In the early morning of Beijing time today (14th), the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals was all over. In The focus battle between Manchester City and away to Atletico, neither side scored, but the game was tragic. In the end, Manchester City defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg to advance to the Champions League final four.
Foden is good.
City have withstood the pressure. The away team will exchange white papers with Atletico madrid to advance to the semi-finals as scheduled, and will compete with madrid's white counterpart for the right to the final. It was the ninth time in guardiola's coaching career that he had reached the champions league semi-finals – a record for the manager in that event. City also brushed the record, which is the team's 100 games in the Champions League, winning 55 of them, the highest of all England representatives who have participated in at least 100 Champions League games, and only two less wins than Real Madrid.
Behind the cold data, there is a thrilling, white-hot contest. City were able to pull away from the pressure cooker of the Mets stadium thanks to the calm and mature performance of the whole team, especially Foden. Since he became the main player in the Champions League last season, Manchester City has reached the quarter-finals for two consecutive years, which is worthy of the hopes of the club's future.
Why?
Just ten minutes into the opening, Foden was knocked to the ground by the home centre-back Felipe with an elbow and the back of his head. After 3 minutes of nursing, he was back on the field. Felipe's off-the-plate move did not even eat cards! This is the "snack" that Simeone prepared for Manchester City. Entering stoppage time, Felipe once again flipped Overfordon and received a second yellow card. The pitch was frying pan, Simeone was furious, Felipe was crazy.
Felipe fell to the ground and shoveled Foden, and the replay was not excessive, but Foden screamed bitterly, and finally let the other party enter the referee's small book. As soon as Felipe turned red, Atletico suddenly understood: it was impossible to win. From Foden tumbling to the ground to resuming the game, it was another 3 minutes. The players on both sides got mixed up, and you pushed and shoved me, almost causing a group fight. With this stop, Atletico's attack and rhythm cooled down. Ten minutes before Foden was attacked, Atletico besieged Manchester City, and the other side was in danger in front of the goal.
Foden lured Felipe into foul play, not only successfully interrupting the opponent's attack, gaining valuable breathing time for his teammates, but also reducing the opponent's staff and ending atlet atletico. Stoppage time was 9 minutes, but it took 12 minutes to end. Foden also interfered with the opponent's counterattack at the expense of eating cards in stoppage time. In the most dangerous moment, Foden suffered a little flesh and skin in exchange for a collective retreat. Compared with the previous night, Loftus Cheek's sluggish performance, deep blue out, light blue promotion, the difference is here.
High-level competitions, the away is already tough, not to mention the land of Atletico. Guardiola led the team, and the away game was not solid. At a young age, Foden knew the situation on the field and had countermeasures, which was rare. Felipe hit Foden from behind, intending to give him a dismount and let Foden know, "Lao Tzu is behind him!" ”
German referee Sibert was soft-handed, fueling the home team's spicy movements. Kyle Walker was deliberately injured by the other side, and Canselo was stomped on the other side's heels, both of which were Atletico's usual tricks and did not eat cards. As it spread, the situation spiraled out of control. Fortunately, Felipe was oblivious and kicked with a series of tackles, which caused the entire Manchester City team to rush up, forcing Sibert to play hard and frustrate Atletico. Felipe was expelled from the "deserved" two yellows, and his partner Savage Sterling only received a yellow card on his head, and he did not have a single foul in the whole game!
Manchester City shed their skin, got rid of Atletico and safely survived the ghost gate of the quarter-finals. Before the game, Guardiola stressed: (We) play no problem, but we must be careful of the other side to provoke, if you accidentally hook the road, you are sent to the next one, it is not good. In the first leg, Grelich was kicked 5 times in more than 20 minutes on the bench!
That's exactly how Atletico prepared. Don't look at the team in the away side of the frontless iron barrel formation, really to the point of desperately winning, smooth coordination, murderous, not inferior to Manchester City. Griezmann volleyed in the air, and DePaul received Marcos Llorente's cross-beam, all of which almost killed the away team. Manchester City goalkeeper Edson did not save once at home, and made three saves in this game, especially in stoppage time. Guardiola praised him as naturally calm and "seemed to be unconscious" and called on the whole team to learn from him.
Atletico had 13 shots on goal, Manchester City had 10, but Manchester City only had one shot on target, and it was late until the end when Gundogan single-handedly stabbed in the counter-attack, which was defused by the home team goalkeeper Oblak in time. In the first half, De Bruyne fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area that was blocked by the home centre-back. From the second half onwards, the advantage was on the home side.
Simone's plan, similar to Arsenal's famous coach Graham many years ago, is similar. It is all about stabilizing the first half and then launching a general attack in the second half. Atletico are not strong in scoring goals, and they must grasp the goal in the second half. If the goal comes in around 70 minutes, the two sides are almost certain to go extra time, and Atletico can swing the bus until they shoot each other's penalties. The key to defending the first half was also the strangulation of Manchester City's core players.
Foden was one of the heroes of the first leg, and Atletico naturally took special care. Felipe took advantage of the opportunity to fight for the top, elbowed Foden in the back of the head, and then immediately put on an innocent expression "sincerely admitting mistakes". If the personality is not strong enough, and if you can't hold your breath a little, you may be provoked by Felipe's tricks and commit the big mistake of revenge and expulsion. Outside of Foden, De Bruyne also suffered a big loss, playing only 20 minutes in the second half, and was forced to withdraw from the line of fire due to a calf injury.
Maybe it was the past many knockout rounds out, Sterling repeatedly missed the opportunity too much, Guardiola did not let Sterling start. Manchester City fans have praised: this brother is too sad, not a good thing. But replacing De Bruyne with Sterling still makes Manchester City fans pinch a sweat: what if he spits out the cake again? Fortunately, with more than half an hour left, City was unable to produce more killings, and Sterling had nothing to spit out.
Atletico and Manchester City each played a good half- goal, and City's best chance in the first half came from Mahrez's plan, a seemingly careless direct pass, the ball crossed the seam behind Atletico's defense, Walker rushed to the cross, and a twist and turned Gundogan hit the upright. Atletico picked up speed in the second half and pressed forward, which made Manchester City busy for a while. For more than twenty minutes, City could not organize a counter-attack, and the ball could not reach de Bruyne's feet. After he left the court, Walker was injured again, and Guardiola called out Ak and Cancelo to switch defenses, which was a decent adjustment.
Guardiola does not do, and Foden and Edsson are guaranteed, manchester City has a play this time?
Atletico are just one step away from extra time?
Whether in prehistoric times, today or 100,000 years from now, Simeone can not be left behind in the battle against Guardiola. Simeone earned the respect of Atletico fans 10 years ago by cultivating faith and a strong team. On this night, he and his players earned the respect of football with actions rather than words. Too bad it's just one step away from extra time? Find the right path, and next year.
A week ago, Atletico scored a 0-1 result in Manchester, which was extremely ugly and the results were not ideal, but everyone thought that Atletico had won the opportunity at a strategic level. So how do you play back at home, in the 550 formation as usual? If you have to lose one, then will it be worse to release it to attack? No one could have guessed Simeone's calculations. After all, there are only a few people on the field, and what kind of tricks and tricks have long been used, and they will not wait until today.
There weren't many surprises in the starting lineup, just that Marcos Llorente changed to wing-back, and LeMar was in the 3 midfield line, with some intention of attacking. This weakens the defence in the centre, but an extra transition point between Felix and Griezmann can greatly strengthen the connection between the midfield. In the first 15 minutes of the opening, it was the usual full-court pressing strategy, but it was impossible to maintain the whole field with such a strong action. Atletico had to intimidate their opponents in momentum and did create a few chances to counter-attack at half-time. Unfortunately, Felix only took the ball and slammed it, so he missed a lot of opportunities to cooperate with his teammates. The past half season has shown that Felix's no-ball run is more threatening, and it is good to put it on the left to open the gap and pass the ball, but it is not allowed to dominate the counterattack and always lead the ball into a dead end.
Atletico were aggressive in the first half but still passive, but the situation changed 180 degrees from the second half. It should have been Simeone who mobilized at half-time, encouraging the players to bravely press out and put the defensive line in the front, while switching the roles of Felix and Griezmann – the former covering, the latter deciding where the last two balls went. In the 56th minute, the triangle between Llorente, Felix and Griezmann formed a very threatening attack that further gave hope to the home fans. It can be clearly seen on the pitch that Atletico's overall speed has surpassed Manchester City, and forcing the opponent to make mistakes is also very effective.
In the 70th minute, Atletico made three substitutions in a row, with Angel Correa, DePaul and Carrasco coming on. At the Etihad Stadium, Simeone did the same routine, but did not achieve the desired effect, but instead conceded the ball shortly after. But this time while the iron was hot, the scene that was still going back and forth became Atletico suppressing Manchester City. Who would have thought that atletico, who had cowered in the box in the last game, would now be slamming into City's goal. Under the cover of his teammates, Correa became the attacking organizer in the middle, and Llorente became the de facto right winger. Atletico's entire attacking line was pulled apart, forcing City to retreat in an unaccustomed and unnatural way.
Correa created at least three threatening attacking chances, especially to Cunha, which made the Brazilian's inspiration to shoot with his feet the most exciting. Atletico's strong attack on the left side and then let the right side of the goal is not complicated and sophisticated, De Paul's 2 chances are not handled well enough, and there are so many cross opportunities, Simeone did not go to Suarez until the end, appearing to be late. But the momentum of the team in the last 20 minutes was too cool. In fact, until the 7th minute of stoppage time, Atletico, who played one less, had one last chance and almost dragged the game into extra time.
The headline on the home page of the "Maca" newspaper reads "only a little bit", in fact, objectively speaking, Atletico is still a lot worse. After all, the most threatening shot of the game was Gundogan's header through the post, and several complementary shots miraculously did not score. And even if Atletico make a final kill, it will take the remnants to exhaust the extra time, what is the chance of promotion? But compared to everyone's low expectations before the game, such a scene is not much different from winning and qualifying. If you ask Felipe, why did this "nerve knife" self-destruct the Great Wall when the team was in full swing? That's not really the point. Savage's clever move to the director's Wei wei to save Zhao is interesting. He pretended to attack the fallen Foden to cause confusion, diverted the referee's attention, and satisfactorily received a yellow card, but Felipe was still sent off. This farce did not actually destroy Atletico's mood and efforts, but fully embodied Simeone's style: passion, cunning and everything.
Guardiola stated after the game that he had no intention of criticizing Atletico's style. But Simone borrowed the question in a rather poignant tone: "People with a rich vocabulary can always praise you with contempt." And those of us who lack words are not fools. Congratulations to the opponent, it was a great kick, a style we've always been used to facing. We are proud to be ourselves and to be able to play in our own way. It's sad to be knocked out, but I love seeing the winner celebrate the victory no matter how well he plays, which means that winning is still the most important thing anyway. ”
Wen | Lin Liangfeng Wu Yifan
Edit | from the heart