rpbooks Chapter 1596 The Peak Showdown Between Ants and Elephants
Chapter 1596 The Peak Showdown Between Ants and Elephants
Chapter 1596 The Peak Showdown Between Ants and Elephants
"Get the Ajax starting lineup!"
Barcelona's chief assistant coach Aspiasso walked into the locker room of the home team quickly, and handed over the Ajax starting list in his hand to the head coach Ernesto Valverde.
He is Valverde's confidant, and he was one of only two people that Valverde brought with him to Camp Nou.
Valverde took the list, glanced at it, and frowned, "No Jovic?"
This is a very unexpected news.
Luka Jovic, Ajax's top scorer this season, is also the representative of Ajax's new generation of centers.
Many people say that after Van Basten, Kluivert, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Huntelaar and others, Luka Jovic is another outstanding center trained by Ajax with unlimited potential.
The Serbian center has played all of Ajax's Champions League games this season, including the play-offs, but now he is not playing. This is a very surprising news.
"Does Yang Yang want to do something strange again?" Valverde asked with a frown.
He couldn't help but think of Ajax playing against Juventus before, Yang Yang put himself in cold storage, and ended up coming off the bench in the second half to destroy Juventus in one fell swoop. Does he want to repeat the old trick now?
"I don't know, but he's in the squad," Aspiasso said.
Valverde gritted his teeth, somewhat unable to guess what Yang Yang was thinking.
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Yang Yang also got Barcelona's starting roster almost at the same time, and the result also surprised him.
"Artur didn't come up!"
Arthur is the biggest surprise of Barcelona's midfielder this season. He has basically secured his main position. His ability to hold and pass the ball makes people look forward to him and think that he will be Barcelona's future midfield passer.
But in this crucial game, Valverde did not arrange for Arthur to start, and replaced him with veteran Vidal.
Vidal, Rakitic and Busquets, the three veterans in the midfield. Among them, the problems of Rakitic and Busquets are very obvious, that is, their running ability is weak, and their ability to get rid of the ball is insufficient. This makes them easy to become the target of Ajax, because the Eredivisie team is best at high pressing.
Juventus' Pjanic was suppressed to death by Ajax!
Valverde learned from experience and gave up Arthur, sacrificing midfield passing and ball control ability, but chose Vidal, who has a stronger running ability, obviously to restrain Ajax's tactics.
"You guessed it right. Valverde still wants to be safe at home and is unwilling to give us an away goal." Harvey Alonso looked at Yang Yang and said with a smile.
It is very interesting to guess the opponent's tactical psychology.
For example, now, Yang Yang has guessed what Valverde is thinking. Since Vidal replaced Arthur in the starting lineup, he can know that Valverde wants to be stable. Naturally, the two full-backs cannot be too risky, and the wing attack will definitely be weaker than usual.
If the full-backs don't actively move forward, Coutinho, Messi and Dembele will fight alone in the frontcourt, because Ajax will definitely try their best to suppress Barcelona's midfield.
With Ajax's high position pressing and strangling ability, Barcelona's front trident is under great pressure.
"Originally I guessed that it was Busquets, Rakitic and Arthur who ensured the stability of passing and possession, but I didn't expect that Valverde didn't even want to fight for passing and possession. It goes without saying that Coutinho and Dembele will be the main receiving points."
Having said that, Yang Yang smiled at Xavi Alonso, said nothing more, but turned around and walked directly to the players' rest area. At this time, the Ajax players were all facing the enemy, actively adjusting their emotions and preparing for the upcoming decisive battle.
"Everyone!" Yang Yang clapped his hands vigorously, attracting everyone's attention in the locker room.
"There is good news for everyone!"
Everyone raised their heads and looked at Yang Yang, wanting to know what the good news was.
"Barcelona's start tonight will be relatively slow, and it will give us about five to 10 minutes. I need you to adapt to the rhythm and pace of the game during this period of time after the start, and speed up the rhythm so fast that the opponents cannot adapt."
The pace of the game is relative.
For example, Barcelona's passing and possession, are their rhythms very slow?
It depends on the opponent. If it is a fast-paced offensive and defensive team with pressing and pressing, Barcelona will appear to be slow, but if it is an opponent whose rhythm is completely controlled by Barcelona, it will not feel this way.
It's like two cars driving on the highway, fast and slow depends on the comparison of each other's speed, not the speed itself.
"Remember, 5 minutes to 10 minutes, this is our perfect opportunity!" Yang Yang reminded again.
Slow heat, this is a problem that all aging teams will have, so in Real Madrid, they always came from behind, not just because of Real Madrid's tactics, but because the average age of Real Madrid is older.
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Under the leadership of the referee, the two teams entered the Nou Camp Stadium one after another.
Yang Yang was booed violently by the fans. He has always been the most unpopular player at Camp Nou.
Neither Messi nor the Barcelona players had any interaction with Yang Yang before the game. Obviously, they both planned to save the greeting time until after the game.
This time, they seemed to be winning, especially Pique, whose eyes were full of provocation.
Yang Yang is already used to this.
Since Ajax entered the Champions League group stage, every opponent has this look before facing Ajax.
But after the game, they will all regret it.
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Goalkeeper Ter Stegen, Alba, Lenglet, Pique and Roberto in defense, Rakitic, Busquets and Vidal in midfield, Coutinho, Messi and Dembele in frontcourt.
Barcelona's starting lineup can be said to be very valuable. The front trident alone is worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Of course, this season's Barcelona also swept La Liga and the Champions League, invincible.
Barcelona and Ajax, the former is like a colossal giant elephant, while the latter is like an insignificant ant.
Perhaps, occasionally, the ants are able to climb on the giant elephant's back and stand higher than it, but most of the time, the ants are always trampled under the giant elephant's feet and trampled into the mud.
Ajax's starting lineup is also four-three-three, the goalkeeper is Onana, the defense is Tagliafico, Militao, De Ligt and Ashraf, the double midfielder is Frankie De Jong and Ndombele, Van der Beek is forward, and the front trident is a combination of Neres, Yang Yang and Sancho.
Jovic failed to start due to injury and sat on the bench, replaced by Yang Yang.
Before the game, the two teams did not make full use of their main players due to various reasons.
But it didn't affect the enthusiasm of the scene and all the fans all over the world sitting in front of the TV watching the game.
This is the semi-final of the Champions League, and it is the peak match between Yang Yang and Messi!
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At the beginning of the game, Ajax took advantage of the kick-off opportunity and launched a direct attack.
This is also within everyone's expectations.
This young Eredivisie team has always been known for rushing to the start, Barcelona is more secure trying to control the rhythm.
After Ajax held the ball on the defense line, after a slight adjustment, Frankie De Jong made a long pass directly and sent the ball to the left side of the front field with precision.
Neres sprinted forward at the fastest speed and received a pass from his teammate on the left side of the penalty area.
But at this time, Barcelona's defense had returned to the penalty area in time, and Roberto blocked Neres' route to the penalty area.
The Brazilian left forward took the ball, approached Roberto step by step, and suddenly made a cross.
The ball flew from the left side of Roberto to the penalty spot. Since Yang Yang blocked Pique and Lenglet with his body, Van der Beek, who stepped in behind, got a very good kick. The Dutch shot directly, trying to hit the bottom right corner of the goal.
But the first shot of the audience slipped out slightly and failed to form a shot.
Ajax's shot made nearly [-] Barcelona fans at the scene break out in a cold sweat.
Yang Yang felt a little regretful, but when he ran back, he applauded his players and gave them a thumbs up, indicating that they did a great job and keep going.
He can feel that Barcelona's start tonight is still relatively slow, and the most important thing for Ajax now is to grab the start and speed up the tempo. As long as the tempo is familiar to Ajax, but Barcelona is unfamiliar with the fast tempo, then Ajax has achieved its initial strategic goal.
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With a shot on the first attack, Ajax gained some confidence.
Coupled with Yang Yang's demonstration and leadership role on the court, it is even more resolute for Ajax players to execute tactics.
After the first attack failed to hit the goal, Ajax did not choose to retreat, but continued to press high.
Barcelona's goal kick is a short pass to the defender, and Ajax is directly forced to the 30-meter area of Barcelona.
When Yang Yang made a pass back from Barcelona, he first went straight to Roberto, and then forced the goalkeeper Ter Stegen to force the German goalkeeper to pass to Alba.
Ajax's running range is very large, and the intensity of the frontcourt pressing and oppression is also quite large, and the players are very resolute in implementing it.
Ajax is not only high-post pressing and oppression, but also a large number of players. More importantly, the players are generally young and very athletic. Even Yang Yang is known for his running coverage ability. After stealing the ball, Ajax can always invest in counterattacks in the shortest time.
The stormy fast-paced play of the visiting team is a great test for the stability of Barcelona's midfield.
It was this set of whirlwind tactics that played a role in the 6th minute.
Van der Beek and Ndombele teamed up to attack at the same time, cut off Alba's pass to Coutinho, and quickly launched a long pass to counterattack.
Sancho sprinted along the right at the fastest speed, stopped the ball before the forward Alba, and dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the right, directly facing Lenglet.
(End of this chapter)