World's No.1 Football Manager

Chapter 574
The top 8 of the Champions League are all released.

There are not many upsets in the Champions League this season. Except for Maritimo, who is a big dark horse, most of the other strong teams have successfully advanced.

The top 8 are: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Maritimo.

Fans all over the world, after reading this list, their first impression is: Hey, why does it seem that a strange guy has been mixed in!

The draw ceremony was held in Zurich, Switzerland.

The guest invited by the lottery is the former Manchester United striker, "Brother Chic" Berbatov.

In the hands of this star who is known for his elegant playing and less running, the top 8 matches are all fresh.

Real Madrid VS Juventus;

Barcelona VS Maritimo;

Bayern Munich VS Liverpool;
Manchester City VS Paris Saint-Germain.

In the eyes of conspiracy theorists, this has naturally become a major evidence of UEFA manipulating the Champions League draw.

Real Madrid's match against Juventus is clearly for ratings, a direct confrontation between Ronaldo's new and old clubs.Let's see whether Ronaldo can kill the old master and advance, or can Real Madrid prove "Who needs Ronaldo" in front of the world? !

This game is the one with the most topical traffic, but the rest of the games are also full of gimmicks.

Bayern vs. Liverpool, this is a repeat of the 2019 UEFA Champions League final!
Manchester City's match against Paris is a money showdown between the two major oil tycoons of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar!

Only Barcelona VS Maritimo, compared to less attention.

Of these two teams, one is the declining nobles, and the other is the newly promoted youth army.Although the playing style of the two teams is very exciting, and there are stars that fans love to see, but compared with those contests where sparks hit the earth, they still lack topicality.

However, hype is the nature of the media. If there is no topic, you have to hype a topic for you, and if you don’t have traffic, you have to find a way to generate traffic for you.

The media should have given this game a contest between old and new talents.

The old genius is naturally Messi, and the new genius does not refer to a certain person, but Maritimo's young talent attack group.

There is no way, after all, "Mei Lao Liu" is a superstar at the quasi-ball king level. In terms of honor, experience, strength and other aspects, these young players under the age of 23 cannot compare.

Even Wang Zi, the most comprehensive young player in the Maritimo team, cannot be compared with Messi for the time being.If it is a hard comparison, the only thing that does not fall behind is the worth.

As he grows older, even if he is the king of clubs, his worth has dropped sharply, while Wang Zi has become more and more expensive. Now he is already the top 23 players in the world under the age of 3!In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he is Chinese and doesn't have the advantage of household registration, he might be the most expensive player in this age group!
The football world is so cruel.Lippi said, "Baggio is not worth much after 30 years old." Messi's value plummeted when he reached 35+, which is not easy.

The hardest thing is for a beauty to sigh at her twilight, and the hero is not allowed to see her gray hair!

However, going back to the media hype of this game, the club king needs to compete with Wang Zi for organization, compete with Pan Xinyue for interspersed running, compete with Qiao Rabi for breakthroughs, and compete for speed with Liu Yun...

A 35+ veteran, covered in iron and able to drive a few nails!
This is also a true portrayal of the relationship between the two teams. Barcelona, ​​which has created countless brilliance, under the leadership of Bartomeu, Wang Xiaoer’s Chinese New Year is not as good as every year. In the UEFA Champions League, in addition to drinking "Hedy", it is Lafite who came to the cup in 82. He abruptly changed from a master of the king to a material distribution center for supporting jokers.

On the other hand, Maritimo, although he is a newcomer to the Champions League, played maturely and experienced, with the vigor and vitality of young people, but also without lack of rigor and discipline.

Gary Neville, who served as a commentator for Sky Sports, commented that in this team, he saw the shadow of Manchester United's class of 92.

Danso and Aguilar are the Neville brothers, Liu Yun's technical style is very similar to Giggs, Joao and Zhou Yong's central team is not weaker than Scholes and Bart's partner, Pan Xinyue and Solskjaer are both killers on the bench at any time.As for the representative figures Wang Zi and Beckham, they are both heartthrobs of their respective eras...

Once this point of view was put forward, it was widely recognized.

Perhaps like Manchester United's class of 92, the Maritimo youth army can also be engraved in history.

Sir Alex Ferguson has already become a god. Whether the young Gao Yuan can follow Ferguson's footsteps, or even surpass his predecessors, people will wait and see.

Champions League quarter-finals, the first leg started at Camp Nou.

Barcelona at home fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neto
Defenders: Sergino Dest, Pique, Lenglet, Alba
Midfielders: De Jong, Butzquez, Messi, Coutinho, Fati

Forward: Griezmann
Maritimo fielded a 5-3-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Niu Gensheng

Defenders: Aguilar, Qusay, Antonio, Wenjun, Danso

Midfielders: Joao, Zhou Yong, Ronaldo

Forwards: Wang Zi, Pan Xinyue
The intention of this lineup and style of play is obvious, to defend and counterattack in the away game.Conceal less or no ball, the frontcourt is mainly based on speed and running position, steal if you can, and it won't involve too much energy if you can't steal.

After the start of the game, people also found that Maritimo did not play actively, the lineup retreated deeply, and did not press the frontcourt, leading the battle to his own half.

There is no half of the vigor and drive of the youth army. It looks like a group of veterans with an average age of 30+ and who are about to retire are playing health football.

The Catalan commentator said mockingly: "Many people compare Maritimo to Manchester United's class of 92, but judging from the performance during the opening period, they can't see the shadow of that legendary team. Maybe they usually look alike, but in the Nou Camp and in front of Barcelona, ​​they can only choose to retreat tremblingly! You know, this is Barcelona!"

Gao Yuan on the sidelines couldn't hear the commentary, otherwise he would definitely scold: "This is a strategy and tactics, you know nothing!"

Gao Yuan's team seems to be playing passively and the scene is passive, but it is intentional.

Barcelona is a team with a distinctive style. Since the era of Michels and Cruyff, their pass-and-control football has been unique in the world. TIKI-TAKA kicking is their label.

In the next few decades, no matter whether they are strong or weak, no matter whether they are dreaming first, dreaming second, dreaming three, they all follow this principle and style of play.

But success is also Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He. This style of play is of course highly enjoyable, and it is talked about by fans all over the world.But it also limits the development direction of the team. In Barcelona, ​​if you don't play pass control, it is the original sin. You don't need your opponent to play, and your own fans have to scold the coach away.

However, football is not a law of physics. The formation of troops must be based on the time and situation, and there must be players who conform to this style of play.

With the same tactics, Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta can be invincible and look down on Europe, but Messi, Dembele, and Coutinho can't, they are blocked everywhere.

If you are facing the peak dream three, attracting your opponent to play in your own half, you are looking for a dead end. Barcelona has many ways to tear your defense line, but now Barcelona has lost the sharpness of the past.

Maritimo took the initiative to retreat, which not only compressed the space, making it impossible for Barcelona to pass the ball, but also left enough room for himself to counterattack.

The fist is more powerful only when it is retracted and then punched out. Now Maritimo has clenched his fist and is ready to go. He just waits for the right time to knock out his opponent with one punch.

(End of this chapter)