Chapter 194: Double Line
Manchester United's Champions League group stage second round match against Atletico Madrid came to an end.
When Héctor scored his first goal in the Champions League, the entire Calderón Stadium erupted like a volcano, and everyone jumped out of their seats and cheered wildly, they saw the dawn of the team's victory again! If this match can be won, it will be Atletico's second Champions League victory after four years!
Atletico fans have been waiting for this victory for too long, having been disappointed once last week, and they don't want to be disappointed again this time – the next Champions League home game will not take place until the fifth round of the group stage on October 24, and for the anxious Atletico fans, they don't want to wait any longer!
That's why when they saw the team take the lead again, they shouted so crazy, so thoroughly!
Dick was also very excited to celebrate, he waved his fist directly under the stands, frantically waved his fist at the stands, and then hugged the assistant coaches one by one, as if he had led the team to win the championship......
Such a celebration is naturally a little disdainful in the eyes of Manchester United fans - cut, haven't you seen the world's dirt buns, isn't it just ahead? Who can be sure that you will win this game?
However, Dick immediately let everyone see his determination to win the game - David came on the field, replaced Vicente, and let David and Capdevilla guard the right side together, while Camoranesi's position retreated, leaving only one Jadel in the front court to harass, and the others all returned to defend, and must maintain the lead until the end in less than 20 minutes remaining!
In the following time, Manchester United once again grasped the initiative in the midfield, and constantly launched an attack through the opportunities created after winning the ball in the midfield, but it was constantly intercepted by Atletico Madrid, David followed Beckham's side, so that he had little space to play his cross, Capdevilla was in addition to the position and also paid attention to the defensive side of Neville, on the other side, Héctor followed in front of Giggs, Camoranesi helped defend, and in the midfield, all three midfielders defended, The edge of the penalty area was tightly protected, not only to intercept their passes, but also to intercept the long-range shots of these Manchester United players who were excellent at long-range shooting!
With such a net-like protection, it was difficult for Manchester United's attack to reach the penalty area, and Atletico Madrid stalled for time at every opportunity, and when the final whistle blew, Manchester United fans could only accept a 2-1 defeat away from home!
This allowed Manchester United to continue Manchester United's winless record against La Liga teams again, and also allowed Atletico Madrid to jump to the top of this group - in the other game, Lille defeated Olympiacos 3-1 at home, and now Atletico Madrid is first in the four-point group, Manchester United and Lille are both three points, and Olympiacos is at the bottom of the group - the situation in this group seems to be starting to get a little complicated, Atletico Madrid was forced to draw by Olympiacos, but Olympiacos lost to Lille, Lille was defeated by Manchester United in the first leg, Manchester United lost to Atletico Madrid again - now no one dares to say that they will definitely have an absolute advantage in this group and will definitely be able to qualify from the group!
'Under pressure, our players performed well. We have the ability to do well in the Champions Cup, and as long as the players can adapt to the atmosphere of the Champions Cup, I have confidence in Atletico's performance in this Champions Cup! Dick said in his post-match press conference.
Ferguson said his team was not lucky: "We're not at our best yet, Veron still needs to fit in. Lost? It's normal, Atletico are also a top team. But if we want to change, we have to pay that price, and Manchester United will get stronger and stronger, not just now. ”
Both managers expressed their satisfaction with their teams, but in the media's evaluation, it was believed that Atletico were able to win this time due to luck: "Atletico did not have much advantage in this game, Dick abandoned his previous strengths and chose to win in the ugliest way...... They were actually suppressed by Manchester United in midfield! You must know that Manchester United's midfield still has a lot of flaws, and they can play a little more beautifully! But what? As United's midfield began to advance, Atletico took the initiative to retreat, then took the lead again with a counter-attack and a set-piece, and then held on to the win...... Of course we can understand Dick, Atletico need such a win to gain confidence, otherwise the next two away games will make them sad, especially in the fourth round at Old Trafford, but if a team abandons its roots, I am afraid that there will be a lot of trouble......
Accounts differ and opinions vary.
Most of the media thought that Atletico's victory was really not good, but Dick just pouted - you scumbags! What do you know, I came to Hebei Province...... Oh no, how do you know my thoughts! You know, I'm thinking not just about this win, but also on the road, the result of this game is just right, the win, and it doesn't seem to be that big, if it weren't for the team to take the initiative to cede midfield, would Ferguson have more confidence in his five-midfield line-up in the second leg? Are you kidding!
As long as the game is won and Dick's tactical goals are achieved, Dick doesn't care if the performance is bad or not - besides, if it doesn't look ugly, can he hide from Ferguson?
In fact, in the game, the players did their best, but Dick chose a more difficult way in terms of tactical arrangement, which was also what he pondered for a long time before halftime - telling the players that it would be unrealistic for them to win hard, you must know that in the game on the field, the most taboo is careless retention, even in the top team, if you just play with an ordinary team with a casual mentality, I am afraid you will be beaten by the other party. Not to mention a team like Manchester United! So this kind of low-level mistake Dick will not make, so he thought of a compromise method, with not the most suitable tactics to fight, that is, defensive counterattack, you must know that dense defense against Manchester United is also a very dangerous thing, and at the same time it is not so easy to play a counterattack smoothly, Manchester United is used to a fast pace, their return defense is quite fast, and it is rarely penetrated by counterattacks.
Luckily, Atletico were able to do just that, holding on to United's attack while scoring on a chance that didn't count as a chance – Héctor had a lot of luck with a volley from the back post that flew into the far corner.
"Who the made me the protagonist, the protagonist should have good luck." Dick thought to himself.
The next few games don't seem to be too big for the Champions Cup, because the next week will be a league fixture, with three consecutive league games in one week, away to Betis on October 1, at home to Real Madrid on October 4, and away to Las Palmas on October 7, the most important of these three games is, of course, the home game against Real Madrid, which Dick led his team to beat at home last season, breaking Atletico's winless record in the Madrid derby. That's what really established his position in the team!
Dick will not relax in such a game - to put it mildly, as the manager of Atletico Madrid, even if he does not get any decent results throughout the year, as long as he has a good performance in the two Madrid derby, then he can continue to coach, and vice versa? Antich won the league and Copa del Rey double at Atletico Madrid, but he was fired after half a year, and the reason given by the elder Hill was that Antich could not make Atletico Madrid go further, but the actual reason was because Antich led the team to be defeated by Real Madrid......
But what is in front of Dick now is the schedule that is starting to be dense now - this is also a test for him, because Atletico Madrid's schedule last season was very loose, and it didn't seem to be dense until the last period, so Dick didn't rotate during that time, and it was no big problem to play all the games directly with the main force, but this season is different, the competition in the Champions Cup is much more intensive than the competition in the League Cup, plus the league has to end a month early, Leave time for the national team to prepare for the World Cup, so there will be a lot of double matches in a week this season, especially now, just after playing Manchester United in midweek, and then playing Real Madrid in midweek, Dick will not be able to rotate even if he does not rotate.
"Fortunately, the bench is not bad now, and it's time for those substitutes to play their part." Dick thought in his heart, the last game of the main team was more overdrawn, this weekend let them have a good rest is also a good thing, although the recent results in the league is not very good, but this point loss, now Atletico can still afford it.
In the next round of the league, Atletico Madrid rested most of the main players and sent a four-four-two combination, except for the two central defenders and goalkeeper Molina who are still the main players, the other players are all replaced by substitutes, Davy and Aguilera on the wings, Marchena and Bonovic in the middle, Haji and Jorgensen on the wings, and Kros and Torres in the attack.
Such a substitute lineup is not bad in terms of strength, but it is a bit of a problem in terms of coordination, such a large-scale rotation, the wings are new players, and the back is raised from the position of central defender, although Betis is a promoted horse, but their strength is not bad.
After 90 minutes, the score was fixed at 1-1, with Fernando Torres scoring the equaliser for Atletico Madrid, who suffered three consecutive league draws and slipped to seventh place.
"Atletico seem to be starting to run into some trouble after the early days. With the distraction of the Champions League, their league results have started to slip and for Atletico the problem now should not be in terms of quality, but in experience. Atletico's players lack experience in playing on two fronts, and although they performed well in both the league and the UEFA Cup last season, the pressure in the UEFA Cup is far less than that of the Champions Cup, and there are far fewer games than the Champions Cup, which only needs to play six games in three rounds before the winter break, while the Champions Cup has to play a group stage and the first two games of the possible second stage of the group stage, which alone is two more games than last season, plus this season's La Liga schedule is very tight. This makes Atletico have to prioritize on two fronts, and Dick obviously lacks experience in fighting on two fronts, and if this problem is not solved, Atletico's prospects for this season are not good! ”