Beep!
When the French referee Alan Sasse blew the whistle to start the game, deafening cheers broke out at the Bernabeu Stadium, with more than 75,000 Real Madrid fans cheering for the team in unison.
Standing in the center circle, AC Milan striker Inzaghi, wearing a red and black jersey, quickly kicked the ball to Shevchenko.
The Ukrainian nuclear warhead got rid of the ball without stopping, passed it back to the midfield, and directly passed it to the backline position.
Kaka, who had just appeared on the live TV camera with a handsome smile on his face, had not yet completely stopped smiling when he saw three Real Madrid players quickly moving forward from the center line and passing by him.
Raul, Ronaldo and Beckham!
Kaka was a little surprised and turned to look behind him.
As soon as Pirlo received the ball, Ronaldo had already rushed in front of him, which surprised the Italian midfielder and he immediately turned around and knocked the ball back.
But Ronaldo did not slow down and continued to rush forward, heading straight for Nesta and Kaladze behind Pirlo.
At the same time, Raul and Beckham were approaching AC Milan's defense.
Kaka glanced at the situation, and before he could fully understand it, he felt another white figure approaching.
Zidane!
Real Madrid pressed hard from the start.
When Ronaldo approached Nesta and Kaladze , Zidane had also approached Pirlo, which made it difficult for the two central defenders of AC Milan to pass the ball forward, while Raul and Beckham approached the two full-backs.
Almost in an instant, AC Milan's central defender chose to pass back.
But Ronaldo didn't slow down and rushed straight towards the penalty area.
Dida decisively left the goal and did not dare to stop the ball. He kicked the ball forward with a big foot.
The Milan goalkeeper's long kick was of poor quality and was immediately snatched away by the Real Madrid defender when it reached the front court.
Ronaldo slowed down outside the penalty area, smiled at his Brazilian compatriot, revealing his iconic buck teeth, but immediately turned around and ran back without any reluctance.
Damn, this is because he is afraid of offside!
Dida immediately shouted to his teammates in front of him: "Be careful."
Soon, Real Madrid's attack came.
…
As soon as the game whistle sounded, Real Madrid launched a fierce attack and put the game on the fast track.
No one expected this.
But in terms of tactical results, Gao Shen was very satisfied.
AC Milan is a technical team and is good at ball control, but the Rossoneri's ball control is actually different from Barcelona's.
There are two very big differences.
First of all, in the midfield, especially after losing the ball in the frontcourt, AC Milan basically did not invest much in counter-attacking, but chose to take position as soon as possible to maintain the order and stability of its own defensive formation.
Ancelotti is still the same Ancelotti at heart.
At the same time, the technical abilities of AC Milan players are not as sophisticated as those of Barcelona players. Even Brazilian players like Kaka are not as good as Ronaldinho, let alone Iniesta.
Of course, what we are talking about here is purely the sophistication of the technology.
In other words, AC Milan players' ability to control the ball is much weaker than that of Barcelona. In addition to age factors , their players' running is not as good as that of Barcelona. Therefore, after grabbing the ball, the first thing they have to do is not to pass the ball quickly, but to make short passes in the midfield and backcourt to advance.
Anyone familiar with Sacchi’s tactical system knows that it is exactly the same as the one used by the Dutch Three Musketeers.
There is an advantage to doing this, which is that it can induce the opponent's midfield and frontcourt to counter-attack on the spot, which will weaken the defensive strength of the backcourt.
After short passes and penetration, find the loopholes and then launch a counterattack.
During counterattacks, Pirlo's long passes and Kaka's dribbling breakthroughs often played a crucial role.
It can be said that AC Milan can win the Champions League next season with the oldest average age lineup in history, and Kaka can win the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, thanks to Ancelotti's tactical style of play.
But this style of play is not flawless.
There are two ways. One is to learn from Lyon and exert pressure in the frontcourt to cut off the connection between AC Milan's defenders and midfielders, making it impossible for them to organize an effective attack. The key is to limit Kaka.
The other is to get into position as soon as possible after losing the ball and organize a tight defense.
As a result, after Milan slowly advanced into Real Madrid's half, they found that two or three lines of defense of Real Madrid were already on high alert.
Gao Shen neither bet on the first option because it was too aggressive. If the pressure in the frontcourt was not strong enough, it would give Pirlo and Kaka opportunities and the defense line would be in danger. He also did not simply choose the second option because it would make the situation too passive and not conducive to offense.
He chose a combination of the two.
Pirlo is actually easier to limit, the key is Kaka.
Therefore, Gao Shen asked Gravesen and De La Red to restrict Kaka and protect the defense at the same time.
Once the pressure in the midfield and frontcourt is insufficient, we should try to delay or even interrupt AC Milan's advancement and decisively choose the second option.
The means include but are not limited to various technical fouls.
As for the effect, just look at Ancelotti's expression.
…
Since the whistle sounded at the start of the game, Ancelotti has not returned to the visiting team's coaching bench, and the expression on his face has never relaxed for a moment.
He was always on edge.
Although he believed that he had made sufficient mental preparations before the game, facts proved that he underestimated Gao Shen's determination.
In other words, Gao Shen was even crazier than he had imagined.
From the start of the game, he did not hold back at all and directly put the game into the fast lane.
AC Milan was not used to this fast-paced offense and defense.
Everyone knows that Serie A does not have this kind of game rhythm.
What’s even more terrible is that Gao Shen is almost attacking AC Milan’s weak spot.
When Milan has the ball, Real Madrid will increase their pressing and pressure, trying to snatch the ball in the shortest time possible. However, since Milan's counterattack after losing the ball is not strong, after Real Madrid snatches the ball, if they can counterattack as soon as possible, they will play a fast break, otherwise, they will switch to controlling the ball.
In terms of technology, Milan does not have an advantage over Real Madrid.
What is even more incredible is that Raul, Ronaldo, Beckham and Zidane, the world's top and most luxurious lineup of superstars, actually pressed AC Milan step by step under Gao Shen's command.
"I wonder what Queiroz and Luxemburg will think when they see this scene?" Mauro Tassotti couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Real Madrid’s poor performance in the past three years is due to the superstars in the front court.
But now, the problems that these famous coaches couldn't handle have been solved by Gao Shen.
Gao Shen really uses top superstars as engineers and plays Ronaldo as if he were Negredo, but the superstars are happy to do it. Can you imagine that?
"We are now about ten points behind in ball possession," Mauro Tassotti reminded.
Fifty-five to forty-five.
Ancelotti's frown deepened.
In fact, more than ten minutes have passed since the start of the game, and both teams have had shots, but neither has posed a direct threat.
Real Madrid will have more shots, having already had four, while AC Milan has only one.
"What on earth is this kid doing?" Ancelotti couldn't figure it out.
How long can Real Madrid keep running like this?
Especially for players like Ronaldo and Zidane, they are so exhausted, can they last until the end of the first half?
"Could it be that he wants to compete with us in attrition and then play again in the second half..." Mauro Tassotti guessed.
But he immediately realized that this was unlikely.
If we really want to compete in attrition, it should be Negredo who should be on the field, not Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is the sharp knife, used to score goals.
Just as Ancelotti and the other man were thinking hard, a cry of surprise suddenly broke out in the stadium.
De La Red and Gravesen both double-teamed Kaka at the same time. Gravesen was more flexible and took the lead to intercept the ball and passed it to Zidane in the frontcourt.
Zidane blocked Pirlo with his body.
The Italian midfield was almost unable to move by Zidane's attack, and they didn't even have the ability to resist.
The French midfielder stopped, picked up the ball, turned around, and passed the ball to Raul.
After Raul moved to the open space to receive the ball, he attracted the attention of Stam and Nesta and sent a diagonal pass into the penalty area.
Ronaldo shook off Kaladze and caught up, but was still too slow.
Dida took the initiative and caught the ball.
The Brazilian striker let out an angry roar, clearly extremely annoyed at his own clumsiness and slowness.
If he wasn't so fat and was a little faster, he would have had a sure win.
The Real Madrid fans at the scene gave warm applause to the players on the field and affirmed their performance.
Ancelotti walked to the sidelines excitedly and shouted the names of Stam and Nesta loudly, signaling them to pay attention, and also to Kaladze to keep a close eye on Ronaldo.
fat?
No matter how fat he is, he is still Ronaldo!
…
Real Madrid gradually gained momentum in their attack.
Especially after Ronaldo's unsuccessful one-on-one shot, the team's morale was greatly boosted.
Everyone realized that AC Milan was really afraid of Real Madrid's pressing pressure in the frontcourt.
This has been confirmed from the two rounds of matches in Lyon to the Milan derby.
Tonight, at the Bernabeu, was no exception.
To some extent, this is Milan's Achilles' heel, and Ancelotti cannot change it in a short time.
Especially when he has to use two strikers.
Real Madrid's pressing made AC Milan's defenders very embarrassed from time to time, and they frequently chased them to the vicinity of the penalty area.
For example, this time, after Real Madrid intercepted the ball near the center line, Felipe passed the ball to Raul, but Stam got there first and headed the ball to Nesta.
Raul rushed towards Nesta immediately, and the latter was forced to kick the ball forward.
The ball reached the frontcourt, but was headed back by De La Red and fell to the front of Milan's penalty area.
On the right side of the front edge of the arc, Ronaldo retreated and blocked Kaladze with his body, trying desperately to stop the Milan central defender. In front of him was Seedorf, and the three of them were almost entangled together.
As a result, Seedorf was in a forward position and failed to grab the ball after jumping, while Kaladze behind him also jumped and pressed Ronaldo with his body, but his timing was wrong and he jumped too early. When the ball came, his body was already falling.
On the contrary, Ronaldo, who was pressed to the point where he couldn't jump, saw Kalasze heading the ball. He immediately broke free from his opponent's entanglement and turned around to chase forward.
But Kaladze was also very experienced and reacted quickly. When he landed, he fell to the ground and tackled Ronaldo to the ground.
A clear whistle suddenly sounded.