Porto's counterattack did not have many new routines. They mainly attacked from the flanks and followed up from the middle. This was with Deco as the core. He was responsible for the distribution of the counterattack and choosing the best counterattack route. Then he followed up from the middle and plugged in.
Deco's ability to control the ball was very strong, but Qin Xiong found that his speed was not his forte in the game. Even though Qin Xiong was not a defensive player, as long as he was not directly broken through by Deco, or even if he was broken through, he could still entangle Deco so that Porto could only play a line of fast attacks from the flanks. They could not combine the flanks and carry out a wide range of horizontal coordination.
Just as Porto was looking forward to Ajax's attack, it would give them space to fight back.
Ajax was also looking forward to Porto's counterattack.
This was determined by the style of football.
If the opponent defended stubbornly, it would be extremely difficult for Ajax to score a goal.
But as long as the opponent was still fighting back, they would invest at least four players. In other words, when switching between offense and defense, as long as Ajax played faster and faster in rhythm, he would be able to have a better attacking environment.
In the 21st minute of the game, Deco passed the ball from the backfield to Costinha on the flank. His fast attack on the right flank did not succeed. Escudo and Galasek stifled the young player Alberto's opportunity to plug in front of the penalty area to get a direct ball to the goal.
After Ajax's successful defense, he immediately turned his head to play a fast attack.
Qin Xiong began to run actively. At this time, it was impossible for there to be any harassment from the Porto players behind him. Alberto and Delle both rushed to the front line. They were desperately chasing back, but it would be strange if they could run faster than the football!
When Galasek passed the ball to Qin Xiong, Deco, who had a strong ability to read the game, followed like a shadow. Qin Xiong had already thought about how to deal with Deco's pressing. He wanted to take the ball back one step and then dribble the ball horizontally to find an opportunity to send the football forward.
But as soon as he touched the ball, there was a huge impact behind him. Qin Xiong's expression changed slightly. He did not expect Deco to close directly and rush up!
Then, the plan has changed!
Deco immediately moved to the left, but Qin Xiong was feinting. He immediately turned to the right and dribbled the ball to break through!
Deke who had already lost his balance was very close to Qin Xiong. He used his hand to secretly grab onto Qin Xiong's arm!
After exerting his strength to slow down his center of gravity and delay Qin Xiong's speed, he directly lifted his leg to block Qin Xiong's forward path, which made Qin Xiong stumble and directly poke the ball out of the way.
Qin Xiong stabilized his center of gravity. Just as he was about to shake off Deke's hand, he found that Deke had already retracted his hand.
Qin Xiong looked towards Deco. The "traitor" in the eyes of the Brazilian fans had a calm look on his face as he started to chase the ball.
At that moment, the referee blew his whistle!
The referee raised his arm and pointed it towards Porto's goal, meaning that Ajax had received a free kick and that Deco had committed a defensive foul.
Deco spread his hands to express his innocence to the referee.
Qin Xiong was a little helpless with his hands on his hips. He turned his head without surprise. Delle and Alberto were just two meters away from him.
Porto had committed a tactical foul!
Yes, if the game had been running non-stop, then Ajax would have had no problem even if he had given Porto a chance to counterattack!
That was the price that had to be paid!
The collision between offensive football and utilitarian football was so tit-for-tat.
If Porto wanted to counterattack, how many players would they invest in the front line?
If a player wanted to break down Ajax's defensive line, that would be a pipe dream!
The two players had little hope.
The probability of three players greatly increased!
Four players would make Porto feel confident that they could defeat Ajax with a counterattack!
However, Jax didn't think that way. Every time their opponents changed from defense to offense, Jax would be able to get the ball out in three seconds, and this would increase the chances of them turning around and charging at Porto's defense line.
But there was a big premise: the game was not interrupted.
It was clear that Mourinho's team had been criticized and complained about by the managers of Manchester United, Lyon, and Deportivo La Coruña on their way to the Champions League. It was not the moaning of the weak, but they were really stimulated by Porto's way of using the rules to their advantage and even risking challenging the rules to destroy the beauty of the smooth running of the football game!
Now, it was Ajax's turn to experience the impact of this football philosophy that was completely different from his own style.
It was no wonder that Comain would give the players a psychological warning before the game. When a very good opportunity to attack presented itself in front of him, but it was stopped by the opponent's premeditated tactical foul, Qin Xiong's mood was also very complicated for a moment.
Regret, loss, helplessness, and even anger!
If you have the ability, then f * * king defend against me openly!
Don't use this sneaky foul tactic!
But this was where the diversity of European football lay. Qin Xiong spent most of his time in the Eredivisie. The Dutch advocated offensive football. They were used to playing beautiful and smooth offensive football, so few teams would do this kind of thing so obviously. Some fouls were indeed unavoidable choices in a hurry, but the Porto players were premeditated and calmly committed the foul!
Porto used this method so that even if their counterattack was not successful, they could avoid exposing their line to the threat of Ajax's quick attack to the maximum extent.
In the 24th minute of the game, Snede, who had retreated to support, also had a good opportunity to organize an attack, but he was knocked to the ground by Costinha. The referee once again ruled that Porto had committed a foul and issued a warning to Costinha.
What annoyed the Ajax players was that the Porto players' attitude after the foul was very good. The referee was cautious and did not recklessly punish them with cards.
Qin Xiong responded and began to kick the ball out frequently. He ran more actively to support and did not give the opponent a chance to foul as much as possible.
However, if you wanted to attack like this, the efficiency of the fast attack would be a little worse because you could not efficiently coordinate with your teammates in a situation where you had such a high requirement of a single kick. Often, the fast attack opportunities would turn back into a defensive battle.
Porto's overall speed of returning to defense was fast. Coupled with the close connection between the midfield line and the defensive line, Ajax frequently attempted long shots from the outside and also got several free kick opportunities to attack the goal.
Qin Xiong tried two free kicks to attack the goal, but they were directly blocked by the human wall. The third time, the distance was a little far. His powerful shot at the goal did not have the effect of an elevator ball, and the football flew directly into the stands.
Ajax's offense did not seem to be able to play particularly well, because Porto compressed the defensive space in the danger zone. At the same time, they premeditated to entangle with Ajax's offensive players and used small moves to interfere with their offense. It often evolved into local fights and finally ended with the successful encirclement of the Porto players.
Seeing that the attacking group in the front field was somewhat unable to break the situation, Qin Xiong and the others did not panic. The final was bound to be a tough battle. They had such awareness before the game.
Grygera and Maxwell began to stir on the flank. The tacit understanding between the two men was that they always had to keep one person in the backfield to defend and not both of them to attack forward at the same time. So, they had been very cautious since the start of the game.
When the game was close to 30 minutes old, Grygera took the opportunity to move forward along the flank to participate in the attack. He and Qin Xiong played a quick and dazzling two-over-one. Maniche had no way to foul even if he wanted to.
After coming to the front field, Grygera and Van Der Vaart crossed and switched positions. This movement confused Valente. Qin Xiong decisively sent a straight ball in the middle of the front field. The straight pass penetrated Porto's defensive line like a scalpel and accurately found Grygera, who cut into the end line.
The Czech Republic full-back formed the most unexpected point of attack to break Porto's solid defense from the start of the game.
He calmly observed the movement of Porto's rear defensive line.
Ibrahimovic was sealed. Van Der Vaart was blocked outside the penalty area to cover for him. Qin Xiong had Deco and Mendes blocking the passing route in front of him.
Grygera himself did not have an angle to shoot. Now it was almost zero angle. If he dribbled outside to get an angle to shoot, it was not what he was good at. It was likely that he would lose the ball directly.
He saw Snede, who was most likely to end the attack!
Snede sneakily moved from the left flank to the left flank in front of the penalty area. He had shaken off Ferreira!
Grygera no longer hesitated and decisively sent out a diagonal return pass!
The goalkeeper, Bya, was attracted to the near post on this side. As long as Snede could shoot the ball to the goal from outside the penalty area on the other side, the ball would undoubtedly go in!
After Grygera passed the ball, his high hopes were dashed when Costa fell to the ground to intercept his long leg!
Costa fell to the ground at the critical moment and stretched out his leg to block the ball. The football fell at Deco's feet.
Qin Xiong immediately rushed up to counterattack. He could not give Deco time to adjust his attack.
But the Brazilian reacted quickly. He turned half on the spot and kicked the ball to the left flank of his own offense!
Seeing the attack appear, Mourinho's cold eyes on the sidelines flashed with excitement.
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