Chapter 1073 Brother, let’s do it again!
Sun Tzu's Art of War says, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat."
This statement also applies to professional football, which is known as a war without gunpowder.
Before every game, the head coach will fully understand and study both sides of the enemy, and then find out the advantages and disadvantages of the opponent, guard against the advantages, and exploit and attack the disadvantages.
So, to some extent, before a professional football game, the head coach has been mentally prepared for the outcome of the game. Even for some experienced and famous coaches, when the schedule comes out, they already have a detailed overall plan for the entire season.
Which games should try their best to fight for three points, which games will be considered qualified if they get one point, and which games losing is acceptable, all of these are included in the head coach's season plan.
But the problem is that the season is so long that players are bound to get injured and their form will fluctuate. The team may also encounter various special situations, all of which will affect the team's combat effectiveness and lead to mistakes.
This involves the issue of fault tolerance.
Generally speaking, the stronger the overall strength of a team, the more stable the tactical system, and the higher the tolerance rate.
Just like Guardiola, although his record at Bayern Munich is not very ideal, if you study his coaching results carefully, it is not difficult to find that his results as Bayern coach are very stable, and he has basically won all the games that should be won.
In other words, Guardiola's coaching style is characterized by a high tolerance for errors.
In contrast, Pellegrini's Manchester City has a very low tolerance rate and frequently loses points in games that they should have won or even won easily. This is indeed quite inappropriate and is also the reason for Manchester City's poor league performance this season.
Of course, no matter which head coach it is, it is impossible to be foolproof, and there will always be times when mistakes are made.
The more powerful the game is, the easier it is to make mistakes, and the more likely mistakes will lead to a loss.
This is also why the Champions League knockout stage match is so fascinating!
After Inter Milan defeated Juventus 3-0 away and won the new Serie A championship two rounds in advance, all the fans of the Nerazzurri called on the team to keep up the good work and preferably beat Southampton by surprise.
But hope is hope, and reality is always cruel.
As Klopp had expected before the game, Ancelotti continued to arrange the substitute lineup in the FA Cup semi-final in order to send out the main players in the first match of the Champions League semi-final.
Although Inter Milan had just had a fierce battle with Juventus, they still sent out their main players in the middle of the week.
The difference is that although Ancelotti is playing away, he focuses on offense. Although Inter Milan is playing at home, Klopp's tactics are still mainly to curb the Saints' offense.
All of Europe knows that in an offensive game, no team can beat the Saints.
Inter Milan itself is at a certain disadvantage in terms of strength. If they really go against the Saints, wouldn't that be like lighting a light in the toilet, seeking death?
The Nerazzurri had obviously made sufficient preparations for the game. Klopp's team performed quite well in defense and pressure, especially in the horizontal cutting that Klopp is best at, frequently cutting off the Saints' passing and advancement routes.
This also made it difficult for the Saints to create threatening offense throughout the game.
Seventy minutes had passed without anyone noticing, but neither team had made any substitutions. The intentions of both coaches were clear.
"They're all betting!"
Messi raised his head, looked at the dazzling lights above Milan's Glory Stadium, squinted his eyes, and such a thought flashed through his mind.
Both teams were very strong. Ancelotti chose to attack and Klopp chose to defend. The tactics of both sides were also very targeted and the players did not make any big mistakes in execution.
This is why the game is still tied at zero until now.
As for why no one has been replaced, it is not difficult to understand.
Inter Milan dare not change.
Because Klopp knew very well that this was the strongest lineup he could currently arrange. He had finally found the rhythm to defend against Southampton's attack. If he chose to make substitutions, it might disrupt this rhythm and all the efforts would be in vain.
As for Southampton, it is also not difficult to understand.
Ancelotti said before the game that a draw away from home would be acceptable and they would do their best to win at home.
But he also said that Inter Milan had just fought hard against Juventus three days ago, which consumed a lot of physical energy. In addition, Klopp's tactical characteristics required high physical strength, so the team would concentrate on the last ten minutes.
He should have planned to change players by now!
Messi turned his head and glanced at Ancelotti who was standing on the sidelines.
The fat Italian was indeed whispering something with his assistant coach, and his teammates on the bench behind him were also starting to get excited.
These are all signals that it’s time to change people!
But Messi does not intend to just wait for the head coach to make substitutions.
He hopes to make more efforts.
"Danilo!" Messi gestured to his teammate Danilo on the right.
Although the two have only worked together for one season in Southampton, because Messi had a tacit understanding with Alves when he was in Barcelona, he quickly established a tacit understanding with Danilo in Southampton.
As soon as the Argentine made a gesture, Danilo knew what Messi intended.
Southampton soon launched an attack on the left, with Hazard and David Alaba taking the ball consecutively on the left, attracting the attention of Inter Milan's defense.
Since the Saints' players have excellent individual abilities, especially Hazard and David Alaba, who are both top players in their positions, Inter Milan's defensive players also attach great importance to them and have invested heavily in defending the left side.
Not to mention, Inter Milan's defense was really tenacious. Even when their physical energy was almost exhausted, they still successfully blocked the Saints' left-wing attack. Through team defense, they forced the Saints to pass the ball to the back line.
It is called the defense line, but in fact, Varane and Laporte have already pressed to the center line.
As soon as Laporte received the ball, he passed it to Varane.
Varane received the ball head-on, stopped, looked up, and saw Messi running and Danilo pressing forward on the right.
After cooperating with each other for a season, Varane naturally knew the intentions of Messi and Danilo, and directly passed the ball to Messi.
The Argentines' retreat caused considerable trouble to Inter Milan's defense.
To follow or not to follow, that is a difficult question!
But this time, the timing was not good. As soon as Messi got the ball, Pjanic came over, which resulted in Messi being entangled by Pjanic after receiving the ball.
But Messi is Messi after all. Even though he was entangled by Pjanic, he quickly used his personal ability to create a gap, directly shook off Pjanic and passed the ball into the penalty area.
But because he was entangled by Pjanic, the opportunity was missed, and De Vrij and Juan Mata both arrived at the position in time.
When Messi's pass reached the front of the penalty area, De Vrij suddenly rushed forward, got ahead of Suarez, and kicked the ball away directly.
Inter Milan has once again resolved the crisis!
Messi was a little disappointed when he saw that his first cooperation did not work, but his eyes revealed determination when he looked at Danilo.
Buddy, let’s find another chance and do it again!
Okay!
The two of them exchanged glances and went back to their respective seats.
After the previous cooperation, the Southampton players clearly understood Messi's thoughts, and they all began to actively cooperate with Messi.
This is not because Messi has any special treatment in the team, but because this kind of offensive tactic of suddenly hitting from one side to the other is what Southampton is good at.
Choosing to support Messi now is just taking advantage of the situation.
Head coach Ancelotti on the sidelines also realized that this might be an opportunity, so he decided to temporarily put aside the idea of making substitutions and wait and see.
Therefore, the whole team had this idea, and when they had the ball again, they launched an attack from the left.
When Hazard, David Alaba and Di Maria got the ball on the left, they were not only trying to break down Inter’s defence, but they were also attracting Inter’s defensive attention, so the attacking effort was greater.
Inter Milan also felt the offensive pressure from the Saints' left wing and began to adjust the focus of their defense to their right wing.
Damian, Khedira, and even Aubameyang in the frontcourt actively retreated to defense.
The Nerazzurri's defense was also not to be underestimated. With the concerted efforts of the players, they once again curbed the Saints' left-wing attack.
Seeing that he had no chance, David Alaba passed the ball to Toni Kroos again.
Before receiving the ball, the German midfielder glanced out of the corner of his eye. Messi retreated again and Danilo came up.
More importantly, as soon as Messi retreated, Alex Sandro failed to follow.
With this thought in mind, Toni Kroos quickly passed the ball.
The ball quickly came to Messi's feet. Toni Kroos' pass was wonderful. Messi stopped and turned around. The whole process was completed very comfortably and smoothly.
Because when Messi received the pass from Toni Kroos, he already knew that there were no opponents around him.
Messi turned around and started moving immediately, dribbling the ball forward.
At this time, Alex Sandro realized the problem and immediately wanted to rush towards Messi, and Pjanic also abandoned Pogba and rushed towards Messi.
While dribbling the ball at high speed, Messi still kept his eyes and ears open. As soon as his opponent moved, he immediately followed suit and made a diagonal pass, passing the ball behind Alex Sandro.
Danilo was like a dormant cheetah on the right. As soon as he saw Messi pass the ball, he rushed out like an arrow.
In Inter Milan's penalty area, Suarez had already run to the front point tacitly, ready to support Danilo at any time.
De Vrij and Juan Jr. also treated Suarez as a formidable enemy and followed him closely.
Everyone knows that it would be dangerous if the Uruguayans got the ball in the penalty area.
But what no one expected was that Danilo changed his attention temporarily because he saw that Suarez had difficulty receiving the ball under the opponent's close defense. At the same time, he also saw Pogba raising his hand for the ball in front of the penalty area.
In this position and area, the French midfielder is very accurate in every shot.
So, Danilo quickly passed the ball horizontally.
The ball almost went along the white line in front of the penalty area, passing from the right to the middle.
Messi was sprinting, but he did not intercept the pass midway, so the ball smoothly reached the top of the penalty area.
Pogba faced the incoming ball, stopped, and accurately directed the ball to the direction and position he wanted it to go. He then swung his right foot and shot the ball directly.
There was a bang at the scene, and the ball flew out of the barrel like a cannonball, going straight to the left side of the goal at lightning speed.
In the penalty area, De Vrij made a sliding tackle to block the shot. Goalkeeper Handanovic made a desperate dive to save the ball. Even right-back Damian was desperately rushing to the goal.
But all of this is too late!