Real Madrid finished the first half of the first leg of the Champions League U-18 final against Liverpool at the Bernabéu.
The score was 1: 1.
Liverpool got the away goal and Real Madrid was temporarily in a trailing situation.
Back in the locker room, Bosque faced a helpless situation that even a top manager could not reverse: the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.
Real Madrid's imbalanced midfield structure and hidden dangers in the rear defensive line were supposed to be solved by last summer's signings, but it had continued to this day. It could not be said that Real Madrid's overall strength had plummeted, but when it was necessary to weaken the forward line to strengthen the midfield, the chain reaction made the manager quite helpless.
Qin Xiong's adjustment was correct, but it could only be said that Real Madrid went from an extremely passive situation to being on par with Liverpool.
What frustrated Bosque the most was that Real Madrid's first place in the group stage was snatched by Juventus. As a result, Real Madrid faced their opponent at home in the first leg of the Champions League U-18 final. Liverpool had the convenience of playing first and then playing second.
Based on the historical statistics, the advantage of the latter was not particularly obvious, especially when one considered that the data was just static. It could not tell which side had the upper hand in a battle between two teams in a situation where the two teams were evenly matched in terms of strength, the advantage of the first team being the guest and then the main team being the guest was not particularly obvious.
But when it came to Real Madrid, the disadvantage of playing first at home was unusually prominent.
The Bernabéu was Real Madrid's football temple. In this world's top stadium, Real Madrid must not be conservative!
At home, Real Madrid not only had to win, but they had to win beautifully.
Otherwise, Capello would not have left twelve years ago, and Capello, who entered the palace for the second time two years ago, would not still be under great public pressure when his record was in the red.
Bosque could let Real Madrid use tactics to make up for the weakness of the unbalanced formation at Camp Nou. He could withstand the pressure.
But if he did the same at home, then it was equivalent to digging his own grave.
Even though it was the best for Real Madrid, as a real Real Madrid man, Bosque also knew that the real bottom line of the great club was that they could not abandon their traditional style and pursuit of shade!
Battle results were important, but the temperament and elegance of the White Cloth Army were even more important!
Because of this, Real Madrid could not play on the counter-attack when playing Liverpool at home. Now that the score was 1: 1, it was even more impossible to play on the counter-attack.
If they had played the away game first, perhaps Real Madrid's problems would not have been so obvious. And assuming that they could get the ideal results and then return to their home ground, Real Madrid would have more strategies to deal with the game. They would not fall into the embarrassing situation where Liverpool grasped their weak points and beat them to death.
The old manager thought about it and finally ordered the players to increase their aggressiveness in defense.
This was the only way to stifle Liverpool's rapid attacks one after another.
When they returned to the field in the second half, the two teams switched sides and fought again.
Real Madrid immediately spurred on the offensive after the kickoff. Qin Xiong frequently passed the ball to the two wings in the middle. Qin Xiong did not dare to frequently switch positions with Snede to play on the flanks when the midfield was not enough to hold the field. He could play deep offense on the flanks like Robben, which Snede did not have.
It could be said that after Real Madrid adjusted to the 4-2-3-1 formation, their offensive strategy had become a one-sided flying wing attack tactic.
The only one who could really pose a threat on the flanks was Robben.
In the 48th minute of the game, Robben passed the ball back to Aurelio's defense behind the byline on the flank. He dodged Aurelio's pressing and immediately followed up with a diagonal back pass. Qin Xiong quickly kicked the ball out under the double attack of Riera and Gerard. He passed the ball straight to the front. Snede, who cut inside to the middle, also kicked the ball out in the face of Mascherano and Alonso's pincer attack. He gently passed the ball across.
Guti, who rushed up in big strides, received the ball and shot!
The football hit Agger's body and bounced off the end line. It was difficult for Real Madrid to really push their offense into the danger zone of Liverpool's penalty area. If it was just a pass from the byline, there was little offensive threat.
Liverpool frequently used quick attacks to play beautiful offense in their counterattack.
It had to be said that the advantage in physical confrontation allowed Liverpool to have the upper hand when they fought for every inch of ground in the middle and front field.
Gerard gained the advantage in the physical confrontation with Guti. He suddenly pulled the ball back after he controlled the ball. This change in rhythm caused Qin Xiong, who returned to defend, to be bypassed.
Gerard then passed the ball diagonally to the front left. Riera, who cut inside, stopped the ball and observed the situation on the front line. Then he sent a pass.
Torres's diagonal cut to Pepe's side attracted the attention of Real Madrid's defensive line, which provided an opportunity for Kuyt to cut into the gap in the ribs.
Marcelo was simply unable to stop Kuyt's header from the right side of the penalty area.
Fortunately, Casillas played steadily and hit the football out of the penalty area.
After Diarra took control of the football, he intended to let Real Madrid launch a quick attack.
But the quality of his pass was not complimentary.
The pass that was originally intended for Snede became a knife-mountain ball. After Snede and Arbeloa scrambled for the ball, Snede was defeated.
Liverpool continued to launch an offensive. Arbeloa pushed the ball along the flank for thirty yards and suddenly crossed the ball diagonally in front of the penalty area.
In the middle of the front of the penalty area, Torres had his back to Cannavaro. After the football rolled over, he knocked the ball behind him with his right foot and then turned around the left side of his body. Cannavaro made a fool of himself. His small goal was blocked by Torres with his back!
His skills shocked everyone!
The Holy Boy Torres completed the volley in one go!
Casillas once again used his world-class save to protect the crumbling city gate from being penetrated by Liverpool for the second time!
"Torres's wonderful back kick was so good that Real Madrid's defenders couldn't defend against him at all! Cannavaro has to admit that he is old! Torres was like a ferocious tiger, flaunting his prowess in front of him time and time again. He could only awkwardly become a part of the background. He could only helplessly look at Torres' back, or fall to the ground after being played by Torres to admire his heroic figure! "
Was Cannavaro, who would be 35 years old in half a year, not old?
Of course he was old!
It would be strange if he did not fall into a disadvantageous position in the confrontation with Torres, who had an amazing burst of power in an instant.
Not all top defenders could write the legend of being old but strong.
Cannavaro knew that he could not stop Torres, but he also had his own reasons. For example, he was now complaining to Las Diarra and Guti, asking them to pay attention to blocking the opponent's passing route, holding on to key positions, or simply foul! Foul!
Did he have to wait for the center back to foul in the danger zone?
That was equivalent to suicide!
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