Chapter 462: On the Edge of the Cliff (Asking for a Monthly Pass)
Other teams are waiting for Inter Milan to attack and defend passively, but Barcelona is active with the ball.
The ball is not at Lu Wenbin's feet, so Lu Wenbin naturally can't break through and can't create a free kick opportunity.
Even if the ball is occasionally cut off by Inter Milan, Barcelona will actively counter-attack the whole team, and often the ball is broken back by Barcelona before it reaches Lu Wenbin's feet.
Barcelona's Tiki-Taka not only has high requirements for ball control, but also for full-court pressing.
It was clear that Barcelona's idea was to drag a 0-0 draw home away from home with a ball-defended and return to Camp Nou for another showdown in the second leg.
Mourinho has seen this.
After returning to Camp Nou, Barcelona has always been more liked by UEFA, the referee is more biased towards Barcelona, and with the superb acting skills of La Masia Film and Television Academy, Mourinho really does not have the confidence to win Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Half an hour later, Barcelona still had 75% possession, but they were mostly passing in the midfield and rarely playing to the front.
Sometimes the back and forth of the two defenders is not only booed by the fans at the scene, but even many commentators who used to think that Barcelona is playing technical football can't stand it, and the criticism continues.
However, the Barcelona players on the pitch will not be affected by the boos. As for the commentator's criticism, they couldn't even hear it, so they didn't even pay attention to it.
Barcelona had a good share of the ball but didn't move forward easily.
Inter Milan played defensive counterattacks, had low possession, couldn't get the ball, and naturally had very few offensive opportunities.
Half an hour into the first half, both teams combined for a pitiful 3 shots on goal.
Barcelona had two shots on goal, one of which was from Messi that hit the woodwork, but did not score and was saved by Cesar.
Inter had just one shot on goal in 30 minutes, and it was Samuel Eto'o who fired a long-range shot from outside the box.
With football controlled by Barcelona most of the time, Lu Wenbin's few touches of the ball in half an hour were ordinary passes and catches, and he didn't even have a shot on goal.
The situation is more difficult for Inter Milan.
Inter Milan played defensive counterattacks, and the front court generally had two strikers, Lu Wenbin and Eto'o, to counter-attack.
But in the face of Barcelona, whose ball control skills have reached their peak, Lu Wenbin and Eto'o's counter-robbery can only become harassment, and when they are almost unsuccessful, they have become monkeys in the monkey game of Barcelona's backfield players.
And the teammates in the midfield and backfield did not dare to easily press to help Lu Wenbin and Eto'o.
Because Barcelona midfield masters Xavi, Iniesta and breakthrough king Messi are waiting for the Inter defense to show flaws!
As soon as the defensive line presses forward and there is a hole in the back, Barcelona will speed up the passing tempo and suddenly hit the front court.
With Xavi and Iniesta's passing skills, as well as Messi's breakthrough ability, any team facing Barcelona will be fatal.
As a result, although Mourinho saw Guardiola's intentions, he did not dare to let the team's backline act rashly.
A draw is an acceptable result, but if the defence is allowed to help steal in advance and reveal the flaws, it may create an attacking opportunity for Barcelona.
Amid the boos of the Inter fans throughout the stadium, Barcelona firmly held on to the ball until the end of the first half.
Lu Wenbin only ushered in the first shot from outside the forbidden area in the 39th minute, but was blocked by Pique, who rushed next to him, and the ball was blocked from the bottom line.
This was the first time Lu Wenbin started in professional competition, and only had one shot on goal in the first 45 minutes of the first half.
At half-time, the commentators supporting Barcelona dismissed this as a huge success for Pep Guardiola and Barcelona's tactics.
Inter Milan and neutral commentators have called Barcelona's backfield an ugly football, contrary to Barcelona's technical football label.
In the dressing room, Mourinho thought about it for a long time, and the gambling factor in his heart prevailed.
As a result, Mourinho asked the whole team to press forward in the second half, strengthen the pressing, and strive to break the ball in the front court and play a counterattack on the spot.
Including Lu Wenbin, all the players were jubilant.
In fact, everyone played very aggrieved in the first half.
Barcelona's possession defense, or backward foot defense at the back, made everyone feel quite aggrieved.
Now the head coach finally asked everyone to press forward and grab the ball as a whole, and not watch the opponent fall in the backfield, which is quite exciting.
Lu Wenbin and Eto'o naturally raised their hands in support.
They didn't understand the tactical issues, but the two were very angry in the first half by the Barcelona backfield players.
The laughter of the Barcelona fans in the stands also annoyed the two.
Now, the manager has finally let the whole team press forward to support them, and in the second half, Inter will definitely have more opportunities to break the ball in front of them and counterattack, which will be beneficial to Lu Wenbin and Eto'o.
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and fought again, and Inter Milan pressed forward in the overall formation according to Mourinho's tactical arrangement, and also began to press all over the field.
The game suddenly became intense, and the neutral commentators and spectators suddenly lifted their spirits: this was finally a normal game.
The Inter fans in the stands were also excited, cheering loudly for Lu Wenbin and others.
Inter Milan's whole team pressed forward, which really made Barcelona nervous, and they no longer dared to tease the monkey in the backfield.
Because not only Lu Wenbin and Eto'o, but also Sneijder, Stankovic, Biabiani and others pressed up to grab the ball, Puyol, Pique and others could no longer easily fall in the backfield.
Of course, Barcelona have been able to develop the ball to the point where they are now, and it is impossible to easily crack it with the opponent's full-court pressing.
Inter Milan's formation pressed forward and pressed all over the field, although forcing Barcelona to speed up the passing and receiving speed, but also increased their chance of mistakes, but Inter Milan's own defense must also show flaws.
Xavi and Iniesta's passes and Messi's breakthroughs and shots are not in vain.
As a result, in the 68th minute, Inter Milan's full-court counter-attack had not yet achieved results, and Barcelona instead used Inter Milan's formation to press forward to play an efficient counterattack.
Xavi dodged Zanetti's interception with a through ball and hit behind Lucio and Samuel to break through the entire Inter defence.
Messi successfully countered offside and received Xavi's through ball behind Lucio.
Despite Lucio's best efforts to chase back and even reach out to pull Messi, Messi managed to finish at the top of the arc of the big no-go, before he was pulled down by Lucio.
The ball flew past Cesar's right and into the back of the net.
Messi scored ahead of Lu Wenbin and Barcelona not only took a 1-0 lead away from home, but also scored an away goal.
Inter Milan were pushed to the brink. (Ask for a commuter pass)