"Manager Li Ang is really conservative," Commentator Dagestino said as he looked at Sporting de Gijón's starting list in his hand.
Sporting de Gijón's starting goalkeeper today was still the veteran Valencia.
On the defensive line, Li Ang deployed a four-back formation today. The left-back was Grosso, the right-back was Ivanovic, and the center-back combination was the veterans Hierro and Pepe. This was no surprise. As long as there were no players injured, Sporting de Gijón basically used this center-back combination in important games.
Among them, the former Real Madrid captain Hierro's performance this season was admirable. After leaving Real Madrid, he went to Qatar for a season. After returning to La Liga, he and Pepe formed the center-back partnership of Sporting de Gijón. Although he was old and his speed and reaction were not as fast as before, Hierro had always firmly occupied the starting center-back position of Sporting de Gijón with his rich experience. His partnership with the young Pepe could be said to complement each other. Pepe was young and aggressive, but slightly impatient. Hierro's experience and guidance were the best teachers for Pepe.
The reason why Dagestino thought that Li Ang was conservative was because of the midfield. Carlos and Marcos started together. One was a fierce midfielder who stirred up shit in the midfield, and the other was a pure defensive player known as Young Makelele. It was not common for these two players to start together. Even when they were visiting Camp Nou or Bernabéu, Li Ang rarely deployed these two players at the same time. This was enough to show the importance Sporting de Gijón placed on defense today.
Mata was injured in the game against Albacete. Before the game, the media reported that Mata might not be able to play in today's game. In the end, Mata was in the starting list and was now sitting on the bench. The player who replaced Mata was the Venezuelan player Juan Arango.
On the left wing, Ribéry started as usual.
What was surprising was that Li Ang seemed to be playing a single striker in this match. There was only one Diego Milito on the frontline, and behind Diego Milito was Modric.
*****
"Li Ang's starting lineup is confusing," González said. "Modric is the attacking midfielder?" He raised a question.
Modric had temporarily played the attacking midfielder position in some games, so González would have this suspicion.
Li Ang sat in the coach's seat. His gaze was also fixed on Modric. He had put Modric in an important position for today's game!
This was truly the highest level of trust!
It could be said that in the entire first half of the game, Sporting de Gijón's tactics revolved around Modric, and the Croatian player's position on the field was definitely not just that of an attacking midfielder …
When the players from both sides stood in their respective positions. While waiting for the kickoff, the El Molinon Stadium, which had been noisy for more than half an hour, fell into a brief silence. In an instant, the sound disappeared. Everyone held their breath and waited for the game to start.
The main referee, Marienko, stood in the center circle and looked at the watch on his wrist. He then looked at the fourth official on the side of the field. After getting the permission to kick off, he blew the whistle in his mouth. A clear and crisp whistle sounded.
The game began.
*****
After Ronaldinho passed the ball to Eto'o. He ran forward. At the same time. Diego Milito, who was waiting outside the center circle, rushed straight to Eto'o, who had the ball.
Eto'o did not give him a chance to intercept the ball on the spot. He turned around and passed the ball to Decaux behind him. He brushed past Diego Milito.
In this game, Li Ang let Diego Milito, who had just recovered from his injury, start. This had once aroused the doubts of the assistants during the coaching staff's meeting. They thought that Diego Milito had been out of the field for a long time and could not bear the heavy responsibility. However, Li Ang firmly believed in Diego Milito. He believed that the Argentine striker would give his best performance to repay his trust. This Argentine was a player on big occasions!
Diego Milito ignored Eto'o and continued to rush to Decaux.
Decaux passed the football back again to the Mexican defender behind him, Marquez. Diego Milito ignored Decaux. He continued to pounce on Marquez.
Almost at the same time, Juan Arango and Ribéry also began to desperately accelerate forward to press forward.
On the contrary, Modric did not rush forward and stayed in the center circle.
Behind him were Carlos and Marcos.
*****
Marquez was a little worried by Sporting de Gijón's pressing. He quickly passed the football to Belletti on the side. Diego Milito did not continue to pounce on Belletti because Ribéry had rushed up.
Belletti had just received the ball when he found that Ribéry had rushed in front of him. He hurriedly buckled the ball, intending to dodge the Frenchman.
If it had been in a previous game, Ribéry might not have pestered him after his first attempt to snatch the ball had failed. After all, he was an offensive player. However, Belletti did not expect Ribéry to continue pestering him.
"Don't dawdle, pass the ball out!" Valdés, who was at the back, had a clear view of the situation on the field. Sporting Gihon's current formation surprised and worried him. Modric was in the middle of the field, eyeing them covetously, Carlos and Marcos were guarding the center line, Ribéry and the other attacking players were desperately trying to snatch the ball, and Diego Milito was cruising around the outside of the penalty area. Once Belletti started playing with fire in the backfield, Sporting Gihon's counterattack would arrive in an instant.
Rijkaard frowned on the sidelines. He felt that he had seen through Li Ang's plan. Sporting de Gijón's tactics today were to prepare the defense in the middle and backfield and be ready for battle. The players in the front field would press desperately and try to find opportunities to sneak attacks.
However, such tactics were like dividing the entire team into the front and the back. Was Li Ang not afraid that the front and back would be separated?!
*****
Belletti was forced into a difficult situation by Ribéry. He tried to tackle Ribéry, but he found that the other side was very alert and pestered him again. He had no choice but to choose a long kick to drive the football to the front field.
Giuly tried to snatch the header in the front field, but he lost to Pepe. The Frenchman was no match for Pepe in terms of strength, and the football was headed back by Pepe.
Barcelona's young player, Iniesta, beautifully hooked the football back in the air. Then, just as he was about to stop the ball, he felt someone approaching. He pushed the football to the other side, but he saw a foot come over and directly poke the football away.
"Carlos and Marcos are working together to intercept the ball!"
After poking the football away, Carlos strode forward and firmly held Iniesta, who was trying to snatch the ball back, behind him. The latter pushed, but felt that he had pushed against a wall.
After completing the interception, Marcos quickly retreated and stayed firmly in the back of the center circle. He had no intention of participating in the attack at all.
Carlos quickly passed the ball, not forward, but back. He passed the ball to Modric behind him. At this time, people noticed that Modric's position was actually very deep.
"What is he doing?" Rijkaard was even more surprised and puzzled. Modric had retreated so deep. Who in the front field was going to organize the attack for Sporting de Gijón?
Rijkaard felt that he could understand Li Ang's starting lineup and the tactical arrangements on the field, but at the same time, he did not understand a little …
PS: First update.
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