Chapter 783: Risking Life

"Damn it, this guy should be a turtle, right?"

Standing on the sidelines, Luis Borini glanced at Simeone in front of the home team's coaching bench.

Not to mention, when this guy puts on a neat suit, he really looks a bit like the leader of the Italian Mafia, and very much like those Hollywood villains.

But for some reason, in Louis Borini's opinion, this guy is unpleasant from head to toe.

There was a sneak attack at about thirty minutes into the first half. If it hadn't been for Neuer's miraculous save that saved the ball, Atletico Madrid would have probably taken the lead by then.

But what then?

This guy is really a coward. When he saw that his sneak attack failed, he immediately retreated into his shell and refused to come out again.

In the last ten minutes of the first half, Southampton fought back desperately but failed to break through Atletico Madrid's goal.

At the beginning of the second half, the Saints launched another attack, but it still failed to work.

This made Luis Borini on the sidelines a little uneasy.

If Simeone had heard what he said at this time, he would have nodded and replied with a smile: "Yes, I am a tortoise. If you have the guts, go ahead and bite me!"

Yes, this guy is so shameless!

"His defense is very meticulous, very organized and disciplined, and is worth studying!"

Compared to Luiz Borini who was a little impatient, Bielsa was relatively calm.

In his opinion, Southampton's attack was not weak and not completely without changes, but Atletico Madrid's defense was indeed too tightly organized.

Moreover, this kind of strictness is not the kind that is extremely tough, as strict as a wall, but it is a combination of hardness and flexibility.

It's like a ball of hard rubber. When you punch it, it dents a little bit, dissipating your force, and even bounces back a little.

More importantly, it is not clumsy. On the contrary, because of a lot of running, this defensive system appears to be very flexible and full of various changes.

Luis Borini was standing aside. After hearing what Bielsa said, he gave his boss a displeased look.

"Marcelo, now is not the time to brag about our opponents, we should find a way to break their goal!"

But who knows, after hearing this, Bielsa shook his head and said, "No, Luis, this is difficult."

"What do you mean?" Louis Borini was a little surprised.

Could it be that Bielsa wants to surrender?

This is totally unlike Bielsa's style!

In fact, he could fully predict that if Bielsa really did this, he would definitely be fired by Master Huan on the spot.

But he did misunderstand Bielsa's meaning.

"It's not easy for us to break through their defense when they are full of energy!"

When Luis Borini heard this, he immediately understood what Bielsa meant.

After the half-time break, Atletico Madrid has recovered a lot of physical strength. Coupled with the team's high morale, they are like a group of wild horses that have broken free from their reins and cannot be stopped.

If Southampton wants to tame this wild horse, there is no other way but to rely on grinding.

When this wild horse has the most fierce temper and strength, you cannot confront it head-on. Instead, you should slowly grind away its sharpness and consume its strength.

In this situation, the two sides are competing in consumption to see who can outlast the other.

Of course, it is also possible that both sides will make mistakes during the process of consumption, and be caught by the other side, causing a fatal blow.

For example, more than 30 minutes into the first half, Southampton's defense was lax, giving Atletico Madrid a chance to counterattack, and Tevez almost scored a goal.

It can be said that if Tevez had scored that goal, the situation of the game would have been completely different.

It wasn't just Southampton that made mistakes. Atletico Madrid also made several mistakes, but the Colchoneros made up for them well, or Southampton failed to seize the opportunities and ultimately failed to score a goal.

Therefore, both sides now have only one way to go, and that is to fight through consumption.

No matter how tight the tactical system is or how outstanding the players are, their effectiveness will be greatly reduced after their physical energy is consumed to a certain level.

Bielsa has confidence in his team. If they really fight to the death, he will have the greatest chance of winning in the end!

The reason is simple: Southampton has a much deeper bench than Atletico Madrid!

…………

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"Fifty-five minutes in, and he doesn't seem to be planning on adjusting!"

Atletico Madrid's assistant coach Boggs walked to Simeone with a frown.

He was holding an Apple tablet in his hand, and the application on it was displaying various data of Atletico Madrid players in real time and analyzing the situation of the game.

Simeone glanced at the visiting team's coaching bench.

Southampton's head coach Bielsa was still squatting on the sidelines, watching the game on the field, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry at all.

This made Simone frown, "What an old fox!"

If anyone says that Bielsa is not smart in the future, Simeone will be the first one to get angry with him.

This old guy has a bright mind!

Although they are also consuming energy, Atletico Madrid's tactical style makes the players of the Colchoneros consume more energy.

Because they want to use aggressive running to make up for your weaknesses in technology and control.

Of course, Southampton also had a hard time. Under the tactical pressing and oppression of Atletico Madrid, their consumption was quite large, but overall, it was slightly smaller than that of the Colchoneros.

"He's waiting for us to collapse from exhaustion before he comes up to collect our bodies!" Simeone sneered.

Off the field, he has great respect for Bielsa.

But once you step onto the football field, it's a life-and-death battle between the two sides, so there wasn't much respect in his words.

"His calculation is quite clever!" Boggs also sneered.

But it has to be said that they are aware of their own problems. Simeone and Boggs know how long Atletico Madrid can last. If they really fight with consumption, they may not lose, but they are not very sure.

It can be said that at this point in the game, it is difficult for either side to make any major changes.

The key lies in the on-the-spot performance of the players on the field and the three substitution cards held by the head coaches of both teams.

Who to replace? When to replace? How to play after the replacement?

This is the key!

"Do you think he is already thinking about overtime?" Simeone asked suddenly.

Given Atletico Madrid's situation, the situation would be very dangerous if they really had to go into overtime.

Because the players were exhausted in 90 minutes, and when it came to overtime, it was simply fatal!

Boggs thought for a moment and said, "That should be the case, but..."

Simeone laughed before he could finish, "But he is Bielsa!"

After he finished speaking, the Argentine tough guy turned around and shouted to the bench, "Gilzeguez, Antoine, you two should warm up quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly!"

Two figures immediately emerged from the bench, namely Krychowiak and Griezmann.

They were obviously getting impatient waiting, and as soon as they heard Simeone's command, they jumped up and ran to the sidelines to warm up.

"Go to Krichowiak?" Boggs was a little surprised.

"Yes, that's right!" Simeone was very sure.

"Going into overtime would be suicide for us!"

Atletico Madrid has adopted this amazing high-intensity pressing tactic in the past season, which has consumed a lot of players and the suspense of the La Liga championship has remained until the last round.

Under such circumstances, the players of the Colchoneros will lag behind Southampton in terms of physical fitness.

Coupled with the tactical disadvantage, Atletico Madrid simply could not accept overtime.

Just imagine, after 90 minutes, the players can no longer run. Playing overtime is suicide, isn't it?

"So what do you think..." Boggs asked.

"Replace Illarramendi with Krychowiak, who is already quite tired. Let Koke return to the middle to free up Isco. The team will play more diagonal long passes and look for the right side, so that Diego Costa and Griezmann can grab the ball!"

This set of tactics has worked many times in Atletico Madrid's tactics this season and is considered one of the Colchoneros' winning tactics in games.

Coincidentally, Southampton's left-back in this game is David Alaba, and long passes to the left side can be used as a perfect opportunity.

Borg immediately understood what Simeone meant, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"

After using Griezmann, Atletico Madrid's tactics will change from the original 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3.

In other words, the 4141 tactic is more appropriate.

But just when Simeone and Boggs were busy arranging adjustments and changes for the team, Bielsa suddenly jumped up from the ground and walked into the coaching seat.

Soon, there was a commotion in Southampton's coaching and substitute benches.

Immediately afterwards, two figures were seen rushing out from the Southampton bench.

They are James Rodriguez and Sanchez.

Seeing this scene, Simeone and Boggs looked at each other in surprise.

Does this mean that Bielsa wants to substitute two players at this time?

If so, who would he replace?

What changes will there be in Southampton's tactics?

"Interesting, this old guy is going to fight us to the death!" Simeone suddenly laughed.

Boggs looked worried.

Bielsa is really going to risk his life, and he does so because he is very confident in his team.

So should Atletico Madrid continue with its substitutions?

The safer approach would be to wait for Southampton to make substitutions, observe for a while and then make adjustments based on the situation.

But doesn't this mean that we are much weaker than our opponent in terms of momentum?

"Let's keep changing players!" Simeone made a prompt decision. "Since he wants to play for his life, I will play with him and see who will kill the other!"

At the end of his speech, the Argentine tough guy laughed again.

In his opinion, Atletico Madrid's ability to reach the Champions League final this season has exceeded expectations and is a win.

He was also happy to be able to have a head-to-head battle with Bielsa!

Even if he loses, he has no regrets!

In this case, don’t think too much about it, just go for it and fight your opponent to the death!

The substitutions between the two famous coaches, which were somewhat out of personal pride, surprised the fans on the sidelines and the viewers in front of the TV.

Both sides actually chose to make consecutive substitutions in the early sixty minutes?

Moreover, they changed two at once, but they also kept some in reserve, which showed that they were going to do something big.

As a result, fans from both sides in the stadium began to cheer even louder.

The commentator on the scene seemed to be energized and shouted loudly.

"In the 63rd minute, Southampton made the first substitution."

"Bielsa replaces midfielder Modric with James Rodriguez and Kaka with Sanchez!"

"Both substitutions were very offensive in nature. Substituting Kaka was not surprising, but replacing Modric, is this to leave Toni Kroos alone in the midfield?"

"Wouldn't this be too dangerous?"

"Atletico Madrid also made a substitution. Griezmann replaced the captain Gabi, who was obviously exhausted. In addition, Krychowiak replaced Illarramendi to strengthen the midfield."

"Both head coaches made adjustments and used two substitutions. Now we will see how effective the substitutions are!"