Chapter 781 Who will you save first?

"Tony Kroos got the ball in the midfield and made a long diagonal pass to the right"

"Suarez, a beautiful turn, gets rid of Felipe, speeds up, crosses!"

"Ibrahimovic is in the middle..."

"Beautiful! Otamendi, very beautiful forward defense, clearing the ball in advance!"

"But the ball didn't fly far and still landed at Southampton's feet. Modric passed the ball back to the defense line and reorganized!"

"Southampton's advantage in ball possession was very obvious, and Atletico Madrid was very passive on the field."

"Here we go again, Javi Martinez's long pass from the backcourt finds Ibrahimovic!"

"The Swedish center forward passed the ball back to Kaka, who passed it straight behind him, and Suarez made a diagonal run from the right side!"

"Courtois acted decisively and cleared the ball, barely defusing the crisis once again!"

"Southampton has a wide range of offensive means and is the team with the strongest offensive power in the Champions League this season. They score goals in every game in the Champions League and are in very good form."

"But Atletico Madrid are no slouch either, they are one of the best defensive teams in the Champions League."

“So, in this season’s Champions League final, although there are two dark horse teams, their strength is not weak at all. It is hailed as a powerful showdown between the strongest spear and the strongest shield in the Champions League!”

"The game has been intense since the beginning. It has been going on for five minutes now, and we still don't have time to introduce the starting lineups of the two teams..."

"Look, Southampton is attacking again, and the Saints seem to be able to swallow Atletico Madrid in one breath!"

Along with the shouts of the commentator at the Stadium of Light, the emotions of nearly 60,000 people in the entire stadium fluctuated with the situation of the game. Every attack of Southampton was enough to make them hold their breath.

The commentator was right, this was a battle between the strongest spear and the strongest shield.

Every player on the football field must concentrate on every confrontation and every competition.

Just imagine, if these spectators sitting on the sidelines are so nervous, wouldn't the players on the field be ten or a hundred times more nervous than them?

There was a beep and the referee blew the whistle for a foul.

Tevez tripped Modric while returning to defense and was signaled for a foul by the referee.

The Argentine beast did not argue. He reached out to pull up Modric and took two steps back. But when the ball was kicked out again, he immediately rushed towards Modric and Toni Kroos without hesitation.

This guy is a well-known workaholic!

But it can also be seen that although the two teams are close, Simeone is still using foul tactics to win the game.

At best, it just signals the players to move more cleanly, which is already very good!

You know, in terms of technology, Atletico Madrid's midfield is indeed good, but in the frontcourt and backcourt, there is still a big gap compared with Southampton's overall control style of play.

Therefore, if Atletico Madrid really plays a controlling style of play, they will definitely be beaten by Southampton.

Therefore, Simeone's tactics are simple, rough and direct, so I adopt a defensive counterattack plus foul tactics.

This is also what Atletico Madrid is best at.

“There is nothing wrong with the starting tactics of the two head coaches. Although Southampton attacked quickly after the opening, they were also on guard against Atletico Madrid’s counterattack. The Colchoneros relied on defense, but once they seized the opportunity, they were very determined to counterattack!”

"There were no tactical problems in the match between these two famous European coaches."

After attacking for a few points, Southampton seemed to realize that Atletico Madrid's opening tactics were quite targeted and the defense was very solid, so it was basically impossible to swallow the opponent in one bite.

Therefore, Toni Kroos and others exchanged glances and gestures with Bielsa and stopped attacking.

When the pace slowed down, everyone in the Stadium of Light breathed a sigh of relief.

From the beginning of the game, the Saints held their breath and attacked desperately.

And what about Atletico Madrid?

Although they were defending desperately, they had no intention of retreating to their own half of the court. Instead, they used their best techniques of active running and pressure to defend, and the game was not ugly.

Although both teams failed to score a goal, everyone in the stadium held their breath and worried about them.

Now that the pace has slowed down, everyone has relaxed as well.

"Okay, now we finally have time to introduce the starting lineups of both teams."

"Atletico Madrid made some adjustments to the starting lineup in this game. The goalkeeper is Courtois. The defense line remains unchanged. From left to right are Felipe, Godin, Otamendi and Juanfran. This is also Atletico Madrid's iron defense line."

"But in the midfield, Simeone adopted a four-midfielder tactic, from left to right they are Isco, Gabi, Illarramendi and Koke. Obviously, Gabi was put on because the Atletico Madrid captain has more experience and he plays a big role in the midfield, so it is most appropriate for him to lead the midfield."

"In fact, Gabi directed his teammates to defend well when facing Southampton's attack after the opening."

"The two strikers up front are Diego Costa and Tevez, with French striker Griezmann left on the bench."

"These two forwards are also very active defensive players, which is also a major feature of Atletico Madrid. From the front court to the back court, every player has a strong defensive awareness, which makes Atletico Madrid's overall defensive quality very high."

"Compared to Atletico Madrid's adjustments, Southampton still adopted the 4-3-3 tactics that they are best at."

"The goalkeeper is Neuer and the defence is David Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Danilo."

"Starting Danilo instead of Azpilicueta proves that Bielsa is well aware that the biggest problem Southampton needs to solve in this game is not defense, but offense."

"The double defensive midfielder has not changed, it is still the combination of Modric and Toni Kroos, but the more experienced Kaka is once again arranged to start in the middle of the frontcourt. After the Brazilian midfielder transferred to Southampton, after a long period of recovery, his competitive state has improved significantly and he has returned to the Brazilian national team."

"The front three, Hazard, Ibrahimovic and Suarez, is also Southampton's main offensive lineup in the Champions League this season. And there is news that this will be Ibrahimovic's last season in Southampton."

But just after the commentator finished introducing the rosters of the two teams, Southampton launched another attack from the backcourt.

This time it was right-back Danilo who dribbled the ball along the right, quickly crossed the center line, and entered Atletico Madrid's half.

As soon as Danilo crossed the half court, all the Southampton players in Atletico Madrid's half and in front of and behind the center line suddenly became active and began to rush forward one by one.

When the Brazilian right-back came up, he immediately kicked the ball forward and passed it to Suarez who was moving to the wing. Felipe was so scared that he quickly blocked his position, while Danilo took the opportunity to cut diagonally into Atletico Madrid's flank.

Suarez is also a smart man. He has been working with Danilo for a year and they have already established a tacit understanding. As soon as he receives the ball, he immediately knocks it back.

The two formed a beautiful one-two on the right.

But Gabi is very experienced and blocked Danilo's route to the penalty area early on, forcing Danilo to knock the ball back to Kaka behind him.

Kaka kicked the ball and passed it to Ibrahimovic who was at the front of the penalty area.

The Swedish center blocked Godin with his body, then turned and passed the ball to the left side behind Atletico Madrid's defense.

Hazard quickly chased after the ball, and after receiving it, he was about to cross it.

But Otamendi was also fast. He fell to the ground and tackled Hazard. The two of them dribbled the ball and knocked him to the ground. The ball went out of the baseline.

The referee awarded Atletico Madrid a goal kick, which immediately made everyone in Southampton very dissatisfied.

However, from the slow-motion footage of the game, it was indeed Otamendi who kicked the ball onto Hazard when he was clearing the ball, and the ball bounced out of the baseline.

Yang Huan was sitting in the chairman's stand. When he saw Otamendi turning around and chasing back to the end line and knocking Hazard to the ground, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This kid is really a tiger general!"

Isn’t it?

He was assisting in defense behind Ibrahimovic just now, and after seeing the Swedish center pass the ball, he immediately turned around and chased back, disrupting Hazard's dribbling before the baseline. With this speed and decisiveness, Otamendi deserves the title of Tiger General.

Speaking of which, Otamendi is also rather cowardly.

He became famous very early, and his name was known all over European football in 2009. But the problem was that in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Maradona, who was a god at playing football but only a mortal at coaching, forcibly pushed him to the right.

As a result, Otamendi was beaten to a pulp by his opponent on the right.

Yang Huan even clearly remembered that in his previous life, domestic fans hated Otamendi to bits.

As for the FM fans, they are very disappointed with Otamendi.

But speaking of it, this guy is also tough. After transferring to Porto, he has performed at a very high level.

As it turns out, his most suitable position is center back.

As for height, Otamendi's height is the same as that of other central defenders such as Puyol, Ayala and Cannavaro. They are not tall, they all follow the stream of consciousness, and their feet are also relatively rough. But he is only 26 years old and there is still room for improvement.

Haven’t you seen that Ramos and Pepe were also a defensive team back then, and they were so irritable?

Puyol, Ayala, Cannavaro, which one of these guys wasn't impetuous when they were 25 or 26 years old?

It’s just that the media at that time was not as developed as it is now, and the focus was generally on the midfield and frontcourt, so the players on the back line were relatively ignored and no one paid much attention to them.

It’s nothing like now, where every move is infinitely magnified.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Otamendi's performance in Atletico Madrid is becoming more and more stable and outstanding.

After Miranda was released in the new season, Otamendi officially took over as the defensive pillar of the Colchoneros.

"Master Huan, how do you feel now?"

Platini, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, suddenly asked with a bit of evil taste.

When Yang Huan heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly, "What mood? What mood can I have?"

In fact, it’s hard to describe his mood at this moment.

If you want to say it's a pity, it is indeed quite regrettable.

If Hazard had passed the ball just now, Suarez would have caught up and there would have been a great chance.

But if the Saints score a goal, wouldn't Atletico Madrid be devastated?

You know, in terms of overall strength, Atletico Madrid and Southampton are still slightly inferior.

So, Yang Huan’s feelings now are very complicated.

It even reminded him of a joke and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, Michelle, let me ask you a question!"

"Hmm? Okay, go ahead and ask!" Platini was a little surprised.

"If your wife and your mother fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?"

Platini was depressed. What was the problem?

But soon, he figured it out. Wasn't the question asked by Young Master Huan just about his current mood?

The UEFA president immediately laughed and shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Master Huan, I can't swim, but my mother and my wife are both good swimmers!"

"Well……"

Yang Huan was speechless.