With injury time on the horizon, City still have a two-goal lead; I am afraid that even the most optimistic Real Madrid fans also thought that the trend was gone at the time. But Rodrigo scored two goals in injury time and dragged them into extra time, and Benzema scored a winning penalty in extra time, and Real Madrid staged a turnaround in three consecutive rounds of the Champions League knockout rounds. While the outside world continues to praise Real Madrid's Champions League champions, Guardiola may also be beaten into doubt.
After slowly grinding vs speeding up the game, the first 75 minutes of the game developed in the direction of Manchester City
After the first leg, Ancelotti stressed that Real Madrid needed to create another magical night at the Bernabeu; another interpretation of this sentence was that Manchester City are a stronger team than Real Madrid; Real Madrid need to play more targeted than their opponents, and also need some luck.
Stones and Fernandinho played on the right side in turn in the first leg and were sifted by Vinicius; so even though Walker had not yet recovered to 100%, Guardiola had to take a risk in this game. Before Walker was substituted, he essentially limited Vinicius' play. However, even if Vinicius singled out Walker and did not take advantage, his assault on the left still attracted the right side of the Manchester City defense, at which time Real Madrid opened up a new front as long as it formed a transfer. In the opening stage, Karim Benzema's two shots were derived from the cannonballs delivered by Carvajal and Valverde on the right side of Real Madrid after the transfer.
When Real Madrid had already shown the killing move of "pretending to attack the left side, but actually creating opportunities from the right side", Manchester City did not adjust its defensive deployment, but slowed down the pace and slowly grinded with Real Madrid. Throughout the game, Manchester City did not raise their offensive rhythm from beginning to end...
Since Manchester City are in the lead, the time-grinding war of attrition is obviously in their favor; Real Madrid is also very clear that once the game is dragged into the rhythm of Manchester City, the gap in the control of the two sides in the midfield will be revealed, so Real Madrid will quickly hit each other's back as long as they have the opportunity, they do not want to leave time for Manchester City to deploy; and it is possible that it is Benzema, Vinicius, or Carvajal who impacts behind the opponent!
When Real Madrid found their way up after a few hits, Guardiola and Ancelotti made almost simultaneous moves; Ancelotti took the lead in making personnel adjustments, replacing Kroos with Rodrigo to strengthen the impact. And Pep Guardiola had already made tactical adjustments before replacing Walker and De Bruyne. Manchester City, who had previously emphasized recycling, suddenly pressed the formation forward, invested more troops on the offensive end, and the defensive turn attack regained the high position, and the pressure on Real Madrid's defensive line increased day by day; and taking advantage of the mess caused by the caught off guard by the opposing defense, Mahrez broke the deadlock.
The on-the-spot adjustments lacked targeting, and Guardiola paid the price for being conservative
With 72 minutes to turn the aggregate score to 5-3, the winning ceiling has been completely tilted towards Manchester City. Real Madrid had to fight for their lives, and since the ceremonial midfield could not keep up with the rhythm of Manchester City in the tug-of-war, it was necessary to let Camaringa and Valverde support the midfield, and then go to Asensio to strengthen the attack. While Real Madrid stepped up their attack, Guardiola also made adjustments again.
The appearance of Glalis shows a certain tactical effect. Mendy's goal line clearance and Courtois's extreme save both stemmed from the chances Glalis created from the left. But Guardiola's substitution of Fernandinho for Mahrez was a steady substitution and the biggest defeat of the game.
First of all, in the front, after taking out Jesus and Mahrez, Manchester City's counterattack power is declining; Foden's advantage lies in the back insertion, in the last pass, making it difficult for him to maximize the counterattack effect in front of him, and this adjustment indirectly reduces the pressure on Real Madrid's defense. Of course, it has reached the last few minutes, and it is not impossible to choose to stick to it. But Fernandinho's advantage is interception in the middle and the protection of the second penalty, his weakness is air defense; and Real Madrid in the final stage, directly took a high-handed high-handed, Fernandinho was rushed by the other side and had to frequently retreat to the position of central defender, which is to use his shortcomings to fight with the other side...
So was There a more appropriate adjustment on Guardiola's hand at that time? Of course! If you choose to defend and counterattack, under Jesus and Mahrez, you can go to Stirling; even if Sterling's goal is really not bad, he has speed after all. If you choose to stick to it, in the face of Real Madrid's thick line of starting tactics, then you should go to Ak to strengthen air defense...
The opponent pressed on the whole line, the front did not go to the counterattack point; let the other party easily start the ball, the penalty area did not add a high point of air defense, resulting in the front point of the top, the back point continued to rise to the top, by the other side with the most simple and rough way of defense, in the shortest time to score two goals in the shortest time to equalize, fully show that Guardiola's adjustment lack of pertinence.
In extra time, after Real Madrid rebounded, Guardiola finally thought of Sterling; but Real Madrid's formation has been withdrawn to swing the iron barrel array, sterling where does he have the space to impact the opponent's back? After falling behind, City was still slow to swallow; Sterling and Glalish both took the ball and carried it into the other side's pile. Even if there is no center, the problem of attacking unfavorably in key games has always plagued Manchester City; but no center does not mean that there is no high point, Guardiola thought of letting Laporte play as a center forward, but he never seemed to think of the bench, and there was a 1.9-meter-tall midfielder Palmer.
Squandering opportunities shows the importance of the center forward, and Guardiola is confused by idealism
With so many opportunities missing in the first leg, City ultimately paid a terrible price for their squandered opportunities, which once again showed the importance of bringing in a centre-forward. They are bound to go all out this summer to take down Haaland.
Of course, Manchester City did not have a centre-forward before, which actually has a lot to do with Guardiola's idealism. And Manchester City has fallen in the Champions League for several consecutive years, and the outside world is always saying that Guardiola is alive and well; but in fact, in the Champions League, Manchester City has been caught in guardiola's idealistic confusion in these years.
Looking at Manchester City's Champions League performance over the years, it is often the side that dominates the data, creates more opportunities and has better control, and Manchester City with the ball is strong. However, Guardiola has more than once faced the media and expressed his disdain for no-ball training; so much so that City's ability to have the ball and the ability to have the ball belong to two grades. However, in special games and special circumstances, Guardiola will appear a bit conservative; and once they give up the ball, the no-ball defense that Guardiola despises can easily become the fate of Manchester City.
No one can deny that Guardiola is a master tactician, who has promoted the tactical revolution of modern football again and again; but perhaps it is precisely because Guardiola has been too successful in tactical construction, making him more stubborn and becoming the ultimate idealist; but his firm belief in success has "pit" him again and again at key moments.
The league is a long journey, and it is the competition who is more stable, which is what Guardiola's team is good at; but the contingency and uncertainty of the Champions League are too great, but the idealist Guardiola is not a flexible coach. Since leaving Barca, Guardiola has taken bayern as a traditional giant; Manchester City has invested heavily, and the team is building exactly according to Guardiola's wishes. Whether it's the cards in hand or the strength of the support, Guardiola has a hard time finding excuses... If Guardiola can't get out of the confusion of idealism, I'm afraid his team will never be able to stand at the top of the Champions League again!