For Deportivo fans, although they are currently only ranked third, trailing Atletico Madrid by five points, they still have a psychological advantage, not only because they are the defending champions, but also because
They are the team that has played against Atletico Madrid the most times this season. They have played against Atletico Madrid three times before, and they have won two of them...
Although Atletico Madrid performed very well this season, we are the only ones who can have the upper hand against them!
For Deportivo, they will not give up in this game. Although they still have the task of the Champions League, the Champions League will not start the first round of the knockout rounds until April 4.
Compared with Deportivo La Coruña, Atletico Madrid, which is going to play the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals away from home midweek, is more able to concentrate on the game.
In this game, Irueta sent out its entire main lineup, goalkeeper Songao, defenders Pablo, Naibet, Donato and Romero, midfielders Mauro Silva and Deja Minha
In the center, captains Forlan and Scaloni occupy the two sides, and the strike partners are Pandiani and Tristan, who just scored a hat trick in the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid is also not to be outdone. Although they have been fighting continuously recently, they have still maintained a good state because Dick has adopted rotation tactics very well. In such a game, except for Marchena who was suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, plus
Mara once again returned to the main lineup, and all other main players also appeared.
Deportivo is a team with a strong Brazilian flavor. They have always had Brazilian players in their team, starting with Bebeto, Donato, Mauro Silva, Rivaldo, and Dejamin.
Ha... These stars who are all very skilled and have their own unique characteristics have brought Deportivo's team's technical content to a high level. Winning the league championship last season was the best reward for their ten years of hard work, and in this game
When the game started, they also began to continuously show their technical advantages.
The midfielder composed of Forlan, Scaloni and Dejaminha began to continuously create opportunities for the striker. Under Deportivo's attack, Atletico Madrid began to retreat to defend, while fighting in the midfield.
, the defense also retreated into the penalty area to prevent the opponent's two centers from finding too many opportunities. Thuram was dealing with Tristan, while Gamarra was paying attention to Pandiani. This game
Dick did not set up a sweeper, because setting up a sweeper would not have much effect on Deportivo's attack.
Deportivo's two forwards have their own characteristics. Tristan is strong and has strong scoring ability, while Pandiani is a typical shooter with explosive scoring ability. Such a striker combination
, just by focusing on one person or letting a sweeper sweep, it is definitely not enough, so Dick simply did not do that, but adopted a man-marking tactic, with two central defenders focusing on the opponent's two forwards.
At least it allows the opponent's forwards to always face interference when they get opportunities.
As for the opponent's midfielder's forward penetration, it depends on Makelele and other midfielders to sweep up.
Atletico Madrid, which is based on defense, is also quite good at defensive capabilities. At least Thuram marked Tristan very well. Although Gamarra seemed to have some difficulty in marking Pandiani, he was not easily broken by the opponent.
of.
With the two forwards locked in, Deportivo's possibility of scoring goals was largely eliminated. Among the other players, neither Forlan nor Scaloni are midfielders with strong scoring ability. As for the midfielder with excellent scoring ability,
Dejaminha, who is capable of scoring, will not have many chances under Makelele's defense.
Seeing that the defense line had stabilized, Dick breathed a sigh of relief - at least his first goal had been achieved.
The next step is to let the game enter a fast pace and wear down the veterans of Deportivo...
Forlan's cross was deflected by Thuram first. Makelele quickly passed the ball to Belleron. Belleron took the ball and turned around, and then immediately launched a counterattack with a long pass!
Jardel was competing with the opponent's defender for the landing spot, and he barely managed to grab the first point with his height, and then headed the ball towards the Deportivo half. Vicente began to compete with Pablo for speed, and the two
At the same time, they ran towards the landing point, and when Vicente pushed forward, Atletico Madrid's Jardel, Baraja, Camoranesi and others also quickly pushed forward towards Deportivo's half!
Seeing Atletico Madrid counterattacking with such force, Deportivo's players naturally began to quickly return to defense. Irueta looked at the court with an unchanging expression on the sidelines, but he was thinking about Dick in his heart.
What tactics will be used in this game?
"Hit us with a quick counterattack? Our defender will not make such a mistake..." Irueta thought in his heart.
There are a total of five people in Deportivo's defense including the midfielder. Pablo is the youngest, having just turned twenty-five, Donato is the oldest, already thirty-nine, and Naibet has just turned
He has turned thirty-one, Romero is about to turn thirty, and Mauro Silva will soon turn thirty-three...
They are the main force of Deportivo's defense. Forlan and Scaloni are both offensive players. Dejaminha basically does not return to defense, so he cooperates well with Mauro Silva, because
Silva basically does not participate in the offense.
Three of the five main players returning to defense are over 30 years old, and one is about to be 30 years old. Such a defensive lineup is rich enough in experience - Atletico Madrid's quick counterattack did not work very well this time.
As a result, although Vicente got the ball in front of Pablo and then passed the ball to Baraja, who was running in, Baraja's long shot was directly hit by Silva who was returning to defend.
Blocking it with his body, Romero controlled the ball in front of Camoranesi and then passed the ball to Scaloni in front.
"Deportivo's defense was excellent and Atletico Madrid's quick counterattack had no effect..." the commentator said.
Irueta nodded slightly, his defenders did not disappoint him.
There was no disappointment on Dick's face, because such a counterattack would be fatal as long as it succeeded once. What's more, it doesn't matter even if it never succeeds, because such a quick defense requires the defender to run with all his strength at that moment.
Two times is fine, but if it is four, five or even ten times, how many more times can the old guys from Deportivo La Coruña run?
Scaloni received the ball and then started to organize the attack. He passed the ball to Dejaminha. Dejaminha turned to face Makelele and did not force a breakthrough - although he sometimes seemed to have some mental problems, however
But he doesn't often make two mistakes. With a normal mind, he is one of the top attacking midfielders in the world. He is a midfield master who can be ranked alongside the likes of Effenberg, Rivaldo and Zidane. Naturally, he will not
Frequent brain twitches - at most five or six times a season. In Irueta's words, if his brain twitches are reduced to less than three times per season, then he will be the World Footballer.
…
After receiving the ball and turning around, Dejaminha used a very elegant passing movement to pass the ball to Forlan who was on the right. Forlan took the ball and broke through inside, but was blocked by Belleron. At this time, Barca
Pablo had already stepped in from the wing, and Fran immediately handed the ball to him. Facing Capdevila's defense, Pablo did not break through directly, but passed a low ball.
Passed the ball to Tristan who pulled out of the penalty area.
After Tristan received the ball, he tried to turn around and break through, but Thuram stretched his legs in time to block the ball. Dejaminha followed up and prepared to hit again. Makelele appeared in the path of his shot in time, and once again
Blocked the ball with his body.
The ball flew to the left. After receiving the ball, Scaloni originally planned to attack slowly, but he was fiercely pressed by Camoranesi who returned to defend. In desperation, he passed the ball to Romero.
, Romero passed the ball directly to the penalty area. Pandiani shot a volley before Gamarra blocked it, but Molina flew and saved the ball.
After receiving the ball, Hector immediately made a through ball to the ground, and then passed the ball to Camoranesi. Camoranesi did not slow down the counterattack, and directly passed the ball to Jia in the middle.
Del then pushed forward himself, and Atletico Madrid started to counterattack again!
This counterattack was also very fast. Deportivo's defenders also defended very quickly. Romero forced Camoranesi to the wing. In the end, Camoranesi passed the ball to the assist.
Hector stepped forward. Hector immediately raised his foot and passed the ball, and then began to run back desperately...
The ball flew towards the center of the penalty area, Naibet entangled Jardel, and Donato cleared the ball in time.
Irueta glanced at the visiting team's coaching bench with a slightly proud look - Young man, do you want to defeat us with a counterattack? It's too naive. You must know that we have always been good at attacking. If we don't know how to defend back,
I am afraid that the brushes have been beaten by other teams' counterattacks long ago. Although Atletico Madrid's counterattacks are much sharper, it is very difficult to score our goals just relying on this.
Dick remained calm. Of course he knew that the success rate of such a counterattack would not be too high, but Mr. Irueta, if I use such tactics, scoring goals is only secondary...
Time began to pass minute by minute. Deportivo was still constantly besieging Atletico Madrid's door. Atletico Madrid continued to launch rapid counterattacks while holding on. Their counterattack method was very simple, either in the frontcourt.
The small-scale cooperation between several people, or long passes to find Jardel in the frontcourt and Vicente in the frontcourt, Deportivo's defenders began to continuously retreat to defend. After the blockade was successful,
Attack again...
The entire first half passed under such circumstances. Atletico Madrid shot seven times in the entire first half, and Deportivo La Coruna shot up to 16 times, but they were unable to score. The final score
, is zero to zero.
Irueta sighed when he walked into the player tunnel. It was obvious that Atletico Madrid's defensive tenacity was far beyond his expectation. Facing such a fierce attack from Deportivo,
No flaws were revealed. It seems that this team has indeed improved a lot. Compared with the first half of the season, they are obviously much better.
Fortunately, they don't seem to have any way to deal with Deportivo's suppressive attack, and the effect of the counterattack doesn't seem to be particularly good. As long as they continue to suppress like this, there will always be a chance to score.
With this thought, Irueta walked into the players' tunnel, but did not notice the meaningful smile on Dick's face.
