The Godfather of Football

Ye Qiu has always believed that everything in this world is not perfect.

Therefore, in the field of football, he also believes in a principle, that is, there is no unbeaten team, no unbeaten tactics, and no one can guarantee that he will win a game.

Perhaps someone will say, then you bet with Porto's head coach Jesús Ferreira to play ten games?

In fact, it is a kind of psychological warfare, or to put it more vulgarly, Ye Qiu is bluffing him, as for what if he really agrees? That is after the event, if it doesn't happen, Ye Qiu doesn't need to think too much.

When looking at a game, Ye Qiu always feels that we should focus on the big picture and let go of the small details.

The so-called focus on the big picture and let go of the small details does not mean that we only pay attention to the overall situation and not the details. That is wrong, because the overall situation is important, but the details also determine the success or failure of a game. What Ye Qiu means by focusing on the big picture and letting go of the small details is that you can't completely control a game, just like you can never get more than 80% of the ball possession rate, and even reaching 75% is very difficult.

As long as the opponent has time to control the ball, he has the ability to create something that may catch you off guard.

Grasping the big and letting go of the small means that you should never think about complete control, but only think about the key points, that is, what is the goal you want to achieve in this game?

Just like playing against Barcelona, ​​in Ye Qiu's view, Tottenham Hotspur's core goal is to get the qualification.

And an important weapon to get the qualification is away goals.

As long as there is an away goal, Tottenham Hotspur's total number of goals is three, and according to the away goal principle, Barcelona must score four goals, then the reason is very simple, there is no need to care whether Barcelona can score, and there is no need to think about whether Barcelona can score two or three goals, as long as it does not exceed three.

And Tottenham Hotspur only needs to score one goal to make Barcelona's goal a complete joke.

After grasping this key point, it is not difficult to understand why Tottenham Hotspur does not seem to have changed much after Barcelona scored. Ye Qiu just walked to the sidelines and made slight adjustments to further strengthen the team's defense, that's all.

Conservative? Maybe it's a bit conservative, but Ye Qiu knows very well that playing against Barcelona in the Camp Nou, especially in the current environment, Barcelona has been forced into a desperate situation, and if you fight with him at this time, it's not the same as giving up your advantage and using your weakness to hit the opponent's gun?

So for Ye Qiu, this is definitely not a smart way, and Tottenham's state is really not good in recent times. With such a dense schedule and strong opponents one after another, it's strange that they can be in good shape.

If Tottenham can play one game a week like Chelsea, then he can guarantee that Tottenham has enough strength to kill any opponent, but in this dense and cruel schedule, he can only choose more practical tactics.

After adjustments, Tottenham stabilized their position. Although they were still behind in the score, the players did not seem arrogant or impatient on the court, because Ye Qiu had told them before the game that the opening of this game would be difficult to play, and they might even lose the ball first, but everything was controlled by Ye Qiu.

After scoring, Barcelona continued to launch a frenzy of attacks, especially the pressing investment in the midfield and frontcourt was even more unsparing. After all, Barcelona also tasted the sweetness of this tactical play after the opening.

But you must know that everything in this world has two sides, or even multiple sides, and it is impossible to have only good sides and no bad sides.

So, what are the disadvantages of Barcelona's tactical play? Physical consumption!

Why did Ye Qiu wait so calmly, and even let the team give up the direct head-on pressing with Barcelona, ​​but avoid the sharp edge and play around, because he knew very well that fighting for physical consumption would not be good for Tottenham Hotspur, but should avoid the real and attack the virtual, save strength, and wait for the opportunity.

That is, wait until Barcelona's physical energy is consumed to a certain extent and it is a bit overwhelmed, and then attack him by surprise.

Because in such a fast-paced and high-investment game, no team can maintain it for a long time, just like no one can do this kind of fast back and forth speed change for a long time, even professional athletes can't do it, because people have limits.

After Barcelona scored, Tottenham organized their defense in an orderly manner. They did not seem to have a strong desire to counterattack. They occasionally launched a few counterattacks, but they did not achieve good results. Even the commentator of the game began to feel that Tottenham's fighting spirit in this game was a bit strange.

And you know, Barcelona's possession rate in the first half reached 64.5%, which is very rare for Tottenham, which has always had a good possession rate and likes to firmly grasp the initiative. But everyone also noticed that with the solidity of Tottenham's defense, Barcelona's offense was somewhat curbed.

Time passed by, and gradually, the scoreboard of the Camp Nou stadium jumped into the 35th minute.

Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines from the beginning of the game. He had been communicating with the players in his own way, while also observing the situation, and combined the players' feedback, his own observations, and Roland's evaluation of the situation from multiple perspectives such as data.

After entering the 35th minute, Barcelona obviously slowed down the pace, and the pressing became weaker. Some players began to be a little lazy, and these are the characteristics of physical energy consumption to a certain extent.

Ye Qiu began to signal the team to try to press forward and hold Barcelona back, so as not to let the home team relax and breathe.

So, Tottenham Hotspur began to actively participate in the game rhythm and the competition for ball possession, which forced Barcelona to continue to insist on the fast-paced and high-consumption competition, which is also part of Ye Qiu's tactics.

Then he stood on the sidelines and waited.

From the 35th minute, Tottenham began to consciously attack and counterattack. In the 36th minute, David Silva passed the ball straight, Ribery moved between Puyol and Pique, and quickly started after getting the ball and rushed into Barcelona's penalty area, but when passing the ball horizontally, the ball was picked up by Valdes' hand, Cavani who followed in the back row failed to get the ball, and Messi on the right was blocked by Abidal, and finally missed a very good scoring opportunity.

Perhaps it was because they felt that Tottenham's offensive had improved, Barcelona began to want to fight back again.

The two sides continued this fast-paced, high-frequency exchange of ball rights, and the game was very intense and fast-paced.

Until the 42nd minute, Barcelona's Xavi made a long pass over the top, trying to find Van Persie in the penalty area, but Zielinski steadily got ahead of Van Persie, headed down Xavi's pass, stopped in front of himself, and then quickly chased up and passed it diagonally to the left.

Marcelo, with his back to the left sideline, stopped Zieglinski's pass with his left foot, then started quickly, quickly crossed the center line, entered Barcelona's half, and then passed the ball to Ribery, while he rushed forward quickly to catch up with Ribery.

This is also Tottenham's usual method of attacking from the wing. Once Marcelo goes up, Alves' side basically won't go up, and with Yaya Toure in the midfield, Marcelo went up very resolutely and decisively, without any hesitation.

Ribery got the ball on the left, facing Puyol, he controlled the ball with his right foot, his left shoulder facing Puyol, and dribbled the ball horizontally. It was a bit slow at first because he was waiting for Marcelo, and all Tottenham players were rushing to Barcelona's penalty area quickly, especially Cavani and Messi, and Fabregas, who had a strong scoring ability.

Everyone realized that Ribery was waiting for his teammates to arrive.

Barcelona's defense was also preparing for a big enemy, especially the experienced Puyol, who followed Ribery carefully. He had to guard against the Frenchman's sudden kick at any time. You have to know that the front of the penalty area is almost not a long-range shot for the current scorers. It is directly within their effective shooting range. You have to guard against it.

Although the whole process looks very long, it is actually Marcelo's sprint from about 30 meters to the front of the penalty area. The distance is about 16 meters, and the sprint time is 14 meters.

Ribery was also observing his teammates. After he slowly took two steps to the top of the arc, he suddenly knocked back with his heel. Marcelo, who sprinted behind Ribery, faced the ball and kicked forward directly. Not only did he rush behind Puyol in one go, but he also waded into Barcelona's penalty area.

Faced with this sudden change, Puyol immediately gave up Ribery and quickly chased after Marcelo. He had already noticed the Brazilian boy who quickly inserted himself, but Marcelo was attacking head-on and was very fast. Puyol turned around and caught up again, which could stop Marcelo from cutting inside, but he could not stop him from crossing.

Marcelo made a low cross with a fast speed and strong rotation, and Barcelona also responded quickly. Mascherano blocked Cavani with his body and kicked Marcelo's cross outside the penalty area, directly blocking the cross, but because the ball was spinning and difficult to control, the ball was not cleared far.

The first person to react was Ribery, who was facing the goal just now. The Frenchman rushed up quickly and kicked the ball directly to the goal. The place was only about twelve or thirteen meters away from the goal, which scared Pique and Mascherano to fly to block Ribery's shot.

But Ribery suddenly gave up shooting and passed the ball to the right.

Messi appeared in an unguarded place, facing Ribery's pass, and rubbed the ball with the inside of his left foot again.

As soon as the ball was rubbed out, Messi raised his arms high. He used his most reliable shot, the inside of his foot. He didn't know how many times he had practiced such a shot, and the angle was well grasped, and the strength was just right. The whole shot gave him a feedback of... perfect!

The ball slightly circled in an arc, almost rubbing the angle between the left post and the crossbar, and went into the goal and hit the net.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!"

Ye Qiu on the sidelines jumped up excitedly, raised his arms and shouted, and then was hugged by the assistants behind him.

Messi even celebrated with his fists on the court, rushed to the corner flagpole in one breath, and simply slid down on the grass, with a smiling expression, allowing his teammates behind him to catch up and hug him to the grass.

1:1, but the total score has increased to 1:3!

According to the away goal principle, Barcelona must increase the total score to 4:3, that is, 4:1 in a single game to eliminate Tottenham Hotspur, not even one goal less!

Look at Guardiola's expression. The Spaniard was so angry that he waved his arms vigorously on the sidelines, and he was obviously cursing something. He had completely lost his usual elegant temperament and felt like he was being teased, because he found that even if he had scored two goals just now, let alone one goal just now, it would be useless now.

One away goal is worth two goals, which almost makes Guardiola desperate, and also makes all Barcelona players and fans desperate, because they don't have enough confidence to score three more goals!

And you have to know that even if you attack crazily, even if you can really score three more goals, can you guarantee that Tottenham Hotspur will not score? Can you guarantee that when you score, Tottenham Hotspur will be willing to adopt a defensive strategy?

The answer is no, because from the beginning of Ye Qiu's choice of David Silva to partner with Fabregas and Yaya Toure in this game, all signs have actually shown Ye Qiu's attitude. He wants to attack, but his attack is not like Barcelona's desperate attack throughout the game. He doesn't need to play like this, he just needs a goal!

This is undoubtedly a desperate goal!

Messi, all Barcelona fans will not be unfamiliar with this name, because he comes from La Masia, which Barcelona fans are proud of, but in 2003, Barcelona gave him to Ye Qiu's Chelsea. In the year after Ye Qiu left Chelsea, there were rumors that Messi and Fabregas wanted to return to Barcelona, ​​but it was finally proved that Barcelona's management rejected their request.

After Ye Qiu returned to the Premier League and acquired Tottenham Hotspur, the two players transferred to Chelsea and played with surprising strength and level. In the past few years, Barcelona has been constantly rumored to buy back these two players, but year after year, their value has become higher and higher, their level has become more and more outstanding, and the difficulty of buying them back has become greater and greater.

Imagine, can Barcelona come up with a transfer fee of 150 million euros like Manchester City and give Messi three times his current salary? The answer is impossible!

After Ye Qiu celebrated with the coaching staff on the sidelines, he saw him holding his right fist high, which was a gesture of winning.

Everyone who saw him like this and saw his gesture knew very clearly that all this was in his plan. Perhaps he could not calculate whether he would score a goal or lose the ball, but he clearly calculated the weakest link of Barcelona, ​​which was the time when the physical energy was exhausted due to the attack.

In fact, if someone carefully analyzes Barcelona's goals in the past two years, it is not difficult to find that many of their goals occurred in the last ten minutes of the first half, or after 65 minutes of the second half, and these time periods are often when the physical energy is almost exhausted.

This is what Ye Qiu has been saying all the time. High-intensity pressing in the front and middle fields has good benefits, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the physical energy consumption is too serious, and it is impossible to maintain a high level of continuous performance throughout the game.

Therefore, this season's Tottenham Hotspur gradually retracted the front and middle fields, and the three lines were kept more compact and the connection was closer. Whether it was offense or defense, mutual support, mutual coordination, and mutual assistance were closer.

At the call of Hungarian referee Victor Kassai, the celebrating Tottenham players returned to the field one after another, and from their faces, you can clearly see the strong confidence they were overflowing with, because they knew very well that all of this was still under the control of Tottenham, and under the control of the head coach standing on the sidelines.

This is strategizing!

And with Victor Kassai's whistle for the restart, Barcelona's offense obviously lost its sharpness after the restart. The goal scored by Tottenham just now caused them a very painful blow, which greatly affected their morale, because they knew very well that they had to score three more goals to break Tottenham's goal.

How to play next?

Attack? Or give up?

This question is not only confusing for the players, but even the head coach Guardiola is also confused, because he found that whether to attack or not to attack is wrong, and it will not be the right answer.

In other words, this will be a multiple-choice question that is wrong no matter how you choose!

But Tottenham's choice was much simpler. After Ye Qiu scored, they started to play more patiently, but their attitude was obviously much more positive than at the beginning. They began to consciously compete with Barcelona for possession and game rhythm.

But in the end, the first half ended with 1:1, and neither side was able to create a shooting opportunity in the last few minutes.

And the Barcelona fans in the stands of Camp Nou were obviously completely disappointed with the game, because they couldn't imagine that with the current morale and state of the team, they could score three goals against Tottenham in the second half? Is there really hope for a final miracle? Reversing Tottenham to advance to the semi-finals?

Having hope is undoubtedly a very beautiful thing, but being rational and sober can make people feel painful, because it will make you clearly realize that this may end up in despair!