road to victory

Chapter 236 How could it be Monaco?
However, before the league, Vincent received bad news. The French Cup round of 32 had just been drawn out, and Bordeaux's opponent turned out to be deadly Monaco.This really made Fan Shang somewhat unexpected. Generally, it is not likely to touch a team in the first division before the top 8. He did not expect that this time he would start the deadlock mode here, which made Bordeaux, which was originally going to fight on the fourth front, even more. To add insult to injury.

The games still have to be played one by one. The next league game is Bordeaux at home against one of Vincent's least favorite opponents in Ligue [-], Strasbourg.

What surprised Fan Shang most about this game was that Strasbourg sent Seo Jung-won, a Korean player they introduced in the summer, today. This was the first time Fan Shang met an Asian face in Ligue [-].

Of course, a Korean can't change the game. Bordeaux is playing against Strasbourg at home. Of course, they can't let them be presumptuous at the Recourt Park Stadium.

After 90 minutes, Bordeaux defeated Strasbourg with a score of 2:0. Although Song, Chilavert and Gamara were absent, the defense still did not give Strasbourg any chance.The two scoring goals were central defenders Distin and Papin. Papan is absolutely in full shape now. Even if he has been on the bench for nearly a month, he has almost maintained the efficiency of one goal per game.

The next thing that caused Fan Shang a headache came, how to play against Monaco in the absence of the main defense line.And the game is still away.Chilavert and Gamara are sure to be able to come back, but they will not be able to get off the plane on the day of the game. Fan Shang has already let them fly back to Bordeaux to rest.

Of course, Monaco's lineup is not so neat. Ikpeba, Ndoram, Ndiaye, Dior and Benabia are all the middle forces of various African national teams, but these people are nothing but Ikpeba. The absolute main force, so the two teams should be said to be evenly matched now.

Even though this match was a knockout match of the top 32 of the French Cup, the TV station still broadcast the match live. Now the match between Bordeaux and Monaco should be the top match in France. After all, the performance of the two teams in the Champions Cup this year is that It is obvious to all.

On the day of the game, both Bordeaux and Monaco teams played the strongest lineups they can now.

Bordeaux starts with goalkeeper Zenga, back four, Lizarazu, Gallas, Materazzi and Sagnol, four midfielders, Makelele, Dacourt, Pires and Nedvi Germany, strikers Papin and Wiltord.

Monaco's starting line-up is goalkeeper Barthez, defenders, Dumas, Cristian Val, Pinol, Lilian Martin, midfielders, Collins, Costinia, Legwinski, forwards, Thierry Henry, Trezeguet, Giuly.

Vincent put Papin and Wiltord in today's starting lineup to allow them to confront their national team competitors Henry and Trezeguet head-on.

But after the opening game, Bordeaux still played their usual defensive counterattack. In fact, Monaco’s formation today looks like an offensive formation. If you look at their roster carefully, you will find that this is also a defensive counterattack formation. The field is all defensive midfielders. The three forwards look good on the books, but it is unclear how much support the midfielder can give them.

Sure enough, not long after the opening, there was a clear difference between the two teams. When Bordeaux counterattacked, they first passed the two wings of the midfield and then sent to the center.Monaco, on the other hand, went straight to the backcourt to find three forwards, whoever they found counted.

Fan Shang was speechless when he saw Monaco playing like a middle school student. He originally wanted to start an offensive and defensive battle with Monaco, but who would have thought that this would be the case now?
Fan Shang also wondered, how did Monaco reach the knockout round in the Champions Cup?The answer is individual combat ability. Look at the people who scored goals in Monaco. It was either Henry, Ikpeba or Trezeguet. The other players did not score two goals.As long as Henry and Trezeguet do not play in this game, Monaco will be finished.

Henry Vincent was handed over to Makelele, because Henry often returned to the midfield to get the ball, and his favorite thing was to shoot after dribbling.

For Trezeguet, Vincent put Materazzi in charge. The two were about the same height and weight. For the young Trezeguet, Materazzi's fierce defensive actions were a difficult gap to bridge.

The game turned into a defensive battle between Bordeaux's young and dynamic defense, and Monaco's older but experienced defense. The two sides passed 45 minutes in this see-saw process.

The two teams had no chances throughout the first half. The most threatening thing for Monaco was a cross from Giuly. Trezeguet grabbed the front point but his shot was not within the goal frame.

And Bordeaux's most threatening shot came from a supplementary shot by Wiltord, but it also hit the post and did not result in a goal.

The two teams have a deep understanding of each other and can no longer play any novel moves. They can only follow the steps and see who makes mistakes first.

The two teams that did not make substitutions in the second half continued to attack you and me, but they often died down in front of the opponent's penalty area.

Today, Christian Val, the young player in Monaco's defense line, performed very well. He has good control over the first point of the ball. After all, he is 185cm tall and has an absolute advantage in the penalty area.

Vincent made the first substitution in the 60th minute, replacing Dacourt with center Tony.Dacourt's defensive role today is actually not too obvious. Henry and Trezeguet have special personnel to take charge of it. Giuly intersperses back and forth on the two sides. Except for these three, Monaco's midfielders rarely assist forward, so Dacourt's interception is now ineffective.

The replacement of Tony is to check and balance Cristaval. Tony's height of 190cm is placed in the restricted area of ​​Monaco, which is Optimus Prime.

Sure enough, when Cristalbal, who was not very strong, faced Tony, who was taller and stronger than him, his momentum seemed a lot weaker.

Seeing this situation, Fan Shang directly shouted to the two full-backs to start actively assisting forward.

After seeing Tony playing, Tigana also wanted to strengthen the air defense capability of the defense, but when he looked at the bench, Jed... This dude was so ugly in the last game against Bordeaux. This time Tigana is Death will never let him play again.

Just this hesitation cost Monaco in this game.

(End of this chapter)