As early as after Atletico Madrid took the lead in completing the substitution, everyone's eyes were already on Manchester City's side.

The two Manchester City players who had warmed up had already completed their warm-up and were listening to manager Pep Guardiola on the sidelines.

"It looks like Manchester City are going to make a substitution soon!"

De Bruyne and Son Heung-min were already fully dressed and changed into all their equipment at this time, just waiting for the fourth official on the sidelines to hold up their cards and enter.

Before Sergio Aguero's shot, Pep Guardiola had not yet decided who he would replace with De Bruyne.

As a result, I saw that Aguero missed such a good opportunity, since you are so unlucky, it is you, come down and rest!

In fact, Guardiola intended to replace Fernandinho.

Fernandinho was arranged to play in order to protect Kroos.

In the second half, the opponent's physical consumption was almost the same, and the harassment of Kroos was greatly reduced, and there was no way to continue to threaten him, so it made little sense to continue to keep Fernandinho on the field.

However, he also felt that it was risky, because although Atletico's physical strength was very depleted, it was not completely exhausted, at least their players have not suffered from extensive cramps at the moment.

So Pep Guardiola plans to wait and see, and not to replace Fernandinho for the time being.

As for Sergio Aguero, the team's next tactics don't require much for him, and it doesn't make much sense to keep him on the pitch.

Second, he had been injured before, and with the outcome decided, Guardiola was worried that he would recur from his old injury, so he let him down to rest in advance and prepare for the next tough fight.

After using up the two substitutions, Guardiola called Fernando's name again and asked him to warm up as well.

Originally, Fernando was already desperate after seeing Guardiola replace two attacking players, feeling that he probably didn't have a chance to play.

However, unexpectedly, Guardiola didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd, and actually named him again.

He didn't think much about it, and quickly rushed out, for fear that Guardiola would regret it a second later!

"Manchester City ready to make a substitution again?"

Seeing Fernando come out to warm up, the commentators cast concerned glances.

Now is not the era when a team has five substitutions, there are only three substitutions now, compared to a few years later, the current substitutions are undoubtedly more precious, so the managers of major teams will be very cautious when making substitution adjustments.

So as not to use up all the substitutions too early, resulting in a sudden change in the following game, there are no cards available in their hands.

"No, isn't Fernando a midfielder? But Manchester City already has three midfielders, why do they switch to the back?

Could it be that Guardiola has to play four midfielders? ”

After the narrator finished speaking, he was amused by his own words.

He has commented on the game for so many years, and he has seen the formation of five or even six backs, but the back four?

I've never seen this before!

If Lin Quan knew the narrator's thoughts, he would probably laugh at his lack of knowledge.

On April 28, 2019, the penultimate round of the Premier League.

After Pep Guardiola took the lead in Manchester City, he decisively replaced three defenders to form a 541 formation, when defending, Stones retreated to the back line, Jesus retreated to the midfield, and the overall formation became 640!

With such an invincible and conservative formation, Manchester City defeated their opponents 1-0 away and got three valuable points!

Although Pep Guardiola is a big fan of attack, that doesn't mean he's a pedantic man.

The main reason for his extremely conservative decision was that the Premier League title race was fierce that season, with Liverpool in close proximity behind Manchester City, with the two teams separated by just one point.

And in the league that ended the day before, Liverpool slaughtered Huddersfield Town 5:0 at home, surpassing Manchester City by 2 points in the standings.

So City had to win that game and absolutely couldn't accept any other result.

Therefore, after Aguero scored the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute of the second half, Guardiola immediately made substitution adjustments, replacing all three attacking players including Aguero, Sterling and Sane.

Don't attack for the rest of the time, just swing the bus to defend this ball.

As for replacing Sane with Jesus, because he is more comprehensive at both ends of the attack and defense, and fast, he can play a considerable role in the counter-attack, so Guardiola sent him on the field, so that Manchester City has a trace of counter-attacking power, so that the opponent is afraid to besiege them in a big way.

The outside world doesn't know about Pep Guardiola, which is why it's surprising.

Simeone saw Fernando warming up, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

What kind of plane?

Do you still have face for Manchester City?

The three backs have already made us helpless, if there is another back, then it will be a hair!

Atletico Madrid's attacking ability is not outstanding, Torres is old, his form has declined, and he has long since lost his courage.

Although Griezmann has great potential and good offensive ability, he is not a positive Indian striker after all, and his attacking ability is relatively average.

If Atletico are allowed to play the kind of quick counter-attacks they are familiar with, without too much entanglement with the opposition in midfield, then Simeone has some certainty.

But Manchester City did not give them such a chance, let them fall into the hard battle of positional warfare, this kind of attack, to be honest, Simeone has no good way, can only hope for luck!

Seeing that the game time passed little by little, Manchester City's defense was still airtight, and Torres was defended by Van Dijk, and there was no rut at all.

As for Antoine Griezmann, he was locked up by Kante's strongman and had no room to play at all.

In this case, who can stand up?

Simeone's eyes finally fell on a young player, he is Atletico's right midfielder, Saul wearing the number 17 shirt!

In the 73rd minute of the second half, just as Manchester City was about to make their third substitution, Atletico launched an attack.

Oblak handed the ball to right-back Juanfran who dodged Son Heung-min's scramble and passed the ball forward to Saul, who dropped back to receive the ball.

Saul handled the ball beautifully, moving ahead of his team-mate's pass, dropping back, shortening the distance between him and getting rid of the defenders behind him.

This bought him time to handle the ball, and before De Bruyne could catch up, Saul anticipated the opponent's move in advance, and turned the ball very beautifully, avoiding De Bruyne and completing the breakthrough for De Bruyne.

There was an opening in front of him, and Fernandinho immediately leaned in towards him, with De Bruyne chasing after him.

Saul dribbled the ball along the flanks as he watched his team-mate's position, as if he was about to pass the ball to his team-mate.

Seeing his move, Fernandinho subconsciously moved a step up his passing line.

However, it was this step that gave Saul a chance.

He kicked the ball hard into the front, accelerated his own sprint along the wing, shook off Kolarov, who had not yet finished his position, and a few seconds later, Saul, who had increased his speed to the extreme, caught up with the ball in the Manchester City half!

At the same time, Torres, Gabi, Griezmann and others in the middle are also interspersed with Manchester City's penalty area at high speed, and Atletico finally played the counterattack speed they wanted!

"That's it!"

Simeone couldn't help but get up from the dugout, his hands clenched, and his eyes staring at Saul and Manchester City's goals without blinking!

Saul and the ball at his feet were getting closer and closer to City's goal.

What will he choose?

Is it to cut inside or pass to a teammate in the box?

In the face of the opposition's quick counter-attack, Manchester City's defenders did not panic, and Van Dijk in the box was directing his teammates to set up the defence.

Goalkeeper Keylor Navas kept a close eye on his opponent's every move, moving his feet and choosing the most suitable position.

At this time, Saul has become the focus of attention of the whole stadium, and countless fans can't help but stand up, even holding their breath.

Atletico's counter-attack was different from the previous ones, and it smelled dangerous.

Rudiger was frizzy and worried that he would make a mistake if he rushed up, so when Saul was getting closer to the box, Van Dijk himself stepped forward to intercept him.

Seeing Saul facing Van Dijk, the Manchester City fans at the scene couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This big defender from the Netherlands is like a needle on the pitch, and as long as you see him, you feel safe.

At the same time, Atletico Madrid's fans can't help but worry.

Manchester City's defender seems to be very strong, with a very high success rate of one-on-one single defense, and the strikers of major teams rarely take advantage of him when facing him.

Saul is also well aware of the strength of his opponent, and he wisely did not choose to go head-to-head with Van Dijk, nor did he try to get rid of Van Dijk.

Instead, he took advantage of the inertia of Van Dijk to intercept the ball laterally, and before the opponent adjusted the center of gravity of his body, he suddenly fired a cold arrow and shot a long shot from outside the penalty area.

The timing of the shot was just right, and as Keylor Navas was adjusting his position, his vision was slightly obscured by the tall Van Dijk for a moment, and as soon as he finished adjusting, he saw that the ball had flown over.

He immediately flew to make a save, but was still half a beat slower, only to see the football whizz into the net.

After making sure that the ball had been scored, Saul rushed to the sidelines excitedly, and the Atletico players were even more excited than him, one by one, like a pack of hungry wolves, they pounced on the goalkeeper excitedly, threw him to the ground, and celebrated wildly.

On the sidelines, Simeone waved his arms excitedly, and the joy in his heart was overflowing.

"Saul has done a great job!"

"This 21-year-old has scored Manchester City's goal at the Etihad Stadium!"

"This goal is very crucial, it not only narrows the gap between the two teams, but also allows Atletico to get a valuable away goal, which brightens the prospects of Atletico Madrid, who have little hope of qualifying!"

"Here, I have to praise Saul, a young player, he may not be so famous, but he should definitely not be underestimated, every choice he made in that attack just now is the best choice, even if it is Lin Quan, I am afraid it will not be better than him!"

"That's right, I think after seeing his performance in this game, Bosque should probably consider whether to recruit this young player into the Spanish national team!"

Saul's goal made the commentary seats of major TV stations boil, and the one-sided game was certainly not as good as the ups and downs and suspenseful game.

And Manchester City is too strong, so many people are from the perspective of the weak, sympathizing with and supporting Atletico Madrid.

Therefore, the reaction of the commentators to Saul's goal was obviously greater than the previous ones!

Spain coach Bosque was in the stands at this time, and as the European Championship approached, he began to appear frequently in major stadiums to observe the state of the main players of the national team up close.

As the core of the bullfighting legion, Lin Quan is naturally the object of his investigation.

In addition, Atletico Madrid also has a lot of international players, so Bosque will naturally not miss this kind of game.

After seeing Saul's goal just now, Bosque's eyes lit up.

The youngster's performance was outstanding, and it seemed that he could be given a chance to try his hand at the national team.

Spain has always been known for its strong midfield, but with the departure of many veterans such as Xavi and Xavi Alonso, Spain's midfield strength is also declining.

After the retirement of the 85 golden generation, if there is no new blood to replenish it, then Spain's strength may fall off a cliff.

Therefore, the emergence of a young midfielder like Saul makes Bosque feel very relieved and willing to give them a chance.

On the sidelines, Pep Guardiola looked gloomy.

I'm ready to make a substitution, and the opponent actually scored!

Forget it, it doesn't matter, let's continue to change!

Pep Guardiola then used up his last substitution, replacing centre-back Antonio Rudiger and replacing Fernando.

Seeing this substitution, the fans and commentators were stunned!

It's really a 4-back!?

However, City's lead was reduced to just one goal, and the opposition also had an away goal in their hands.

What's the point of Manchester City strengthening their defence at this time?

Maybe Atletico Madrid is already satisfied and ready to withdraw their troops!

Guardiola doesn't care whether the opponent wants to withdraw the troops or not, he doesn't care what Atletico wants, he doesn't send Fernando on the field for defense!

Soon, the fans and commentators at the scene were dumbfounded!

Fernando, who was substituted, actually appeared in the forward position!

They rubbed their eyes vigorously, wondering if there was something wrong with their eyes.

How do Manchester City's midfielders put up front?

What kind of new way of playing this boat?

Can the back be used like this?

Fernando didn't bother to heed the doubts from the outside world, he closed his eyes and recalled the manager's explanation before he came on the pitch.

"You don't need to think so much, you just need to remember one thing after you get on the court, act as a-stirring stick, whoever gets the ball will grab him, just grab him like a mad dog!"

A glance at the game time on the big screen, the 77th minute of the second half!

Do you want to grab the ball like a mad dog?

Boss, don't worry, I promise that they will rob them of their lives and can't take care of themselves!

(End of chapter)