed playing. But Eggsy played a little tricks, like now!
When Ronaldo is unable to position himself, he will choose to take a step back to get out of the circle of Atletico's defenders, which just gives Eggsy a chance to pass the ball. So Eggsy quietly blocks Griezmann's defensive blind spot and passes the ball with his back heel and the opportunity to turn around and break through.
The cleverness of this goal was that many people were blocked from view, and for a moment, few Atletico Madrid defenders were seen in the penalty area! Such a big mistake caused Ronaldo to suddenly accelerate and try to reach the shooting point, and several defensive players did not react, and even missed half a beat!
And Ronaldo shot the ball less than 3 seconds after this hidden pass.
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