Chapter 529: Opportunity
At the beginning of the game, the two teams were in constant testing, but after more than ten minutes, Real Madrid gradually strengthened its offensive.
From the perspective of football fans, this intensification of the offense is obvious.
For example, Wang Li increased the time he dribbled the ball on the wing. When he had the ball, he seldom "passed" it directly to his teammates like he did at the beginning of the game, using short passes to penetrate the defense. Instead, he used his dribbling more to find scoring opportunities for the team. For another example, David Beckham increased the number of long passes. His long passes to the right side put Lyon in an extremely passive position for a while.
These are just a glimpse of the game. In fact, many Real Madrid players consciously strengthened their offensive, so that overall, Real Madrid's offense became more sharp.
This team, known as the invincible Galacticos, finally launched a fierce attack on Lyon's goal after being silent for more than ten minutes. It looked like they were going to destroy their opponent with the attack. This was also the style of play that Carlo had planned before the game. The only thing Real Madrid had to do was to attack.
Although playing like this might be a bit risky, Carlo felt that a game lasted 90 minutes. During these 90 minutes, even if the team conceded two goals to the opponent because of its poor defense, Real Madrid could still score more goals than their opponents. Moreover, on the football field, offense is the best defense. Intensifying the offensive could also prevent the opponent from having a chance to attack, or even make them panic, thereby gaining an overall advantage.
The Real Madrid players on the field are doing this kind of work now. Their attack is very gorgeous. Except for Wang Li who occasionally dribbles the ball on the wing, other players all pass the ball. This kind of attacking method makes Lyon retreat step by step. Before they know it, they have been forced to retreat to the backcourt.
This is the situation Carlo hopes to see. Real Madrid is not afraid of the opponent's defense at all. Having experienced Benfica's 11-man defensive tactics, what else is there for Real Madrid to be afraid of?
No matter how strong Lyon's defense is, it can never be compared with Benfica.
At this time, Real Madrid seemed to be performing, constantly showing their tacit cooperation. Outside Lyon's penalty area, the pass between them was very tacit, making Lyon's players run around in circles, forcing them to chase the ball. Such performance made it impossible to tell that the game was only a dozen minutes long.
The players all seemed to be in the game, and some even had occasional flashes of inspiration.
Now, Real Madrid is in a 433 formation, which can be described as all-out attack and defense. Wang Li and Robinho are on the left and right sides of the forward line, and their task is to launch fierce attacks on both wings, while the three midfielders are more responsible for support. Baptista's speed and dribbling, coupled with Beckham's passing, this combination is reassuring.
In fact, Raul has the most opportunities in the middle. If there are no opportunities on the two sides, then all opportunities are in the middle. Wang Li is on the right, so Lyon's defense on the left is relatively dense, which gives Raul many opportunities.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid's attack did not result in a goal. Raul's long shot from outside the penalty area was accurate but powerless, and was easily caught by the opponent's goalkeeper Coupet, followed by Lyon's counterattack.
"Raul, please move forward a little bit and try to stay in the penalty area..."
When Lyon kicked off, Wang Li did not return to defense directly, but jogged towards Raul. In fact, he wanted to pass the ball into the penalty area, but Raul stood too far outside, and he felt that shooting outside the penalty area would be a waste of opportunity for his teammates.
Hearing this, Raul glanced at the ring on his finger and nodded sullenly, but at this moment, the two of them stopped unconsciously and looked towards their own penalty area.
Lyon's counterattack is very fast!!
In the middle, apart from Juninho who led Lyon's attack, the most outstanding player was undoubtedly Florent Malouda.
Florent Malouda!!
Perhaps, this name is unfamiliar to ordinary football fans, but in fact, his ability is no less than that of big-name stars.
The reason why big-name football stars are big-name is not just because of their outstanding abilities, but also because of many other factors, such as commercial value and memorable abilities. Take Roberto Carlos for example, why did this player become a star promoted by Real Madrid? It was not because of how good his defense was, but because his long-range shooting ability left a deep impression on fans. This, coupled with his contributions and stable performance, made Real Madrid interested in introducing him.
Players like Malouda are of another type. He does not have any particularly eye-catching abilities, nor does he have any outstanding looks, that is, commercial value, but his personal abilities are unquestionable.
This year, Malouda is already 26 years old.
He was born in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. Later, due to his outstanding performance in the local team, he was brought to France by the French second-tier team Saudi Aroux. At the age of 19, he began to represent the team in the professional league. A year later, he was introduced by Guingamp as a left midfielder. Soon, he became the initiator of the team's attack on the left.
In the summer of 2003, Lyon introduced this player with outstanding offensive talent. In the Lyon team, the left-footed Malouda has the most flexible position. He can play as a front midfielder behind the center forward, and become a left winger in a formation that emphasizes quick counterattacks.
In the past two seasons, Malouda has achieved rapid growth, especially last season, he had memorable performances in the Champions League and Ligue 1. His left-wing breakthroughs and assists became an important weapon for Lyon to score goals.
Such a player has a very ordinary career. He may not have any flash of inspiration, but it is undeniable that Malouda's ability is no worse than that of big-name stars, and his overall average performance is even much better than that of ordinary players.
And now, under the gaze of 80,000 fans at the Stade de France and countless fans in front of televisions and computers, Malouda showed his extraordinary speed. After receiving the pass, he instantly opened up the distance between him and Beckham, and then he ran wildly in the Real Madrid penalty area.
Real Madrid's attack just now made their defense too loose.
In this way, Malouda had almost no obstruction, and when he reached the outside of the penalty area, he finally met the first defender, who was Pavon.
Although many players 'inserted' to assist, Pavon did not. He stayed in Real Madrid's backcourt. But at this time, his strength was really limited. Seeing Pavon, Malouda's first reaction was to push the ball to the left.
Sidney Gove, who came from behind, had already jumped in front of the ball! !
It is worth mentioning that Go Wu is another player with strong ability but poor reputation.
As one of the best of the new generation of French players, Gove was originally a midfielder. Because of his lightning speed, he later changed to play as a striker. This change quickly made him stand out in the youth team.
As early as the age of 20, Gove had joined the Lyon senior team and represented the team in the French Ligue 1. When he crossed the world, it also happened to be his French Ligue 1 debut.
In the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in the 2000/01 season, Gove scored two goals against Bayern Munich and shone throughout the game, which made his name famous. But in fact, Lyon did not receive much attention in Europe at that time. Except for professional football coaches, few fans would pay attention to this ordinary-looking black man.
In the following season, Gove made 29 league appearances and scored 10 goals, helping the team win the French Ligue 1 title for the first time in history. He also continued to perform well in the UEFA Champions League, scoring in matches against Fenerbahce and Leverkusen.
At this time, Gove had become a core figure on the French Under-21 national team's front line and led the team to the final of the 2002 European Under-21 Youth Championship, where they lost to the Czech youth team in a penalty shootout.
These are just Govou's performances in the club and the French youth team. In fact, in August 2002, Govou was called up to the national team by the new French head coach Santini. He made his debut in the national team in the match against Tunisia and scored a goal.
His outstanding performance attracted the attention of many top European clubs, and Lyon renewed his contract with Gove until 2008.
To be honest, the strength of such a player is no worse than any player on Real Madrid's front line. In fact, if Real Madrid wants to introduce a player like Gove, it is impossible without spending tens of millions of euros.
Perhaps, these players joined Real Madrid for the same reason of fame.
However, these are all incidental now. The important thing is that Gowu received the pass from his teammate on the penalty area line, and he was unguarded. At the same time, Casillas couldn't help but attack.
But it's too late!!
After receiving the ball, Gowu glanced left and right with his experienced eyes, and seeing that there was no one defending, he took a step forward. After adjusting himself, he made a casual lob shot, leaving Casillas with nothing but sighing.
"Goal!!! Sidney Gove!!!"
"It's really surprising that Lyon scored the first goal. The goal was scored by the team's main striker Gove. This player is very famous in Lyon, but perhaps many people don't know his information. So let's take a look at his previous performance..."
Many football fans in the world don't know the name Gove, but that doesn't stop Lyon supporters from celebrating the goal. They know Gove. In the French Ligue 1, the name Gove is not unfamiliar, and his goals have attracted reports one after another.
After Lyon scored, Real Madrid head coach Carlo looked natural. He seemed very confident and did not worry too much about the goal.
In fact, Carlo thought it was normal for the opponent to score first, and Real Madrid's victory was not based on the opponent not scoring. Real Madrid's defense was not solid, but as long as the team scored more goals in the 90 minutes of the game, they would win. He always thought so, so when Lyon scored a goal, Carlo was not too worried, he just signaled the players to continue playing like this.
On the other side, Lyon head coach Houllier was overjoyed.
Before the game, the reason why he dared to formulate a tactic to fight with Real Madrid was because he had confidence in the strength of the team. Perhaps in the eyes of some ordinary football fans, such an idea was strange, but Houllier did not think that the strength of the team was worse than Real Madrid, of course, except for that black-haired boy.
Real Madrid does have a lot of stars, but what does it matter if there are a lot of stars? Stars don’t necessarily perform better, and stars don’t necessarily play a stronger role than ordinary players.
A team can have 1 or 2 stars, but not all of them, otherwise there will be problems. Most coaches understand this truth. After all, the existence of stars is more because of their outstanding personal abilities and are shaped by the media and the club, while ordinary players have few requirements, and they can always have stable performances and will not be affected by off-field factors.
This is the general team-building strategy of the top teams: a few superstars, plus some unknown but capable blue-collar players.
Obviously, Juninho is the only star player in the Lyon team. Maybe goalkeeper Coupet is also famous, but the position of goalkeeper has limited his development.
The other players can be regarded as blue-collar workers on the court. Gove and Malouda are among the best of these blue-collar workers. They may not be famous, but they are very strong.
Houllier's confidence is also based on these players.
At least, the current situation on the field has proved that his point of view is correct, and the team has the possibility of winning by fighting with Real Madrid.
At this time, the Lyon team was celebrating wildly. Seeing this scene, Wang Li frowned, so he protested to the referee on the field. As a teammate of Real Madrid, he had this right.
"Coach, I think they are delaying the game..." Wang Li said.
Therefore, with the intervention of the head coach, Lyon had to end the celebration early, and then the game between the two teams started again.
"Raul, stand a little closer..." Wang Li reminded again after the game resumed.
On the right side, he was tightly guarded by Lyon, and it was not easy for him to shoot the ball himself. However, he was able to make threatening through passes, so he always emphasized this point.
At this time, Wang Li was thinking that if Raul was not in good shape today, he could only play as a shadow striker. After all, the position of the right striker was not very suitable for direct shooting, which meant more of a second striker.
But in fact, there must be a reason why Carlo put him in this position.
When he was at Chelsea, Wang Li had been playing in this position. He performed very well on the right, so Carlo arranged him here in this formation. Wang Li's performance was also very good. At least his attack and passing were rarely hindered. The defenders of the Lyon team really found it difficult to defend against him.
However, as the captain of the team, Wang Li does not want to play like before. That might be a bit like the lone wolf Romario, with all the opportunities created by the team given to him. Although that can lead the team to victory, he is just a lone wolf and does not perform the corresponding duties of a captain.
Therefore, Wang Li made that choice out of helplessness, and now he still trusts his teammates more.
This situation made Wang Li feel that he was not suitable for the captain's armband, because he was not suitable for the role of "commander". He preferred to be a "general" who charged into battle.
Perhaps, the lone wolf is arrogant, or even lonely, but as long as it can bring victory, isn’t it the right choice?
At least his teammates believed in Wang Li.
After the game resumed, Real Madrid stepped up their offensive once again. They seemed not to be affected by the previous goal at all. Every attack was very steady. This situation made Carlo feel more at ease.
Lyon, with the momentum of having just scored a goal, also played with great momentum. Although their attack was not as fierce as that of Real Madrid, it could still pose a threat to Real Madrid's defense.
This scene made the fans feel that the two teams were fighting an offensive battle. Although Real Madrid had the advantage, it was still a mystery which team would score first.
Mourinho, who was sitting in the VIP box, was more optimistic about Real Madrid. Having played against Real Madrid, he was very clear about Real Madrid's offensive capabilities. What he was even more clear about was the offensive capabilities of the black-haired boy on the field. There was no doubt about that.
Just like this time, when Real Madrid attacked on the right, the black-haired kid was defended by three people but still dribbled the ball accurately. This performance was really amazing and drew applause from all the fans in the stadium, even the French fans.
Such is the appeal of superstar performance.
However, perhaps because other Real Madrid players did not have shooting boots, in this attack, Wang Li's very precise through pass made Raul waste his opportunity. With no one guarding in the penalty area, the latter actually kicked the ball out of the goal frame, causing all the Real Madrid supporters in the stadium to sigh.
"He's going downhill again." Carlo said with emotion off the court.
At Real Madrid, although Carlo coached the second team, he watched Raul almost grow up. It seems that until now, Carlo still thinks that Raul is the golden boy of Real Madrid and the golden boy of Spain.
However, this shot made Carlo feel that Raul was really old. After all, he was 29 years old this year, and professional players of this age have begun to decline.
Carlo's heart sank after a short moment of sighing like this, because Lyon scored again, this time it was Lyon's top star Juninho! !
This was a long shot from outside the penalty area. After receiving the pass from his teammate, Juninho completed a cold shot with his left foot directly in the penalty area. It was too late for Casillas to react, and the ball went directly into the blind corner of the goal.
Lyon took the lead and they were two goals ahead of Real Madrid.