Chapter 109: Intense pre-game preparations!
With the Chelsea and Liverpool game over to a moment, fans are turning their attention to Spain and to Camp Nou, where a battle is about to begin. Will Barcelona win at home and lay the groundwork for a final, or will Real Madrid continue to hold the winning banner high and advance to a third trophy?
Fans are eagerly awaiting!
Samuel Eto'o once again made a bold statement: "We will win 3-0 against Real Madrid at Camp Nou and firmly advance to the Champions League final!" β
Not to be outdone, Don exclaimed: "The victory belongs to Real Madrid!" β
Rijkaard said cautiously: "Tonight our goal is to win, and as for the scoreline, I think 1-0 will do. β
Schuster said proudly: "No one can stop us from reaching the final, no one can stop us from our ambition to win the treble!" β
Major media outlets sent reporters to Camp Nou to cover the game in all aspects. According to statistics, a total of 700 journalists came to Barcelona. Once again, the members of the "Anti-Don League" met for the last meeting of the season to determine how to fight the Don Absolutely.
They made a variety of detailed plans, such as how to report Barcelona's home win and how to report Barca's home defeat. Barcelona eliminated Real Madrid and advanced to the final, how to criticize Tang Jue and so on.
The meeting was a success, and everyone agreed that a season is coming to an end, and preventing Real Madrid from winning the Champions League is the biggest task, and they do not hesitate to use all kinds of resources to attack Tang Jue. For example, Real Madrid eliminated Barcelona to advance to the final, so he will use his lawsuit with TVE to distract fans.
In their opinion. The possibility of TVE winning the lawsuit is very high, after all, Tang Jue's breach of the contract was the first to cause TVE to suffer a lot of economic losses. Reporting on the lawsuit can not only distract fans, but also disturb Tang Jue's heart.
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The Champions League semi-finals are about to start, and the air inside Real Madrid has become tense, and the young players seem very nervous. Cannavaro played the role of his veteran player at this time, finding players who seemed nervous to talk to and using his experience to relieve the excessive tension of his teammates.
Yaya Toure, who reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time, is his top target, and in Cannavaro's view, the new Ivory Coast star. He has become a key player in Real Madrid's midfield. Offensive and defensive balance is the main member of the team's offensive and defensive ability, and his play has a great impact on the team's victory or defeat.
For Cannavaro personally, the Champions League was a dream that never came true. Whether it's at Juventus or Real Madrid. He hasn't tasted the Champions League. Age is increasing day by day. His form is also slipping. It's no longer the same as the one in Juventus and Italy.
If he can't win the Champions League now, he may regret it for the rest of his life, and he will never be able to stand on the top podium of the Champions League. Cannavaro's desire for the Champions League. Not at all smaller than Henry.
In addition to the tension of the young players in the squad, he is also working hard to improve his form in order to perform well in the game and help the team.
As for Tang Jue, he has nothing to keep his fighting spirit high, and after every training session, he has to practice free kicks. In his opinion, as his fame increases, the opponent's defense against him will become tighter and tighter. Breaking through with the ball, causing a foul on the opponent, and then breaking the opponent's goal with a direct free-kick, he wants to design a new scoring pattern for himself.
As long as his free-kick skills are exquisite enough, the opposing defender will be afraid when he fouls, which will also bring him more opportunities to break through.
The Real Madrid players are in full swing preparing for this big game, and the Barcelona side has not stopped. Rijkaard deliberately held a meeting of the whole team in the locker room after training on the morning of the 22nd. He's going to unify the team's thinking and develop the right tactics.
The defeat in the Copa del Rey taught him that it was a mistake to put most of his forces into attack in order to beat Real Madrid in a big way. Against Real Madrid, who are efficient and sharp on the counter-attack, you must not concentrate all your energy on attacking. He couldn't find a second way to beat his opponent other than the balance of offense and defense.
But as soon as his views were spoken, Eto'o objected, with Cameroon's number one star believing that attack was the only way forward. He even used last season's second-leg match between Milan and Bayern Munich as an example.
At that time, Milan had problems at the back, and Ancelotti listened to the advice of Rooney and others, played attacking football at the Allianz Stadium, and at the end of the game it was 7-7, thus eliminating the opponent. We have no problems at the back, and this is our home stadium, if we don't attack big and take the lead, in the second leg, it will be difficult to win! β
This is not the first time Eto'o has opposed Rijkaard's tactics in the dressing room, and the air in the dressing room has become tense. Rijkaard shook his head and said: "We're not Milan, we don't have those sharp attacks. Enough lessons from the Copa del Rey and I don't want another defeat. β
Samuel Eto'o is not happy, what does it mean not to have the same sharp attack power as Milan? This is obviously looking down on people.
"Coach, our attacking power is no worse than that of Milan at that time!"
"As long as we have a reasonable tactic and after conceding the ball in the frontcourt, we immediately counter-attack and slow down their attack, and their quick counter-attack will not be able to play. We're going to get a big win! β
As the leader and captain of the dressing room, Puyol felt it was time to speak: "Eto'o's defensive tactics are workable, we have to slow down their counter-attack, the players up front should pay attention to Guti's marking, he is the first point for Real Madrid to launch a quick counter-attack. His long balls at the back are a weapon for Real Madrid's counter-attack, and limiting his long balls can limit Don's counter-attacking speed. β
"As for positional warfare, we are confident to contain him!"
Samuel Eto'o nodded happily, Puyol was the leader of the Barca dressing room, and he was of course happy to be praised by the leader, as if he had won a battle.
Rijkaard's brow furrowed, what does that mean? Is it in favor of Eto'o? To support Samuel Eto'o is to oppose him.
"As for the balance of attack and defence, I think the coach is right. Real Madrid's point of attack is in addition to Don. There are also Henry and Ribery, who are often underestimated. If we think that containing Don will curb Real Madrid's attack, we are wrong. β
'I think so highly of Thierry Henry, some people might disagree with me and maybe say, didn't he not score a goal last time at Camp Nou? He also failed to score in the Copa del Rey a week ago. β
"Real Madrid played with one man less in the Copa del Rey, and Thierry Henry took the initiative to drop back into midfield. Alongside Sneijder in the defensive midfield. He was sacrificing himself. Fulfillment of Tang. His attack power, I think everyone knows it. Two seasons ago, Arsenal visited the Bernabeu and Thierry Henry started in midfield. Five Real Madrid players in a row. Hit the ball into the goal. β
That scene is still vivid. We can't underestimate him. As for Franck Franck Ribery, he had a good season at Camp Nou. One goal, one assist, helped Real Madrid to get out of the way. β
"These two people are ignored under the aura of Don. If we attack aggressively and focus our main defensive focus on Don, then those two will have a chance to break our goal. β
"So, we have to balance offense and defense, and in addition to attacking, we have to pay attention to defense."
After Puyol finished speaking, the BarΓ§a dressing room fell silent. Rijkaard thought for a moment, then looked at Harvey and asked, "What do you think?" β
Xavi thought for a moment and said: "It's not a big problem in attack, we are confident that we can break into the opponent's goal. As for the defense, I still have concerns. We have to have a detailed defensive plan. For example, Ribery breaks through on the side, how to defend on the side? How do you defend in the middle? How to curb Don with the ball? For example, the front court failed to stop Guti's long pass, how should we defend and so on. β
"I suggest a group discussion where the attacking players are divided into groups and discuss how to counter-attack on the spot if they attack and lose the ball up front. The defenders are divided into groups and discuss how to defend well in various situations, if they are involved in the offense. β
"After the group has discussed, they will gather together for a meeting, synthesize the opinions of the two parties, and finally the coach will make the overall arrangement."
Xavi's view was supported by many players, with Rijkaard being the last to say: "Okay, then follow Xavi's advice. After the training this afternoon, we will divide into two groups to discuss, and after the training tomorrow morning, we will gather together and work out the most difficult tactics together! β
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If they fail to achieve results in the Champions League, Barcelona will be empty. Real Madrid is holding the Copa del Rey and La Liga titles, and if they advance to the Champions League final, Rijkaard can only resign.
He didn't want to leave BarΓ§a in this way. You must know that after the defeat of the Copa del Rey, Barcelona President Joan Laporta has already talked to him. The president of Barcelona gave him a death order to eliminate Real Madrid and advance to the Champions League final. Although Laporta did not say anything about the consequences of Barca's defeat, he understood it.
If the treble battle is a complete failure, he himself will not have the face to stay in the position of Barcelona manager. The Champions League became a lifesaver for him, and he chose to gather the wisdom of everyone to achieve the goal of the Champions League. Doing so, on the one hand, can make the players more clear about the tactics of the game, and on the other hand, it can also ease the conflict in the dressing room.
After he proposed a balanced strategy today, didn't Eto'o start to oppose it? If this happened in the pre-match meeting, then Barcelona would be finished.
In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Manchester United, and many thought that United would knock out Real Madrid to advance to the semi-finals. Schuster called the locker room leaders to discuss countermeasures, and the results were very good. At this point, Rijkaard is taking almost the same approach, but with a wider range of players, calling all the players to discuss what to do.
There are many big names in the big clubs, and these big names are usually proud and have their own opinions, and they sometimes insist on their own opinions and stir up trouble in the team.
If a manager can't balance the dressing room, he's doomed to fail. Even a coach like Alex Ferguson, who has the highest authority in the dressing room, sometimes has to balance the opinions of the dressing room.
The same is true for Carlo Ancelotti, who won the Champions League in a row, won three Champions League titles in four years, and became a legendary coach in the Champions League. He will also balance the dressing room and listen to more opinions. Some people say that the reason for Ancelotti's success is that in addition to being a master tactician, the balanced dressing room is another weapon of his success. (To be continued......)