In the first round of the new La Liga season, Real Madrid's opponent was Villarreal CF. Last season's runner-up and the team ranked seventh in the league last season were already at a very high level.
Qin Xiong prepared for the game step by step. Capello emphasized the defense in the game in his pre-game lecture.
With the end of the preparation, Capello had a general understanding of some of his tactical ideas in the players' minds.
As for whether it could be successfully implemented, it could only be observed in actual combat.
Qin Xiong could keenly perceive that many of his teammates were resisting Capello's tactical arrangements.
In addition to the two double defensive midfielders in the middle, Qin Xiong's defensive area was directly pulled back to the penalty area. The full backs' activity area was limited to the middle and back field. The wingers needed to return to the front of the penalty area to defend!
In other words, except for the center forward, van Nistelrooy, who did not need to return to the back half of the field, all the other players had the defensive requirement to return to the front of the penalty area or in the penalty area!
As for the offense?
Play according to the situation after doing a good job of defense.
Italy was indeed the Green Shade Kingdom with a strong tactical foundation. But could Italy's tactics keep up with the times and survive in the current Spain?
It was all a question.
Just because Capello was successful here ten years ago, he could not simply think that he could also be successful.
Especially when his success ten years ago came at the cost of losing the "people's hearts."
As night fell, the lights in Madrid were lit.
Qin Xiong, wearing the traditional white home jersey of Real Madrid, stood behind the captain, Raúl, in the players' tunnel.
His mind was completely blank.
He would not inflate his ego because of his excellent performance in the warm-up game. He knew that the real challenge had only just begun.
The players of Real Madrid and Villarreal CF walked into the Bernabéu stadium. Deafening cheers erupted in one of Europe's top stadiums.
The cheers came out. The new season of La Liga had finally begun!
"Welcome to the Bernabéu stadium. The 2006-2007 La Liga season officially kicks off today. Real Madrid, who was runner-up last season, has regrouped and spent about 100 million euros to rebuild the team in the summer. Can they produce a brand new change in the new season? The whole world is watching!
Let's take a look at today's starting list.
Real Madrid starting 433.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Salgado, Cannavaro, Bravo, Carlos.
Midfield: Diarra, Qin Xiong, Emerson.
Forwards: Cassano, van Nistelrooy, Raúl.
Real Madrid's new reinforcements were all on the field. Capello's midfield was a brand-new combination. The front, middle, and back lines, especially the changes in the central axis, were obvious at a glance. Would Bernabéu forget Zidane? Let's take a look.
Villarreal started 4-4-2.
Goalkeeper: Viera.
Defenders: Venta, Álvarez, Peña, Arruabarrena.
Midfielders: Kani, Riquelme, Senna, Sousa.
Forwards: Fran, Nihart.
The game is about to start, and Real Madrid will kick off first. "
With the passionate cheers of the Bernabéu fans, Real Madrid kicked off first.
Villarreal contracted their formation after the start of the game and would not rush to intercept and counterattack in the front field.
Their manager, Pellegrini, mainly focused on Qin Xiong's defensive assignment for the game.
The trident formed by van Nistelrooy, Raúl, and Cassano was not as important as Qin Xiong.
The reason was simple. Two of the three forwards had passed the age where they could carry the team on their own, and the other had delayed his own growth because of his own professionalism.
It was undeniable that the three of them still had a very high threat and popularity.
But they needed to feed the ball in the backfield, and in the opportunity-creating segment, Qin Xiong's creativity was the strongest, and Pellegrini had seen it with his own eyes.
Qin Xiong's contribution to Villarreal's double defeat by Arsenal last season could not go unnoticed. It was Qin Xiong's hand that fell on Villarreal's body and left painful scars.
At the start of the game, Real Madrid's offense was very bad and chaotic!
Qin Xiong was caught in a double-team situation in the middle. He did not force a breakthrough because the risk of being counterattacked by the opponent after losing the ball was too great.
Although the opponent was Villarreal, who he had played against before, the one standing behind him was not Arsenal's backfield defensive line!
Real Madrid's defensive problems were not really in the players' individual ability, but in the overall defensive tacit understanding and the team's offensive and defensive posture.
Qin Xiong did not feel like he was under pressure and had a lot of resistance.
Even Fran and Nehart would encircle him from behind. Senna was eyeing covetously from the front, and Carney and Sousa were ready to cover at any time. He was not worried and looked calm.
When Fran came to press and Nehart blocked his path forward, he strolled in place to protect the ball, turned 180 degrees to dodge Fran, and then passed the ball back to Emerson.
Immediately after, he saw Emerson pass the ball directly to Raúl, who was supporting on the flank.
He passed the ball under his foot. Raúl was pressed by Venta and tried to pass the ball to van Nistelrooy in the middle after barely controlling the ball, but Senna intercepted the ball first.
Qin Xiong glanced at Emmerson, his expression normal as he began to defend.
Villarreal's first attack was of high quality.
Even if Real Madrid's players were actively returning to defend, Villarreal's offense was still very smooth compared to the situation where Riquelme reduced his sticking to the ball to avoid being entangled and delayed by Qin Xiong.
Sousa and Fran carried out a very simple diagonal pass on the left side.
Fran cut into the gap between Salgado and Cannavaro's ribs, then flicked the ball back out of a small angle and directly finished the shot. Casillas held the ball steadily, and the Real Madrid fans in the stands of Bernabéu had a false alarm.
This seemingly simple attack actually exposed a fatal flaw in Real Madrid's defense.
It was not that the players' one-on-one ability was poor, but that their overall defensive thinking and control of the zone was too weak!
Full backs like Salgado and Carlos were all players who ate from one side. For a long time in their careers, the proportion of their participation in the offense was much higher than the defense!
This led to a decrease in the ability of the full backs to protect the center backs or the penalty area on the defensive line!
Not every attack on the field was one-on-one.
Especially in a contest between the strong and the weak, a strong team might be able to rely on the individual ability of a super player to completely destroy the opponent, but could a weak team not attack without a super star player?
Of course not, team cooperation!
The most basic condition for team cooperation was space. Without space, it was impossible to develop a highly technical offensive cooperation that caught the opponent off guard!
Therefore, to limit the opponent's cooperation, the most important thing was zone control, which was to compress the defensive space.
Real Madrid's work in this area was not done well. Even if the rear defensive line looked stable, when the critical defensive decision-making time came, a step forward or a step back would determine the control of the zone!
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