But what Simeone didn't expect was that there was indeed a "Messi" on the court who was about to show off his power, but it was not his Atletico Madrid Messi.
But - Belgian Messi - Hazard!
This is also due to the fact that when he debuted, he liked to move in the frontcourt. His ability to control the ball and pass is extremely strong. He can use his skills with his feet and his ability to read the game to break through with the ball laterally. These characteristics are indeed somewhat similar to Messi, so he also has
People call him the Messi of Belgium.
He didn't have many opportunities today, and he rarely even got the ball on the court. This is precisely because Atletico Madrid players are very aggressive, which makes it a bit uncomfortable for the goalkeeper with average physical confrontation ability.
But he's also a very smart player.
He will not waste his energy on unnecessary running, nor will he use his own weakness to fight against his opponent's body.
When he has a little free time, he will take a leisurely walk in the frontcourt to rest and catch his breath.
This is what Pan Yi allows tactically.
Today, Hazard and Harry Kane were hiding behind Lukaku and playing as shadow forwards. The main tactical purpose was to wait for an opportunity to attack from the back row after Lukaku fought hand-to-hand with his opponent.
This is a bit like the 23rd version of Manchester City in Pan Yi's previous life. De Bruyne and Gundogan would create many shooting opportunities behind Haaland.
Now, Azar is observing his opponent's movements.
His "walking" does not mean he is completely off the court.
This is just like the real Messi, who is actually looking for loopholes in his opponent and then launches a surprise attack.
Especially the opponent's defensive players, Hazard's eyes kept wandering on them.
The Montenegrin central defender Savic is fine, and his physical condition seems to be pretty good now, but their captain Godin on the field today seems to be not so good.
He had his hands on his waist, his legs were trembling slightly, and sweat was dripping from his short hair.
More importantly, when Godin was passing and receiving the ball, his technical movements began to deform.
On the football field, deformation of technical movements is a very common phenomenon, and it mostly occurs when physical exertion is severe.
Godin, as the core of the defense, has played almost all of Atletico Madrid's games this season, whether it is the league, the Copa del Rey, or the Champions League, and has hardly received a decent rest.
In the early years, he could still withstand it, but now that he is over thirty, it is normal for him to have physical problems.
What's more, today's intensity is indeed not something that other opponents in La Liga can provide.
"The boss is indeed right, they can hardly bear it." Azar was secretly happy in his heart.
As a player with relatively poor physical fitness in the Chelsea team, Hazard's physical energy consumption was also very serious after such a long period of fighting, and his legs felt like they were filled with lead.
However, now that he saw his opponent's appearance, he felt excited and his whole body became light-hearted again.
This is the huge spiritual power generated by the desire to score goals!
As a result, Azar began to wander around Godin intentionally or unintentionally.
Especially when Atlético de Madrid was playing in the backcourt, he seemed to be forcing Savage, but in fact most of his mind was on Godin, ready to turn back and pick up the slack at any time.
A few more minutes passed, and Azar was like a patient cheetah, lying in wait on one side, waiting for an opportunity.
Finally, the opportunity presented itself.
Atletico Madrid made a backcourt move and the ball passed to the wing and was handed to Felipe.
At this time, center Lukaku is pressing forward, and Felipe can only continue to pass the ball.
But at this time, Savic's position was somewhat close to Hazard, so Felipe chose to pass the ball to Godin, who was further away.
Hazard gave up Savage immediately and pounced on Godin!
But the latter seemed to be unprepared. He was startled by the pass, hesitated, and rushed towards the ball, hoping to pass it back to his teammates.
Unexpectedly, Hazard, who was originally testing, suddenly accelerated and caught up. Godin's pass directly hit his foot and fell behind the defense.
This sudden change shocked and surprised everyone in the entire stadium.
But Hazard suddenly accelerated and quickly chased the ball.
Single ball!
At this moment, the air in Calderon seemed to freeze.
Tens of thousands of fans in the stands stared wide-eyed at what was happening on the court.
Hazard was like a sharp arrow, penetrating Atletico Madrid's defense and chasing the ball. Behind him, Savic and Godin were shocked and turned to chase.
But at this time, Hazard had already caught up with the ball at extremely fast speed and entered the penalty area.
Facing the attacking goalkeeper Oblak, the King of Balls deceived Oblak with a flexible fake move, then suddenly spiked the ball to the left and easily pushed the ball into the empty goal with his left foot.
"The ball went in!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Goal from Hazard! Now the score is 1:3, Chelsea has another victory!"
"Oh my god, this is like a nightmare for Atletico Madrid. They set up a posture to attack Chelsea today, but I didn't expect that Chelsea's attack power was more powerful!"
"Of course, this goal, in addition to praising Hazard for his calm one-on-one goal, was also due to Godin's passing error. Hazard cleverly caught this mistake!"
"Godin looks extremely frustrated. He should be responsible for his mistakes. But we should also understand. After all, he did play too many games and was very exhausted. He lasted for such a long time in this game.
With fast-paced offense and defense, it’s understandable that mistakes will occur.”
"But the current situation is definitely unfavorable for Atletico Madrid. 1 to 3, they have been pushed into a desperate situation by Chelsea, especially giving their opponents three away goals. This is simply a huge disadvantage in the Champions League knockout rounds.
"
After scoring the goal, Eden Hazard excitedly rushed to the visiting team's stands and did a standard kneel down.
The ball-playing king’s level of sliding and kneeling is also very high!
All Chelsea fans also cheered loudly to celebrate the team's third goal today.
The players of the home team Atletico Madrid all had their heads drooped, looking very frustrated and depressed.
Tonight was destined to be uneventful, and they all walked into the stadium with sufficient psychological preparation. However, what they didn't expect was that Chelsea still gave them a huge blow.
Under the fast-paced attack, they finally failed to withstand it!
The gap in skills and tactics has led Atletico Madrid players to use more physical fitness to make up for it, but what can be used to make up for the gap in physical fitness now?
Godin's mistake was obviously a movement disorder caused by physical exhaustion. With his legs weak, it was difficult to talk about accuracy.
Godin, who was wearing the captain's armband, squatted on the ground, holding his head and looking very painful.
He has an inescapable responsibility for the goal he just conceded.
Because his kick was more like assisting Hazard. Such a clumsy mistake should never have happened in a high-level competition like tonight.
However, it happened out of nowhere, and it happened to me.
Godin knows that as captain, he should come forward to encourage his teammates at this time;
But it was difficult for him to stand up and take steps.
Because he was a little ashamed of his teammates, the head coach Simeone on the sidelines, and even more ashamed of the fans in the stands.
He couldn't even forgive himself, let alone ask for forgiveness from others.
Other Atletico Madrid players were also scattered on the court, seemingly at a loss.
When the game reached this level, they were all a little confused and didn't know how to continue.
At this moment, a shout suddenly came from the sidelines:
"What are you doing? Is the game over?"
It's coach Simeone.
I saw that his suit and tie had been untied, and he was cursing at them with an angry face:
"Why are you so dazed? Just come back after losing the ball! A bunch of sissies!"
Simeone's scolding was like a bolt from the blue, causing everyone on the court to suddenly wake up.
Godin suddenly raised his head, stood up from the ground, and clapped vigorously:
"The boss is right, this is Calderon, the game is not over yet, we can't just give up!"
"Yes, the game is not over yet. We still have time and opportunities." Kirk also came over and encouraged his teammates loudly.
Griezmann even walked over and pulled his teammates together one by one: "Play well, we haven't lost yet!..."
By the time Chelsea's players returned from the sidelines celebrating, Atletico Madrid's players had already set up their formation and regained their fighting spirit.
This made Pan Yi on the sidelines nod his head.
"Atletico Madrid is a team that you can say is technically a bit rough, a defense-oriented team, and you can even scold them for being rude, but when it comes to fighting spirit, they really haven't lost to anyone."
This is obvious.
No matter in his previous life or now, Simeone has injected his own distinctive characteristics into this team, which is perseverance and fighting to the end!
This is also a very cohesive team.
It is precisely because of this that he was able to carve out his own niche in La Liga and the Champions League, where strong teams gather.
——
After the restart, Atletico Madrid suddenly launched a fierce counterattack against Chelsea.
Their physical strength was indeed exhausted, but at this time their mental strength gained the upper hand, allowing them to attack as fast as a whirlwind before they ran out of gas.
And Simeone is not just yelling from the side.
He first replaced his national team captain Godin with the young Uruguayan central defender, 21-year-old Jose Jimenez, then replaced the 32-year-old Torres with the Argentine forward, 21-year-old Correa, and finally
Another Torres (22-year-old Oliver Torres) was used to replace Gabi, who was also 32 years old.
In general, the veterans who were a little overwhelmed in today's fierce and exciting game were taken off the court to rest, and all the young players were replaced.
Such adjustments have greatly improved Atletico Madrid's offense, and Griezmann, who has been closely guarded by Kante, has also received more support, and his offensive threat has once again been reflected on the court.
In the 73rd minute, Jose Jimenez moved forward to the midfield and helped Griezmann make a "pick-and-roll" move to block Kanter behind him.
Griezmann took the opportunity to use his dribbling skills to get rid of David Luiz's defense and drive forward.
Substitute forward Correa started quickly. After receiving the ball, he entered the penalty area from the left rib and pushed the shot into the near corner to score, 2:3!
Atletico Madrid pulled a goal back!
At this time, their morale was even stronger and their attacks never stopped.
Atletico Madrid's defense even pushed directly past the center line and reached Chelsea's 30-meter zone.
There was a lot of noise in Chelsea's penalty area, and the goal was shaky, and it felt like it could be breached by Atletico Madrid at any time.
But Chelsea also have a lot of opportunities.
After Kanter suddenly intercepted the ball at the edge of his own penalty area, he quickly handed the ball to David Luiz who ran out of space. The latter made a precise long pass without thinking, instigating a quick counterattack.
Lukaku quickly moved forward, got ahead of Jimenez, headed the ball down, and quickly rushed the ball to the edge of Atletico Madrid's penalty area. When Harry Kane came in from behind, he passed the ball to no one.
Defending England striker.
But it is a pity that after Harry Kane sprinted for most of the field, his final kick failed to hit the goal.
The ball hit the outside of the post directly and bounced out of the baseline.
Harry Kane fell to his knees directly on the court in frustration, with his head on the grass, full of annoyance.
Pan Yi saw him on the sidelines and still applauded vigorously and loudly applauded the performance of Harry Kane and Lukaku.
In fact, there is no need to doubt why Harry Kane missed the shot just now.
Anyone who has played football knows that carrying out such a long-distance run when your physical energy is exhausted is definitely a test of willpower. Deformation of movements is inevitable. Harry Kane has actually controlled it.
Very good.
At least he hit the post, didn't he?
After escaping the disaster, Atletico Madrid quickly regrouped and continued to attack desperately.
For them, time is really running out.
At the 80th minute, Pan Yi also started to make substitutions.
Because he could see that some of his players were a little overwhelmed in such a high-intensity offense and defense.
At the same time, the substitution at this time was also part of his premeditation.
At this point in time, it is the opponent's fatigue period after taking the chicken blood, or the end of the crossbow!
At this time, if Chelsea replaces a few guys who can rush and run, they can break through the opponent's defense in one fell swoop and turn defense into offense!
So, with a wave of Pan Yi's flag, the three attackers Lukaku, Harry Kane, and Hazard were all replaced, and Mbappe, Abraham and Lingard were replaced.
At the same time, the positions of the players on the field have also been adjusted accordingly.
Abraham is at the front, Lingard plays as a shadow forward behind him, Mbappe goes to the left to play as a left inside forward, Gnabry plays on the right, and Seat B moves to the center to play as an attacking midfielder.
.
On the one hand, such adjustments can allow players to play to their strengths and avoid standing in unfamiliar positions;
On the other hand, Mbappe and Gnabry are separated on the left and right sides and will become the main launching point of the offense in the last ten minutes. Such a change of position can also make it difficult for the opponent's players to adapt in a short period of time.
By this time, both teams had used up all their substitution quotas, and the final battle had begun!
In the last few minutes, Atletico desperately tried to organize an attack, but it was obvious that their physical energy consumption was very huge and they made frequent mistakes during the attack.
They organized again and again, but failed every time.
Especially when the 90th minute was approaching, Atletico Madrid felt clearly deflated.
Pan Yi knew in his heart that the opportunity had come!
At this time, Atletico Madrid has reached its worst point, both physically and mentally!
At this time, Atletico Madrid's attack was frustrated again on the field.
David Luiz stopped the ball, glanced at the frontcourt and left side, and then made another big move.
The ball flew through the air in the court, drew a beautiful arc, and accurately landed on the left side.
Mbappe quickly stepped in, stopped the ball with his chest, pushed the ball forward, attracted the attention of the defense, and sent a direct pass to the center of the penalty area.
Lingard ran over quickly, blocked Koke with his body, and stopped the ball first.
Taking the ball with his back, after a brief pause, Lingard decisively turned to the right and quickly sent the ball into the penalty area.
Abraham chased the ball away, but Savage took the lead and blocked the ball out of the penalty area.
Lingard just turned around and saw that Abraham failed to grab the ball in time and was poked out by Savage instead. He immediately chased after him.
Lingard, who now has a huge physical advantage, took the first step and intercepted the ball.
When Lingard turned his back to protect the ball, Seat B was already raising his hand behind him to ask for the ball.
After receiving a pass from Lingard, Seat B stopped and saw Abraham in the penalty area and sent a cross with his left foot.
The ball drew a diagonal line and landed to the right of the penalty spot.
Abraham ran over from the right and judged the landing spot before Jimenez, but the Uruguayan central defender blocked him tightly, which prevented Abraham from shooting directly.
Just when he was hesitating about what to do, he saw a figure rushing over from the other side.
Abraham no longer hesitated, headed the ball lightly, and directed the pass from seat B to the arc of the penalty area.
I saw that blue figure sprinting at the fastest speed, just in time to meet Abraham's header, which rebounded from the landing point. He didn't stop the ball and directly kicked it off.
A muffled bang was heard at the scene, and the ball shot straight towards the goal like a cannonball.
All this happens in the blink of an eye.
Pan Yi stood on the sidelines and only saw the cross from seat B, saw Abraham's header pass, and then saw Mbappe step in and shoot furiously.
When I tried to see clearly again, the court was already in chaos.
Immediately afterwards, the referee's whistle sounded to confirm that the goal was valid.
"pretty!!!!"
"Chelsea once again broke Atletico Madrid's goal in the 90th minute."
"This is the French youngster from Chelsea, Mbappe's kick followed by a volley!"
"It was a very sudden attack of cold arrows, which was very surprising."
On the field, all Chelsea players hugged each other and celebrated the goal.
Atletico Madrid players stood stunned on the spot.
Everyone knows what it means to concede a goal at this time.
But it’s not because they don’t work hard, they just can’t run anymore!
And the cooperation between Abraham, Lingard, Mbappe and others who have just been replaced on Chelsea's side is so clever that it is really hard to guard against!
——
After scoring this goal, both sides seemed to have exhausted their energy.
In the last few minutes of injury time, the situation on the field was still a back-and-forth, inextricable fight, but no one was able to create better opportunities, and no one was able to get another good chance to score.
Especially at the end of the game, Atletico Madrid's players were obviously out of control. In the second minute of stoppage time, Griezmann tackled Lingard while retreating to defend and was shown a yellow card by the referee.
Felipe also made an excessive move while defending seat B and received a yellow card.
The last attack of the game was a corner kick from Atletico Madrid. Jimenez's header went wide of the post.
After this attack, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game.
Chelsea defeated Atletico Madrid 4:2 away from home.
The moment the whistle sounded, the entire Calderon Stadium rang with the cheers of Chelsea players and Chelsea fans in the corner stands who were traveling with the team away from home.
The assistant coaches on the coaching bench gathered around Pan Yi to celebrate together, and the players on the court and on the bench soon joined them, and they all formed a group on the sidelines.
Mainly because this game was a bit difficult.
Atletico Madrid caused great trouble to Chelsea, and finally being able to defeat their opponent with two goals in the away game is already a very good result.
Returning to Stamford Bridge with such a result, Chelsea will be more confident in reaching the final!
At this time, the live TV camera scanned the stands of Calderon Stadium.
Many Atletico fans looked blank.
Their team played very well today, but they still lost in the end, which was a bit difficult for them to accept psychologically.
Many people also realized that perhaps the Chelsea in front of them was really something they could not defeat...
"This is really a wonderful classic showdown!"
"Whether it's Chelsea or Atletico Madrid, our performance tonight left a deep impression on us."
"Especially Atletico Madrid, whether it was the high-position pressing and attacking at the beginning of the first and second half, or the persistence in the final stage of the game, we saw a completely different Atletico Madrid."
"This shows that Simeone not only trains the team's defense very well, but he can actually play a very smooth offense!"
"It's a pity that they met the stronger Chelsea. Under Pan Yi's strategizing, Chelsea still won the game without any danger. It can be said that Atletico Madrid was honored even though they lost!"
"Let us congratulate Chelsea, congratulate Pan Yi, who is about to turn 30, and congratulate them on winning the first round."
"At the same time, I also hope that the two teams can bring us a more exciting game in the next round!"