Chapter 305: Heavenly Show! Hitting the target with a hundred steps!
On the field, AC Milan began to squeeze Chen Xiaoliang's advancing space.
Unlike Liverpool, they did not send a special person to follow Chen Xiaoliang. Instead, they used two defensive midfielders and the attacking midfielder in the middle, and the defensive midfielder, wingers and full-backs to cooperate with each other on the flanks , to restrict Chen Xiaoliang when Roma launched a counterattack and he advanced to the frontcourt.
Whoever is closer will be the first to stop him, and a tactical foul can be committed if necessary.
This did have some effect.
In the 18th minute, Roma counterattacked again. After Calabria made a mistake in passing the ball out of bounds, Kova quickly sent the ball out of bounds to Sesco who was lagging behind. After receiving the ball, Sesco moved forward at medium speed, but Chen Xiaoliang was not seen coming in from behind.
De Katetrare and Messias took turns pulling and blocking Chen Xiaoliang's way, while the referee's eyes were on Cesco, who had the ball in the frontcourt.
Finally, with Kova and Pellegrini on both wings being closely guarded, Cesco simply took a long shot himself, but the ball went high.
Tatarusanu immediately kicked the ball towards the goal, Messias got the ball on the right, and when he saw Chen Xiaoliang preparing to defend him, he immediately passed the ball to the left. Leo received a long pass on the left rib and broke through Binya, but his shot from a small angle was saved by Patricio with one hand.
This was also AC Milan's first shot that hit the goal frame after the opening!
Compared to the fans in casual clothes who were watching the game excitedly, the people in the aristocratic area with colorful headscarves seemed much calmer, not to mention the nobles in the boxes, who were eating cakes and drinking juice, as if they were not watching a passionate football game, but an elegant and solemn opera.
Just when Leo was still sighing in the Roma penalty area that he failed to break through the goalkeeper's fingers and score, Patricio also chose to quickly kick the goal.
Roma's attack today can be summed up in one word: fast.
If the previous goal was scored with five passes, the next one was scored with only two passes.
Patricio's goal kick went level with the retreating Chen Xiaoliang.
According to Pioli's defensive tactical arrangement, when Chen Xiaoliang is not close to the center line, the frontcourt players do not need to press and defend him, especially in positional battles. When Chen Xiaoliang stands in the midfield and backcourt and has no extra depth, he cannot use his burst and speed to create too many opportunities.
Therefore, Giroud, De Katelare and others ran back while just watching Chen Xiaoliang's actions with their eyes.
He kicked the ball forward quickly, and when it passed over the head of attacking midfielder De Katelare, AC Milan players were still jogging back to defend;
When the ball passed over the heads of defensive midfielders Tonali and Bennacer, they began to speed back to defense;
It was not until the ball passed over the head of right-back Calabria that the entire AC Milan defense line realized that this was not an ordinary long pass!
After Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball, Kva on the left ran along the left sideline and from behind Calabria and ran forward at full speed. When the ball fell, he had already run to the left corner of AC Milan's penalty area.
As he unloaded the ball with his right foot and took a few steps, he had already reached a position on the left side of the penalty area, almost parallel to the small penalty area line.
Kjaer, who had retreated early, rushed over. The 33-year-old Danish central defender has excellent skills, outstanding awareness, and good physical fitness. His confrontation, strength, and jumping are all maintained at a good level, but his flexibility and speed are lacking.
These two aspects are exactly the strengths of Kva, who is known as the Georgian Messi.
Facing Kjaer's blockade, Kva kicked out with his left foot, pretending to sweep the ball across the goal to let his teammates make an outflanking move. When Kjaer's center of gravity shifted, he immediately kicked the ball to the front right with his left foot, and then he passed Kjaer with the ball with a light move of his right foot.
At this time, the shortcomings of traditional white central defenders, such as slow turning and lack of explosive power, are revealed.
Looking at Kva who had passed him, Kjaer tried to turn around, but he could not keep up with Kva's pace. At this time, both of them were in the penalty area and were in full view of the public, so he had no way to reach out and pull him.
Kva took two steps and shot directly with his right foot near the left corner of the penalty area!
The shot was aimed at the far corner, the one that has become a trend on the Internet this season and made many offensive players think twice before shooting!
Tatarusanu, who was guarding the near post, dived to save the ball immediately, but the ball had already rolled under his armpit, and then rolled into the goal in the sight of all AC Milan players returning to defense!
Roma leads AC Milan 2-0!
Zhan Jun: “This ball goes in!”
"The endless fallen leaves rustle, Kvaratskhelia!"
"Georgian Messi used a move a bit like Cristiano Ronaldo's change of direction to shake off Kjaer and shot a low ball into the far corner!"
"And the one who gave him the long pass throughout the game was none other than the team's midfield soul, Chen Xiaoliang!"
Zhang Lu: "Both players showed very good form and tacit understanding today. One scored two goals and the other assisted two goals."
"And the key point is that Roma's counterattack today has a new change. I wonder if AC Milan fans have remembered anything from Xiaoliang's kick just now."
Zhan Jun: "What Director Zhang said is what I thought of earlier! If Xiaoliang, who used explosive power and high-speed advancement to tear open Milan's defense before, is like Kaka, then Xiaoliang, who now actively retreats and uses precise long passes to penetrate the defense, is more like Pirlo!"
Zhang Lu: "Hehe, that's right! The reason why Ancelotti let Pirlo unexpectedly appear in the defensive midfielder position was because he did not have the ability to keep the ball and advance in the dense double-team defense and physical confrontation in the frontcourt. After letting him retreat, the defensive pressure was greatly reduced, and his passing ability and organizational ability could be fully demonstrated."
"Of course, it's not that Xiaoliang doesn't have the ability to get forward, but now all teams, especially the strong teams, will study how to defend him specifically when facing Roma. As a result, when he often appears in the threatening area in the frontcourt, he is either closely pressed by a dedicated person or simply double-teamed. His ability to pass the ball and attack will definitely be affected."
"But in the final analysis, Mourinho's ability to arrange like this, or Xiaoliang's ability to retreat actively like this, is based on his excellent long-pass ability. I feel that many fans may not realize this. Unlike his speed and explosiveness, which seem to have improved by leaps and bounds recently, in my opinion, his long-pass has also made obvious progress recently."
Of course, Chen Xiaoliang on the field had no way of hearing Zhang Lu's commentary in the live broadcast room. If he could hear it, he would definitely give a thumbs up to this experienced, observant and "hehe" old football commentator.
Pioli felt chilled when he saw the Roma players celebrating together.
When the area where a player can create threats has covered the backcourt, it means that this player has become difficult to defend effectively.
After falling behind by two goals early on, AC Milan was now filled with pressure and impatience.
This is not a league game. Even if you lose, you can still comfort yourself by saying "there is still the next game". If you don't perform well in one game, you can still hope to adjust in the next game.
What's more, only the league and cup champions of the previous season are eligible to participate in the Super Cup, or when both are won by the same team, the second place in the league will be the substitute, which means that this trophy is not something you can win just because you want to.
In the 30th minute, Tomori's brain short-circuited when he passed the ball after the attack and defense transition. He did not pay attention to Chen Xiaoliang's position, and his intention to pass the ball to Bennacer was too obvious and was easily intercepted by Chen Xiaoliang halfway.
Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball directly from 35 meters away from the goal. With a thunderous sound, the ball flew up and rushed towards the goal.
Tatarusanu leaned to the left and used all his strength with both hands to block the ball. He felt as if he had been hit from his forearm to his shoulder, and was slightly numb!
It was good enough that he could block the ball, as he had no control over the ball's second landing point. As a result, it was snatched away by Zalewski who ran back again. The young Polish player shot again, but was too anxious and hit the ball high as Tatarusanu had just gotten up from the ground and had no foothold.
Throughout the first half, AC Milan did not have any threatening shots and the game entered the midfield.
The entire Roma team was very satisfied with their performance in the first half, but in the game four days ago, they also led 2-0 in the first half, and then were equalized by AC Milan in the second half.
Mourinho kept reminding and warning the players in the locker room that if the league game was tied, there would still be 1 point to be gained, but if the cup game was tied, there would be a possibility of being in an irretrievable situation.
He told the players that AC Milan had no other tactics. They were two goals behind, and their only strategy was to keep seizing the ball and then press forward to try to score a goal.
The tighter we defend, the more impatient they will be, and there will be more gaps in our defense and more opportunities for counterattacks.
Finally, Mourinho said a sentence that represents his coaching philosophy in his career and even his philosophy of life: "People only remember the final championship, but will soon forget how to win the championship."
Indeed, for him, he simply cannot agree with those coaches who would rather die than rely on passing and controlling the ball or on offense.
As long as the score is better than the opponent at the end of the game, other statistics, such as ball possession rate, number of passes, number of shots, and even fouls, red and yellow cards, etc. are not important.
If you win, you win. If you don’t win, everything is just empty talk.
But Mourinho is right about one thing, Pioli really has no other choice.
He could only use the result of equalizing the score in the previous game to motivate AC Milan players, and continue to ask the players to attack and seize set-piece opportunities.
At the start of the second half, the pace of both sides became faster.
In the 49th minute, Leao received the ball on the left, dribbled past Binya and cut inside. Despite interference from Bove, he forced a shot, but the ball was slightly high.
In the 52nd minute, Theo moved inward from the left, and after completing a two-on-one with De Katelare, he was still in Beauvais' defense area and passed the ball to Giroud in the penalty area.
The 36-year-old, 192cm tall Giroud leaned on Smalling tightly, stretched his left foot forward, and almost completed a volley.
"oh……"
Now, even the royal family members in the noble area couldn't help but exclaim while watching the game elegantly.
After all, for a final like this, held in Saudi Arabia where it is rare to see a high-level match live, the audience certainly hoped that the game would be more tense and the competition more intense.
But it is obvious that Roma is not prepared to give AC Milan this opportunity.
Mourinho replaced Bove, who was targeted continuously, with Enzo. At the same time, he replaced Zalewski, who performed well but lacked experience in competing with Theo, with Dybala.
The appearance of the two World Cup champions drew applause from the fans.
Facts have proved that when the two players have not fully recovered, it is much better to play in the second half and wait for the opportunity to tire out than to start directly.
When the game reached the 70th minute, the score was still 2-0, but the ball possession rate had become 32% to 68%.
Zhan Jun: "Although technical statistics show that AC Milan's ball possession rate is more than twice that of Roma and they have always dominated the ball on the field, we saw that the number of shots on goal for both sides was 10 to 10, and Roma's number of shots on target was 4, which was 2 more than AC Milan."
Zhang Lu: "Although the scene was not pretty, we have to admit that Mourinho's tactics really worked in the final."
Zhan Jun: "Zhang Zhi is right, Mourinho still has a 100% winning rate in European finals!"
Zhang Lu: "AC Milan does not have a strong high point. Giroud can be a fulcrum in the penalty area. He can use his height and position to attract defense, create space for teammates, and participate in the offense at the same time. This is his ability. This is how Didier Deschamps used him in the French team."
"But in fact, even in the French team, he needs an attacker like Mbappe by his side to play his role as a fulcrum."
"And this Milan team uses him as a sharp knife and main attacker, asking him to fight with the opponent's defenders in the crowded penalty area and shoot and score. That is undoubtedly quite difficult. After all, he is 36 years old and it is impossible for his physical fitness not to decline."
"And we see other attackers on the perimeter, Dekatrare, Messias, Leo, they are all wandering outside, especially Leo, who often cuts inside and shoots from a long distance, or shoots from a small angle. Theo can also get in from the back and pass the ball into the penalty area, but Leo doesn't even pass the ball. Basically, the attack ends when the ball reaches him."
"With such isolated attacks, and no strong center forward, no absolute aerial dominance, and even no super shooter who can make the final shot from long range, there is basically no way to deal with this ball, unless Roma makes a mistake and gives away a gift."
After the tempering of the World Cup, the 21-year-old Guevadiol and Enzo, who will be 22 in a few days, have already become generals. The experience of playing a perfect World Cup alongside two legends, Messi and Modric, has also allowed them to get rid of their occasional impetuous shortcomings.
The two of them, one a central defender and the other a defensive midfielder, together with the 18-year-old central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang and the 19-year-old center forward Cesco in front of them, formed a super central axis with an average age of 20 but capable of both offense and defense.
Under this positive motivation, teammates also devoted themselves to the game. Kva and Dybala on the two wings resolutely carried out the task of retreating to defend in front of the full-backs, and sprinted forward at all costs every time there was a counterattack opportunity.
With everyone working together and everyone fighting bravely, there is no reason for such a team to lose in the current Serie A.
In the 77th minute, Origi, who replaced Messias on the right, was intercepted during the attack. He kicked Cristante down during the counter-attack and was penalized for a foul by the referee Marrecas.
Enzo, who was assisting in defense, understood what he meant and immediately sent a free kick to the retreating Chen Xiaoliang.
After receiving the ball, Chen Xiaoliang once again proved to the world that the Golden Globe Award's ranking of him as 10th was absolutely low and not high at all.
The ball rushed forward quickly under the impact of his right foot. Dybala, who came on the field not long after the second half, started running forward when Origi was called for a foul and AC Milan players were still waiting for the referee's decision.
This time, Chen Xiaoliang didn't even leave any room for error. The ball landed exactly on the instep of Dybala's outstretched left foot, one step outside the penalty area.
The Argentine fairy used a perfect stop after shaking off Tomori while running at high speed to tell the world that the reason he was sitting on the bench in the World Cup was not because he was not good enough, but simply because his position was occupied by the man called the King of Football.
Facing the attacking Tatarusanu, Dybala perfectly unloaded the ball with his left foot and then lightly picked it up with his right foot!
The ball drew a beautiful rainbow, passed over Tatarusanu's raised arm, and then floated into the goal!
3 to 0!
Zhan Jun: "This is a goal that completely killed the game!"
"Zhang pointed out that this might be the first time Mourinho has been able to perfectly reproduce his philosophy of steady defense and counterattack since leaving Real Madrid!"
Zhang Lu: "No matter how good the coach or the tactics are, they still need players to implement them. It's not that the players of Manchester United and Tottenham are not good, but there are not many players in those two teams who are really willing to play for them from the bottom of their hearts, and there are all kinds of voices in the locker room. But in Rome, although there are many young people in the team, they are very clear in executing the tactics."
Zhan Jun: "All three attacks tonight came from Xiaoliang. Except for the first goal, which was assisted by Kvaratskhelia after he rushed into the penalty area, the other two goals were assisted by retreating actively, using his powerful ability of ultra-long-distance passes to provide his teammates with perfect assists!"
Zhang Lu: "That's for sure. If it's one meter shorter, the player receiving the ball will slow down and be caught up by the defenders. If it's one meter longer, the ball may not be able to stop and will be blocked by the goalkeeper. With these two long passes, Xiaoliang really showed off his footwork today."
Zhan Jun: "According to what netizens want, this is called Tianxiu!"
