What should you do when your team is not confident enough to win and goes to an away game to challenge a strong opponent?
This is a problem that faces all coaches of Champions League teams.
Fighting on two fronts, competing with the national team, all the pressure is overwhelming, and it is impossible to give any chance to breathe.
Even hesitation is not allowed.
The best choice is stability.
Soldiers have no constant momentum, and water has no constant shape.
Reluctance to change tactics without sufficient assurance is a reckless act.
Therefore, in the away game against Dortmund, Gao Shen chose to defend and counterattack.
He knew that Klopp would be eager to drag Real Madrid into the quagmire of a war of attrition, but Real Madrid really can't afford it.
Ramos was injured and was brought back from the national team.
Gao Shen originally asked him to rest in the game against Sevilla, but it happened repeatedly during training and the team doctor refused to let him play. Therefore, Gao Shen had to let Varane take his place.
The French central defender performed well in the last game against Sevilla.
Yin Guain, Benzema, and Xavi Alonso all came back with injuries, but they were not serious and not enough to require a truce, but it affected their state to some extent.
The draw against Sevilla came from this.
But Gao Shen can't say anything about this kind of thing.
Professional football will never sympathize with the weak. In fact, the media will only further add insult to injury.
In the away game against Dortmund, Gao Shen was very pragmatic and sought stability.
As long as he can get a draw from the away game, he will be satisfied.
Going all out to attack Dortmund is definitely not wise for Real Madrid at this stage.
If we really want to attack, we have to wait until we return to the Bernabeu.
As many people have said, after three years in Serie A, Gao Shen's defensive ability is not bad. When he really wants to defend, even if he arranges three technical midfielders, he still wants to break through.
Real Madrid's goal is not an easy task either.
Dortmund still adopted its own crazy pressing tactics and constantly suppressed Real Madrid on the scene. However, Real Madrid relied on its technical advantages and used passing, ball control and rhythm to mobilize its opponents.
But the Hornets' team never gets tired.
In the first half, Real Madrid's most threatening thing was after Varane stole the ball, Toni Kroos' long pass counterattacked directly behind the defense. Cristiano Ronaldo drove straight in and scored with a single shot, opening the scoring for Real Madrid.
But after the goal, the referee blew his whistle to indicate offside.
This made everyone in Real Madrid very dissatisfied. Gao Shen also protested loudly on the sidelines, believing that this was not offside at all.
During the halftime break, Gao Shen specifically showed the game footage to the referee, especially the replay of the live TV broadcast, and it was indeed not offside.
But what can be done?
After changing sides and fighting again in the second half, Dortmund's physical energy reached a certain level and began to slow down the offensive, while Real Madrid gradually improved, but Di Maria missed another excellent single-handed opportunity.
Time passed quickly and both sides were making substitutions and adjustments.
Gao Shen used up three substitutions, and so did Klopp.
Just when everyone thought that Real Madrid would draw away from home with a score of 0-0, in the 88th minute, Dortmund launched a quick counterattack. Captain Kyle passed the ball diagonally, and Royce used his speed to make a direct pass.
Behind Marcelo.
Pepe rushed out to defend Reigns, Xabi Alonso fell to the central defender, and Varane teamed up to bid for Wandowski.
But at the critical moment, Royce suddenly knocked back and Piszczek made a pass from the outside of the right corner of the penalty area.
Xabi Alonso seized the position, made a mistake when he kicked off the ball, and the kick was missed.
Lewandowski took the lead, blocked the position with his body, blocked Varane behind him, and hit the goal from close range.
One to zero!
…
Here comes Wandowski again!
Gao Shen's face was as sinking as water on the sidelines.
In last season's Champions League group stage, it was Lai Wan's goal that kicked Real Madrid out of the Champions League.
Unexpectedly, when they met again this season, the Polish center scored again.
It happened to be at the 88th minute.
Thinking of this, Gao Shen really felt like fate was playing tricks on people.
Real Madrid faced Dortmund's high-pressure tactics for nearly 90 minutes, but made a mistake before the end of the game.
"Xavi must have been affected by his injury," Zidane explained.
Gao Shen nodded, he understood, because Xavi Alonso was also injured.
"Is this considered a rip-off?" Gao Shen asked.
Zidane, Hierro and Carlo looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Of course forget it.
They were defeated by Dortmund in the first round of the Champions League group stage. The key was before the end of the game.
"Actually, our performance in these two games was pretty good, not that bad," Zidane said.
"I know, but it's not good enough." Gao Shen replied.
The professional league is very realistic.
Whether it is good or not depends on the results.
Real Madrid's performance is good, but the problem is that compared with Dortmund, it is obviously not ideal.
Judging from the lineup, Real Madrid clearly has the advantage, but Dortmund's overall technical and tactical level is more mature, and the players' cooperation is more tacit.
Especially for this game, Klopp also prepared carefully.
But that's not the point.
The point is, no points were scored in this game. For Real Madrid, the fault tolerance rate in the group stage, especially against Manchester City, was greatly reduced.
With Real Madrid's current strength, it is not impossible to face Manchester City, but the risk is very high.
If they can get a point, or even win Dortmund, then the pressure on Real Madrid will be reduced a lot when they face Manchester City.
"By the way, it's still zero-to-zero at Manchester City?" Gao Shen asked with concern.
When Real Madrid plays against Dortmund away from home, Manchester City plays against Porto away from home, and both teams are away from home.
Carlos Bargado checked the news immediately and quickly said in surprise: "Manchester City is behind."
"What? Really?" Hierro was equally surprised.
"In the 84th minute, Fernando assisted James Rodriguez to score, one to zero, and Porto took the lead temporarily," Vargas said.
Everyone immediately looked at Gao Shen again.
The profoundness at this moment is really that I don’t know what expression or reaction I should give.
Happy?
It's true, because Manchester City may also lose.
Pity?
Of course, once Manchester City loses, if Real Madrid can win Dortmund, the situation will be much better and the pressure will be greatly reduced.
Worried?
This must be true, because the death group is really terrifying.
Especially this season's group of death.
Manchester City and Dortmund are both at the level of Champions League finals. Who is not afraid?
But this is also a reminder to Gao Shen that if you relax even a little bit, the ship may capsize immediately.
This is a super death group!
Even though Manchester City has failed, Real Madrid can't?
…
The sophisticated Real Madrid and Pellegrini's Manchester City both lost away games in the first round of the group stage.
The two teams, which can be described as brothers, also encountered doubts and even accusations from their respective media after the game.
Needless to say, Pellegrini will be questioned no matter what if he takes over a senior position.
What's more, this season Manchester City is experiencing a decline after its peak. The team's performance has declined significantly. There are many big-name stars in the team. For Pellegrini, the coaching pressure is also very huge.
The most obvious thing is that the rotation that Gao Shen played very smoothly before was no longer able to work in the hands of Pellegrini.
They are all big-name players, so how can they rotate?
But Manchester City's strength is there, no matter what, Blue Moon is still a favorite.
The situation of sophisticated Real Madrid is more complicated.
Let's say the performance was not good. They lost their first loss in the Champions League group stage and remained undefeated in the league with two wins and two draws. Such results cannot be said to be too bad, but they did not meet the expectations of the outside world.
But for a team that has just undergone a coaching change and reorganization, this is not unacceptable.
It's just that the powerful combination of Gao Shen and Real Madrid is so exciting, and the expectations given by the outside world are too high, which makes everyone unwilling to accept it.
On the contrary, Gao Shen once again took over all the responsibilities at the post-match press conference.
As for the impact on the national team, Gao Shen said it will definitely have one.
"Obviously, the players reported to the national team in good condition, but after returning, their performance was not ideal."
"I have been looking for a solution, but I haven't found one yet. This reminds me of Wenger's words."
Gao Shen laughed and quoted one of Wenger's humorous jokes.
"I had a car that was filled with gas and was driven away by gangsters. They drove it without any psychological burden and did not return it until there was no drop of gas left. They even refused to repair it if it broke down."
This little humor is more about livening up the atmosphere.
Gao Shen also said frankly that Real Madrid is encountering difficulties now. The national team competition is only part of it, and the team's own problems also exist.
"I never run away from problems. I see the problems in the team and am working on solving them. It's not a big deal. I believe we will get out of the quagmire soon and perform better and better."
Gao Shen praised his disciple Klopp without hesitation.
"He is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in European football. Dortmund is also one of the most competitive teams in the Champions League. But what is cruel is that they, us, Manchester City and Porto are four teams that are fully qualified to qualify for the group stage.
Strong teams were put into the same group."
"We have to decide the winner in the group stage. Only two teams can advance smoothly!"
Gao Shen once again expressed his confidence in Real Madrid.
"We will definitely be one of them!"
Gao Shen refused to answer the British media's accusations against Pellegrini, as well as Manchester City's decline in performance this season and their away defeat to Porto. He did not intend to answer any questions that were not related to Real Madrid.
Three days later, on the weekend, Real Madrid will once again have an away game, an away game against Rayo Vallecano.
So far this season, Real Madrid has played three away games, drawing two and losing one, remaining winless.
What's interesting is that Rayo Vallecano has one win and one draw in two home games this season, including a draw with Sevilla.
In terms of schedule, Real Madrid is really bad.
Double matches in a week, a dead group in the Champions League, three consecutive away games, this is too much for anyone to change.
Gao Shen said with a smile, "We have no choice this time, we must win."
"We are currently four points behind Barcelona. I think this is within a safe range, but we cannot widen the gap any further."
What Gao Shen said is undoubtedly the hope of hitting the La Liga championship.
