Chapter 744 Barcelona’s Dead End
Marcelo's long diagonal pass was very comfortable.
On the right side of the penalty area, Su Dong faced Marcelo's pass, raised his right foot, stopped the ball with the inside of his foot, and stopped it directly at his feet.
Almost at the same time, Puyol also came in front of Su Dong and used his body to block Su Dong's way through the penalty area.
Yaya Toure, who was originally on the right side of the arc top area, and Seydou Keita, who was inside the arc top area, both ran to the right side as soon as possible.
Su Dong had just stopped the ball when Robben was moving quickly along the right side behind him, ready to support Su Dong at any time. At the same time, he also pulled Maxwell to the right side of the penalty area, creating a one-on-one opportunity for Su Dong with Puyol.
Time is precious, there are only one or two seconds, and Seydou Keita is almost there.
Su Dong made a prompt decision. After stopping the ball, he took a step forward and pretended to rush into the penalty area, as if he wanted to cooperate with Robben.
After Puyol followed suit, Su Dong suddenly kicked the ball over with his right foot, pulled it sideways with his left foot, and cut inside.
This sudden change made Puyol unable to block Su Dong.
After pulling the ball sideways to create a gap, Sudong didn't wait for Seydou Keita to get close. Instead, he swung his left foot and kicked a curved ball directly towards the upper left corner of the goal.
This sudden shot caused the entire Bernabeu Stadium to exclaim in surprise.
Valdes was originally standing on the left side, but as Marcelo's big foot moved, he also moved to the right side. However, Su Dong's arc ball went to the upper left corner, which made Valdes feel very tired, and he rushed to the front left with all his strength.
Although Valdes' reaction speed was already very fast, Su Dong's shot was even faster and more urgent, and the angle was even more tricky. It almost hit the inside of the left post and hit the side net.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the 53rd minute, Bayern scored another goal!"
"Su Dong scored twice!"
After Su Dong scored a goal, he rushed to the sidelines, ran all the way, shouting non-stop, raised his left hand, kissed the ring on his finger hard, and finally reached the sidelines and opened his arms to the Bayern fans in the stands.
Soon, Bayern players rushed to catch up and hugged him tightly one after another.
“So beautiful!”
"Marcelo made a long pass, Su Dong stopped the ball on the right side of the penalty area, faced Puyol, and in a one-on-one situation, he cut inside cleanly and shot with his left foot, which went straight to the upper left corner of the goal."
"The whole process was smooth and seamless, and Su Dong didn't give the defensive players any time to react."
"Two to one, Bayern once again took the lead."
…
"What happened? How could he pass it?"
Mourinho opened his arms on the sidelines and asked in a very depressed tone.
After conceding a goal and then equalizing the score, Barcelona's morale can be said to be high. This is also the reason why Barcelona has maintained an overwhelming advantage over Bayern since the equalizer.
Although they failed to score any more goals, they still maintained the advantage in ball possession and on the field.
But now, not long after the second half started, they suddenly lost a goal, which greatly dampened Barcelona's morale.
Mourinho knows very well that morale is crucial for Barcelona now.
Lack of morale and lack of unity among players are big taboos in a game.
What’s worse is that time is not on Barcelona’s side.
It is now the 53rd minute of the second half. If no more goals are scored, Barcelona's situation will become more passive.
Thinking of this, Mourinho really had the urge to curse.
Go to Bayern!
Go to Sudong!
…
Puyol stood on the field very depressed, staring blankly at the backs of Bayern players who ran out to celebrate, with mixed feelings in his heart.
It’s not that he didn’t think about stopping it, the problem is, he simply couldn’t stop it.
He had already tried his best when facing Su Dong just now, but he was still too slow.
It has changed from one to one to one to two, which is a huge gap.
It can even be said that this ball completely changed the course of the game.
The current situation forces Barcelona to press forward and attack, and they must strive to score another goal.
The longer the time drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for Barcelona.
The reason is simple. Barcelona's passing and controlling style of play tests patience the most.
Only when the team's morale is high, the players' thinking is unified, and the whole team is full of patience, can they slowly control the ball, patiently penetrate, and look for loopholes in the opponent's defense.
On the other hand, if you are impatient, there will be more passing and receiving errors, and the opponent will have more opportunities to counterattack.
To some extent, being anxious is the natural enemy of passing and controlling the ball.
But now, Su Dong's goal is equivalent to putting Barcelona on the fire, forcing Barcelona to score a goal as soon as possible. The longer it delays, the more urgent it will be.
After realizing this, Puyol regretted so much that he wished he could twist his head off.
…………
…………
The game starts again.
Barcelona began to take the initiative, pressing forward actively and looking for opportunities.
Messi and Ibrahimovic also became more active in the frontcourt, Xavi in the midfield also began to move forward actively, Alves and Maxwell also became more active on both flanks, frequently making forward runs.
Bayern was as calm as ever, patiently organizing three lines of defense. They were not in a hurry to attack or counterattack, but patiently defended their positions and waited for Barcelona's attack.
This made the situation on the sidelines become one-sided again.
Barca had the ball but failed to create chances.
…
"Barcelona's style of play is indeed very advanced and the concept is very good, but at the critical moment, it still lacks some changes."
Zidane, who was in charge of the commentary, also thought about the dilemma Barcelona is facing now.
Bayern learned from the experience of conceding the ball two minutes after equalizing in the first half. After scoring the goal and taking the lead, they continued to adopt a steady and cautious strategy. Heynckes frequently ran to the sidelines, yelling at the players, demanding that each of them cheer up.
Barcelona pressed forward in an attempt to break through Bayern's defense by passing and controlling the ball.
But the problem is that when the three lines are in place and Bayern organizes a tight defense, it is difficult for Barcelona to penetrate.
"Mourinho should be making a substitution soon." Ronnie guessed.
Eto'o was also sitting on Barcelona's bench.
At this point in the game, it is no longer the time to hide anything, and any tricks you have should be used as soon as possible.
In fact, Barcelona now only has Eto'o as a trick.
If Eto'o fails to perform effectively even when he comes on the field, then Barcelona will really be out of options.
"Let Eto'o go up and return to Barcelona's traditional 4-3-3 formation, or even 4-4-2 with Messi playing as attacking midfielder. I believe Barcelona's attack will be more threatening at this time."
At this point, Zidane changed the subject, "However, in this case, there will be hidden dangers in defense, especially in the defense against Su Dong, but Mourinho has no choice!"
Entering the 60th minute, time was not on Barcelona's side at all. What choice did Mourinho have?
From the moment Su Dong scored the second goal, Barcelona was forced into a desperate situation.
As expected, as soon as Zidane finished speaking and the time entered the 60th minute, Mourinho signaled for a substitution.
"He likes to make substitutions at this point. Frankly speaking, I think Mourinho's substitutions are quite mechanical." Ronnie said with a wry smile.
Although he is a fellow Portuguese, he is not particularly fond of Mourinho's football.
This is not only because he played for Sporting Lisbon, which was a sworn enemy of Mourinho's Porto.
More importantly, Mourinho's football does not advocate offense, but focuses more on defense. This is not a very appetizing choice for an offensive player like Ronaldo.
Zidane also dislikes Mourinho's football.
Although he has been immersed in Italian football for many years, Zidane is a midfielder known for his creativity. He is practical, but still has some inclination towards offensive football. He is not very interested in Mourinho's football philosophy.
Of course, no one can deny Mourinho's achievements.
At least leading Barcelona to win the La Liga and reach the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons is already a huge success!
…………
…………
Eto'o replaced Seydou Keita.
Barcelona changed its formation and adopted a 4-4-2 formation.
Eto'o and Ibrahimovic were pushed forward to form the double striker, Messi roamed behind the two strikers, more like a front midfielder, Iniesta and Xavi were behind Messi, and Yaya Toure was at the end.
It can be called a 4-3-3, but judging from the players' positions, it is more like a 4-4-2 with a small diamond in the midfield.
The two full-backs also actively moved forward to participate in the attack, which showed Mourinho's determination and courage.
Barcelona has obviously reached the critical moment to give it a try.
After Eto'o came on, Barcelona's formation pressed forward again, almost pushing the defense line across the center line, trying to suppress Bayern in their own half.
Heynckes kept signaling to the team to stabilize their defense, while also actively preparing to make substitutions.
In the 65th minute, Bayern made the team's first substitution, replacing Marcelo with Badstuber.
This is a signal to strengthen the defense line, especially the left side.
Everyone knows that Marcelo's defense is a big weakness.
If Bayern can control the ball, then Marcelo's defense will not be a big problem, but now Bayern is completely suppressed by the opponent, and Marcelo's defense is a major hidden danger.
I hadn’t thought about adding more before because Marcelo’s attacking play was a boost to the team.
But now, we must fill this loophole as soon as possible.
…
After both teams made substitutions, Barcelona continued to launch a fierce attack on Bayern, but was unable to break through Bayern's defense.
Most of the time, the goal could only be threatened through long shots, but Neuer was very solid in front of the goal.
The most threatening was a long-range arc shot from Messi that went straight into the dead corner, but was saved by Neuer, completing a wonderful world-class save.
After that, Barcelona never created any threat again.
In the 70th minute, Heynckes made the second substitution, replacing Modric with Thomas Muller.
Ribery and Robben both retreated significantly to defend Alves and Maxwell, and Su Dong was alone in the front and was relatively passive.
Heynckes replaced Thomas Muller, on the one hand to strengthen the pressing pressure in the midfield and frontcourt and relieve the pressure in the midfield and backcourt, but at the same time it also increased the threat during counterattacks.
(End of this chapter)
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