Chapter 518: A Final Battle

In the visiting team's locker room at the Bernabeu Stadium, Diego Simeone leaned against the door, listening to the heavy breathing of the players in the locker room, and remained silent.

But the frown on his face made it clear to everyone that he was thinking about something very important.

Boggs emerged from the dugout, an IPaD in hand, and glanced at Ortega, who nodded.

"These are our statistics and preliminary analysis results for the first half!"

Boggs came to Simeone and handed him the IPaD, who took it.

Simone was seen casually swiping left and right on the IPaD screen, his brows furrowed tighter and deeper.

Ortega also came over and stood opposite Simeone and Boggs. "The team's current situation is not optimistic. My initial estimate is that the physical strength can only last for about 20 minutes at most."

"The second half?" Boggs was a little surprised.

This half of the game lasts a full forty-five minutes. If overtime is included, it will be at least fifty minutes.

The physical strength of Atletico Madrid players can only last for twenty minutes, which means that after twenty minutes, the tactical execution of the Colchoneros will be greatly reduced. How can they compete with Real Madrid then?

Ortega nodded. "I've said it before. Our current tactical style is very physically demanding and requires a very deep bench. If we hadn't added a group of high-level players this summer, I'm afraid we would have collapsed by now."

Diego Simeone was obviously prepared for this.

As the saying goes, "too rigid will break easily", Atletico Madrid's tactical style seems strong, but in fact it has many problems.

To put it simply, Atletico Madrid's tactics come from Simeone's combination of tactics from several strong European teams.

For example, isn’t the Colchoneros’ high-intensity pressing and oppression very similar to that of Dortmund?

But if you look closely, it's not hard to see that Atletico Madrid's pressing and oppression are not just like Dortmund, but also like Barcelona, ​​or Southampton in the Premier League.

The high-intensity, fast-paced pressing and oppression tactics of these teams are all derived from Bielsa's philosophy. They have only one purpose, which is to seize the ball in the shortest time possible.

But after grabbing the ball, each team handles it completely differently.

Barcelona combined its own characteristics. After grabbing the ball, it slowed down the tempo immediately and switched directly to ball control, bringing the game into its favorite rhythm. Through slow ball control, it wore down the opponent's patience.

The advantage of doing this is that it consumes less energy for the players, but it requires a high level of ball control ability from the players.

Southampton, Atletico Madrid and Dortmund are the opposite of Barcelona. They are fast when grabbing the ball, and their speed does not decrease after grabbing the ball. Instead, they immediately launch a counterattack on the spot, and other players quickly catch up to form a second echelon of attack.

Because of the lack of players with good ball control!

The advantage of doing this is that it is easy to gain an advantage on the scene in a short period of time.

For example, Southampton, even when they were in the English League One, when they met Premier League teams, they would press you madly from the start without thinking twice, and even directly knock you out.

But the disadvantage is also quite fatal, that is the consumption of physical energy!

When a game is always played at a fast pace, the physical energy consumption of the players on both sides will reach a very alarming level. It is impossible for the players to maintain their physical fitness for 90 minutes, nor for a whole season.

Therefore, the opponent quickly found the weak point, which is to let you grab it, and I will wait until your physical energy is almost exhausted, and then I will hit you!

Bielsa has his own unique ideas about both offense and defense. Southampton has done very well in both offense and defense. He is a predecessor that Simeone and others look up to.

But even so, Bielsa still had to improve his tactical concepts.

For example, introducing Toni Kroos and Modric.

The reason is very simple, because Bielsa found that you can't maintain a fast pace for 90 minutes, and it is even more impossible to play dozens of games in a season like this. Even your players can't stand it even if they are iron men.

Therefore, proper control is needed!

Southampton is rich and powerful, so if they want to control the team, they will immediately spend a lot of money to introduce Toni Kroos and Modric.

Therefore, from last season to this season, Bielsa has been trying to figure out how to properly integrate ball control elements while maintaining this fast, impactful and aggressive style of play.

This is an attempt by Bielsa!

?In the professional coaching circle, many people feel that Southampton’s poor performance at the beginning of the season was due to the running-in problems brought about by the new recruit Modric after he was integrated into the team.

Now that Southampton has survived the running-in period, the problem is solved!

The same is true for Dortmund. Klopp has been trying to use technical midfielders to improve Dortmund's midfield control, from Sahin, Shinji Kagawa to Gundogan.

But due to the team's financial constraints, Dortmund ultimately found it difficult to keep these players.

Atletico Madrid encountered these problems as early as last season, and even suffered heavy losses.

Simeone once reused Portuguese midfielder Thiago, but he was too prone to injury, and in many games, Atletico Madrid's performance was not ideal, so with Thiago's transfer, this attempt was temporarily put on hold.

But now, this problem is once again placed before Simeone.

The bench lineup is sufficient, how long can it last?

If Atletico Madrid continues to play like this and continue to consume energy like this, can it survive the first half of the season and last until the second half of the season?

How can we achieve good results if we start off well but end badly like this?

Ortega and Boggs both noticed Simeone's expression and knew how difficult it was.

Are you kidding? Even Klopp, a coach who has been famous in Europe for many years, has not been able to find an effective solution. Who dares to say that he can find a way out in a short time?

"Don't think too much, Diego, the most important thing now is the game!"

Ortega's words reminded Diego Simeone.

The latter exhaled heavily, nodded at his colleagues, and walked directly to the players' rest area.

Now all signs indicate that he has no choice and no way out.

The only option is to fight to the death!

"Okay, everyone, look here and listen to me!"

When Simeone stood among the players in the locker room, everyone looked over at once.

"We did well in the first half, and a 1-1 draw was reasonable, but I think we were far from good enough!"

Simeone rarely blames his players at half-time for conceding a goal, and that is still the case now.

But as soon as the players thought about the score of one to one and the head coach's pre-match arrangements, they couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.

If we hadn't conceded that goal, the score would have been 1-0 and Atletico Madrid would have had a much easier time in the second half.

Simeone did not give the players too much time to think and spoke his mind directly.

"I want to end the battle in the first fifteen minutes of the second half!"

When all the players heard this, they suddenly raised their heads and looked at the head coach.

Diego Simeone's face was full of determination and ruthlessness at this time!

"From the situation in the first half, Real Madrid's frontcourt basically did not participate in defense, and the distance between them and the midfield and backcourt was a bit large, which created opportunities for us!"

The only goal was scored by Di Maria who retreated to the right midfield to receive the ball. It was a mistake made by Atletico Madrid. Apart from that, Real Madrid did not have many good opportunities.

"At the beginning of the second half, we continued to use the tactics of the first half in defense, continuing to press and oppress in high positions, especially in the midfield. I want to suppress Xabi Alonso in the back line!"

At this point, Simeone looked at Mandzukic and said, "Mario, please take good care of Xabi Alonso in the second half!"

Mandzukic smiled and nodded, "Understood!"

"Once we suppress Xabi Alonso and start pressing in the frontcourt, Real Madrid's entire backcourt will be completely disconnected from the frontcourt. This is our chance!"

When arranging tactics before the game, the point Simeone mentioned most was the biggest weakness of Real Madrid's defensive system.

That's the defensive midfielder!

Xabi Alonso lacks the ability to break away from the opponent. As a defensive midfielder, his primary task is to protect the defense line. Therefore, once he is oppressed, he will retreat very deep, often even on the same level as the double central defenders, and dare not move forward.

In this way, once the ball enters the 30-meter area of ​​​​Real Madrid, it is actually equivalent to directly attacking the penalty area.

Are there still people in Real Madrid’s frontcourt?

Those guys are all big shots!

Di Maria was very active in defense, but the effect was average.

Ozil's defense depends on his mood. He is more concerned about holding on to Cristiano Ronaldo's thick thigh and thinking about how to better assist the Portuguese. Defense has little to do with him.

Mourinho's tactics are also arranged in this way, so Khedira is very crucial!

In other words, Khedira alone has to cover the area of ​​​​Ozil, Di Maria and himself.

Why do people say Khedira likes to advance?

Many times, he would follow Ozil when making forward runs!

Therefore, as long as Atletico Madrid takes the ball and attacks Real Madrid's defense head-on, they will have more opportunities!

As for whether we can grasp it, who knows?

"This is our tactic after the start of the second half, but if we score a goal and Real Madrid launches a crazy counterattack, or if we haven't created any threats after 15 minutes of the second half, then we will change our tactics!"

Everyone looked at the head coach intently and listened to his arrangements.

"The second tactic is that we retreat and defend closely to attract Real Madrid's attacking players to the front of our penalty area."

Simeone has obviously done very in-depth and detailed research on Real Madrid, and he speaks very confidently and logically.

"Once Real Madrid's frontcourt attack comes up, Ozil and Di Maria will definitely come up, Khedira will follow, and by that time, Xabi Alonso will also come up!"

Having said that, Simeone clapped his hands vigorously.

“As soon as Xabi Alonso comes on, the single defensive midfielder and the back line will be disconnected. After we get the ball, we will immediately move to the wing and launch a counterattack from both sides!”

At this point, Simeone looked at Tevez and Diego Costa, "It's up to you then!"

Both attackers looked eager to try.

"Don't worry, boss, we will give Real Madrid a hard time!"

"Damn Coentrao, he actually accused me of touching his little dick, I'll kill him if I don't!"

Diego Costa's words immediately made everyone in the locker room burst into laughter.

"Okay, that's all I have to say!"

Simeone looked at the time and it was almost time to get back on the field.

"Everyone in our club and our fans have high hopes for this game!"

The players in the locker room kept nodding.

"The boss is sitting in the stands, watching us play. Our fans are outside the stadium, looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate our team's victory in the hallowed hall of our sworn enemy!"

"For us, this is a non-negotiable game!"

"Only win, no lose!"

"good!"

The players responded in unison!