In the major European media the next day, numerous newspapers reported on the match between Sweden and France.
Of course, the focus of each media report is different.
"Sweden defeated France 2:0 and met Portugal in the European Cup final!"
That's a relatively decent title from "The Times", which describes the content of the game, and then explains the final outcome, that is, Sweden and Portugal will compete for the final championship!
"Is that a final that will definitely create history! Is it Pan Yi, or is it Ronaldo?"
The report from L'Equipe focused on Sweden and Portugal, the two teams that reached the European Cup finals.
No matter who can win the championship in the past, it will be the first time in the history of the team. In other words, there will be a brand new European Cup champion next year.
It's a bit like before the 2010 World Cup finals. The two teams that entered the finals, Spain and the Netherlands, had never won the championship before, so that game was also called a history-making battle.
The biggest contributors to the two teams reaching the final are generally considered to be Ronaldo for the Portuguese team and Pan Yi for the Swedish team.
Of those two people who have countless fans around the world, who can lead the team to become the king of Europe?
This is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the game.
"Pan Yi reappeared as a famous coach and completely defeated Deschamps in tactics"
As a local Swedish newspaper, "Swedish Monthly", of course, it was not wrong to sing praises in that semi-final.
They believe that when the team's strength is completely inferior to that of France, Pan Yi adopts a swing formation tactic that is not common in international competitions and makes more targeted adjustments to France. If the Swedish team cannot get that
The key to a game.
"Some people who were questioning Pan Yi before the start of the European Cup must shut their big mouths now."
"They believe that Pan Yi's success at Chelsea is largely due to the support of the owner, which allows him to buy any player he wants."
"But in the Swedish team, it is obvious that Pan Yifeng cannot select and get the players he wants. In his team, there is Weinblum, but no Kante; there is Lindelof, but no Van Dijk.
"There is Guidetti, but there is no Hazard..."
"What they have is Ibrahimovic! But for such an mediocre team, Pan Yi used flexible tactics to build a winning team!"
"From Ireland, Italy, Belgium, to Spain, Germany, and France, Pan Yi has led their national teams and has defeated almost all the best teams in Europe!"
"In the process, they also saw a team that became more mature, more confident, and more motivated."
"The one in front of them now is Portugal, led by Ronaldo. They also believe that Pan Yi can definitely overcome that difficulty and win the championship!"
"But whether Pan Yi won or lost in the beginning, based on everything Pan Yi saw, he can even compete for the title of the best head coach in the history of the Swedish national team!..."
"Behind Sweden VS France, the mismatch between Eastern magic and African witchcraft"
Just by looking at the title, you can tell whether it is a product of The Sun.
In their article, they vividly described the details of the "magic return to war" between the two sides.
It started with a famous Asian midfielder from the French team who found a wizard, and then a handsome oriental coach from the Swedish team also found two eminent monks and immortals. The two sides finally met in the stands of the Marseille stadium.
Start a fierce contest.
In that battle that was invisible to ordinary people, the mysterious magic from the East had won the victory.
After all, regardless of quantity or quality, the Swedish team has an absolute advantage.
And this advantage was also reflected on the field. The Swedish team players were obviously more motivated than the French team, and they finally scored two goals and won the game.
Something went wrong in that fight during the intermission, so the venue management asked the Swedish monks and Taoist priests to leave the stadium.
But obviously, this approach did not affect the original nature of the battle.
According to some African-American French fans in the stands, even in the east half, they could still feel the powerful force of liquid coming towards the court from all directions.
"No, it must be a kind of anger! Everyone in the Dragon Kingdom has it!"
"His feeling is more like magic. He even feels the flow of chakra."
"There is no way their witchcraft can withstand such a powerful force! They are really in trouble!"
In this regard, "The Sun" even conducted a study on the Buddhism and Taoist systems of the Dragon Kingdom, and concluded that it is indeed a bit too much to let those two powerful branches of magic work together to deal with witchcraft.
Bullying!
As for the two Eastern systems, which do not seem to be the same system, they also gave their own explanations:
Buddha is not the Tao!
——
"TMD The Sun is really talented! I beg him to be considered a party, he almost believed it."
Pan Yi put down the newspaper and laughed.
"What are you laughing at, his sun?"
Valentina, who was walking on the wrong side of him, asked curiously.
"His Sun" is a famous Italian song, and the famous tenor Pavarotti often sang it.
Valentina, who is also Italian, jokingly used it to refer to her ruthless person.
Of course, it’s not because of the lyrics in that song that it’s actually quite appropriate to describe Pan Yi:
"Ah, my eyes are shining, like the sun is shining brightly..."
Pan Yi curled his lips, handed the newspaper in his lap to Valentina, and asked her to read it by herself.
Soon, she also covered her chest and laughed like a barbell.
Pan Yi stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth, which would be tomorrow's breakfast.
I walked outside to have breakfast on the open-air balcony of the Manor Hotel, enjoying the direct sunlight at noon. The temperature was neither cold nor hot, just right and very comfortable.
Like every game in the past, after playing France, they returned to the base camp overnight, and the players' families were also allowed to visit the hotel.
Well, by noon tomorrow, the family members have asked to leave, because starting from noon, the Swedish team will have a tactical preparation meeting, which is a closed training session.
In other words, starting from tomorrow, Pan Yi will start preparing for the final against Portugal!
After Valentina finished laughing, she asked Pan Yi: "Since my Eastern magic is so good, will it be useful in Portugal?"
Pan Yi shook his head: "No."
"Why?" Valentina laughed again, "He thinks the effect is very good. Don't the Portuguese believe in that kind of thing?"
"Some people should believe it. He sees Benfica and Porto who also deal with those things every day. Ronaldo seems to have never heard of such beliefs..."
"Then why don't you continue?"
"His extras saw good results, so he raised the price accordingly." Pan Yi shrugged, "Their current quotation is 1,000 euros per hour."
"..." Valentina was speechless, "Then why not go grab it!"
"So, why don't they play a serious game with Portugal? The money would be worth buying me food."
Valentina came and scratched Pan Yi's nose: "You're so good. Having said that, am I prepared to make mistakes against Portugal? He thinks a team like theirs is not easy to play."
If we talk about absolute strength, Portugal is certainly not as good as France.
But Portugal has one thing that France does not have, that is they have Cristiano Ronaldo!
Having a superstar-level star can have an impact on a team. The Swedish team itself can understand it, because they also have Ibrahimovic!
Such a team, when all the players can be united around the superstar, can often burst out with amazing power.
Let me just say that in the 2022 World Cup in the previous life, was the Argentine team's absolute strength strong?
Most of their main players are just leftovers from wealthy clubs and mid-range players from the five major leagues.
But with Messi as the core and the unprecedented unity of the team, they were able to defeat many powerful opponents and win the Hercules Cup.
Does this principle also apply to the Portuguese team?
In addition, the Portuguese team's journey to the finals was also bumpy.
In the group stage, they were placed in Group F with Iceland, Hungary, and Austria, which logically speaking was not too difficult.
But first they lost 1:1 to Iceland, then 0:0 to Austria, and finally 3:3 to Hungary, and they actually tied three times in a row!
If not, Ronaldo scored twice when he missed Hungary. Portugal could not even qualify, let alone enter the final.
Even if the top two in the group could advance in previous years, Portugal's third place result in the group would have caused them to be eliminated early.
But football is not like that.
In the 1982 World Cup, Italy also managed to draw all three games in the group stage. After qualifying, it made it all the way to the final, and finally defeated West Germany to win the championship.
In the 1994 World Cup, Italy scored 4 points with one win, one draw and one loss, but the four teams actually scored the same 4 points, and Italy only finished third in the group.
It can be said that if the competition system at that time did not allow the third place in the group to have a chance to qualify, Italy would have been kicked out long ago.
Such a sluggish start did not affect Italy's subsequent journey. In the knockout rounds, Baggio began to show off his power, and he almost single-handedly brought Italy to the final.
Although they lost to Brazil on penalties in the final, considering Italy's original status as third in the group, that result was considered a perfect counterattack.
(Hey, why are they all Italian?)
Will the same be true for Portugal next year? After qualifying from the group, they will fall into the weaker half of the competition.
The quarter-finals against Croatia will be their most difficult test.
The two teams played until overtime and the score was 0:0. It turned out that in the 117th minute, Quaresma's winning goal eliminated the stubborn wrong leg.
(Hey, why does Croatia ask for 120 minutes every time?)
Then in the quarter-finals, Portugal faced Poland with Lewandowski and had another tough battle.
That time, they were tied again with the wrong leg outside 120 minutes, and then had to escape the danger through a penalty shootout.
In the semi-finals, Portugal faced the dark horse Wales, but they played relatively easily in that match. With the goals of Nani and Ronaldo, they eliminated the opponent and entered the final.
Valentina said that teams like Portugal are not easy to play. In addition to the factor of Ronaldo, judging from the experience of previous years, it is often easier for teams that have bumped into each other to accumulate status and strength.
Finally it broke out again.
It’s hard to say whether Portugal did it intentionally, but at least their state was indeed not fully developed at the beginning, and then after two hard battles in the knockout rounds, they seemed to have adjusted to a climax when they missed Wales.
This is also true for Cristiano Ronaldo. His goal in the semi-finals will definitely make him more confident and allow him to perform better in the finals.
As you can imagine, once a team with a superstar like that breaks out, it will be a nightmare for all teams!
Pan Yi nodded and touched Valentina's hair to express his appreciation.
That woman, after spending a year in York City, her football knowledge has increased a lot.
"Then, I'll teach him how to play Portugal?" Pan Yi said with a smile.
"How does he know?" Valentina spat, "He knows it, I must know it in my heart."
"That's fine, then I don't have to worry about him." Pan Yi pulled Valentina into the house, "Hey, let's do some morning exercises while we have plenty of time!"
——
At noon, the Swedish team began their most important tactical meeting in preparation for the European Cup finals.
Pan Yi needs to go through that meeting and clearly let all the players know how to play the game.
Then during the few days after arriving from the east, we practiced and adjusted around that set of tactics.
"The Portuguese team's playing style is very unique. He hopes that all of us can clearly understand their playing style. Only in that way will they be more confident in defeating it!"
Pan Yi's words made many people present nod.
Indeed, if I want to defeat an enemy, I must first know where the opponent's strengths and weaknesses are, so that I can avoid the opponent's advantages and attack the opponent's disadvantages.
"Portugal's characteristics are very obvious. They are the representative team of the Latin style in world football. They have outstanding personal skills and have a superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo!"
When he shut up, Pan Yi's eyes were always turning on the players.
He could see that everyone was very attentive and listening very carefully.
Because they finally reached the final again, they hope more than anyone else to create a new history of their country's football.
"A sage named Lu from their Dragon Kingdom once said that the most dangerous place is often not the safest place."
"That sentence is also very suitable for Portugal. That is their strongest point, which is actually their greatest vitality. Their strongest point is precisely their weakest link!"
When he said that, Pan Yi moved his body so that all the players could see the Portuguese tactical formation diagram that had been drawn on the tactical board behind him.
On that panel, what is drawn is a -2 formation, and that is also the most commonly used formation by Portugal in this European Cup.
"He's obviously red." Captain Ibrahimovic walked to the tactical board and pointed at the forward position. "Their biggest vitality I am talking about is Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly the sharpest weapon of the Portuguese team, but just asking for
If they control that weapon, there will be no trouble in Portugal."
"No, no." Pan Yi said with a smile, "Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed very powerful, and that is their strongest point. But they don't need to pay too much attention to him in that game."
As soon as those words came out, the conference room was in an uproar.
Everyone around the world knows that you have to guard against Ronaldo when playing against Portugal, just like you have to guard against Ibrahimovic when playing against Sweden.
But now Pan Yi says there is no need to pay attention to Ronaldo???
Did he sell any medicine in his gourd that time?
How could they know whether Pan Yi knew what was going on?
Judging from his previous experience, after Portugal entered the final, Ronaldo was actually a little bit exhausted.
After a long 2015-2016 season in which he played almost full attendance, C Roma came to participate in the European Cup, but his physical condition was actually not in the best condition.
Ronaldo's presence may even pose a risk of injury.
Especially his left knee, which has almost become Ronaldo's "Achilles heel".
Is that part the biggest injury that has plagued Ronaldo in recent years? It first appeared when he was playing for Manchester United.
In the 2013-14 season, Ronaldo even played with injuries most of the time. Among them, the patella injury in his left knee was a major problem. Because of this, he almost missed the World Cup in Brazil.
In the past two seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo also suffered from knee discomfort many times, but he was not injured for a long time.
In the European Cup, although Portugal, led by Ronaldo, made it all the way to the finals, Ronaldo's body was not overloaded.
Before playing against Wales in the semi-finals, at the training ground of the Portuguese national team, Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly stopped training and walked straight to the sidelines. He walked over to a chair and covered his left side.
My knees seem to be feeling uncomfortable.
For a long time, the Portuguese was resting on the sidelines and kept covering his left knee. Considering Ronaldo's history of left knee injuries, many people speculated that he might have a recurrence of the old injury.
But Cristiano Ronaldo has appeared in the game before, played the full 90 minutes and scored a goal, which also put all the Portuguese people at ease.
Pan Yi knew that Ronaldo was already overwhelmed at that time.
In a previous life, did Portugal compete in the final with France?
During a scramble during the game, France's Payet bumped into Ronaldo, and soon Ronaldo was unable to continue the game due to an old knee injury and was initially substituted.
It stands to reason that Payet's collision was not particularly exaggerated, but just because Ronaldo had old injuries, he was unable to withstand such an impact, which was the last straw that broke his back.
The fact is that during the half-hour period when he was very present, Ronaldo did not perform well.
For an injured player, it is bound to be difficult for him to exert 100% of his ability, especially for a player like Ronaldo who is known for his speed and impact.
This is Pan Yi's basis, and it means that in the final, Ronaldo does not threaten the biggest player - whether he will be injured and leave the field before.
Of course, Pan Yi would not tell everyone all such "prophecies".
What he told everyone was his analysis of Ronaldo and his prediction of his physical condition, and then he came to the conclusion that he was not in the best condition.
"The most concerning thing about Portugal is their concise fighting style." Pan Yi began to elaborate on what he wanted for tomorrow.
Unlike Spain, Germany, or France, Portugal's overall player ability is not very good. During the game, the team does not blindly pursue possession of the ball. Especially in the knockout stage, its ball possession rate is lower than
Wrong leg.
But why can they make it all the way to the finals? It’s definitely not fair to explain it by luck.
First of all, the Portuguese team's offensive technical quality is high, the team's passing ability is better, and there are more long passes. The team's dribbling breakthrough ability is strong, and the individual dribbling breakthrough success rate is high. The team
The shooting efficiency is average, but the more shots are taken, the more goals can be scored.
Second, the Portuguese team's defensive skills are extremely aggressive. The team averages more steals per game, and the proportion of frontcourt steals is similar to that of the backcourt. Entering the knockout stage, the team's number of clearances has increased significantly, and the number of frontcourt clearances has increased significantly.
The number of tackles is slightly lower than that of the backcourt. The team's tackle technique is used reasonably, with a large number of tackles and a high tackle success rate.
Third, the Portuguese team's offensive tactics emphasize simplicity and speed, and focus on positioning the ball. Seventy percent of the team's goals are not started in the midfield. Those goals are mainly started in the midfield, and assists are completed from the right.
In addition, 80% of the team's goals are scored outside the penalty area. The team is well prepared for corner kicks and often relies on well-planned tactical corner kicks to create opportunities for Ronaldo to score headers.
Fourth: The Portuguese team's defensive tactics emphasize numerical advantage and are good at man-to-man defense. The team's defensive behavior in the front and backcourt is relatively balanced, with slightly more defensive behavior in the backcourt than in the frontcourt.
The team attaches great importance to the first defensive behavior, and the tactical thinking of "defend immediately after losing the ball" is fully reflected.
When defending as a whole, the defense line retreats further to gain the numerical advantage of the defender; when defending locally, man-to-man defensive tactics are used.
"Perhaps their performance was not outstanding, and the game scenes were uneven and dull, but such mistakes were the scariest thing."
Portugal's way of playing in the European Cup also reflects the pragmatic and concise style of coach Fernando Santos.
But that kind of style, from a tactical point of view, is very suitable for leading the team to compete with the wrong leg in international competitions.
And Fernando Santos is not static. In fact, the Portuguese team has made many position adjustments since the group stage.
At the beginning, they used parallelism in the group stage, but the player combination and overall performance were not as good as expected, especially the center back Carvalho was already beyond his capabilities, the right back Vierinha was insufficient defensively, and the midfielders Moutinho and Gomer
Sri Lanka's style of play is slow, and the fast break speed of Nani and Ronaldo is exceeded.
Due to that situation, when entering the knockout stage, Fernando Santos made slight adjustments and first changed the formation to a diamond-2.
Then the central defender and right back were replaced by Fonte and Cedric, who also played for Southampton. The midfielder began to use the young and running Renato Sanches, as well as the stronger link-up ability, who performed well at Chelsea.
The wonderful Bernardo Silva.
At the same time, William Carvalho continues to serve as a defensive midfielder, while Joao Mario moves to the left.
After fine-tuning, the team became more and more mature in controlling the game and resisting pressure, and continued to use this formation until the finals.
"Any team that wants to solve Portugal's tactics can only press out as a whole and press the wrong leg. They will have their flaws in the pressing and pulling of the wrong leg. In other words, when they play fatal
Knock them down before you fight back!"
"There is a way to lower one's posture, stabilize the defense first, let Portugal attack, and then counterattack their counterattack. That tactic is more stable, but it may not work because Fernando Santos can't
So easy to fool."
When talking about that, Pan Yi used his tablet computer to show a short video on the big screen, showing the clip of Chelsea missing the Champions League final against Bayern.
"Just like in that game, he will adopt a compromise approach. He will not press the wrong leg, nor will he withdraw his defense, but will strangle in the midfield."
"In this way, Portugal will not be wary of being too defensive because of the overall pressure, nor will they be too retreating."
"Positionally, they need to shorten the distance between the three lines and reduce the area of control, so that they can ensure greater defensive intensity with as little running range as possible!"
"Very well, everyone is asked to keep a distance of 10 meters..."
Following Pan Yi's eloquent talk, many players will admire the design of the tactics from the bottom of their hearts.
Offensive and defensive, defensive and offensive, it can be said that he is very suitable to play in a team like Portugal.
Moreover, that style of play is also very suitable for the Swedish team.
After all, I asked the Swedish team to press the whole court and fight with the wrong leg to control the ball. To be honest, it was difficult to do so.
No, every team is like Barcelona, and they all have Ha Hongboumei!
Moreover, they can feel it in the defensive arrangement. Such defense requires them not to make fatal mistakes, so as to ensure that the Swedish team does not miss the goal to the greatest extent.
With such a foundation, it is necessary to ensure that the tactics are implemented in place, and then it becomes very feasible to patiently find gaps in the Portuguese defense and try to score their goal.
Of course, that also requires all players in the Swedish team to maintain a good team level, just like what Pan Yi drew on the tactical board, keep a good distance from teammates, and use wrong legs to defend in a fan shape.
That way, you won't have time to fix the chaotic situation, otherwise in the end, instead of messing with the wrong party, you will mess with yourself.
It is very true what Pan Yi just said, Portugal's strongest point is Cristiano Ronaldo, but that is also their weakness.
Once Cristiano Ronaldo performs poorly or even leaves the field injured, they will lack an attacking point in the frontcourt and their counterattack speed will have to rely on Nani alone.
In such a situation, the Swedish team will be less likely to be opened up by their quick counterattacks when defending.
And in Pan Yi’s memory of his previous life, the substitute forward Edel who scored the winning goal in the European Cup final...
To be honest, he probably made a big splash once in his life, and that one time happened to appear on a major stage like the European Cup final.
Before that, he was a major parallel import in the Premier League; after that, he was still no one cared about.
So of course Pan Yi made the wrong mistake and made the wrong move. Why don't he send someone to polish him off and let him just go back to normal...