Beast King Costa

Chapter 342 The tone of the game: Physical confrontation!
Vetszlav Lavica led the team to Lisbon and made a very tactful statement at the press conference before the game.

"Benfica is the most powerful team in our group, none of them! I think another opponent, Sevilla from La Liga, is not as strong as Benfica. Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season. My God That’s the competition stage where world-class giant clubs gather! The teams in the Czech First Division have never played in the UEFA Champions League, never.”

Speaking of this, Vyetszlav Lavica said very humbly: "So! This time we come to Lisbon, our greatest hope is to learn more from the powerful Benfica, so that more young people in the Czech Republic can learn more. People came to the Stadium of Light to experience the atmosphere of a Champions League-level stadium. We didn’t consider scoring points at Benfica’s home court. Anyway, we should win if we concede fewer goals! After all, Benfica’s offense in the new season is really too strong.”

Now that Vetszlav Lavica spoke so humbly, Fernando Santos naturally spoke very low-key and humble.

"First of all! On behalf of the whole team of Benfica, I welcome coach Vijecslav Lavica and the whole team of Liberec to Lisbon. Welcome to come from the original way, I hope you can have a good impression of Lisbon! "

After some polite greetings, Fernando Santos got straight to the point and said: "Liberec was the champion team of the Czech First Division last season. The champion is very remarkable. Coach Vijacslav Lavica, who was once the meritorious coach of Sparta Prague in the Czech League One, has a lot of coaching experience in the Europa League. Therefore, in this game we will Treat it with caution! Do your best and get the first home points in the UEFA Europa League in the new season at the Stadium of Light without bloodshed!"

……

Although Vyetszlav Lavica wanted to let young people in the Czech Republic experience Benfica, a strong team at the top eight level of the Champions League, he was quite aggressive in the formation of the second day of the game.

Except for the Costa Rican foreign aid Winston who did not come to Lisbon with the team due to injury, the main players of the Czech local team poured out!

Exactly as Fernando Santos expected before the game, Vijecslav Lavica played a 5-3-2 iron barrel formation in this game.

Obviously, Vitezslav Ravika's goal is to strive to hold on to one point at the Stadium of Light!

Of course, if he can't hold on to a point, Vitezslav Lavica won't be too disappointed - in this away game, Vitezslav Lavica didn't even think about scoring points. After all, Benfica's home stadium is the Stadium of Light. , even La Liga’s world-class giant team Barcelona could only suffer a draw here, and Vitezslav Lavica did not dare to place too many hopes on his team.

Goalkeeper: Marek Cech

Defenders: Pavel Costaler, Peter Singella, Tomas Zappotocchini, Jiri Bilek, Daniel Pudill;
Midfielders: Thomas Janu, Thomas Freilach, Peter Papsek;
Forwards: Jan Horenda, Zbinek Poshpek.

In this lineup, the core midfielder is Czech international Thomas Freilach.

Like Carter Solanis, the core midfielder of the Greek national team in Benfica's midfield, Thomas Freilach's type is not a pure midfield organizer. He is an all-round midfielder with both offense and defense. , In terms of attributes, Thomas Freilach will be more inclined to intercept and defend in the midfield.

That is to say, coach Vetszlav Lavica's lineup is basically equivalent to putting up 3 defensive midfielders in the midfield!

The double center Jan Horenda and Zbinek Boshpek are very tall and have a strong confrontation ability. It is very likely that their existence is not for the goal of Benfica, but for the retreat In the midfield, all kinds of rough physical confrontation and siege were carried out against the Benfica midfielder with the ball, forcing Benfica's midfielder to make a mistake with the ball.

This kind of rough midfield confrontation, using body contact to force the opponent's midfield rhythm to be interrupted again and again, is also a style of play that both the Czechs and Slovaks like very much.

After all, their physical talents are too strong. Everyone's muscles are as tough as granite. Those skilled players often fall to the ground with a muffled rhythm when confronting their bodies.

Although this will lead to repeated fouls, it can be regarded as a relatively strategic foul for midfield defense.

Of course!
The existence of the double center Jane Horenda and Zbinek Boshpek has another great significance.

That's set-piece tactics!

Jan Horenda and Zbinek Boshpek, the former is 185 cm and the latter is 187 cm. Both are high center forwards. Once Liberec has a chance to set the ball, then Jan Ho The height of Renda, Zbinek Poshpek and their header bombing will pose a very big threat to Benfica's goal.

However, in this game, Benfica's starting lineup has the main central defender Louison of the Brazilian national team in the backcourt. , It is not so simple to smash the goal of Benfica with a header.

On Liberec's back line, the three central defenders, Peter Singra, Thomas Zapotoccini, and Jiri Bilek, are also very tall and sturdy.

This defense line can be described as a forest of steel and muscle. Everyone's physical confrontation ability is not inferior to the Icelandic international midfielder Joey Gujjonsson of 2 Alkmaar.

Peter Singella, Thomas Zapotoccini, and Jiri Bilek, the three muscular men, will also carry out an all-round siege on Diego who is protruding forward, resolutely not allowing Diego to easily hold the ball in the frontcourt Assault opportunity!
Goalkeeper position, Marek Cech!

The Czech goalkeeper with the same surname as Peter Cech, the hottest goalkeeper in Europe!
In the new season, the Czech First Division is still a strong presence with zero goals. The most terrifying thing is that Marek Cech is as tall as 198 cm!Even, he has arms comparable to basketball players.

Seeing Marek Cech's tall figure and slender wingspan, the Benfica players couldn't help feeling: "This Marek Cech, shouldn't he change from basketball to football? With his height and wingspan, this guy is like a monster on the football field!"

With such terrifying physical talent in front of goal, it will not be easy for Benfica's curve ball to go far and beat Marek Cechna in this game.

Fernando Santos also made certain adjustments to his formation for this game.

Goalkeeper: Moreto!

In this game, Fernando Santos determined that Liberec has absolutely no use in the offensive in positional warfare. In addition, there is no fast-horse assaulter in the lineup, and it is difficult for them to be able to defend and counterattack, so!It will definitely make more use of set-piece tactics, take advantage of the average altitude of their lineup, and use headers to knock their own goals.

and so!
In this game, Fernando Santos continued to choose Moreto, a goalkeeper who is over 190 centimeters tall.After all, Quim's height is too disadvantageous in catching high balls. If Quim starts this game, Liberec may use his header to open his own goal.

Defenders, from left to right: Assis, Louison, David Luiz, Nelson!

It is still the "Wave to Dawn Squad" defender trio plus the Brazilian national team's main central defender Luisson's back line!The reason why Leonardo Bastos was abandoned in this game is also very simple: this is a game with very intense physical confrontation. If Leonardo Bastos plays, his point will be taken advantage of. Beretz's "muscular men" went crazy to target.

That being the case, it is better to abandon some full-backs and insert assists, let Assis start and Nelson echo left and right, and do a good job in the offensive and defensive balance of the wing.

Back midfielder: Pettit, Carter Solanis!
Benfica's midfield dual-core team continues to start together this season. The combination of Pettit and Carter Solanis' midfielder is not only a guarantee for Benfica's midfield defense, but also a double engine for the midfield offensive organization!
Frontcourt: Calagonis, Mantolas, Simao!
To everyone's surprise, Nuno Gomez actually sat on the bench. Fernando Santos chose to start Angola's "national hero" Mantoras, who played the entire game in the last round of the league and scored twice. And he took up the position of the second forward 1.
Fernando Santos gave a very detailed explanation for his lineup adjustment.

"The keynote of this game is 'physical confrontation'! Nuno's offensive movement in the frontcourt is definitely irreplaceable for the connection between the midfielder and the center forward, but in this game, once Liberec's players If Nuno engages in high-intensity physical confrontation and pressure, Nuno will play very uncomfortable in this game. I will worry that Nuno may be injured under high-intensity physical confrontation, so I chose to be better at physical confrontation Mantolas is at the top of the second striker!"

After all, Fernando Santos also placed more expectations on Mantolas's starting lineup.

"In this game, I don't need you, Mantolas, to connect the midfield and the striker. What I need is that you can help Diego absorb part of the defensive pressure. For the rest, let Diego solve the battle alone—— That's right! In this game, we said we were playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but in fact, we were playing in a 4-2-4 double-center strategy!"

Now that it has been said, the role of Mantolas replacing Nuno Gomez in the starting lineup is to form a double center partner with Diego, allowing Mantolas to help Diego absorb part of the defensive pressure in the frontcourt, and let Diego solve the battle alone up.

So!

The starting center for this game is naturally Diego, the "scoring machine" who can't stop scoring goals!

On the bench, Benfica's game is also full of players with the main force.

Including the team's famous hero Rui Costa.

But because the tone of this game is physical confrontation, Rui Costa, a technical master, will most likely not be sent to play by Fernando Santos. His role on the bench is still an assistant. Responsibilities——Analyze the trend of the game on the bench to listen to the boys on the bench, so that the boys can further understand the game.

The midfielder who is likely to come off the bench is Beto.

Beto's technical characteristics are relatively comprehensive. Whether it is physical confrontation, offensive organization, or even the ability to insert assists after a flash of inspiration recently, this is still quite helpful to the team's midfield.

As for Joao Kumbra, a young midfielder who is completely unable to withstand high-pressure physical confrontation, Fernando Santos did not let him enter the bench.

After all, in this kind of game, it is impossible for Joao Kumbra to get a chance to play. It is better to give up the position of the bench to players who may play.

For example, Francisco Fonseca!
The Mexican international center has a very high possibility of playing in this game.

The reason for not directly starting Francisco Fonseca and partnering with Diego as a double center is very simple-Fernando Santos needs to keep a back player on the bench, who can strike after the second half of the game!

After all, Francisco Fonseca is also an existence with excellent physical confrontation ability. Most importantly, he also has the traditional delicate footwork of Mexican players. This is what Liberec's "muscular steel jungle" guard line will be more afraid of. In the second half of the game, when the opponent's physical fitness has reached a bottleneck, letting Francisco Fonseca come off the bench, the lethality will be more powerful and terrifying than letting Francisco Fonseca start.

Also available in the frontcourt are Fabrizio Milico and Nuno Gomez.

When these two striker national players are more inclined to play in a technical style, facing the high-intensity physical confrontation of Czech football, the possibility of their appearance in this game is very small, but this game , Fernando Santos still let them enter the team's bench.

The backcourt substitutes are Paul Jorge and Kaliaka.

That's right!

In this game, Fernando Santos didn't even bring a substitute goalkeeper. He directly let Quim's substitute position belong to Paul Jorge, a new aid transferred from Boavista.

Recently, Paul Jorge has been getting better and better in Benfica's training sessions. Fernando Santos also appreciates his style of play. In this game, Fernando Santos has a high probability of substituting Paul Jorge Play and let him complete his career Europa League debut!

(End of this chapter)