The game went as Yang Hao expected.
Van Gaal's team launched a fierce offensive from the beginning.
In the 3331 formation, with 4 attackers in front, plus Cocu and Xavi who are actively pushing and pressuring behind them, Barcelona has invested at least 6 players in the frontcourt.
When the whistle sounded to start the game, Barcelona's players rushed towards Atletico Madrid's defensive position like water from a dam.
The Sheets Army arranged their defense line near the midline, and everyone was like a wooden stake, firmly planted in the half court.
When the floods in Barcelona came, these wooden piles still stood upright, not shaken in the slightest.
Yang Hao watched with fear from the sidelines.
Now he finally understands why heart disease is an occupational disease for professional head coaches.
It was really too frightening to see.
Especially Barcelona's stars, from time to time, they would make exquisite cooperation and almost break Atletico Madrid's defensive formation. However, the players of the Shelter Army were extremely tenacious, no matter whether they committed fouls or made small moves, they always failed. Let Barcelona break through.
When Atletico Madrid deployed its defense near the midline, Kluivert, Rivaldo, Zenden and Figo were all pushed out of the most threatening areas.
Barcelona's offensive formation is indeed very luxurious, but there is a problem, that is the speed.
Zenden is indeed very fast, but Kluivert, Rivaldo and Figo are not known for their speed.
It can even be said that there is no advantage.
This is also the reason why Yang Hao is unwilling to place the defense line inside and outside the penalty area.
It's too close to the goal. Regardless of Atletico Madrid's fear of heights, Kluivert, Figo and Rivaldo's super personal abilities can lead to a shot with just one kick. How dangerous?
Like now, it is safer to push the defense out and keep them away from the goal.
In this case, the speed of Zenden on the left will be more threatening, so Yang Hao arranged for Gaspar to defend Zenden full-time in this game to limit the Dutch attack.
In front of Gaspar, Yang Hao still arranged for Fresnedoso to start.
The biggest characteristic of this player is that he is both offensive and defensive. Yang Hao asked him to return to the defense in time to support the midfielder.
The double defensive midfielders of Pablo Garcia and Baraja not only have to mark Rivaldo, but also take care of Cocu's deep penetration. The pressure is very high, and players like Fresnedoso are needed to assist from the side. .
This is also a characteristic of Barcelona's midfield.
Guardiola basically delays organizing and planning at the end. Xavi is only 20 years old now and is still very immature. Let alone being a core player, his passing accuracy is not as stable as it will be in the future.
In Yang Hao's previous life, Xavi partnered with Deco in the midfield during Frank Rijkaard's coaching. With his age and experience, he gradually found the feeling and figured out his own way, and then he played in Barcelona. Steady.
Now, Harvey is not even as good as Gabri, another young player on the team.
Therefore, the task of Barcelona's midfielder insertion is basically on Cocu.
Yang Hao arranged for Fresnedoso to start. In addition to assisting the double defensive midfielders, a very important point was to recharge Aguilera. If the game went as Yang Hao expected, then Aguilera would be better in the second half. Substitute appearance.
That is Yang Hao’s trump card tonight!
…
In recent days, many people have been studying and analyzing what happened to Atletico Madrid from three months of no wins to the recent three consecutive wins. Why did the players undergo such a big change?
If Yang Hao himself can tell, it is that the team has gradually found a stable and reasonable style of play, the players have gradually regained their confidence, and their mental outlook on the court has undergone a huge change.
Reflected on the court, the players' tactical execution and enthusiasm for the game have been greatly improved.
In Yang Hao's view, it cannot be said that the previous tactics of Ranieri or Antic were too low-key, or that Atletico Madrid's strength was too bad, and more importantly, the players' hearts were broken.
There is a saying that is right: when people's hearts are broken, it is difficult to lead a team.
No matter how well the head coach's tactics are arranged, no matter how strong the team's overall strength is, if the players are distracted, morale is low, and tactical execution is poor when they get on the court, how much can they perform?
On the other hand, just like tonight, at the Camp Nou, the defense of everyone at Atletico Madrid is not the kind of pretentiousness and bluff, let alone pretending to cope with the situation, but they really want to defend this time. Attack, go get the ball.
So you can see on the court that Atletico Madrid players are really fighting hard. Even Belleron, after only ten minutes on the court, was so dirty that he fell to the ground several times.
This is a very typical difference.
In the past, everyone just muddle along. We will do whatever your head coach arranges. Whether we do it well or not, no one cares.
But now, they really want to win.
And this really allowed Atletico Madrid to defend Barcelona's surging offensive in the opening stage.
Barcelona wanted to replicate the start they had against Chelsea, so they started with an explosion and caught Atletico Madrid off guard.
But when it came to the game, they found themselves hitting an iron plate.
Atletico players always defend in every possible way.
These wooden stakes are always running and moving without any effort, and they also echo each other, remind each other, and cooperate with each other, forming an unbreakable overall defensive formation.
Yang Hao stood on the sidelines and found that he could no longer direct or adjust anything.
Because everyone is trying their best and everyone is working hard.
This is the biggest change brought about by the past three wins!
How miserable Atletico Madrid's trough was before, how humiliating and ridiculed the team and players were, how strong their morale and fighting spirit are now.
Because they are all famous stars, they all have their own blood and backbone.
They all want to prove themselves!
Barcelona's stars are constantly trying, personal breakthroughs, one-twos, direct passes, air cuts, direct long-range shots...
Various methods were used in endlessly, but they just failed to truly threaten Atletico Madrid's goal.
Time passed bit by bit, and the Barcelona players gradually became a little anxious.
In the 33rd minute of the first half, Barcelona once again passed the ball to the midfield, and they were strangled with Atletico Madrid's midfielder. When they were forced to pass back to De Boer, the Dutch central defender stopped the ball in a hurry. Stealed by Hasselbaink.
Good guy!
The Dutch center stole the ball by himself, counterattacked by himself, and rushed to Barcelona's home with the ball.
As a result, he was beaten to death as a last resort.
Sometimes, Hasselbaink's ability to squander opportunities is as much loved and hated as his ability to score goals.
But this counterattack also had an effect, which was to remind Barcelona that Atletico Madrid is not incapable of fighting back.
Subsequently, Barcelona really became more honest.
…
At the beginning of the second half, Barcelona once again launched a wave of fierce attacks, but the effect was still minimal.
Atletico Madrid is becoming more confident now.
Especially during the halftime break, what Yang Hao emphasized the most was defense.
Entering the 60th minute, Van Gaal replaced two players in just five minutes.
First, Simang was used to replace Cenden, whose performance on the left wing was not very satisfactory, in order to strengthen the offensive ability on the wing.
Immediately afterwards, Luis Enrique was used to replace the team's midfielder Xavi.
Barcelona changed their tactics and changed their tactics to 3232, that is, Cocu and Guardiola were behind, Luis Enrique was in the middle, and in front was a double forward composed of Kluivert and Rivaldo.
When Yang Hao saw this lineup, he was filled with emotion.
Van Gaal, Luis Enrique, Guardiola, Xavi... are all future Barcelona coaches.
There are also De Boer and Cocu, who are also famous coaches whose names will be remembered in European football in the future.
At this stage, Dutch football and Barcelona are truly a gathering of stars.
But you can also think of it this way, because Barcelona caters to the future football trend, so their talents have the opportunity to emerge and become the backbone of European football in the future.
At this point, Cruyff's contribution is unquestionable.
But Yang Hao soon felt proud because so many famous coaches gathered together but still failed to break through Atletico Madrid's defense.
If he had the opportunity to publish this transcript on the Internet in 2023, how much discussion would it cause?
When he thought of this, Yang Hao suddenly thought of two people and had a very interesting idea.
Don't tell me, the more Yang Hao thought about it, the more excited he became.
…
In the 75th minute, Yang Hao made a substitution adjustment and replaced Fresnedoso with Aguilera.
At first glance, this is a matchup substitution. Fresnedoso played two games in a row, which was quite costly.
Especially tonight, facing Barcelona's successive attacks, his performance was okay.
At the very least, his efforts and commitment are worthy of recognition.
After going up, Aguilera was mainly active on the right side.
This is a weakness for Barcelona tonight.
Reiziger is a right-footed player who plays left center back, which further intensifies Barcelona's defensive pressure on the left, especially when faced with Aguilera's pass from the bottom.
Yang Hao just wants to hit this point!
But Van Gaal immediately reacted, realized the problem, and immediately made adjustments. Cocu moved closer, obviously to help defend the left wing.
The Dutch midfielder is left-footed and versatile.
At this point, Van Gaal really deserves to be a famous European coach, reacting quickly enough and making decisive enough adjustments.
But after Aguilera came on, his physical advantage made him more active, and Atletico Madrid's overall performance also created opportunities for him.
First, Baraja tried to hit the back with a long pass, but Reiziger blocked it first. However, under Aguilera's close pressure, the Dutch defender failed to kick the ball in place with his right foot and kicked the ball to Belleron of Atletico Madrid.
Belleron got the ball on the right side of the outside of the penalty area, and was immediately attacked by Cocu and Guardiola. Together with De Boer on the central defender line, the three of them almost locked Belleron down. .
Spanish Zidane used his body to block Guardiola, and skillfully circled the ball with his feet. Before Cocu and De Boer could come over, he just sent a fatal through ball from the middle of the two Dutch players.
Instead of looking for Hasselbaink at the top of the penalty area, he went straight to the right side of the penalty area.
This change happened very quickly. Everyone was still realizing that one moment, when Barcelona was about to complete an encirclement attack, the next moment, Belleron had already passed the ball.
When everyone reacted, Aguilera's figure appeared on the right side of the penalty area.
I saw the Atletico Madrid captain stopped Belleron's pass with his right foot, just avoided the goalkeeper Hesp who was halfway out of the attack, and hit directly with his left foot.
After hitting the goal with his kick, he turned around and rushed out of Barcelona's penalty area with cheers.
