One of the most high-profile clashes in the Champions League this week took place between Atletico and Manchester United, with Manchester United taking possession but passive, and Atletico attacking but frequently squandering opportunities. The two sides scored two goals on target in three shots, and Oblak and De Gea had few chances to perform. The showdown between the new and old C Ronaldo ended with the continuous downturn of C Ronaldo and the shining of "new C Ronaldo" Felix.
Pre-match: After 1 year of passing, Felix temporarily won the starting opportunity
C Ronaldo and Felix age difference of 15 years, the two Portuguese have had several encounters before, the short shoulder-to-shoulder picture is always cut off by the media, in a strong way to render the theme of inheritance, this week's Champions League Atletico and Manchester United two down-and-out giants narrow road met, before the game Spanish media Marca newspaper wrote an article detailing the similar situation of the two teams when talking about C Ronaldo and Felix, the showdown between the two generations of Portuguese stars is a major highlight of this game, especially the Western media that has always liked to predict the start of the game said it before the game. Atletico will have a big change in the starting line-up of this game, and Felix, who is in good shape, will start the game.
Manchester United and Atletico Have performed very similarly this season, the two teams that have received strong reinforcements have not played satisfactorily, fortunately, they have rebounded before the Champions League knockout rounds, Atletico's rare clean sheet win over Osasuna 3-0, Felix, who staged the club's 100 milestone battle, is the absolute protagonist, Felix scored less than 2 minutes in the opening, assisted Suarez to score in the second half, and after more than 1 year, he won the best single pass in the game again. This victory is a timely rain for Atletico and Felix, Atletico has just lost 0-1 to the bottom team of La Liga, Levante, and urgently needs a victory to reverse the decline, Felix has experienced 3 consecutive starts without harvest, the starting position was robbed by Cunha in the downturn, the Western media once broke the news, Felix will be sold by Atletico in the summer window, he also urgently needs to consolidate the position of the team through goals.
After Atletico lost to Levante 0-1, Simeone, who was under great pressure, finally gave up trying to play offensive football, And atletico once again returned to the tactics of the past to be mainly stable and rely on efficient attack to win, so Felix, who has more speed advantages than Suarez and Griezmann, and has a stronger ability to grab points, returned to the starting lineup in the match against Osasuna, Atletico's starting lineup this season has been rotating, if facing Osasuna, Felix failed to seize the opportunity, It is also difficult to guarantee that the discredited Atletico striker will not be entrusted with a heavy responsibility in the next key Champions League matches. Fortunately, facing the opponent with the most goals in his career (4 goals in the previous 4 games), Felix seized the opportunity.
During the match: Felix's header was awarded the best of the game
So, as predicted by the team reporter before the game, Atletico lined up Felix and Correa, a rare forward pair, Lodi and Carrasco were separated on both sides, Herrera and Condobia sat in the middle of the midfield, Atletico remained stable, Herrera and Condobia two midfielders completed 10 steals each, facing the midfield out of control Manchester United, Atletico was the dominant side in the first half.
Facing Osasuna, Atletico scored 3 goals on 4 of 5 shots, and in this game against Manchester United, Atletico scored 1 goal with only one shot on target, and the player who scored the goal was Felix. Felix has already had two blitzkriegs that break in less than 2 minutes of the opening this season, this time his goal also came very early, just 7 minutes into the opening, the attacking and defensive Lodi as a full-back liberated the offensive nature, and his precise cross found Felix, who used the way he was not good at scoring - the header to help Atletico take the lead. So far, Felix has scored seven goals in 19 Champions League games for Atletico, and his Champions League goal efficiency has almost equaled Griezmann's, and the team's history is second only to Diego Costa, who has scored nine goals in 20 games.
In the end, Atletico drew 1-1 with manchester United, who was stronger than themselves, becoming the only team in this season's Champions League quarter-finals to face a Temporary Unbeaten Premier League team. Although many rating sites gave Condobia and B Fee higher scores, UEFA gave Felix the title of best of the game. In response, the UEFA Technical Observer Group commented on his performance: "He scored a wonderful goal, he worked hard and showed great quality. ”
After the game: replaced early Diligence is not Felix's label
Felix did work so hard that he was replaced early in the second half when he was physically weak, and felix has made 13 starts for Atletico in all competitions this season, but only 5 games have been played, including 2 in cups, and embarrassingly, these 5 felix have played all the games, and Atletico have drawn 2 and lost 3.
Scoring in two consecutive games, Felix finally let people see the strength of hundreds of millions of golden boys, but there are still worries about the excitement, Felix was not a slump before, he was atletico's best player last December, but his form has been difficult to maintain for a long time. Even counting these two recent goals, Felix has scored just five goals for Atletico in all competitions this season, the least goal-scoring striker in Atletico's team, and even one less than the new signing Cunha who came after him.
How long Felix's form will last is unknown, and we can't say whether this is Felix's short-lived flash or rise, but after Atletico returned to a tactical style of play that was mainly stable, Felix was also given more defensive responsibilities on the field, and Simeone said after the game when talking about the reason for replacing Felix: "I see that he is tired and will not pull back, so I replaced him with Griezmann to retain momentum." ”
Felix, who debuted in Benfica, is a skilled and dribbling player, when he was in Benfica, Felix participated in 80% of the attack, he was the team's offensive organizer, joining Atletico for many years, but also gradually gave people the feeling that Felix is not suitable for Atletico tactics. National team senior Joao Mario has made it clear in a previous interview with the media: "It is not easy for Felix to adapt to Atletico, his style is more suitable for Barca. "In the past two seasons, Felix's state is difficult to maintain for a long time, in addition to the player's own reasons, and Atletico's tactical deployment has a lot to do with it, and the hundreds of millions of dollars have made Felix bear a huge psychological burden, Simeone's godfather of iron-blooded defense, but he does not seem to be good at adjusting the attack, and Felix has gradually lost his former aura in the process of being engineered.
Diligence is not Felix's label, and in the case of atletico's frontal homogenization, Felix not only needs to find the state, but also needs to find the self. Argentine genius Correa has finally found a balance of defense and attack under Simeone's tactical system this season, and the following is felix's. (Back-ups/MIKU)