April 1st, April Fool's Day.
On this day, a peak showdown was taking place at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the center of Madrid, the Spanish capital.
This is a battle that attracts worldwide attention because the two participating teams are the most exciting teams in the Champions League this season, namely Real Madrid from La Liga and the Super Saints from the Premier League. , Southampton.
As early as mid-March, when Platini's claws took out the balls representing Southampton and Real Madrid from the glass jar, everyone was stunned.
These two teams are the teams with the most goals and the second most goals in the Champions League this season.
But some people jokingly joked that this is quite in line with UEFA's long-standing drawing principles.
That is to let the stars meet their old clubs Ancelotti still used a four-three-three tactic in this game.
The goalkeeper is Diego Lopez, the defense is Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos and Carvajal, and the three midfielders are Di Maria. , Xabi Alonso and Vidal.
The front trident is Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Gareth Bale.
Among the eleven starting players, three players are from Southampton, namely Carvajal, Vidal and Gareth Bale.
It can be seen that the bones of this Real Madrid team are also deeply engraved with the mark of the Saints.
Bielsa's team was also not to be outdone and still deployed a four-three-three tactics.
The goalkeeper is Neuer, and the defense is David Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Danilo.
The midfielder is a combination of Modric, Toni Kroos and Kaká.
After the Brazilian superstar performed well against Galatasaray in the second round of the knockout round, Bielsa continued to arrange for him to start in this game, while James Rodriguez played the entire game in the league last weekend.
In multi-line operations, proper rotation is a must, otherwise the players' physical strength will be too much.
The front trident has been adjusted.
Because Hazard was slightly injured, Bielsa did not arrange for the Belgian to be included in the squad and replaced him with Suarez.
Ibrahimovic is in the middle, and Chilean winger Sanchez is on the right.
Obviously, Bielsa's arrangement is more based on experience.
The combination of Suarez and Sturridge is indeed very strong in the Premier League, but their performance in the Champions League is relatively average, and Sturridge lacks experience in the Champions League, but Sanchez has more experience in this area.
Don't look at the greetings between the players from both sides before the game.
They were very close to each other.
Kaka even walked into the middle of the Real Madrid players and joked with Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria. .
Gareth Bale, Carvajal, Vidal and others also came to greet coach Bielsa and the Southampton players.
The relationship between them seems to be very close, and they will not become strangers because of the transfer.
But when the game whistle blew, both sides immediately went all out and were at war with each other, eager to kill each other.
Although it was an away game, Southampton was not conservative at all.
Real Madrid, who are playing at home, are also eager to win their opponents in the first round at home, so they also play very proactively.
Therefore, as soon as the game started, the two sides fought very fiercely, with you going back and forth and fighting against each other.
But despite the fact that both teams are speeding up the tempo and facing each other with bloodshed, in fact, the playing styles of both sides are very targeted.
Southampton's three lines are relatively balanced, but problems remain.
Because Bielsa insists on using a combination of technical double midfielders, the three lines must be as compact as possible to avoid giving Real Madrid players too many opportunities to take the ball and attack the defensive midfielder area.
But the characteristics of Real Madrid's players are generally open and closed, especially Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, who need space to exert their speed advantage and impact.
Therefore, from a theoretical point of view, Southampton is quite unwilling to face a team like Real Madrid.
But Real Madrid's problem is also very obvious, that is defense, especially the defense in the midfield and backfield.
Xabi Alonso is not young anymore, and both his running ability and defensive ability have obviously declined a lot compared to when he was young.
However, in the current Real Madrid team, he is still a lone midfielder.
The addition of Vidal has achieved a very important balance on both offense and defense, but it is still not enough.
Fortunately, Real Madrid's biggest discovery last season was that Ancelotti successfully transformed Di Maria from a winger into a midfielder, and discovered his contribution and role on the defensive end, thus allowing Real Madrid's entire midfield strikes a delicate balance.
But on the defense line, the two full-backs mainly provide assists.
The central defender combination of Ramos and Pepe is a wild team, which is always difficult to reassure, let alone stable.
At the goalkeeper position, captain Casillas was taken away and replaced by Diego Lopez, which is not a big problem.
Therefore, Bielsa's game strategy is to attack.
Make your defense make mistakes through the high-intensity frontcourt press and pressure that Southampton is best at.
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And Ancelotti also adopted the same mentality.
Because this is the Bernabeu Stadium, and with Real Madrid's consistent style, as long as they score first in the opening game, they will be sure to win this game.
As a result, both sides accelerated the pace from the beginning and fought hard to capture the enemy.
The head coaches of both teams also appeared on the sidelines, watching the situation closely and making adjustments from time to time.
"Toni Kroos made a long diagonal pass and accurately found Sanchez on the right."
"Chilean wingers are very fast, get the ball, cut inside and pass the ball" "Diego Lopez made a great strike, got the ball" "Southampton's attack was very fast, but Real Madrid's defensive players also reacted very quickly."
"Diego Lopez quickly took the goal kick and gave it to Marcelo.
Sanchez immediately counterattacked on the spot."
"Southampton seemed very determined to counterattack.
Ibrahimovic also put pressure on the two central defenders in the middle.
As a last resort, Ramos knocked the ball back to the goalkeeper."
“Ibrahimovic was going to press the goalkeeper and Diego Lopez kicked the ball to the right with a big kick.
"Vidal returned to defense and competed with Kaka for the top position, but neither of them got it."
The ball went over the heads of Kaka and Vidal and fell behind them.
Modric quickly came in from behind and intercepted the ball before anyone else.
This was the first time Vidal met his old club after leaving the Saints.
He was very motivated.
At the same time, he was also very aware of Modric's ability, so as soon as he landed, he immediately rushed towards Modric.
Kaka also ran away as soon as he landed, but he wanted to create a passing angle for Modric.
At the same time, he raised his right hand and said, "Luka, here" Modric did not dare to fight one-on-one with Vidal because he knew the Chilean midfielder too well.
If he was entangled by this guy, he would have to shed his skin even if he died, so he did not wait for Vidal to get close and immediately He passed the ball to Kaka in front.
After Kaka received the ball, Xavi Alonso next to him also ran over to guard him.
But as soon as the Brazilian superstar caught the ball, he moved forward and immediately accelerated and sprinted forward.
Kaka accelerated and Xabi Alonso couldn't keep up.
Seeing that Kaka was about to leave Xavi Alonso behind, both Carvajal and Ramos had to keep their distance, ready to block Kaka's route anytime and anywhere.
But Kaka was very calm.
He glanced to the left from the corner of his eye, and Suarez was already following him like a ghost.
As a result, the Brazilian star immediately made a judgment.
The talented man was bold, accelerated again, and rushed the ball towards the crowd.
As soon as Kaka sprinted, Xavi Alonso couldn't keep up, and Carvajal and Ramos immediately blocked him like goalkeepers.
But just when Kaka was about to enter the penalty area, he suddenly braked suddenly and opened a gap with the defensive player.
After adjusting his left and right feet continuously, he sent the ball to the left.
Suarez understood the idea, quickly cut into the penalty area along the left rib, and received Kaká's pass.
In terms of reaction, Carvajal and Ramos' reaction was not fast enough.
They immediately threw Kaka to Xavi Alonso.
The two quickly turned around and rushed into the small penalty area, with Carvajal being the first.
Time is close to Suarez.
But who is Suarez?
Typical of the most elite South American players He seemed to have expected that Carvajal would rush over.
He made another sudden stop, smashed the ball with his left and right feet, passed Carvajal, and after making a gap, he pushed the ball with the inside of his right foot.
The ball passed between Carvajal and Ramos, along a straight line, almost hit the inside of the right goal post, turned in one direction, and hit the goal, one to zero.
"goa" Suarez excitedly rushed out of Real Madrid's penalty area, opened his mouth wide in excitement, and kept making strange noises.
The surrounding Southampton players also swarmed forward, surrounding the Uruguayan striker in the middle.
In this goal, the cooperation of Southampton players is wonderful, but what is more important is the reflection of the player's personal ability.
If it weren't for the boldness of Kaka, who dared to dribble the ball alone, attracting the attention of three defensive players, and then passing the ball to Suarez, if Suarez hadn't been thieves and shrewd enough to calmly face Carvajal, With an emergency stop and adjustment, there was no way the ball would have a shooting angle.
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Even if Suarez chooses the near corner instead of the far corner, not to mention that Carvajal and Ramos have blocked most of the shooting angles, Diego Lopez is also stuck in the position, and only Some of the cracks were blocked.
If Suarez hits the near corner, the ball will either hit Carvajal and Ramos, or be hugged by goalkeeper Diego Lopez, making it impossible to score.
But the truly top players have this ability to turn decay into magic.
They can just rely on their own tyrannical strength to turn the impossible into a possibility in such an impossible environment.
At this moment, the entire Bernabeu Stadium became deathly silent.
Countless Real Madrid fans looked expressionlessly at the group of players celebrating crazily on the court.
That's not a Real Madrid player Yang Huan was sitting in the chairman's stand at the Bernabeu Stadium.
When he saw Suarez score, he immediately jumped up from his seat with excitement, applauded vigorously, and cheered excitedly.
"It's so wonderful, beautiful, Suarez wow" Florentino, who was sitting next to him, seemed to feel the pressure from the Bernabeu fans.
He sat there expressionlessly, looking down at the stadium, quite sad.
Suarez and Modric are two players that Real Madrid once took a fancy to.
But Real Madrid had too many and complicated considerations at the time, which resulted in the two players being cut off by Southampton.
There is also Kaka, this player who has been sentenced to death in Real Madrid has become Southampton's hero in the Champions League this season.
The attack just now reflected his strength and vision.
Yes, Kaka is no longer the Kaka he was back then, but his strength is still there, his consciousness is still there, and his knowledge is still there.
He used this assist to tell the story of the Bernabeu Stadium that had given him pain.
I'm still me, you just didn't give me enough patience Thinking of this, Florentino felt like a fire was about to burst out of his heart.
When Yang Huan sat back down with a smile again, Florentino also made a decision.
"Master Huan, in one sentence, how much did we buy Suarez?"
"ah" Yang Huan, who had not yet recovered from the excitement of scoring a goal, was immediately dumbfounded.
It turns out that there are really people in this world who are richer and more willful than me: