Chapter 74: Chapter 276 Before the decisive battle
On May 22, three days before the start of the final, the entire Manchester City team set off from Manchester to Lisbon to prepare for the last and most important game of the season.
After the team arrived at the hotel, Lin Quan met a group of unexpected guests-Maria, Marius, Valentina and other three younger siblings.
"elder brother!!"
After her sister Maria saw Lin Quan, she rushed over and gave him a warm hug. She also took a selfie of the two of them with her mobile phone.
Behind Maria, Marius and Valentina followed suit and ran over, becoming pendants on Lin's body.
"Maria, Marius, why are you here?"
Lin Quan picked up the youngest Valentina, bumped her head with her as before, stretched out his hand to scratch her squeaky nest, and asked.
The little girl loved to play like this when she was little. When Lin Quanyi teased her, she immediately giggled.
"Dad said he wanted to watch the game, and mom suggested bringing the whole family over to cheer you on. Hehe, we all agreed!"
Maria skillfully uploaded the photo she just took to her social account, and she couldn't help but exclaim - the most powerful football star in the world!
It can be seen that Maria is very proud of her brother, so proud that she can't help but show it off.
"Oh? Are they here too? Why didn't you see them?"
Lin Quan hugged Valentina and looked towards the corridor, but did not see the two familiar figures.
"They went to the front desk to check in, and we are staying in this hotel too!"
Maria specially told Lin Quan the news. They chose this hotel after hearing about the stay in Manchester City.
The purpose was to get closer to Lin Quan, so that their family could be together.
"Okay, come on, take me to your room!"
Manchester City has booked the middle two floors of the hotel, and the rooms Guardiola and the others booked are definitely not on these two floors.
In order not to disturb his teammates' rest, Lin Quan chose to take the initiative to find them.
When Lin Quan arrived, Guardiola and Serra had just checked in and were moving their luggage into the hotel room.
There were still several days before the start of the competition. As a big family, they had a lot of luggage and belongings for the five of them.
Lin Quan said hello to Guardiola and Serra, put Valentina down and took the initiative to help.
After the two moved their things in, Sierra disliked their fussiness and was afraid that they would lose their order, so she kicked them out and sorted the items in the room by herself.
The two of them were really not good at these things, so they simply ran outside and started chatting.
"Are you sure about the finals?"
Guardiola's team was eliminated by Atletico Madrid, so Guardiola actually has a deep study of Atletico Madrid.
It happened that Lin Quan's team reached the finals, so as someone who had been there, he could impart some experience to him.
"Let's open it 50-50. Atletico Madrid's defensive ability is the best in the five major leagues. Even you have been blocked by them. If we dare to say that we can win, it must be a liar!"
The contest between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid is called a contest between spear and shield by the outside world.
Manchester City's offensive firepower this season is obvious to all. With 127 league goals, it ranks first in the five major leagues, 23 goals ahead of second-place Real Madrid.
On the other side, Atletico Madrid also relied on strong defense to get through all the way and reach the final.
So, this is a clash between two teams with completely different styles.
Even before the game starts, the outside world can already guess what tactics the two teams will adopt.
Atletico Madrid will definitely still have the same high-position press and defensive counterattack, while Manchester City will definitely hold high the offensive banner. As for what offensive methods to use, it depends on Pellegrini's adjustments.
"Well, Atletico Madrid's defense is very unique and it inspired me a lot!"
Guardiola admires the unique defensive system developed by Simeone at Atletico Madrid.
If it is just a defensive counterattack, there may not be anything new. Mourinho is almost exhausted with defensive counterattacks. When he coached Barcelona, he often encountered teams that used defensive counterattacks in the league and the Champions League.
But Atletico Madrid's defensive counterattack is very different from ordinary defensive counterattacks!
Instead of shrinking back into their own half, they put bold pressure on all three lines and carried out a high press, making it difficult for the opponent's offense to organize or even hold the ball.
In the semi-finals, Bayern suffered a lot.
The opponent's players used diligent running, crazy pressing and rough fouls to disrupt Bayern's offensive rhythm. The midfielder could hardly hold the ball, let alone produce the passing and control effect that Guardiola wanted.
In the final, Atletico Madrid will definitely use this trick against Manchester City.
Moreover, they have just played against Barcelona and have a lot of experience in limiting the performance of players like Lin Quan.
Therefore, Guardiola feels that Lin Quan's performance in this game may not be particularly good, at least not as big as he did in previous games!
After listening to Guardiola's explanation and analysis, Lin Quan had a certain understanding of Atletico Madrid's defensive and offensive systems.
It is indeed a difficult team to deal with. He also watched the original final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
To be honest, Real Madrid won by a fluke.
After Atletico Madrid lost striker Diego Costa in just 9 minutes, they actually scored the first goal and used fierce defense to make Real Madrid's midfield very uncomfortable.
If Ramos hadn't scored with a header in the third minute of stoppage time, pulling Real Madrid back from the edge of the cliff, if it had persisted for more than 100 seconds, Atletico Madrid would have won the championship!
However, Real Madrid, which had an extremely difficult time playing during regular time, was like chopping up melons and vegetables after overtime, scoring 3 goals in a short period of time, and finally defeated Atletico Madrid with a total score of 4:1. It went smoothly. Hold the cup.
The reason for Atletico Madrid's poor performance in the overtime period is simple: the players have lost their physical strength.
If the high pressing tactic is to be effective, it requires players to run tirelessly across a wide area.
Use his running ability to create a numerical advantage in local areas to steal the ball and counterattack.
But everyone is a professional player, so there won't be much difference in running ability.
If you expend too much energy in the high-position press, you will definitely not have the energy to run later.
For Simeone's team, 90 minutes is already the limit.
If someone can withstand their 90-minute offense without losing, once the game is dragged into overtime, it will be the end of Atletico Madrid.
As a latecomer, Lin Quan certainly knows this weakness of Atletico Madrid.
But he was not sure whether the team could maintain an unbeaten streak for the ninety minutes of regular time. After all, Manchester City has never been a defensively strong team.
"In this game, I suggest you play without a striker, pull back the strikers, and increase the number of people in the midfield. Atletico Madrid will definitely compete with you in the midfield. Without the support of the midfielder, you will not be able to get the ball in the frontcourt. On the contrary, he will be completely locked up by the opponent's defender."
Lin Quan was thoughtful about Guardiola's words. Guardiola is familiar with the forward-less formation, but there is a lack of a role similar to Messi in Bayern's lineup.
Therefore, Guardiola's tactical reforms at Bayern have mixed praise and praise. The abuse in the league is stable, but the record in the Champions League is not very good.
Although they defeated Manchester United and Chelsea, they were swept by Atletico Madrid, which was not yet a giant. This made it difficult for many Bundesliga fans, especially Bayern fans, to accept.
We were the invincible team in the Champions League last season, but it's only been one year and we can't even beat Atletico Madrid?
It doesn't matter if you can't kick it, but you didn't score a single goal?
You must know that before Guardiola came to Bayern, Bayern was known as the creator of tragedy. Attack was their specialty, and scoring goals was never a problem.
As a result, all the responsibility was placed on Guardiola's head.
Who told him to take over a championship team?
"When playing without a striker, players with speed, breakthrough ability, and active defense should be placed on the two wings to make full use of the width of the court..."
It can be seen that Guardiola really worked hard after losing.
He summed up some tactics to deal with Atletico Madrid, but they have not been tested in actual combat and he does not know whether they will work.
Before the two of them finished talking, Sierra packed up her things and walked out of the room.
Seeing that Guardiola was still chattering here, he immediately interrupted Guardiola:
"Okay, you are not the coach of Manchester City. Stop talking here. It will be bad if it delays Lin's rest!"
Guardiola was a little embarrassed and shut up. This was a habit of his. When he had the opportunity to explain tactics and his own football philosophy, he couldn't help but like to discuss with others.
"Lin, you should go back and rest early. We will go shopping and have fun in Lisbon these days and won't disturb you. After the game is over, we will return to Spain together!"
Ever since Lin Quan went to England to play football, their family hadn't spent time together neatly for a long time.
They must take advantage of this rare opportunity to get together.
Because in one week, it will be the training day of the Spanish national team again.
Once Lin Quan participates in the national team training camp, he will not be able to go home within the next month.
Because, there is less than a month left before the World Cup officially starts!
"Well, okay, if I have time, I will come and play with you!"
Lin Quan has indeed been out for a while. He needs to go back quickly, otherwise Manchester City's team leader and coaching staff should be anxious.
Before leaving, Lin Quan thought of something and asked:
"By the way, have you bought your tickets to watch the final?"
"I bought it. It's the stand closest to the stadium!"
Marius took out his ticket and handed it to his brother respectfully.
Lin Quan took a look, my dear, these tickets are really not cheap!
A match ticket costs 650 euros, and if a family of five travels together, it will cost more than 3,000 euros.
If these tickets were purchased from scalpers, the price would probably double!
This amount of money already exceeds the monthly income of many Spanish families!
However, Guardiola was not short of money, and Lin Quan did not feel sorry for him.
…
Before the final, Pellegrini was very confused about the team's starting lineup.
According to his research on Atletico Madrid, he feels that Atletico Madrid will definitely fight with Manchester City in the midfield.
If you want to control the situation in the midfield, then at least one of De Bruyne and Kroos must be replaced.
If these two people are on the court at the same time, they will have a great impact on Manchester City's defense.
But who should I replace it with?
Kroos plays a very important role in the defensive midfielder position and is of great help to the team.
If he is replaced, Manchester City will lack someone who can control the rhythm of the game.
As for De Bruyne, his ability to organize offense in the frontcourt is excellent, especially his ability to pass threatening balls. There is no one in Manchester City who can reach his level.
If he is replaced, Manchester City's offensive capabilities will inevitably be greatly weakened.
So, is there any way to make two people present at the same time?
He has tried it before in the league and Champions League, letting Yaya Toure play as a defensive midfielder, protecting Kroos while wiping De Bruyne's butt.
But the effect is not very good. Yaya Toure is an all-around midfielder whose offensive ability is greater than his defensive ability.
It is best to leave professional matters to professionals.
As for the defensive midfielder, the best choice is naturally Fernandinho!
So, should we put Fernandinho into the starting lineup?
Pellegrini was hesitant because the previous suspension was very long and Fernandinho had not cooperated with De Bruyne and Kroos much. The tacit understanding between the three was very problematic.
If you send him on the field, it is likely to have a chain reaction. Not only will you not be able to achieve the results you want, it will even be self-defeating.
Thinking of this, Pellegrini gave up this idea and finally decided to remove Cross and replace him with Fernandinho.
Just when Pellegrini was worried about Manchester City's starting midfielder, Simeone was also worried about the team's starting forward at Atletico Madrid.
Diego Costa is his number one general, but such a goalkeeper was injured in the final stage of the league.
In the last game against Barcelona, Diego Costa left the field early due to injury.
Only a week has passed, and his injury may not recover so quickly.
But in an occasion like the Champions League final, Atletico Madrid needs Diego Costa to step up and charge for the team.
And Diego Costa himself very much hopes to represent the team and compete for the Champions League championship that is within reach!
Therefore, before the game, Simeone was very confused.
He didn't know whether to agree to Diego Costa's request and put him in the starting lineup, or to be on the safe side and continue to put him on the bench.
But if he is not used, how should the striker be arranged?
Although Atletico Madrid still has Villa who can use it, Villa is older after all. Compared with Diego Costa, there is a big gap in all aspects.
When playing defensive counterattack tactics, Diego Costa is undoubtedly more suitable for Atletico Madrid's tactical system.
Simone gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind to fight!
He chose to believe in Diego Costa's condition. Since he said his injury has recovered, let him start!
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