Chapter 578: New Heights
Although the opening game was broken by Feng Quan's goal, Juventus, as the hegemon of Serie A, was as calm and spicy as its nickname "The Old Lady".
Juventus, who conceded the first goal, did not immediately launch a counterattack, but also recycled the entire formation backwards. If you don't look at the score on the field, there will even be people who suspect that the leading side is them.
Juventus coach Allegri is so concerned that his own backfield will be used to expand the results of the wind, and on the other hand, the team's two strikers who started this game, Tevez and Giovinco, are not the kind of strikers who are good at grabbing points in the penalty area. If they go on a frantic counter-attack, Atletico Madrid will struggle to find a good chance on goal if they choose to drop back in defence.
Therefore, by opting for a strategic retreat to "leave" more space for the two strikers up front, Juventus may still have hope of equalising or even reversing the score.
Taking a step back, even if they lose this game, Juventus can still qualify for the next knockout stage by finishing second in the group as long as they score as many points as possible against the other two teams in the same group.
Allegri's wishful thinking is good, but how can Diego Simeone, who can lead Atletico Madrid to complete the "quadruple" (La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup), can't see the other party's intentions?
In the case that the opponent has taken the initiative to "show weakness", Diego Simeone did not let his team continue to chase hard, after all, there is still more Club World Cup to play this season, and saving physical strength as much as possible in the early stage of the season can also avoid a large number of injuries at the end of the season, or the unfavorable situation of a serious decline in the player's form to a certain extent.
So, after seeing Juventus retreat voluntarily, Diego Simeone immediately ordered his players to slow down the pace of the game and increase the back-and-forth in the midfield. Unless you see the best opportunity, you don't take it lightly.
In this way, after Feng Quan broke the deadlock on the field, neither team was able to change the score again for the remainder of the first half.
After the start of the second half, the Juventus team, which was behind the score, still adopted the tactical play of retracting the defense and waiting for the opportunity to counterattack, and the home team of Atletico Madrid naturally did not refute the good intentions of the opponent, and still insisted on controlling the ball at their own feet, and never easily launched an offensive against the front.
Halfway through the second half, when the scene and tens of millions of fans sitting in front of the TV to follow the game thought that the game was likely to end with a score of 1-0, Allegri, who had always chosen to "forbear", finally decided to give it a go.
In the 25th minute of the second half, Allegri replaced Tevez and Giovinco, who started the attack, with Almorata and Llorente, two Spanish strikers who are also good at heading points.
Immediately afterwards, Juventus, who had been attacking through successive quick passes in the midfield in the previous game, began to pass the ball more to the two wings, and then the wide players took the ball into the penalty area, in order to make full use of the impact of the two Spanish strikers. At the same time, their overall formation began to move forward.
After Juventus opted for a simpler, more direct style of play, the pressure on Atletico Madrid's defence increased, and the situation on the pitch was moving towards parity.
However, after the overall formation of the Juventus team moved forward, the gap between the back line and the goalkeeper was also larger, and this is exactly the situation that Feng Quan likes the most, after all, there is only enough space to maximize his speed advantage.
In the 33rd minute of the second half, Juventus' right wing-back Lichtsteiner's cross from the right side of the field was pushed out of the penalty area by Godin first, and then it was preempted by Raul Garcia, who was waiting at the edge of the box.
Raul Garcia didn't have to take a closer look at the situation up front after getting the ball, and sent a long pass over the top to the open space on the left side of the field. Because he knows very well that as long as he can get the ball there accurately, the "King of Speed" will definitely get the ball before everyone else.
Sure enough, before Cáceres, who was guarding the right side of the backfield, could fully speed up, Feng Quan had already unloaded the ball steadily and headed along the left side in the direction of the opponent's penalty area.
Just when the Juventus players thought that Feng Quan would choose to go to Longtan alone again, and then the overall formation converged in the direction where he was, Feng Quan suddenly transferred the ball to the right side of the front field, and then went straight into the opponent's penalty area.
Griezmann received the ball and then cut inside to the edge of the box and made a long-range shot. While Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini were both attracted to Griezmann, the French striker suddenly redirected the ball with his left foot into the space on the right.
Immediately afterwards, Juanfran who was inserted at high speed did not stop the ball and sent a very fast cross directly to the front of the goal area.
Although Bonucci, who was in charge of helping to defend the ball, moved behind him the next moment when Griezmann passed the ball to the wing, he still couldn't stop Mandzukic from flanking in front of goal to complete the header.
Buffon, who reacted quickly, blocked Mandzukic's header, but the rebounding ball was still kicked into the unguarded door by the ghostly wind.
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After taking a two-goal lead, Diego Simeone opted for the team's best counter-attacking tactics and replaced him three minutes after Feng scored the second goal.
After the departure of the wind, although the pressure on the Juventus back line dropped sharply, the deterrence of Griezmann and Mandzukic still made them dare not invest more troops in the attack.
In the end, with a brace from Fengquan, Atletico Madrid took the lead in the battle for the top spot in the group after beating Juventus, the biggest rival in the group stage.
In the other games played at the same time, Real Madrid, who won the first round, did not score the only goal of the game until the 87th minute of the second half, when Sergio Ramos scored the only goal of the game from a corner.
Barcelona, who temporarily ranked second in the La Liga standings, lost 2-3 in the away battle against Ligue 1 hegemon Paris Saint-Germain. Athletic Bilbao, who finished fourth in La Liga and qualified for the Champions League last season, was unexpectedly defeated at the feet of the little-known Belarusian team Borisov.
After the end of the group stage of this round of the Champions League, except for Atletico Madrid, which beat Juventus at home, the performance of the other three teams representing Spain in the Champions League has all attracted criticism from the Spanish media.
Atletico Madrid, which has won all its games since the start of the new season, has been crowned the "new banner of Spanish football" by many Spanish media.
Even the European and American media, which have always been unaccustomed to seeing the power of the Chinese, have to admit that the wind that has pushed Atletico Madrid to the current height is enough to be as famous as Messi and Ronaldo. If you talk about technical statistics alone, it is even above the two heavenly kings......