Bang ~ Bang ~ Bang ~

When two? As the players walked out of the tunnel one after another, a vibrating drum beat rang out all around, followed by a thunderous cheer!

Do you think this is the Allianz Arena?

Wrong, this is Southampton's Place of Glory!

Pride Square is the artificial island on which Southampton's new stadium is located.

In order to welcome the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, the club broadcast the match live on the large advertising screen on the exterior wall of the Glory Stadium, so that all interested fans gathered at the Glory Square to watch the game together.

On this day, all the shops in Glory Square were grandly opened!

In particular, the Saint Harry Bar, after a non-stop rush of work, was also completed the day before and officially moved to Glory Square.

Not only that, but the brands that settled in Honor Plaza, including Heineken, Chryron, Cadbury, Pepsi and other brands in Glory Plaza also opened on this day and carried out a huge promotional campaign.

So, this night, the Glory Square was crowded.

In front of four large screens around the stadium, thousands of fans gathered.

Dressed in Saints' jerseys and carrying all kinds of fan props, they gathered here to cheer for the Saints in Munich, Germany!

Although no official statistics have been made, at this moment, Glory Square attracted at least more than 50,000 people to gather.

So, when the two teams of players walked out of the tunnel on live TV, the entire Glory Plaza was like a volcano erupting, creating enough momentum to move the whole city.

'We've got the starting line-ups for both teams now.'

"Bayern Munich's starting goalkeeper is Thomas Kraft, a Bayern Munich academy player."

'At the back, it's Contento, Boateng, Dante and Raphinha, the midfield three are Schweinsteiger, Thiago and Lahm, and the front three are Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben.

"This lineup is also the strongest lineup of Bayern Munich this season, and the personnel are very complete."

"Southampton is also very strong."

"The goalkeeper is Manuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper who was close to Bayern Munich in 2011, but was cut off by Southampton in the middle of the way, which angered Bayern Munich's hierarchy, but also contributed to the promotion of academy youngster Kraft."

"However, in recent seasons, Kraft's performance has not been satisfactory, so Bayern Munich's pursuit of Neuer is still very enthusiastic, but Neuer, as the captain of the Saints, has always been the anchor of the Saints' backline."

'At the back, David Alaba also came through Bayern Munich's academy but was denied a chance and moved to Southampton, with a combination of Xavi Martinez and Raphael Varane at centre-back and Cesar Azpilicueta at right-back.

'Southampton's midfield is still a two-man midfield pair, a combination of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

"The three attacking players up front are Eden Hazard, Luis Suarez and Alexis Sanchez, and the centre-forward player is Ibrahimovic!"

"Interestingly, when Ibrahimovic switched from Barcelona to Southampton, he had a lot of trouble with then-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, and this time it was also the first time that the Swedish center reunited with Pep Guardiola after leaving Barcelona, so before the game, the Swedish center forward said that he would definitely use the goal to prove to Guardiola!"

"The players of the two teams are entangled with each other, and it is a crucial Champions League semi-final, so there is a lot of gunpowder on both sides before the game."

"The referee for this match was Pedro Proenza from Portugal."

When the players of the two teams lined up in front of the player tunnel, the camera swept over the players of the two teams one by one from front to back, as well as the referee group in the middle, and then came a big panorama.

At the same time, the camera also showed the two coaches on the sidelines, Pep Guardiola and Bielsa.

"We saw that Guardiola took the initiative to shake hands with Bielsa, and it is said that before Guardiola coached, he went to Argentina to ask Bielsa for coaching, and many of Guardiola's tactical concepts were also born from Bielsa."

"So, in the eyes of many people, this will be a master and apprentice? The showdown! ”

The camera goes up and down to the chairman's stand at the Allianz Arena.

"We can also see that the top management of both teams is very serious about this game!"

"This is the interim chairman of Bayern Munich, and also the chairman of Adidas, Herbert Heiner, who has been temporarily appointed as interim chairman of Bayern Munich after Hoeness resigned from all positions at Bayern Munich due to tax turmoil at the beginning of the year."

"This is Bayern Munich's CEO Rummenigge, and we can also see that Bayern Munich's honorary president, Beckenbauer, is also in the stand."

"Sitting next to them is the owner of Southampton, Yang Huan from China, who is also a strong figure in European football in recent years, and in just four years, he has brought out a strong Southampton, which is a miracle!"

"Yang Huan is surrounded by the Saints' Executive Chairman Nicolas Cortez, CEO Peter Kenyon, and Chief Operating Officer Ron Gurley.

"We also have every reason to believe that this is going to be a good matchup!"

When the TV announcer said this, there was a crisp whistle from the scene.

With a whistle from referee Pedro Proenza, the game officially began!

The entire Glory Square also burst into a thunderous cheer, and almost all the Saints fans were cheering loudly, showing solidarity with the team thousands of miles away!

…………

…………

Yang Huan's brows furrowed from the first minute of the game.

Because he found that Southampton's tactics today were a bit odd.

The starting lineup is weird, why Suarez?

You must know that in many games this season, Bielsa started at the same time with Suarez and Ibrahimovic, all of which arranged for the Uruguayan to play on the wing, and it was basically James Rodriguez who occupied the middle.

Even in some Champions League matches, Bielsa used Kaka in the midfield position.

But in this game, Kaka and James Rodriguez did not play, but let Suarez play in the middle of the front, cruising behind Ibrahimovic, which is quite puzzling.

To add insult to injury, Bielsa's side have been shrinking defensively from the start.

This is not Bielsa's style at all!

You know, the most talked about thing about the Argentine madman is his lifeless attack.

But now, as soon as you come, play defense?

Isn't that what Mourinho is?

Southampton's contraction of the defence gave way to possession.

But when Beckenbauer, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, saw this situation, his brows seemed to be furrowed deeper than Yang Huan, and he let out a long sigh and said, "This game is difficult!" ”

"yes, I didn't expect even Bielsa to become so pragmatic!" Rummenigge also smiled helplessly.

If Yang Huan wants to say that he has a very high ability to watch football, but if he compares with people like Beckenbauer and Rummenigge, it is still inferior, at least people have been dealing with football all their lives, and they have played professional football for twenty or thirty years, can it be the same?

But from their words, Yang Huan vaguely figured out a little meaning, that is, this change in Bielsa made them feel very uncomfortable, as if they were stuck in some of their weaknesses.

Something that makes the opponent uncomfortable, there must be nothing wrong with it!

Therefore, Young Master Huan laughed at this time, and he was in a good mood.

It's good to be pragmatic!

Yaya Goppei's, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona or something, reaching the Champions League semifinals is as simple as eating, but we are Southampton, it is not easy, it has been tossed for more than a hundred years, and this is a chance to reach the semi-finals, can you not be pragmatic?

Besides, Bielsa is not stupid, on the contrary, he is very shrewd.

Ever since Argentina suffered a humiliating Waterloo at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, he has been reflecting.

After coming to Southampton, he was exposed to the first-class competitions in Europe, and as he gained experience, he also continued to improve.

At least he understands that professional football sometimes has to be pragmatic!

Let's ask, the Barcelona Dream III team that is as strong as Pep Guardiola, hasn't it been pragmatic?

Isn't it pragmatic for them to desperately brush up on possession?

Besides, with Bielsa's personality and character, no matter how pragmatic he is, he can't become Mourinho!

And as the game gradually rolled out, Yang Huan gradually saw that something was coming.

The overall tactics of the Saints are mainly defensive, which is understandable, after all, facing a strong Bayern Munich, and visiting the Allianz Arena, and the first leg of the semi-finals, it is the most reasonable tactic to defend first.

But Bielsa's defense is exquisite.

When Bayern Munich got the ball, Southampton steadily shrank back, allowing Bayern Munich to press hard.

When the ball entered their own half, Ibrahimovic and Suarez withstood the Bayern Munich backline, and the defense was dominated by cutting off Bayern Munich's passing routes.

Aren't you going to have the ball?

Okay, I'll let you keep the ball, I won't fight you for the ball, as long as I can hold it, the longer you keep the ball, the more passes you make, the more likely it is to have problems, and as long as I catch your mistakes, I will resolutely counterattack.

It was only at this time that Yang Huan realized why he wanted to go to Suarez.

In terms of defending against Bayern Munich's three midfielders, Southampton also treated them differently.

The focus is on Lahm and Thiago, and the relaxation of Schweinsteiger.

This is also exquisite.

Pep Guardiola has not been happy with Schweinsteiger this season, believing that his playing characteristics are more risky, always inclined to push and have a higher turnover rate.

Stats show that Schweinsteiger concedes the ball on average one time per game, three times as many times as Lahm.

So, there was a time when Guardiola used Lahm to play as a single midfielder.

Similarly, in the defense against Bayern Munich's front trident, it is also very targeted.

Bayern Munich started with Thomas Muller in the middle, so Bielsa asked Cesar Azpilicueta and David Alaba on the flanks to defend more to prevent Ribery and Robben from cutting and letting them go down to cross.

Because you don't have a point in the middle, what's the use of your crosses?

Don't go down, don't cross, take the inside line?

Thankfully, the midfielders of Tony Kroos and Luka Modric were firmly covered at the edge of the penalty area.

As long as you cut inside, I can at least guarantee that you will have a full-back and a midfielder at the same time.

No matter how strong and good you Robben and Ribery are, is it possible that you can still bring the ball out of a few people's bags?

I'm afraid even Messi can't do this, right?

And if I get the ball right, you're in danger if I get the ball off!

Not to mention, less than eight minutes after the break, Southampton really waited for a chance.

Southampton have been beaten passively since the start of the game, with few chances to get the ball and more often than not, a hasty clearance after getting the ball.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, occupies an overwhelming advantage, constantly infiltrating and intruding towards Southampton.

But just when Ribery picked up the ball from the left and tried to cut inside to find a team-mate, Azpilicueta followed decisively and Toni Kroos flanked him, and the two moved at the same time to squeeze Ribery in the middle.

Toni Kroos looked up after the ball was cleared.

The entire Bayern Munich backfield is a large open space.

Suarez has already raised his hands in the air.

That look seemed to say, buddy, pass on time, I'm going to rush!