Although Millwall scored early in this game to equalize the total score, and still had an advantage on the field, the offensive fluency was far less than in the previous game!
The most obvious change was that the offense was disrupted by Valencia's fouls.
In the first 25 minutes, Millwall had 5 free kicks that directly hit the goal. Pirlo's three shots were blocked by the wall and two of them flew into the stands.
Aldridge stood on the sidelines, observing the situation on the court and recording every detail during the game.
Gradually, he figured out Valencia's counterattack strategy today.
Different from the excessive pursuit of both wings flying together in the previous game, the wing attack ended up in an isolated state.
Valencia made a difference in their counterattack today.
The key points are Aimar and the other wing that is not instigating the attack.
Take Gonzalez as an example. When he launched an attack from the left and rushed forward, Aimar took the initiative to approach the left to form a connection with him. At the same time, Mendieta on the other side leaned towards the center to form a connection point.
In a match of this level against Millwall, Valencia's counterattack relies on monotonous offensive methods to open up the situation. That is a fool's errand.
If they were to play against other opponents, even some first-rate teams, it would be possible for them to unilaterally destroy the opponent and threaten the last blow or the final pass. But against Millwall, if they are determined to go to the dark side on one side, then
He would really hit his head against the south wall and die.
Therefore, Valencia actually changed from a two-wing attack to a one-sided counterattack, focusing on one side during the counterattack to form local advantages and create opportunities.
Valencia still has its own advantages in specific circumstances. For example, they play counterattack. There is a lot of space in the frontcourt, which is an advantage.
When Aimar is crowded on the same side as Gonzalez or Mendieta, Gattuso faces a choice: whether to follow Aimar to the wing to form a 2vs2 defense with his full-back teammates, or even when the winger returns
When retreating, a double-team will be formed.
Gattuso hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to stay in the middle, as long as the opponent did not cut inside and enter the dangerous zone. He only had to follow the opponent's forward point and retreat to compress the defensive space.
Gattuso is still wary. Players on the other side of the opponent's side will lean towards the center. If he loses his position, the center will be wide open and the back line will lose its barrier protection.
Valencia's play like this tested the ability of Millwall's midfielders and frontcourt players to return to defense. They have indeed been able to advance the offense on the wing. Millwall's full-back alone is indeed unable to defend the opponent's two players.
The impact of cooperation. But this is just an offensive method, it must be finished. When it comes to scoring goals, Valencia obviously lacks methods.
The offense advances to the wing position of the penalty area, and then to the center to cooperate or break through. Millwall's full-backs and center backs form a zone defense. Pirlo's return to defense may be a bit worrying, but Nedved retreats to defend.
, absolutely reassuring.
After Aldridge had an insight into Valencia's counterattack routine, he had to look at Cooper in a new light.
It can only be said that Valencia is unlucky. If Nedvěd has not returned to his best condition or is still recovering from injury, then Millwall will use Klose's tactics in the first half of the season and Valencia will play like this.
Counterattack, the quality of Millwall's midfield defense will drop by one level. If so,
Rencia works harder, with Albelda and Baraja assisting each other. This flexible one-sided flying wing counterattack tactic may really be able to penetrate Millwall's defense. Of course, if Nedvěd cannot play,
Aldridge will definitely add a defensive midfielder to strengthen protection.
In the 34th minute, Valencia counterattacked from the wing and passed the ball, which was cleared by Materazzi. Gattuso controlled the outside placement and was fouled by Aimar just after stopping the ball. The referee greeted Aimar with boos all over the Lion King Stadium.
Marr was shown a yellow card.
This was Aimar's third foul in the first half. Even though it was an inconspicuous tactical foul in the frontcourt, the referee still warned the opponent with a yellow card.
Two minutes later, Henry's shot was collected by Canizares. Valencia continued to counterattack. This time Gonzalez passed the ball from the wing and was intercepted by Schneider. Schneider dribbled the ball forward. Gonzalez
Reis tripped Schneider from behind and he was also shown a yellow card by the referee.
Although Valencia's counterattack was much better than in the previous match, at least the advancing area was closer to Millwall's penalty area, the opportunity for the final blow was still not created.
This made their offensive players start to become a little impatient.
Millwall's attack basically resulted in one shot after three dangerous attacks, but Valencia's side didn't even have a chance to shoot.
In the 42nd minute of the first half, Gonzalez and Aimar cooperated all the way down the left wing, and then did not pass the ball. Sanchez in front of the goal was completely targeted. Aimar controlled the ball on the wing and then passed the ball.
The ball was kicked back and Gonzalez knocked it across to Mendieta who moved to the center.
Mendieta saw that Millwall's defense was tight and there was really no space to pass the ball. He did not dare to control the ball too much, otherwise he would definitely be counterattacked if he lost the ball. He simply took a long shot.
The quality of this long-range shot is so poor that it’s hard to look directly at it.
It didn't fly towards the goal at all, it hit Materazzi's leg from close range and then bounced off the baseline.
"Valencia's offense today was exactly the same as the last time the two teams met. The counterattack they relied on for survival failed to pose any threat in front of Millwall. This gave us the illusion that it was only a matter of time before Millwall scored again.
If we can't score, then Valencia must be blessed by the gods."
Valencia took a corner kick and they attacked with a corner kick. There were three people inside and outside the penalty area, Sanchez, Mendieta, and Baraja who came up.
Gonzalez and Aimar played a tactical corner kick. Schneider stepped forward to mark Gonzalez. Aimar ran back to create space, received Gonzalez's pass and then hung into the penalty area.
The quality of his inswinging cross was not high, and it landed in front of the penalty spot, where only Baraja could grab it.
Pagliuca moved his position, and there were many tall Millwall players in front of him. Even if Baraja headed the ball towards the goal, there was not much angle at all.
Fans in the stands of Lion King Stadium witnessed an incredible scene.
Baraja didn't touch the ball, and he made the move to the top. But his neck seemed to be a little shorter. The ball passed by his eyes. Then, the ball hit, well, it hit Gattuso's head.
, the flight trajectory changes.
Pagliuca's pupils shrank and he almost cursed: You can't be such a cheater!
The ball turned into a wicket and flew towards the far end of the goal.
Pagliuca moved over to make the save, but it was obviously too late.
Including Gattuso himself, all the players in the Millwall penalty area turned their heads towards their home gate with expressions of horror or confusion.
Wow!
There was an uproar and sigh at Lion King Stadium.
"The goal is scored! Valencia equalized the score of this game, 1:1, 1:1. They now lead Millwall with a total score of 2:1, and because they have the advantage of away goals, unless Millwall can score twice
Win with a goal advantage, otherwise, Valencia will step on the defending champion and advance to Europe
Championship semi-finals! This ball, this ball, should be regarded as an own goal. If no one touches Aimar's cross, it will definitely not fly into the goal. The ball is tipped by Gattuso and flies into his own door. Poor Gatto
So, he might want to ask Baraja why he didn't hit the ball?"
Gattuso not only wanted to question Baraja, he simply wanted to beat him up!
He was less than one meter away from Baraja's summit. He was about to turn his head and look at his door to see the result of Baraja's summit, but the ball accidentally hit his head and turned into an impeccable one.
The hanging door hanged Pagliuca!
This own goal not only made the Valencia players seem to be frozen for two seconds, but even Cooper on the sidelines rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not dazzled or hallucinating!
Afterwards, Valencia's players rushed to celebrate. If they couldn't hug Gattuso, they would have gathered around and kissed him crazily. In the end, they surrounded Aimar to celebrate.
Cooper also waved his arms excitedly, which was such a surprise!
He was racking his brains thinking about how the team should attack and how to solve the opportunity to create the final blow, and his mind almost collapsed!
Well now, someone has helped him solve this problem, it is their opponent, Millwall!
With this away goal, as long as Valencia holds on to the remaining time and does not let Millwall score twice, then they will advance to the semi-finals!
The cheers that had been ringing in the stadium since before the game suddenly stopped, and the entire stadium fell into dead silence. Valencia fans were unable to create much momentum. Compared with before, now it was just like mosquitoes at most.
The Lions fans were confused by this own goal.
Everyone knew that the coming situation was not optimistic, and the sudden blow made everyone feel as if they had been poured cold water on them.
The Millwall team behaved as usual after conceding the goal. Southgate didn't say a word. He just walked behind Gattuso and patted him on the head, then pushed him forward, as if to give him motivation.
.
Aldridge suddenly raised his arms on the sidelines, and his expression did not show that he was disappointed or hit. He walked back and forth indifferently, using body movements to restore vitality to the court.
The fans in the stands saw that their king was boosting the atmosphere in the stadium, and continued to cheer for the team without saying a word.
Nothing else but cheering for the team and putting pressure on the opponents, never be stingy!
Within half a minute, the lively atmosphere returned to Lion King Stadium.
Aldrich stopped moving and stood on the sidelines with his thoughts racing.
He suddenly felt that Valencia was an evil team.
What's wrong with Millwall's defense? Basically, there's no problem.
In the ball just now, Baraja's distance to the top was not a distance that was absolutely threatening with a header. In addition, there was a defender blocking the ball in front of him. Even if he hit the ball, the possibility of scoring was very low.
But just like Carew's "fake stop" screen in the first round, Baraja did not touch the ball when he rushed to the top, which created confusion and saved his teammates the task of attacking the goal. They simply let Millwall help them.
Give me an oolong gift.
Things got bad.
From 1:0 to 1:1, this is simply a huge change.
On the basis of 1:1, Millwall not only wants to win, but also wants to win at least 2!
The situation in Valencia is completely reversed. They will defend more resolutely. They took risks to counterattack before. After 1:1, their offensive enthusiasm and investment should further adjust and decline.
It could be seen from the restart of Millwall that Valencia didn't even have a player to cross the half-court line. Forward Sanchez ran back and actively participated in the defense, blocking the inside and outside of the penalty area.
The first half of the game came to an end quickly. In response to Valencia's strategy of further strengthening the defense, Millwall did not play a threatening offensive in the last few minutes.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, Aldridge turned thoughtfully and walked into the tunnel.
It will be difficult to create great opportunities with conventional offensive methods in the second half. Is it just a matter of luck and players' improvisation?
Aldridge recalled the details he had noted while observing the game in the first half, combing through each link, trying to find Valencia's weaknesses or areas that could be exploited.
Before walking into the locker room, he suddenly stopped, raised his head and said nonchalantly: "Will this have a miraculous effect?" (To be continued...)
