Chapter 711 Winning
The entire Bayern team arrived in Milan the night before the game.
The team completed training in Munich before packing up and heading to the away game.
The familiar team bus came to pick them up and they stayed in a five-star hotel in Milan. The entire trip was kept strictly confidential, and many media reporters were not even aware of Bayern's whereabouts.
After arriving at the hotel, the coaching staff arranged for the players to watch a game video.
AC Milan beat Udinese 3-2 at home.
This battle is fresh and still hot. Bayern players are looking for the focus according to their different positions, some paying attention to defensive players and some paying attention to offensive players.
Bayern has sent out all its main players this time, but even now, including the players themselves, no one knows who will start.
Especially Ribery, he has performed well in two or three games in a row, but it is still unclear whether he will be in the starting lineup.
The two young players, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos, have also performed quite well this season and are eligible to start.
After watching the game video, the players went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning, a news story appeared in the Italian media.
AC Milan head coach Leonardo was interviewed by Gazzetta dello Sport and mentioned this key battle.
First, he expressed his respect for Heynckes, and then said that he was very familiar with Bayern, because Bayern was the most dominant team in European football in the past two or three seasons, and he believed that he understood Bayern.
"Many of their players were injured before, but now they have recovered gradually. Their team is very cohesive and their playing style is very holistic, with a strong German football atmosphere."
Leonardo believes that AC Milan has its own characteristics and advantages, and if it wants to win, it must stick to its own style of play.
"The knockout rounds are a home and away format, lasting 180 minutes in total, which is very different from Serie A matches. Our interim goal in the first leg is to try not to concede a goal."
Leonardo talked about Su Dong, and believed that Bayern is a team that is very good at finding scoring opportunities. "They have the best attacker in the world. Su Dong may break the balance on the field at any time and anywhere. This is a huge test for the defense of any team."
The Rossoneri's head coach said that he believed the team could achieve the desired results at home because AC Milan's defensive mainstay Nesta had returned. After returning to the team, the main central defender immediately rescued AC Milan from a series of draws and brought the team a victory.
"Yes, I know that facing Bayern, many people will worry about our defense, Nesta and Thiago Silva. What I want to say is that Nesta is indeed not in the best condition, but 75% of Nesta is still the best central defender in the world and still has the ability to block any offensive player."
But not everyone agrees with Leonardo's point of view.
Gazzetta dello Sport also published another interview, in which Udinese head coach De Biasi publicly stated in an interview with the media that he was more optimistic about Bayern Munich.
"We lost at San Siro because of our own mistakes, not because AC Milan did anything better. In fact, I don't think they deserved a win."
De Biasi believes that Udinese's problem lies in the fact that the tempo is too slow. If the tempo can be increased, AC Milan's defense will be more difficult.
Although the Udinese coach believes that AC Milan's performance will definitely improve in the Champions League, he still believes that he would not be surprised if Bayern Munich beat AC Milan at San Siro.
The Italian media is also divided into two camps, pessimists and optimists.
Gazzetta dello Sport used a lot of space to report the two different views, but basically there was nothing new.
When football matches reach the level of Bayern and AC Milan, especially in the Champions League knockout rounds, the outcome is actually hard to predict.
Maybe judging from the data, Bayern has the advantage, but AC Milan is not without the ability to fight back.
This hype by the media has attracted the attention of fans. If they win the game, they will praise Bayern and step on AC Milan, and show their wisdom and foresight. If Bayern loses away, that is also easy to deal with. They can step on Bayern, especially stars like Su Dong, and then say that it is not AC Milan who plays well, but Bayern who plays badly, and then continue to show that they have predicted the future.
No matter who wins or loses, the media wins anyway, and they win so much!
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Media reports do not affect Bayern's decision.
After breakfast, Heynckes got everyone in a rush and announced the starting lineup for the game.
The goalkeeper is Neuer, the defense is Marcelo, Pepe, Lucio and Lahm, the midfield is Schweinsteiger, Mascherano and Modric, and the frontcourt is Ribery, Sudon and Robben.
This is basically Bayern's strongest lineup at the moment.
Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos, two players who have performed well this season, failed to start and instead sat on the bench as surprise players.
But is that all? Wrong! If the highest level of technical and tactical competition in the Champions League knockout stage is that simple, then the media is really going to win.
Heynckes' idea for this game is still to attack, but not blindly.
His request to Ribery and Robben was to retreat as much as possible and support the midfield, with the aim of ensuring that Bayern controlled the midfield.
"AC Milan's trident is indeed very strong, but there is a serious problem. Ronaldinho and Pato are on both sides. They basically do not participate in defense. Even if they press in the frontcourt, it is just symbolic eye defense. Not to mention Huntelaar, he is slow and is more likely to be in the front."
As early as when he played for Barcelona, Ronaldinho was known for not liking to defend, and this was even more so when he came to AC Milan.
Pato is similar to all Brazilian players and doesn't like defending.
But after a few years, AC Milan's style of play is obviously no longer in line with the current trend of football skills and tactics.
If the front three do not return to defend, what will happen to the midfield? Ambrosini, Pirlo and Beckham, can this three-man midfielder team defend the midfield? Can they protect the defense?
If Flamini comes on, the defense will be relatively better, but the question is, who among the three can be defeated?
Heynckes then drew out on the tactical board the long pass routes for Bayern's counterattacks, which were basically to find the backs of the two full-backs, that is, through long passes, allowing Ribery and Robben to attack the opponent's flanks.
The main purpose of doing this is to stretch the defensive strength in the middle, making AC Milan's already weak middle even weaker. It would be best if Su Dong could face the opponent's central defender directly.
In addition, Heynckes also suggested that Schweinsteiger should press forward and play a position similar to that of an attacking midfielder, while Modric would retreat and partner with Mascherano, turning the midfield into a triangle-like position.
The reason is simple, he needs Schweinsteiger to suppress Pirlo when defending and actively move forward when attacking.
This feels a bit like exchanging money.
If Ronaldinho and Pato do not retreat, Bayern's midfield will have more people than AC Milan. If Schweinsteiger can be used to replace Pirlo, then no matter from which angle you look at it, Bayern will make a fortune.
Therefore, Heynckes's task for Schweinsteiger was very clear, which was to make full use of his indomitable fighting ability to strangle Pirlo and prevent him from posing a threat.
As long as Pirlo is removed, what else does AC Milan's midfield have to fear?
The entire offensive and defensive thinking is clear, and the players basically understand the head coach's tactical intentions.
When expressing his personal opinion later, Su Dong made a request. He hoped that Schweinsteiger could pay proper attention to Pirlo's position and try to leave some space for him between AC Milan's midfield and defense when the team was attacking.
"I watched the video of last night's game and the video of AC Milan's central defenders in the past few games. I found that Thiago Silva's defense was really taught by Nesta."
"What do you mean?" Pepe asked with interest.
"He is actually not very tall, only 1.83 meters tall, but his defense is very similar to Nesta. As a short central defender, he is actually very flexible. However, his first instinct in defense is not to move forward to block the opponent, but to retreat and return to his position."
There is actually a big difference between a center back who attacks the ball and a center back who stays in position.
The former is active attack, and the latter is passive defense. At a time when more and more emphasis is placed on controlling the ball, active attacking central defenders are undoubtedly becoming more and more popular. When Su Dong played for Barcelona, whether Puyol was there or not had a great impact on Barcelona's defense, because Puyol was a central defender who robbed the ball.
But here comes the problem.
Taking the initiative is a risk in itself, and there will be a certain probability of mistakes. Any head coach who allows central defenders to steal the ball is in itself allowing them to make mistakes, but in the eyes of the media and fans, your central defender is the last line of defense, and mistakes are unforgivable.
What about the positional defenders? Since they always return to their positions as soon as possible and try to reduce their own mistakes, they look more stable.
This is, to some extent, why Nesta is praised.
Some people may ask, why would there be a head coach who allows the central defender to make a tackle?
Fans who have a deep understanding of techniques and tactics will certainly know that modern football is about fighting for every inch of territory.
Ball possession and space must be the eternal themes on the court.
When the positional central defender is in position, he is giving space to the attacking team. This is a passive and negative tactic.
Therefore, in recent years, the role of the central defender has become more and more obvious, and the role played has become increasingly important.
Bayern's two central defenders, Lucio and Pepe, are both forward-moving central defenders, so Bayern's defense line will go awry from time to time.
But compared to the benefits brought by the tackling central defender, occasional mistakes seem unimportant.
Today, both of AC Milan's central defenders are positional players, which undoubtedly gives Bayern's forwards, especially Su Dong, considerable room to maneuver.
(End of this chapter)
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