After the start, there was a very interesting scene, which best reflected Manchester City's targeted tactical adjustments tonight.
That was when Vargas was attacking from the left and wanted to pass the ball to Sanchez, but the ball was blocked out of bounds by Lichtsteiner, giving Barcelona a frontcourt throw-in.
This is Barcelona's first attack in this game.
Vargas quickly threw the ball to Iniesta who ran over to catch the ball. As soon as the Barcelona midfielder caught the ball, Robben, who returned to his own half, immediately pressed him closely, but Iniesta
Want to get the ball and cut inside.
At this moment, Rakitic suddenly came over. Without taking a step or making any movement, he just raised his head and raised his chest, directly blocking Iniesta's path with his body. As a result, the Barcelona midfielder hit him.
Rakitic.
The force was not heavy enough to cause him to fall to the ground, but he lost control of the ball and was immediately intercepted by Robben, who then stabbed Yaya Toure in front of him.
The Ivorian was ready to go. As soon as he saw Robben passing the ball, he stopped the ball and moved forward.
Go forward!
Manchester City launched a quick counterattack.
The entire frontcourt, Gareth Bale on the left, Yaya Toure and Suarez in the center, Robben and Rakitic on the right, were all sprinting forward quickly, and the counterattack was so powerful that Barcelona
They were all shocked.
Guardiola reminded his players loudly on the sidelines, especially the defense.
There were bursts of exclamations throughout the stadium.
…
Yaya Toure's dribbling speed is not very fast, but his physical condition is very good and his foot movements are skillful, especially when combined with his strong body, on the court, it is simply...
Busquets immediately got into position and blocked Yaya Toure.
When Yaya Toure first played for Barcelona, his main position was taken away by Busquets, who was just starting out. At this moment, it was like enemies meeting each other, and he was extremely jealous.
I saw the Ivorian skillfully carrying the ball and rushing into Busquets' defense. With a slight pull, he leaned against Busquets with his body, leaving the Spanish midfielder unable to make any more moves.
Yaya Toure was a little slower, but he still controlled the ball at his feet. He took a step forward, got rid of Busquets, rushed into Barcelona's half, and passed to Suarez in front.
.
The Uruguayan center stopped the ball between the two Barcelona midfielders, but he noticed Puyol's movement and he was not sure.
The Barcelona center back was too fast, and Suarez asked himself whether he was sure he could force his way through.
He really isn't Gareth Bale.
If it was a Welshman, he would just kick the ball forward, accelerate suddenly, and rush over.
But he is Suarez, he can't do it!
So, when Suarez rushed to Barcelona's 30-meter area, he suddenly stopped and stopped Yaya Toure's pass. He turned around and wanted to go to the left to find Gareth Bale.
At this time, Gareth Bale should be allowed to take advantage of his speed.
But he thinks so, and Barcelona thinks so too.
Barcelona's attack just now was on the left. Alves, the right back, was not too far forward. At this moment, he had returned to his position in time, just around Gareth Bale, while Pique was stuck behind Suarez.
On the route behind Si Chuan.
If you really want to pass it, there is a certain probability of success, but it is relatively small.
Suarez changed his mind almost instantly, quickly protected the ball and passed it back to Yaya Toure.
The Ivorian had just stopped the ball and was about to take it forward when he heard Rakitic's shout from behind him.
"2 o'clock, 2 o'clock!"
As soon as Yaya Toure heard the shouting, he instinctively looked to his right.
That's a big gap.
Before Vargas could return to his position, Robben had already stepped forward to this area.
"Don't stick to the ball, pass it when it's time to pass it. There are not many opportunities, so don't waste it!"
"If you want to win, you have to do what I say!"
The head coach's instructions before the game flashed through Yaya Toure's mind, and he passed the ball diagonally to the side without thinking.
The ball was passed diagonally from the middle of the thirty-meter area to the right side.
Barcelona's defensive focus also shifted immediately, especially Puyol. The Barcelona captain who was the first to pounce on Robben immediately.
The Dutch winger dribbled the ball into the right side of Barcelona's penalty area. After being caught up by Puyol, he suddenly stopped without giving Puyol any time to adjust his center of gravity. He took a small step towards the center with the outside of his foot.
, cut in yourself and catch up.
As soon as Puyol rushed into the penalty area, he saw Robben make an emergency stop, and he immediately followed suit.
But he was caught off guard, and he didn't react as quickly as Robben. When he adjusted his focus, he saw that Busquets had also chased back into the penalty area.
Just as the two players were about to form a double attack, Robben suddenly hit a curve ball with his left foot.
The football was shot right between the two defensive players Busquets and Puyol, and after drawing an elegant arc, it directly hit the left side of the Barcelona goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!"
"Robben!!!"
The Dutchman quickly turned around and rushed out of the stadium, roaring crazily all the way, venting his inner excitement and excitement.
It was at this moment that the entire Camp Nou stadium erupted in exclamations.
But the ball has been scored!
"Arjen Robben!"
"Just over two minutes into the game, Manchester City relied on Robben's inward arc from the right to break Barcelona's goal."
"My God, this goal came so fast, so sudden!"
"We see that at this moment, there are still many fans in the stands of Camp Nou who have not yet found a seat to sit down, but a goal has been scored in the stadium!"
“A great start for Manchester City!”
"We really can't say anything more. Manchester City used a wonderful goal and counterattack to prove to the world that they are still one of the strongest teams in the world!"
"Even at Camp Nou, it only took them more than two minutes to score Barcelona's goal."
"One to zero!"
"Barcelona fell behind at the start!"
…
Pochettino and his two assistants were sitting in the Presidential Stand of the Nou Camp.
Gao Shen specially found tickets for them in the area with the best view, and they entered the venue early, so they had a panoramic view of the entire goal.
That feeling is really surprising.
If it is an ordinary fan, the first reaction must be: Damn it, what are Barcelona doing tonight? Can they throw such a ball?
But anyone who is familiar with professional football and Barcelona will know that it is not that Barcelona did too badly, but that Manchester City did too well, especially this counterattack, which was too fast and too sudden.
"After all, he is a coach from Serie A, and he knows the rules very well." D'Agostino praised.
"Just now, if Rakitic and Iniesta made that call, if it were in La Liga, the referee would probably have blown it."
Pochettino nodded, his team is also very good at using the body, so D'Agostino's statement is no problem.
La Liga's referee enforcement is indeed biased towards protecting technical players.
But this is the Champions League.
Although the enforcement standards of the Champions League are higher than those of the Premier League, it is certainly impossible to completely follow La Liga's rules. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a disguised form of protecting La Liga and suppressing other leagues?
Many people have not noticed that UEFA's referee committee has always been headed by an Italian. Even after the Calciopoli scandal, it is still the bald referee Collina.
This is also because Italians have their own unique grasp of rules and standards.
Gao Shen has benefited from these aspects during his three years in Serie A.
In addition to Rakitic and Iniesta's move, Yaya Toure's move to fend off Busquets with his body was also a physical contact. It was obvious that this must have come from a high-level instruction.
These seemingly subtle details broke the balance of power on the field and brought this goal to Manchester City.
"To be honest, every time I watch Gao Shen's game, I can't help but admire it. Sometimes I even feel that I have brought out some bad team?" Pochettino shook his head with a wry smile.
D'Agostino and Jesus Pérez looked at each other and smiled.
They all know that Pochettino admires Gao Sheng very much, and even worships him a little, just like he worships Bielsa.
I have to admit that although they are both head coaches, there is still a clear gap in coaching ability.
Of course, this is also because the Spaniard's platform is incomparable to Manchester City's.
But back then, didn't Gao Shen also start coaching Naples?
"I counted just now. When Manchester City counterattacked, they invested a total of five players. This counterattack was really powerful. Suarez and Yaya Toure's first reaction was to play on the left."
Pochettino was thinking about the goal and the offensive line just now. Although he had only watched the scene, he knew it well.
This is the basic operation of a head coach.
"Steal the ball on the right and quickly counterattack on the left. This is also reasonable. After all, Robben retreated so deep, but Barcelona also consciously blocked Manchester City's counterattack on the left, so Suarez wanted to pass Gareth.
Bell, it didn't work."
"Robben's back is inserted..."
Pochettino made a chopping motion with his hands, obviously saying that Robben's sudden intervention was not only timely, but also very threatening. Even Vargas couldn't follow up in time.
"This kind of communication and response from Manchester City players on the field is also worth learning from. I heard someone shouting and Yaya Toure turned around. Otherwise, I guess he wanted to go on by himself.
.”
If Yaya Toure had played it himself, he would have crashed into Barcelona's defense zone and should have been able to shoot, but it would have been difficult to create a threat.
Even if he managed to create a threat, he probably wouldn't be able to score a goal.
Although Valdes has been criticized, he is not a vegetarian.
Instead, it moved to Robben's side, directly creating a gap, and at the same time pulling out Barcelona's defense.
Even if Robben doesn't kick the ball by himself, as long as he passes the ball before Busquets and Puyol are surrounded, the probability of Manchester City scoring is still very high.
The personal abilities of this group of players make it a high probability for them to score goals as long as they get a chance.
Barcelona's conceding seemed inevitable.
After all, when it comes to preventing counterattacks, especially after Iniesta lost the ball, no one immediately launched a counterattack in time.
It may be that the players have not entered the state yet, or it may be that the players are still a little relaxed.
