Chapter 152: Burn the Boats

“I’m very satisfied with everyone’s performance in the first half!”

In the visiting team's locker room at the Arena Stadium, Del Bosque smiled with his signature expression on his face and smiled at the group of sweaty players in the locker room.

"Although we are behind in the score, I feel that our chances of winning this game are constantly increasing."

Del Bosque walked slowly in the locker room, "Luis was very threatening on the right, and he came to the left a few times and was very good; Gonzalez was very active in the front and kept running. The opponent's two central defenders were a little unpredictable and were very dedicated when defending; Zinedine also created many threats, and Jose's performance was also very good. "

"Anyway..." Bosque clapped his hands a few times and left the smiling expression to his players, "...you completed our tasks very well in the first half. It is not your responsibility to concede the goal. My lovely defenders, I am very proud of your performance.”

"You know, in the European competition, so far, there are not many teams that can stop Ajax's attacking tactics after the opening. Manchester United can't stop it, Bayern Munich can't stop it, and the same goes for Roma and Barcelona back then. It couldn't be stopped, but we blocked their goals most of the time, well done, guys!"

Bosque's praise made the players in the locker room breathe a sigh of relief, and the serious expressions on their faces relaxed a little.

But if you praise it too much, it becomes disgusting. Bosque is not disgusting, so he quickly changed the subject.

"But no matter how good the team is, it can still be better, and so can we!"

Bosque has always given people the impression that he is not good at speaking, but in fact, he speaks very well. Now he never mentions the team's shortcomings. Instead, he says that the team is performing very well and he just hopes that the players will perform well on a good basis. Behave better.

Real Madrid is a group of superstars. In the hearts of this group of superstars, they will inevitably have some rebellious psychology when anyone criticizes their poor performance. On the contrary, they are more able to accept Del Bosque's statement.

"What I have to say is that Zinedine should run more and get rid of Sneijder's entanglement. That kid is too clingy!"

After Bosque finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter in the locker room, and Zidane nodded with a wry smile. Speaking of clinginess, Sneijder is really clingy. This young Dutch boy clings to him like a dog-skin plaster. It's so annoying. Uncomfortable.

"And Jose, my No. 14 player, you are too obsessed with the center. I think you should be more free. I said that when we face the opponent's tight defense, we must flexibly intersperse. We have technical advantages. If you combine the loopholes created by flexible penetration, the opponent will not be able to prevent it, but you are obviously not determined enough!"

Guti is indeed a strange player, a typical snake oil character, but no matter which position he plays, he can perform at his own level. Even if he is pushed to the front line, he can shine.

Del Bosque's offensive training for Real Madrid is actually to give the stars maximum freedom to exert their own strength, because for superstars like Zidane, Figo, Raul and Roberto Carlos, there are too many Tactical restrictions will restrict their performance.

Of course, Bosque is not just laissez-faire. He gives the overall framework of the team. Within this framework, the players cooperate seamlessly, move flexibly, and intersperse back and forth. Coupled with the exquisite foot skills of Real Madrid players, Real Madrid's The offensive penetration is very strong, like mercury pouring down the ground.

It can be said that this kind of delicate and deadly offense can only be seen in La Liga and only in Real Madrid where stars gather.

"I hope all of you will remember that our opponent is a young team with an average age of about 20 years old. This is worthy of our admiration. However, they are too young. Physical fitness, physical endurance, and strength confrontation are all problems. There are natural deficiencies, so in the second half of every game, their performance will be worse than in the first half.”

"Our defense was very well organized in the first half, and I'm proud of you, but I hope we can do better in the second half, because only on the basis of a solid defense can our offense create the greatest threat."

Bosque's away strategy was not originally focused on the first half, but focused on the second half.

To be honest, Ye Qiu was able to bring Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League, which is already a very surprising achievement in itself. The average age of this team is about 20 years old, which is even better than that of David Ole. Leeds United's team is younger, more impactful, and their tactics are more entertaining.

But every team has its own limit. The current Ajax has reached its limit. It is impossible to go further this season, so the performance in the first half is their peak.

Real Madrid's defense was able to hold up Ajax's offense in the first half, something Del Bosque was not surprised at all.

Many people think that Real Madrid plays offensive football, but in fact they have not seen the root cause, that is, in the configuration of double midfielders, Bosque used two defensive players Makelele and Helguera, and in 2000 When Real Madrid won the Champions League, Del Bosque used five defenders.

That is to say, Bosque has always attached great importance to his team's defense and has great confidence in it. When he decided to let Real Madrid organize the defense, he believed that the team's defensive ability would not disappoint him. This is why he dared to bet on the second half, when Ajax was at its weakest.

…………

…………

Sometimes, things in the world are very strange, especially when you are afraid of something in your heart, it often happens, and when it happens, you can only bear the cost it brings helplessly.

Ye Qiu has been worried since the beginning of the second half, because Ajax always played badly in the second half, so he has been worried and kept reminding his players to pay attention and be careful.

But as time went on, as the situation of the game gradually turned around, Real Madrid regained control of the game situation. They not only had a solid defense, but also became more and more sharp in offense and more and more skilled in ball control.

Excessive physical consumption made it difficult for Ajax players to continue the high-intensity pressure and pressing in the second half. This was caused by many factors. The blind adoption of a fast-paced impact style of play was only one of them. The players were too young, and there were many other problems.

After entering the 60th minute, insufficient physical strength caused Ajax's control over the game to gradually decline. Ye Qiu had to let the team gradually retreat and give up high-position defense. In the 70th minute, Ajax had to adopt a shrinking defense because Real Madrid was getting more and more aggressive.

Ye Qiu made a substitution, replacing Robben, who was out of physical strength, with Yaya Toure, to further strengthen the defense of the midfield. He used his ability to help the team avoid potential dangers to the greatest extent.

But in the end, he couldn't escape at all.

When Zidane ran from the left to the middle, Guti, who was at the front of the front line, suddenly retreated to the left, retreating very deep, almost to the same level as the two defensive midfielders of Real Madrid who were pressing forward, and Roberto Carlos, who was advancing on the left, passed the ball to Guti's feet.

Guti turned around after getting the ball, and Yaya Toure wanted to get close to him at the first time, but Guti didn't wait for Yaya Toure to get close, and made a seemingly light push with his left foot. As usual, the force of this kick was not heavy, a little light, and the speed was not very fast, but the key point was that this kick was too sudden.

The distance from Guti to Ajax's back line was about 20 meters, and there were Ajax players such as Gilberto Silva and Keita in the middle, and Zidane, the only player of Real Madrid, was still under the surveillance of Gilberto Silva. All Ajax players thought that Guti was retreating to respond, and suddenly passed the ball, which caught them off guard.

The ball seemed to be pulled by a line, passing between Lucio and Maicon. Both Brazilian defenders wanted to intercept it at the first time, but Raul and Guti obviously had a better understanding. He was ambushing between Lucio and Kivu and rushed into the penalty area earlier.

Lucio turned and caught up with Raul at the fastest speed, sticking to the right side of Raul, trying to force the Spanish striker to the left, preferably out of the penalty area, while Van der Sar also lowered his center of gravity, moving step by step with Raul, making saves anytime and anywhere.

But Raul took a step to the left under the pressure of Lucio, relieved Lucio's pressure, swung his left foot, and gently picked up the bottom of the fast-moving ball.

As soon as the ball was stressed, it flew off the grass, drew an arc, passed over Van der Sar's head, and went straight to the upper right corner of the goal.

Blind corner, this is almost an absolute blind corner!

Van der Sar jumped high to save the ball, but it was too late. He couldn't stop such a goal!

Raul's entire goal-scoring action was done in one go, especially the spiritual lob shot, which made people admire him. After the lob shot, he turned and rushed out of the Ajax penalty area, kissing the ring on his hand continuously. This has become his signature goal celebration.

All the Ajax players stared at the ball on the goal line in amazement. They were a little confused.

Strictly speaking, this was the most threatening attack of Real Madrid in the whole game, but they scored a goal. Guti's pass seemed erratic, but it was incredibly accurate. No one knew how he passed it, just as no one could figure out how Raul suddenly thought of using a lob shot in such a short time?

The entire Arena Stadium became dead silent. From 1:0 to 1:1, although it was only one goal, the price Ajax paid was very heavy, because the second round of the game will be held at the Bernabeu Stadium.

Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines. Since Raul scored, he has been frowning without any expression. He was not angry about the loss of the goal, but thinking about how to continue this game.

The ball is lost, it is lost, it cannot be changed, but the game is not over yet, Ajax still has a chance!

Thinking of this, Ye Qiu turned around and waved to Van der Meyde on the bench, and then asked Huntelaar to warm up.

Two minutes later, Van der Meyde replaced Van der Vaart, who was exhausted, and Huntelaar replaced Sneijder, forming a double striker with Ibrahimovic, and Van der Meyde was also pushed to the front line, and Maicon on the right was also asked by Ye Qiu to press forward more.

"Ye Qiu made two substitutions in one go. He seems to be ready to make a final effort!"

"From 1:0 to 1:1, Ajax's situation is indeed getting worse and worse. If they can't gain more advantages at home, then Ajax will be in a very passive situation in the second round of the game at the Bernabeu Stadium."

"There are still more than ten minutes left before the end of the game. I guess Ye Qiu wants to make a final effort."

But it is obvious that Bosque is not timid at all.

Real Madrid has a natural psychological advantage at the Bernabeu Stadium, because they have never lost a game at the Bernabeu Stadium this season and have maintained an unbeaten record. This also makes Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium known as the most difficult devil home stadium in Europe, so they dare to fight Ajax at the Arena Stadium.

At least, they still have a home stadium!

But Ajax can only choose to burn their boats, because they can't pin their hopes on a devil away stadium that has never been broken this season. That is unrealistic.

Both teams chose to press forward and attack at the last moment, without any reservation. The scene suddenly became very intense. The two teams fought hard against each other, but it was very interesting that even at the end, the two teams that played hard against each other could not score any more goals.

1:1, when the Swedish referee blew the whistle to end the game, the players of Real Madrid were obviously relieved, because Ajax played very resolutely in the last ten minutes of attack and created more threats than Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was obviously not used to Ajax's fast-paced offense and defense. Although they also created threats, Zidane's performance in this game was not outstanding. The French superstar who was focused on by Ajax lost his dazzling light, but the goals created by Guti and Raul were impressive.

The players of Ajax were obviously angry because they failed to kill Real Madrid at their home court.

"Ajax has 10,000 reasons to be dissatisfied with the result of the game, because they should have won this game, but we must point out that they did waste a lot of opportunities. In the last ten minutes, they got two great chances, but Van der Meyde and Yaya Toure missed both of them."

"Young Ajax paid the price for their youth, but we must give the greatest affirmation to this young team. We hope that this young team will have a better performance at the Bernabeu Stadium in a week. We have every reason to believe that they may not have no chance!"

In the press conference after the game, Ye Qiu also bluntly stated that his team still has a chance.

"It's just a draw. I don't think we have been eliminated. The Bernabeu Stadium in a week will be the key to determine the outcome. Now the game has only been played in the first half, and we still have the second half!"

But immediately a reporter from the Spanish Marca newspaper reminded Ye Qiu with a condescending tone that is exclusive to the newspapers of the rich and powerful, "Mr. Ye Qiu, we all know that your team is only good at playing in the first half, but not in the second half!"

There was a burst of laughter at the scene.

Ye Qiu's face was very gloomy. His team was like his own children. If he wanted to beat or scold them, I had to do it myself. How could I allow outsiders to do it? Wouldn't that be a slap in my face?

"Then you wait and see. I will definitely conquer the Bernabeu fortress that you claim to be unbreakable. I will tell you with facts that we are not only good at playing in the first half, we will also trample you to death in the second half!"

After that, Ye Qiu turned around and left the press conference regardless of the opposition and protests of the reporters.

In contrast, Bosque, who was in a good mood, seemed elegant. When he was interviewed, he spoke highly of Ye Qiu and his Ajax, thinking that this was a very strong team, not at all like the dark horse rumored by the outside world.

"Yes, they are from the Eredivisie, but I think after a series of games, no one can ignore the strength of this Ajax. They are one of the most competitive teams in the Champions League this season. I never think they are a weak team. I always regard Ajax as our strong opponent."

"Getting a score of 1:1 away is indeed a good score, but we have no capital to be careless, because the next game will be at the Bernabeu Stadium. Ajax will definitely play more tenaciously. This is a team that will never give up, just like their young head coach."

But when the reporter asked about his confidence in advancing to the final, Bosque seemed confident.

"I am very confident that we can advance to the finals. I believe my players will have the same idea. We will present a wonderful game to all the fans at the Bernabeu Stadium, and it will be us, Real Madrid, who will advance to the finals!"

This is the difference between a tall, rich and handsome man and a loser.

Bosque's words made almost all the media believe that he and Real Madrid would definitely advance, while Ye Qiu's words were criticized by more European media as arrogant.

The reporter from Marca even laughed and mocked Ye Qiu's lack of grace in the newspaper, "I sympathize with the Chinese who said he wanted to conquer the Bernabeu Stadium, because he has no idea what the Bernabeu represents, and he will never understand what it feels like to sit in the home team coaching booth at the Bernabeu Stadium."

"This is the gap between him and Bosque!"

This also made Ye Qiu remember the name of the Spanish reporter, Luis Cano!