Chapter 75: Amazing!
Some people say that football is a war without the smoke of gunpowder.
Every football match is a battle of wits and courage between offense and defense.
Technology, physical body, tactics, and will are all indispensable; time, space, individual, team, intelligence, strategy... any one of them may become the key to winning or losing the game.
Throughout the ages, the most highly respected military strategist is the great leader, and his Four Crossings of the Chishui River will always be a legend.
In many exciting battles, when he was at a disadvantage, he never confronted his opponent head-on. He avoided his opponent at home, studied his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and waited for the best opportunity to appear.
Sun Tzu's Art of War says: Those who were good at fighting in the past first made themselves invincible, waiting for the enemy to be defeated.
In the words of the great leader, preserve yourself and destroy the enemy.
Gao Shen has been practicing this philosophy since he started coaching Real Madrid, and he did the same when facing Barcelona tonight.
When Real Madrid is weaker than Barcelona, it is not wise to choose a head-on confrontation, so he chooses to defend, first trying to put himself in an invincible position, and then slowly waiting for the opponent to make a mistake.
There are three more sentences following this sentence in Sun Tzu's Art of War: The key to being invincible lies in oneself, and the key to being victorious lies in the enemy. Therefore, a good warrior can make himself invincible, but cannot make the enemy necessarily victorious. Therefore, it is said: victory can be known, but cannot be achieved.
What this means is that subjective efforts can only put oneself in a position where one cannot be defeated, but whether the opponent can be defeated depends on the opponent's own mistakes, not on our subjective decision.
To sum up: victory can be predicted, but cannot be forced.
This is just like the battle in Turin three days ago, Gao Shen and Capello both put themselves in a position where they would not make mistakes, so the final result of the game could only be zero to zero.
Another equally famous match is the 2003 Champions League final between Juventus and AC Milan.
But many times, not all games are like the Battle of Turin, and not all coaches are like Capello.
Real Madrid's blind focus on defense may not necessarily keep them invincible, because as time , as physical energy is depleted, and as opponents repeatedly exert pressure, Real Madrid will always have loopholes.
This requires the head coach to constantly check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps on the sidelines, and the players to work together on the court.
As for Barcelona, tonight is at Camp Nou, Barcelona's home ground, and a draw is unacceptable for Barcelona.
More importantly, before this game, Gao Shen led the team from a ten-point deficit to only five points behind. Even if this game is a draw, the result is still favorable to Real Madrid.
Therefore, Gao Shen concluded that Rijkaard would not hold on until the end.
He wants to win!
…
From the start of the second half, Barcelona could only threaten Real Madrid's goal through long shots.
First it was Ronaldinho, then Eto'o, all long shots from outside the penalty area.
Real Madrid also launched a counterattack. Beckham made a long pass and Negredo made a long shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it failed to pose a threat.
The situation seemed to be continuing the trend of the first half, and Barcelona was unable to break through Real Madrid's defense.
Larsson began to move towards the middle, forming a de facto double striker with Eto'o, while the right side was left to Belletti to make a late run, which created a very threatening attack in the 54th minute.
Larsson passed the ball back in the penalty area, and Belletti came in and shot, but Raul blocked the ball out of the penalty area.
The Real Madrid captain frequently returned to his own penalty area to defend tonight and performed very bravely.
It seemed that it was this attack that made Rijkaard realize the opportunity. In the 57th minute, he began to prepare for substitutions, and French winger Giuly came out to warm up.
In front of the visiting team's coaching booth, Gao Shen had been paying attention to Rijkaard's movements. When he saw Giuly coming out, he was secretly looking forward to it.
Barcelona is going to make a substitution!
Who to change?
"Larson?" Maqueda guessed with a frown.
Gao Shen thought so at first, but soon shook his head. "Larson's scoring efficiency is very high and his sense of smell in front of the goal is very good. The effect he can play in this situation is better than Eto'o, but Rijkaard will not replace Eto'o."
By replacing Eto'o, wouldn't this reduce the pressure on Real Madrid's defense, especially the two central defenders?
"He wants to play Giuly and cooperate with Belletti on the right." When Gao Shen's analysis reached this point, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Van Bommel!"
Maqueda, Lucas and others were all stunned.
Among Barcelona's three midfielders, Deco and Iniesta are both technical players, known for their creativity, while only Van Bommel is good at both offense and defense, and can defend and do some of the hard and dirty work.
Do you really want to replace Van Bommel?
"He doesn't want us to leave Camp Nou alive!" Gao Shen laughed.
This move is indeed ruthless, but it also carries great hidden dangers.
This is how the world works, risks and rewards are always proportional.
Rijkaard wanted to take down Real Madrid in one bite, so he put Giuly on the field, which resulted in a weakening of the defense.
Soon, the answer was revealed.
In the 60th minute, Barcelona lost their patience and made the first substitution, replacing Van Bommel with Giuly.
When the fourth official on the sidelines raised the substitution number plate, the looks that Maqueda, Lucas, Buenaventura and others gave Gao Shen were obviously completely different from before.
You can guess this!
Amazing!
"Oh my God, how did you guess that?" Lucas was very surprised.
Gao Shen turned his head and chuckled at him, "Is this difficult?"
That look was so pretentious that Lucas couldn't help but want to take action, but he admired her in his heart.
"Let Ronaldo warm up." Gao Shen reminded.
Lucas was stunned for a moment, then immediately came to his senses and ran to the bench.
…
The movement from Real Madrid soon attracted the attention of the home team coaching bench and even the entire stadium. Even the live TV camera instantly switched to the visiting team coaching bench on the sidelines.
There is no way, the game on the court is too boring and not as exciting as the action on the sidelines.
As soon as Ronaldo walked out of the bench, the whole audience was in an uproar, and then the entire Camp Nou burst into harsh boos.
"We see that Real Madrid is also planning to make a substitution."
"Ronaldo walked out of the bench and was about to go to the sidelines to warm up. It looks like he will come on as a substitute."
"Since the current head coach Gao Shen took over Real Madrid, Ronaldo has never played, but tonight, he will come on the bench. I wonder if he can improve Real Madrid's offense."
"Hey, we noticed some movement in the home team's coaching booth. Rijkaard is also going to make a substitution."
"This is Thiago Motta, he has also come out of the bench and is preparing to warm up."
"The two head coaches were at loggerheads with each other, and the substitutions were also tit-for-tat."
After Gao Shen took a look at the movement in the home team's coaching booth, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He was not surprised at all.
Real Madrid scouts said that Barcelona once arranged Thiago Motta to partner with Puyol in training, but in the starting lineup of the game, it was Oleger who partnered with Puyol, which proved that Rijkaard once thought about letting Thiago Motta start.
And now it seems that this Brazilian player is the one Rijkaard specially prepared for Ronaldo.
In fact, this is also normal.
Gao Shen used Ronaldo as a surprise weapon, and Rijkaard must have been on guard against it.
So the key question now is, is Ronaldo this surprise weapon effective? Or is Thiago Motta better?
…
Three minutes later, Ronaldo finished warming up, came to the sidelines and walked next to Gao Shen.
The two men are about the same height, but Ronaldo is obviously fatter and his head is bigger and rounder.
Sometimes Gao Shen thought that if he were thinner, his performance would definitely be better than it is now.
Of course, Gao Shen has already arranged a weight loss plan for Ronaldo.
I won’t say how much weight can be lost, but the condition must be mentioned.
"I told you before that Oleguer's slow turning speed is a loophole, but now it seems that Rijkaard also knows it, so he used Thiago Motta."
When Ronaldo came closer, Gao Shen gave him careful instructions in his ear.
"If Giuly hadn't replaced Van Bommel, I guess Belletti might have been substituted, but now he won't, so I think it will be Oleguer or Puyol, which is a point we can exploit."
After a pause, Gao Shen thought of something else , "Thiago Motta was originally a midfielder. In the last game against Benfica, Van Bommel played as a central defender, but he was not used to it and often lost his position."
As soon as Gao Shen finished speaking, Ronaldo immediately understood, "I tried to pull him out and then plug him in from behind."
As he spoke, Ronaldo made a knife-cutting gesture with his hand.
Gao Shen likes to talk to smart people, and can understand everything they say at a glance.
…
In the 65th minute, Real Madrid made the first substitution of the game, replacing captain Raul with Ronaldo.
Before Raul left the field, he handed the captain's armband to Casillas.
This is also Real Madrid's consistent strategy, with the player with the longest service time in the team serving as captain.
When handing over the ball on the sidelines, Raul and Ronaldo both opened their arms, hugged each other, and said a few words of affirmation and encouragement to each other.
After Raul left the field, he walked up to Gao Shen, hugged him, and then sat back in the coaching booth.
Gao Shen had discussed this substitution with Raul before the game, so Raul ran so hard in this game.
In addition, whether it was holding a birthday party for Ramos or replacing Raul with Ronaldo, Gao Shen had another intention, which was to break the gap between Ronaldo and the local players.
In this regard, Ronaldo did a good job, coordinating with Gao Shen's moves, and the local players also gave Gao Shen face. Even Ramos accepted Ronaldo's blessings and gifts at the birthday party.
Now, it depends on whether Ronaldo can complete the task given to him by Gao Shen.
After Ronaldo came on the pitch, Real Madrid's formation also changed.
Beckham was once again pulled back by Gao Shen to play as a defensive midfielder, forming three defensive midfielders. Zidane rushed forward, and Ronaldo and Negredo formed a double striker in front.
So, Real Madrid's formation became 4-3-1-2.
After Giuly came on the pitch, Barcelona subtly switched to a strong attacking tactic of two strikers and two double wingers, while Real Madrid took advantage of the substitutions and took the opportunity to further strengthen the defense, showing an attitude of defending to the end, but at the same time exposed Ronaldo, the sharp knife, in front.
Next, it depends on whether Ronaldo can break through Barcelona's defense.
