On the evening of April 28, Calderon Stadium in Madrid.
In the 35th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid faced Barcelona at home.
From the moment the opening whistle sounded, Van Gaal had been standing on the sidelines with fear.
He guessed that Yang Hao might win by surprise, but he never imagined that Yang Hao would be so bold and start a confrontation with Barcelona from the very beginning. This was a sure way to seek death.
Who is in Atletico Madrid's frontcourt?
Hasselbaink, Solari, Belleron and Aguilera.
But what about Barcelona?
Kluivert, Zenden, Rivaldo and Figo.
As far as the star lineup in the frontcourt is concerned, Atletico Madrid can't compete with Barcelona.
But Yang Hao just pressed it out, and he was very determined and thorough, with a determination that "labor and management will never retreat if they can't score the goal"!
Van Gaal also guessed that Yang Hao would attack Barcelona's left wing.
Before the game, he told Mourinho that this kid Yang Hao was putting on airs. When he was at Camp Nou, he replaced Aguilera and attacked Barcelona's left wing. It was obviously intentional and not accidental.
He is very sure that when Yang Hao returns to Calderon, he will definitely pay attention to attacking Barcelona's left wing.
Therefore, he adjusted the position of Reiziger, who had performed poorly at Camp Nou, and moved the Dutch defender to the right center back, and let Puyol play as the left center back, hoping to take advantage of Puyol's versatility and the Spaniard's speed. , suppressing Atletico Madrid's right wing.
But he never expected Yang Hao to be so cunning.
How cunning is it?
When Atletico Madrid pressed forward as a whole, Aguilera followed Puyol in a way that was almost touching.
In the 6th minute, Belleron and Baraja completed a cooperation and sent the ball to Aguilera's feet.
At this time, the Atletico Madrid captain stopped the ball, turned around and dunked past Puyol, then sent a pass that was beneficial.
Hasselbaink forced his way through De Boer's defense, followed up in front of the goal, and opened the scoring for Atletico Madrid!
At the moment of scoring, the Dutch center rushed out of the penalty area almost crazily and ran all the way. He was cheered by the Calderon Stadium, and countless people rushed to shout Hasselbaink's name.
Van Gaal stood in the visiting team's coaching area, looking depressingly at Atletico Madrid, who was full of cheers, and felt quite depressed.
He knew that he was being plotted.
The authorities are so obsessed that he didn’t even notice it. In fact, he had no choice!
What makes Van Gaal even more embarrassed is that Barcelona has not yet fully adjusted. Atletico Madrid, who have tasted the sweetness, began to press and press from a high position, repeatedly trying to go to the right, forcing Cocu to actively return to defense. The defensive focus is tilted towards Barcelona's left side.
But in the 11th minute, Pablo Garcia suddenly sent a long overhead pass to the left side of the Barcelona penalty area. Solari caught up with him, stopped the ball, and sent a cross. .
Hasselbaink was still grabbing for points in the penalty area, but this time De Boer finally got the first shot and headed the ball out.
Zenden stopped the ball outside the penalty area, but before it could stop, Belleron stole it.
Spain's Zidane was such a thief that after stealing the ball, he scored horizontally.
Baraja in the middle followed up and hit the ball directly, no matter what.
A furious shot from the top right side of the arc outside the penalty area once again penetrated Hesp's goal.
2 to 0!
At this time, the game had only lasted 11 minutes.
Atletico Madrid's fast-paced high-position pressing immediately stunned Barcelona!
Whether it was the right wing at the beginning or the left wing afterwards, Barcelona was unable to parry.
The wing defense of the back three has its own flaws. Whether it is Reiziger or Puyol, if a right-footed player plays the left center back, the wing defense will be more completely exposed.
It was at this moment that Van Gaal truly realized that he had also been plotted by Yang Hao.
After scoring two goals in a row, Atletico Madrid gradually slowed down its pressing pressure, and Barcelona gradually stabilized its position.
The game returned to even balance.
But at this time, the Sheets Army retreated and launched their best defensive counterattack.
…
2 to 0!
Yang Hao secretly cheered on the sidelines, especially when he saw the team gradually slowing down their offensive and retreating to play defensive counterattacks, he became more determined and confident.
From the beginning of this game, Van Gaal had no choice.
As Yang Hao said before, this seems to be two games, but it can actually be one game.
Because they are too close.
At Camp Nou, Van Gaal refused to replace Kluivert, Rivaldo and Figo when he was falling behind.
Are these three players performing well?
The performance of the three major superstars this season was pretty good, but as far as that game was concerned, they were all average.
Then why don't you dare to change?
Yang Hao guessed that when Van Gaal reached a settlement with them, they had an agreement.
This is normal, both sides should take a step back.
At this time, for the sake of harmony in the locker room, Van Gaal must ensure the stability of the playing time and position of the three superstars.
Well, the three superstars must play, and Rivaldo must play in the middle.
Barcelona will either play a double striker, or they will play Van Gaal's 3331 and let Rivaldo play the tenth position.
No matter which angle you look at it, it's the latter.
Maybe some people are wondering, can't they play with four defenders?
The answer is that Van Gaal tried to play 4231, or tactics similar to 4231, but the results were very average.
Whether it was the double midfielder combination of Cocu and Guardiola, or anyone else, the performance was not ideal.
Moreover, Barcelona's traditional DNA has always been a single defensive midfielder in the fourth position.
In addition, there is another problem. After the big reversal of Chelsea in the Champions League, Van Gaal and Barcelona have tasted the sweetness of 3331. The loss to Atletico Madrid can be regarded as an accident, because they already lost 1-4 in the first round. .
In this case, Van Gaal actually had no choice at all.
Barcelona actually has a regular left back, the famous player Sergi, who later retired from Atletico Madrid, but this player has good offensive power and unforgettable defense.
The most typical example is the tragedy at Camp Nou that was famous in European football in November 1997. Dynamo Kiev led by Shevchenko bloodbathed Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou.
The cause of this tragedy was that Serge frequently pushed forward, leaving a large gap behind him. He also deliberately handballed the ball in the 47th minute, received a second yellow card, and was sent off with a direct red card.
But in the past few years of Van Gaal's coaching, Sergi has still been the main player, and his defense has always been criticized.
Until this season, in the first dozen games, Sergi still started every game, whether in the league or the Champions League, and played every game. However, starting from the 10th round of the league, Barcelona ushered in a wave of troughs. From the 10th to the 15th round , lost 5 games in 6 league rounds, including a four-game losing streak.
Sergi became the number one culprit for the team's sluggish performance. Since then, Van Gaal has refused to use him, and even preferred to let Bogarde serve as a left back instead of starting him.
It can be said that no matter from which point of view, Van Gaal will only play three defenders.
And as long as you play with three defenders, whether it is Reiziger or Puyol, or even De Boer or Cocu, there will inevitably be problems with wing defense.
Aguilera is a right-footed player, but he is also very proficient with his left foot and can cut inside to hit the ball and pass the ball.
The captain of Atletico Madrid has naturally become a key point that Yang Hao attaches great importance to.
At Camp Nou, Yang Hao just tried it, and it worked wonders. In this game, he felt more confident and used it more boldly.
As a result, the opening scene was an instant hit.
…
The two sides were evenly matched, and the 2-0 score itself proved that Barcelona was at a disadvantage.
Especially after the long-term stalemate, Barcelona's offense has always been unable to do anything to Atletico Madrid.
The defensive formation of the Sheets Legion has created a lot of difficulties for Barcelona from the first game coached by Yang Hao. Later, with the repeated battles and the addition of Juanma Lillo and others, it was no longer a problem. Improve continuously.
It is now considered a relatively stable defensive formation.
Falling behind by two goals and struggling with no results, Barcelona played a little impatiently.
Throughout the first half, Barcelona's most threatening moment came in the 41st minute. At that time, Zenden received a pass from Rivaldo, forced a breakthrough through Gaspar and then made a cross from the left. Neither Atletico Madrid's two central defenders could follow. On Kluivert, you can't get the landing spot.
In the end, Molina abandoned the goal and confiscated the ball before the Dutch center, but also collided with Kluivert.
Subsequently, Atletico Madrid began to counterattack with purpose.
In the stoppage time of the first half, Belleron and Aguilera cooperated again near the right corner of the penalty area. Aguilera dribbled the ball into the right side of the penalty area and was tackled from behind by Puyol.
There is really nothing the Barcelona defender can do.
He's right-footed, but Aguilera always cuts in on his weaker foot, which really drives him crazy.
Just now, in a hurry, I committed a foul.
Yang Hao looked on from the sidelines and shook his head.
In 2000, a tackle from behind was not serious. A few years later, it would have been a red card and a penalty.
Now only penalty kicks are given, but no cards are drawn.
Hasselbaink missed a penalty kick last time. This time when he saw his old captain create a penalty kick, he immediately volunteered, hoping to take the penalty kick again and avenge his previous shame.
After the players negotiated on the court, they agreed to Hasselbaink's request.
The Dutchman calmly placed the ball and scored in one stroke, adding another victory for Atletico Madrid.
3 to 0!
Before the end of the first half, Atletico Madrid basically sealed the victory!
This is something that no one could have imagined before the game.
Previously, everyone thought it was an accident when the Copa del Rey ended 1-4, an accidental mistake made by Barcelona after fighting on multiple fronts, but what about this time?
Over and over again, is it still an accident?
In just over half a month, Barcelona has lost three consecutive games to Atletico Madrid. Is this still a coincidence?
Van Gaal's face was always livid, making it unclear how he was feeling at the moment, but it would definitely not be easy to imagine.
Because in another stadium, leader Deportivo lost to Celta Vigo 1-2 away.
Celta Vigo scored in the first 4 minutes, but Juanfran received a red card in the 12th minute.
As a result, Deportivo failed to win a victory and gave up the lead.
But Irueta would never have imagined that Barcelona, the rival to win the championship, would also fail in this round.
Barcelona missed a great opportunity to catch up with their rivals.
With only 3 rounds left in the league, Barcelona is still 5 points behind Deportivo La Coruña, and there is basically no hope of winning the championship.
