Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Some people always say that Mourinho is only good at using a strong all-round midfielder. This is a quite ridiculous stereotype.

You can say that Mourinho has very high demands on the core of the midfield and front line, so much so that he is too harsh on many players who are not strong enough.

Under heavy pressure, the performance of these players was also limited, and ultimately did not meet the performance expectations of the outside world when they joined the team coached by Mourinho.

But when the players are strong enough and can complete the heavy tactical tasks arranged by Mourinho, they can often perform super well.

Needless to say, the transformation of Deco and Lampard.

Just talking about how powerful Sneijder was inspired by Mourinho in the past few years, most fans and industry insiders must be aware of it.

Modric is one such player in the industry who knows what he is doing.

He had no doubts or dissatisfaction with Mourinho's request that he was not in a hurry to play him and arranged for him to focus on defense first in this game.

Now it turns out that his patience and trust were completely worth it.

Mourinho knows what he is best at and knows how to use him.

That's why he was asked to run in and train with his teammates first, and not to rush into head-on confrontation with Sevilla's midfielders when he first started.

"Don't be anxious this season, adapt first and play more games. I will arrange for you to play more games with Li Ang. After he attracts the main defense of the opponent's midfielder, you will find opportunities to move forward and initiate the offensive rhythm..."

Mourinho's words of patient comfort before this game once again appeared in Modric's mind.

First adapt to the new league, adapt to the new tactical system, adapt to the different rhythm of the game from the Premier League, and then talk about performance.

These are the not-too-high requirements Mourinho has set for Modric.

And now, Modric has repaid Mourinho's trust in him with his pretty good performance.

It didn't take a whole season to adapt to training. After ten days of getting familiar with his new teammates, Modric was able to successfully launch an attack.

His adaptability and ability exceeded many expectations.

From the organization and defense in the backcourt to the threatening pass at the end, his performance in different positions in the midfield surprised countless fans.

Perhaps, including Mourinho, who was already very optimistic about him.

At present, only Li Ang should know clearly what the upper limit of Modric's performance is.

"Well done, Luca. If there is another good opportunity later, you can move forward boldly. Don't worry about passing errors. I will be the first line of defensive interception."

After Li Ang hugged and celebrated with Modric, he specifically reminded Modric not to have too many restraints and to maximize his talents in Mourinho's tactical system.

The active communication between the two was watched by Mourinho on the sidelines.

He felt he had nothing to worry about.

Even if Modric still needs some time to develop a tacit understanding with more teammates.

But at this stage, with Li Ang's "protection", Mourinho feels that Modric should be able to perform at about 70% to 80% of his performance at Tottenham.

This is enough to give Alonso more rest time to cope with subsequent Champions League games and tough league matches.

"This step of signing is the right one. As long as Harvey's appearances are controlled within 40 games, his performance should not be much different from last season."

Karanka sighed with satisfaction.

As Alonso's age has exceeded 30, Real Madrid's team medical team, including two physical coaches Pintus and Ruiz, have recommended not to let Alonso play excessive games in the new season.

The first and middle parts of the season are actually pretty good, but I am afraid that in the second half of the season Alonso's performance will be limited by his physical fitness and decline significantly.

Or encounter more serious injury problems, then Real Madrid's record will inevitably be affected.

Therefore, for Modric, the expectations of the Real Madrid coaching team are not to let him only be the glue in the midfield or the main rotation.

Mourinho bought him to train him to become Real Madrid's new playmaker in the midfield.

As Alonso gets older, if he can accept it, he will have to slowly sit on the bench sooner or later.

By then, one Li Ang and one Modric will become the two core organizers of Real Madrid's front and backcourt.

This is the most ideal model for building Real Madrid's new tactical system after the lineup transition.

Establishing a dual-core offense and defense, Modric has the end point Ronaldo in front of him, Pepe Ramos behind Li Ang, and Casillas has a stable performance. This central axis can last at least three or four more years.

Mourinho's thinking is still very long-term. He has been thinking about the following seasons from the time he bought the player.

He even thought of using an entire season to allow Modric to adapt and transform.

Bi Jian team, how could he be afraid of other coaches in the football world?

As long as he gives enough time and trust, he is guaranteed to bring Real Madrid a "super battleship" that can dominate football for four or five seasons!

"Matuidi's performance is also good. The signings in the summer window were very successful. Later, Jese was promoted to the first team. We have no shortage of people on the offensive line."

Mourinho was in a good mood and chatted with Karanka for a few more words.

After the game restarted, Real Madrid, who had taken the lead first, played more calmly.

Sevilla was not in disarray at this time. After suffering a big loss, they chose to compete with Real Madrid for control in the midfield.

Rakitic and Medel have very good personal qualities.

It's a pity that they met Li Ang today who was not afraid of confrontation.

It didn't matter if he lost the ball, Li Ang used his full firepower to cover almost the entire midfield with running sweeps to carry Sevilla's two major midfielders.

Compared with chaos and fighting for the ball, Li Ang, who doesn't have too many concerns about physical loss, just wants to say.

All Sevilla midfielders here are happy!

Michel, who made the wrong tactical decision, regretted it after watching Li Ang's heroic performance on the court.

Because Medel couldn't control his temper after being provoked by Li Ang. After losing the ball, he almost went straight for people and knocked down Li Ang from the wing!

Well, Sevilla's main defensive midfielder will definitely not be able to escape a yellow card.

The key point is that the game is only in the 28th minute of the first half!

There are still more than 60 minutes of the game to play, and Medel does not dare to make too many defensive moves in the future. How can he compete with Real Madrid?

Facing a severe defensive situation in the middle, Michel did not even wait for the intermission and replaced Maduro with Kondogbia in the 37th minute of the first half.

Medella played in the right midfield, and Kondogbia came on to play as a defensive midfielder.

This adjustment had a considerable effect. Modric's performance on the left was once again quiet due to Medel's restrictions.

Li Ang also reduced the number of forced advances when facing Kondogbia, and used more long and short passes to mobilize the team's offensive line and rhythm.

However, Di Maria's performance today was not particularly good. Several of his powerful inward shots failed to hit the goal frame, wasting a lot of opportunities.

Real Madrid eventually went into halftime with a small one-goal lead.

In the second half, Li Ang changed positions with Modric again. He continued to face off against Medel, while Modric and Rakitic were at each other's throats.

The two brothers in the Croatian national team are very familiar with each other's playing characteristics and habits. Neither of them are strong interception midfielders, so the confrontation is not fierce.

On the other hand, Li Ang bullied Medel because he had a yellow card, and repeatedly touched Medel's body to tease Medel's temper.

Michel was almost stunned. He had no idea that Li Ang, who usually seemed to have a calm playing style, could have such a rough and sleazy side!

In desperation, Michel could only make another substitution decision. In the 62nd minute of the second half, Medel was replaced in depression and annoyance.

And just a minute before he left the field, he was hugged by his teammate Kondogbia during another emotional conflict with Li Ang and dragged away from the conflict site.

Otherwise, he would not have been substituted, but would have received a second yellow card and been sent off.

Taking his place was Sevilla's young player Campania.

Michel didn't have much hope for this young player. He only hoped that he could do a good job of organizing and distributing the ball, and at the same time, he would not be bullied too badly by Li Ang on the defensive end.

However, Li Ang and Modric completed a flexible position change for the first time.

Matuidi, who was standing behind them, couldn't help but grinned when he saw this scene.

Many Sevilla fans shook their heads helplessly. Their midfielder was stunned by the frequent position changes of Leon and Modric today.

Medel was replaced early, Li Ang did not attack Dobia's frontal defense, and Modric no longer had to face too much defensive pressure.

Facing Campania, who is almost the same size as himself, Modric's organizational forward performance became active again.

Real Madrid stepped up their offensive once again.

In the 73rd minute of the game, Callejon, who came on as substitute for Di Maria, overtook Rakitic on the sideline and broke through Rakitic's marker.

Before Sevilla left back Navarro could press out to intercept, Callejon completed the pass after closing in.

This time Benzema took off Sevilla's high school defender Botilla in a smart way.

And another veteran Sevilla center defender Spasic, who is only 1.83 meters tall, has a hard time resisting Ronaldo's forward jump.

A powerful shot allowed Ronaldo to once again break through the gate guarded by Sevilla goalkeeper Palop and score twice!

This familiar scene of killing opponents while controlling a steady rhythm made countless fans who were waiting to see Real Madrid stumble choose to turn off their TVs in advance.

A score of 2-0 is common, not huge, and not particularly safe.

But for Real Madrid, who rotated some of their main players today, this is a completely acceptable result.

Even though Sevilla's league rankings in the past two seasons have not been very high, they are still a tough opponent.

Real Madrid fans are quite satisfied to be able to securely win against such an opponent before the Champions League group stage.

Modric, who performed well in this game, also received initial recognition from Real Madrid fans.

It was a successful debut.

There was no personal data, but the outstanding cooperation between Modric and Li Ang and the important role he played on both ends of the offense and defense still made him successfully selected into the key reports of various Western sports media the next day.

After playing the fourth round of La Liga (Real Madrid's third round of La Liga was postponed due to the overlap with the previous UEFA Super Cup match).

The Real Madrid team did not have too much time to rest. Three days later, they ushered in the first round of the Champions League group stage of the new season.

Real Madrid are in a group this season with Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and old rival Ajax.

Yes, you read that right, Real Madrid is in a group with Ajax again.

As for UEFA, the current Ajax coaches and players are too lazy to protest anymore. It is really "unable to say".

Competing with Real Madrid for qualifying spots in the same group for three consecutive seasons, can this be called a coincidence? !

The two teams' official promotion operators are also old acquaintances, and they interacted with each other before the start of the Champions League group stage.

Officials from Real Madrid encouraged Ajax and asked them to try Dortmund's quality first.

Ajax's official promotion also cheered Real Madrid, asking Real Madrid to help them beat Manchester City's points and goal difference first.

Fans from both sides also started friendly interactions on the Internet.

After all, Real Madrid's goal is to qualify first in the group, while Ajax wants to sit third and second.

If you can't qualify in the end, it's not bad to continue playing in the Europa League. It will always be an extra income. Ajax fans are also used to this process every season.

However, under the guidance of public opinion, the friendly interaction between the two teams made Manchester City quite unhappy.

No, one of you wants to be ranked first in the group, and the other is confident that you can at least keep the third place in the group.

Why, our new Premier League champions are so hopeless that if they don’t get second place in the group, they can only go fourth and get out?

Unconvinced Manchester City fans began to fight back online.

Manchester City's players did not give interviews before the game to express their views on this season's Champions League journey.

However, on the evening of September 18, when all the starting candidates for Real Madrid and Manchester City were released before the game, reporters from various media instantly became excited.

The whole Manchester City team seems a little dissatisfied!

They set up a 4141 formation at Real Madrid's home court. What should I say?

Want to teach the defending Champions League champions a lesson in midfield control?

One defensive midfielder, two central midfielders, two midfielders, dare to put up such a formation, I can only say that you are brave!

Mourinho also laughed before the game and did not need to encourage his disciples.

He knew that in today's game, the performance of the Real Madrid players who fought back would not be bad.

When the eight Champions League group matches started at the same time that night, the ratings for Real Madrid and Manchester City soared almost instantly!

Not only in Spain and England, but also in East Asia and the Americas, the soaring overseas ratings made UEFA's top executives smile.

They don't care if Real Madrid loses in an upset tonight or how badly Manchester City loses in the end.

They just want to hold Mancini and cheer him loudly!

You have to play like this.

You, Manchester City, are so brave. How could the ratings of this first round match of the Champions League be so explosive!

At this moment, the Manchester City players, who seemed to have gained several percent more courage, also launched a heroic forward pressing offensive against Real Madrid on the court.

They have this qualification.

The combination of David Silva, Nasri and Yaya Toure in the midfield does have sufficient technical advantages.

Even if Real Madrid played a starting lineup of 4,231 today, they are not afraid of Manchester City at all in terms of the number of midfielders.

But Mourinho still chose to stabilize his position first and consolidate the midfield defense.

Modric, who started again, actively participated in the retreat to help defend.

The rest of the Real Madrid players performed more calmly.

In particular, Li Ang and Alonso used tacit understanding to use steady interceptions and pressures to repel Manchester City's forward pressure tests in the middle.

Manchester City's four offensive midfielders plus the more versatile Tevez still played very smoothly when passing the ball.

That is, they have been surrounding Real Madrid's defensive third area and frequently looking for opportunities to cut in, but they have never been able to penetrate Real Madrid's midfield interception line.

Nearly ten minutes into the game, the situation was still the same.

Manchester City's seemingly sharp offensive attack could not penetrate Real Madrid's defensive shield.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, seemed to have little interest in attacking and was still battling with Manchester City in their own half.

This scene made the Real Madrid fans at the scene a little impatient again.

In the past, when Real Madrid chose to withdraw their fists to defend, it was not a situation where they were passively beaten all the time.

Many fans couldn't figure out what medicine Mourinho was selling in his gourd, and their old habits relapsed, and they began to boo sporadically.

When Li Ang heard the familiar booing, he sighed helplessly.

Really, this scene is unique in global football.

Ask fans of other clubs who boo their own players because of a temporary tactical retreat.

Although he was used to it, Li Ang never felt that this was a habit worth talking about and promoting.

Shaking his head, Li Ang simply automatically blocked out the interference from these boos and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the defensive pressure on Manchester City's offensive players.

In the 13th minute of the first half, Modric, who returned to defense, created an opportunity for Li Ang to double-team Silva front and back.

Silva alertly passed the ball to the center first, but Alonso, who had been prepared for a long time, blocked the connection between Silva and Tevez who was retreating!

Real Madrid's frontcourt players immediately launched a counterattack.

Alonso saw that the forwards on both wings of his side had not yet run away, so he did not immediately send a long pass, but distributed the ball to Li Ang, who also jumped in after the start.

David Silva chased back immediately.

However, his partner Yaya Toure did not invest enough on the defensive end.

Obviously he got stuck in the middle first, and it was difficult for Li Ang to force his way through Manchester City's half.

But I don’t know whether it was intentional or accidental, but Yaya Toure was just a beat too slow, allowing Li Ang to hit the ball and directly break through the defensive area between him and Barry!

Then Barry's speed can't keep up with Li Ang!

Today, he participated in the attack with Yaya Toure in an early position. Without delaying, he could only count on Xavi Garcia at the end of the midfield.

But Li Ang is not a midfielder who likes to play a one-stop sprint.

In an instant, he caught the trajectory of Ronaldo's adduction and insertion. Without hesitation, he took off his foot and directly sent a mid-range through pass that was close to the ground!

Ronaldo, who seemed to have taken off, instantly countered the offside and threw away Maicon, who was no longer fast. At the critical moment when Kompany rushed to defend, Ronaldo chose to kick directly and hit the goal!

About 28 meters away from the goal, Ronaldo's heavy artillery was very powerful!

However, Joe Hart, the first goalkeeper in the Premier League who is highly praised in the Premier League, seemed to be stunned, and his reaction was slow to make a save!

His speed was so slow that the football was almost half the distance ahead of his interception hand and hit the inside of the far post and bounced into the goal!

The nearly 80,000 Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu also jumped and cheered crazily at this moment!

Both Li Ang and Modric covered their heads at this moment.

Cristiano Ronaldo first showed off his strong thigh muscles to the live broadcast camera, then laughed and turned around to hug Liang and Modric warmly!

At this moment, the stunned Mancini became another target of the live camera's enthusiastic capture.

Mourinho's roar seemed to be a slap in the face to Manchester City!

ah?

Are you the one who calls you the new king of the Premier League? !

Post as much as you write, bosses.

We will continue tomorrow. Starting from tomorrow morning, the foodie will keep coding.

Write as much as you like, publish as much as you like, no manuscripts will be left behind!