Chapter 66 The Opportunity Has Come!

It is normal for professional players to play closed games, because sometimes the events are very important, and they will regret it if they miss it. The same is true for Tang Zheng.

Although I was a little resistant in my heart, I resolutely chose to take a shot to seal it, so as to maximize the impact on the second half of the game.

Not long after, the fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly. Players from both teams walked from their respective locker rooms to the tunnel and then entered the court to prepare for the remaining forty-five minutes of the game.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"

The frenetic atmosphere at the Olympiastadion in Berlin was significantly higher than at the end of the first half.

The Dortmund fans sitting in the neutral stands saw Tang Zheng coming out of the tunnel. They were led by Hans Heisenberg and shouted: "Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang——"

Tang Zheng, who entered the stadium, heard the loud shouts pouring down from behind him and subconsciously turned his head to look.

It was a group of Dortmund fans wearing yellow and black striped shirts. They held up banners, slogans and huge posters about themselves. They were very moved, so they raised their arms and clapped to thank the fans in attendance for their support.

As for the specific thanks, we have to wait until the end of the game.

So no matter what, Tang Zheng must help Real Madrid defeat Barcelona and win the Champions League!

"Beep~"

With the whistle of the referee Cakir on duty, the second half of the 2014-2015 Champions League final began!

Real Madrid, who had a kick-off advantage, did not rush to attack. Instead, they passed the ball under the deliberate control of Tang Zheng, Modric and Toni Kroos, bypassing Barcelona's high pressure at the beginning of the second half.

In two consecutive rounds of looting, the Barcelona players did not even touch the surface of the football. The Barcelona players stood still and waited for Real Madrid to attack.

However, Real Madrid's first wave of offensive in the second half did not pose a threat to Barcelona's defense. James Rodriguez received Tang Zheng's cross pass and fired a long shot to fire the anti-aircraft gun.

James Rodriguez was very embarrassed after what he had done. He raised his right hand towards Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo who had space to receive the ball, indicating that he had been too reckless in handling the ball just now.

Indeed, James Rodriguez's handling of the ball was reckless, and his chances would have been better if he had chosen to pass the ball.

But his attitude is very good,

It's very rare to apologize to your teammates as soon as you know you made a mistake.

Central 5 commentator He Wei changed his voice: "It is understandable that Ronaldo is eager to make contributions when Real Madrid is behind. Moreover, his attitude is very good. He realizes that he is wasting offensive opportunities and apologizes to his teammates."

The implication is that Cristiano Ronaldo squandered opportunities as a matter of course and had no regard for his teammates.

Of course, what He Wei wanted to express was a matter of opinion and was not stated clearly.

Barcelona took a short goal kick. Since Real Madrid did not use high pressure, the Barcelona players who controlled the ball were able to quickly pass through the half court and organize the attack.

Like the past first half, Messi returned to the midfield more to help organize the offense and relieve the pressure on the midfield organization.

There are gains and losses. Barcelona has solved the problem of weak midfield organization, but relying on Neymar and Suarez in the front is obviously not enough to handle Real Madrid's defense.

Besides, Suarez only joined Barcelona last summer, and his tacit understanding with his teammates is not very high. In many cases, he is isolated by Real Madrid's defensive system, putting him in a situation of fighting alone.

Neymar has excellent skills at his feet and can create opportunities through his dribbling. However, Real Madrid's game strategy in the second half is to shrink the defense, leaving Neymar with not as much breakthrough space as in the first half. Therefore, Barcelona gained a lot of time to control the ball, but did not Can directly threaten Casillas to guard the goal.

The scoreboard on the Olympiastadion in Berlin still showed Barcelona leading Real Madrid 1:0. Barcelona was not in a hurry to increase their offensive efforts to expand the score, because Real Madrid's quick counterattack in the first half gave them a deep impression.

During the halftime break, head coach Enrique especially urged the players not to blindly strengthen the attack in the second half and pay attention to their positions. The one who is anxious should not be themselves, but Real Madrid who are lagging behind!

Compared with Real Madrid's frontcourt counterattack ability, Barcelona is obviously better in terms of speed.

In other words, Enrique hopes to expand the score as much as possible through positional offense. Even if the score cannot be expanded, he can still return to defense as soon as he switches from offense to defense.

When Real Madrid, eager to equalize the score, switches from offense to defense, that is Barcelona's real opportunity to expand the score!

In Enrique's words, who stipulates that Barcelona, ​​which is good at playing passing football, cannot play quick counterattacks?

※※※

At the beginning of the second half, Real Madrid focused on solid defense. Until the fifth minute of the game, Tang Zheng's position became obvious. Real Madrid's transition between offense and defense accelerated, and the offensive gradually picked up.

Barcelona coach Enrique quickly noticed the changes in Real Madrid's offense and defense. Rakitic's position is closer to Busquets and looks more like a double midfielder. Iniesta and the retreating Messi form a double front midfielder to strengthen Deep defense in the middle.

Messi, who has never needed to defend, will actively return to defense during the period when Real Madrid strengthens its attack, and will even return to the ribs of the penalty area.

You must know that Messi has absolute privileges in Barcelona, ​​and he does not need to work so hard.

Obviously, after missing out on the league title and Copa del Rey in succession in the 2014-2015 season, Messi is very eager to win the most important Champions League title, so as to maintain competition with Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Enrique's tactical changes worked very well. Real Madrid's offense did not substantially test Barcelona's defense. Real Madrid only regained some possession time.

The original ball possession ratio of 42% has become 45%. If the current offensive can be maintained, the ball possession ratio is likely to become 50%, and it can even surpass Barcelona and lead the ball possession ratio.

It is very dangerous to have a strong position but not score. Tang Zheng is keenly aware of this and decisively asks for the ball when Modric and Toni Kroos strengthen the rib passing, and then partially strengthens the number of attackers and then transfers the ball through long passes. direction of attack.

In any game, the width of the court must be used rationally.

Both Marcelo and Carvajal have strong passing abilities and can deliver precise crosses to Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. Moreover, Tang Zheng sometimes enters the penalty area appropriately to participate in header competitions. Increase Real Madrid's control in Barcelona's penalty area.

Pique is over 1.9 meters tall, as is Busquets who is recovered into the penalty area, but the other central defender, Mascherano, is quite awkward. He is less than 1.8 meters tall and is basically in the same position as Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo. He and Benzema can only stare at each other within the coverage area, unable to grab the landing spot at all.

This is also a problem that Enrique is worried about, but Mathieu in the same position is not reassuring. The choice of central defender can only be Mascherano, who is experienced and rarely makes mistakes.

It is still very difficult to pass the ball into the goal guarded by Ter Stegen.

After all, the crosses from Marcelo and Carvajal did not fly to the best landing spot. Being able to grab the landing spot is entirely a reflection of the abilities of Cristiano Ronaldo and Tang Zheng, and has nothing to do with the quality of the cross.

Tang Zheng's offensive changes increased the number of shots taken by Real Madrid throughout the game. Messi was not to be outdone. His breakthrough goals often brought threats to Real Madrid's defense.

Between the 50th and 60th minutes, the names mentioned most by the commentators in the on-site commentary box were Tang Zheng and Messi.

During the period when Tang Zheng and Messi were active, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez, and Benzema became the best backgrounds.

But Real Madrid had not equalized the score in the past fifteen minutes of the second half, and Ancelotti couldn't sit still.

Isco replaces James Rodriguez.

After being substituted in the Champions League final, James Rodriguez was in a bad mood. He thought his performance was already very good, at least better than Cristiano Ronaldo who frequently squandered opportunities.

Hey~

Tang Zheng took the initiative to go over and comfort his friend James Rodriguez: "James, you played very well today. You are still young. There will be many opportunities in the future. You will be the real protagonist then! Don't think too much! You are the best partner I have ever had since the beginning of my career!”

This sentence is definitely what Tang Zheng said from the bottom of his heart, because the two of them had a tacit understanding during the trial training of Boca Youth without having cooperated before. That feeling is innate, so Tang Zheng believes that in the future, as James... Rodriguez will perform better if he adapts to Real Madrid's overall tactics.

James Rodriguez knew that this was the comfort from his good friend Tang Zheng, and nodded lightly: "I know, Tang, perform well! I believe you will become the well-deserved first brother of the Bernabeu!"

"Hopefully!"

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. Moreover, Tang Zheng is not a soldier. As his status in world football increases, he also has higher pursuits, so he patted James Rodriguez gently. Right shoulder, smiled.

Recently, his agent Rodrigo has been discussing with Florentino about modifying the salary of the contract, because it is difficult for Tang Zheng's current contribution to match the contract signed two years ago, so at least the annual salary Must surpass Cristiano Ronaldo!

If you want to get a higher salary, you must show sustained, stable and efficient performance.

Although James Rodriguez did not perform impressively in this game, the Real Madrid fans in the stands still stood up and applauded him.

※※※

Ancelotti's intention of replacing Isco is very obvious, which is to use his dribbling ability to create opportunities in the frontcourt.

His ability to hold the ball may be lagging behind Tang Zheng, Modric and Toni Kroos, but his ability to hold the ball in the frontcourt is very strong. At least three players can intercept the ball, and It must be accompanied by suspicion of foul play.

Real Madrid has recently been able to achieve a reversal in a game that was lagging behind, and Isco is indispensable. His fouls have brought many direct free kicks to Real Madrid.

Ancelotti's tactical ideas were noticed by Enrique, but what he could do was limited, and execution still had to rely on the players on the field.

Stand your ground and don't make blind moves. Everyone knows that many times there is just no way.

Formed a breakthrough, no foul?

The consequences could be disastrous!

But Ancelotti has his own plan, and Enrique has his own ladder.

Real Madrid has free kick masters Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Barcelona also has Messi and Neymar.

In terms of breakthrough ability, Messi is not ranked first in the world, but there is no problem in the top three.

When Real Madrid attacks, Isco increases the number of breakthroughs. When Barcelona attacks, Messi and Neymar follow the same pattern, relying on their personal abilities to create set-piece opportunities, because anyway, there is no way to test Casillas in positional offense, and the number of attackers is limited. Free kicks are a means of limited use.

Messi's sluggish performance in the past games against Tang Zheng was largely due to his frustrated self-confidence. He did not look directly at failure and had no way out. Messi chose to burn the boat and look directly at failure. After being successfully defended by Tang Zheng, he would break through again. And more decisive!

Slowly, Tang Zheng felt tremendous pressure.

He realized that the current Messi is the real Messi!

Messi's continuous breakthroughs helped Barcelona get two good direct free kick opportunities, one on the left and one on the right, completed by Neymar and Messi respectively.

Neymar's aim is not very good, but Messi, who is in excellent condition, has a good aim. In the 66th minute, his direct free kick hit the crossbar, causing the Real Madrid fans in the stands to cry out in cold sweat.

Although Real Madrid this season has a strong ability to reverse the game, the Champions League final is different from the past La Liga King's Cup and Champions League semi-finals. More importantly, Barcelona, ​​which is leading by score, cannot make the same mistakes as the King's Cup final!

Barcelona's offense became more threatening as Messi returned to form, making Real Madrid a little weak on the offensive end, and its attention gradually shifted to defense.

"This is not an option either!"

As Messi's long shot after cutting inside missed the goal post, Tang Zheng looked at Messi's back with his hands on his hips and his brows furrowed.

It's okay to say that the score is a draw, but there is no use in defending after falling behind!

But Messi was in such good shape that everyone's attention gradually turned to defense, and they didn't know what to do for a while.

Those players who didn't take it seriously before the game gradually began to feel inadequate. They slowly realized that the Champions League final was different from every game they had experienced this season. According to the current situation, it seems difficult to score!

An equalizer?

The degree of difficulty is very high!

Realizing the problem, Tang Zheng gradually made up his mind to increase the time he has to hold the ball when switching from defense to offense!

According to the established tactics before the game, it is already difficult to break through Barcelona's defense. The most appropriate changes must be made according to the game situation!

With his self-confidence restored, Messi once again chose to break through, but there were many Real Madrid players in his breakthrough route, so he chose to pass the ball.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Neymar running into an open position, and decisively chose to pass the ball with the outside of his left foot. However, what he never expected was that Ramos would go around to defend, appear in Messi's passing route, and Cut off the football.

Tang Zheng keenly realized that the opportunity had come, and immediately ran forward, waving to Ramos for the ball: "Hey~Sergio!"