Chapter 744: Brother, I'm going to charge!

Bang~bang~bang~

As the two players walked out of the player tunnel one after another, deafening drumbeats rang out all around, followed by thunderous cheers!

Do you think this is the Allianz Arena?

Wrong, this is Southampton's Glory Square!

Glory Square is the artificial island where Southampton's new stadium is located.

In order to prepare for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, the club broadcast the game live on the super-large advertising screen on the outer wall of the Glory Stadium, so that all interested fans can gather in the Glory Square to watch the game together.

On this day, all the shops in Glory Plaza opened grandly!

In particular, the Saint Harry Bar was completed the day before after non-stop work and officially moved to Glory Square.

Not only that, other brands in Glory Plaza, including Heineken, Calon, Cadbury, Pepsi and others, also opened on this day and launched a massive promotion.

So, that night, the Glory Plaza was crowded with people.

Thousands of fans gathered in front of the four giant screens surrounding the stadium.

They wore Saints jerseys and brought various fan props. They gathered here to cheer for the Saints who are far away in Munich, Germany!

Although no official statistics were conducted, at this moment, Glory Square attracted at least more than 50,000 people.

So, when the two teams' players walked out of the player tunnel on live TV, the entire Glory Square was like a erupting volcano, creating a momentum that was enough to move the entire city.

"We have now got the starting lineups for both teams."

"Bayern Munich's starting goalkeeper is Thomas Kraft, a player from Bayern Munich's youth system."

"The back line is Contento, Boateng, Dante and Rafinha, the three midfielders are Schweinsteiger, Thiago and Lahm, and the front trident is Ribery, Thomas Muller and Robben."

"This lineup is Bayern Munich's strongest lineup this season, with a very complete lineup."

"Southampton is also very strong."

"The goalkeeper is Neuer. The German goalkeeper was close to Bayern Munich in 2011, but was intercepted by Southampton halfway through. This made the Bayern Munich executives furious, but it also led to the promotion of young player Kraft."

"However, Kraft's performance in recent seasons has not been satisfactory, so Bayern Munich is still very keen on pursuing Neuer. However, as the captain of the Saints, Neuer has always been the mainstay of the Saints' defense."

"On the defensive line, David Alaba also came from Bayern Munich's youth training camp, but he didn't get a chance and moved to Southampton. The two central defenders are a combination of Javi Martinez and Varane, and the right back is Azpilicueta."

"Southampton's midfield still uses a double defensive midfielder configuration, which is a combination of Toni Kroos and Modric."

"The three attacking players in the front court are Hazard, Suarez and Sanchez, and the center forward is Ibrahimovic!"

"What's interesting is that when Ibrahimovic transferred from Barcelona to Southampton, he had a big fight with the then Barcelona coach Guardiola. This time is also the first time that the Swedish center forward has met Guardiola after leaving Barcelona. So before the game, the Swedish center forward said that he would definitely use the goal to prove it to Guardiola!"

"The two teams had a lot of grudges against each other, and it was a crucial Champions League semi-final, so there was a lot of tension between the two sides before the game."

"The referee for this match is Pedro Proença from Portugal."

When the players of the two teams lined up in front of the player tunnel, the camera scanned the players of the two teams one by one from front to back, as well as the referee team in the middle, and then came a big panoramic view.

At the same time, the camera also turned to the two head coaches of the two teams on the sidelines, Guardiola and Bielsa.

"We saw that Guardiola took the initiative to shake hands with Bielsa and exchange ideas. It is said that before Guardiola took over as coach, he went to Argentina to ask Bielsa for advice on coaching. Many of Guardiola's tactical concepts were also derived from Bielsa."

"So, in the eyes of many people, this will be a showdown between master and apprentice!"

The camera moved up and landed on the chairman's stand of the Allianz Arena.

"We can also see that the top management of both teams attach great importance to this game!"

"This is Herbert Hainer, the interim chairman of Bayern Munich and also the chairman of Adidas. After Hoeness resigned from all positions at Bayern Munich due to the tax scandal at the beginning of the year, Hainer temporarily served as the interim chairman."

"This is Rummenigge, the CEO of Bayern Munich. We can also see that Beckenbauer, the honorary chairman of Bayern Munich, also appeared in the chairman's stand."

"Sitting next to them is the owner of Southampton, Yang Huan from China. He has been a very popular figure in European football in recent years. In just four years, he has brought out a strong Southampton team. It's a miracle!"

"Beside Yang Huan are the Saints' Executive Chairman Nicola Cortes, CEO Peter Kenyon, and COO Ron Gourley. It can be said that there are many high-level executives here!"

"We also have every reason to believe that this will be an exciting match!"

When the TV commentator said this, a crisp whistle was heard at the scene.

With the whistle of referee Pedro Proenza, the game officially kicked off!

The entire Glory Square suddenly erupted in thunderous cheers. Almost all the Saints fans were cheering, supporting the team thousands of miles away!

…………

…………

Yang Huan frowned from the first minute of the game.

Because he found that Southampton's tactics today were a bit strange.

The starting lineup is weird, why use Suarez?

You know, in many games this season, Bielsa started Suarez and Ibrahimovic at the same time, and arranged the Uruguayan to play on the wing, while James Rodriguez basically occupied the middle.

Even in some Champions League matches, Bielsa used Kaka in the attacking midfielder position.

But in this game, neither Kaka nor James Rodriguez played. Instead, Suarez played in the middle of the frontcourt, roaming behind Ibrahimovic, which is quite puzzling.

What is even more depressing is that Bielsa's team has been shrinking their defense from the very beginning.

This is totally not Bielsa's style!

You know, what people talk about most about the Argentine madman is his desperate attack.

But now, we start playing defense right away?

Isn't this Mourinho?

Southampton tightened their defense and lost control of the ball.

But when Beckenbauer, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, saw this situation, his brows seemed to be frowned even deeper than Yang Huan's. He sighed and said, "This game is going to be difficult!"

"Yeah, I didn't expect that even Bielsa has become so pragmatic!" Rummenigge also smiled helplessly.

When it comes to watching football, Yang Huan’s ability is considered to be very high, but if compared with people like Beckenbauer and Rummenigge, he is still not as good. At least they have been dealing with football all their lives and have played professional football for 20 to 30 years. Can they be the same?

But from their words, Yang Huan vaguely figured out something, that is, Bielsa's change made them feel very uncomfortable, as if it had just hit some of their soft spots.

There is nothing wrong in doing anything that makes your opponent uncomfortable!

So, Master Huan started laughing and felt in a good mood.

It’s good to be pragmatic!

For Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona and so on, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League is as easy as eating. But we are Southampton. After more than a hundred years of hard work, we finally have a chance to reach the semi-finals. Can't we be more pragmatic?

Besides, Bielsa is not stupid. On the contrary, he is very smart.

He has been reflecting since Argentina suffered a humiliating defeat at the World Cup in Korea and Japan.

After coming to Southampton, he came into contact with top European competitions, and as he gained experience, he continued to improve.

At least he understands that professional football sometimes requires pragmatism!

Let me ask, has Guardiola's Barcelona Dream Team III never been pragmatic?

They are desperately trying to increase ball possession, isn't that a pragmatic approach?

Besides, with Bielsa's personality and character, no matter how pragmatic he is, he can never become Mourinho!

As the competition gradually unfolded, Yang Huan gradually figured out some tricks.

The Saints' overall tactics are mainly defensive, which is understandable. After all, they are facing a strong team like Bayern Munich, playing away at the Allianz Arena, and it is the first leg of the semi-finals. Defense is the most reasonable tactic.

But Bielsa's defense is sophisticated.

When Bayern Munich had the ball, Southampton steadily retreated, allowing Bayern Munich to press forward.

When the ball entered their own half, Ibrahimovic and Suarez held up Bayern Munich's back line, and their defense focused on cutting off Bayern Munich's passing routes.

Don't you want to control the ball?

Okay, I'll let you control the ball and I won't compete with you for the ball, as long as I can defend it. The longer you control the ball and the more times you pass the ball, the more likely it is that problems will arise. And as long as I seize your mistakes, I will resolutely counterattack.

It was at this time that Yang Huan realized why Suarez had to be put on the field.

Southampton also treated Bayern Munich's three midfielders differently in defense.

Focus on Lahm and Thiago and relax Schweinsteiger.

This also has its own rules.

This season Guardiola is not satisfied with Schweinsteiger, believing that his playing style is more adventurous, he always tends to advance and has a higher error rate.

Statistics show that Schweinsteiger loses the ball 1.11 times per game, which is three times that of Lahm.

Therefore, there was a time when Guardiola used Lahm as a single defensive midfielder.

Similarly, the defense against Bayern Munich's front trident was also very targeted.

Bayern Munich started Thomas Muller in the middle, so Bielsa asked Azpilicueta and David Alaba on the two sides to defend more to prevent Ribery and Robben from cutting inside, and let them cross from the bottom.

Since you have no support point in the middle, what’s the point of your cross?

No going down the crease, no passing, go inside?

That's good, the double defensive midfielders Toni Kroos and Modric firmly cover the front of the penalty area.

As long as you cut inside, I can guarantee that at least one full-back and one defensive midfielder will double-team you at the same time.

No matter how strong and outstanding your personal abilities are, Robben and Ribery, can you still dribble the ball out of a double-team?

Even Messi can't do this, right?

And if I double-team you successfully and I steal the ball, you'll be in danger!

It’s true, less than eight minutes after the start of the game, Southampton actually got a chance.

Since the start of the game, Southampton has been on the defensive, with very few chances to get the ball, and more often than not they have to hastily kick the ball away after getting it.

On the other hand, Bayern Munich had an overwhelming advantage and kept penetrating and harassing Southampton.

But just when Ribery got the ball from the left and wanted to cut inside to find his teammates, Azpilicueta decisively followed up and Toni Kroos came in, and the two of them attacked at the same time, squeezing Ribery in the middle.

After Toni Kroos successfully intercepted the ball, he looked up and forward.

The entire backfield of Bayern Munich is composed of large areas of open space.

Suarez has his hands raised high.

That expression seemed to be saying, buddy, pass the ball on time, I'm going to charge!