No one had expected Ajax to be so wild right from the start in a battle of life and death!
No one had expected Ajax to score a lightning-fast goal 14 seconds into the match!
No one had expected that the goal would be scored by Pienaar!
Outsiders had predicted that the Ajax player who would play an important role in the match would be Ibrahimovic, Van Der Vaart, or even the recently popular Qin Xiong!
Unfortunately, it was not the three of them, but Pienaar, the player who had received the least attention in Ajax's attacking team.
However, it was undeniable that Ajax's attacking team was becoming more and more coordinated. The three-dimensional structure of the attack was clear at a glance, and it did not give people the impression of a chaotic swarm. In fact, it was because of the improvement in their technical and tactical abilities that they were able to make unexpected contributions in key areas!
This was the team's success!
At this moment, Pienaar, who was being chased by his teammates, was enjoying the cheers of the Ajax fans.
The fans were relieved, and were worried that the two shots that hit the crossbar were a sign of bad luck. Fortunately, the team scored immediately.
All the Club Brugge players were stunned, and the manager, Soledad, was in a daze.
Just like that, they conceded a goal?
The referee blew the whistle to signal the start of the match. Soledad had not even warmed his seat in the technical area!
Comain, who was standing on the sidelines, turned around and hugged his assistants in celebration. He was confident. Of course, Ajax's recent form showed that they definitely had the ability to crush Club Brugge!
The team was on the right track!
"Ajax got off to a good start! 14 seconds into the match, this is definitely a goal that will enter the Champions League record! The record for the fastest goal in the Champions League was set a year ago by Arsenal's Gilberto Silva. In the Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven, he scored in 20.5 seconds at the start of the match and set a new record for the fastest goal in the Champions League! Now, in the Amsterdam Arena, Ajax's Pienaar has set a new record! The exact time of the goal would be accurately determined by the UEFA officials, but it was definitely around 15 seconds. Compared to the achievement of setting a new record, Ajax's current lead was the most practical, 1: 0. On the real-time rankings, Ajax surpassed Bruges and became second in the group! Bruges is going to have a hard time in this match. They suffered a huge blow at the beginning of the match, which may disrupt all their preparations for the match! "
After Ajax's entire team celebrated the goal, the expressions of the players immediately returned to their serious expressions. On the way back to the half court, Qin Xiong communicated with his teammates and told everyone to stop after the restart to stabilize the situation.
Club Brugge had suffered a sudden blow and would definitely step up their offense after the restart. This was definitely not part of their plan. At least, Manager Solider could not have predicted that the team would concede a goal in the first minute of play!
Was Ajax going to press the advantage?
If this was a normal league, they could play like this.
However, this was the Champions League. Stability in the overall situation was the most important factor!
Ajax was in the lead. Now they had to stabilize the situation so that the opponent could not attack. They had to force the opponent to play more and more urgently and panic in the psychological warfare!
In order to strengthen the stability of the defensive line, Comain let Heitinga sit on the bench. The veteran Galasek played as the backbone of the defense and partnered with Eskuder to ensure the defense in the penalty area.
This made the quality of the team's defense go up a level.
Bruges tried to equalize the score after the kickoff. They played more aggressively, but they did not play the effect of catching Ajax off guard tactically.
Their ground pass and cut could not be carried out in the middle. Qin Xiong's ability to read the game was growing day by day. He became more sophisticated in his choice of position and prediction in defense. The middle cut the opponent's offensive formation was very obvious.
The lone striker, Lange, was alone in the front field. He was surrounded by Ajax's defenders, which made him like a trapped beast and could only wait for death!
The side midfielders, Marterns and Čech, rushed from the two flanks. They could not beat Grygera and Maxwell one-on-one, so they immediately passed the ball when they had the chance. However, the effect of such a pass was simply terrible. Marterns even had a pass that flew directly out of the end line, which was outrageous.
Simmons, Claremont, and Hirac were all midfielders who were weak in offense and strong in defense. They were the barrier that Manager Soled placed in the midfield to limit Ajax's midfield attack. Unfortunately, they did not play the role they should have in the attack and defense at the beginning of the flash attack.
Now, when they needed to attack, they had become a burden to the team!
Once Bruges carried out the team combination of the sides and the center, the three midfielders had a high chance of losing the ball after plugging in in the middle. First, it was intercepted, and second, the pass was not in place.
Ajax's overall defensive technical and tactical ability was relatively strong. Although Van Der Vaart and Snede did not put in much effort, as long as they stood in position and contained an area, it was an effective defense.
The most important center was the center. Qin Xiong and Pinard were both highly defensive midfielders, which made the defensive quality of Ajax's midfield and backfield good.
Ajax stabilized the field, and naturally weakened the attack to prevent the formation from moving forward and the distance between the three lines was too long.
The attack lacked delicate, smooth, and continuous team cooperation. Most of the time, it relied on two or three players' two-one or triangular pass coordination. It was threatening, but not fatal.
Snede, Van Der Vaart, Pinard, and Ibrahimovic all tried to break through individually, but the success rate was not too high. After all, the opponent's three defensive midfielders were able to form an efficient joint defense and double team after retreating.
When the game had gone on for 15 minutes, Ajax's state had been very stable, and the feeling it gave Bruges was: 1: 0, enough! We will advance to the top 16!
The fullbacks, Drucker and Van den Haidt, witnessed the team's lack of strength in the midfield and front field. They were surrounded by layers of opponents. The two of them knew that if Bruges could not play the established defensive and counter-attacking tactics, then they would be no threat in positional play and attack!
Although Belgium was not a particularly strong football country in the European map, it was once all-powerful, and the Red Devils of Europe were famous for a time. This could not be separated from the research of football tactics by the pioneers when the country was developing football. They were once like seekers, like the football tactical research team in the Hungarian cafes, thinking about the ways to win on the field.
Therefore, the Belgian players were in fact growing up, and the tactical knowledge instilled by the club was not backward. It could not be said that they were trendsetters, but at least they could keep up with the times. This was also one of the reasons why the Dutch powerhouses chose Belgium as their "talent base." Among the three powerhouses in the Netherlands, many of the youth seedlings came from Belgium.
Drucker and Van den Haidt, born and raised in Belgium, knew what the team needed most now.
An unexpected point of attack!
This was also one of the core ideas in the development of football tactics in the past half a century.
A hidden point of attack!
From nine strikers to seven strikers, five strikers, four strikers, three strikers …
The number of strikers was constantly decreasing. In addition to strengthening the defense, paying attention to the control of the midfield and other factors, the most intuitive was that if the offense wanted to have more points of attack, and make the opponent unable to defend effectively, some of the attacking points had to be hidden.
Looking at the team's stagnant offense, Drucker and Van den Haidt gritted their teeth. They could not sit back and watch Ajax steadily hold on to the fruits of victory!
We can take away the victory in San Siro, why can't we also take away the victory here?
Ajax has lost three games!
We only lost one game!
Why should you advance to the top 16?
Why!
Not convinced, not convinced, not convinced!!!
Drucker and Van den Haidt suddenly came forward from the flank to participate in the attack with a wild momentum, trying to become an unexpected point of attack to tear apart Ajax's defensive system.
However, they might not have expected it.
As Ajax's midfield brain, Qin Xiong had been paying attention to the changes in the formation of the players on both teams.
The moment the two full backs came forward, Qin Xiong's eyes suddenly sharpened!
Pienaar actively participated in the defense, cooperating with Maxwell on the left flank to trap Drucker, who came forward to participate in the attack.
After Maxwell intercepted the ball, he immediately passed the ball diagonally to Qin Xiong, who was running in the middle of the midfield.
After Qin Xiong touched the ball and turned around, he suddenly accelerated!
When he began to accelerate and dribble, Ajax's attacking system seemed to awaken from a deep sleep, forming a tacit whole and starting to operate.
Like a calm lion, he began to bare his bloody fangs at his prey!
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