Super Marshal

The City Stadium was packed, with Manchester City fans filling the stands.

This is the first time Manchester City has participated in the Champions League in recent decades. There were not many fans who watched the Champions League at home last time, and most of them are already old.

The club organized a special event before the game to find witnesses to the last Champions League home game. The youngest was a middle-aged man in his fifties. It is said that he was still a child at the time and was taken to Myanmar by his parents. Watching the game at Inn Road Stadium.

Participating in a Champions League match at their home stadium has been the long-cherished wish of countless Manchester City fans for many years.

So tonight, when they came to the City Stadium, every one of them was very excited.

They firmly believe that Gaohan's team will not let them down.

Here tonight, Manchester City will usher in a victory that will go down in history!

Manchester City went all out in this game. Many people thought that Gao Han would switch to a four-back game in the Champions League, but in fact Gao Han did not adjust and still insisted on a three-four-three formation.

The goalkeeper is Cech, the defense is Kompany, Xavi Martinez and Mascherano, the midfielder is Xabi Alonso, David Silva and Modric are in the middle, and Ka Before the card burst, the front three was Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Sanchez.

This is Manchester City's main lineup for the past two seasons, and it is also the strongest attacking formation the team can currently field.

Especially Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been scoring goals this season and is in very good shape.

Real Madrid was playing away from home, and their strength was lagging behind Manchester City. In addition, Mourinho himself was best at defensive counterattacks, so they formed a 4312 formation with three midfielders.

The goalkeeper is Real Madrid captain Casillas. The defense from left to right is Kolarov, Bruno Alves, Albiol and Arbeloa. The three deep-lying players in the midfield are Slovakia. Ned, Gago and Lass Diarra, Ozil came forward, Diego Costa and Higuain formed a double forward.

This is also the strongest lineup Mourinho has been able to put together so far this season, and the midfield will be Real Madrid's weakness, especially the midfielder position.

Real Madrid originally considered bringing in Fabregas or Gerrard from Arsenal during this summer's transfer to replace Sneijder. The Dutch midfielder was once on the transfer market, but later with the World Cup With his outstanding performance and the failure to bring in Cesc Fabregas and Gerrard, Real Madrid kept Sneijder.

Defensive midfielder Gago was not Real Madrid's main force originally. Local international De La Red was the core midfielder that everyone had high hopes for. However, last season De La Red was diagnosed with a heart problem and had to retire early. , resulting in Gago being promoted to the top, and his performance has always been mixed.

However, Mourinho was obviously mentally prepared for this.

After the start of the game, Real Madrid maintained a very tight formation, with three lines very compact. At the same time, they retreated to the edge of their own penalty area, assuming a very low posture, obviously aiming for a defensive counterattack.

On the other hand, Manchester City, after all, were at their home court and took the initiative to attack after the opening game.

Just one minute into the game, David Silva made a diagonal pass into the penalty area from the left. Benzema was flanked by Bruno Alves and Albiol and failed to grab the ball, causing David Silva to Silva's pass was easily received by Casillas.

Four minutes later, Kaka dribbled the ball from the middle to the edge of the penalty area and was closely guarded by Lass Diarra. After falling to the ground, the referee did not blow the whistle to indicate that the game continued, but the ball was still at the feet of Manchester City. Cristiano ·Ronaldo's long shot from 25 meters away failed to suppress the ball and was too high.

Two consecutive attacks failed to work. Xavi Alonso and Modric began to stabilize the team's rhythm. They were no longer eager to attack, but patiently passed the ball in the midfield and back, looking for opportunities.

Real Madrid seems to have been mentally prepared for this. They are not in a hurry to grab the ball, but keep the overall formation compact and tight.

But once the ball reaches the frontcourt, at the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Sanchez and Benzema, Real Madrid will at least immediately organize two defensive players to get close, and it is very organized, a close press , a defensive protection to avoid falling into a solo situation when defending.

Obviously, Mourinho knows very well that Real Madrid has no advantage at all in one-on-one situations.

It is this very tight defensive formation with three layers inside and three outside that makes it difficult for Manchester City to effectively send the ball into shooting range even though they have possession of the ball.

Even if they occasionally miss a chance and seize an opportunity, it will be difficult for players to get a good chance.

Mourinho's team, as always, has strict tactical discipline and excellent physical strength confrontation. What is even more troublesome is that there are many small moves, whether it is forward Diego Costa or central defender Bruno Alves.

This allowed Manchester City to shoot two shots in the opening, but in the ten minutes that followed, although they controlled the ball, they were still unable to create a threat. There was no more shot, which shows the tightness of Real Madrid's defense.

It wasn't until the seventeenth minute that Real Madrid finally made a mistake.

Portuguese central defender Bruno Alves' clearance ball failed to pass far. After Xabi Alonso headed the ball back to the midfield, David Silva passed the ball behind the defense. Benzema succeeded in countering offside and reached the penalty area. After receiving the ball on the left side, he passed the ball back to the penalty area in front of the baseline.

Cristiano Ronaldo shook off Arbeloa's entanglement, entered the penalty area and calmly pushed the ball into Casillas' goal, sending the entire City Stadium into a complete carnival.

The referee's whistle sounded, but it was not to rule that the goal was valid, but to signal that Cristiano Ronaldo had committed a foul.

"The referee's decision seemed to have caused a lot of controversy, and boos rang out from the stands at the City Stadium."

"The captains of both sides came forward to negotiate, and the referee seemed to signal Cristiano Ronaldo to foul Arbeloa when he started."

"We look at the slow-motion replay of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo starts..."

"Hey, this is it. It seems that when he broke away from Arbeloa's defense, his hand came into contact with Arbeloa's body. Arbeloa fell to the ground. The referee should have sentenced the Portuguese to start. It’s a foul when someone is pushed.”

"Let's look at it from another angle."

"Indeed, the hand did touch Arbeloa's shoulder, but it seemed that he just broke away and shook it off without using any force. Arbeloa was somewhat suspected of deceiving the referee this time, but the referee seemed to have recognized Cristia. Ronaldo committed a foul first, so the goal was disallowed."

"Everyone at Manchester City is very unhappy about this."

"But we have to say that the game has just begun and Manchester City need to be calm now."

"In professional leagues, it can be said that both sides will do anything to win the game. This situation is very common."

"Okay, we see the two teams are back in the game and the referee gives Real Madrid a set-piece opportunity."

But Cristiano Ronaldo was very dissatisfied with the penalty he received. Three minutes later, when he entered the penalty area from the left and competed with Albiol for a header, he was called for a foul again by the referee. In anger, he kicked the ball directly into the stands.

This uncool move also earned him a yellow card.

Gao Han jumped up immediately after watching it from the sidelines.

…………

…………

"Hey Cristiano, are you crazy?"

Gao Han asked in confusion on the sidelines.

"Isn't it fun to go and get a yellow card for no reason?"

The Portuguese knew that they were in the wrong, so they lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Gao Han, let alone talk back.

"Calm down and think with your head, understand?"

Cristiano Ronaldo nodded to indicate that he understood.

Gao Han then turned around and walked back to the coaching bench. After standing still, he heard Sergio Garcia sneer.

"Mourinho also worked hard in this game. It has been more than ten minutes since the start and he has not even had a shot. His ball possession rate has been reduced to the limit, less than 30%. What do you think of him? …”

"He's trying to contain our possession of the ball." Brian Kidd sighed.

"If the defensive area was expanded, he would probably be able to hold on physically in the first half, but he would have to surrender in the second half, so he simply went to extremes and reduced the defensive area to a thirty-meter area to keep the three lines compact. , reduce the running range of the players, and once our offense enters, we immediately adopt a high-pressure press to prevent us from creating a threat."

This set of tactics was considered for use in La Liga, but later it was said that chairman Florentino felt that using three defensive midfielders was too conservative and did not fit Real Madrid's identity. As a result, they lost at the Camp Nou. 0 to 5, resulting in a disastrous defeat in the away game, and it is only now that they are used against Manchester City.

Gao Han is also very concerned about it on the sidelines. The most difficult thing to crack in the world is the iron barrel formation, especially the iron barrel formation trained by Mourinho who is good at defense and tactical discipline. It is simply a nightmare for all teams. .

"It's not like there's no chance at all." Gao Han said after pondering for a while.

"Then we can only attack by force." Brian Kidd suggested.

"As the saying goes, no matter how tight Real Madrid's defense is, as long as we continue to exert pressure, they will definitely expose their flaws, but we must be careful of their counterattacks."

Gao Han set his sights on the two forwards Diego Costa and Higuain. These two players play a considerable role in the counterattack, especially Diego Costa. If Real Madrid seizes the opportunity Counterattack, with Mourinho's efficiency, Manchester City will be really dangerous.

Therefore, Gao Han quickly conveyed his thoughts to the court, letting all Manchester City players clearly know that the head coach wanted them to continue to maintain offensive pressure on Real Madrid, but at the same time beware of the opponent's counterattack.

With players like Xavi Alonso, Modric, David Silva, and even Kaká on the court, the benefit is obvious, that is, whenever Gao Han has any ideas, convey them to them. Players can quickly put it into practice.

Especially Xavi Alonso and Modric, these two players firmly helped Manchester City control the midfield and the rhythm of the game. They organized Manchester City's midfield and organized and planned waves of offensives.

But Real Madrid is also monolithic and defends very tightly. Every player is very focused in the game and runs extremely actively, causing Manchester City's offense to come back without success again and again.

Mourinho seems to have built an iron wall in front of Real Madrid's goal, which is unbreakable.

It almost made Gao Han wonder, had the effect of the combination card of Iron Wall reacted on Real Madrid?