Football’s First Defender

During the half-time break, for both Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, it is an effective stage for half-time summary.

The coaches of the two teams are trying to find ways to allow the teams to play to their strengths on both ends of the offense and defense, and then cause more trouble for the opponent.

Simeone, who is playing at home, still wants to gain something in the game.

Being able to score goals and solve the game within 90 minutes is the best option for Atletico Madrid.

After all, if it is true that both sides have kept the 0-0 score.

Entering overtime, then for Atletico Madrid's style of play, even if they are fighting at home, there will be cheers from the fans.

However, Atletico Madrid's energy-intensive style of play, in the game, really dragged to overtime, may not be able to run past Liverpool, which has a foundation in English football.

In the second half, Simeone still emphasized the team's offense, and even prepared to relax his defense appropriately for the team's offense, so as to increase more offensive power and achieve the goal of scoring.

The tactical arrangement on Klopp's side is very simple.

In the first half, Atletico Madrid played quite well on both ends of the offense and defense. After really showing a strong strength at home, Klopp actually doesn't think his team has any advantage in this game. .

The biggest problem in away games is to take into account comprehensive considerations such as fans, stadiums, and climate.

Especially this kind of top team fight.

The team that occupies the home field advantage, under the ebb and flow, can give full play to its strength and give the opponent a greater sense of oppression.

In the first leg of the match, Liverpool suppressed Atletico Madrid most of the time at their home court. If it weren't for Emre Can's red card, Liverpool might have launched a full-scale attack in the last 20 minutes to see if they could score a goal .

In the second round of the game, it came to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. For Liverpool, being Atletico Madrid has always been expected. Klopp can only expect the players to have a better performance. In the middle, seize every possible opportunity and deal a heavy blow to Atletico Madrid.

Only one away goal is needed, then Liverpool has a chance to directly qualify for the game.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, neither Liverpool nor Atletico Madrid made any substitution adjustments. Both teams were still in the previous starting lineup and continued to fight on the field.

For Liverpool, the main thing that needs to be done is to defend and counterattack, not to leave too many offensive opportunities for the opponent.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, is preparing to exert force on the offensive end, and wants to give the opponent a greater impact.

As soon as the game kicked off in the second half, Atletico Madrid launched an offensive directly, without the slightest hint of probing. First, it made a long pass and went directly to the hinterland of Liverpool's penalty area.

However, Atletico Madrid made many attempts like this in the first half today, but it was still too difficult to get past Yang Feng's defense.

Before Yang Feng ran to the landing point, he jumped high and made a direct header to clear the siege, allowing Atletico Madrid to pass the ball without causing any threat.

Instead, Henderson, who received the landing point from the outside, kicked the ball and handed it to Firmino near the midfield.

And Firmino kept the ball straight, passed the ball directly to the deep left, found the counterattack, and it was Coutinho who took the lead and moved forward quickly.

Coutinho received the ball and burst out with his own speed, forcing Juanfran.

It's just that Juanfran, who has just gone through the intermission and recovered his physical fitness, is not completely at a disadvantage in the speed competition this time.

Juanfran firmly held his position and did not give Coutinho a better offensive space.

In desperation, Coutinho scruples about the assistance of other Atletico Madrid defenders, but can only choose to send a cross from the wing.

However, Juanfran, who was still thought of by his defensive experience, judged Coutinho's choice, and stretched out his foot to directly block Coutinho's pass.

In the first minute of the second half, the two teams fought at both ends of the offense and defense in a fast-paced match. With such a rhythm, the second half may play better.

After Juanfran intercepted the pass, he wanted to find the advancement of his teammates on the wing, but at the beginning of the second half of the game, Liverpool invested a lot of personnel in the midfield and directly pressed the frontcourt, allowing Atletico Madrid to go out on the ground. Balls, some are restricted.

Near the midfield, after suffering a lot of defensive pressure from Liverpool, Atletico Madrid could only organize patiently in the backcourt to break Liverpool's high frontcourt oppression.

After more than 10 passes in the backcourt, Liverpool did not blindly use high positions to press and consume too much physical energy, but directly gave up the siege in the midfield and began to retreat to their own half to attack the opponent. space.

There is no way, physical fitness is also something that Liverpool needs to consider. At this time, Liverpool is not behind after all. The current score is maintained. The score is 0-0 in both rounds. That is to go to overtime.

And if the high-position defense is carried out blindly and consumes too much physical energy on the defensive end, then even the top European teams may collapse directly when they enter overtime and have no physical energy to run.

For example, Atletico Madrid in the past two years.

In the Champions League final, he has always maintained the lead. All Simeone's substitution adjustments and all the physical fitness of the players were used to end the game within 90 minutes.

But when Ramos scored an equal goal and the game was brought into overtime, for Atletico Madrid, they had already lost in overtime.

Facing Atletico Madrid players who could no longer run, Real Madrid made an offensive, scored 3 goals in a row, and won the tenth Big Ears Cup in team history.

Wasn't Atletico Madrid's defense strong back then?

Very strong, as evidenced by the defense of Real Madrid in Ancelotti's peak period without scoring within 90 minutes.

However, in the case of huge physical consumption, even the best defensive players and defensive tactics may not be able to withstand the impact of opponents of the same level, but it is also a reality.

For Klopp, in this game, Liverpool's pressing range and command involved the midfield area, without putting full pressure on the opponent.

After all, this is not a game of abuse, nor is it a game that will definitely end after 90 minutes. Klopp must also leave enough changes.

After Liverpool's defense retreated again, Atletico Madrid's offense pressed up again.

In fact, Atletico Madrid itself is not a team that is good at this kind of control-flow style of play. Atletico Madrid's offensive style still tends to be that kind of offensive style that is open and closed. Attack.

However, facing the defending champion Liverpool, Atletico Madrid still needs more detailed offensive planning, rather than leaving Liverpool with some opportunities to counterattack on the offensive end.

This time, Gabi found a direct pass from Griezmann, who had responded before Liverpool's penalty area, and was directly poked by Lucas from behind.

The transfer of the ball is completed in an instant.

After Henderson received the ball, he took advantage of a long pass over the top and directly hit the center of Atletico Madrid's half.

Coutinho and Firmino quickly went straight forward, instantly putting a lot of defensive pressure on Atletico Madrid's defensive players.

Fortunately, Godin still digitally caught up with the football's landing point. Even though Firmino was very close to him, Godin still took the first step and kicked the ball directly out of the boundary.

This is how Liverpool counterattacks today. I can always defend in the half-court to save energy, but when opportunities do arise, everyone will burst out with all their strength to catch up with the football and play the most threatening counterattack.

In the 48th minute of the game, Atletico Madrid's frontcourt attack played a very threatening offensive performance.

After Carrasco received the ball in the middle, he directly showed his excellent dribbling ability.

He accelerated himself and dribbled the ball directly into Liverpool's penalty area.

With three people in a row, Carrasco's control of the football at his feet has reached a superb level during the process of dribbling the ball. It is the use of changes in rhythm and tiny control of the football to make Liverpool's three defensive players useless. return.

In an instant, Carrasco dribbled the ball into Liverpool's penalty area.

Even though Yang Feng has come back to defend, Yang Feng's outstretching to steal the ball has been evaluated in detail, and there is a high possibility of completing the steal, but Carrasco can still use his personal ability to complete the small probability event .

Yang Feng did use his own accurate judgment to kick the football, but Carrasco still used his flexible ankle to apply the same force, so that the ball was not cleared directly, but rolled to the left.

Carrasco's wonderful offensive performance in the middle alone drew the attention and defensive strength of Liverpool's defense line to himself.

As for Saul on the left, after receiving the ball at this time, he was completely emptied.

Without the interference of defensive players, Saul can fully prepare and pass a cross of excellent quality.

With a cross, he went directly to the penalty area.

Since Yang Feng has already defended and restricted Carrasco, Liverpool lost the most powerful high-point defender in the penalty area.

In the penalty area, Griezmann used his running to intersect diagonally, rushed to the landing point, and then inserted a header to attack the goal, which caught the other defensive players of Liverpool by surprise.

It's just a pity that although Griezmann completed the header this time, it's just that Griezmann still has some deviations in the angle control of the header.

This goal, Griezmann did not score, but slightly higher than the crossbar, Liverpool escaped.

Atletico Madrid's offensive in the second half was wave after wave.

After 3 minutes, Atletico Madrid's attack made a comeback.

It was Carrasco's extreme personal offensive performance on the wing.

One-on-two, Carrasco was right. He played his best on the left side, almost got rid of two defenders, and completed the cross. However, Klein's last leg block still had a certain degree of difficulty. The effect of successfully blocking the ball was just to give Atletico Madrid a corner kick.

For Atletico Madrid, Carrasco is even a breakthrough killer for the team on the wing. Perhaps Liverpool should be thankful that in the first round of the game, Carrasco was unable to play due to injury.

Otherwise, if Liverpool played one less player at that time, coupled with the continuous breakthrough ability of Carrasco and Griezmann, then it is very likely that Liverpool will really bear more pressure at the end of the game, and An away goal was stolen by Atletico Madrid.

In the second half today, Carrasco's active performance put a lot of defensive pressure on Liverpool.

Atletico Madrid's corner kick.

This time, Cork passed a normal corner kick, a curved kick, and went directly to the back point.

After all, the Atletico Madrid players have a clear understanding of Yang Feng's defensive ability, so in the corner kick tactics, Atletico Madrid seldom pass the ball to Godin, but let Godin act as a containment role more , and Yang Feng formed "Duizier".

The main thing to look for is the head of another central defender, hoping that Jimenez can create some opportunities.

Jimenez at the back point, this time under the defense of Skrtel, although he was unable to face the football, he still grabbed the point and completed the header ferry at the back point.

The second point of the ball fell in the penalty area.

Everyone was completing each other's positions, and for a while, there was a scuffle in front of the goal, pulling each other, trying to scramble for the ball.

The ball fell in the middle of the penalty area. In the melee, Carrasco, who was closest to the football landing point, wanted to complete a kick, but he missed the football.

At the critical moment, it was still Yang Feng who shook off Godin's entanglement, kicked the ball out of the penalty area, and it was considered to resolve Atletico Madrid's attack this time.

Carrasco was utterly unstoppable in the second half.

In the positional battle of Atletico Madrid, it can be said that quite a few attacks were initiated by Carrasco, and Carrasco also used his wonderful performance to repay Simeone's trust in him.

In the 56th minute of the game, Carrasco made another murderous attempt.

Felipe, Cork, and Griezmann, the three of them made continuous small-scale passes, constantly hitting Liverpool's defense.

Although the impact of this wave of small-scale cooperation between the three was unsuccessful, it also drove Liverpool's defense apart, making Carrasco only need to face a defensive player from Klein when he received the ball from the left. In a short period of time, there are no other Liverpool players who can come over to complete the defense.

I also know that I will not get the help of my teammates at this time. For Klein, the most important thing to do at this time is to guard the inside line during the game, and would rather give Carlesco the ball from the wing. Opportunities will not allow him to complete a breakthrough, enter the penalty area, and create a greater threat.

It's just that Klein's defensive idea is correct, but when it is executed, it is inevitable that it is not capable.

Carrasco's offensive purpose is very simple, that is, to break through, to counterpoint Klein.

Facing Klein's defense, Carrasco was quite confident, exposing the ball, but Klein didn't dare to grab it.

No way, Klein is still concerned about Carrasco's speed of movement. If the grab fails, it will be easier for Carrasco to pass.

But if he didn't go up to the fight, under Carrasco's pressure, Klein also retreated step by step.

Then Carrasco suddenly accelerated, went straight to the bottom, and then moved forward diagonally, using all his speed to find Klein's defensive gap.

Facing Carrasco's sudden outburst, Klein wanted to chase back, but he had already lost half of his body. He wanted to collide and interfere with Carrasco, but it had no effect.

Carrasco entered the penalty area along the bottom line, kicked the ball on the ground, and sent it directly to the goal. Griezmann's shovel shot followed up and hit the goal, but Yang Feng completed the interception one step ahead of time and sent the cross to the goal. At the front point, the bottom line is blocked.

However, any Carrasco that limits the outbreak is also a problem that Liverpool urgently needs to solve.