Chapter 889: Heaven Helps Barcelona!

The vast majority of media, ball critics and fans always only care about the big picture, but always ignore the details.

In fact, it is often the details that determine the outcome of a football match.

For example, in the first century derby last season, Yang Yang's direct free kick.

It was a very inconspicuous foul. If there was no direct free kick, no one would care about that foul at all, but it was such an inattentive detail that caused Yang Yang to get a direct free kick Opportunities, which in turn led to Real Madrid scoring first, and then Barcelona conceded consecutive goals, which turned into a rout.

Conversely, if there was no foul and Yang Yang couldn't score a free kick, would Real Madrid still win?

No one will ever know the answer, but Yang Yang guessed that it should still be half to half.

In fact, Real Madrid's opening attack tactics at that time had already failed. On the contrary, Barcelona's attacking tactics had the upper hand. Given the almost counter-offensive situation at the time, who can guarantee that Real Madrid's weak defense line will not make mistakes?

So, sometimes, football games are like this, it is made up of a lot of inconspicuous details.

Just like tonight, when Yang Yang stepped onto the turf of the Nou Camp amid boos all over the sky, his first reaction was that it was slippery, and then he followed Benny on the sidelines Tess and Yesterdan shook their heads.

The Real Madrid coaching staff also came forward to try the Camp Nou turf, which was wet, which was very detrimental to Real Madrid.

The slippery turf will lead to more mistakes on both sides, but at the same time, it will also make the short pass on the ground faster, which is very beneficial to Barcelona, ​​which is good at passing and controlling the ball.

For example, many fans like to talk about it. When Mourinho was coaching Chelsea, he deliberately sprinkled sand on the Stamford Bridge Stadium in order to play Barcelona in the Champions League. Why?

It's very simple, because more sand content will affect the speed of the ball, which in turn will affect the success rate of short passes on the ground.

Of course, Barcelona beat Chelsea 2-1 in that game, so this matter seems more like a joke, but in fact, in almost all football games, the home team will try to make a fuss.

Without this rain, Barcelona will definitely sprinkle water before the game, but the degree will not be as good as the rain.

Really even God is helping Barcelona!

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Real Madrid entered training 20 minutes earlier than Barcelona.

The content of pre-match training is generally not a big deal, basically some warm-up items.

And an hour before the game, the two sides officially announced the starting lineup.

Barcelona still adopts the four-three-three formation that they are good at.

The goalkeeper is Bardas, the defense is Abidal, Pique, Puyol and Alves, the midfielder is Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi are in the middle, and the frontcourt is Villa, The combination of Messi and Pedro.

This is a no-front formation, with Messi in the middle, who can both advance and retreat. This season, Barcelona's style of play has been played well. Messi's position is erratic, and he can move up and down the middle. It can also be pulled to the side, and the Argentine superstar's ability to run without the ball is also a must, which is quite a headache.

Of course, generally speaking, adopting a no-front formation basically means that Barcelona still have to continue to play their own set of passing, controlling, ground penetration, which is what Barcelona is best at.

Real Madrid also adopts the double midfielder formation that Benitez is best at. The goalkeeper is Casillas, the defense is Maxwell, Pepe, Ramos and Maicon, and the double midfielder is Mascherano. With Harvey Alonso, Kaka is in the center, and the frontcourt is a combination of David Silva, Ibrahimovic and Robben.

One of the very big changes is that David Silva appeared in the starting lineup, which caused a lot of surprises within Real Madrid, mainly because of what role David Silva will play on the court.

Benitez hopes that he can return to a position closer to the midfielder to provide the team's midfielder with more opportunities to take and play the ball. He plays the position of the left midfielder in Valencia itself. In this area It's what he does best.

Real Madrid's intentions are also very clear. When counterattacking, they quickly pass through the midfield, go directly to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and display Robben's speed. Kaka plays the role of a second-tier attacker who inserts behind.

More importantly, David Silva's retreat can effectively protect Maxwell behind him and share the defensive pressure from Alves for him.

Replacing Marcelo with Maxwell, what Benitez wants is naturally a more stable defense.

In fact, Benitez once wanted to use Arbeloa to play on the left, but considering that Messi is in the middle, Pedro is more good at running without the ball, and the threat of cutting inside is far less than playing against the foot Messi is the right winger, but Alves' role is getting bigger and bigger, almost becoming the most powerful starting point of Barcelona's offense.

Therefore, Benitez chose the left-footed Maxwell.

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It is raining again!

Yang Yang was sitting on the bench, wearing a long-sleeved jacket, watching the two teams on the court. Barcelona still wore their home jerseys, while Real Madrid wore white jerseys.

The referee of this game, Iturralde, is a 43-year-old international referee with rich experience in law enforcement.

After a whistle, the game officially started.

Boos and cheers intertwined, filled the entire Camp Nou stadium.

Real Madrid took the lead and quickly passed back to the defense.

Soon, Ramos in the backcourt of Real Madrid made a direct long pass and sent the ball to the frontcourt.

Ibrahimovic grabbed the first spot and headed the ball to the right.

Robben threw off Abidal from the right and passed back to the center. Kaka made a beautiful feint before receiving the ball. After deceiving Busquets, he sent the ball back to Robben's feet.

The Dutchman ran out of space and made a diagonal pass behind him to find Ibrahimovic, but he was tripped by the rushing Abidal.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to grab the ball from Puyol and Pique's left and right pincers, but the referee whistled for Abidal's foul. At this time, the game went on to the tenth second.

Abidal was warned, Real Madrid got a set-piece opportunity on the right, and Maicon quickly put in a pass. Ibrahimovic scored the first shot of the game, but it was a bit too wide. .

...

As the game started, Yang Yang was also gradually observing the formation of the opponents.

Guardiola obviously also knows that Real Madrid will still focus on defensive counterattacks in this game tonight, so he decisively adopted the defensive line and hoarded heavy troops in the midfield. piece.

Barcelona seems to be four-three-three, but in fact, Alves' position is very forward, more like a full-back, or even a winger, which makes David Silva have to retreat more to participate in defense .

Yang Yang also began to understand Benitez's calculations. He couldn't go up. Although Di Maria was fast enough, he was not as willing to press and retreat as David Silva, and David Silva Very good on the ball and off the ball under pressure.

Busquets still acts as the core of the team, Messi actively withdraws, Barcelona's possession of the ball is basically based on these two people, with Xavi and Iniesta as the two sides, forming a pass control phalanx.

When Messi retreats, Pedro on the right will take the initiative to move forward, directly suppressing Real Madrid's defense, facing Pepe and Maxwell, at this time Alves will definitely move forward and occupy Pedro The left wing area.

Real Madrid is obviously aware of this. Benitez asked David Silva to actively follow up the defense. Otherwise, Alves can quickly form a cooperation with Pedro and Messi in this area, create a numerical advantage, and play neutral.

In order to curb the offensive of Barcelona's right flank and right flank, Real Madrid's defense also had to tilt to their left. At this time, Yang Yang noticed that Villa's position had always been on the left flank at the front of the penalty area. waiting for the opportunity.

Iniesta's position is deep, but also in this area.

Obviously, as long as the ball is passed from the right to the left, the two can quickly form a cooperation.

However, Real Madrid also left Maicon and Xavi Alonso on this side. In addition, Barcelona is more inclined to attack the ribs. Afraid of the extremely fast Robben, so the defensive pressure is not great.

The role of Mascherano and Harvey Alonso's pair of double midfielders is reflected when Barcelona passes the ball. They will shift their positions according to the area where the ball is located to maximize Protect the defensive line and strengthen the defense of the ribs.

In the second game of last season, Real Madrid adopted a three-back play, and the defensive effect on the ribs was very obvious.

After a year and a half of polishing and training, Real Madrid's zone-to-man defense system has taken shape. No matter how Barcelona passes and cuts, how to cross and change positions, Real Madrid's defense can effectively contain the space and not easily give the opponent a chance.

Barcelona seemed to be in control of the ball, but actually got very few chances to kick the ball. Obviously, they were not used to Real Madrid's pressing and pressing, especially in the 15th minute, after Real Madrid intercepted the ball, it was handed over to Maicon on the right.

The Brazilian right back dribbled the ball forward at high speed, advanced to the front of the penalty area, and hit Pique with a volley. Then Kaka volleyed and was saved by goalkeeper Valdes.

Barcelona's first shot happened in the 18th minute. It was a corner kick. Pique overwhelmed Pepe with a header, but failed to create a threat and went slightly wide.

Nearly 20 minutes before Barcelona, ​​the ball possession rate was as high as 70%, while Real Madrid only had about 30%, but the number of shots was three to one. Real Madrid's defense seemed to be tighter.

Benitez's training in the past year and a half, especially on the defensive end, has been quite successful.

Although Yang Yang was sitting on the sidelines, he was fortunate to witness the battle of wits between the two top marshals in the world. He felt that he benefited a lot and at the same time admired him very much.

Both teams have a strong fault tolerance rate. Barcelona relies on the team's strong pass and control ability and high-position pressing and oppression, while Real Madrid relies on the teamwork of players with a strict overall defensive system.

And all of this is based on a wide range of running.

This should be why Benitez said before the game that the players had to fight for 70 minutes to exhaustion and cramp.