Away to Manchester City, Simeone seems to have thought of abandoning the attack and devoting himself to the defense. Tun was heavily defended, but unfortunately he was unable to defend De Bruyne.
To review this game, let's start with Atletico.
Small losses to win? That's really how it was calculated. Atletico Lost 1-0 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and Simeone said he was unhappy, but in fact he was quite calm. Spanish media have also said that Atletico have reached the expected goal, and then it depends on whether the home field has a chance to turn over. Don't blame everyone's negative view, Atletico almost shrunk the defense, not even a decent shot with his feet, only a guarantee, it is impossible to win.
Simeone essentially repeated last weekend's league start line-up against Alaves, with the difference being that captain Cork started after a full break. Atletico won 4-1 on the spot, Felix and Suarez scored two goals each, and Cunha also returned from injury. The illusion is that Simeone is going to repeat the trick, make an opening blitz like Manchester United did, and take the initiative in the game. However, if this move is placed in the frontal battlefield, it is still a train of thought, and it will not work when it is used as a strange move, not to mention that the opponent is Guardiola.
So Simone thought very clearly from the beginning: hold on. On the surface is the 442 formation, but the actual Lodi and Rainierdo are almost side by side, both at the back line. And this is just a paper position, after all, even Griezmann is in the front of the penalty area to protect Vrsalico's inside line, and the only person who really breaks through is Felix. Judging from the heat map, Atletico stepped on several large red and purple "minefields" in their own half, and the opportunity to counterattack was few. It is no wonder that the ball in the backcourt can only be advanced layer by layer on the ground, and Manchester City's retraction speed is much faster than Atletico, and felix can easily come to a position where it can be planned, and when he looks up, he is facing the defense line of the other 7 people.
Atletico's offensive opportunities were mainly deep balls sent by Griezmann to Llorente on the right in the middle, taking advantage of the latter's no-ball speed to open up space, but unfortunately there was one offside. On the other occasion, the closest to the Manchester City goal, Llorente did not master the angle and strength, was directly picked up by Edson, and the ball that went towards the goal was not counted in the technical statistics of the "shot", and was considered an unsuccessful cross. The Spanish media people are somewhat disappointed, after all, Felix is in good shape, if the overall formation can be slightly forward, it may create more threats. But if the cost of a few more shots is to concede a goal, it is probably a miscalculation.
However, the goal was conceded in the end. Substitute Foden sent De Bruyne a good shot, whose shot was also clean. The Atletico players were hesitant to defend: Felix and Condobia did not scramble to interfere with Foden, and Renierdo pounced too hard to let go of De Bruyne, who had been staring at the audience. However, considering Atletico's defensive status this season and this game, it cannot be regarded as a serious mistake. And Simeone took advantage of City's lack of a centre forward, pinning his hopes on the air defense capabilities of Felipe and Savage, except for letting Laporte grab 2 headers.
What is a bit confusing is that in the second half Simeone changed three people in a row, and DePaul, Correa and Cunha appeared, seemingly intending to attack, but the effect of the harvest was only to disrupt City's passing in midfield. It is unrealistic to expect players to use their individual abilities to open up space, and the coach may take more into account the high-intensity defensive posture, physical and mental need to be replenished in time. However, Correa, who came off the bench, almost became the powder keg of this dull game, he used the ball to suffocate The Grassh, if it were not for the on-duty referee to be loose and only issued a yellow card, another person might have let him go directly to the stands.
Simeone certainly doesn't admit that this is an ideal score: "The result is not satisfactory, we want to win." The opponent is strong, plays very well, and has a systematic style. Not everyone can have such a good player like Guardiola, go down 3 good players, come up 3 better. Our strategy was to shrink and counter-attack, but we conceded the ball as soon as the second half picked up. If you want to evaluate an overall offensive style of play, it is also necessary to evaluate a set of overall defensive play, an omnipotent and powerful defense line. Back at home we had to improve our strategy and do our best to get out of the way until the last minute. ”
After Simeone's 550 formation, let's see how Guardiola broke through atletico's bus.
The Champions League level is high. Where is the height? High in exquisite. Chess on the football field, unorganized and undisciplined is absolutely not OK. City survived 70 minutes before finally priing open Atletico's doors.
De Bruyne played Manchester City's 50th Champions League game with a goal of victory. Manchester City returned to the Wanda Metropolitan with a slight 1-0 advantage, and the promotion drama was even heavier. The British media was relieved and rushed to praise the substitute Foden, praising his cleverness: "As soon as he got on the field, Foden knocked on Fort Knox (the base camp of the US Army Armored Corps, or the gold deposit of the Federal Reserve)!" ”。 He also used the allusion of the Royal Air Force bombing dam during World War II to describe Manchester City as putting Atletico down.
Foo had only 80 seconds on the pitch and immediately tucked the ball into the no-man's-land of atletico's penalty area in a gap. De Bruyne arrived in time and shot the dead corner hanging net. He had tried two feet in this area before, but to no avail. Foton replaced Mahrez, instantly unlocked, and reminded Southgate again: Look, this is the manual.
Shortly after City took the lead, Foden created another danger on the right, but De Bruyne's push was blocked by Atletico defenders crouching on the 6-yard line. England is going to Qatar this winter, and whether Southgate can try to exert Foden's talent is the key to the Three Lions' victory over Hercules.
On the surface, this is the Champions League quarterfinals. This is a hurdle for Guardiola. In fact, this season's Premier League battle is a cushion scene. This game is well played, which is extremely beneficial to The battle against Liverpool at the top of the table on Sunday. In the face of obstacles and even setbacks, 80% of Manchester City's season will be derailed.
Liverpool are in really good shape right now. It was so good that Guardiola couldn't sleep. The Reds will chase the point gap between them and Manchester City at the beginning of the year from double digits to just one point; the FA Cup semi-final has drawn the two teams together; if it goes well, the two sides may also meet in the Champions League semi-final. Never in the history of the Premier League has there been such a comprehensive match, from the civil war to the foreign war, from the league to the cup. Liverpool have already won the League Cup and the fourth line is in sight. The British media seized the opportunity to arch the fire: Manchester City are you afraid? City themselves still have a triple crown. It's really a mistake, full of locks.
Guardiola is habitually "worried" in the Champions League knockout rounds, taking Manchester City has messed up 4 times, being eliminated by Monaco, Lyon, Tottenham and Liverpool respectively. After struggling to reach the final, he was reviled by Tuchel's calculations. Can Guardiola resist not "doing scientific research" and playing cards according to common sense? The media was really scared by him, and before the game, he really brought up this problem and reminded him not to play new tricks. Guardiola said that "I always try to win different ways, otherwise it is too boring", and joked that "my new trick is to go to 12 people", and he was ready to fight with Simeone. Without it, love to ponder, new recipes, is his nature. The pre-match start came out, and the British media present took a look: No Foden?! Someone on social media predicted: If Manchester City messes up, this is the bane!
De Bruyne's goal was orchestrated by Foden.
Actual combat testing, not on The Wayden, is the secret of victory. Foden hasn't been eye-catching this season. On the one hand, the European Cup was injured and has been delayed until the opening of the Champions League group. In the previous 8 Champions League games, he had never played the whole game, only starting 5 times, and 3 substitutes. It wasn't until he warmed up with Switzerland last month that he returned to the national team. In the Premier League, it has been playing regularly since late September last year.
On the one hand, due to physical reasons, Guardiola "saved" him, basically assigned him homework in key battles (such as away to Liverpool), and immediately replaced him as soon as he was tired, and after the new year, Foden became the main force. In the last two months, Foden has played 12 times for Manchester City in all competitions, scoring only 4 goals (2 in the Premier League, 1 in the Champions League and 1 in the FA Cup), which is not a hot state, and deserves the attention of the opponent. Good steel is used on the blade. Foden's coming off the bench may be Guardiola's "scientific research achievements".
Before De Bruyne scored, City had three suspected penalties, namely Sterling and Bernardo Silva being brought down in the opposing penalty area, Sterling and De Bruyne each grabbed the point in front of the goal, and were blocked by Atletico centre-back Felipe, all in a very secretive way - all in the moment of physical contact, reaching out on the opponent's shoulder to break the balance of the opponent's body. The referee did not hesitate to reject City's appeal.
With one of those three penalties, City were able to beat Atletico. The referee was unmoved, keeping the average until the 70th minute. Atletico played the secret defense of the master to the fullest, Griezmann only touched the ball 7 times in the first half, and Atletico only had 2 shots on goal (but UEFA officially counted as 0 shots), so the British media took this joke Atletico: for the first time in 10 years of the Champions League, someone was so negative!
City had nine shots on goal. Manchester can't hit the middle of the road, and the two sides can't pull back and forth to disperse the opponent's position. On Mahrez's side, Atletico's left centre-back and wing-back broke City's long pass five times to launch a quick reaction. Griezmann, Felix and Marcos Llorente all panicked city defences during the assault.
Simeone also instructed the players to test Manchester City's two gates when pressing, especially Acker, who started the game. At the beginning of the game, Acker and Cancelo (who replaced the suspended Walker as the right gate) were both beaten by their opponents and suffered a dark loss. The referee is also not ambiguous, blowing at first sight plus verbal warnings. City are very intimidating of opponents such as Atletico, with patience, strong tactical discipline, and various off-the-board moves. Either let you suffer a little flesh, or provoke you to take revenge and harm you. De Bruyne ate another yellow and was suspended in the second leg.
City's 9 shots on goal, only 2 on target, fully illustrate how tenacious Atletico's defense is and how cunning Simeone is. After the game, the two sides have talked and laughed, so that you understand what is a battle of wits on the field, and a handshake and a happy hand off the field. Angel Correa kicked the ball in the face of Griliš, which was also part of the elaborate deployment. If you really are, you lose. Atletico's routine is the same thing as drawing or defeating Manchester City's Southampton and Crystal Palace – professionally touching porcelain. If City are not careful in the backcourt, they will take advantage of it.
Before and after Foton, Manchester City faced Atletico Madrid's five-man joint defense. For the first hour or so, the ball couldn't hit the front of the Atletico penalty area; after Footon landed, Atletico's iron barrel formation was less tightly seamed. This may be due to the infiltration of Manchester City's middle road, or it may be due to the decline in atletico's physical fitness.
Guess what: starting Sterling and Mahrez are on the sidelines, which may be a feint that specifically consumes Atletico. When Atletico had an idea and the tiger was out of the hole, Guardiola immediately put Foden, Jesus and Grilis. Simeone beat Guardiola for 8 minutes, and the counter-attack just picked up a bit and was hit in the head. This research is too effective. Guardiola witnessed the goal and fell on the water bottle in his hand in excitement. We have seen this scene, the predecessor of another family in Manchester, also did this in the Champions League.
Liverpool beat Benfica away from home, and City struggled to bring down Atletico. Sunday's top-of-the-table battle, with a torrent of steel pounding into Constantinople, is much more exciting than Atletico's candy. Are you ready?
Wen | Lin Liangfeng Wu Yifan
Edit | ball lightning