Chapter 18 Scorer: Baraha!
“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!”
"In the 27th minute, Atletico Madrid's first shot of the game came from their top scorer, Dutchman Hasselbaink!"
"That was a very, very powerful shot!"
"Hasselbaink made a very wonderful and violent shot to help Atletico Madrid equalize the score!"
"One to one!"
…
"yeah!!"
On the sidelines, Yang Hao jumped up excitedly after seeing Hasselbaink kick the ball.
His fists, which had been clenched tightly for a long time, punched out wildly, like a boxer beating his enemy.
The entire Calderon Stadium, with 48,000 Atletico Madrid fans, roared in surprise , followed by thunderous cheers and enthusiastic applause.
One to one!
Atletico Madrid successfully equalized the score!
Atletico Madrid players were also very excited. They all rushed out of the stadium, caught up with Hasselbaink, and celebrated together on the sidelines.
Even goalkeeper Molina was running back and forth on his own goal line, cheering and shouting, venting his inner excitement.
After being suppressed by my opponent for nearly half an hour, I can finally vent.
…
After the excitement, Yang Hao quickly turned around and high-fived Mendiodoro, Perizaro and others one by one.
He saw surprise and disbelief on everyone's face.
Yes, before this goal, none of them thought that Atletico Madrid had a chance of winning this game.
Especially after the opponent scored a goal in the first 12 minutes of the game, they completely lost confidence.
But now, Atletico Madrid scored and the score was tied.
"The game has just begun!" Yang Hao said with a big laugh.
He simply ignored what his assistants were thinking, as if he would never tell them why the 4231 lineup was still used by many teams for many years to come, even before he traveled through time.
It's not because it's so advanced, but because it's so accessible to the public.
If Yang Hao now has superstars , as well as a single defensive midfielder like Guardiola, then needless to say, just start with 433.
But the question is, does Atletico Madrid have the chips to play 433 now? Does it have the capital to play offensive football?
The answer is no!
If they really do this, Atletico Madrid will probably be beaten into a sieve by their opponents.
Not to mention, there is no gene for playing 433 in Atletico Madrid's history , and the players are not adapted to it.
But 4231 is different. The concept of high-pressure pressing had already laid a certain foundation in the season when Sacchi coached, and it was not difficult for the players to understand and adapt.
More importantly, in Yang Hao's previous life, Belleron, Baraja and others reached the peak of their careers in the 4231 formation.
In this case, 4231 is the best solution for Atletico Madrid!
Leaving his assistant with a look of surprise behind, Yang Hao walked straight to the sidelines and shouted to the Atletico Madrid players who were walking back after celebrating their goal, "Steady the rhythm, take it slow, and keep playing like this."
"Come on! Come on!! We have to try to score more goals! Go to Barcelona!"
By the end, Yang Hao was obviously so excited that he even cursed.
The fourth official in front of him immediately turned around and gave Yang Hao a stern look.
The team had just scored a goal, and Yang Hao realized that he had said the wrong thing. He immediately laughed and turned around to go back.
"This kid really doesn't understand the rules at all." Mourinho snorted coldly.
Isn't it just a goal?
Are you showing off like this?
But Van Gaal still looked solemn.
The keen sense he developed from years of coaching told him that there are absolutely no goals without reason on the football field. There are always reasons for everything, and the opponent must have done something right.
So what did this rookie and Atletico Madrid do right?
Defensive counterattack?
Van Gaal didn't understand it yet, but the game had already started again.
…
After conceding a goal, Barcelona players became somewhat cautious.
This can be regarded as a wake-up call for them.
But soon, they found that the morale of the Atletico Madrid players on the opposite side was improving rapidly, especially this group of players, their eyes became much more determined.
They are all professional players, and Barcelona players know very well what is going on.
They have clear directions and goals, and they know exactly what they should do and how to do it.
When De Boer rushed out of the 30-meter area to get the ball, Hasselbaink immediately pounced on him, which scared the Dutch center back.
As a national team teammate, De Boer is very wary of Hasselbaink's physical confrontation ability.
So he passed the ball to Cocu immediately.
Hasselbaink turned halfway and ran towards Cocu, which forced Cocu to pass the ball to the right and gave it to Puyol.
Now the Dutch center forward stopped running and instead walked slowly between Cocu and De Boer.
But almost at the same time, Solari on the left rushed up and went straight to Puyol.
As Guardiola retreated, Belleron also ran two steps forward.
This immediately interfered with Puyol's passing route, so the Barcelona defender was forced to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Hesp.
There was a burst of warm applause from the Calderon Stadium.
Atletico Madrid performed a very good defensive operation, forcing Barcelona to pass the ball back.
Barcelona itself has a strong gene for ball control. The team plays very patiently. Even if the ball is passed back, it will be reorganized immediately and passed out again.
But Atletico's defense is interesting.
When the Barcelona ball was within a 30-meter area, no Atletico Madrid player pressed it.
But once the ball leaves this range, Atletico Madrid players will actively rush to grab it.
As the ball retreated, Atletico Madrid's players also retreated.
After two or three consecutive attempts to advance failed, Cocu made a long pass from the backcourt to find Kluivert in front.
The Dutch center was very dominant in the frontcourt, but after grabbing the ball, he found that there were few teammates around him.
Figo was on the right and Rivaldo on the left, but the trident in front was cut apart.
Although Kluivert has a physical advantage, he is not sure if he can take the ball alone and challenge Atletico's two central defenders, so he can only pass the ball back to the midfield.
At this time, the role of the double defensive midfielders is reflected.
Baraja and Pablo Garcia were like a wall, forcing both Xavi and Gabriel to move forward.
Xavi finally passed the ball to Rivaldo on the left, but this time Baraja had learned his lesson and immediately rushed to the wing, teaming up with Gaspar to double-team Rivaldo.
In the end, the attack ended with Gaspar shoveling the ball out of bounds, giving Barcelona an out-of-bounds kick.
But compared to just now, the defense this time is much better.
At least Atletico Madrid proceeded in an orderly manner throughout the whole process.
…
"Atletico Madrid's players are starting to find their game feeling and their confidence."
Van Gaal is a professional player. He can roughly guess what is going on with the players just by watching the game.
He knows the mental state of Atletico Madrid players too well.
On the contrary, Mourinho has not played much professional football and does not know much about professional players, especially those in the top leagues.
"Is it the goal just now?" Mourinho asked.
Van Gaal shook his head, "It's that rookie!"
"Him?" Mourinho was very surprised .
Turning to look at the home team's coaching bench, I found that Yang Hao was still standing on the sidelines, watching the game intently.
"Do you really think that a strong team can win a game by tying a dog to the coaching bench?" Van Gaal has always been dismissive of such remarks from media reporters.
"The biggest role of a head coach is to bring confidence to the players. Now, Atletico's players feel that the rookie's tactics are working, especially their defense tonight."
Atletico Madrid's defensive tactics tonight really impressed Van Gaal, especially the targeted formation in the area from 30 meters to near the center line.
After the 20th minute, it became difficult for Barcelona to get the ball across the center line, and their attack was no longer as threatening as at the start of the game.
This is not a good phenomenon!
…
Just as Van Gaal frowned and thought about how to solve the problem, Barcelona passed the ball to the center line again.
Gabriel got the ball and was about to turn around when he heard Guardiola's warning.
"careful!"
Before he could hear clearly, Baraha had already rushed over.
The 1.77-meter-tall Spanish midfielder was full of murderous intent. He made a fierce tackle and took the ball away from Gabriel's feet.
The key point is that after Balaha tackled the ball, he got up and quickly chased after him.
Gabriel could vaguely hear him muttering, "Fight to the death! Fight to the death! I'm going to fight to the death!"
The Barcelona midfield was completely confused.
After Baraja caught up with the ball, he quickly kicked it to Belleron in front.
Belleron pretended to move to the left, wanting to cooperate with Solari on the left and Hasselbaink on the left side of the penalty area, which made Guardiola feel like he was facing a formidable enemy.
But unexpectedly, this was another smokescreen.
Belleron was clearly looking to the left, and his entire body was facing the left. God knows how he saw Aguilera on the right?
The ball fell to Aguilera's feet. The Spanish player quickly passed Bogarde on the right and dribbled the ball directly into the penalty area.
De Boer was horrified and blocked the attack immediately. Cocu followed closely behind, fearing that Aguilera would pass the ball to Hasselbaink, which would definitely be another huge threat.
After Aguilera broke into the penalty area, the defensive pressure he faced was much less, but what he saw with his eyes and felt with his body was that he was surrounded by three Barcelona defensive players.
His routes to the goal and the center were all blocked tightly, leaving him no room at all.
There was no choice but to protect the ball first. He tilted his head slightly and saw a red and white figure rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye.
Who is so clever?
Aguilera didn't think twice and passed the ball back to the right side of the penalty area.
I saw the man rushing over, facing Aguilera's pass, without even stopping, he swung his right foot and shot.
The ball flew out at an extremely fast speed like a bullet and went straight to the left side of the goal.
Goalkeeper Hespu was standing near the right post and it was impossible to stop it.
The long shot went into the goal.
Everyone was so shocked that they only turned their attention back to the front of the penalty area at this moment.
Goal scorer: Ruben Baraja!
