Chapter 049: The 'Partner' of Tacit Cooperation
Pick With Tang Zheng's volley on the line of the penalty area, Valdés scored the goal, Real Madrid equalized at the Camp Nou.
At the same time, the frenetic atmosphere at the Camp Nou has dropped significantly.
The way Tang Zheng scored also hit the home fans quite hard, and Barcelona during the Guardiola period gave the impression that the player's skills were unparalleled in the world, and the Spanish national team also won the World Series three times in 2008, 2010 and 2012 with the Barcelona team.
Shouldn't it be a unique skill for Barcelona players?
Tang Zheng has gone from the croquettes at the beginning of the game to the current hanging shot and scoring goals, all of which are the pinnacle of technical players.
After the excitement of Yang 5 commentator He Wei, he suddenly thought: "Tang Zheng fully showed his super personal ability at the Camp Nou, and all kinds of small skills emerged in an endless stream, I wonder if he can let us see more adrenal stimulation in the next game time?"
The on-site director gave Barcelona coach Martino a close-up, and Hewei changed his voice: "Barcelona at home was equalized by Real Madrid, Martino must have new tactical adjustments, otherwise once Real Madrid is smooth, the next game is likely to return to the first half." ”
However, Martino made a double-palmed downward movement towards captain Xavi in the absence of a better way, which meant that the team had to stabilize for the time being and not rush to attack.
In fact, Martino's choice is not unreasonable, Real Madrid has just equalized the score, which will inevitably boost morale, and the reckless reinforcement of the attack is likely to hit the iron plate directly, and then bruises all over the body.
Not to mention exceeding the score again, you have to snicker if you don't lose points.
As the Real Madrid players slowly walked back to their own half, Martino's eyes wandered between Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo, and he always felt that the relationship between the two was not as stiff as it seemed.
But after Cristiano Ronaldo assisted Tang Zheng to score, the two did not have an emotional outburst, and it looked more like an ordinary meaning.
Damn it!
Thinking of this, Martino shook his head helplessly.
Thinking of the few times the two have been in contact in the past 60 minutes or so, he doesn't want to believe that Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo have turned their rivalry into a jade silk, otherwise how could the whole game be so connected?
You must know that Cristiano Ronaldo is a center forward before Benzema's appearance, and there must be a direct connection with Tang Zheng to play as a striker, otherwise it is difficult for the attack to pose a direct threat to the opponent's goal.
This was also the fundamental reason why Real Madrid were scoreless for most of the first half, because Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo were not directly linked at all.
In other words, Martino is afraid of the connection between Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo's individual abilities are already terrifying, and if they are connected with each other, it will be an absolute disaster for Barcelona's backline.
The game restarted in Martino's thinking, with Messi kicking the ball at his feet to Neymar, who handed it directly to Iniesta, and the whole formation unfolded, opening up space for passes.
The yellow card of the guest just equalized the score, the momentum was high, and he ran at the expense of his physical strength, hoping to make persistent efforts to overtake the score.
Barcelona are still playing at their pace and don't seem to be in a hurry to pass the ball forward, but to the other side through the midfielders.
Real Madrid's equaliser gave Tang Zheng, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria a taste of sweetness, so the high press was full of enthusiasm.
However, Barcelona's defenders have learned from the past, and their passing has become more attentive and crisp.
But a new problem arose, and it was precisely because the play was so crisp that there were no players in the front court who could control the ball at all.
It's not that the Barcelona players are not skilled enough at their feet, but the simple handling of the ball makes it impossible for Neymar, Messi and Sanchez in the front court to get a landing in the confrontation between the tall and strong Real Madrid defenders.
Sanchez and Messi, who are about 1.7 meters tall, have excellent speed and technique, but they can't do anything about the football flying around in mid-air.
Problems on offense, problems on defense.
Martino had no choice but to replace Andres Iniesta with Alexander Song, whose role seemed to be less obvious, and Alexandre Song partnered Busquets to strengthen the midfield's interception ability.
Many Barcelona fans at the scene shook their heads when they saw the home team's adjustment, they were used to seeing Barcelona pressing the opponent, but now they have to strengthen their defense under the pressure of Real Madrid.
So it's a bit hard for a lot of die-hard Barcelona fans to accept......
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In the blink of an eye, the game came to seventy-five minutes.
The two sides attacked and defended each other, but the attack that threatened each other's goals was delayed, so much so that the live director also photographed an old Barcelona fan in the stands a little drowsy.
It's not that the game wasn't exciting enough, but the two sides are back to a balance again.
As long as the balance is not broken, it is impossible for Barcelona and Real Madrid to spare no effort in attacking, otherwise it is very likely that the attack will not score and the defense will concede the goal first.
At this point in the game, both sides have reached a critical point in terms of physical fitness.
If there is another goal, it will be difficult for the other side to score again.
Therefore, whether it is Barcelona at home or Real Madrid away, they do not want to lose to each other.
Not to mention the importance of the national derby, the league has only reached the tenth round this season, and there are still 28 rounds to come, with a high margin for error, one point for each side of the draw, and the difference in points between each other remains unchanged.
If there is a winner or loser, the points will either shrink or expand, which will be beneficial to the winning side and the losing side, but it will be an absolute disaster for the losing side.
Especially Real Madrid, who are guests, can't afford to lose!
Of course, Barcelona at the Camp Nou can't afford to lose!
The two sides have met 83 times in the league at Camp Nou, with Barcelona winning 47, drawing 17 and losing 19, scoring 165 goals and conceding 97 goals, with the last home defeat being in the 2011-2012 season, when the declining Cosmos lost to Real Madrid, who were at their peak.
It's different now, it's the first national derby of Martino's coaching career, you can't lose!
Seeing that the game was about to reach 80 minutes, Real Madrid took advantage of a dead-goal opportunity to make the second adjustment of the game.
Young striker Jesus replaced Di Maria, who had seen a significant drop in fitness, to strengthen his attacking ability on the flanks.
However, this adjustment is not surprising, whether it is Real Madrid or Carlo Ancelotti in charge, they are all looking for efficient and quick counter-attacks.
Di Maria, who played in the international break and the Champions League in midweek, has struggled to complete the tasks that Carlo Ancelotti has rigorously set out before the game, so the switch to the younger, faster Jesus is a normal change.
The frenetic atmosphere at the Camp Nou became even more frenetic as the game ticked for 80 minutes, with every fan cheering on their team.
The players on both sides of the pitch seemed to be motivated by the fans at the scene, and the number and magnitude of the forward participation in the attack increased.
Ancelotti and Martino frowned, but neither stopped the player from pressing forward.
No one wants to lose, but everyone wants to win.
Martino's confidence comes from Messi's signs of recovery, and Ancelotti's confidence comes from Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo.
As Real Madrid's manager, Carlo Ancelotti has facts that Martino doesn't know.
Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo don't cooperate with each other?
Inexistent!
Two minutes into the game, Martino returned to the dugout from the home coaching area to discuss with his assistant whether a third card should be played.
Neymar settled into Barcelona quickly, but physical confrontation and fitness were an issue.
Barcelona's offensive has declined during this period, in addition to the overall impact, and the inability of Neymar to defend on the right side of Real Madrid's attack.
After a brief exchange, Martino decided to replace Neymar with Pedro.
Not long after, Pedro changed his shirt and stood next to Martino, listening to Giorgio Pautasso's tactical explanation.
The Catalan TV commentator in the commentary seat noticed the footage given by the live broadcaster and seemed to be a little dissatisfied with Martino's last substitution: "The game has come to nearly eighty-five minutes, can the substitution time be earlier?"
In the middle of the words, Xavi's through ball in the 40-metre area did not penetrate the entire Real Madrid backline and was intercepted by Pepe.
Neymar, who was plugged in backwards, slowly slowed down and shook his head.
Tang Zheng quickly retreated two steps and reached out to Pepe, who was holding the ball at his feet, to ask for the ball.
Pepe passed the ball without hesitation, and Messi, who tried to reach out to intercept, failed to touch the football, and the football rolled towards Tang Zheng.
Xavi has a strong ability to read the game, and in the absence of Neymar and Messi, it is fruitless to rely on his own forward pressing, so he simply retreats.
At this stage of the game, the physical fitness of the players on both sides has declined greatly, so no one rushed to Tang Zheng.
Tang Zheng had a wide field of vision, and Yu Guang noticed that there was no Barcelona player in the three meters around his body, so he easily turned around to meet the ball and faced the Barcelona goal head-on.
Although Xavi did not run towards Tang Zheng, he kept an eye on Tang Zheng as he retreated, while keeping an eye on Ramos and Khedira's movements.
Tang Zheng didn't think about it so much, he saw that no one stepped forward to defend, and slammed the ball forward.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Jesse were three sharp arrows towards Barcelona's defensive half.
Xavi turned to defend Tang Zheng obviously unrealistic, so he was smart to slow down his speed to keep an eye on Khedira and Ramos, and hand over the responsibility of defending Tang Zheng to Alexander Song or Sergio Busquets.
Alexander Song, who was closer, didn't need Harvey to deliberately remind him, he moved sideways to intercept Tang Zheng.
Arisa Song, who just came off the bench, is innocent, even if he uses a yellow card to keep Tang Zheng.
Before the game, head coach Martino explained that Tang Zheng must not be allowed to play too comfortably in the transition from defense to offense.
However, no one paid attention to the running position of Cristiano Ronaldo in the defensive to offensive stage of Real Madrid, who was originally inserted forward, suddenly stopped on the spot, moved laterally, and moved closer to Tang Zheng.
Busquets only cared about the movement of Benzema and Jesse in the process of running back, and did not pay attention to the more threatening Cristiano Ronaldo at the other end, after all, Tang Zheng had not yet given Cristiano Ronaldo a threatening long pass.
"Sergio!
At that moment, Peake suddenly shouted.
By the time Busquets realised that something was wrong, Tang Zheng had already passed the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo's lateral movement.
Cristiano Ronaldo used the outside of his right foot to lead the ball forward on the run, accelerating in the opposite direction of Sergio Busquets, who had completed the turn, and stepping through the midfield.
Tang Zheng did not stop in place after passing the football, but ran to the left front with his waist as the axis, which is the position where Cristiano Ronaldo should have appeared in the counterattack from defense to attack.
Busquets had to re-twist back as Cristiano Ronaldo moved, and then chased after Cristiano Ronaldo.
Alexander Song didn't make the mistake of watching the ball and not looking at the people, he chased after Tang Zheng's running direction.
But what he didn't expect was that Tang Zheng, who had been running for more than 80 minutes, looked like he had just started running, and every step was full of strength.
At a distance of less than three meters, Alexander Song was pulled away by Tang Zheng by half a body.
At the same time, Cristiano Ronaldo slammed the ball back with his right heel.
No one thought about Cristiano Ronaldo's way of passing.
Except for Tang Zheng!
Alexander Song has a clear goal, that is, to follow Tang Zheng closely, but the area restricts his first defense.
Because Cristiano Ronaldo's heel knock was just right, rolling right from the controllable area of Busquets and Alexander Song to Tang Zheng.
Taking advantage of the time difference, Tang Zheng stopped with his right foot slightly, and then quickly bounced the ball back to Cristiano Ronaldo's running direction with the outside of his right foot.
It is equivalent to saying that Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo used the attention of Alexander Song and Sergio Busquets to pass quickly as the football shifted, buying precious time for the attack!
He Wei, the commentator of Xi Yang 5 on the spot, stood up from his seat abruptly and shouted: "Ronaldo's beautiful heel knocks! Tang Zheng made a slight adjustment and handed it to Ronaldo!"
Alexander Song and Sergio Busquets were a little dizzy from the back-to-back passes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Tang Zheng, and they almost couldn't keep up with their minds.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who received the football, entered the attacking 40-meter area, the double central defenders Pique and Mascherono looked a little overwhelmed, and the left-back Alba was affected by Jesse's forward insertion and did not dare to help defend, so Pique and Mascherano had to pay attention to Benzema while also paying attention to Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo, the 'partner' who suddenly played tacitly together.
"Woo-woo-"
It was only then that the Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou realised that the team was under great threat and immediately booed loudly, hoping to distract Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in possession of the ball.
There are even quite a few fans who close their eyes and pray to God, hoping that God will be with them at this time.
But...... Does God Really Exist?