[football] walk side by side

This sentence is of course not difficult to understand.

But considering the difficulty behind achieving this goal, it is quite puzzling to connect back and forth.

Wanting to stare at Messi in a one-on-one defense, for European football, this is no longer a question that can be judged by difficulty, because in recent years, in all the games against Barcelona, ​​​​the As far as the players who can't be passed by Messi in one-on-one defense...they don't exist at all!

For every team facing Barcelona, ​​how to freeze Messi is their primary consideration and headache. It is basically impossible to freeze Messi in the whole field to make him invisible, because no one knows this. Will a superstar of this level suddenly have a flash of inspiration? Not only that, even if it is just to limit Messi in a short period of time, the team must pay two or more people to defend.

In this way, Barcelona's opponents will inevitably encounter the problem of "lack of players". If one player can't stop Messi, then only two or even three people can come. This is the only way to limit Messi, but once Making this choice means that the team must face the shortcomings of insufficient defense in other local areas, but it is precisely this kind of defect that has become an opportunity for Barcelona to score.

Indeed, if there are players who can defend Messi one-on-one, this will directly reduce the burden on Real Madrid's defense, but the question is... can anyone really defend Messi one-on-one?

As soon as Mourinho said this, the entire locker room looked over in surprise. No one thought that Mourinho would make such a decision. Rao Cyril himself was smiling wryly at the moment, and couldn’t help it. He kept his mouth open and asked:

"Sir... are you kidding me?"

Mourinho did not answer his question.

His eyes bypassed Cyril and swept across the faces of every player in the locker room. Fortunately, most of them were just surprised by this, but did not have any doubts. This made the Real Madrid coach's mood also Much better.He cleared his throat, and then said under Cyril's nervous gaze: "Yes, I was just joking."

Everyone: "...???"

"In this game, if we want to win, we have to pay attention to Messi and their midfielder." Mourinho turned around and walked to the tactical board in the locker room, "I believe you have also noticed , Inter Milan vs. Barcelona in 10 years, and Chelsea vs. Barcelona last season, these two teams were able to beat Barcelona in the Champions League, the primary reason is that Xavi was basically locked up throughout the game."

"Barcelona's possession tactics, the most important part lies in their midfield, without the support of Xavi and others in the midfield, Messi's dominance in the frontcourt will drop more than one-but it is precisely because of this Reason, this game, we can no longer stare at Harvey."

"No team will fall twice on the same problem. Since Barcelona has fallen twice in a row, it is bound to not happen a third time. Guardiola will not return after successive losses to Inter Milan and Chelsea. We are indifferent to this issue, so in this game, our defensive focus will shift to Messi."

As Mourinho said, he clicked on the name of Messi on the tactical board in Barcelona's half: "It is indeed very difficult to misfire Messi in a one-on-one match, so I will I don't intend to ask you to do this." He turned around and concentrated his eyes on Cyril: "Barcelona's pace is fast, but it takes time to surpass others. So, in this game, you guys It is not necessarily necessary to stare at Messi, as long as he can interfere with him as much as possible and slow down Barcelona's attack speed when he passes others."

After hearing Mourinho's detailed explanation, several defensive players breathed a sigh of relief.Regardless of the so-called self-confidence, for any defensive player, facing Leo Messi is one of the worst things in the world-as for another thing, Real Madrid players have undergone many training sessions In the end, I firmly believed that the level of hardship involved was probably about the same as that of facing forward Cyril.

Counting European football, there are actually quite a few players who are good at excelling. For example, Kaka relies on speed, Cristiano has endless and extremely realistic fake moves, and among them, the closest to Messi is Siri Er——because the excellence of the two is also based on speed, technology, and imagination.

The kind of ball-handler who is unconstrained, does whatever he wants, and has excellent balance is undoubtedly the most difficult one-on-one defense.Because you never know where he will go next.

For the last time, I described the tactical problems of the upcoming national derby one by one, making sure that my players knew it well, and Mourinho did not stay in the locker room anymore. He always likes to go to the stadium earlier than the players , to feel the crazy boos of the fans, and this time is no exception.

As Mourinho gradually disappeared at the door, the atmosphere in the locker room also fell silent. Although it has been almost a year since the last national derby, many Real Madrid players still remember it.

It's not that I can accept losing to Barcelona, ​​but that the league game was too miserable.At the end of the game, the Real Madrid players could hardly get the ball, while the Barcelona players directly controlled the situation on the field by virtue of their skillful ball-handling skills, so that even if the Real Madrid players wanted the ball, they could only passively follow the Barcelona players Chasing and chasing.

For Real Madrid, which has always been proud, this is undoubtedly the worst loss.

Mourinho, who always liked to play psychological warfare before the start of the game, did not mean to provoke Barcelona this time. Although many media interpreted this as "Real Madrid is afraid of Barcelona", this does not affect Cyril's understanding of it. The deep meaning: After suffering such a disastrous defeat, watching the ridicule and disdain from all over the world before the game, this in itself is an encouragement to the players.

Soon, as the game time approached, players from both sides led the caddy one after another, preparing to line up to enter the field.Cyril was standing in the player tunnel, chatting with the little ball boy assigned to him, and at this moment, he saw Leo Messi among the Barcelona players queuing up.

Cyril's heart moved slightly, but he couldn't help thinking of being uttered by Mourinho in his mind, and immediately overturned that sentence——

In one-on-one defense, stop... Leo Messi?

***

"Good evening, fans and friends, here is the No.19 round of La Liga, and it is also the final battle of La Liga in 2011. The two sides in this game are the two giants of La Liga. Real Madrid is away against Barcelona. The current points The two teams on the list are ranked first, second, and second. It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid, which ranks first, is now ahead of Barcelona by a full nine points. If Barcelona cannot beat Real Madrid in this direct dialogue, the points between them The difference is going to continue.”

"Today both sides played in a 4-3-3 formation. Real Madrid: goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defender Pepe, Marcelo, Ramos and Carvalho. The midfield is Cyril, Alonso and Carvalho. Card. The striker is still Benzema, c-Ronaldo, Di Maria partner. Barcelona: goalkeeper Valdez. Defender Pique, Mascherano, Adriano and Alves. Villa on the striker As a centre-forward, Messi and Pedro as wingers."

Under the auspices of the referee, the captains of both sides began to guess the side on the sidelines.Taking advantage of this time, the commentator also began to make some simple forward-looking: "Judging from the current consistent play styles of the two sides in the league, both sides should choose to focus on offense in this game. Since the beginning of this season, Real Madrid has been completely defensive. The counterattack completed the transformation, and the outstanding results in the standings also proved Mourinho's ability to transform offensive football, but this is obviously not enough. Whether they can beat Barcelona in this game will be their last and final goal. important test."

The narrator's predictions were right.

From the beginning of the game, the two teams played the same as before, still focusing on offense, and there was no sign of being extremely cautious and restrained because it was a national derby. Of course, the particularity of the game also made them feel uncomfortable. Don't play nice offensively.

Less than a minute into the game, Harvey instigated a long pass in the midfield. After the football flew to the wing, Messi, who received the ball, relied directly on his personal ability. He got rid of Alonso after a few changes of direction and accelerated. When Ramos was catching up, Messi rubbed the ball on the spot and jumped past him with a simple pick!

Without waiting for the Real Madrid players to return to the defense, the little flea forced a long-range shot from outside the penalty area after completing the pass, and the football was accurately thrown on the grass by Iker Casillas.

Shortly after Barcelona completed the shot, Real Madrid also responded immediately.

Casillas threw the footballer to Cyril. After getting the ball, Cyril dribbled the ball to the center line. With Cyril's forward drive, Real Madrid's striker also consciously pressed forward, forming a three-pointer against Barcelona's goal. Point outflanking, just when the Barcelona defenders were staring at the three points, Cyril unexpectedly leaked the football to Kaka.

Kaka immediately exploded with his maximum speed after taking the ball. Fabregas couldn't accelerate enough and was left far behind by him. Shifting in a completely different direction, just when everyone thought the Brazilian would pass the ball, Kaka went straight to the penalty area at high speed and pushed the football into the net!

Valdes made a correct judgment. Although he failed to directly control the football in his palm, he still used his fingers to push the football beyond the goal!

Cristiano quickly moved to the point where the football flew out, but the Barcelona players who were already around the goal were closer than him, and drove the football back to the midfield before him.

Even so, the Barcelona fans in the stands couldn't help being frightened into a cold sweat.

This made them directly realize that the Real Madrid team in front of them is really not the one that lost to them with a disparity of 5-0 last season.They have rediscovered their tradition and are closer to the league title than they are.

Under such circumstances, if Barcelona still wants to slaughter Real Madrid like last season, I am afraid that this possibility is completely impossible.

As a consequence of both teams having a good goalkeeper, the stalemate lasted for a full 10 minutes.Both sides had a lot of shots, but either they were cleared by the defenders big feet, or they were thrown directly into the arms of the goalkeeper, and nothing happened.

Cyril did indeed do what Mourinho asked: organize when attacking, and entangle Messi when defending.But because Real Madrid also has a lot of opportunities to attack, the time of defense is half the time of offense. Therefore, Cyril did not deliberately chase Messi to defend, so in the eyes of outsiders, Cyril and Messi only The several confrontations seemed to be just a coincidence of the exact alignment.

No one knows that in Mourinho's plan, Cyril has been designated as the No. 1 choice to harass Messi.

After passing several good quality balls one after another, but did not get the desired result, Cyril decided to try something different.

He starts to move forward.

After seeing Cyril make such a move, Alonso also immediately slowed down in cooperation. Since Cyril stepped forward, in order to ensure the operation of the midfield, Alonso naturally needed to retreat. At the same time, Barcelona also quickly noticed Cyril's movements.

It was an accident.

Coach Guardiola said before the game that the Real Madrid player's range of activities is not limited to the backcourt. In addition to instigating the offensive in the backcourt, he will also press forward when necessary, assisting or attacking.But once he decides to press forward, it means that Real Madrid is not satisfied with the current situation, and intends to take the initiative to attack by changing this "stable" form.

If Cyril stays in the backcourt, leave him alone.Once he moves forward, keep an eye on him and don't let him catch and pass the ball comfortably.

However, what surprised the Barcelona players was that the Real Madrid players didn't mean to pass the ball to Cyril because he pressed forward.And Cyril himself, who took the initiative to press up, had no intention of asking his teammates for the ball.

After taking the ball, Kaka turned around and looked back at Cyril. Iniesta was confused by his action, and immediately turned around and ran towards Cyril. Unexpectedly, Kaka just did it. It's just the same, without Iniesta's block on the right, he easily knocked the football to Ramos who was inserted in the back row.

"... Ramos took the ball! Shot! Alas! What a pity! The ball was shot high..." In the voice of regret from the commentator, the football drawn by Ramos to the goal was obviously more than half a meter higher than the goal frame. Flew onto the stands behind the goal.

The ball returned to Barcelona's feet again.

The Real Madrid fans at the scene couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

Although the strength of Real Madrid has been enhanced this season, in fact, Barcelona is still the powerful Barcelona. They always maintain a very high ball possession rate on the field. Once the ball is in their hands, it is very difficult to regain It's not easy anymore.For Barcelona's opponents, perhaps only controlling the ball in their own hands is the only thing that can be reassuring.

Villa chose to pass back when he couldn't find a chance in the frontcourt. He knocked the football to Xavi.

However, just as Harvey received the ball here, he felt a burst of momentum from behind. The conditioned reflex developed over the years in the game made him quickly avoid it sideways. This emergency response allowed him to avoid possible moral shocks from behind. , but it also made his body unbalanced for a moment. Before he came to remember to see who was coming, he saw a foot stretched out from the left side and stabbed the football out!

Harvey turned around and immediately met a face he knew all too well.

Cyril Slade.

This year, he is the core midfielder of rival Real Madrid. In the Champions League final earlier, he was the one who blocked himself for a full 45 minutes and took away the championship that was close to Barcelona.

It has to be said that for a long time after the end of the Champions League last year, the name Cyril Slade was a nightmare for Barcelona players, especially Harvey.Strictly speaking, it was the second time they fell under the same tactic.

Could it be that they haven't given up on that style of play?

Harvey wanted to test the opponent's intentions, so when the ball returned to Barcelona's feet again, he chose to take the initiative to ask for the ball.However, as soon as the football reached his feet, he realized that at that moment he didn't want to see anyone at all, so he followed up again!

"Oh! It seems that Slade is aiming at Harvey again. In the Champions League final last season, Chelsea scored in this way. Is Slade planning to repeat the same trick?"

Mourinho frowned, but soon, he seemed to see something, and slowly stretched his eyebrows again.

Is Cyril planning to repeat the old trick?

of course not.

In fact, even if Mourinho did not emphasize this point before the game, Cyril does not intend to try this possibility again in the game. Just like Mourinho explained, the same tactic is impossible in Barcelona. Use it three times.

On the surface, Cyril seems to be eyeing Harvey once again, but in the view of Mourinho, who knew the inside story in advance, Cyril's goal is actually Messi, who is not far from Harvey, just because football is at this time At the feet of Harvey, so his choice is to block the possibility of Harvey passing the ball to Messi, rather than directly blocking Messi without the ball.

Reapplying the old technique?

Just let them think it's the same old trick.

Harvey felt that he seemed to be Cyril's target again, and Messi didn't think that he was Cyril's man-marking target. After all, although he and Cyril played against each other in many games, the relationship between the two was similar. Messi, like Cristiano, is more inclined to help the team score goals. Moreover, Cyril himself rarely marks anyone specifically.

As for what should Barcelona do after Harvey is frozen...

"Huh?" There was obvious surprise in the commentator's tone: "We can see that after Xavi was frozen by Slade, Barcelona also responded quickly, and Messi's position was withdrawn from the winger. As for the attacking midfielder, it seems that Guardiola intends to let other players share the pressure of Harvey."

"However, this choice is also normal," the commentator continued after thinking for a while: "We all know that although Messi mainly plays the role of a forward on the court, in terms of his own skills, even as a midfielder As a player, he is also at the top level in the world. Most importantly, as a midfielder, he has better speed and sense of smell in front of the goal. What a bad effect the midfield run had."

The commentator sat in the stands and talked boastfully, but Mourinho, who was next to the coach's bench, wanted to laugh a little.

If it weren't for the fact that in a game like the Clasico, every expression and every movement of Mourinho as the coach of Real Madrid would be over-interpreted, Mourinho would probably laugh without any scruples at this moment, but considering the current The score was still 0-0, and he finally swallowed his smile.

There is actually no problem with Guardiola's change-but the premise of all this is that the target of Cyril's marking is not Messi.

To briefly introduce the positions and abilities of Cyril and Messi, Cyril is: Midfielder (organizing offense)>Strike (offensive)>Defense (defense), Messi is: striker>Midfield>>Rear Defend.

Guardiola withdrew Messi to the midfield, but because his position is the attacking midfielder, which is the same as Kaka, so for Barcelona, ​​this change is just an extra addition of organization to Messi's tasks. No damage was done.

But the problem is that at this moment, although Cyril chooses to press forward with the task of marking Messi, his range of activities is still in the midfield.In other words, if Messi joins Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and others in the range of controlling the midfield and organizing the offense in addition to attacking, he is bound to compete with Real Madrid in the midfield Go straight to Cyril!

Seeing Barcelona make such a change, Cyril was a little stunned at the moment.

etc!Isn't this equivalent to sending Messi directly to him?

Under Guardiola's deliberate arrangement, Cyril soon had to reveal his true intentions——

In the 15th minute of the game, under Harvey's surprised gaze, Cyril decisively turned around and ran away. After all, his man-marking target was not really Harvey. Now that Messi has distanced himself from Harvey, then His position, of course, had to change as well.

Cyril was soon up against Messi in Barcelona's midfield.

The latter was a little surprised that Cyril would abandon Harvey and run to him, but Messi didn't think much about it at the moment, and only regarded the scene in front of him as a normal confrontation in the midfield competition. Cyril, who was moving unhurriedly in front of him and kept a certain distance from him, suddenly made a fake move to break through to the left!

Cyril just stared at the football under Messi's feet quietly, and did not move at all when he changed his center of gravity.

Messi didn't expect to be able to get rid of the opponent with a single movement - if he could do it so easily, he wouldn't be Slade.Messi, who was unable to make a plan, did not withdraw his center of gravity. He kept his center of gravity to the left, and at the same time picked the football to his right foot. In the eyes of many people, this is a sign that the ball will be passed.

However, just when Cyril quickly turned sideways, intending to use himself to separate Messi from the football and prevent the man from passing the ball, the latter immediately hooked the football back to his left foot, accelerated to the left, and happened to rub shoulders with Cyril And pass!

Grand cheers and applause from the fans immediately broke out in the stands!

God knows how much they bothered Slade before this game!Especially before the start of the game, what he said to the media can be said to directly poke the pain of the Barcelona fans, and now he even made a move to freeze Xavi during the game, which made Barcelona fans They are even more furious!

Now watching Messi pass Cyril a few times, the Barcelona fans just feel very happy!

The only thing that made them feel a little regretful was that Messi, who passed Cyril, did not find a good attacking opportunity. He was intercepted by the double-team of Alonso and Ramos, and this time the attack was blocked. Silently wasted.

The first time I saw Cyril take the initiative to entangle Messi, many people thought it was just a normal confrontation.However, when Messi hit Cyril in midfield for the third and fourth time, everyone saw that something was wrong.

Didn't he say his goal was to freeze Harvey?Why did he suddenly become Messi again?

At the beginning, many people didn't think too much about it. They thought it didn't matter if it was Messi or Harvey. Anyway, as long as that annoying Slade didn't get his way, watching him being passed by his own Messi time and time again was very satisfying. It was happy, and later, whenever Messi got rid of Cyril, they would deliberately laugh mockingly in the stands.

But soon, they stopped laughing.

In the 207th minute of the game, Alonso dribbled forward with the ball at high speed, which was very similar to Real Madrid's first shot after the opening. When striding towards Alonso, the latter naturally handed the football to Cyril in the middle.

This is expected by the Barcelona players.

Although the Real Madrid midfielder seems to be on the bar with Messi for an unknown reason, he is still an integral part of the Real Madrid formation in attack.

Seeing the football transfer at this moment, Puyol and Pique also stepped up in a timely manner, intending to prevent him from passing or shooting.

Just when the two Barcelona defenders turned their attention to Cyril, the person who seemed to be the receiver suddenly turned to the side.

Kaka, who quickly inserted from the back row, slammed the football towards the goal!

Is it a shot?

While watching the movement of the flying football, Valdés quickly judged its possible direction, but in the next second, a fast-moving figure suddenly jumped up from the right, and someone was in the penalty area. On the right side, which is the route where the football came from, he jumped up in place, faced the football, and shook his head in the direction of the goal!