On 22 May, three days before the final, the entire Manchester City squad departed from Manchester for Lisbon to prepare for the final and most important game of the season.

When the team arrives at their hotel, Lin Quan meets a group of unexpected guests – Maria, Marius, Valentina and other three younger siblings.

"Brother!!"

After his sister Maria saw Lin Quan, she rushed over and gave him a warm hug, and also used her mobile phone to take a selfie with the two.

Behind Maria, Marius and Valentina did the same, ran over and became the pendant on Lin's body.

"Maria, Marius, why are you here?"

Lin Quan asked as he picked up the youngest Valentina, touched her head as before, and reached out to scratch her squeaky socket.

The little girl liked to play like this the most when she was a child, and when she was teased by Lin Quanyi, she immediately giggled.

"Dad said he was going to watch the game, and Mom proposed to bring everyone over to cheer you on, hehe, we all agreed!"

Maria skillfully uploaded the selfie photo she had just taken to her social account, and couldn't help but scream - the best star in the world!

It can be seen that Maria is very proud of her brother, so proud that she can't help but show it off.

"Oh? Are they coming too? Why don't you see them? ”

Lin Quan hugged Valentina and looked in the direction of the corridor, but did not see the two familiar figures.

"They went to the front desk to check in, and we stayed at this hotel too!"

Maria specially told Lin Quan the news, and this hotel was specially selected after they heard the news of Manchester City's stay.

The purpose is to get closer to Lin Quan, so that their family can be neatly organized.

"Okay, let's go, take me to your room!"

Manchester City have chartered the middle two floors of the hotel, and the room they booked by Guardiola is certainly not on these two floors.

In order not to disturb the rest of his teammates, Lin Quan chose to take the initiative to find them.

When Lin Quan arrived, Guardiola and Sierra had just checked in and were moving their luggage to the hotel room.

There are still a few days before the start of the game, and their family is dragged with their families, and the luggage of the five people adds up to a lot of luggage.

Lin Quan said hello to Guardiola and Serra, and took the initiative to help after putting down Valentina.

After the two of them moved their things in, Serra disliked their carelessness and was afraid of losing order, so she kicked the two of them out and tidied up in the room by herself.

The two of them were really not good at these things, so they simply ran outside and chatted.

"Are you sure about the finals?"

Guardiola's team was eliminated by Atletico Madrid, so for Atletico Madrid, Guardiola actually has a deep study in his heart.

It just so happened that Lin Quan's team reached the final, so as a person who came over, he could teach him some experience or something.

"Let's open it five-five, Atletico Madrid's defensive ability is so strong, the top five leagues, even you have been kept clean sheets by them, if we dare to say that we will win, it must be a lie!"

The contest between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid is known as a contest between spear and shield by the outside world.

Manchester City's attacking firepower this season is evident, with 127 league goals at the top of the top five leagues, 23 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.

On the other hand, Atletico Madrid also relied on a strong defense to pass all the way to the final.

So, it's a collision between two teams with very different styles.

Even before the game even started, the outside world could already guess what tactics the two teams would adopt.

Atletico Madrid must still be the same set of high pressing and defensive counterattacks, while Manchester City must be holding high the banner of attack, as for what offensive means to use, it depends on Pellegrini's adjustment.

"Well, Atletico's defense is very characteristic and it inspires me a lot!"

Pep Guardiola admires the distinctive defensive system developed by Simeone at Atletico.

If it's just a defensive counterattack, there may be nothing new, Mourinho is about to use up the defensive counterattack, and when he was in charge of Barcelona, he encountered many teams in the league and the Champions League that played defensive counterattacks.

But Atletico's defensive counter-attack is very different from the average defensive counter-attack!

Instead of shrinking into their own half, they put bold pressure on the three lines and pressed high, making it difficult for the opponent's attack to organise and even hold the ball.

In the semi-finals, Bayern suffered a lot.

The opposing players' diligent running, frantic pressing and brutal fouls shattered Bayern's attacking rhythm and the midfielder could barely hold the ball, let alone play the passing effect that Guardiola wanted.

In the final, Atletico will certainly use this trick against Manchester City as well.

Moreover, they have just played a game against Barcelona and have a lot of experience to limit the performance of players like Lin Quan.

So Guardiola thinks that Lin Quan's performance in this game may not be particularly good, at least not like he did in the previous games!

After listening to Pep Guardiola's explanation and analysis, Lin Quan has a certain understanding of Atletico's defensive and offensive system.

It is indeed a difficult team to deal with, and he has also seen the original final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

To be honest, Real Madrid won very lucky.

After Atletico Madrid lost striker Diego Costa in just 9 minutes of the opening game, they actually took the lead in scoring and made Real Madrid's midfielder very uncomfortable with a fierce defense.

If Ramos hadn't scored with a header in the third minute of stoppage time to pull Real Madrid up from the edge of the cliff, then hold on for more than 100 seconds and the championship would have been Atletico Madrid!

However, Real Madrid, which played extremely hard in regular time, scored 3 goals in a short period of time after extra time, and finally defeated Atletico Madrid with an aggregate score of 4:1 and won the cup smoothly.

And the reason for Atletico's poor performance in extra-time is simple, the players are physically strong.

For the high press tactic to be effective, it requires the players to run tirelessly and widely.

Create a numerical advantage in a local area with the ability to run, so as to break the ball and play a counterattack.

But everyone is a professional player, and the running ability is not too different.

If you use too much energy in the high press, you will definitely not have the strength to run later.

For Simeone's side, 90 minutes is already the limit.

If someone can withstand their 90 minutes of attack without losing, it will be the end of Atletico once the game goes to extra time.

As a latecomer, Lin Quan certainly knows this weakness of Atletico Madrid.

However, he is not sure if his side will be able to hold on to their unbeaten run of 90 minutes in regulation time, given that City have never been a strong defensive.

"In this game, I suggest that you play without a striker, withdraw the striker, increase the number of midfielders, Atletico Madrid will definitely fight with you in the midfield, without the support of the midfield, you can't get the ball in the front, but will be completely locked by the opponent's defenders."

Lin Quan was thoughtful about Guardiola's words, and he was very familiar with the set of Guardiola without a striker, but in Bayern's lineup, there was a lack of a character similar to Messi.

Therefore, Pep Guardiola's tactical reform at Bayern has a mixed reputation, and the abuse in the league is stable, but his record in the Champions League is not good.

Although it defeated Manchester United and Chelsea, it was swept by Atletico Madrid, and the opponent was not a giant, which made it difficult for many Bundesliga fans, especially Bayern fans, to accept.

We were still invincible in the Champions League last season, and it has only been a year since we couldn't even play Atletico Madrid?

If you can't kick it, you can't forget it, but you haven't scored a single goal?

You must know that before Pep Guardiola came to Bayern, Bayern had the title of tragedy maker, attacking was their forte, and scoring goals was never a problem.

As a result, all the blame was thrown on Guardiola's head.

Who told him to take over a championship team?

"If you play without a striker, you should put players with speed and breakthrough ability on both wings, and they are still very active in defense, and make full use of the width of the court......

It can be seen that Guardiola really put in a lot of effort after the loss.

He summed up some tactics against Atletico, but they have not been tested in actual combat, and I don't know if it will work.

Before the two could finish talking, Serra packed up her things and walked out of the room.

Seeing that Guardiola was still here babbling non-stop, he immediately interrupted Guardiola's words:

"Okay, you're not the coach of Manchester City, don't talk about it here, it's not good to delay Lin's rest!"

Pep Guardiola was a little embarrassed to keep his mouth shut, he was used to it, and when he had the opportunity to explain tactics and his football philosophy, he couldn't help but like to discuss with others.

"Lin, you go back early to rest, let's go shopping and play in Lisbon in the next few days, I won't bother you, and after the game is over, we will return to Spain together!"

Since Lin Quan went to the UK to play, their family has not been together neatly for a long time.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, they have to get together.

Because in a week, it's training day for the Spanish national team again.

Once he participated in the national team's training camp, Lin Quan would not be able to go home in the next month.

Because, there is less than a month left until the official start of the World Cup!

"Well, okay, if I'm free, I'll come and play with you!"

Lin Quan has indeed been out for a while, and he needs to hurry back, otherwise the Manchester City team leaders and coaching staff should be in a hurry.

Before leaving, Lin Quan thought of something and asked:

"By the way, have you bought tickets for the finals?"

"I bought it, it's still the closest stand to the stadium!"

Marius took out his ticket and respectfully handed it to his brother.

Lin Quan took a look, good guy, this ticket is really not cheap!

A ticket costs 650 euros, and a family of five travels together for more than 3,000 euros.

If these tickets were bought from scalpers, the price would have to be doubled!

That's more than a month's income for many Spanish families!

However, Guardiola is not the one who is short of money, and Lin Quan does not feel sorry for him.

……

Before the final, Manuel Pellegrini struggled with the team's starting line-up.

Based on his research on Atletico, he feels that Atletico will definitely fight Manchester City in midfield.

If they are to control the midfield, then De Bruyne and Kroos will have to replace at least one.

If these two are on the field at the same time, it will have too much impact on City's defence.

But who is better?

Kroos' role in the central midfield position is very important and helps the team a lot.

If he were to be replaced, City would be short of someone who could control the tempo of the game.

As for Kevin De Bruyne, his playmaking ability up front, especially his ability to pass the ball, is something that City has never found anyone else to match his level.

If he is replaced, Manchester City's attacking ability will inevitably be greatly weakened.

So, is there any way to get both of them to be present at the same time?

He had previously tried in the league and Champions League, playing as a defensive midfielder to protect Kroos and wipe De Bruyne's ass.

But the effect is not very good, Yaya Toure is an all-round midfielder, attacking more than defending.

Professional matters are best left to professional people.

And the defensive back, the best choice is naturally Fernandinho!

So, should Fernandinho be included in the starting line-up?

Manuel Pellegrini was a bit hesitant because of the long suspension and the fact that Fernandinho and De Bruyne and Kroos had not combined much, and the chemistry between the three was very problematic.

If you send him on the field, it is likely to have a chain reaction, not only will you not be able to achieve the effect you want, but it will even be self-defeating.

Thinking of this, Pellegrini dismissed this idea and finally decided to remove Kroos and replace him with Fernandinho.

While Manuel Pellegrini was worried about Manchester City's starting midfielder, Atletico Madrid's side, Simeone was also worried about the team's starting striker.

Diego Costa was his number one man, but one of the goalkeepers was injured in the final stages of the league.

In the last game against Barcelona, Diego Costa left the field early due to injury.

It's only been a week, and he's probably not recovering from his injuries that quickly.

However, on occasions like the Champions League final, Atletico Madrid very much need Diego Costa to step up and charge for the team.

And Diego Costa himself is very eager to represent the team and compete for the Champions League title within reach!

Therefore, before the game, Simeone was very entangled.

He didn't know whether to agree to Diego Costa's application and put him in the starting line-up, or to play it safe and keep him on the bench.

But if you don't use him, how should the forward line be arranged?

Although there is still a Villa in the Atletico team that can be used, Villa's age is older after all, and compared with Diego Costa, there is a big gap in all aspects.

When it comes to counter-attacking tactics, Diego Costa is undoubtedly more suited to Atletico's tactical system.

Simeone gritted his teeth, and finally relented and fought hard!

He chose to trust Diego Costa's form, and since he said he had recovered from his injury, let him start!

(End of chapter)