Chapter 57: The Opportunity I've Been Waiting For
When the two sides returned to the court and started the game again, the overall situation on the court was no different from the first half - Atletico Madrid was on the defensive, while Real Madrid continued to suppress Atletico Madrid's siege.
However, it seems different to the head coaches of both sides.
Flores stood on the sidelines and stared at the stadium with a little nervousness. Real Madrid's offensive was fierce. Atletico Madrid's only ability to do was to defend, but it was not possible to defend blindly. He had emphasized this many times during the break. When he saw Real Madrid's attack, the two full-backs pressed very much, whether it was Gareth, Bale or Sergio Ramos, both full-backs with strong assist ability and desire, so their pressure would lead to emptiness in Real Madrid's defense line.
If Atletico Madrid can seize such an opportunity and fight a few high-quality counterattacks, winning the game will not be a problem... What Flores is concerned about now is whether Atletico Madrid can really do this.
Although Mourinho did not stand on the sidelines, he was also staring at the stadium while sitting on the chair. To be honest, Real Madrid is playing with fire now. If you are not careful, the opponent may use the space behind him to fight a high-quality counterattack.
But if Atletico Madrid doesn't do this and always crouches in it, it will be difficult to play in this game. So it's better to take the initiative to sell a flaw and open up the situation.
Once Atletico Madrid comes out to fight back, it will fall into the trap designed by Real Madrid and be led by Real Madrid. At that time, the rhythm of the game will fall into Real Madrid's hands. Atletico Madrid will have to kick like this if he doesn't want to play like this.
Real Madrid now has two masters who control the rhythm. Mourinho is not afraid that his opponent will not follow his own rhythm.
But first of all, you have to make sure that you won't lose the ball first... Once Atletico Madrid scores the leading goal, the situation of the game will change and the situation will become more complicated.
The two head coaches stared at the stadium with their own worries, but the players on the stadium played the game step by step. No matter what the head coach made, they knew what they should do.
Gareth Bale and Ramos are key figures in the second half, because they must press on the offense and support the team's offense. Only in this way can Atletico Madrid players see the opportunity to counterattack. If Real Madrid's defense line remains unmoved, Atletico Madrid players do not need to fight back, because they know they will only return without success.
Once Atletico Madrid counterattacks, the two full-backs have to quickly return to defense, otherwise they will lose their position and Real Madrid's goal will be really dangerous. At that time, the stealing of the chicken will not be a loss, and Mourinho will lose to death.
The role of the two full-backs in this tactic is also very important. They require them to be able to attack and retreat, which requires them to return. This requires very high physical fitness.
In fact, the most physically consuming strikers on the court are not the forwards, the first is the midfielders, especially the midfielders who "from this penalty area to that penalty area", such as Gerald, Chu Zhongtian, and Alonso. They need to run continuously throughout the game and shuttle back and forth. Therefore, Chu Zhongtian's average running distance in each game is more than 12,000 meters. The second physically consuming are the wing players, and the wing players are the most tiring among the wing players. Modern football's requirement for full-backs is to attack, retreat and defend, which requires them to keep inserting and withdrawing.
Going back and forth, there are so many times when you sprint back and forth. This short-term explosion consumes a lot of physical strength, even exceeding the midfield players. People with poor physical fitness can't run at all, but the full-backs have to keep rushing like this. If the game is very fast, it will almost be like having a hot wheel under their feet, one trip after another. People with poor physical fitness cannot be modern full-backs, because modern football's requirements for full-backs have long been not possible only by defense. They must be both offense and defense. In some places, they must even be better off offense than defense.
Chu Zhongtian is not worried about the physical fitness of his two teammates. If he doesn't even have such a little physical fitness, he can't be a wing player. Ramos's physical fitness has always been very good, and Gareth Bale is also the kind of person who can sprint at high speed and throw away Inter Milan defenders in the last few minutes of the game and complete a hat-trick. If he doesn't have physical support, how can he do it?
Chu Zhongtian is now all focused on how to find Atletico Madrid's defensive loopholes. Five minutes into the second half, Atletico Madrid only had one shot, and it was very unrestrained and was outrageous. He went straight to the corner flag area, which made Real Madrid fans in the stands laugh.
In addition, Atletico Madrid has been huddling in their penalty area and doesn't come out much. Aguero is isolated in the front most of the time, and then after his teammates pass the football big or miss the pass, he spread his hands and looked helpless.
This is the whole performance of Atletico Madrid.
Even the commentator thought it was only a matter of time before Real Madrid won the game: "...Atletico Madrid has lost the strength to counterattack, and their morale is very low now. I don't know what Flores told them during the halftime break and what adjustments he made... Judging from the current situation, no matter what he said or what adjustments he made, they were all failed..."
Chu Zhongtian didn't think so. He always believed that Atletico Madrid was waiting patiently for opportunities. Judging from his experience in playing football for so many years, although Atletico Madrid has not had any threatening attacks yet, their defense did not allow Real Madrid to get any decent opportunities.
It is simple to judge whether a team has fighting spirit. It does not depend on their offensive organization, but on their defensive organization. Because offense requires inspiration, and defense requires discipline. As long as the defense is well organized, the formation remains unchaotic, and everyone is not in a hurry, it means that they still have discipline and their morale has not been disintegrated. Since this is the case, how can they lose fighting spirit?
They can still organize the defense line tightly and can still prevent Real Madrid's various offensive methods. With this, Chu Zhongtian dared to conclude that they had absolutely no loss of fighting spirit. They must be deliberately conserving their strength and looking for opportunities to counterattack. Once Real Madrid players believe that Atletico Madrid is really unintentional to resist, and put in a big push, and no longer actively returns to defense, it is when Atletico Madrid's dagger is unsheathed.
Therefore, you must be careful and careful when it comes to Atletico Madrid.
※※※The other person who has the same idea as Chu Zhongtian is Mourinho sitting on the sidelines.
He didn't think Atletico Madrid was no longer threatening. On the contrary, he became even more nervous. He didn't even notice that his back was tense and straightening without realizing it.
This idea suddenly appeared in his heart - maybe the key to the victory or defeat of this game was during this period... Although this idea suddenly appeared, Mourinho later analyzed and became more and more sure of this idea.
First of all, it is the 60th minute of the game, and in ten minutes, it is the 70th minute. At that time, the physical fitness of the players on both sides will be problematic. So if you want to do something, it is time to have sufficient physical fitness.
In addition, the game has reached the 60th minute, and the score is still 1:1. Most of the time, Real Madrid is surrounded by Atletico Madrid. In this case, Real Madrid players are most likely to have the slackness of being proud and underestimating the enemy.
Once the full-back assists forward but does not come back, and from a full-back to a winger, the situation is very dangerous... So this situation must not be allowed to happen. Mourinho's general idea is that even if he gets a draw away, it doesn't matter. Not losing is the top priority. Therefore, Mourinho's guiding ideology is to focus on keeping steady and be acceptable in the draw, and winning is an unexpected surprise.
※※※On the court, Chu Zhongtian planned in his mind what was completely opposite to Mourinho's expectations.
He didn't know what the head coach was planning, he just planned according to his own ideas.
He thinks that if the game draws, it is definitely not a good thing. Now Real Madrid and Barcelona are winning streaks, and the two teams have the same points, but because of the difference in goal difference, Barcelona is overwhelming Real Madrid. Chu Zhongtian hopes to keep this situation going.
A thirty-eight rounds of leagues are like a marathon, and the pressure on leaders in long-distance running is often very huge, especially those who have been leading the way from the beginning.
Many experienced long-distance runners will choose to let others lead the way at the beginning, but they will follow the main force, and they will not strive to overcome the main force until the second half to escape from the main force and appear in the first group, but will not be any leader, but will follow the leader closely until the final sprint stage and then suddenly exert force away from the original front-runner and hit the line by themselves.
Chu Zhongtian now hopes that Real Madrid will be a runner who can follow the leader Barcelona.
This will continue to put pressure on Barcelona and put all the huge pressure on Barcelona team. If the game is unexpected, they will sooner or later have an accident. By then, all Real Madrid needs to do is win their own game, use this opportunity to complete the overtake, and then maintain the lead until the last round of the game.
This is Chu Zhongtian's thinking from the overall strategic level. If Mourinho knew about his thoughts, he would be surprised. Because few players would consider a game from such a height... Since the strategic level has been considered, it is time to consider the tactical level. Chu Zhongtian plans to implement his strategy in detail now.
First of all, the two full-backs are the key. After observing for more than ten minutes, Chu Zhongtian was sure that Atletico Madrid must have looked at the situation of the two full-backs of Real Madrid to decide whether to counterattack. Atletico Madrid had several counterattacks in the second half, but without a goal, the threat was not great. They took advantage of the space left behind by the two full-backs of Real Madrid to assist.
However, at that time, Real Madrid's overall rear was still stable, because two full-backs rarely rushed up to assist at the same time. They always went up one by one, and the other defended behind them. Atletico Madrid was also afraid that Real Madrid would use the space behind them, so the force of this counterattack was very limited, and it was almost unlikely that it would pose any threat to Casillas' goal.
This is also why the commentators previously believed that Atletico Madrid was unable to counterattack.
But what if this team attacks with all their might? What if they suddenly dare to put their troops in a counterattack?
Chu Zhongtian doesn't need to think about what the situation is. At that time, Real Madrid's relaxed and careless defense will definitely not be able to stop the impact of Aguero, Fran, Reyes and others.
But what Chu Zhongtian wants to do now is in line with the wishes of Atletico Madrid - he is waving his hand to let both fullbacks press up.
"More people need to be invested in the frontcourt!" Taking advantage of the opportunity to die, Chu Zhongtian said to Alonso, who was a little surprised.
Alonso was very surprised when he saw Chu Zhongtian's previous actions. He knew that Mourinho had specifically ordered two full-backs not to assist at the same time. Chu Zhongtian openly disobeyed the head coach's orders.
Within Real Madrid, everyone knows what the result would be if he didn't listen to Mourinho. Pedro Leon was sent to the cold palace by Mourinho because he did not perform the tasks assigned by Mourinho after he took the field, and he almost had no chance to play.
Could it be that Chu Zhongtian also wants to do this?
Facing Chu Zhongtian's explanation, Alonso did not think he should do this. "The head coach asked us..."
Chu Zhongtian waved his hand: "It's okay, when we get on the field, we have to adapt to the situation."
Seeing that Chu Zhongtian could not persuade him, Alonso looked back at Mourinho on the sidelines with some concern. In fact, he was quite conflicted inside. He just cooperated with Chu Zhongtian and felt that it was good to partner with him in the midfield. But on the other hand, if Chu Zhongtian was thrown into the cold palace by head coach Mourinho because of this, then he would definitely benefit from it. He would become the commander of this team again, and it was unique.
Alonso had a conflict in his heart and no more words.
Bell was also a little hesitant, but he couldn't resist Chu Zhongtian's waving forcefully to signal him to go up, and even passed the football to him, encouraging him to rush up, and finally rushed up.
Ramos, a militant, had long been eager to rush up and participate in the offense. Atletico Madrid had no offensive before, and he had to abide by Mourinho's rules of halftime break. When Bale assisted, he had to show off. This made him feel uncomfortable. He was like a car with sufficient horsepower, but he could only be forced to run in first gear, and he was very depressed. Now, Chu Zhongtian added him to fifth gear, so don't say anything, just hit the accelerator to the end!
Although he was also worried that this would violate the head coach's rules, but what if he was wrong, it was proposed by Chu Zhongtian... And he was not the kind of person who would shrink his hands because he was afraid of the head coach's authority. When Mourinho first came to Real Madrid, he had arranged for Ramos to play as a substitute. At that time, Ramos said to the assistant coach who came to tell him the arrangement: "Go tell Mourinho, he is just a piece of shit!"
Yes, Sergio Ramos is such a person.
He is not afraid of heaven or earth.
※※※In the eyes of Atletico Madrid head coach Flores, Chu Zhongtian's call for his full-back to press assists can only show one problem, that is, Real Madrid cannot continue to endure such a situation, and they urgently hope to win in this game and defeat Atletico Madrid. So seeing the game is deadlocked, Chu Zhongtian, as the core of Real Madrid's midfield, of course, has to do something to change the situation. The change he can make is naturally to let his teammates press on to support the attack.
This is very normal. When many teams cannot start the situation, they will ask the full-back to actively assist and put pressure on the opponent's defense line, so as to find a breakthrough on the wing.
This is an excellent opportunity for Atletico Madrid!
Flores secretly clenched his fists, and he was already a little excited. When he thought of the upcoming goal, he could beat Mourinho, a arrogant guy with this goal, he felt excited... When he was the head coach of Valencia, after he faced Mourinho in the 8th final of the Champions League, he took the initiative to provoke, trying to play psychological warfare and interfere with Chelsea. Unexpectedly, the psychological warfare was not completed in the end, but was eliminated by Chelsea, and his provocative words before the game became a laughing stock.
As a victory-only scholar who did not accept failure at a very young age, facing Mourinho's failure is simply a shame, and he has been reminding him over the past few years.
Now he finally has the chance to defeat that arrogant guy...※※※ Mourinho also noticed Chu Zhongtian's actions, and a gloomy look flashed across his face. Is Chu Zhongtian stupid? How could he do such a thing? Don't you know what Atletico Madrid is waiting for now?
What we are waiting for is Bale and Ramos' two full-backs pressing on at the same time!
Mourinho suddenly stood up from his seat and rushed to the sidelines to shout loudly.
At this moment, Chu Zhongtian passed the ball forward, and he seemed to be trying to pass the ball to Ramos who was inserted behind him. But the intention of passing the ball was too obvious, because he had been in the direction where Ramos was for a long time before passing the ball, and Ramos was also running forward from behind. This intention was too obvious, and even a fool could guess.
In addition, Chu Zhongtian seemed to make a pass mistake. His long pass was too low and he pursued speed too much, but ignored the height, so that the football was intercepted by Paul Asongsang in the middle!
"Asongsang intercepted the ball! This is an opportunity for Atletico Madrid!"
The commentator couldn't help but scream. This opportunity came too suddenly and was so lucky that Atletico Madrid was completely like being hit by a pie falling from the sky.
But the people at Atletico Madrid were not as at a loss as if they were knocked out. They had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. This opportunity could be either taken by themselves or given by the other party's mistake, but no matter what method it appeared, they just need to seize it.
Asson knew that Ramos and Bale had rushed up, and the two sides of Real Madrid were now empty, so he quickly moved the football to the side and gave it to Reyes!
※※※"Damn!" Mourinho couldn't help but curse.
This is what he was most worried about. Unexpectedly, it actually happened... A huge cheer sounded in the stands of the Calderon Stadium, and all Atletico Madrid fans stood up from their seats and waved their arms to cheer for Reyes.
The opportunity that Atletico Madrid has been waiting for has finally come, and the moment of rewriting history has finally come!!
Chapter completed!