Chapter 735 This is not something a human could do!
"Southampton counterattacked quickly and Real Madrid got back on defense very quickly."
"Kaka passed the ball to the left and gave it to Hazard."
"Carvajal has returned to defense. Hazard has no chance. He moves back and Kaka cuts in from the left to provide support."
"Hazard passed the ball to the wing, Kaka received it and then passed it back to the middle."
"A beautiful one-two, Hazard receives the ball, dribbles towards the middle, and passes it again!"
"Ibrahimovic, a leak, behind him, Suarez, go in!"
"Suarez dribbled past Casillas and the ball went in!"
“Two to zero!”
"Oh my God, Southampton is leading 2-0 in less than half an hour!"
“It’s wonderful, wonderful!”
"The whole goal scored by Southampton just now was very skillful in passing and receiving, especially the continuous wall-to-wall cooperation between Kaka and Hazard on the left, which was very clever and helped Hazard get rid of the defender and tore open the defense of Real Madrid."
"Real Madrid was too anxious. After losing the ball, they were too eager to equalize the score, which led to many mistakes in the midfield and frontcourt, allowing Southampton to seize a counterattack opportunity!"
"They should have been more patient. After all, it was still early. They should have tried to avoid mistakes and wait for a chance to equalize the score, instead of just thinking about scoring and equalizing the score. As a result, they were caught by the more patient Southampton again!"
"Two to zero, the total score is now four to two, Southampton has one foot in the Champions League semi-finals!"
"There is still an hour left. Ancelotti must remain calm and Real Madrid's players must not be anxious. They should take their time. With Real Madrid's offensive power, it will be easy for them to score two goals in an hour."
“But if we make another mistake and Southampton seizes the opportunity again, the result will be disastrous!”
Following the TV commentator's analysis, we could see that in front of the coaching booths of the home and visiting teams, the head coaches of both teams had reached the edge of the command area and kept shouting and gesturing at the players on the field.
If Ancelotti's anxiety is understandable as the team is two goals behind, then Bielsa's excitement is a bit puzzling. Does it mean that Bielsa still feels unsafe even though he is two goals ahead?
The answer is obvious, yes!
The Argentine madman was standing on the sidelines. He had just asked captain Neuer, Javi Martinez and Varane on the back line, and Toni Kroos and Modric in the midfield to stabilize the team's rhythm as much as possible. They should not go too fast and should be patient to control the ball in their own half and ensure defense first.
Although the Real Madrid team has many shortcomings and deficiencies, their greatest advantage is that the players have strong individual abilities. As long as you give them a little sunshine, they will be able to give you a brilliant performance.
Facing such an opponent, mentality is very important. If you think you can relax your vigilance or even become careless just because you are two goals ahead, then you are not far from being reversed.
"Luis!" Bielsa turned around and shouted to chief assistant coach Luis Borini.
"I am here!"
"During the half-time break, point out all their problems and talk about them. They must be cautious in the second half and cannot be complacent just because they are two goals ahead!" Bielsa is now even more worried than before.
It is not easy for the leader because they have to be vigilant about being overtaken by their opponents at all times and also have to be wary of their opponents' adjustments and responses.
"I understand. I'll get ready right away!"
After saying that, Luis Borini called two staff members and went back to the locker room first.
Bielsa continued to squat on the ground, his brows furrowed, and his eyes shining with wisdom behind his gold-rimmed glasses stared at the stadium without blinking, as if he was a camera, recording everything he saw into his mind.
In the visiting team's command area not far from where Bielsa was squatting, Ancelotti was also watching the game with a frown.
He is very contradictory!
The conflict did not arise because we were two goals behind, but it had always been there.
The team he is currently in charge of is very strange, even deformed.
He has an offense that is powerful enough to scare the whole of Europe, but his defense is so weak that it is vulnerable to any attack. The team is seriously top-heavy, which makes him, as a head coach, very embarrassed when arranging tactics.
Just like when Southampton launched a massive attack at the beginning of the game, would he go head-to-head with the Saints? Or would he adopt a more cautious tactic and ensure his own defense first?
If it is the former, with the Saints' offensive power which is also the best in Europe, can Real Madrid's weak defense hold up?
And like now, trailing by two goals, Southampton retreated to the half, adopting more midfield and backcourt ball possession tactics, patiently dragging out time with Real Madrid. Why does Bielsa dare to do this?
The answer is simple, because Bielsa knows very well that the pressing and oppression of Real Madrid's front trident depends entirely on their mood, and there is no system, and each fights on its own.
In this situation, if Real Madrid wants to ensure pressure in the midfield and frontcourt, it has to push the midfield forward.
At least one of Vidal and Di Maria should go forward!
But in this case, there are only two players left in the midfield, but Southampton has three players, and whether it is Toni Kroos, Modric or Kaka, they are all players with very sophisticated skills.
Three to two, Southampton's advantage is still obvious!
Also, there are problems with Real Madrid's lineup itself.
Among the three players in the frontcourt, except Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are the types of players who rely heavily on passes from their teammates behind them. This means that Real Madrid's midfield must be closely integrated with the frontcourt.
In this case, the ideal state for the back line is to move with the midfield and frontcourt to avoid the distance between the midfield and frontcourt and the defense line being widened and creating gaps. But this is the ideal state, what about in reality?
In fact, Southampton's three front players were always keeping an eye on Real Madrid's defense.
Apart from Ibrahimovic, Hazard and Suarez, with these three players roaming around you, how dare the Real Madrid defense move? Who dares to press forward?
Marcelo and Carvajal were both attacked from behind by Southampton when they were advancing to participate in the attack, and suffered a great loss!
If the defense line does not press forward, the midfielder has to be closely connected with the front court, and naturally the gap between the midfielder and the defense line will widen.
Not to mention that Southampton controlled the initiative of the game. To a certain extent, as long as Southampton successfully advanced the ball to Xabi Alonso's defensive midfielder area, they could basically create a threat.
Change player?
Who can be replaced?
Who else can be replaced?
Thinking of this, Ancelotti, who usually has a good temper, couldn't help but have the urge to scream to the sky and curse!
Damn it, this is not something a human would do!
It’s such a fucking suffering!
…………
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To everyone's surprise, after Southampton took a two-goal lead, Real Madrid counterattacked, but it was very short, only a few minutes, and did not create any threat. Instead, they were almost counterattacked by Southampton again.
The first half ended with a score of 2-0 and both sides returned to the locker room.
Fifteen minutes later, the two teams returned to the field.
At halftime, Real Madrid made a substitution, replacing Gareth Bale with Casemiro.
This substitution obviously made the Welshman very unhappy, and was booed by the Saints fans throughout St. Mary's Stadium.
You know, in the first half, Gareth Bale was definitely the most proactive player in Real Madrid's frontcourt. Whether on the offensive or defensive end, he made contributions to the best of his ability.
Does replacing him at this time mean that he will have to take the blame?
But if we really want to find the culprit, it shouldn't be his turn, right?
So, the Welshmen simply disappeared and no one knew where they went.
But Ancelotti seemed to have no choice but to replace Gareth Bale with Casemiro.
This was obviously a move to strengthen the midfield defense, and Di Maria was moved to the right winger position.
Real Madrid made substitutions, but Southampton did not make any adjustments or changes at all.
Bielsa's attitude should still be to wait and see.
Both sides played very fiercely at the beginning of the second half, especially Cristiano Ronaldo, who kept shouting at his teammates anxiously on the court, seeming a little impatient.
But when the ball finally came to his feet, he was a little impatient whether he was handling it or passing it, and he even shot it directly, which turned out to be a wasted shot.
The fans at St. Mary's Stadium also mocked the Portuguese for this, which further increased the tension on the field and even made the situation a bit tense.
In order to stabilize the situation, the referee frequently gave out yellow cards, including Carvajal, Suarez, Azpilicueta and other players who received yellow cards one after another.
But the real turning point of the game occurred in the 67th minute of the second half.
Real Madrid got a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt. Xabi Alonso took the penalty kick. There was a melee in the penalty area. Cristiano Ronaldo and Varane both fell to the ground. The referee awarded a penalty without question and gave Varane a yellow card warning.
This penalty immediately caused dissatisfaction among Southampton players and was booed by fans in the stadium.
But the referee made it very clear that he saw Varane commit a foul.
The slow-motion replay showed that Varane did pull the opponent, but Cristiano Ronaldo's posture when falling to the ground was indeed a bit too much.
In the end, the Portuguese player took the penalty kick himself and changed the score to one to two.
This goal also allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to surpass Ibrahimovic again in the Champions League scorer list.
After scoring a goal, Real Madrid's morale was high and they launched a crazy attack on Southampton's goal.
There was a sudden panic in front of Southampton's goal.
Fortunately, Neuer was in command and made many key saves. Although Varane committed a foul that led to a penalty, his performance was also quite stable, coupled with an equally stable Javi Martinez.
Although Southampton was under tremendous offensive pressure, they were able to resolve crises time and again and keep the goal intact!
Having stabilized their defense and withstood Real Madrid's fierce bombardment, Southampton began to look for opportunities to counterattack.
In the 83rd minute of the second half, Toni Kroos made a diagonal pass from his own half and sent the ball to the right.
Sanchez, who came on as a substitute for Suarez, received the ball on the right, dribbled forward quickly, cut to the right side of the penalty area and made a cross.
But unexpectedly, the pass was a bit too big!
Seeing that the ball was about to go out of bounds, Kaka suddenly rushed up from behind, headed the ball and headed it back to the middle.
Despite Pepe and Ramos pulling left and right, Ibrahimovic still broke out of the crowd, faced the ball, and shot it directly, blasting the ball into the goal guarded by Casillas.
Three to one!
When he saw the ball go into the net, the Swedish center clenched his fists, raised his arms and shouted like a ferocious beast!
This goal scored by the Swedish center not only helped him tie with Cristiano Ronaldo in the scorer list, but also completely eliminated Real Madrid's will to continue counterattacking.
It is almost impossible to score two goals in less than ten minutes!