Before the start of the second half of the game, Barcelona requested a substitution. The French star Giuly was substituted and the 18-year-old Leo Messi came on as a substitute.
Li Ang's eyes immediately narrowed, and there was a glimmer of light in his eyes.
In the first round of the game between the two sides, Messi did not get a chance to play. Rijkaard's use of Messi was based on the principle of looking after and protecting him. He gave Messi a chance to play little by little, and the little player's progress was also very fast.
"It's that little Argentine." Banderas immediately recognized Messi. He still remembered when he was the assistant manager of Real Madrid's under-17 A team, assisting the head coach Li Ang. Li Ang attached great importance to this little player and came to the conclusion that this big boy named Messi would be Real Madrid's biggest rival for the next ten years.
"That's right, it's that kid. In terms of the promotion and training of young people, Real Madrid is far behind Barcelona. "Li Ang nodded and said.
Banderas was silent. He admitted that Li Ang was right. In terms of the training of young people, Real Madrid was far behind Barcelona. This was not to say that Real Madrid's youth seedlings were not as good as Barcelona's, but because of the superstar policy of Real Madrid's president, Florentino, it was very difficult for young people to get a chance to play in Real Madrid. Just look at Mata. If he had not followed Li Ang to Sporting de Gijón, Mata would probably still be like his other Real Madrid youth teammates, still only playing in the youth league. On the other hand, Barcelona had always attached great importance to the training and promotion of young people produced by La Masia's youth camp. Among the Barcelona players on the field now, the goalkeeper Valdés was produced by La Masia, so was the captain Puyol. The midfielders Harvey and Iniesta were also produced by La Masia's youth camp, and so was the substitute Messi.
*****
Li Ang didn't notice his assistant coach's absent-mindedness. Before the game started, he called Carlos to the side of the training hall and gave him instructions. Li Ang didn't expect Rijkaard to send Messi this early, so he didn't make any special arrangements during halftime. Now, he immediately conveyed the instructions to mark Messi.
Five minutes later.
Messi had just dribbled the ball past Carlos, but Carlos's entanglement prevented Messi from taking off immediately. Then he found himself in trouble.
Faced with Modric's pressure, Messi could only choose to pass the football out.
Rijkaard frowned on the side of the field. He brought on Messi, hoping to use Messi's flexibility and small range of dodging and maneuvering to tear apart and drive Sporting de Gijón's defensive line. However, he didn't expect Li Ang to not give Messi a chance at all.
When Messi got the football, whoever was closest to him would press forward. He tried to control the ball to get rid of the first defender, and the second person appeared within a foot of him.
For example, just now, Messi had just passed Carlos and was forced by Modric. Carlos was also watching from the side, so Messi could only pass the football out.
The only thing that comforted Rijkaard was that Messi's dribbling breakthrough attracted some of Sporting de Gijón's defensive attention, which gave Ronaldinho more space and opportunity.
However, after a while, the hard-won space and opportunity became more congested and narrow. Sporting de Gijón's formation was compressed again.
Rijkaard's expression changed again and again. He kept pacing on the side of the field. The team's attack was not successful. As time passed, Rijkaard began to become more and more anxious.
*****
Harvey passed the football to Ronaldinho, who tried to break forward and finally broke out of the encirclement. He went straight to Sporting de Gijón's penalty area. When he reached the penalty area, he realized that he could not pass the ball or break through.
The Brazilian star player hesitated for a moment. He was surrounded by Sporting de Gijón's players again.
Ronaldinho showed amazing ball control skills, but it was useless. He did not have a passing route or an opening to shoot. He could only choose to pass the ball back, and then Marquis, who rushed up, directly shot a long shot.
Valencia was ready and pounced the football out.
Eto 'o wanted to shoot, but the football was cleared by Hierro in advance.
Li Ang applauded on the side of the field. His players' overall strength was not strong. If they were to face the powerful Barcelona team in a few years, they might be in big trouble. However, Messi was still a seedling and was not as strong as he would be later. The Argentinian at this time was not the ball king who would dodge and maneuver to open a bloody path under the encirclement of many players and send the football into the goal.
In terms of individual breakthroughs, Ronaldinho did not have any good ideas in the face of intensive defense.
The Brazilian star player's passing and shooting were world-class. His one-on-one breakthroughs were also top-notch. However, in the face of layers of encirclement tactics, Ronaldinho did not have many ideas.
Therefore, people quickly noticed that Barcelona could get close to Sporting de Gijón's penalty area by passing the ball and breaking through. However, it was difficult to go deeper. Under such circumstances, Barcelona began to constantly try long shots.
Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper, Valencia, was not a top goalkeeper, but he was experienced and would not make mistakes easily. In the face of long shots, he was always able to complete the save.
Of course, in the face of long shots, the goalkeeper's save sometimes did not grasp the hand shape well, or under a subconscious save, the football would stay in front of the goal. This gave the Barcelona players a chance to shoot back.
*****
In the 59th minute of the game, Barcelona shot again from long range. This time, it was Ronaldinho who completed the shot.
The Brazilian shot the football with a strange arc. Valencia flew to pounce, and the football was hit to the left side of the goal.
"Valencia pounced on the ball and missed!!"
Eto 'o, nicknamed' Cheetah, 'rushed up like a cheetah. He almost succeeded in the rebound. If Carlos had not grabbed the football in front of him and shoveled it out …
Eto 'o did not manage to grab the football. He bumped into Carlos's leg, tripped, and lay down in the penalty area.
Barcelona's players raised their hands one after another to indicate that Eto 'o had been fouled. This should be a penalty kick.
Eto 'o slapped the turf hard. He was annoyed that he was half a beat slower.
After he got up, he also looked at the referee. The referee, Marienko, shook his finger to indicate that there was no foul.
Eto 'o did not continue to argue. He was just annoyed that he missed the opportunity.
Li Ang smiled on the sidelines. At this time, although Barcelona already had the habit of protesting to the referee, compared to later besieging and pressuring the referee, they were "more honest" now.
*****
Twenty minutes into the second half of the game, Sporting de Gijón, who was in a passive position, had very few shots. Eighty percent of the time, the audience only saw Barcelona bombarding Sporting de Gijón's thirty-meter area indiscriminately. The number of shots they had was far in the lead.
However, although Barcelona had been besieging and had almost broken the goal several times, Sporting de Gijón's goal was like a crumbling city wall. It always saved the day at the last minute.
Barcelona's commentator was very dissatisfied. "Sporting de Gijón is too conservative, too timid … They are like gutless cowards who only know how to hole up in a narrow space …"
It was not only Barcelona's commentator who was sarcastic about Li Ang and Sporting de Gijón. Even the national television commentator, Dagestino, could not stand it anymore. "Li Ang is too conservative. They have completely given up on attacking. This situation is dangerous. Barcelona is very strong. They have been attacking, shooting, and looking for goals. Barcelona cannot score with ten shots, but it does not mean that they cannot score with fifteen shots. If Sporting de Gijón continues to be so conservative, they may concede at any time. "
The commentator was criticizing Sporting de Gijón's conservatism. The fans also wanted to see an offensive battle between the two sides. This kind of one-sided siege was really boring. The television broadcast happened to give Li Ang a close-up. He sat in the technical area with his legs crossed. He did not seem to be anxious about the current situation on the field.
*****
A minute later, after Ronaldinho and Eto 'o continued to cooperate, the latter passed the ball to Messi. The Argentine spiked the ball with his left foot and dodged a gap. He was about to accelerate but was pulled to the ground by Marcos.
Barcelona got a good position for a set piece in the front field.
Ronaldinho stood at the penalty spot. The Brazilian's face was full of sweat and his eyes were fixed on the goal.
Li Ang suddenly frowned as he sensed a dangerous aura.
Sure enough, this time, Ronaldinho's direct free kick drew a beautiful arc and flew towards the goal.
Valencia flew to pounce, but the angle of Ronaldinho's shot was too tricky. The goalkeeper could not save in time. The football flew into the goal almost close to the intersection of the crossbar and the column.
“Goooool！”
"Long live!"
"Long live! Ronaldinho! "
The Barcelona people burst into loud cheers. Ronaldinho slapped his chest hard and roared. He seemed very excited. To make the usually gentle Ronaldinho so excited showed how excited and eager Barcelona people were for this goal.
Eto 'o rushed into the goal. He wanted to pick up the football and run back to the center circle to kick off as soon as possible. However, Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper, Valencia, held the football and did not give it to him. The two sides clashed, which caused chaos on the field. The players from both sides surrounded each other.
The referee, Marienko, had to come over. He whistled repeatedly to stop the skirmish between the two sides.
*****
"Barcelona has scored! I already said that Sporting de Gijón's conservative tactics will be punished! "
"Now, Sporting de Gijón is only one goal behind. What should Li Ang do now? Continue to be conservative? "
"I'm guessing that Sporting XI will continue to play conservatively. After all, they still have a one-goal lead. In fact, even if the score is tied in the end, a draw is something they can accept. It's just that it's a pity that they lost a two-nil lead and ended up with a draw."
The commentators expressed their opinions one after another. When Sporting de Gijón was leading by two goals, they criticized Sporting de Gijón for being conservative. Now that Barcelona had indeed recovered a goal, they asserted and suggested that Sporting de Gijón continue to be conservative. With Barcelona's offensive strength, now that Gijón was only leading by one goal, if they did not continue to be conservative, it was possible for them to reverse the situation and even lose the game.
"This is the punishment for Sporting de Gijón's previous conservatism. Li Ang should reflect." Dagestino also criticized.
"Maybe Li Ang was satisfied from the beginning with the plan to force a draw with Barcelona." González guessed.
Rijkaard raised his arms high and celebrated the goal. Then he shouted loudly, indicating that his players should continue to work hard to equalize the score and overtake the score.
The Barcelona manager saw hope.
*****
Li Ang's face was gloomy.
Banderas and Scotteri also began to feel nervous. They looked at Li Ang, hoping that the godfather of Sporting de Gijón could find a way to solve their current predicament.
"I think we should be more determined to defend." Banderas suggested when he saw that Li Ang did not speak.
Scotteri also nodded. His idea was very practical. It would be best if they could maintain a 2-1 score. Even if they lost a goal in the end, as long as they could maintain a draw, it would be a victory.
"Let Mata warm up." Li Ang finally turned his head and said to his assistant.
Were they not going to defend? Were they going to attack?
Banderas's and Scotteri's faces changed.
"It's time." Li Ang nodded and said firmly, "Let Mata warm up."
Although the two assistants had opinions, Li Ang was the manager. Li Ang had already made the decision. They could only obey.
Then, people noticed that on Sporting de Gijón's bench, Juan Mata got up and went to warm up under the guidance of the assistant manager.
"Li Ang let Mata warm up? Are they not going to defend? "
"I'm afraid this is not the right decision. If Sporting de Gijón continue to defend, there is still hope. If they want to press, I'm afraid the result will be worse."
The commentators who noticed the change on the sidelines of Sporting de Gijón commented.
*****
Li Ang stared at the field. If he had heard the commentator's words, he would have sneered. For today's game, he had originally planned to divide it into two stages. The first stage was a conservative counterattack. The second stage was to press forward and use speed to tear apart Barcelona's defense. It was only because of the 2-0 lead that he decided to extend the first stage. However, Barcelona's offensive strength was indeed strong. They finally seized the opportunity and used the individual ability of the star player to score a goal.
Seeing that Barcelona had recovered a goal, Li Ang decisively made a decision to change formation!
Since they could not defend, then let's see who scored more goals.
He did not make this decision because he lost his mind after losing a goal. He had been watching the game and calculating: Barcelona had been attacking fiercely for nearly 70 minutes. Their stamina should be at its limit now.
And recovering a goal was bound to make Barcelona more desperate to attack. At this time, it also meant that the possible gaps in their rear defensive line would be infinitely magnified …
This was exactly what he had just said. It was time!
The entire game was not only a contest between the players on the field, but also a battle of wits and courage between the managers of both sides. Although Barcelona had recovered a point, in Li Ang's mind, the situation was still under his control. He had this confidence. His careful calculations and precise analysis made tit-for-tat responses to Rijkaard's adjustments and changes. In the face of Barcelona's strong attack, until now, the opponent had only used a set piece to recover a goal. With Sporting de Gijón's strength, this was definitely not a failure. On the contrary, it could be said to be a success.
Now, it was time to bring out their trump card!
Li Ang turned his head to look at the substitutes' bench and shouted to Skrtel, "Let Dinatale warm up too!"
Since we're going to do it, let's do it big!
PS: Urgently requesting a monthly ticket.
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