Chapter 255 Ancelotti personally came to spy on the military situation, attention from Real Madrid!

Seeing Manchester City counterattack again, Lin Quan was like a wild horse running wild in the frontcourt, once again dribbling the ball towards Barcelona's penalty area.

Messi was a little helpless, this guy, why are you everywhere?

I can see you on the offensive end and I can see you on the defensive end. You can even block my free kick. Are you my nemesis?

He felt better after playing the ball just now. Unexpectedly, he was blocked by Lin Quan instead of being saved by Joe Hart.

This makes Messi feel extremely depressed. The opponent's offensive ability is not inferior to his, but his defensive contribution is much greater than his.

The most important thing is that this guy seems to have better physical fitness than himself. Running back and forth in the frontcourt and backcourt like this does not tire him out, which makes Messi envious.

If he had such abundant physical fitness, he wouldn't be walking on the court so often.

Barcelona's defense shrank sharply and successfully prevented Manchester City's counterattack.

Although he finally blocked the opponent's counterattack, Martino became more and more worried.

He felt that Manchester City's tactics seemed retro, but they seemed to hit Barcelona's weakness.

Barcelona's passing football focuses on pressure and control. To achieve this effect, they need to invest a large number of players in the offense.

Sometimes one's own defense even has to press through the center line, and the goalkeeper needs to leave the goal and move around the center circle, acting as both a post-ball point and an interceptor at the back of the defense.

And with the defensive line pressing so hard, the space in the backcourt must be huge.

Once the opponent bypasses the midfield and kicks the ball directly into Barcelona's backcourt, Barcelona's defense will not have time to get into position.

In the last game, Manchester City defeated Barcelona with quick and concise passes and extreme counterattack speed.

And this time, they took this to the extreme: people can arrive first, but the ball must arrive first!

These few counterattacks against Manchester City's passes seemed to be blind passes. They were either looking for players in the frontcourt or kicking the ball into the frontcourt in a clearance style.

The key is that this can not only have a relief effect, but also pose a threat to Barcelona's goal, which is very uncomfortable.

The success rate of this tactic of long pass and lob is not high, and it is easy to go offside.

Secondly, the farther the distance, the lower the pass success rate, and the defensive players have enough time to defend when the football is flying.

And it is very difficult to catch such a long pass from a teammate, especially when someone is defending. If you are not careful, you will be intercepted and destroyed.

Therefore, the long passes of most teams are giving the ball to the opponent. Not only is it ineffective, but it also increases the opponent's offensive opportunities.

It is precisely because of this that the long pass tactic has gradually declined.

However, neither of these problems seems to be a problem for Manchester City.

In terms of passing and receiving, Manchester City plays behind Barcelona, ​​allowing its forwards to compete with Barcelona's defenders for speed.

So even if the transmission is inaccurate, it doesn't matter.

If it was Kroos or De Bruyne who passed the ball, it wouldn't be a problem.

As long as they can find Lin Quan, with Lin Quan's ability to stop the ball, he can easily catch the ball that comes to him through long passes.

If it doesn't work, you can ask Negredo to ferry him around and give him the ball.

Moreover, most of the players in Manchester City's team are stars, and their passing ability is far better than the players of those teams in the middle and lower reaches.

The long passes of ordinary team players may be as crooked as foreign countries, but Manchester City's long passes are much more accurate.

Even if it is not as accurate as the precise guidance of Kroos and De Bruyne, it basically goes to the area where the players are, and the deviation will not be too big.

If you are lucky and the pass is completed by passing masters such as Kroos and De Bruyne, the success rate will be further improved and the threat of counterattack will suddenly increase.

As for the consequences of the failure of the long pass tactic, that is not a problem.

Anyway, Barcelona's possession rate is much higher than Manchester City, and the football is under their control most of the time.

As long as Manchester City's defense is as solid as a mountain and does not give the opponent a chance, then even if Barcelona intercepts Manchester City's long pass, it will not have much effect.

It's nothing more than giving the ball to the opponent in the opponent's half.

And compared to the threat of being forced to steal the ball by the opponent in one's own half, losing the ball in the opponent's half poses a much smaller threat to the goal.

Therefore, Manchester City's tactics are actually the same as Barcelona's passing and control. It seems to be an offense, but in fact it is a defense, but if it succeeds, it can become a fatal threat.

This tactic is good, but a bit expensive for the forwards.

So Pellegrini prepared two wingers and a forward on the bench. When these players in the frontcourt could no longer move in the second half, he started to make substitutions.

He wants to see if Barcelona still has so many defenders to accompany me!

Since the start, Manchester City has been using this method to deal with Barcelona.

Although no goal has been scored yet, it makes Barcelona feel very angry.

As soon as the opponent got the ball, he passed the ball long, forcing Barcelona's defenders to compete with the opponent's wingers to grab the ball as fast as they could.

The half was not over yet, and Barcelona's defenders were almost exhausted.

What's even more annoying is that their defense passively moved back a lot during the opponent's long passes.

As a result, their support for the frontcourt has been reduced, and without the investment in the defense, Barcelona's pressure and control of the pass-and-control tactics have been significantly reduced by relying solely on those players in the frontcourt.

Damn it!

Martino cursed secretly in his heart!

He finally figured out that Manchester City's long pass was actually a cover.

The purpose is not to attack, but to consume Barcelona's energy and disrupt their attack.

Don't fall into the opponent's rhythm!

Thinking of this, Martino quickly waved Alves over and asked him to pass his words to the players on the court.

Barcelona's tactics immediately changed. They became more patient in the frontcourt and resolutely refused to give the opponent a chance to counterattack.

Even if you want to play a long pass, you still have to have the ball at your feet. If you don't even have the ball, it's useless to pass the ball.

As long as Barcelona further improves the ball possession rate and eliminates opportunities for the opponent to counterattack from the source, Manchester City's tactics will naturally fail.

This decision soon paid off, as Barcelona's passing and ball control became more and more cautious, Manchester City's possession rate further decreased, and the chances of counterattacks also decreased.

However, after Barcelona became cautious in passing, in addition to the rapid increase in ball possession rate, other data including the number of shots, the number of attacks into the thirty-meter area, the number of set kicks and corner kicks in the frontcourt, etc. all appeared. decline.

Seeing this scene, Pellegrini returned to his seat with satisfaction and sat down with peace of mind.

He knew that he had the upper hand in the contest with Martino, a fellow South American.

The opponent's adjustments all fell into Manchester City's trap. The reason why Barcelona's passing and possession tactics are terrible is not because of their exaggerated ball possession rate, but because of the pressure they bring to their opponents when they control the ball.

Barcelona's backcourt moves 10,000 times are not as threatening as one forward pass.

Just look at the ball possession rate, it doesn't make much sense. After all, if you play in the backcourt and I don't attack, then you can naturally achieve a very high ball possession rate.

In the 1960s and 1970s, this kind of thing was considered to be a passive way of keeping a tie when a weak team encountered a strong team.

Barcelona is willing to play like this, and Manchester City is very happy, because it is Manchester City who is leading now.

Even if it's 0:0 Barcelona at home, Pellegrini can completely accept it. Anyway, it's Manchester City that advances in the end. What can't he accept?

However, he felt that Martino should not be that stupid. He should soon discover these and make adjustments.

Martino found no abnormalities for the time being, and he was relieved after seeing that Manchester City's counterattacks dropped.

However, he did not notice that in order to ensure that the ball was not conceded, Barcelona players passed back more and more times, while the number of forward passes gradually decreased.

On the field, it was Xavi who was the first to discover this.

Because he himself realized that under the pressure of Manchester City players, in order to ensure that he did not lose the ball, he would subconsciously choose a safer passing direction.

And passing backward is definitely safer than passing forward.

Therefore, in Harvey's past four passes, three were backwards and only one was forwards.

However, as a result, Manchester City's goal is becoming less and less threatened, and their pressing intensity is getting stronger and stronger.

The tables have turned a bit and now it's Barca's players' turn to get nervous.

Seeing the opponent's forwards eyeing the center line, they knew that once the ball was lost, the opponent's annoying long pass counterattack would come again.

This can't go on like this!

Realizing that something was wrong with the rhythm of the game, when Harvey once again received a pass from his teammate, he did not return the pass immediately, but chose to turn around and get rid of the Manchester City player's attack.

Yaya Toure was a little surprised by Harvey's choice. Harvey had passed the ball back under his pressure many times before, so Yaya Toure subconsciously thought that the opponent would do the same again this time.

Unexpectedly, Harvey penetrated his mind, and the magic of love circled around and passed him by.

Yaya Toure used to be teammates with Xavi, and he is very aware of Xavi's strength.

We can't let Harvey pass!

Yaya Toure almost didn't think twice and went straight to prepare for a foul.

Xavi seemed to have guessed the opponent's intention and passed the ball forward to Messi before Yaya Toure pulled him down!

Go for it, Messi!

As if hearing Xavi's voice, Messi particularly cherished this hard-won opportunity created by his teammates.

After receiving the ball, he quickly got rid of Kroos's interception. After picking up his speed, he passed Lescott and got out of Demichelis and Zabaleta before they could complete the double-team. .

Joe Hart was a little numb. The opponent's passing was simply unreasonable. Counting Cross, Messi completed a breakthrough against four people.

Is this the strength of Messi?

Can you save the opponent's shot?

He quickly adjusted his center of gravity, staring intently at Messi's every move, preparing to make a save.

However, the moment Messi's shot was completed, Joe Hart surrendered.

The ball was not within his saving range, and he could only pray that Messi missed.

Unfortunately, Joe Hart's prayers did not work. The football hit the angle between the far post and the crossbar and bounced into the net.

This is an absolute blind spot. Even if Joe Hart has just completed the saving action, it is impossible to save the ball.

"Messi! Messi! Leo Messi! He stepped up and brought Barcelona back from the brink!"

"Barcelona now leads Manchester City 1:0, and the total score is 4:4 with Manchester City, but they are still at a disadvantage in terms of away goals, and they still need to continue to score goals!"

On Spanish TV, several commentators were extremely excited after seeing Messi's goal.

Finally, he scored a goal. If he didn't score again, Barcelona would really be eliminated!

"The first half is not over yet, and Barcelona still has enough time to expand their lead!"

Compared to the excited Spaniards, the British commentators were much more depressed.

Martin Taylor shook his head and sighed: "Messi handled this ball so beautifully. His dribbling and passing are really breathtaking."

Andy Gray nodded in agreement and said:

"Even as opponents, we must admit that it is definitely a great blessing in life to enjoy Messi's wonderful performance on the football field!"

As a professional player, he knows even more how difficult it is to complete such a breakthrough and shot in a small space in the penalty area under the pressure of multiple opponents!

At least he definitely can't do it himself!

Messi's goal, if nothing else, should be selected as the best goal in this round of the Champions League.

"Manchester City needs to pay attention. They can no longer allow Messi to receive the ball so comfortably. If Messi cannot be restricted, then it may only be a matter of time before Barcelona scores a second goal."

Martin Taylor seriously warned Manchester City. In another game over there, Manchester United was already trailing Bayern 0:2 in an away game. If Manchester City loses again, the last spark of the Premier League will be extinguished.

Messi was so excited after the goal that he couldn't help but kiss the team emblem on his jersey while running towards the stands where the Barcelona fans were.

For two consecutive games, Messi has been too suppressed. This goal finally released his suppressed emotions.

In the stands, more than 5,000 Barcelona fans who were traveling with the team were also excited.

On and off the field, Barcelona players and coaches were also very excited.

Messi's goal helped Barcelona equalize the score and gave them hope of advancing.

But this is not enough. They are still at a disadvantage in terms of away goals. They still need to score one more goal. As long as they score one more goal, Barcelona will create a historical record of reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for seven consecutive seasons!

Martino also firmly believes that his adjustments have achieved results through Messi's goal.

Sure enough, as long as Manchester City's counterattack is limited, victory belongs to Barcelona.

Seeing Messi score, Pellegrini couldn't help but shook his head.

This is the role of superstars, they occasionally have a flash of inspiration and can change the situation of the game.

There was nothing he could do about the ball. The players tried their best and he couldn't blame his own players.

Fortunately, Manchester City still has the advantage of away goals. As long as they don't concede another goal, the spot to advance to the semi-finals still belongs to them.

Continue to implement the tactics of the first half. As long as we don't lose 2:0 in the first half, then everything is acceptable.

Pellegrini's killer move will have to wait until the second half to take effect!

And it's not just Barcelona who have superstars, we have them too!

Thinking of this, Pellegrini looked at Lin Quan.

With Lin Quan around, he felt much more at ease, and it didn't matter even if he fell behind temporarily.

The Manchester City players had the same idea as their coach. Seeing Lin Quan on the court, their emotions were very stable, and they would not panic or even get into trouble because of Barcelona's goal.

Messi's goal is indeed wonderful, and it's not like they have never seen such a goal before.

After being teammates with Lin Quan, they had seen such almost impossible goals several times.

Lin has even scored more exciting goals in previous games, such as the winning kick against Chelsea!

After the goal, Barcelona gained momentum and took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on Manchester City, hoping to expand their lead.

However, Manchester City's players were very focused and defended extremely tenaciously. Although they were slightly passive, they did not give the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of them.

The 1:0 score remained until the midfield whistle sounded!

Manchester City's players returned to their own locker room in a calm mood, and Barcelona's players also returned to the away team's locker room talking and laughing.

Judging from the expressions on the faces of the players on both sides, it seems that they are satisfied with the current result?

In the stands of the Etihad Stadium, a middle-aged man with a wide body and fat body was chewing gum while observing the expressions on the faces of the players of the two teams.

After watching for a while, he turned back to the assistant beside him and said:

"Paul, Manchester City is better than we thought."

Real Madrid assistant coach Paul Clement nodded:

"You are right, Carlo. Their ability to beat Barcelona away from home is enough to prove that their strength exceeds outside predictions."

Ancelotti shook his head: "I'm not referring to this, I'm referring to the mentality of the players."

"Have you noticed that when the score is behind, there is no anxiety or uneasiness on the faces of the Manchester City players. They don't look like a team that has entered the quarterfinals for the first time, but more like a team with... A team with rich knockout experience and a very mature mentality."

"It's very difficult to beat such a team on the field!"

"After the game against Paris Saint-Germain, we have to prepare carefully. Otherwise, once we encounter them, we may overturn!"

As the top favorites for the Champions League this season, Ancelotti and Real Madrid's goal is naturally to win the Champions League trophy.

Therefore, they did a lot of research on several other possible opponents before the game.

Among them, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are their league opponents. They know each other well and there is no need to go out of their way to understand them.

Bayern has always been the top team in Europe. Real Madrid has played against them many times, and they also attach great importance to them, so they have a relatively deep understanding of Bayern's strength.

Only they don't know much about Manchester City, the new Champions League team.

This is why Ancelotti personally took action and brought his assistant coach to the Etihad Stadium to watch the game live.

Although they will face Paris Saint-Germain at home tomorrow, in Ancelotti's view, Paris Saint-Germain is just a rookie who is willing to be slaughtered by them!

Once they break into the semi-finals, Real Madrid will face a truly formidable opponent.

In Ancelotti's mind, he obviously regards Manchester City as a strong opponent that can be ranked on the same level as Bayern and Barcelona.

"But, Barcelona is in the lead now? If Manchester City wants to advance to the semi-finals, they must first overcome Barcelona!"

Clement's evaluation of Manchester City is far less high than that of Ancelotti, and he feels that Manchester City is just like this.

How strong can a team that plays long passes in the knockout stages of the Champions League be?

Ancelotti looked at his assistant coach, who originally planned to leave him this summer and go out on his own.

But now Ancelotti feels that it is better to take him for one year and then let him go!

Otherwise, if he is released like this, it will harm other teams.

"Barcelona is only temporarily taking the lead. Manchester City has not used a real killer move. The decisive battle of this game will be in the second half!"

Ancelotti looked towards the court, his eyes finally falling on Manchester City's No. 10 player, and his tone was particularly firm.