On the evening of August 13, Barcelona ’s Camp Nou Stadium.
In the first round of the Spanish Super Cup, Real Madrid challenged Barcelona away.
This is also the second game of the two teams this summer. They played in the International Champions Cup before, when Barcelona beat Real Madrid three to two, and this time it was the Spanish Super Cup.
Barcelona still play against Real Madrid in the traditional four three three, the goalkeeper is Ter Stegen, the back line is Alba, Umtiti, Pique and Vidal, the midfielder is Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic, the frontcourt is Deulofeu, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.
The newly introduced strong aid Dembele and Paulinho are not in the lineup. Obviously Valverde is also out of consideration for familiarity. After all, in the face of key battles, the team's tacit cooperation still needs to be considered.
Real Madrid looks bolder.
The goalkeeper is Courtois, Marcelo, Fermalen, Valane and Carvajal, the midfielders are David Silva, Kanter and De Braune, the frontcourt is Suaret With the double striker combination of Mbappe, Isco played the role of a free man in the front waist position.
This is also a method for Yang Yang and Zidane to play with Isco, allowing the Spanish midfielder to bring the ball to the opponent's defense.
...
After the game started, the two teams started a fierce competition for the ball.
In addition to the rotation, David Silva and De Braun of the Real Madrid have a clear intention to compete for the ball.
Yang Yang and Zidane both guessed Barcelona's lineup and also knew Barcelona's problem.
To put it bluntly, Barcelona is still an old problem, that is, the lack of running ability in the midfield.
Many people miss Barcelona's pass-and-control football, but they didn't notice that the real basis of Barcelona's play was not control, but running and covering.
The active running coverage of midfielders and frontcourts, combined with the pressure of Barcelona's midfield and frontcourt, this brought almost suffocating pressure to all the teams at that time, but now, Harvey leaves the team, Iniesta is old, frontcourt Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rarely put in defense, which makes Barcelona's midfield and frontcourt protection of the back line is far from enough.
This is the reason why Barcelona have suffered a halt every time they have faced Real Madrid in recent years, and the consecutive knockouts in the last season have been defeated at the foot of Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
Everyone understood it, and Barcelona must have understood it.
At least Valverde knows, because when he coached Athletic Bilbao, he did not use this set of targeted play to restrain Barcelona, but he still chose this way when facing Real Madrid.
Is Valverde silly?
No, it is because he has no choice!
Dembele made up for Neymar, but it is not known how much strength the teenager has at first.
Paulinho came to strengthen coverage and defensive oppression in the midfield, but the question is, who can win the Barcelona midfield?
Iniesta? Rakitic? Or Busquets?
I believe most people know that it should be the old Iniesta.
But the problem is, if the first game of the new season, Iniesta won for no reason, Paulinho replaced him, of course, winning, but if you lose? What do the media and fans think?
More importantly, whether it is a win or lose, what will the locker room look like after winning Iniesta?
After all, Valverde can't hold Barcelona's superstars, he can only temporarily compromise.
Real Madrid has made a full article on this point.
Use the midfield to compete with Barcelona for the possession of the ball. The back line maintains a tight distance with the midfield, so that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can't play the speed, and then use Kanter to freeze Messi, which makes Real Madrid and Barcelona. In the first half, they played very fiercely, but they were very stale. No one could create a good opportunity.
...
"It is still necessary to allow the midfield and backcourt to retrace some more. After the ball is directly hit, Mbappe and Suarez have a very fast speed, especially Mbappe."
"Isco should also retreat properly and control the midfield with David Silva and De Braun, forming a response."
"Marcelo on the left is under more pressure, and David Silva should pay attention to protect the ribs."
"It's faster to be on the spot, and they are basically handed over to Messi and Iniesta from defense to offense."
Yang Yang kept giving Zidane his opinions in the coaching area.
This is his duty as an assistant coach.
Barcelona did not get a chance. A counterattack directly penetrated Real Madrid ’s defense and hit behind Carvajal, but lost Neymar, Barcelona ’s left side lost its threat, and Deulofeu did not take the opportunity. Turn into a threat.
This is the difference between players' personal abilities.
Sometimes, the biggest difference between superstars and other players lies in the grasp of opportunities.
If it can be grasped, it is a superstar. If it cannot be grasped, it can only be reduced to mediocrity.
But don't underestimate the grasp of opportunity. Behind this is not just the use of a certain technical action and on-the-spot play. More is still accumulated over time, and even rose to the competition of talent and personality.
In Yang Yang's view, Barcelona's biggest problem now lies in defense and offense.
The midfielder couldn't hold back. After walking Neymar in the frontcourt, the offense needs to be adjusted. Both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo need time to adapt to the environment without Neymar. The back line is still a lot of problems, especially on the right.
There are problems in the opponent's three lines. As long as Real Madrid play normally, it is not difficult to win the opponent.
...
The first half ended with zero to zero.
Real Madrid and Barcelona failed to break the other goal.
The two teams are obviously not at their best, especially Real Madrid.
The rotation of this game is also not small, replacing Yang Yang with Mbappe, and Isco as a free agent in the midfield. These are changes, but it takes time to adjust, especially Mbappe.
During the intermission, Yang Yang and Zidane also gave the team affirmation and encouragement.
Especially Yang Yang, he firmly believes that the team can win and be able to beat opponents.
"When fighting back, pay attention to hitting a dozen of two ribs. They are now protecting the two ribs, especially from the sideline to the ribs. We have to use them."
After changing sides in the second half and fighting again, Real Madrid made adjustments, Suarez and Mbappe were actively pulling to the two wings, Real Madrid also focused on splitting the two wings when countering, but there are still problems.
Isco played very active and Suarez was trying to cooperate with Mbappe as much as possible, but the French teenager came here for the first time. Although he was very hard-working, he still lacked a tacit understanding with his teammates. Point, missed a few good opportunities.
In one of these, Suarez had already run to the point, but Mbappe's pass was slow, which made the Uruguayans feel very depressed, and obviously felt very sorry for the missed opportunity.
In the 65th minute, Zidane finally couldn't help but want to change.
"It's still up to you!" Zidane shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Yang Yang smiled, took off his coat, and walked directly to the sidelines.
This time he replaced Suarez.
...
Yang Yang's appearance aroused Barcelona's vigilance.
As a teammate, Mbappe is also very much looking forward to playing with Yang Yang again, but Zidane on the sidelines shouted at him, beckoning him to pay attention to Yang Yang, "Look at how he plays and how to drive the game. "
"Learn more, kid!" Zidane reminded earnestly.
Mbappe nodded heavily, not thinking at all, because Yang Yang was his most admired and respected idol.
...
At the beginning, Yang Yang's appearance didn't change much.
Real Madrid's attack is still like that. He looks like he is running, running at a constant speed, but just constantly changing his direction.
Mbappe studied Yang Yang's game video, so he knew that Yang Yang was looking for opportunities.
One thing that caught his attention was that at the moment when the team changed from defending to offense, the running position of Real Madrid's midfielder often revolved around Yang Yang, which was based on his running route to decide how he was. run.
This is clearly different from when Suarez was on the court.
The match was stable for ten minutes, Barcelona made two substitutions, Daniel Suarez replaced Deulofeu and Roberto replaced Iniesta.
Obviously, Valverde is also aware of midfield and frontcourt issues.
But shortly after Barcelona's two substitutions, Real Madrid completed a steal in the penalty area.
After David Silva intercepted the ball from inside the penalty area, he grabbed a big foot to kick the ball forward.
Yang Yang has been cruising around the frontier of his own 30-meter area. After seeing David Silva's big foot pass, he immediately ran back two steps, first got stuck in the position, and stopped the ball directly to Isco with his chest. , Turned around and sprinted forward.
After Isco received the Yang Yang's pass in the front, his speed did not decrease, and he continued to rush forward, without crossing the center line. He made a diagonal pass and sent the ball behind the left Pique.
Mbappe was also ready to sprint behind Umtiti at this time, but after seeing Isco's diagonal pass to the left, he slowed down appropriately and kept the same level with Umtiti to avoid falling offside. s position.
Yang Yang's speed is obviously much lower than when he was at his peak, which is obvious.
If he was at the peak of the past, Pique could not catch up, but now his speed is significantly slower.
After Yang Yang caught up with the ball in the outer corner of the left corner of the penalty area, Pique had returned to his position and blocked it inside.
Mbappe is waiting for Yang Yang's cross, and Isco is also sprinting forward in the middle. As long as Yang Yang crosses, both the middle and the back point are Real Madrid players.
Yang Yang caught up with the ball, but suddenly the whole person stopped abruptly, spiking the ball inwards, forcing Pique to take another step back inside the penalty area, Yang Yang suddenly accelerated, and gently poke the ball horizontally.
It was this poke that made Yang Yang create a direct shot from Pique.
The next thing is simple. Yang Yang is already familiar with this area. Even with his eyes closed, he knows where the goal is, so he catches up, shoots his bow with a bow, and vigorously shoots with his right foot.
With a thunderbolt, the ball passed the top of Ter Stegen's head and fell to the right of Barcelona's goal behind him.
Very simple, very simple, but terrible!
Mbappe, who was still waiting for the pass afterwards, looked so stupid!