In fact, not only the young players and women's football players of Real Madrid who came to watch Manchester City train, but also the staff of the Real Madrid club, many people came to watch curiously.

Manchester City in this era is too shining in European football!

In the lineup, they have a number of top stars such as Lin Quan, De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, and Kroos.

In terms of results, they are two-time Champions League winners and the first team to successfully defend their title since the Champions League was restructured.

And in the unprecedentedly competitive division of the Premier League, they have just completed three consecutive championships and created a Manchester City dynasty!

Such a team that is at the top of all aspects is naturally easy to attract the interest of the outside world.

Real Madrid is naturally no exception, not to mention that Real Madrid is likely to meet Barcelona in the final, so at this time, you can not only appreciate the charm of Manchester City's stars, but also spy on the military situation, which is a double win.

Pep Guardiola was a little speechless about the Real Madridian's approach, and if he knew this, he might as well go to the training ground on loan for Getafe.

It's just that compared with Real Madrid, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano are both civilian teams, and their training bases are much worse than Real Madrid's, and the training effect may be worse.

As a player from Barcelona, Guardiola naturally doesn't like Real Madrid.

Presumably, Real Madrid won't have a good face for him, right?

Forget it, let's see, anyway, in this game against Atletico Madrid, Guardiola is not ready to expose anything new, just play according to their usual tactics in the Premier League and the Champions League.

The three-back tactics in the last game, this one is not ready to be used, because this time Manchester City has to play a defensive counterattack.

Unlike what Guardiola thought, Real Madrid's attitude towards him is still very friendly.

Florentilo even had the intention of digging him up with Lin Quan, but unfortunately for various reasons, this plan could not be implemented in the end.

And now, after seeing the combination of Pep Guardiola + Lin Quan shine in the Premier League and Champions League, no club in the world can resist not being moved.

Real Madrid are not only lacking good players, but also a good coach.

Although Zidane is doing a good job, he is still a lot short of Real Madrid's requirements.

After all, Real Madrid wants a 10th Big Ears Cup.

Judging from the current situation of Zidane's team, it is very difficult to achieve this goal.

Therefore, even if Guardiola has a very strong Barcelona label, as long as he can help Real Madrid win the championship, Real Madrid will still hire him with a high salary!

However, even if Real Madrid had this intention, Guardiola himself probably would not agree.

There are many good teams in the five major leagues, so there is no need for him to go to Real Madrid to be scolded!

When Figo transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid, how many scoldings he received, Guardiola can be said to have experienced it personally.

When Figo returned to Camp Nou, he was attacked by Barcelona fans throwing pigs' heads.

This is just Figo, a defection from a player who has only joined Barcelona and is not from Barcelona's own academy.

Pep Guardiola is a Barcelona descendant of La Masia's academy and captained the Camp Nou for four years, making him one of the greatest midfielders in the club's history.

If he goes to Real Madrid to coach, it's hard to imagine how Barcelona fans will treat him!

Even putting aside the attitude of the fans, Guardiola himself has little affection for Real Madrid.

The president of Real Madrid is too strong and will interfere with the work of the manager, and firing the coach is more like eating and drinking.

Not only that, Real Madrid's requirements are also high, not only to have results, but also to play well, and to conform to Real Madrid's aristocratic temperament.

This kind of team, Guardiola generally stays away.

……

While Manchester City was seriously preparing for the game, Atletico Madrid, Simeone was also racking his brains to think about how to beat Manchester City at home.

The 1-4 scoreline away is a desperate number for Atletico, but they still don't want to give up easily.

Even if the hope of a comeback is very slim, Atletico still wants to give it a try.

After all, at this time, they are only 2 wins away from winning the Big Ears Cup!

If you miss this opportunity, I don't know if there will be another such opportunity in the future!

Atletico Madrid is not a real giant after all, and under the Jinyuan offensive of the top giants, their main lineup may not be able to cover it.

That's why Simeone cherishes this opportunity!

"In the last game, Manchester City's defense in the middle was very strong, the configuration of the back three allowed them to create an insurmountable barrier in front of the back line, and the coverage area of the two sweeping midfielders covered the entire midfield, and it was difficult for us to play the ground passes!"

Simeone called a meeting of assistant coaches and others to mark the offensive and defensive positions of both sides in the previous game on the tactical board.

According to the statistics of the game such as heat map statistics and possession rate after the game, Manchester City did not use traditional tactics in the last game.

They seemed to have given up possession and voluntarily dropped back a bit to reduce the space in the midfield and not give Atletico a chance to play a quick counter-attack.

This trick works very well, because Atletico Madrid's positional combat ability is not strong, just such a three-board axe, as long as it can withstand it, Atletico Madrid will be blind.

Atletico were really good at counter-attacking quickly after the ball was broken up front, but such chances were very rare in the last game, and Manchester City did a good job of containing that.

This makes Simeone a little worried, will Manchester City repeat the same trick in this game?

With the previous tactics working so well and they holding a three-goal lead, he leaned for City to continue with the same formation and tactics as they did in the previous game, as the winner did not need to change.

If that's the case, then Atletico need to study how to break through the opponent's three-back system now.

It is definitely not possible to continue to use the original set, and relying entirely on the mistakes of the opponent to counterattack is too passive for a team like Manchester City that rarely makes mistakes.

Therefore, they must strengthen their positional warfare capabilities, take the initiative to create opportunities, and enrich their offensive tactics to open up the situation.

However, how to strengthen the team's attack is a bit difficult for a defensive guru like Simeone.

Thinking about it, Simeone thinks that it is still necessary to make a fuss in defense and use defense to attack!

As for how to do it, he already had a preliminary idea in his mind.

……

May 4, Calderón Stadium.

At 17:45 in the afternoon, with the referee's whistle, the much-anticipated Champions League semifinals, the second leg of Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City officially began.

Contrary to the expectations of the Atletico coach and many people in the outside world, Guardiola did not follow the tactics he used before in this game, but switched back to his usual tactics.

Manchester City's formation in this game is 4231, the starting striker is Sergio Aguero, the wingers on both sides are Lin Quan and David Silva, and the forward is De Bruyne.

The two midfielders are a classic combination of N'Golo Kante + Kroos, with the backline led by Zabaleta, Kompany, Van Dijk and Klich.

Manchester City's lineup has strengthened the offensive ability and weakened the defensive ability compared to the lineup they put out in the previous game.

With the loss of a midfielder, the hardness of the midfield has dropped a lot.

However, De Bruyne's appearance increased Manchester City's attacking nature and made City's attacking threat skyrocket.

And Zabaleta and Klich are the kind of full-backs who can go up and down, attack and defend.

Both of these have a lot of assist ability and can make a big difference when attacking.

Seeing Guardiola put out such a lineup away from home, the first reaction of the outside world was that Guardiola was a bit overbearing.

Although Manchester City's lead is huge, this is Atletico's home stadium after all, and Manchester City should be more cautious when playing at the opponent's home stadium.

The 4231 formation is not a defensive formation, it is a formation that is both offensive and defensive, or even more offensive.

Since most of the attacks in this formation are initiated by the midfielders, the full-backs also have to be involved in the attack, which can lead to an unusually empty backline, especially when switching from attack to defence.

The midfielders are far away from the two central defenders because they have just participated in the attack, and the large space in between can be used by the opponent.

If the full-backs are also involved in the attack and don't have time to retreat, the undefended area on the flanks can also be deadly, and the opponent's wide players can either cross the bottom or cut inside to shoot.

Stopping the opposition from threatening the goal requires a midfielder to have a strong running ability, as well as a good positional sense and not lose position when defending.

Most of the midfielders who meet this requirement are tall B2B players, such as Yaya Toure, who has already moved away, and he is a representative of this.

The former Tottenham player who was poached by Evergrande last summer is also this type of player!

However, there does not seem to be such a presence in Manchester City's current squad, and Kante does not belong to the B2B category, and the size alone does not meet the requirements.

Kroos is excellent on the ball, but he is a little less physical, and he is not an all-round midfielder.

In other words, Pep Guardiola forced this tactic in the absence of such players in the squad.

Isn't this a mess?

After thinking about this, Atletico Madrid fans, including Simeone, seemed to see the hope of winning in their hearts.

Isn't it a death story to use this kind of flawed style of play in front of a team like Atletico Madrid, which places an extreme emphasis on pressing from the top of the table?

Simeone tried his best to control his facial expressions, so as not to show himself too excited and happy, so that Guardiola on the side could see the clues.

If he had found out that something was wrong and readjusted Manchester City's style of play, Atletico would not have such a good chance!

"Coach Gong, you are also a player who has played in midfield, in your experience, what do you think is the reason for Guardiola's line-up on the road?"

In the CCTV studio, in addition to the old partners of He Wei and Xu Yang, a guest was also invited to the commentary booth today, who was Gong Leigong, who had played in the Tahiti League and had won the best player.

Gong Lei also coached in the Chinese Super League a few years ago, but was fired by the Guizhou team because of his poor performance in leading the team.

Faced with the question raised by He Wei, the palace director talked eloquently:

"I think Pep Guardiola's line-up today is preparing for the final."

"Well, what Director Gong said makes sense, in the case of holding such a huge lead, it is indeed the most likely reason to test other tactical plays, test the team's combat effectiveness under other tactical plays, and accumulate experience for the finals!"

Xu Yang, as a qualified compliment, spoke at the right time, and then Gong Lei's words were a few words.

"But wouldn't it be too risky to do that, after all, Atletico Madrid are not weak, their record at home is also very good, Manchester City is not fully certain to qualify now, if they lose because of this, wouldn't it be self-defeating?"

He Wei took the opportunity to ask his own question, which was also asked on behalf of the fans and viewers in front of the screen.

Many fans are worried when they see Guardiola being so bold and putting on such a formation away from home, for fear that Manchester City will mess up and become a clown.

"It's a big risk, but I don't think there's too much to worry about, because City have a top star like Lin Quan in the team, and Pep Guardiola is not the kind of person who doesn't hit the wall and doesn't look back.

If the situation on the field is unfavorable, he will definitely make timely adjustments. ”

Gong Lei seems to be very optimistic about Guardiola, even adoring.

Coming from a background as a midfielder and having coached teams, he knows all too well how difficult it can be to get both jobs right.

But Pep Guardiola was a leader in the industry, both as a player and as a coach after retiring.

NOT ONLY DID HE DO HIS JOB BRILLIANTLY, BUT HE ALSO PIONEERED THE CREATION OF THE TACTIC OF PASSING AND CONTROLLING FOOTBALL.

And in the past few years, he has been constantly improving his transmission and control tactics, tapping its potential little by little, and constantly pursuing the ultimate!

This kind of spirit and ability are very admirable.

Moreover, Manchester City still holds a three-goal lead, and it will not be so easy for Atletico to recover it.

After all, although the defense of the 4231 formation is flawed, it is very strong in attack, and it is easy to play a layered attack.

As long as Manchester City scores more goals than their opponents, it doesn't matter if they concede a few goals, and they are the ones who will advance in the end.

After the start of the game, with tens of thousands of fans cheering on the Calderón stadium, the Atletico Madrid players began to launch a fierce attack on Manchester City.

Shortly after the start of the game, Torres had a shot on goal.

Although the ball was high and flew directly to the stands, it still received bursts of applause from the fans at the scene.

"Atletico's morale looks very high!"

In the dugout, Pep Guardiola's expression looked very relaxed, and he could even comment on Atletico's attack.

Torres' form has indeed dropped a lot, but the nose in front of goal is still on the line.

Although the goal just now was high, it was indeed the best choice, and a second later may not even have a chance to shoot.

However, if Atletico's attack is only of this level, it will still be difficult to break down Manchester City's defence.

Due to Atletico's fierce play in the opening stage, Manchester City's overall formation was relatively backward, so the problems at the defensive end were not exposed.

But when it was City's turn to start attacking on their own, the problem immediately became apparent!

(End of chapter)