Chapter Fifty-Six
Looking at the Fiorentina players who were celebrating wildly on the pitch, Guardiola was completely stunned. The situation in front of him was something he had never thought of before.
Less than half an hour after the start of the game, his team fell behind 0:2. Guardiola looked at the distraught disciples on the field. At this time, he really hoped that his father's love would come.
It's a pity that at the door of the Fiorentina team, no matter how much Platini loves Barcelona, the godson, he dare not continue to blatantly run amok.
Before the first round of the contest between the two teams, some media bombarded Barcelona, bombarded the referee, and even started bombarding UEFA. If he, the UEFA president, wants to continue doing it steadily, at this moment Can't go wrong anymore.
Without the love of the godfather, Barcelona's dismissal was completely restrained by Florence. Although Guardiola made a few adjustments in this game compared with the first game, it seems that the effect is not very good now. .
Henry was transferred to the middle lane, and his strong ability in front of the goal has been improved, but the former King of Highbury who is getting older is now no longer as fast as he used to be, and his frontal assault ability is not as good as Eto'o .
So far in the game, Henry has not even had a decent shot. Most of the time, he can only rely on Messi's personal performance to threaten Fiorentina's goal.
After Eto'o was transferred to the wing, his performance was also very bad. He is not an assaulter with the wing. Although he has speed, pilling from the wing is not his characteristic at all.
Now Barcelona can be said to have fallen into a predicament, unable to play in the middle, and the kind of quick-witted, small-scale tactical cooperation that they were best at in the past, could not fight in front of the meat grinder in the Fiorentina midfielder.
In the last game, the side attack that equalized the score for Barcelona at the last moment also lost its power due to improper employment.
On the other hand, Florence's side is just one word-fast!
Through quick shots, wide-range transfers, relying on Digan's technology, control, and Mutu's speed to grab points, he kept creating danger in front of Barcelona.
At this point in the game, when it comes to possession of the ball, Barcelona is definitely a few blocks ahead of Fiorentina, but Fiorentina has no intention of competing with Barcelona for possession of the ball at all.
Let alone mastering the initiative on the field, just look at the game and you will know that Fiorentina and Barcelona are not on the same channel at all, even if Barcelona wants to bring Fiorentina into their frequency.
"Josep! If this continues, even if it's the second half, it will be too late for us to do anything!" Guardiola's assistant Vilanova walked to his side and reminded him in a low voice.
Guardiola didn't speak, just nodded, he knew that Vilanova was right, he was not Mancini, he didn't have the gene of hesitation in his character, but how to solve the team's plight now?
Guardiola does not have a charter in his heart!
The biggest surprise of this game was that Fiorentina scored a leading goal through a quick counterattack as soon as they came up, completely defeating Guardiola's pre-match tactical arrangements, and then mainly attacking the middle, let Barcelona fall into a trap Among them, he has been working hard in the midfield, and as a result, the players' physical energy has been seriously exhausted. Now it is impossible to shift the direction of attack to the wing.
The most troublesome thing for Guardiola is that Fiorentina's tactics are completely the nemesis of Barcelona's "kk". Whether it is the midfield or the back line, Fiorentina can always form a partial personnel advantage. No matter how tacit understanding is, there is no way to penetrate Florence's defense.
On the other hand, although there are only two people on Fiorentina's front line, Digan's threat is too great, and the young Pique cannot deal with it at all. In addition, a poisonous snake Mutu keeps moving on the two wings, involving The team's defensive energy was destroyed, so that Barcelona's best full-back assists in the past could not be played at all.
Guardiola thought about turning around and walking towards the coach's bench, subconsciously raised his head, and suddenly saw Prandelli sitting in the stands. Guardiola has always thought highly of himself, but after meeting Prandelli, he Only then did I know what it means to be beyond the heavens and the people, and this handsome old Italian guy is completely his nemesis.
Taking advantage of a chance of a dead ball, Guardiola called Harvey to his side: "Harvey! Now we have to make some changes, you go tell Henry and Eto'o, let them change their positions, and then get back You just send the ball to the two sides, hit more sides, this is our only chance!"
As Barcelona's commander on the field, Harvey certainly knows the current dilemma the team is facing. If no changes are made, Barcelona will definitely be consumed by Florence in the end.
But just changing positions between Henry and Eto'o, can the current problem be solved by taking two more sides?
The answer is of course no. At this moment, the Fiorentina players on the field are already playing crazy. Barcelona wants to attack the wing, and Fiorentina will immediately go up to it.
Not only Beckham and Modric, Degan is also constantly leaning to the side, making Barcelona's two full-backs, Belletti and Puyol, exhausted, there is no way Press the half court and participate in the attack.
Finally, towards the end of the first half, Fiorentina scored again, Degan took the ball, and after absorbing most of Barcelona's defensive experience, he suddenly sent a through ball towards the other side of Barcelona's penalty area.
Modric followed up quickly and lobbed a shot, so that Valdes could only look at the ball and sigh.
"L! Modric! Luka Modric! The through ball sent by Rhodes completely penetrated Barcelona's defense, and Modric easily scored! 3:0! 3:0! We will win Already!"
After the goal, Fiorentina players flocked to the South Stand, where Fiorentina's most loyal fans were. The fans in the stands waved their fists and shouted the names of Modric and Digan loudly, and the scene boiled instantly.
Prandelli in the stands also jumped up at the moment of scoring a goal, and hugged the fans who didn't know him at all. At this moment, he was not the head coach of Fiorentina, but just an ordinary Fiorentina fan.
3:0!
There was confusion in the eyes of the players on the Barcelona field. They had a premonition that they would not win. Just like last season, they fell in front of Fiorentina again. The only difference was that last time, they only Having reached the top 16, this season, they are finally one step closer.
Guardiola shook his head in disappointment and returned to his coaching bench. He knew that the game was over in the first half, and it was impossible for Barcelona to score three goals in the second half and complete the reversal.
Although the game is played like it is now, Guardiola has nothing to complain about. The team's tactics are formulated by him, and every player on the field has performed very well. It is a pity that there are few players in his team. A strong center like Degan.
Guardiola even began to fantasize that if Degan was in his team, if he had the super combination of Degan and Messi, then with Messi as the core and Degan charge forward, there would be no one in the world. Any team can beat Barcelona.
Although Degan has put Barcelona on the way to compete for the Champions League three times, if you can have such a player, who would refuse it! ?
The first half ended, and the two teams returned to the locker room with different moods. Fiorentina, which had taken a three-goal lead, did not celebrate in advance, because Digan said as soon as he entered the goal that the celebration should be saved until after reaching the summit. What they need now is a fight .
On Barcelona's side, Guardiola is still making his last effort. Although he knows that it is difficult to win, as the head coach, he cannot give up yet.
The second half of the game was almost a replica of the first half. Just after the start of the game, Fiorentina got a free kick outside the penalty area of Barcelona. This time, Degan did not give it to Beckham and slammed the goal vigorously. Valdes Although he touched the football, he was powerless to prevent the football from entering the net.
4:0!
At this point in the game, there is no suspense. Although there is still a lot of time left for Barcelona, no one will believe that they can achieve a reversal.
I have to admit that even without the help of the referee and the love of the godfather, Barcelona has always been a strong team, but it is a pity that their small and fast tactics can't be played at all after meeting Fiorentina. Florence's tactics are Barcelona's emperor.
Messi is still working hard. He is indeed one of the best players in the world. Although he is still a little immature, his thin body has already resisted Barcelona's future without hesitation.
In this game, Fiorentina has already paid the price of four yellow cards in order to defend him. It can be said that no one has ever made Fiorentina so embarrassed.
Messi's efforts paid off in the 67th minute. With the pass from midfielder Harvey, Messi succeeded in anti-offside and scored from the far corner.
But that goal was no longer enough to save Barcelona's fate and the game was over five minutes later when Degan sent the ball in for the third time of the game.
5:1!
An unbelievable score. Before the game, it is estimated that no one would have thought that Barcelona, which dominates La Liga, would be helpless in front of Fiorentina.
Guardiola gave up completely now. He started to make substitutions. The first one to be replaced was Busquets. This man endured 70 minutes of boos from Fiorentina fans during the game, and now he doesn't know How should I move my feet.
Then Guardiola replaced Messi. He didn't want Messi to continue to suffer the pain of failure on the court. When Messi was off the court, the camera captured his red eye circles, but he just held back his tears. .
A person in the stands also let out a long sigh at this time: "It's still a little short!"
This person is Messi's good friend Ronaldinho when he was in Barcelona. He came to watch the game specially. Originally, he expected Messi to complete the task he did not complete and defeat Digan, but now it seems that This task is still a bit difficult for the young Messi.
"Leo! Don't be discouraged, you can still be stronger, and when you become stronger, you will definitely be able to defeat him!"
After Messi left the field, this game has lost its meaning. The signal from Barcelona is very clear. They have given up resistance. Although Fiorentina hates Barcelona, the opponents have surrendered. There is no need for them to continue chasing. Fighting, Fiorentina's assistant coach Antonelli also began to make substitutions, replacing Arteta, Cavinaghi, and even the teenager De Sciglio.
The next game was a bit dull, both sides were not focused on the game, they both wanted to end as soon as possible, the referee seemed to have heard everyone's voice, and when the time reached 90 minutes, he blew his whistle sound, announcing the end of the game.
In the mixed zone, Degan was immediately surrounded by reporters as soon as he appeared: "I am very satisfied with the result of this game, which proves that without external interference, Fiorentina cannot be defeated by any team." Yes, I'm so proud of my teammates, they all did their best today!"
The game is just one aspect. Now people are more concerned about Degan's next season. Regardless of the rumors about Kaka's transfer, Degan, the younger brother of the Wright brothers, is not without the possibility of leaving. The previous salary cut incident has completely exposed the conflict between Degan and the club management.
"About the future, I don't want to say anything now. Let's save everything until the end of this season! I like the city of Florence and this team. If possible, I hope to stay forever!"
Of course, these are just Degan's expectations, and it is unknown what other people think.
At the press conference after the game, Antonelli, who attended instead of Prandelli, also praised the team's performance today, and finally summed it up in one sentence: "Everything is perfect!"
Guardiola, who had tasted the bitterness of failure, did not seem depressed: "Yes! We lost today's game. This is my responsibility. My players have performed very well. The responsibility for failure is all on me alone. But I don't think this is a disaster, but I think it is a reminder that we are not doing well enough now! We still have to work hard for the future!"