After more than 20 minutes of play, everyone has already discovered that Manchester City is not using the so-called 'OS-F' offensive football system tactics in the game, but a set of slightly complex defensive counterattacks!

But a defensive counterattack is a defensive counterattack!

No matter how complicated it is, this style of play always makes the game not good-looking, and no matter how high the technical strength of the two teams is, it is impossible to make the defense exciting, so many media and fans are very dissatisfied.

Those involved in the game were very surprised.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard is one of them, once as a player, Rijkaard was one of the famous "Dutch Three Musketeers", winning numerous trophies for AC Milan and the Dutch national team alongside Ruud Gullit and Basten.

After retiring as a player, Rijkaard was Hiddink's assistant coach, finishing fourth in France with the Netherlands, before succeeding Guus Hiddink as coach for the 2000 European Championship on Dutch soil.

Previously, the Dutch team was met with stubborn resistance from the Italian team in the semi-finals, and after a thrilling game, the Dutch team was unfortunately eliminated, and Rijkaard subsequently resigned as national team manager.

Despite some failures as Dutch manager, Rijkaard took over as head coach of Spain's Barcelona team in 2003 and made a strong mark on the team.

Barcelona won La Liga for two consecutive seasons and won the European Cup in 2006.

Rijkaard also won the title of "World's Best Coach" that year. 、

A look at Rijkaard's experience shows that he is a truly 'practical' successful coach, as a professional player, he is known as the 'Dutch Three Musketeers', arguably one of the most successful professional players, as a manager, he started as the manager of the Dutch national team, and has also achieved considerable success in Barcelona.

Rijkaard's idea was 'very high-end', and he insisted on substituting the Dutch all-attacking and all-defensive concept into Barcelona, and during his years in charge of Barcelona, he also successfully completed 'the penetration of this tactical concept'.

After his success, Rijkaard became even more convinced.

He insisted that 'football can be played beautifully and practically', and this is the case with Barcelona now, the combination of Spanish and Dutch football styles has made Barcelona quite strong, they have become one of the strongest teams in Europe, and they are the strongest contenders for the Champions League every year.

In fact, Rijkaard is also very much looking forward to playing Manchester City, because he always believes that Wan Sheng has the same coaching philosophy as him.

Wan Sheng and Rijkaard, the two have an age gap, they are not coaching in the same league, they have not played against each other, and they don't even know each other, and their growth experiences can be said to be very different...... Even if there are so many gaps, one thing is enough, that is, Manchester City, led by Wan Sheng, has used offensive football to fight a path to success in the Premier League, which emphasizes confrontation and rhythm!

Rijkaard believes that Wan Sheng will definitely be the adherent of the concept of attacking football, and for this match, the two sides will definitely dedicate a classic battle to the world that can go down in history.

Rijkaard's idea was good, but when it came to the game, he found that it was not the case.

I seem to lack knowledge of that Chinese?

Manchester City did not play attacking football at all, but used tough, even some rough defense against Barcelona!

"Defensive counterattack?"

Rijkaard's face was full of disbelief, he kind of didn't want to believe it was true, the game was a little too far from what he thought of as a 'classic offensive football battle'.

For a while, the Dutch couldn't even accept it.

Also unacceptable are Barcelona fans, who also believe that this will be a classic attacking battle, not as ugly as Barcelona will be when they meet other Premier League teams...... But now they have found themselves wrong, with City simply not playing by the same pattern as other Premier League sides, with a counter-attacking style of play against Barcelona.

Some Barcelona fans are feeling their hearts broken.

Some of them even praised the opposing coach before the game, believing that the other side is good at developing players, and the attitude towards Barcelona players is also very friendly, and Manchester City's tactics are similar to Barcelona, because many people even think that if Rijkaard leaves the managerial position, then this young Chinese is likely to coach Barcelona.

He will be the future head of Barcelona!

Now Barcelona fans don't think that way anymore, and looking at the game on the field, they are all a little incredulous. Why don't you play the good-looking, good-looking football, but play the game with tough confrontations and ugly defensive counterattacks?

What exactly is in the mind of this Chinese?

Many fans couldn't accept it for a while.

The Camp Nou commentator also said, "We all thought it was going to be a feast of attacking football, but by now we can be sure that City are going to be on the counter-attack. Why is that? ”

That's right!

Why?

In the Champions League, Barcelona and the Premier League teams have a lot of games, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc., when they play against Barcelona, most of them use defensive play, but the effect is not very good, the game is ugly not to mention for the time being, and it is difficult to beat Barcelona in the end.

Even in La Liga, there are some small balls that will play against Barcelona and will use defensive counter-attacking play, so Barcelona is still very experienced in breaking up the defense, and the strong midfield and technical ability are enough to make them not afraid of any solid defense.

Therefore, in the eyes of many people, Wansheng's choice is very unwise.

If not to beat Barcelona...... Could it be that this Chinese, or the whole of Manchester City, is afraid of Barcelona? Afraid of Barcelona's attacking prowess? In order to concede fewer goals away from home and then go back home to decide the winner, they chose to defend and counter-attack?

This...... It really makes sense!

Many British media reporters nodded frequently in discussions, and they all felt that this was the real answer.

They felt that it was a good choice, after all, this is the Camp Nou, and it will be too difficult for Manchester City to take away the victory from the Camp Nou and concede a few fewer goals.

It's wise to go back to Manchester Stadium and decide the winner!

――――

It didn't take long for many to think that Manchester City were trying to hold on and save the suspense for the second leg at the Manchester Stadium to beat Barcelona, but as the game progressed, they realized they were wrong.

After the players of both teams gradually got into the game, City's defensive counter-attacks began to work.

Manchester City's defensive counterattack is not a traditional stubborn defense of the penalty area and goal.

They have a lot of movement, they are very tough defensively, and they have frequent physical contact with Barcelona players, especially against Messi.

When Messi just received the pass, he felt a huge impact coming, he finally stabilized his body, controlled the ball at his feet, and when he wanted to pass the ball to his teammates, his teammates had already run past the best position.

Then Messi felt that the defender next to him was interfering with him with his hands and feet.

Messi is very uncomfortable.

After all, he is not the future international superstar, he just emerged in Barcelona, so he didn't know what to do in the face of this kind of tough defense, so Messi waited for his teammates to pick him up, but Elano Brummer, who was standing behind him, would not let him go so easily.

Elano Brummer was born in Shakhtar, and compared to those stars who became famous at a young age, he is still a little unknown, but his experience in the Ukrainian league has given him more 'small action experience' than others, so when Messi was found to be hesitant, Brummer kicked the opponent's right foot.

Messi suddenly felt a huge pain.

He couldn't control the ball for a while, the football was easily stabbed away by Bloomer, Messi wanted to wave his hand to signal the referee to foul the opponent, but the referee ignored him.

This scene was seen by everyone, but not many people noticed Brummer's small movements.

Wan Sheng didn't notice either.

However, when he sensed that Bloomer's break seemed a little too easy, he guessed what Bloomer had done, and he couldn't help but laugh.

In this game, he started Brummer, and the focus was on his defensive ability.

Compared to David Silva, Brummer's offensive ability is much worse, but his defensive ability is much better, especially one-on-one defense, and his experience is by no means comparable to Silva.

It's up to Brummer to deal with a very skilled newcomer like Messi...... It's in the right place!

――――

Brummer cherishes his chance to start.

Among Manchester City's three lines, the competition in the midfield is the fiercest, and as a midfielder, he has to face the competition of Morris, Silva, Ozil, Ljungberg and others, it is not easy to occupy a place, in the Champions League, this is only his second start, Wan Sheng gave him the task, the most important thing is to defend, especially against Messi.

Brummer remembered Wansheng's advice, so he paid great attention to Messi in the game, tried his best to do his job, and he knew that if he could perform well, he would definitely have more opportunities to play in the next Champions League.

That's very attractive!

Until Manchester City can reach the Champions League final, there are only two games left, and these two are the Champions League semi-finals and finals!

This kind of play in this kind of game is what every professional player wants, the opportunity is right in front of him, and he must cherish it, so in fact, among the 11 people in Manchester City's starting line-up, Brummer is the most motivated to work hard.

His efforts have borne fruit.

Messi has not done much in the game under his defense, and the whole Barcelona team has also played any threats.

There's a saying that 'offense is the best defense', but when offense is blocked, the opportunity becomes the opponent's.

So when Barcelona's attack is blocked, Manchester City have a chance. (To be continued.) )