"It's a pity that Mahrez doesn't use it like this!"

Pep Guardiola felt a little sorry to see Riyad Mahrez, who was working very the pitch and trying to help the team.

Mahrez's ability is actually very well-rounded, with good technique at his feet and great awareness.

Such talent, in terms of Leicester City's squad, should be developed as the attacking core of the frontcourt.

But in this game, Ranieri used Mahrez in the opposite direction, treating him as a sapper and letting him do the dirty work of the defenders.

It's not that it's not okay at all, it's just that the player's energy is limited, and when Mahrez has been assigned too many defensive tasks, the energy he can put into attack is very limited.

Leicester's attack was already lackluster, and without Riyad Mahrez, they were less threatening and less approachable.

Ranieri's thoughts, Guardiola has actually seen for a long time.

But he didn't bother with it because he was convinced that if City scored one more goal, Leicester's morale would collapse.

Leicester's weaknesses are actually obvious, the midfield is not hard enough, and there is a lack of a defensive ability at the back.

If they can find a suitable player to fill this gap, then they could still wrestle with Manchester City and wait for an opportunity to play on the counter-attack.

But in this game, Leicester City's midfield has been in a suppressed state, and if they can't control the midfield, they can't send shells to the front.

In this way, Ranieri's arrangements in the front court are naturally in vain.

Instead of targeting the opponent's set-up, it is better to continue to increase the pressure in the front court and not give the opponent a chance to pass.

……

After Vardy missed his chance, Ranieri was nervous.

But he was relieved to see that Manchester City had not made adjustments for a long time.

It seems that Pep Guardiola does not seem to see his intentions?

It's just that they have been waiting for a long time for the opportunity just now, and they don't know how long it will take to get such an opportunity next time.

"Manchester City have stepped up their front pressing!"

Zinedine Zidane in the stands keenly spotted the change in City's tactics and glanced at the time of the game, which had just passed sixty minutes.

Before the team changed its tactics, Guardiola did not make any gestures, which means that this change in tactics was prepared by Guardiola in advance!

So, what did he do when he changed his tactics at this point in time?

After Manchester City stepped up their pressing up front, Leicester's players struggled even harder.

The opposition's pressing forced them to speed up their passes, and after that, the pass success rate began to decline, and City had already made four successful tackles in just five minutes.

You know, this is Leicester's half, and conceding a goal in their own half means their goal is immediately threatened.

The same was true on the pitch, with three of City's four tackles converted into shots, with Son Heung-min, Lin Quan and Sergio Aguero each getting a kick.

Although he did not score, it also made Leicester City's goalmouth noise, and almost all the players were nervous.

It's a dangerous situation and if they keep playing like this, it's only a matter of time before they concede goals again.

So, Ranieri now has two options in front of him:

Stick to the previous tactics and bet on Riyad Mahrez and Vardy to help the team salvage the defeat.

It is better to make decisive adjustments, give up unrealistic illusions, strengthen the team's defense, and hold off this wave of offensive first.

If the score is 0-0 at this point, Ranieri will most likely prefer the second option.

But the worst thing is that the score is now Leicester City behind.

This means that even if they defend against this round of Manchester City's attack, it is useless, as long as they don't score and keep going like this, they are waiting to die.

Ranieri hesitated for half a second, then clenched his fists and stopped hesitating.

Although he also felt that if he continued to play at this pace, Manchester City was more likely to score early, but he had no other choice.

Now it is not necessary to retreat back to defend and Vardy and Mahrez are not the kind of players who are very good defensively and do not play much of a role.

To strengthen the defense, it is necessary to make substitutions and replace special defensive players.

But when the score is behind, he, like other coaches, is eager to replace all the offensive players on the bench, how can he replace the team's two offensive generals?

At this time, a scene on the field strengthened Ranieri's determination.

In the 69th minute of the second half, Leicester City, who had been waiting for a long time, finally waited for a great opportunity again.

After a successful defence, Drinkwercott suddenly dribbled forward, and under the interception and pressure of the opponent, he struggled to get rid of it and delivered a crucial pass.

Riyad Mahrez was overjoyed to see the football rolling towards him.

He's been waiting for all the flowers here, and he's finally waiting for his chance.

Riyad Mahrez took the initiative to drop back to receive the ball, and after receiving the ball, a beautiful Cruyff turned away, got rid of the defender, and quickly dribbled the ball towards City's half.

After seeing this scene, the Leicester City fans at the King Power Stadium couldn't help but clench their fists and stretched their necks to look at the field.

It was their best chance since the second half.

If they can seize this opportunity, the two sides will be back on the same page.

On the pitchside, Claudio Ranieri and Pep Guardiola stood up from the dugout almost at the same time and looked at the pitch and at Riyad Mahrez.

Riyad Mahrez ran at high speed with the ball, speeding up and keeping an eye on his team-mates' movements.

Jamie Vardy is Leicester's top scorer and he has been heavily targeted by Manchester City.

Van Dijk stuck to his side, not giving him space to catch the ball.

If the ball had been passed directly to Jamie Vardy, even if he had finally received the ball, it would have been difficult to get rid of the defenders and hit a quality shot.

So, Mahrez decided to come on his own.

The situation on the pitch is now 2 against 2 and he and Vardy have to deal with two of City's centre-backs.

Vardy has Virgil van Dijk by his side, and in front of him is Manchester City's captain Vincent Kompany.

But Kompany is in the middle and he's still on the wing, which gives him plenty of room to move.

However, Kompany is already starting to move towards the flanks, and if he continues to dribble forward, he will definitely be intercepted.

So, for Mahrez, the best way to deal with it is to finish before the opponent intercepts.

Or in the process of dribbling the ball, he finds other better opportunities, like me Vardy running out of space and a team-mate behind him to pick it up.

Although the football field is large, the distance of the half-court can be completed in just a few seconds when the players are running at high speed.

Unfortunately, the latter assumption does not hold.

Jamie Vardy was so well guarded by Virgil van Dijk that he didn't have any chances.

And his other teammates were too late in the previous formation, so they couldn't catch up at all at this time.

On the contrary, on the Manchester City side, several players from the opposing side are already on the verge of catching up with them.

This means that he has to make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise he will be caught in the opponent's bag and may not even have a chance to shoot at that time.

Mahrez made a quick choice – cutting inside to shoot.

"Well, good choice!"

'Yes, his team-mates can't pick him up, Vardy's position is being watched so much that Mahrez has to come on his own!'

On the commentary bench, both commentators expressed their understanding of Mahrez's choice.

With the overall formation suppressed, it is indeed impossible for Leicester City to deploy too many troops in the front.

This also means that when it comes to counter-attacking, their players have to rely on their individual strength to open up the situation.

Although modern football is increasingly emphasizing the whole, in many games, you can still see those big-name stars, with their super individual combat ability, to rewrite the ending by themselves.

Leicester City have one such presence in their opponents.

Pep Guardiola saw Mahrez's choice with an expectant look in his eyes.

He is looking forward to what Riyad Mahrez will do next, and the ability to cut inside is a must-have skill for a good winger.

And among the players in this category, the top ones, Guardiola has the privilege of coaching.

So, using these people as a reference, it is easy to detect Mahrez's true strength.

Realizing that Mahrez was about to shoot, Kompany finally moved.

He put his hands behind his back and tried to step forward to block Mahrez's angle.

Kompany didn't know the opponent's ability to break through, but because there was a passing maniac in the team, he became very cautious when facing the opponent's inward shot, and definitely did not take his foot lightly and did not give the opponent a chance to pass him.

Therefore, it is best to block the angle of the opponent's shot and reduce the opponent's shot percentage.

Mahrez was aware of his opponent's intentions as soon as he saw Kompany's movements, and he flicked the ball sideways and did not give them a chance to get close.

Trying to get a quality shot into the corner of the net after deflecting off the angle, Van Dijk moved on and discarded Vardy and moved forward towards Kompany.

At this point, Mahrez is very difficult.

Jamie Vardy was in an offside position at this point and couldn't possibly pass the ball to him.

And the teammates behind him can't come for a short time, and if he doesn't shoot again, he will be caught by the other two.

So, he only had time to shake off a little angle and shoot straight at the goal.

Riyad Mahrez was lucky, as the ball slipped between the two despite both Kompany and Virgil van Dijk trying to block the ball with their bodies.

Mahrez's luck doesn't seem to be so good, because there is just a gap in the middle, just in the middle of the line, just with Manchester City goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the middle.

Because there was no angle for him to hit the corner, Mahrez's shot was a bit on target, which was saved by Navas.

After Navas got the ball, he saw Kroos, who had retreated to near the line of the penalty area, and threw the ball directly to him from the ground.

Seeing Navas's movements, the Manchester City players, who had just retreated across the board, braked quickly at this moment, all turned around and rushed towards the opponent's half.

Because of this attack just now, Leicester City's formation has rushed out.

It's time to take advantage of their counter-attack and launch a quick counter-attack, which will be City's best chance to score.

Kroos understood, turned around with the ball, glanced at his team-mate's position, and then played a long ball from great distance to the left side of Leicester's half.

The ball seemed to be a bit too strong, and instead of going directly to his teammates' feet, it went over the heads of his teammates and defenders and landed on the turf behind the two.

Well passed! Mr. Tony!

Sun Xingmin, who was accelerating, couldn't help but give Sun Xingmin a thumbs up in his heart after seeing the landing point of the football.

It's a great pass!

If it goes straight to his feet, he has to slow down to catch the ball, and once he loses his speed, it is not so easy to get rid of the opposing full-back.

But Kroos passed the ball directly to the gap behind the opponent, which means that Son Heung-min does not need to slow down, he just needs to accelerate and rush over and it's over.

On the contrary, it is the opponent's fullback, he has his back to the football at this time, if he wants to compete with Sun Xingmin for this ball, he must turn around, and it takes time to turn around, even if the fullback's turning speed is very fast, this second and a half seconds is enough for Sun Xingmin to pull away.

The other party obviously knew this, so he went straight to the ground, grabbed and fell, and put Sun Xingmin to the ground.

Sun Xingmin was stunned, Nima, is this playing football or wrestling?

Can you still play like this?

Hey, why didn't you hear the whistle for a foul?

The referee had already put the whistle in his mouth and was about to blow it, but when he saw City's No.9 rushing at high speed and received the ball, he immediately gave up the blow and made a gesture in favor of the attack before signaling the game to continue.

Aguero was immediately pressed by the opposing defender after receiving the ball.

He didn't dare to take it too much and immediately shifted the ball to the middle.

De Bruyne in the middle was already in place, and immediately after receiving the ball, he slid straight into the box again.

It's almost the same position as in the first half, even the passers.

Of course, the same is true for the person who receives the ball, Lin Quan is like a ghost, I don't know when he appeared in the penalty area, received a pass from De Bruyne in the open space, easily pushed the shot, scored twice, and rewrote the score to 2:0.

The King Power Stadium was silent, and Leicester fans watched in disbelief as the ball rolled in their nets.

This round of offensive and defensive transitions happened so quickly that none of them reacted.

Just a few seconds ago, they were on the offensive and even had a chance of equalising.

However, it was less than ten seconds before the opponent scored the second goal of the game.

Not only was their intention of equalising shattered, but even the gap behind them was further widened.

"Shhh

In the stands, Zidane saw Manchester City's second goal, and his hairs stood on end in shock.

Manchester City's counter-attacking efficiency made him a little scared.

Strong teams like to seize the opportunity of the opponent's counterattack to counterattack, and the change of offensive and defensive conversion is the best standard to test the hard power of a team.

After all, the strength of the lineup of the giant teams is not weak, and once the posture is opened, it is difficult to beat them in positional battles.

But as long as the team moves, there will inevitably be loopholes and flaws.

Therefore, in the battle between the giants, whoever can better grasp the flaws of the other party will be able to win the game.

And now, Manchester City have shown him that Manchester City are terrifying and can take chances.

If Real Madrid encounters this Manchester City team without preparation, I am afraid it will be more than lucky!

Sure enough, there is no vanity under the fame, and Manchester City, the defending champion, is really terrifying.

This time it was not in vain, and this game was not in vain!

(End of chapter)