บท 66: Chapter 268 32 Real Madrid, see you in Madrid in the next round!
The process of the second half of the game was very strange. It didn't look like the semi-finals of the Champions League, but rather like the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Manchester City has a large number of Spanish internationals in the team, so it is not surprising that they play a possession-based strategy.
After the rise of Barcelona, there are countless teams throughout European football that imitate and learn from Barcelona's passing and controlling style of play.
However, I am afraid that only Manchester City can achieve almost exactly the same thing as Barcelona.
The reason is simple, they have Lin Quan!
The imitations of other teams are only superficial. Without Messi, this key link, they cannot achieve the kind of passing and control effect that Barcelona has.
But Manchester City has Lin Quan here. He and Messi cannot be said to be similar, they are simply carved from the same mold.
With him here, Manchester City's passing and control system is at least 50% similar to Barcelona's.
In addition, Manchester City had just played two games with Barcelona not long ago, and experienced first-hand the power of Barcelona's passing and controlling tactics. The entire team, from the coaching staff to the ordinary players, have a deep understanding of the passing and controlling tactics.
This makes it easier for them to imitate Barcelona's tactics.
So Manchester City at this time does look a lot like Barcelona.
Seeing the opponent playing pass-and-control football, Real Madrid immediately heightened their vigilance.
In the league, they suffered a lot at the hands of Barcelona.
As Real Madrid took the initiative to retreat, Manchester City took advantage of passing and controlling football and gradually took the initiative on the field.
Gradually, Manchester City's ball possession rate began to improve rapidly.
In the first half, the two sides were evenly matched, and gradually became Manchester City's ball possession rate of more than 60% and Real Madrid's ball possession rate of less than 40%.
But Real Madrid didn't feel nervous or panicked. They all switched to defensive counterattacks and naturally gave up possession of the ball.
For them, as long as they can catch the opponent's mistakes in offense, intercept the ball in the press and then launch a successful counterattack, their goal will be achieved.
As for ball possession rate, no matter how high the number is, can we win?
If you can't win, isn't everything just in vain?
Thinking of this, Real Madrid's players patiently organized the defense and strangled Manchester City's players in the midfield, hoping to seize the opponent's mistakes to counterattack.
The battle between the two sides in the midfield immediately became intense!
Unlike Barcelona's midfielders, Manchester City's midfielders have a lower average age. The oldest Yaya Toure is only 31 years old and is in his prime.
Cross, De Bruyne and others are generally younger, so logically they should have an advantage in the midfield battle.
However, Modric on Real Madrid's side has become more and more active after passing the initial adaptation stage.
In the 76th minute, after Modric completed the steal, he sent a long pass and found Bell on the wing.
The Great Sage once again completed the side blast at lightning speed, but it was a pity that the final shot missed the goal slightly. Otherwise, Real Madrid would equalize the score.
Manchester City was taken aback by Real Madrid's counterattack, and Pellegrini couldn't help but frown.
Although he had already seen the threat of Modric before the game, he specially arranged for Yaya Toure to mark him.
But now it seems that it has not been able to achieve the desired effect.
The 29-year-old Modric has already entered his peak period!
He is the metronome of Real Madrid's midfield. He not only has strong organizational and propulsive abilities, but also has abundant physical fitness and delicate skills, as well as an excellent overall view and broad vision.
Modric has all the abilities a top midfielder should have!
Modric's performance on both offense and defense today is obvious to all. If Pellegrini was asked to rate him, he would even give Modric the highest score from Real Madrid.
In Pellegrini's eyes, Modric is even more important than the two top stars, Ronaldo and Bale.
It is hard to imagine that such a small player with a height of only 1.7cm can have such excellent defensive ability. His excellent running ability allows him to cover a large area on the court.
Whenever Manchester City launches an attack, he can always appear in the most critical area.
Although this also caused him to be passed by Lin Quan several times and became a background.
But being able to serve as a backdrop is a reflection of his defensive awareness.
As long as he encounters someone other than Lin Quan, with his defensive sense, he can effectively help the team in defense.
If Modric only has defensive ability, it will not cause Pellegrini a headache.
But Modric is too comprehensive. He is not only strong defensively, but also has stronger offensive ability!
He is the organizer of the Real Madrid team and the metronome of offense and defense transitions.
Real Madrid's offense will become more threatening after being sorted out by Modric.
Not to mention if he completes the pass directly, it will be even more threatening!
Therefore, Modric must be restricted!
Thinking of this, Pellegrini took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to give Yaya Toure a few words, asking him to mark Modric specifically, and asked De Bruyne to help him.
This adjustment has achieved some results, but the impact is also huge.
Because Modric's range of movement is so large, he can advance into Manchester City's penalty area when attacking, and retreat to his own penalty area when defending.
This caused Yaya Toure and De Bruyne to be a little exhausted and unknowingly wasted a lot of energy on defense.
Forget about Yaya Toure, De Bruyne is the offensive organizer of Manchester City's frontcourt.
When he wasted energy on defense, his help to the team on the offensive end dropped sharply.
This resulted in Manchester City's offense having no momentum in the second half, but it was difficult to pose a substantial threat.
Seeing this scene, Ancelotti breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the counterattack failed, the result was still acceptable.
When they return to Real Madrid's home court, let Manchester City see Real Madrid's true strength!
As soon as Ancelotti had such an idea, he saw Lin Quan relying on his personal strength to force past two people and then break into the penalty area and force a shot.
When he saw Lin Quan knocking on the door, Ancelotti felt that his heart was about to be scared out of his chest.
Fortunately, Casillas made a very crucial save to resolve this danger.
Otherwise, Real Madrid might be 2 goals behind!
"Damn it, it's already eighty-five minutes, how can this guy still have such physical fitness?"
Ancelotti glanced at the time on the scoreboard and couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have played against each other many times in the league, so the research on Messi is very comprehensive.
They know that players like Messi will consume their physical energy very quickly due to the high frequency of dribbling and dribbling.
Messi often walks on the field and rarely participates in the team's defense, just because he wants to save energy and use it to launch offense.
Relying on their understanding of Messi and applying it to Lin Quan, Real Madrid subconsciously believed that Lin Quan would have physical problems in the second half, especially towards the end of the game.
After all, he not only participated in a lot of offenses, but also participated in defenses a lot. At this stage, his physical exertion should be even more serious than Messi's.
Therefore, at this stage, Lin Quan should no longer have the physical strength to launch such an attack.
But the reality surprised them!
Looking at Lin Quan's breakthrough and passing, as well as the last moment of physical confrontation with Ramos to force the shot, how does it look like he has no physical strength?
No, no, we can't let the chain slip at the most critical moment, we must strengthen our defense!
Thinking of this, Ancelotti immediately prepared to make substitution adjustments.
He replaced Isco and replaced him with a defensive player in order to strengthen the defense.
Isco was a little depressed. His performance in this game was pretty good, but the head coach had to be replaced. He didn't dare to complain and could only end the game honestly.
Real Madrid's substitution was a signal for Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. After receiving this signal, the players began to devote more energy to defense and no longer invested too many troops in offense.
This made Manchester City's offense even more difficult. Lin Quan could no longer rely on his personal strength to achieve a breakthrough, because the person Ancelotti replaced specifically targeted him, making it difficult for him to get space to start.
Five minutes later, Ancelotti made another personnel adjustment. He replaced Benzema and replaced him with a defensive midfielder.
This substitution was more severe. Real Madrid's stranglehold in the midfield was further enhanced. Manchester City's offensive organization was somewhat disrupted, and the offensive threat was further reduced.
In the end, after 90 minutes, Manchester City defeated Real Madrid 3:2 at home.
This result is barely acceptable to both Manchester City and Real Madrid.
For Manchester City, they defended their home court and won the game. Although they didn't win much, they still won.
For Real Madrid, they got away goals and were only one goal difference behind.
Therefore, after returning home, they only need to score one goal to eliminate Manchester City.
This requirement is simply a piece of cake for Real Madrid, which has a strong offensive ability.
Therefore, when shaking hands after the game, Ancelotti could not see any frustration or disappointment on his face. He shook Pellegrini's hand while laughing and chatted with him for a while.
On the field, although the players on both sides were a little unwilling, they were able to accept the result.
Bell immediately found Lin Quan at the end of the game and offered to exchange jerseys with him.
This was agreed upon by both parties before the game, so Lin Quan did not refuse and readily took off his jersey and gave it to Bell.
"See you in Madrid!"
Bell put away the jersey, patted Lin Quan on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Okay, see you in Madrid!"
Lin Quan also nodded in response.
Cristiano Ronaldo had not left the field yet and was drinking water on the sidelines. After seeing this scene, he snorted coldly and turned around and walked into the player tunnel.
Manchester City's players did not leave the field immediately. Instead, they walked around the field under the leadership of captain Kompany to thank their fans for their support.
The fans are very enthusiastic and are very excited about defeating the powerful Real Madrid at home.
Although the score of 3:2 does not seem very ideal, it is enough to win. What kind of bicycle do you need?
That's Real Madrid!
At the post-match press conference, Ancelotti said he could accept the score and firmly believed that his team would get a ticket to the final at the Bernabeu.
"Yes, I am confident that the team will advance to the finals. We have a complete victory record at home, and I believe this time will be no exception!"
The reason why Ancelotti is so confident is not only because of Real Madrid's excellent hard power, but also because of their excellent record at home this season.
Real Madrid has played a total of 5 Champions League home games this season. Their current record is a complete victory, without losing any game, and almost all of them were big wins of more than 2 goals.
Although Real Madrid has a good record on the road, that is when they are most terrifying at home!
After the reporters finished interviewing Ancelotti, they approached the Manchester City coach one after another and asked him what he thought of his next visit to the Bernabeu.
Pellegrini expressed cautious optimism:
"My team is currently in the lead. After this game, we have tested the strength of Real Madrid. They are very strong, but they are not invincible. Our next visit to the Bernabeu, our goal is still to win the game!"
If it were before the game, Pellegrini's words would basically have no credibility.
But after watching the entire game, many people were impressed by Manchester City's strength.
To be able to defeat the powerful Real Madrid at home, Manchester City is indeed very strong.
But everyone is not optimistic that Manchester City can defeat Real Madrid in an away game!
Home and away games are completely different experiences. Just because you can win at home doesn't mean you can win at away games, not to mention it's the Bernabeu!
After the game, the betting company also immediately updated the handicap.
Although Real Madrid is lagging behind, their odds are much lower than Manchester City. Obviously, betting companies are more optimistic about Real Madrid advancing to the final.
But in view of Manchester City's strength at home, the odds offered by the betting company are not too outrageous.
The odds between the two sides are about 3.5 to 6.5. Real Madrid has the upper hand, but there are also many who are optimistic about Manchester City.
After the game, major media reported the game immediately.
"Marca": Real Madrid failed to capture the Etihad Stadium, but two away goals were enough to satisfy Ancelotti. We are one goal away from entering the final!
"Aspen": Real Madrid only needs to win two more games to win their tenth championship trophy!
"Guardian": Manchester City defended the glory of their home court. They defeated the powerful Real Madrid, not only keeping the hope of advancing to the finals, but also surprising those who looked down on Manchester City before the game!
"The Times": For Manchester City, this score is not ideal. The next game at the Bernabeu is bound to be very difficult. They need to show their best condition and go all out to deal with the next game!
"BBC": With 1 shot and 2 passes, Lin Quan used an explosive performance to take an overall lead in this competition of top stars. After this game, no one will doubt whether Lin Quan can stand shoulder to shoulder with the two most outstanding players. Now there is only one question, when will he get his first Golden Globe Award?
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