April 20, People’s Park Stadium.

In the 31st round of the Bundesliga, Hamburg faced Wolfsburg at home.

This game is very crucial for both sides.

Hamburg must win to ensure their lead over Bayern, while Wolfsburg, currently ranked sixth in the standings, also needs to compete for the Europa League qualification.

But since Hamburg will face Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals four days later, Pan Yi still made a rotation in this game.

Wolfsburg, which was fighting on a single line, had no such concerns, and they sent all their main forces.

Forward: Olic.

Frontcourt: Perisic, Alexander-Arnold, Caligiuri.

Midfielder: Pollack, Gustavo.

Defenders: Ronaldo, Knoch, Naldo, Trasch.

Goalkeeper: Glenn.

But such a lineup seems unable to stop Hamburg at home.

They launched fierce attacks on Wolfsburg's positions again and again.

In the 6th minute, Mitrovic received a cross from the left wing, stopped the ball on his chest behind the penalty area, and the shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. Then Lin Zhijian cut in from the right wing and shot a long shot, which was blocked by the goalkeeper.

In the 10th minute, Jansen's pass was blocked. The ball bounced out and Calhanoglu made a powerful arc shot from a long distance. Glenn used one palm to reach the bottom line.

In the 12th minute, Wu Lei dribbled past Trasch with a left-wing dribble, broke into the penalty area and ejected from a small angle, but was also blocked by Glenn.

In the 16th minute, Paulinho passed the ball from the middle, Wu Lei pushed the ball to the left rib of the penalty area, and the ball hit the opponent and bounced off the baseline.

Hamburg's continuous attacks finally bore fruit three minutes later.

In the 19th minute, Makoto Hasebe made a long pass, Paulinho faked a shot and passed the ball. Wu Lei received a through ball from the left rib of the penalty area and calmly shot the ball into the top corner of the goal, 1:0!

Although the visiting team players protested that Makoto Hasebe had fouled Gustavo before launching the long pass, the referee ignored it and the goal was valid!

After that, Hamburg's offense did not stop because of the lead.

In the 22nd minute, Calhanoglu created a free kick and took it himself, volleying high.

One minute later, Calhanoglu made a subtle through pass. Mitrovic shot from the center of the penalty area and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out.

In the 27th minute, Mitrovic scored the ball, and Paulinho turned around at the top of the arc and missed the long shot.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Kjaer took a corner kick and headed over the top.

During the halftime break, neither side made any substitutions.

Hamburg still suppressed Wolfsburg and took the lead with this rotation. Pan Yi was naturally very satisfied.

So he was prepared to let these people play right to the end and win more rest time for the main players.

As for Black Gold, since he was already the main force, now that he is lagging behind, he can only make some tactical fine-tuning on the existing personnel and try to regain the disadvantage in the second half.

But after the start of the second half, Hamburg became more and more courageous amidst the cheers of the fans and did not give Wolfsburg any chance.

In the 51st minute, Wu Lei made a diagonal pass, and Mitrovic took advantage of the situation to volley with his left foot, which was confiscated by the goalkeeper.

2 minutes later, Makoto Hasebe made a diagonal pass, Lin Zhijian volleyed from the right rib of the penalty area, and the ball hit the opponent's head and bounced out of the baseline.

In the 56th minute, Calhanoglu took a free kick in front of the penalty area. He took a shot and the ball went straight into the upper left corner of the goal! 2:0!

This kind of situation on the field, coupled with the two-goal lead, almost announced that Hamburg had obtained these three points.

In the 59th minute, Wu Lei made a deep pass from the left wing, and Mitrovic's header was confiscated by Glenn.

One minute later, Wu Lei turned around and shot from the top of the arc, but Glenn also held him down.

In the 62nd minute, Lin Zhijian broke away from many defenders on the right wing and broke into the penalty area with a low shot that hit the side netting.

In the 84th minute, Jansen made a pass from the left, and Mitrovic headed wide.

In the end, Hamburg defeated Wolfsburg 2:0 at home!

While scoring these precious three points, Hamburg also ended its bad record of three consecutive draws and finally won the game!

At the same time, Bayern's form has also improved. They defeated the bottom-ranked lowly Braunschweig 2-0 in the away game.

The simultaneous victory of both teams also kept the point difference between them at 7 points.

However, there are only 3 rounds left in the league!

In other words, as long as Pan Yi's team wins Mainz away from home in the next round, regardless of Bayern's result, Hamburg will win the Bundesliga championship two rounds in advance!

But before that, Pan Yi must face an equally important game.

That is the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, against Atletico Madrid at home!

…

Since it was determined that Atletico Madrid would be the opponent in the Champions League semi-finals, Pan Yi has not stopped studying this tough team.

Whether it is data research from Nagelsmann, business discussions with Guardiola, or my own study of "Simone's Mad Dog Tactics: Bandits Also Have Temperament" in the systematic tactics course...

Because Pan Yi had a hunch that this might be a severe test for Hamburg and him.

Simeone is able to use a seemingly retro 442 formation to gain a foothold in La Liga and the Champions League where there are many strong players. This reputation is definitely not in vain!

Their defense is indeed very strong, but relying solely on defense is difficult to pry open the goals of the weaker teams in La Liga.

After all, although Atletico Madrid will show up when facing Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​they are a "strong team" in front of many teams and they also need to score goals.

If it's all 0:0, how can they catch Real Madrid and Barcelona in the standings and gradually achieve a lead?

So Simeone actually has a good way of training his offense.

Pan Yi discovered that Simeone achieves the free transformation from the most stable shield (4-4-2) to the sharp spear (4-3-3) through the position changes of those versatile players on the field.

Simeone made adjustments to the movement lines and formation changes of players in various positions on the field during the ball phase.

When the ball is in the midfield area, one of the midfielders moves forward into the central penalty area to form a central attack point for the third forward, leaving space on the side for the fullback who inserts behind him.

At the same time, the midfielder on the other side moves forward to the central area to the top of the arc of the penalty area (the midfielder position) behind the forward, occupying the entire width of the field with the two full-backs who inserted behind.

At this time, the two defensive midfielders pull away to the side, forming a triangular position relationship and passing line with the full midfielder (front midfielder) in front of them, and at the same time forming a triangular position relationship with the wide midfielder (front midfielder) and the full back on the same side.

And passing lines, on the defensive level, it can also avoid the opponent's quick counterattack by using the open position behind the full-back after losing the ball in the midfield.

As a result, the number of people participating in the attack in the frontcourt has been adjusted from 4-5 people in the original 4-4-2 formation to 6 people in the 4-3-3 formation, and the offensive power will naturally be greatly enhanced.

At present, after the 34th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid has risen to first place in the standings. Naturally, they have conceded the most goals in La Liga, conceding only 22 goals.

In terms of goals scored, they also scored 74 goals, averaging two goals per game!

This is second only to Real Madrid and Barcelona in the entire La Liga, and it also shows that Simeone's tactics are not weak in attack power.

Therefore, Pan Yi has always emphasized to the coaches and players during the training and preparation meetings of the Hamburg team that while everyone is preparing for tough battles, they must also beware of Atletico Madrid's changing attacks at any time!

Otherwise, if the opponent suddenly changes their formation, if the Hamburg players are not mentally prepared, they may be caught off guard by Atletico Madrid.

After studying the data submitted by Nargelsmann and watching Atletico Madrid's recent videos, Pan Yi also discovered some points that were not mentioned in the system tutorial.

That is, this season's Atletico Madrid has abandoned the traditional "two wings flying together" mode in the offense, and instead adopted a "full-back pull-in" method similar to Pan Yi's use in Hamburg.

In the offensive phase of the midfield and wide areas, Simeone gave up the "ineffective" area of ​​the weak side wing.

In the same way, the midfielder on the side with the ball moves forward to the center to form a three forward position. What changes is that the midfielder replaces the weak side midfielder to complete the forward penetration of the top area of ​​the penalty area, and the position of the weak side midfielder is changed accordingly.

The retreat completes the protection of the weak side wing and maintains the vertical balance of the overall formation.

The weak-side full-back inserts diagonally forward into the rib area of ​​the opponent's defense to form a de facto "double attacking midfielder", forming a "3-2" echelon attack point and side pass reception point in the middle.

At the same time, the defensive attributes of the full-backs and the "3-2" positional relationship formed with the double central defenders behind them and the double defensive midfielders in parallel positions are used to enhance the on-the-spot counterattack after losing the ball in the midfield area and stifle the opponent's counterattack.

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These changes are not found in the "original" Simeone, or in a normal timeline, Atletico Madrid would not use such tactics for at least a few years.

This also illustrates some subtle changes that Pan Yi's time travel has brought to the current world football.

He brought the most advanced tactical ideas, and these ideas were learned and applied to their own teams by coaches who are good at studying tactics.

Guardiola is like this, Simeone is like this too.

Of course, Simeone's trump card is defense.

After several years of running-in and adjustments, Simeone has equipped Atletico Madrid with the "ace card" it relies on for survival - high-intensity and systematic defense.

In the midfield and frontcourt areas, unlike the most popular high-pressing strategy in today's football, Simeone's team maintains the stability of the overall defensive formation as much as possible and always places the overall formation between the football and the goal.

The four players on the midfield line changed to a diamond position to slow down the opponent's offensive progress by increasing the depth in the middle. At the same time, the entire team returned to their own half, completing the construction of a defensive system in the mid-low area.

In the midfield and backfield areas, the team's overall formation returns to a 4-4-2 formation or a 5-3-2 formation with parallel positions. The three defense lines always implement the principle of "between the football and the goal."

At the same time, the overall compression is carried out horizontally and vertically. The principle of zone marking is used to clarify the defensive area and respective movement routes of each player. Combined with the principle of assisting defense, supplementary position and substitution in each specific area, it is used to cut off the opponent's passing route.

And compress the opponent's vertical offensive space, maximizing your own natural numerical advantage as a defender.

While reducing the height of recovering the ball, the simplification of the transition from defense to offense and effective ball handling principles can minimize the threat of the opponent's high-position press.

These defensive tactics that are unique to Simeone, coupled with his carefully selected players who can execute his tactics like "mad dogs", have allowed Atletico Madrid's strength to rise several levels.
To be continued...