"It's ugly to step on a horse!"

Benfica coach Duarte couldn't help but spit on the ground shortly after the game began.

This was due to the fact that from the first minute of the game, the two sides were locked in a grinding confrontation in the midfield.

Benfica naturally didn't want to play like this, but in the face of hand-to-hand combat, confrontation and attrition of Porto players, it was difficult for them to pull out and attack well.

This is actually still not enough, Porto was also so defensive in the Champions League group stage, but it was still poured five goals by Real Madrid in two legs.

Porto's two wings were very active today, Capjo and Alenichev are both 30-year-olds, but they didn't play as attacking wing-backs today, but completely transformed into defensive midfielders, constantly pressing and harassing up front, and both had a lot of movement.

This was Mourinho's tailor-made defensive strategy for Benfica, with Porto having to create chaos with a lot of hand-to-hand combat in the first half, while harassing and attributing Benfica's midfield.

The main target of this is Slovenia's talented midfielder Zahovic.

Zahovic's technique is outstanding, and he is a true midfield star, but his bizarre temper has prevented him from using his full talent.

In addition, his biggest problem is that he likes to pressure his teammates and even clash with them during games, although this is limited to clubs, and Zahovic is a good big brother in the national team.

But in the club, this kind of pressure monster who likes to spray his own people can imagine how harmful it can be to a team sport, so he has been wandering around for the rest of his career.

However, Mourinho, who is the best at figuring out the psychology of players, feels that Zahovic is the most terrifying in the past two years, because years of wandering have finally washed away his overly obstructive head.

At this time, Zakhovic is no longer as extreme as when he was younger, but his physical fitness has not declined too much, but his skills and experience have reached the peak.

He was confident on the pitch at this point, and every touch of the ball after the opening kick-off was a certain threat to Porto.

Mourinho couldn't help but praise himself in his heart after watching it for a while, Zakhovic's performance today was really good, and this was still based on various targets and encirclement.

If he hadn't paid enough attention to this man before the game, they would have fallen on the Slovenian monster.

Zhang Desheng also admires this, when Mourinho puts a lot of energy into studying a team, he can really do it in a certain sense seamlessly, and even what the opposing coach didn't expect, he can think of and make arrangements in advance.

In this way, as long as the team has time to practice, then there will be no surprise in the game, and any accidents can be easily dealt with, so that they can play more and more confidently, but the opponent is more and more uncomfortable, and the situation will be more and more favorable to them.

Today was the case where Benfica's attacking tactics were completely studied by Mourinho.

So after a few axes in the opening game, Benfica didn't have much to do in attack.

And I have to say that Benfica really don't have many offensive options, their entire attacking lineup lacks sufficient speed, the ability to break forward is obviously insufficient, and the entire midfield advancement can basically only be driven by Zahovic.

But Porto's midfielder Kostigna is a completely low-profile version of Makelele, and his task today is to interfere and deplete Zakhovic as much as possible.

This disruption and attrition is not just Costina's own, as Porto's sweeping defense through two flanks is also increasing the movement of Benfica's midfielders and disrupting their attacking system.

Mourinho even used Deco's wide vision and precise passing in attack, constantly using long passes to mobilize Benfica's formation, forcing the opposition to run frequently at the back.

At this time, the only thing that displeased the magic bird was that McCarthy's reading ability on the court and his running ability were also a little worse, and he looked like a headless fly running around the field.

Fortunately, under the interference and consumption of the rest, it was enough to make Zahovic play more and more struggling, otherwise Mourinho really had the urge to change in the first half!

At this time, Zhang Desheng, who was sitting on the sidelines, also learned a little something, Mourinho is using all means to consume the opponent, but also trying to minimize his physical exertion.

Deco uses passing to mobilize the opponent, which is a means to save his energy and consume the opponent.

In addition, using Capjo and Alenichev to press opponents on a large scale and create chaos will not seem to make the two of them physically exhausted, but they use their physical strength to increase the proportion of more players in Benfica running back and forth.

So it's a means of self-damage of 80 and killing of 120 enemies.

At this time, considering that Mourinho has high requirements for the confrontation, physical fitness and mental attributes of his players, it is understandable why his team can always turn the tide in the second half or extra time.

If this game continues to be consumed like this, Benfica's blood will definitely be drained in the end!

"Cold War?"

Zhang Desheng suddenly thought of a word, why is this attrition style of play so similar to two "cold wars"?

Could it be that the Ansar bandits just like to play this game?

In today's decisive moment between Porto and Benfica, Mourinho put it in the second half.

Throughout the first half, the Benfica players fell into a muddy swamp and could not break through the annoying entanglement of the Porto players no matter what.

Especially those large numbers of hand-to-hand combat, it simply made Zhang Desheng's eyelids jump!

He is now so thin and tender, he can't stand this kind of intensity of confrontation.

Fortunately, in the second half, the physical strength on both sides will drop significantly, and if he really wants to go up now, I'm afraid he will be the first to hang!

In the end, the two teams teamed up in the first half to play a meat grind battle that made both fans feel stomach pain!

Benfica had only one of their eight first-half shots in the box, which was basically a failure to really break into Porto's low heartland.

Porto have even less success in attack, with only one striker up front, which is tantamount to telling the outside world that they have to play defensive counter-attack.

But McCarthy really didn't have a chance to score, after all, he has a midfielder behind him who can barely reach the world's level.

Deco is not really in his prime yet, but he does barely have the level of a world-class midfielder.

If he hadn't been in Brazil, where talent was blowing out, it would be an international joke to say that he couldn't get into the national team at this level.

In the first half, Porto relied on Deco's precise passes and twice had good chances to open the scoring in the box.

But the problem is that McCarthy is not as good as this kind of tournament, and one of his almost one-on-one shots was saved because it was too high.

Russian star Alenichev's scrambled shot from the back of the box also grazed the post and flew out of bounds.

But you can't blame them for not giving up, this game of confrontation intensity, coupled with psychological pressure, can not deform the player, then you have to look for the top stars above 85, or even over 90.

With the level of quasi-stars like McCarthy and Alenichev, it is difficult to show their full ability on this stage, and their technical movements will be somewhat deformed.

But regrets are inevitable, if these two opportunities can be grasped once, then Porto is under the lead in the first half, and the probability of Benfica wanting to turn the tables is not great.

Jose Mourinho was also frustrated by the two chances to take the lead at half-time, and then he inevitably thought of Zhang Desheng.

What he values most about Zhang Desheng is really not his breakthrough and passing, but his perverted calmness after getting the opportunity, and the demonic ability to grasp the opportunity.

If those two chances are for him to play, Mourinho is absolutely confident that he can take at least one.

"We did a good job, in the first half everyone should be able to see that Benfica's long-range shots are not of high quality, they can only rely on luck to get into the box, then in the second half to execute the second plan!"

Mourinho naturally prepared more than one plan, if they had a hard time in the first half, then in the second half they continued to pull the opponent to start a meat grind, until one side ran out of blood.

It's a style of play that no one wants to score, and Mourinho is confident that he can carry Benfica all the way to the penalty shootout.

However, if Benfica's attacking ability is not so strong, they will no longer blindly defend in the second half, because then going to extra-time or even a penalty shoot-out will become an unprofitable option for Porto.

So Mourinho, who figured out Benfica's attacking heat in the first half, waved his hand in the middle of the field, and Zhang Desheng was directly placed on the front line by him.

"Nuno, you did a great job today, and your sacrifice made every player in the front court run at least a thousand meters!"

Before Mourinho's substitution, he naturally first praised Capjo, who had made sacrifices for the team's strategy.

In the first half, he and Alenichev pressed frantically in the frontcourt, which would have consumed the physical and not top-notch Capjo.

"Zhang, you replace Nuno in the second half, but don't go to the left, you go and play as a striker. Carlos, you go to the left, but you don't need to be actively involved in the attack, your task is to continue pressing. ”

Mourinho glanced at McCarthy after saying that, he was very unhappy with the South African striker's performance today, and the weight of the player who pulled the hip in the big game will plummet in his heart.

"Benny, I want you to keep harassing Benfica in the second half, and if I see that you can't run, I'll replace you immediately."

This has actually expressed the disappointment with McCarthy, and the second half also stopped putting him too involved in the offense, but let him play the role of a-stirring stick up front.

McCarthy's face naturally became ugly, but he didn't dare to disobey Mourinho's orders in person, because he knew that Mourinho did what he said, and if he didn't follow the order, Mourinho would definitely replace him immediately, and most likely he would not be reused in the future.

"Dimitri, your performance is commendable, but I want to know how long you can hold out?"

Mourinho was also not happy with Alenichev as well, which is actually what he is going to clean up next season.

However, Alenichev showed a surprising will to fight at the tournament, including his physical strength, and he was able to carry out his orders today.

In the first half, the Russian really didn't stop except for the regrettable shot, but at the moment he didn't see him physically exhausted.

"Boss, I can still rush for another half hour, but if I have a bottle of vodka, I can run all the way to the awards ceremony!"

Alenichev's joke immediately amused the whole team.

At this time, Mourinho's impression of him was also much better, this Alenichev did not work hard in the general game, and even gave him no face at first.

But he can tolerate these problems, and as long as Alenichev can work hard and resolutely implement his tactics in the tournament, then this kind of player is not impossible to use.

After all, next season's Porto will still play on multiple fronts, and this kind of player who has experience and can play tough battles is naturally the better.

"Zhang, you don't need to retreat too much in the second half, but you have to be in a lethal position in time when attacking, and I won't allow you to miss our precious counterattack opportunity!"

Mourinho's words were a little stressful, but he also knew that Zhang Desheng was enough to resist pressure before he said so.

"Coach Jose, don't worry, their two centre-backs have confrontation and experience, and they have a good chemistry together, but they are a little bit less flexible in turn and flexibility, and I know how to deal with this kind of opponent."

As soon as he finished saying this, Alves, who was sitting at the very edge of the bench at the moment, couldn't help but tighten his chrysanthemum.

Isn't he the kind of centre-back who has a little less turn and less flexibility?