Super Marshal

On the evening of May 5th, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Real Madrid faced Chinatown at home.

Both teams are from La Liga and know each other well, and neither side has any surprise players. The game directly entered a bloody hand-to-hand battle from the beginning, especially Chinatown, which was playing away from home, and started the attack against the away team.

Less than a minute into the game, Isco once dribbled the ball into the penalty area and fell to the ground. Although the referee did not call a foul, the slow-motion replay showed that Bruno Alves made an obvious pulling action.

At the Bernabeu Stadium, no head coach had the courage to give the visiting team a penalty in less than a minute.

Especially in such an important Champions League semi-final.

Two minutes later, Chinatown launched another wave of offensive. Hazard shot low from the left side of the penalty area and was saved by Casillas.

In the sixth minute, Real Madrid broke into the Chinatown penalty area. The ball was intercepted by Varane. De Vrij launched a long pass with his big foot. Morata used his body to hold Albiol and grabbed the ball in mid-air. Shot into the far corner of the goal.

Faced with such an unexpected shot that was more than 20 meters away from the goal, Casillas, who was originally positioned a little outside, reacted very quickly and couldn't help but retreat. He got the ball before it went in and resolved it. There was a crisis.

However, Chinatown's continuous offensive still put huge pressure on Real Madrid's already weak defense. The midfielder was suppressed by the opponent from the beginning and made frequent mistakes.

Until the ninth minute...

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"Moutinho made a mistake with his pass in midfield."

"Chinatown midfielder Illarramendi intercepted the ball and passed it to Isco."

"Real Madrid counterattacked on the spot, and Isco quickly passed the ball back to the goal."

"De Gea stopped the ball, passed it to Varane, then passed it to the other side and handed it to Danilo."

"Chinatown passed the ball continuously and moved the ball out of Real Madrid's pressing range."

"Moutinho was obviously a little regretful and raised his hand to signal to his teammates that it was a mistake on his part."

"Chinatown didn't seem to be in a hurry to pass the ball across the half court. The two central defenders were farther apart and still stood at the edge of their own penalty area to pass the ball. The two full-backs were also close to the wing to receive the ball."

"Real Madrid's frontcourt pressed forward, Aguero stepped forward to harass, and Illarramendi retreated to respond."

"Another continuous pass, De Vrij passes to Alex Sandro, and the Brazilian left-back passes back again."

"Gareth Bale came up to press, and De Vrij made a big move and passed to the right."

"Danilo stopped the ball and De Bruyne came to take over."

"The two central players, Isco and De Bruyne, have a wide range of activities. Look at De Bruyne this time, there is no chance and he passes the ball back to Illarramendi."

"Chinatown has already passed half time."

"Real Madrid still needs to be careful. Chinatown's current attack speed is not very fast, but once they catch the opportunity, it will be a storm-like offensive. This is also the offensive method that Chinatown is best at."

"The two central defenders in Chinatown have already passed half the field to receive the ball, and then passed it to the left wing, passed it to Alex Sandro, passed it across to Isco, who turned around to protect the ball, and passed it back to Yili. Yarramendi.”

"For this period of time, Real Madrid's defense was well organized, but Chinatown firmly controlled the ball. Real Madrid had no chance to steal the ball. The players seemed a little anxious."

"It was passed back to DeVrij, and Gareth Bale this time ran directly at DeVrij and split it to the left."

"Gareth Bale sprinted for nothing."

"Isco received the ball and passed it back to the center to Illarramendi. Illarramendi came up and passed it to Danilo on the right."

"During the continuous pull, Real Madrid's left defense appeared to have a gap."

"Danilo brought the ball forward and advanced to the 30-meter area. Coentrao stepped forward to mark, but Danilo quickly passed to De Bruyne."

"De Bruyne took the ball, adjusted it, and passed it straight to the edge of the penalty area."

"Griezmann stopped the ball and when he had the opportunity, he passed Bruno Alves and hit the goal directly!"

"oops!"

"Casillas flew to block the ball..."

"The ball went in!!!!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"In the eleventh minute, in the eleventh minute, Chinatown took the lead in knocking on Real Madrid's goal."

"This is a continuous pass-and-receive coordination. Through constant pulling, we finally found the loopholes in Real Madrid's defense."

"One to zero!"

“The hero of the goal is Chinatown’s powerful center Morata!”

"He seemed very alert. When Griezmann took off, he quickly chased towards the back point. After the ball was saved by Casillas, he calmly pushed and missed the ball."

"The players in Chinatown seemed very excited."

"Let's take a look at the entire process of the goal. It feels like Real Madrid didn't even have a chance to touch the ball during the possession of the ball in Chinatown. This has to be said to be a very demoralizing thing."

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When Morata, Griezmann and others frantically rushed out of the stadium and went to the stands where the Chinatown fans were to celebrate wildly, the entire Bernabeu stadium was so quiet that only the voices of the visiting team's Chinatown fans were left.

Real Madrid fans seemed very disinterested.

Yes, they have plenty of reasons to be dissatisfied with their team's performance.

"Thirty-seven kicks passed." Cantarero laughed excitedly.

Starting from the ball passed by Illarramendi after interception, Chinatown passed the ball thirty-seven times. In the end, Griezmann kicked the ball and Casillas flew out to save it. Lata misses the hit.

During the entire scoring process, Real Madrid did not even have a chance to touch the ball.

"I didn't expect, I really didn't expect, that I would score like this." Gao Han was quite surprised.

This type of goal is often more characteristic of Barcelona. Chinatown rarely scores this type of goal, but it turned out to be achieved by Real Madrid. In addition to strength, the most important thing is luck.

"There is a problem with Pellegrini's starting lineup," Cantarero said. "He still wants to attack more, but he has exposed his weaknesses and deficiencies on the defensive end."

Gao Han nodded, this was indeed Pellegrini's mistake in this game.

The Chilean engineers arranged a double defensive midfielder of Toni Kroos and Moutinho in the midfield. James Rodriguez suddenly stepped forward to play as an attacking midfielder. It was obvious that this was to allow the Colombian to compete with Neymar and Aquino. Ronaldo and Gareth Bale formed the attacking formation in the frontcourt, with Toni Kroos and Moutinho organizing and controlling the rhythm behind them.

It's beautiful in theory, but difficult to do in practice.

A very important reason is that the double midfielders of Toni Kroos and Moutinho are too thin. Moutinho, in particular, has problems when he presses. The goal just conceded came from his pass in the first place. Ball turnover.

But compared with the midfield configuration, Real Madrid's more serious problem lies in its defensive position.

Unlike Chinatown, which has deep-lying defensive midfielders like Kante and Illarramendi, Real Madrid did not arrange full-time defensive players for this game. Brazilian midfielder Casemiro is a defensive player, but after joining Never been trusted.

On the defensive end, the gap between Coentrao and Bruno Alves was a bit wide, especially when Coentrao stepped forward to press Danilo, the 33-year-old Bruno Alves did not step forward immediately. Maintaining his position, Griezmann got a chance to get the ball at the edge of the penalty area and took off directly.

Of course, if you want to trace it back to the source, it should be that the midfield and frontcourt are not defensive enough. Neymar and Gareth Bale are still hanging around in the frontcourt waiting for the pass from the midfielder and backcourt. This makes Danilo go ahead. Interrupted, Chinatown immediately gained a numerical advantage on the right.

"The core problem is still the disconnect between offense and defense, and the midfielder is the first to bear the brunt." Gao Han said with squinted eyes.

There is an old saying in European football that has been said thousands of times: He who wins the midfield wins the world.

Looking at the teams coached by Gao Han in the past, from Atletico Madrid to Chelsea to Inter Milan to Bayern Munich to Manchester City, and finally to Paris Saint-Germain, almost all teams prioritized the formation of midfielders.

The peak moment of the Barcelona Dream Team is precisely when their midfielder is the strongest.

During that period, no matter how Guardiola changed his formation and played with various formations, Barcelona was able to handle it with ease. In the final analysis, it was because the team's midfield control was sufficient.

This is like Zhang Wuji in Jin Yong's novel Heaven and Dragon Sword. After practicing unparalleled internal strength, all martial arts have become easy to capture in his eyes, and the control of the midfield is the internal strength of a team.

"Real Madrid's midfielder looks beautiful, but there are many problems. James Rodriguez's most threatening position is near the penalty area, and Toni Kroos..."

When Gao Han mentioned this player, his face couldn't help but darken. He once really wanted to introduce Toni Kroos to Chinatown, but after negotiating with Zidane, although the French also admired Toni Kroos very much, Rose, but still declined Gao Han's proposal because he believed that the harmonious atmosphere in the locker room should be maintained.

In Gao Han's view, Toni Kroos will be one of the strongest midfielders in European football in the next few years.

"If it were me, I would consider using Casemiro as a deep-lying defender, with James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos forming a double midfield. I believe this will be far more balanced than using Moutinho. It is also more reasonable, of course, in this way, in the midfield, Real Madrid still gains and loses."

Chinatown's midfield is basically complete. Zidane will arrange the four midfielders Isco, De Bruyne, Pogba and Koke to take turns to play according to different opponents and different needs. Different partners.

But no matter how it is organized, Chinatown's midfield control is the best in Europe. Except for the two abnormal teams of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, even when facing Ancelotti's Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, Chinatown's The midfield was dominant.

As long as the midfielder has enough control, can organize and plan attacks forward, create opportunities, and can protect the defense line and intercept the opponent's attacks in the future, then the entire team will not be out of touch, no matter what kind of opponent it faces. Able to fight.

On the other hand, Pellegrini and Moutinho were definitely a big mistake.

Of course, the Chilean engineer may have his own considerations. After all, the big stars in the midfield and frontcourt must be played, and he has no reliable cards to play. With Casemiro still unable to prove himself, he It is understandable to choose the more mature Moutinho at critical moments.

"If Real Madrid wants to rise, its waist must be straight, and the defense... there is still a long way to go!" Gao Han shook his head and sighed.

This summer, Real Madrid invested hundreds of millions in big stars in the midfield and frontcourt, but there were no corresponding signings in the defense. Pellegrini could only rely on veterans Bruno Alves and The youth training players in the team are supportive.

This is also the reason for the current embarrassing situation.

This also has a lot to do with the current shortage of defenders in European football.

And Gao Han had a vague hunch that the excitement of this game seemed to have just begun.