Chapter 44: The Killer
The game went as Yang Hao expected.
Van Gaal's team launched a fierce attack from the start.
In the 3331 formation, with four attackers in the front, plus Cocu and Xavi who actively pushed and pressured behind them, Barcelona invested at least six players in the frontcourt.
When the whistle sounded to signal the start of the game, Barcelona's players rushed towards Atletico's defensive position like a dam bursting with water.
The Bed Sheet Army arranged their defense near the center line, and everyone was like a wooden stake, firmly planted in the half court .
When the flood in Barcelona came, the wooden stakes remained standing and were not shaken at all.
Yang Hao was watching from the sidelines with trepidation.
He now finally understood why heart disease was an occupational disease for professional head coaches.
It was really too frightening to watch.
Especially the Barcelona stars, who made exquisite cooperation from time to time and almost broke Atletico's defense every time, but the players of the Colchoneros were extremely tenacious, and whether it was fouls or small moves, they always prevented Barcelona from breaking through.
When Atletico Madrid arranged its defense near the center line, Kluivert, Rivaldo, Zenden and Figo were all pushed out of the most threatening area.
Barcelona's offensive formation is indeed very luxurious, but there is a problem, which is 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 deploy the defense line inside and outside the penalty area.
It was too close to the goal. Without considering Atletico Madrid's fear of heights, with the superb personal abilities of Kluivert, Figo and Rivaldo, they could easily make a shot with just a few passes. How dangerous would that be?
Like now, it is safer to push the defense line out and keep them away from the goal.
In this case, Zenden's speed on the left would be more threatening, so Yang Hao arranged for Gaspar to defend Zenden full-time in this game and limit the Dutch attack.
In front of Gaspar, Yang Hao still arranged Fresnedoso to start.
The biggest feature of this player is that he is good at both offense and defense. Yang Hao asked him to return to defense in time to support the midfield.
The double defensive midfielders of Pablo Garcia and Baraja had to mark Rivaldo and take care of Cocu's back-up. The pressure was very great and they needed players like Fresnedoso to assist them.
This is also a characteristic of Barcelona's midfield.
Guardiola basically organizes and plans at the last minute. Xavi is only 20 years old now and is still very young. Let alone being the core, 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 midfield during Rijkaard's coaching period. With his age and experience, he gradually found his feeling and figured out his own way, and then he gained a firm foothold in Barcelona.
Now, Xavi is not even as good as another young player Gabriel in the team.
Therefore, the task of connecting from behind Barcelona's midfield basically falls on Cocu.
Yang Hao arranged Fresnedoso to start, in addition to assisting the double defensive midfielders in defense, a very important point was to allow Aguilera to conserve his energy. If the game goes as Yang Hao expected, Aguilera will come on as a substitute in the second half.
That is Yang Hao’s trump card tonight!
…
In recent days, many people have been studying and analyzing what Atletico Madrid went through to go from three months without a win to the recent three-game winning streak, and why the players have undergone such a big transformation?
If Yang Hao himself were to say it, it would be that the team has gradually found a stable and reasonable way of playing, the players have gradually regained their confidence, and their mental outlook on the court has undergone a huge change.
This is reflected on the court in the fact that the players' tactical execution and enthusiasm for the game have been greatly improved.
In Yang Hao's opinion, it cannot be said that the previous tactics of Ranieri or Antić were very poor, or that Atletico Madrid's strength was too poor. What is more important is that the players' morale is scattered.
There is a saying that is very true: When people’s hearts are scattered, it is difficult to lead the team.
No matter how good the head coach's tactical arrangements are or how strong the team's overall strength is, if the players are demoralized, demoralized, and have poor tactical execution on the field, how much can they perform?
On the contrary, just like tonight, at the Camp Nou, the defense of everyone in Atletico Madrid was not pretentious or bluffing, nor was it pretentious or perfunctory, but they really wanted to defend this attack and grab the ball.
So you can see on the field that Atletico Madrid's players really fought hard. Even Belleron, who only played for a dozen minutes, was dirty and fell to the ground several times.
This is a very typical difference.
In the past, everyone just muddled along. We did whatever the head coach arranged. No one cared whether we did it well or not, or whether the execution was in place or not.
But now, they want to win from the bottom of their hearts.
This really allowed Atletico Madrid to defend against Barcelona's overwhelming offensive in the early stages of the game.
Barcelona wanted to replicate the start against Chelsea, and send out a strong attack right from the start to catch Atletico off guard.
But when they really got to the competition, they found themselves hitting a wall.
Atletico Madrid's players always defend with all their might.
These wooden stakes are always running and moving at all costs, and they also respond to each other, remind each other, and cooperate with each other to form an unbreakable overall defensive formation.
Yang Hao stood on the sidelines and found that he could no longer give any instructions or make any adjustments.
Because everyone is trying their best and everyone is working hard.
This is the biggest change brought about by the past three victories!
Before, Atletico Madrid was in a terrible slump, and the team and players suffered great humiliation and ridicule. Now, the morale and fighting spirit they burst out are just as strong.
Because they are all famous stars, they all have their own blood and backbone.
They all want to prove themselves!
Barcelona's stars kept trying: individual breakthroughs, one-twos, passes behind the back, open cuts, long shots...
Various means emerged one after another, but they just couldn't really threaten Atletico's goal.
Time passed by little by little, and the Barcelona players gradually began to get anxious.
In the 33rd minute of the first half, Barcelona once again passed the ball to the midfield, and was entangled with Atletico's midfielders . When they were forced to pass the ball back to De Boer, the Dutch central defender stopped the ball in a hurry, but was intercepted by Hasselbaink.
Good job!
The Dutch center forward intercepted the ball, counterattacked, and rushed to Barcelona's doorstep with the ball.
As a result, it was destroyed at the last moment.
Sometimes, Hasselbaink's ability to waste opportunities, like his ability to score goals, makes people love and hate him.
But this counterattack also brought an effect, which was to remind Barcelona that Atletico Madrid was not without the ability to fight back.
Afterwards, Barcelona indeed became much more obedient.
…
At the beginning of the second half, Barcelona launched another fierce attack, but the effect was still minimal.
Atletico Madrid is becoming more and more confident as they defend.
Especially during the halftime break, what Yang Hao emphasized the most was defense.
In the 60th minute, Van Gaal replaced two players in just five minutes.
First, Simao replaced Zenden, who had not performed very well on the left side, in an attempt to strengthen the offensive ability on the wing.
Immediately afterwards, Luis Enrique replaced the team's midfielder Xavi.
Barcelona changed their tactics and switched to 3232, with Cocu and Guardiola falling back, Luis Enrique in the middle, and Kluivert and Rivaldo as the two forwards in front.
When Yang Hao saw this lineup, he was filled with emotion.
Van Gaal, Luis Enrique, Guardiola, Xavi...all are future head coaches of Barcelona.
There are also De Boer and Cocu, who will be famous coaches in the European football world in the future.
At this stage, Dutch football and Barcelona are truly a gathering of stars.
But we can also think of it the other way around. It is because Barcelona caters to the future trend of football that this group of talents has the opportunity to emerge and become the backbone of European football in the future .
Cruyff's contribution in this regard 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 post this report card on the Internet in 2023, how much discussion would it cause?
When thinking of this, Yang Hao suddenly thought of two people in his mind, and a very interesting idea came to his mind.
Needless to say, the more Yang Hao thought about it, the more exciting it became.
…
In the 75th minute, Yang Hao made a substitution, replacing Fresnedoso with Aguilera.
At first glance, this was a positional substitution. Fresnedoso had played two games in a row, which was quite tiring.
Especially tonight, facing Barcelona's repeated attacks, his performance was pretty good.
At least, his efforts and dedication are worthy of recognition.
After going up, Aguilera was mainly active on the right side.
This was Barcelona's weak spot tonight.
Reiziger is a right-footed player playing as a left center back, which further increases Barcelona's defensive pressure on the left side, especially when facing Aguilera's cross from the bottom, they will be at a great disadvantage.
This is exactly what Yang Hao wants to hit!
But Van Gaal reacted immediately, realized the problem, and made adjustments immediately. Cocu moved closer, obviously to assist in defending the left side.
The Dutch midfielder is left-footed and a versatile player.
On this point, Van Gaal is worthy of being a famous European coach. He reacts quickly and makes adjustments decisively.
But after Aguilera came on, his physical advantage made him more active, and Atletico's overall performance also created opportunities for him.
First, Baraha made a long pass behind him, but was blocked by Reiziger. However, under the close pressure of Aguilera, the Dutch defender failed to clear the ball with his right foot and kicked the ball to Atletico Madrid's Belleron.
Belleron got the ball on the right side outside 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.
Spain's Zidane blocked Guardiola with his body , dribbled the ball skillfully with his feet, and without waiting for Cocu and De Boer to come over, he sent a deadly through ball between 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 so quickly that everyone was still realizing that Barcelona was about to complete a siege, and the next moment, Belleron had already passed the ball.
By the time everyone reacted, Aguilera appeared on the right side of the penalty area.
The Atletico Madrid captain stopped Belleron's pass with his right foot, avoided the goalkeeper Hesp who was halfway through the attack, and shot directly with his left foot.
After kicking the ball, he turned around and rushed out of Barcelona's penalty area cheering.
