Chapter 439: Absolute Leader
Mourinho never expected that the defense he carefully built would be broken so easily.
If Mbappe relies on his unreasonable speed, Chen Xiaoliang relies on his unreasonable shooting range.
But the level of unreasonableness was far beyond Ugarte and Cone's expectations.
Mbappe put his hands on his hips with an unhappy look on his face, waiting for the referee Osato to blow the whistle and then kick off.
“Beep!”
He pushed the ball directly to Ugarte, gave him a sharp look, then turned and ran forward.
Although he is not very popular in the team, especially the South American gang led by Neymar and Marquinhos rarely talk to Mbappe, but everyone in the team knows that if this team wants to go to the end, it really cannot do without this Frenchman who is at the peak of his powers.
Afterwards, after both sides had reached a climax, they took the initiative to choose a more stable way of playing.
On the Manchester United side, the defensive midfielder began to focus on intercepting the ball passed to Mbappe by the midfielder, while on the Paris Saint-Germain side, the two defensive midfielders' close defense distance for Chen Xiaoliang was obviously further forward. Almost as soon as they saw the ball coming towards him, someone would immediately stick to him.
In the 32nd minute, Dybala received the ball on the right side of the ribs and rubbed the ball to the left side of the Manchester United penalty area with his left foot. Mbappe turned sideways and tried to volley but failed to hit the ball. Wan Bissaka, who had returned to the penalty area to defend, cleared the ball with a long foot.
In the 37th minute, Neymar received the ball on the left side of the rib, and after a feint, he cut inside but failed to get past Tinbell. However, he made a chic pass with the outside of his right foot, which made the ball spin outwards and went to the right side.
Ashraf came in from behind, received the ball and made a half-high cross from the bottom line. Mbappe tried to make a cushion shot from the penalty spot to the near post, but Lima was stuck in position and took the lead to shoot the ball out of the bottom line.
Between the two offensive attempts, Neymar also had a shot from outside the penalty area, but the ball went far off the right post and posed no threat.
Manchester United continued to use the tactic of breaking through the two wings and then directly passing the ball, trying to achieve greater threat with as few troops as possible.
In the 39th minute, Kwa shook off Ashraf and broke into the left side of the penalty area after continuous shaking on the left. Lucas Hernandez made a backup defense, and Ashraf, who was passed by him, turned around quickly with the same superb speed to catch up and form a double-team.
Kva poked the ball towards the small penalty area in the front right, and Sesco understood what he meant and instantly got rid of Skriniar who was defending him and was ready to shoot, but Donnarumma made a timely move and fell to the ground in front of Sesco to save the ball. Sesco could only retract his legs and jump in time to jump over Donnarumma to avoid hurting the opponent.
The time came to 40 minutes. Ten Hag on the sidelines kept looking up at the time on the big screen above the stands, and the players from both sides on the field were also watching.
Because they all received tactical instructions from the head coach before the game.
In the 43rd minute, Paris Saint-Germain launched an attack from the backcourt. Ashraf dribbled the ball on the right and wanted to pass it directly to Mbappe who was retreating in the middle. Chen Xiaoliang ran back quickly, fell to the ground and slid, and his toes touched the ball. The ball's route changed and it came to Dybala's feet on the right rib.
Chen Xiaoliang quickly stood up and rushed towards Dybala again. Dybala did not dare to fight and took a long shot directly. The ball hit the back of Casemiro who jumped up to block the shot, and flew high and bounced out of the baseline.
Sure enough, just as Chen Xiaoliang, Kva and Cesco said before the game, near the end of the first half, Paris Saint-Germain's three central defenders participated in the corner kick.
This is Mourinho's usual tactic. He arranged it this way when he was in Rome. He used set-piece attacks to score points before the end of the first half, so that he could start the second half of the game with a great psychological advantage.
The two defensive midfielders and two wingbacks who stayed behind were arranged in echelons, and the three central defenders together with Mbappe lined up from left to right in Manchester United's penalty area. With Neymar wandering outside the penalty area, Manchester United's defense was suddenly in a state of emergency.
Dybala took a corner kick from the right side, and as expected, the 26-year-old, 190cm tall central defender Disasi, who was bought from Monaco for 50 million euros last summer, beat Rashford and Lima to the front point, but the ball he headed was a little off the angle and hit the right post and bounced back. Mbappe, who was so close, did not expect this to happen. Before he could make a move, the ball hit his face and went wide of the post.
But this still made all the fans in the stadium exclaim "Wow".
De Gea glanced at Lima, seemingly still a little frightened, but Casemiro was already shouting at the caddy behind the goal to throw the ball in!
De Gea immediately came to his senses, ran to the outside of the goal post to catch the ball thrown by the clever little ball boy, quickly placed it on the small penalty area line, and passed a half-high ball out of the penalty area.
Mourinho really couldn't sit still anymore, he quickly stood up and ran to the sidelines and shouted "Get back to defense! Get back to defense!"
Because he could see clearly from the sidelines that Kva, Cesco, and Chen Xiaoliang, who was on the bench, had already run to the front from the left, center, and right lines!
Neymar, who was dragged outside the penalty area, was the first to run back. Whether from his running speed or expression, he was very serious about defending against Manchester United's counterattack. However, the 32-year-old was also hit by the curse that "Brazilian players go downhill after the age of 30". His body shape could no longer be hidden, and his physical strength inevitably declined.
At this time, the game was near the end of the first half. He rushed out for a while, but let alone catching up with the three Manchester United players who had already run ahead, it was even a bit difficult for him to keep up with Rashford who rushed out of the penalty area.
Wan Bissaka ran out of the penalty area and received the ball thrown by De Gea, then pushed it forward to Rashford who was making a run forward in the middle.
Rashford was asked by Ten Hag to retreat to the penalty area to defend. At this time, he was too far away from the three people in front of him. Without thinking, he passed the ball directly to Chen Xiaoliang in front of the right from a long distance.
Chen Xiaoliang slowed down a little and took the ball. With no one around him, he continued to speed up and move forward. When he came to the right side close to the attacking third zone, left center back Di Sasi rushed up and slightly blocked the inside line to force Chen Xiaoliang to slow down.
Chen Xiaoliang did pause for a moment, because dribbling requires changes in speed and rhythm rather than just rushing and hitting. Once the ball is lost, it is equivalent to wasting the team's efforts in running.
He took two steps slowly. At this time, the defensive players of Paris Saint-Germain were all running back, especially Kone. The left half was his area of responsibility. He rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang like a wild goose.
Chen Xiaoliang suddenly accelerated and Di Sasi quickly retreated!
In order to prevent Disasi from blocking his forward route, Chen Xiaoliang advanced to the area outside the right corner of the penalty area and slowed down again. He then controlled the ball with his left foot and made a fake move to cut inside. Disasi's center of gravity immediately retreated to avoid being shaken away by Chen Xiaoliang.
Tonight, his dribbling was 20 and his technique was also 20!
The ball was under his feet, as if it was cast under a magic spell, and was firmly sucked between his feet by a gravitational force.
Disasi's retreat allowed Chen Xiaoliang to speed up for the third time. He dribbled the ball directly towards the baseline, then rushed to the bottom of the outside line!
It was too late for Disasi to rush forward after his center of gravity retreated. Even though he tried to do so, the distance between him and Chen Xiaoliang was more than three meters, and he was unable to form any defensive pressure.
Kone, who was chasing desperately from behind, was about to catch up, but he didn't expect Chen Xiaoliang to suddenly speed up. After running more than 70 meters in one breath, he was already at the end of his strength. He could only slow down in frustration, watching Chen Xiaoliang rush to the baseline in front of him, then adjusted the angle and pace, swung his right foot with the inside of his foot, and hit the ball into the small penalty area!
Zhan Jun: "Xiaoliang got rid of it beautifully!"
"Go down the line! Cross the ball!"
“Middle lane!!!”
“This ball goes in!!!”
"Sesco!!!"
"In the middle of the penalty area, get in between two defenders, and then head the cross that comes into the small penalty area!"
"The distance was too close, and Donnarumma could only reach out and grab it subconsciously."
Xie Hui: "The defensive route and position of the two central defenders of Paris Saint-Germain were correct, but they did not defend Cesco closely. When Cesco headed the ball, he suddenly moved forward from between the two defenders and shot."
Zhan Jun: "The one in front of him was Skriniar, and the one behind him was Lucas Hernandez, and neither of them pressed Cesco."
Zhang Lu: "Hahaha, Mourinho just stood up and went back to the locker room. He seemed very dissatisfied."
Guan Zeyuan: "He usually has this habit. He will go back early when the first half is about to end and make arrangements for the second half."
Zhang Lu: "What Xie Hui said is correct, but it is easy to defend like this during a quick counterattack. The players retreated all the way and had no time to communicate with each other. Why did Skriniar look forward instead of Cesco behind him? Because with his position, he had to see if Xiaoliang would pass Di Sasi and rush into the penalty area. If Xiaoliang rushed in, he would have to pounce on him."
"Lucas Hernandez's attention must have been distracted by Kwa who rushed into the penalty area from the left side, and he thought that there were already two people sandwiching Cesco, so the ball should not be passed to him."
Zhan Jun: "I didn't expect this cross to be so fast and accurate!"
Zhang Lu: “That’s right.”
Zhan Jun: "This is Cesco's 6th goal in the Champions League this season! It is also Xiaoliang's 10th assist in the Champions League this season! This season he has scored 10 goals and 10 assists in the Champions League, completing a double-double in the Champions League for two consecutive seasons!"
"What's even more of a milestone is that he is the player with the most assists in all competitions in a single season in history since statistics were collected! He has already provided a terrifying 40 assists this season!"
"In terms of goals alone, there are still Haaland and Mbappe ahead of him in the whole of Europe, but in terms of assists, this data is well-deserved first in history!"
Xie Hui: "Real Madrid's willingness to spend 500 million to buy him is definitely not an impulse move."
Zhang Lu: "Manchester United's refusal to sell for 500 million is not a spur of the moment decision."
Everyone: “Hahahaha.”
After Manchester United celebrated, the time was already 45 minutes and 21 seconds and the game continued.
Trailing 2-1, Mbappe, with his hands on his hips and a blank expression on his face, returned to the center circle to kick off.
Facing Manchester United's retreating defense, Paris Saint-Germain controlled the ball for a while. When the time was 46 minutes and 50 seconds, the referee Osato blew the whistle to end the first half.
Players from both sides walked back. Although their expressions were different due to the different scores, Mbappe had the ugliest expression.
Dybala ran over and patted Mbappe on the back. Mbappe nodded, but his expression was still full of blame.
At the entrance of the passage, he happened to meet Neymar who was coming in at the same time. Neymar did not have any communication with Mbappe. He pretended to look back at his teammates behind him and let Mbappe enter the passage first.
In the locker room, Mourinho was already like a flame, waiting for his players with an angry face.
Mourinho: "Everyone, be quiet!"
"There are only less than 15 minutes left!"
"From now on, even if you want to hear me speak again, you won't have the chance!"
"I know that we are all employees of each other, just like employees in all walks of life. We get paid and do our work. We all probably have plans for the future."
“But it’s not easy to get to where we are today!”
"Winning this championship is not for me, but for yourselves, for those fans who only earn a few thousand euros a month but spend thousands of euros to buy tickets to see you and shout your names in the stands!"
Young players like Ugarte, Kone and Nuno Mendes all had serious faces. They listened carefully and thought about what Mourinho said while drinking water. Old players like Skriniar, Dybala, and Marquinhos and Verratti who did not play were also concentrating.
Only Mbappe and Neymar, one was drinking water but his mind was obviously not on the lecture, and the other was wiping sweat with no change in expression.
Even a well-known figure like Mourinho has no way to deal with these two people.
You can never guess what the former is thinking. He always jumps back and forth between money, honor, money, and honor. He may make you feel like he is going to Real Madrid today, staying in Paris tomorrow, and maybe going to Saudi Arabia to earn checks from the oil daddy the day after tomorrow.
No one knows what this young man’s career plan is or what he is pursuing.
You say he is after money, and he will claim that he deserves the Ballon d'Or. You say he wants to chase the Ballon d'Or, and he can't get out of his fixation on money.
As for the latter, after coming to Paris Saint-Germain and trying hard for a while, he realized that neither his performance nor the platform of Paris Saint-Germain could help him surpass Messi and Ronaldo to become the top figure in the pyramid, so he has lost the sharpness he had in the past at Barcelona.
He is still working hard on the field, but his wonderful life off the field is becoming more and more exciting. The reports people see about him are no longer about honors and trophies, but which nightclub he went to and which beauty claimed to have had a night of love with him.
The feeling he gave people was that he didn't care anymore and just let it go.
Mourinho has tried to put pressure on the two, but not only is the effect of this pressure minimal for the two who don't care, but the Paris Saint-Germain club also has a weird management team. Chairman Nasser would never agree with the head coach putting these two people, whose salaries the club has spent a lot of effort to support, on the bench as mascots.
Indeed, their abilities are beyond ordinary people, and they still have a strong desire to win the game, but they are independent individuals who are separate from other team members.
This is also the reason why Mourinho is determined not to continue coaching Paris Saint-Germain.
This is also the reason why he can only use provocative words to stimulate the fighting spirit of the two people at this moment.
He continued: "In the 2020 final, Bayern won that year and they achieved the treble. Many of you shed tears. I watched that game too."
"If you had won at that time, you could have won the Triple Crown too!"
"Today, we faced a stronger opponent, who are unbeaten this season and have the best players on the planet."
"The same opportunity is before us again. We have the strength to win the game. As long as you remember the tears and feelings when you lost to Bayern that night!"
Compared to Mourinho's training process of first provoking the players and then arranging tactics, the atmosphere in Manchester United's locker room was completely different.
The players returned to the locker room, and whether they played or not, they were discussing the gains and losses of the first half of the game in groups of three or four.
No matter how high their card or seniority, the substitutes are stretching the players on the field, passing them water, and offering their opinions on key points.
Varane shared with Lima Mbappe's playing habits when he was in the national team, and Kva told Timberl that he could try to split the ball more often in counterattacks.
As soon as Chen Xiaoliang opened his mouth, everyone immediately fell silent. He repeatedly emphasized to his teammates not to underestimate any opponent, especially those in the Champions League final.
Mourinho will definitely do something, and none of those stars are vegetarians.
Ten Hag did not talk about any tactics. Throughout the entire season, this short period of less than 15 minutes is not a big deal. His only requirement for the players is to stay focused from beginning to end and trust their teammates.
Just like the slogan that Chen Xiaoliang shouted with his trumpet at the end of the halftime break:
“We are the champions!”
Ten Hag opened the door and let the players back onto the field, standing outside the door high-fiving everyone.
This team is enough to make him forget the pain and regret brought to him by Ajax's lore loss in the Champions League semi-finals.
A more gifted and talented team, an unquestionable leader both on and off the court, and most importantly, the two meshed perfectly.
This is a necessary condition for any collective project to achieve success.
Watching all the players walk out of the locker room until only him, van der Gaag and McLaren were left, he couldn't help but hold the hand of his old partner who he had worked with for many years. He wanted to say something but didn't say it.
The two of them held his hands tightly, and they both knew that the ideal they had been striving for for so many years might really be very close.
Until Chen Xiaoliang, who finally walked out of the locker room, turned back and called out to the three of them:
"Coach, let's go out on the court together! Let's win the championship together!"
