Chapter 300: Defend to Win the Championship
Everything changed too quickly, and Atletico quickly achieved a 2-1 comeback before the end of the first half, and the fans of both sides in the stands were experiencing a double day of ice and fire.
Even the experienced Barcelona stars, who have experienced countless major tournaments, have a brief emptiness in their eyes, which is a psychological reaction of despair and powerlessness.
Antoine Griezmann's first equaliser may have left them anxious and no longer at peace, but Wen Zhihao's follow-up second strike came just in time. A half-time draw and a goal down can be a world away from the opposition. Especially with the experience of the first two reversals. Even a superstar as calm as Sergio Busquets has a slight sense of doubt.
Originally, Atletico Madrid was just a small hill on Barcelona's road to the title, and only Real Madrid was the mountain that Barcelona needed to conquer at the domestic level. As a result, no one would have thought that Atletico Madrid would replace Real Madrid so quickly, and directly grow into an existence that Barcelona can match.
What annoys the Barcelona stars even more but loses face is that Wen Zhihao spoiled their good deeds three times. Barcelona players have always been very arrogant, not because these stars have bad character, but because they are at the top of professional football. In European football, where there are many strong opponents, no more than two opponents can get into their eyes. Especially the new stars produced by La Masia's academy such as Messi and Iniesta, they are the best nobles from wealthy families in football, and it is normal to have high vision and arrogance.
But since the beginning of this season, their confidence has been eroded by Atletico Madrid, and Wen Zhihao's two consecutive strikes have caused them to have some very subtle psychological imbalances when facing Atletico Madrid today.
With this goal from Wen Zhihao, this imbalance was amplified at an accelerated pace.
The commentaries on various platforms were recalling with relish the shock brought by Wen Zhihao's solo ride, and a chaotic boo suddenly erupted in the stands. Busquets caught up from behind and pointed at Wen Zhihao's nose, although he didn't know what he was talking about, but it must not be very friendly, the players at the place of the incident gathered more and more, and the referee Lahoz also came to control the situation for the first time.
"Whatever the reason, Busquets's move is really out of grace, a goal down, there is still a chance in the second half, but this is not the demeanor of a player of his level." Garcia frowned, clearly disgusted by Professor Boo's actions.
"The Barcelona stars are on the verge of a psychological breakdown, but unfortunately there is not much time left for Atletico in the first half, and if they can score another goal before half-time, the game may be closed." He Wei commented.
Players from both sides rallied around Lahoz, with Sergio Busquets repeatedly suggesting that there was a reason for his actions, with Wen Zhihao swinging his right elbow to his nose as he accelerated his breakaway. I just deliberately reminded him to pay attention
However, Lahoz still firmly gave him a yellow card, because his initiative to provoke the incident seriously prevented the normal flow of the game, and it was obviously worse.
Wen Zhihao has already stated that he was unintentional, and he couldn't see the situation behind him at all, and Lahoz also made a verbal warning, the meaning is very clear, young people, the game is smooth, and the mood can be high, but pay attention to the scale of certain actions, and don't take it as an example.
There was one minute of stoppage time in the first half, and a minute later, Lahoz gave three long whistles to end the half-time contest.
Valverde cheered up the Barcelona players who suffered a rollercoaster blow in the dressing room in the midfield, and any Barcelona manager, in such a situation, will first think of motivating Messi, Valverde explained to Messi in a very serious tone: "Leao, you have to be closer to the goal in the second half." All your teammates will cooperate with you, and it's time for you to show off what you're capable of. This season, it is said that Ronaldo and Wen Zhihao are players with big hearts, prove for yourself that Leao Messi is the real master! ”
Valverde was busy giving the players a beating, hoping to get everyone out of the shadow of the first half, while Simeone was much more pragmatic, not saying a word of nonsense, and directly pointed out to everyone that the second half started with defense.
Wen Zhihao and Antoine Griezmann were divided into wing-back positions on the left and right, and Simeone replaced the defensive midfielder Augusto Fernandez, and formed an iron wall in the middle of the midfield with Gabi and Thomas.
……
Atletico Madrid's formation in the second half was very flexible, with Wen Zhihao and Antoine Griezmann dropping back as wing-backs at the defensive end, and the overall formation was 4-5-1, with two men rushing up to meet Costa on the counter-attack, and the formation became 4-3-3.
Such a change of formation strengthened the defensive quality in the middle, but at the expense of Wen Zhihao and Antoine Griezmann's attacking threat. Judging from Atletico's one-goal lead, Simeone is afraid of Barcelona's explosiveness, and it is understandable to choose a more conservative tactic.
In this way, the biggest victim is Griezmann, who is not a full-back in his own right, and has almost zero output on the defensive end. And Wen Zhihao playing on the side, which is equivalent to returning to his old job in the early days of his debut, especially after strengthening his physical fitness and one-on-one defense over the years, he quickly completed the role change, and the attack and defense on the right side are also booming, although most of the time is in a defensive state, but occasionally put into counterattacks, which is also extremely sharp. Barcelona had never seen Wen Zhihao play on the wing, and they all broke out in a cold sweat.
However, there are not many such scenes in the second half, it is Barcelona who dominates the attack, and the attack is very targeted at the feet of Messi, and the right side where Juanfran is located has been in a storm for a while, if there is no joint interference from Wen Zhihao, Atletico Madrid's right side is estimated to have been beaten into a sieve.
"We can't remember how long it took Atletico to push the ball past half, haha! Look at how fierce Barcelona's offensive is! But Simeone's decision to play the right midfielder to play Winn was the right one, and a couple of crucial defensive touches showed his ability to attack and defend well. In Chinese terms, Simeone's adjustment is the finishing touch! ”
Garcia joked, and it seemed that he had put a lot of effort into it, and he could even use idioms like finishing touches proficiently. This can also be regarded as the credit of Wen Zhihao, who invisibly promoted Chinese culture like Europeans.
At this time, the game was close to 85 minutes, Barcelona tried to penetrate with short passes for a long time, and the scene was lively, but the chances that could threaten goalkeeper Oblak were blocked by the defenders, and the closer to the end, the simpler their tactics became. Long-range shots from outside the box and crosses from the wings are undoubtedly the best way to save time and increase the number of attacks.
In fact, everyone knows that by this time, Barcelona is already poor in donkey skills, and can only rely on Atletico to make mistakes, or long-range shots to blast out the magic stroke.
But in the face of Atletico's highly focused Madrid, such expectations can only be hypothetical.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Alcacer's close-range stab was firmly held by Oblak, and the stoppage time was already at the end of the day, and the temperature of the Pizjuán Stadium suddenly rose again, and Atletico Madrid fans had begun to pour all their passion into the club's record-breaking League and Cup double.
Garcia had already begun to celebrate with a funny look on his face in the commentary box: "Simeone is about to make Atletico Madrid's history, and they have made Barcelona's luxurious forward group useless with their stoic defence. In this age of strikers, Atletico Madrid have taught us that the adage from Italian football philosophy that defending wins titles is not out of date. ”
"It was a little bit worrying, but the result was good, you don't have to criticize Simeone's choice in the second half, the tactics that can win the game are good tactics."