When the whole world was buzzing about the news that Ferguson decided to postpone his retirement plan and renew his contract, Mancini was far away in the small town of Alpino Gentile in Milan, Italy, at Inter Milan's Pinetina training base.
Assistant coach Mihajlovic is reviewing the just-concluded Champions League quarter-finals.
In both rounds of the match between Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow, Inter Milan's performance was unsatisfactory.
Both games were 1-0, but the performance was not ideal, especially the second leg at home.
Mancini used a four-three-three formation for this game, with Pandev and Quaresma on the wings.
Quaresma was acquired by Inter Milan from Barcelona this season as part of Ibrahimovic's transfer.
Mancini expected to encounter strong resistance from CSKA Moscow, so he hoped to spread the formation and create threats through two wings, but the effect was not ideal.
On the contrary, it was CSKA Moscow. Their attacks on both sides caused a lot of trouble for Inter Milan.
In the first half hour, Inter Milan failed to create an offensive threat.
This is a very serious problem.
What's more serious is that Inter Milan's midfielder was too thin in this game.
"The combination of Stankovic and Cambiasso will probably be difficult to stop Bayern's attack, especially the center controlled by Bastian Schweinsteiger and Modric, let alone being distracted from protecting our
It’s on the sidelines.”
After watching the video, assistant coach Mihajlovic and Mancini were analyzing the various problems exposed in the game.
The most obvious one is midfield defense.
"The whole world knows that Bayern's wing attack is very active, but more importantly, the connection between the two wings."
"In the frontcourt, they use the two wingers to cut inside and Su Dong's transition. In the midfield, they use more short- and medium-distance passes. Modric and Bastian Schweinsteiger are the key. With our
It’s difficult for the current midfield to contain them.”
Bayern is a very comprehensive team, not only has a sharp offense, but also has an unbreakable defense.
Needless to say, on the offensive side, there are world-class players like Mascherano, Lucio, and Lahm on the defensive end. Pepe has also become famous in recent seasons. Marcelo is considered the weak link in defense.
He was hit hard, but his performance on the offensive end is also obvious to all.
But between offense and defense, midfielders are always needed to connect. Midfielders like Modric and Bastian Schweinsteiger can also be called the first-tier midfielders in Europe, and even vaguely show world-class standards.
"Bayern's offense likes to pull the opponent's defense through this kind of transfer to the left and right wings, thereby causing looseness and threatening Su Dong, and creating more opportunities for Su Dong. And we all know that players like Su Dong,
As long as you give him a chance, as long as there is even a slight hole in your defense, he can dig it out for you and score goals."
When Mikhailovich analyzed this, the look on his face was unprecedentedly solemn.
As a professional player, he once competed with Su Dong. At that time, Su Dong was just starting out, but he had already shown unstoppable momentum.
Thinking about it later, from that season, Su Dong officially found his own way of football and started his road to the top.
You know, when Su Dong just debuted, he couldn't stop Mihajlovic from partnering with Stam.
This left a very deep impression on Mihajlovic.
…
Manic has been sitting at his desk, silently listening to his assistant's analysis.
Many judgments are based on what he sees.
"Muntali is too aggressive and too frizzy, I don't trust him," Mancini said.
Mihajlovic thought for a while and suggested: "Let Zanetti play this position, plus Stankovic and Cambiaso."
Mihajlovic nodded, "Sneijder will play as an attacking midfielder, Diego Milito will also play, and the other one... Pandev or Balotelli will be fine."
"In this case, there will be basically no side attack in the frontcourt, especially the attack on Bayern's left." Mancini was a little unwilling.
The whole world knows that Bayern's left wing is a defensive weakness. Marcelo is a good offensive player, but the defense is a sieve. There is always a space behind him for opponents to exploit.
Of course, many times, Heynckes will specifically target this point and deliberately let Marcelo give up the defensive loophole on the left to attack the opponent. The purpose is to let Marcelo take advantage of the offense.
"If Zanetti goes to the midfield, who will guard Robben on the left?" Mancini was a little confused.
"Use Qiwu."
"Is he okay?"
Chiwu was once favored by many wealthy teams and performed very well. However, he suffered a skull fracture in a Serie A match in January and underwent major surgery. He has only recently recovered from his injury.
"Qiwu guards the outside and the left midfielder guards the inside. I believe he can strangle Robben."
After a pause, Mancini continued: "The same goes for the other side. Let Maicon guard the outside and the right midfielder guard the inside."
Bayern's two wingers are both well-known for being good at cutting inside, and it would be difficult to guard them one-on-one with the full-backs alone.
But the central defender cannot move.
With Samuel and Materazzi teaming up, it's hard to say whether they can defend Sudong. It's basically unrealistic if they are distracted to help the full-backs defend.
In the end, the side lanes were defended, but Su Dong in the middle lane was unimpeded. Isn't this more dangerous?
Who in the world doesn't know how lethal Su Dong is?
While the two were communicating, Mancini had already written this list on the white paper on his desk.
Four, three, one and two, this is obviously a defense-oriented lineup.
"In this way, our offense has to rely entirely on the first three players." Mancini drew Milito, Pandev and Sneijder into a circle, and added a big question mark next to it.
.
Can such an attack break Bayern's defense?
If not, would Inter Milan have a chance?
Mancini knows very well that Inter Milan is not strong enough to compete with top clubs like Bayern or Barcelona, but over the years of coaching Inter Milan, this is the furthest he has gone in the Champions League, and it is even the longest in his career.
This is the furthest time in his career, and he still hopes to give it a try.
And Mikhailovich.
This right-hand man has been his right-hand man in the past few years. He has rejected offers from teams such as Bologna and devoted himself to helping him lead Inter Milan. However, this summer, he will leave Inter Milan and coach alone.
Whether it is for him, his assistants, or even Inter Milan, this season is the last chance.
Thinking of this, Mancini gritted his teeth.
Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle!
…………
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On November 22, in the 30th round of the Bundesliga, Bayern challenged Bayer Leverkusen away.
The first threatening attack of the game occurred in the sixth minute. Ribery sent a direct pass from the left rib. Sudong pulled to the left side of the penalty area. After receiving the ball, he forced a pass and passed the ball to the back of the penalty area.
Robben followed up and hit the door directly.
As a result, the kick missed the right spot and bounced to the center, where it was cleared by Leverkusen.
Soon, Bayern successfully defended a set piece, and Pepe headed the ball to Robben.
The unguarded Robben dribbled the ball all the way, advancing quickly along the right, while Su Dong in the center followed closely.
After reaching the right side of the penalty area, Robben made a cross pass to the penalty spot. Su Dong followed up and easily succeeded in pushing the shot, opening the scoring for Bayern, one to zero!
Just two minutes later, Leverkusen made a mistake in passing the ball in the backcourt. After Su Dong successfully stole the ball, he dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area and passed it across to Ribery on the left. However, the Frenchman did not follow up in time and missed one.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shoot into an empty net.
Ribery nodded dejectedly, feeling as if he had missed out on millions of euros.
After that, Leverkusen launched a wave of counterattacks and continuously created opportunities.
Bayern had just beaten Manchester United to the death. They were exhausted physically and mentally and were a little passive on the scene, but their defense was still very strong.
Until the 67th minute of the second half, Bayern made a successful defense in the backcourt. Mascherano passed the ball directly to Su Dong who retreated to get the ball with his back.
Su Dong stopped the ball with his back and handed it to Thomas Muller, who dribbled the ball in and quickly transferred it to Robben on the right.
After Robben came in at high speed, he dribbled the ball into the right side of the penalty area, stopped and smashed the ball inwards, and moved his left foot in front of the penalty spot.
At this time, Su Dong, who had stepped in from behind, rushed over, faced Robben's pass, and pushed the ball directly into the Leverkusen goal again, two to zero!
This score was maintained until the end.
Bayern finally defeated Leverkusen 2-0 away with Su Dong's brace.
…………
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On the evening of April 17, in the 31st round of the Bundesliga, Bayern faced Hannover 96 at home.
Only 79 seconds into the game, Su Dong stopped the ball in the left rib and cut inside. After changing defenders, he volleyed the ball with his right foot into the far corner, opening the scoring for Bayern.
Just four minutes later, Modric made a diagonal pass from the right, and Su Dong scored with a header nine meters in front of the goal, 2-0!
In the 15th minute, Bayern got a chance for a corner kick in the frontcourt. Robben took the corner kick, and Su Dong nodded the goal. Bayern won another victory, 3-0!
hat trick!
In just fifteen minutes, Su Dong scored a hat trick, and his scoring momentum was out of control.
Subsequently, Bayern continued to attack Hannover 96. Ribery scored another victory for Bayern in the 21st minute, and Robben also scored a goal in the 30th minute.
Before the end of the first half, Su Dong shot in front of the goal and scored four goals, expanding Bayern's score to 6-0.
During the halftime break, Su Dong was substituted.
But after the second half started, Thomas Muller and Robben both scored two goals, and Robben scored a hat trick.
In the end, Bayern defeated Hannover 96 10-0 at home, winning the biggest victory so far this season.
The entire Allianz Arena was completely thrown into carnival.
Before facing Inter Milan, Bayern won a hearty victory!
