Chapter 985: Attack vs. Attack
If we only look at the score in the first half, Manchester City got a not-so-good result.
2-1 gave Real Madrid a valuable away goal.
If this score remained until halftime, although Manchester City won the first leg, the second leg would still be very dangerous, especially when playing at a hellish away stadium like the Bernabeu, the challenge would be enormous.
Fortunately, there is still a second half of the game.
After the players returned to the locker room, they were in good spirits and mood.
Obviously, this was the effect of Su Dong's second goal. If it weren't for that goal, Manchester City would have been tied 1-1 by Real Madrid in the first half, and the players' mood would have been completely different.
After seeing the players' situation, Guardiola was basically satisfied with the team's morale and didn't say much. He only pointed out some problems Manchester City encountered during the attack in the first half.
He insisted that Manchester City should continue to attack in the second half and strive to score more goals.
"We need to keep the pressure on Real Madrid through our three lines and not give them a chance to catch their breath. We need to strive to defeat them in one fell swoop, establish an advantage in the first leg at home, and then take the initiative in the second leg."
The knockout round is about targeted tactics. Whoever has the initiative has more chances.
Manchester City itself has a tactical style that is centered around itself. It rarely changes the team's style and tactics based on the opponent, and mostly just makes targeted adjustments on some details.
"At the same time, our two flanks need to be more active. The flank attack in the first half was not enough."
Guardiola did not name anyone, but he also made criticisms, mainly because the team's flank attack was not active, which led to the team falling into a stalemate in the first half. Real Madrid did not have many counterattacks, but they still managed to create a goal.
Sometimes, football games are like this: having many opportunities does not necessarily mean you will score a goal, and sometimes, there seems to be no chance, but you can still score a goal.
Guardiola focused on the team's offensive problems in the first half and made some suggestions, especially on the flanks.
Arbeloa's defensive ability is obvious to all. When he was at Liverpool, he was known for freezing Messi. After coming to Real Madrid, he quickly became the main right-back under Pellegrini and is also a Spanish international.
Coentrao is good at both offense and defense, and he performed very well in the Portuguese national team. Therefore, he was bought by Real Madrid for a large sum of money. His joining also changed the previous weakness and gap on the left side of Real Madrid.
It can be said that with these two full-backs in charge, plus the double defensive midfielders consisting of Khedira and Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid's defense is still very solid.
Sanchez and Di Maria do have strong personal abilities, but it is still a bit difficult for them to dribble the ball through Real Madrid's defense.
Especially when the full-backs are unable to come forward to provide more support.
As for the full-backs, they were also facing a lot of pressure. Marcelo was facing Benzema, and Zabaleta on the right was facing Cristiano Ronaldo. If they pressed forward too riskily, they would be shot through from behind in minutes. No one dared to be careless.
This is also the difficulty of the Champions League knockout stage.
Every match is a dialogue between the strong ones, and every opponent is a powerful team with superior strength. No one can easily defeat the opponent, and if you are not careful, you will be gnawed by the opponent until nothing is left.
At times like this, the role of having a top superstar with extraordinary strength becomes apparent.
Whether it was Real Madrid in the first half, which used the cooperation between Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo to create a free kick in the frontcourt, or Su Dong's two goals, to some extent, they were typical examples of players' personal abilities changing the course of the game.
…
As the team's top star and captain, Guardiola also wanted to hear Su Dong's ideas at this time.
After being called by the head coach, the other players all looked at Su Dong at the same time.
In this locker room, Su Dong has more prestige than Guardiola.
Seeing everyone's eyes and feeling the eager anticipation in their eyes, Su Dong smiled slightly.
"It's not that serious actually." Su Dong said with a relaxed smile.
Chairman Mao once said that we should despise our opponents strategically and take them seriously tactically.
Real Madrid is very strong, but Manchester City is definitely not bad either, and they are at home.
"I think what Pep said is right. We didn't attack well in the first half. One of the important reasons was that we kept them inside and outside the penalty area, which caused great defensive pressure in the middle."
Su Dong didn't say it explicitly, but everyone knew what the situation was like.
In the first half, there were often three or four defensive players around Su Dong. On the one hand, Real Madrid's tactics were mainly defensive, but on the other hand, it can also be seen that Manchester City's offensive players failed to share the defensive pressure for Su Dong in a timely and effective manner.
"I think we should stretch Real Madrid's defense as much as possible in the second half, and leave the two central defenders of Real Madrid to me!"
When Su Dong said this, his expression was full of confidence, allowing everyone to feel his confidence in his own strength.
This is the strength of a top superstar!
Having such a superstar means being able to stabilize the morale of the team at critical moments, giving the team a backbone and a direction. Otherwise, even if Aguero or Dzeko were to replace them, they would not be able to deal with Ramos and Albiol, and Manchester City would still have to slowly grind and consume the team in the second half.
Guardiola agreed with Su Dong's suggestion and was also full of confidence in Su Dong's strength. He made the decision on the spot and made some fine-tuning in the players' positioning and cooperation so that they could better cooperate with Su Dong.
…………
…………
The second half of the game resumed.
Manchester City took advantage of the kick-off, slowly controlling the ball and slowly advancing towards Real Madrid's half.
Real Madrid still adopted the tactics of the first half, trying to defend and wait for the opportunity.
After the halftime adjustment, the home team players began to go to the wing more actively, especially after entering the 30-meter area of Real Madrid's penalty area, they basically went to the wing first, with Sanchez and Di Maria initiating the attack.
Su Dong was more involved in the penalty area, suppressing Ramos and Albiol, ready to receive passes from the flanks and outside the penalty area at any time.
After the start of the second half, Manchester City launched wave after wave of attacks and continued to create threats.
In the 51st minute, Marcelo spotted an opportunity and quickly moved forward. He got on the left side and received a pass from David Silva. He stuck to the left sideline, forced a breakthrough, shook off Arbeloa, and made a cross to the front of the penalty area.
The sudden insertion of the Brazilian left-back disrupted Real Madrid's deployment. Benzema failed to follow to the penalty area, resulting in Marcelo being unguarded. The cross was also very accurate, and it also made the Real Madrid defenders in the penalty area somewhat unprepared. On the contrary, Su Dong reacted the fastest. After Marcelo received the ball, he was already prepared.
By the time Marcelo made a cross from the bottom line, Su Dong had quickly shaken off Ramos and Albiol, and he dived forward to head the ball, getting ahead of Casillas and heading Marcelo's cross to the left side of the goal.
This made Casillas completely unable to save the ball, especially after he failed to block the ball behind him in time, he was completely disarmed.
The ball went into the left side of Real Madrid's goal.
Three to one!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"
"In the 51st minute, in the 51st minute, Su Dong scored a hat trick!"
"Three to one! Manchester City further expanded its lead!"
"It was a very exciting and unexpected goal."
"Marcelo's sudden run from behind caught Real Madrid's defenders off guard. He barely made any forward runs in the first half, but this sudden run from behind was very deadly."
"It is obvious that Guardiola must have made arrangements and adjustments during the half-time break, especially for the attack on the wing. Marcelo's forward run was very determined, without any hesitation. After receiving the ball, he used his speed to get rid of Arbeloa and sent a wonderful assist to Su Dong in the penalty area."
"Su Dong's diving header was also very beautiful, and Casillas' attack was a little slow."
"3-1, Real Madrid is now in a very embarrassing situation."
"Although they scored an away goal, the score was 1-3 and they were still at a disadvantage after returning to their home court."
"Now it depends on what Pellegrini will do. Will he try to score another away goal? Or will he keep the score? You know, Manchester City's morale is very high now. If they continue to maintain the current status quo, they will probably score more goals."
…
As it turns out, Manchester City actually has such plans.
Everyone knows that the best schedule for the Champions League knockout stage is to play away first and then at home.
Because the first leg is played away and the second leg is played at home, there are more options. Even if there is a mistake in the first leg, the situation can be turned around in the second leg.
All teams playing at home in the first leg will find it very troublesome. On the one hand, they want to gain enough advantages in the first leg, but on the other hand, they are worried about giving their opponents away goals.
As a result, an interesting situation often occurs in the Champions League knockout rounds, where the away team plays more actively than the home team.
It has to be said that the away goal rule can be regarded as another great invention in the history of the Champions League. It makes the knockout rounds of the Champions League more thrilling and also greatly encourages goals.
Manchester City’s current thinking is very simple. After conceding an away goal to the opponent, we will try our best to make up for it by scoring goals.
Three to one?
No, this score is not stable when we get to the Bernabeu Stadium, so we have to continue attacking and not give Real Madrid any chance to breathe, and strive to gain more lead in the first leg home game.
How much of a lead is considered stable? God knows! So, keep attacking, keep attacking!
Real Madrid also made adjustments quickly. Pellegrini made the first substitution, replacing Kaka with Sahin and adopting a three-midfielder system. This seems conservative, but in fact it is to increase the midfield's ball possession and passing, and liberate the frontcourt attack.
As expected, after Pellegrini made the substitution, Real Madrid took the initiative.
Whether from the perspective of personnel configuration or the team's tradition, there is no reason for Real Madrid to defend stubbornly.
Then, the game suddenly became interesting again.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
