Chapter 1599 He Has No Choice!
Returning to the locker room with a zero-to-two lag, Barcelona felt very depressed from top to bottom.
The locker room was lifeless, and it was clear that Barcelona's players could not adapt to this terrible scene.
Especially at the Camp Nou!
Not only that, many players have an unfavorable reverie in their hearts, that is, Barcelona has suffered a major reversal in the Champions League for many consecutive seasons, and the fans jokingly call it "Ou Nijiang".
This kind of reversal by opponents for many consecutive seasons is undoubtedly a blow to the team's confidence, especially at critical moments.
There is no doubt that Barcelona is now at a critical moment.
As an opponent, Valverde really did not expect that Yang Yang's training of Ajax, pre-match preparations, formations, and even on-the-spot command during the game were so good, which caught him off guard.
Just like tonight, Yang Yang replaced Jovic in the starting line-up, but he didn't put himself at the front.
It can be said that Yang Yang's running coverage in the first half, especially in the 30-meter zone of Barcelona, the pressure on the defense and Busquets completely paralyzed Busquets, which directly led to the emergence of Barcelona's entire midfield organization. Huge problem.
In order to cope with Ajax's high-position press, Busquets and Rakitic had to retreat frequently, which led to a longer pass distance from the midfielder to the frontcourt, so Valverde once wanted to let Couti Neo retreated, but the Brazilian player's speed was too slow, and he could not give full play to his advantage on the side. Instead, Ajax beat him with a stick and pressed him directly to grab it.
In the end, Messi can only retreat, but in this way, Messi will encounter more defensive pressure after the retreat, and the farther away from the goal, the less offensive threat.
More importantly, Messi is the core of Barcelona's offense on the court. Whether he is at the forefront or retreating, he is an undoubted core player. If he retreats too far behind, the advancement of the ball becomes the biggest question.
In Barcelona now, no one can cooperate with Messi, not even Cristiano Ronaldo.
When Harvey, Iniesta and Neymar were there before, their continuous pass and cut cooperation with Messi in a narrow range can be said to be an excellent weapon for Barcelona to tear apart the defensive space, but now it is gone.
Neither Coutinho nor Dembele can do this.
Valverde thought of this and turned to look at Messi.
The Argentine was very exhausted in the first half, he was out of breath and couldn't calm down for a long time.
Not only him, but also other Barcelona players.
If tactical targeting is Yang Yang's strategy, then fighting for consumption is his conspiracy.
Barcelona has a lot of players over 30 years old, not only Busquets, Rakitic and Vidal, but also Messi, Pique and Alba. Among the eleven players in the starting lineup, six of them are over 30 years old. Thirty years old, aging is already very serious.
Among the remaining players, Coutinho and Dembele have not been able to integrate into the team for a long time, and Roberto is quite satisfactory on the right. Who else can Barcelona rely on?
If the rhythm of the game is allowed to continue to be dragged down by Ajax, Barcelona's physical fitness will be dragged down sooner or later.
Valverde thought of this, and felt very helpless, but he had to make a decision.
...
"In the second half, we can no longer continue to let the rhythm go out of control. We must take advantage of the kick-off from the beginning, control the ball, and try our best to control the rhythm."
"Isn't Ajax good at pressing? Then let them press out and grab. We give full play to our advantages in the midfield and backcourt, use pass and cut cooperation, and consume their physical energy. I don't believe they can last for 90 minutes without stopping. As long as they The physical energy is almost exhausted, and that is our chance!"
When Valverde said this, he glanced at Coutinho, and then at Vidal, hesitating in his heart.
It stands to reason that if you want to control the ball, the midfielder must be adjusted.
Yang Yang's strategy in the first half was to let Vidal take and pass the ball, but try to compress Busquets and Rakitic's possession of the ball, especially Busquets. Therefore, the best way for Barcelona to control the ball It's on Arthur.
But in this way, there is a problem. If Ajax attack again in the second half, take down Vidal and play Arthur, can Barcelona's midfielder hold it?
If you want to look for a bright spot in the first half behind, Messi is undoubtedly one point, and Vidal is another point.
The offensive and defensive Chilean midfielder helped Barcelona withstand the pressure of Ajax through his own running and coverage, as well as the midfielder's pressing. Without Vidal, Barcelona's decline in the first half would have been more obvious.
Therefore, Valverde must also consider carefully, can the midfielder hold on to Vidal?
Another way is to replace Coutinho, replace Semedo to play right back, and put Roberto on top of the midfield, but this brings another problem, is the entire left of Barcelona just To be scrapped?
Sometimes, the substitution of the head coach is often a process of choice.
After hesitating for a while, Valverde finally gave up on the idea of a halftime substitution.
Whether it is Vidal or Coutinho, the replacement of the midfielder will bring too many variables.
But he also made a decision in his mind, and after the 60 minutes or so, after stabilizing the situation in the second half, he began to make substitutions.
In the last 30 minutes, he asked the team to equalize the score, or even reverse the opponent!
…………
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"Change sides and fight again in the second half."
"We can see that neither team has made substitution adjustments."
"Barcelona still played in the first half of the lineup, and Ajax also has no idea of changing."
"Yang Yang definitely has reason to be satisfied with the current game situation, because his team leads 2-0, which completely overturned everyone's predictions for this game before the game, because it is facing Barcelona at the Nou Camp. "
"No matter what the final result of the game is, I believe that after tonight's battle, Yang Yang and his Ajax team will once again amaze the whole world, because he played a great and classic first half."
...
"Okay, kick off again."
"There hasn't been a big change in strategy for either team."
"Barcelona wants to control the ball more, while Ajax still adopts a high press."
"Obviously, Yang Yang still hopes to use the start of the second half to rush forward and disrupt Barcelona's position."
"This style of play worked well at the beginning of the first half, but can it work in the second half?"
"Barcelona was clearly prepared, and after the first half, the physical energy of the Ajax players was also very high. It is basically impossible to have the crazy pressing and oppressive scenes like the first half."
"It's a test for both teams."
"Ajax made a successful tackle in midfield and had one chance and Van der Beek went straight behind him."
"Yang Yang inserted into the penalty area, Pique clung to him tightly, and no one responded..."
"Barely kicked, Yang Yang's shot was hugged by Ter Stegen."
"Barcelona's defense was very successful this time, without giving Yang Yang any shooting angle."
"Sancho, who is following up from the right, is still hesitant. If he is more determined, Yang Yang will be able to pass the ball."
...
"In the first five minutes of the game, Barcelona had a slight advantage in possession, but Ajax's pressing was also fierce."
"Another steal, Ashraf steals it, passes it to Ndombele, passes it upfield, to Sancho."
"Sancho took the ball with his back, turned and cut inside, dribbled the ball laterally, and passed it diagonally to the front of the left."
"Néres went forward quickly, very fast, caught the ball before Roberto..."
"Pike got rid of Yang Yang and moved over to block Neres."
"The Brazilian left winger crossed to the outside of the top of the penalty area, and Yang Yang took the ball."
"There are five Barcelona defensive players around Yang Yang, who returned to the defense very quickly and in a timely manner."
"Not only the defense, Rakitic, Busquets and Vidal are all back."
"Neres was in an offside position and couldn't pass the ball."
"See how Yang Yang handles it."
"A fake move to the right, suddenly buckle back, go to the left, get rid of Langley, and pass directly behind Pique."
"Van der Beek followed up and hit the goal directly!!!!!!"
"The ball went in!!!!!!"
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the fiftieth minute, just five minutes before the start of the second half, Ajax made another victory."
"Yang Yang took the ball with his back around the top of the arc at the front of the penalty area. After getting rid of Lenglet, he turned around and passed behind him diagonally. Van der Beek followed up and shot directly, piercing Barcelona's goal!"
"Three to zero!"
"I can't believe my eyes, have you seen it, I can't believe what I see!"
"Barcelona's defensive attention was completely attracted by Yang Yang. Five players surrounded him, but Yang Yang still created a chance to pass to the space behind him."
"We can blame Busquets for not being in the first place, we can blame Pique for not filling up the block immediately, we can also blame Lenglet for being too easy to get rid of by Yang Yang, and even blame these five players for not fouling... ..."
"But now, Barcelona are behind zero to three!"
"I can't believe this happened at Camp Nou!"
"Ajax's three goals all came from Yang Yang, two shots and one assist. He completely directed Ajax's offense and made Barcelona's defense pay a heavy price."
...
After scoring the goal, Yang Yang immediately ran to Van der Beek to celebrate this key goal for him.
The third goal can be said to have completely dampened Barcelona's spirit.
If Barcelona tried to regain their strength in the second half, then now, they have undoubtedly lost the opportunity.
Yang Yang was very excited and hugged Van der Beek hard, and was also hugged tightly by other Ajax players who flew over.
They tried their best just for this moment!
Next, Valverde should consider a substitution.
He has no choice!
Whatever his original plan was, with three goals down, he didn't have any time to hesitate.
Yang Yang guessed that he would either replace Vidal, Coutinho, or both.
But no matter how it is changed, it is within Yang Yang's plan.
At least, Valverde's substitution is not new at all!