My uncle is Inzaghi.

Chapter 94 Barcelona’s Weaknesses

Arsenal's silence is not just a ploy played by Li Mo and his teammates.

In fact.

Arsenal's coaching staff also made some tactical adjustments during this period, mainly targeting Barcelona.

As we all know, Arsenal's style of play is actually quite similar to Barcelona's, but Arsenal makes fewer mistakes in the midfield and backfield.

Their attack speed is quite fast.

However, Wenger also knows that if Arsenal uses the same old method to play against Barcelona, ​​they will most likely be beaten to death by their opponents.

The media in Catalonia is arrogant though.

But they were right about one thing.

That is, in terms of team lineup, Arsenal is indeed a little bit behind Barcelona.

That being the case.

As the weaker side, it is natural to take the initiative to seek changes in tactics and catch the opponent off guard.

In fact, Wenger's adjustment is not difficult to guess, at least Barcelona can guess it.

That is defensive counterattack.

However, defensive counterattacks are not the same.

How to defend, whether to accumulate numbers in the backcourt, or to strengthen interception and steals in the midfield.

How to kick the counterattack, how to set up the counterattack line, and how to move the ball to the frontcourt.

These are details.

Details require training, polishing, and adjustment.

So, this time.

What the team is doing is training these things, counterattack routines.

Wenger's idea is to quickly develop the ball to the frontcourt through the wing, and then contact the center from the wing - mainly Li Mo, and threaten Barcelona's goal through Li Mo's ability to grab points.

If there is any advantage for Arsenal in these two rounds.

Then this point must be in Li Mo.

Players from both sides are completing a series of pre-match rituals.

Commentators from various countries are also making final preparations before the game.

The voice of Dragon Kingdom commentator Zhang Jun rang out, shaking the spirits of Dragon Kingdom fans late at night.

"Dear viewers, this exciting first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals is about to begin! Now that the players from both sides have entered the field, the majestic Champions League theme song is playing, let's take a look at the starting lineups of both sides! "

"First of all, the home team Barcelona, ​​the goalkeeper Valdes, the center back combination of Pique and Mascherano, the left back Alba, the right back Alves, the three midfielders are still the iron triangle of Xavi and Iniesta , Busquets, Sanchez on the left in the frontcourt, Messi on the right, and Villa in the center.”

"Compared to Barcelona, ​​which has not changed much, Arsenal's changes are a bit big. First of all, in terms of formation, they may play a 4231 in this game, with Li Mo as the single forward, instead of the 442 they were accustomed to before. "

"Goalkeeper Szczesny, center back Vermaelen partnered with Mertesacker, left back Monreal, right back Jenkinson replaced the injured Sagna, double midfielder Ramsey partnered Arteta, left The midfielder is Chamberlain, who has stronger defensive ability, starting in Walcott's place, right midfielder Cazorla, midfielder Wilshere, and center Li Mo."

At this time, in the commentary box at Camp Nou.

Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray also finished the first game for the television audience.

He watched Li Mo grow from a nobody to the supernova he is today.

In addition, he himself is British and a gun fan who is not easily noticed, so of course he hopes that Arsenal can escape from this game.

"It seems that Professor Wenger has made up his mind to play defensive counterattack in the away game. This is correct. Arsenal needs to position themselves and use the tactics that best suit them."

No one thinks Arsenal dare to play against Barcelona.

It is quite normal for Wenger to put on a defensive counterattack posture.

"Arsenal set up a defensive counterattack, which is normal because they cannot play the offensive football they are used to at Camp Nou. After all, their opponent is Barcelona!"

The Catalan commentator seemed a little proud.

The camera showed the two coaches shaking hands on the sidelines, then turned and walked towards their respective positions.

The camera follows Vilanova, who has just returned from cancer surgery.

Obviously, he is also one of the highlights of this game - Barcelona finally has a real head coach on the sidelines.

Vilanova sat in his seat, not worried about the game.

Arsenal is certainly not a weak team.

But their playing style is still relatively similar to Barcelona.

If it's Chelsea's iron-blooded counterattack, Barcelona will be more afraid.

As for Arsenal.

Want to beat Barcelona in a similar way to Barcelona.

It's almost impossible.

Even Barcelona themselves have been adhering to this set of tactics for thirty years, but why did they only break out in the past few years?

Because they have Messi.

Barcelona's tactics can easily form a stalemate, with only empty possession of the ball but little lethality.

But Messi's presence allowed Barcelona to find the sharpest dagger to break the situation.

Messi's breakthrough ability is definitely at the top level in football history.

Messi's breakthrough can break the "balance" formed by the two sides and create chaos, thus becoming the most critical part of Barcelona's tactics.

In Vilanova's view, the only question in this game is whether Barcelona wins big or small.

The situation at the beginning of the game seemed to confirm this.

Barcelona kicked off first, and they fell back in the midfield for more than a minute until the fans were a little drowsy - this kind of game rhythm is simply torture for the Dragon Country fans who need to stay up late to watch the game. I fell asleep before I knew it.

After controlling it for a while.

Harvey suddenly found an opportunity and kicked the ball forward.

The football passed through Arsenal's central defense and directly found Messi who was swimming in from the right. After receiving the ball, Messi moved away from Monreal with a change of rhythm, cut into the top of the arc in the penalty area, and shot with his left foot!

"Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi!!!"

The Catalan commentator chanted like a mantra.

Szczesny flew to make a save, and with a slight movement of his fingertips, he pushed the ball out of the baseline.

"Szczesny! Crucial save!!"

Andy Gray couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Messi's threat is too big, Arsenal players must be at their best!"

"Messi's offensive choices on this line are absolutely top-notch!" Gary Neville said solemnly.

The camera locked on Messi who had just completed a threatening shot.

Messi shook his head slightly, with no regrets on his face.

Maybe for him, such opportunities will continue to appear.

"Ahh! What a pity!! Messi almost helped Barcelona get off to a dream start!!!"

The Catalan commentator put his head in his hands.

He regrets it more than Messi.

"It doesn't matter, the game has just begun, Barcelona has plenty of opportunities! Messi's presence is a nightmare for the defense of any team in the world!!"

While he was talking.

Iniesta took a corner kick.

Szczesny quickly struck out, leaped high, picked off the ball, and then threw the ball directly to Cazorla on the wing.

Cazorla turned the ball around and took it forward along the wing.

Behind him, Monreal was also advancing at high speed.

"Arsenal regains the ball and attacks quickly!"

Andy Gray suddenly looked shocked.

On the sidelines, Wenger also stood up.

In this game, Arsenal was looking for a direct attack.

Pass forward, run forward, look for Li Mo!

"Cazorla attracted Alves' defense with the ball and passed... Monreal came up! Busquets leaned over and Monreal passed directly?!"

In the commentary box, many commentators were very surprised.

Monreal's cross from that position is not considered the best position.

But before the defense came up, Monreal passed the ball very decisively.

He directly caught up with the ball and passed it directly without even looking into the penalty area!

The football jumped into the air and flew towards the center.

The camera shifted to the center.

Only then did people realize that Li Mo had already taken off.

Although Li Mo, who got the [C Ronaldo Header Scoring Ability Module], was not fully integrated.

But when it comes to scoring headers, Li Mo was already quite good, and now he has improved a lot.

therefore

He is very confident when it comes to headers from crosses.   Pique is taller than him.

but.

When the two jumped up.

Pique was still pinned down by Li Mo.

Li Mo's jumping ability and aerial confrontation ability are stronger than Pique.

"What the hell!"

Pique was shocked.

Before that, he felt that this game was an easy victory. All he had to do was to play and celebrate the goal and victory.

The scene that happened at the beginning of the game seemed to prove this point.

But he doesn't think so now.

His whole body was pressed by Li Mo's body, and his head tilted over. He wanted to use his hands, but he couldn't do it in time.

Then he saw Li Mo throw the ball hard towards the goal.

"Header!"

Accompanied by the commentator's explosion.

Valdez reacted quickly. He flew up and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one palm, while falling into the goal.

This scene frightened the fans at Camp Nou.

A huge intake of breath sounded from the surrounding stands.

After landing, Li Mo held his head regretfully, with a look of annoyance on his face.

Oh shit

If I could get away with the angle, the goal would have gone in!

"Herad! Herad!! What are you doing! Stand up to him!!"

Valdes got up from the ground and shouted at Pique.

Pique waved his hand at him: "I know! I know! This is just an accident!"

Pique took a deep breath.

It seems that I underestimated Arsenal too much, and he underestimated Li Mo.

All right

Your performance ends here.

Next time, don’t try to grab some!

Wenger on the sidelines was extremely regretful.

But he quickly clapped his hands and praised his players loudly.

"Good job! Keep going! Keep doing this! We have a chance!"

In this game, Arsenal played a single forward formation.

If it was Li Mo a few months ago, he would definitely not be qualified for this role.

But now, Wenger is very confident in Li Mo's ability.

Considering that most of the game, the team will be in a defensive position.

Wenger has given Li Mo quite a lot of tasks.

He has to drop back to receive the ball and keep a reasonable distance from the midfielder.

This requires Li Mo to have a very good sense of position.

In addition, he also needs to help the midfielder connect and pass the ball to the frontcourt at certain times.

Then comes the most critical task: grabbing the high-altitude ball!

Yes, Wenger has always felt that if he wants to beat Barcelona, ​​he has to do something in the air.

Well known.

Barcelona's aerial ball defense is their biggest weakness.

This is something everyone knows.

If Arsenal can complete crosses many times, let Li Mo bully Pique and Mascherano.

Then Arsenal can score.

Of course.

Knowing that Barcelona has this weakness and whether it can take advantage of it is another matter.

Therefore, the team must strengthen the aggression and confrontation in the midfield and backfield, and advance along the wing after seizing the ball.

You don't have to go down to cross.

Thirty meters into the frontcourt, you can cross from any area or position.

The main thing is to be fast, accurate and ruthless.

Honestly.

Many teams know that Barcelona's aerial defense is a weakness.

But very few can make good use of it.

However, Arsenal showed their technical ability in this game.

They really took advantage of Barcelona's weakness and attacked.

Three minutes later.

Arsenal have the ball again.

This time Li Mo completed the role of the center's retreat and connection very well.

He first retreated to receive a direct pass from Arteta and then moved the ball with his outside instep to Wilshere. He quickly turned around and connected before Wilshere passed the ball to Li Mo.

After Li Mo faced the goal and got the ball, he distributed the ball to the wing. When Chamberlain stepped in to catch the ball at high speed, Li Mo had already started to advance into the penalty area.

Chamberlain also passed the ball directly without stopping!

This seems very low-tech, but the effect is very good.

As soon as the ball came out, Li Mo judged the landing point and rushed straight towards it.

His speed, height, jumping ability, and accuracy in grabbing points are all here, giving him a strong frontal impact.

While Pique was still staring at the incoming ball and choosing his position, Li Mo had already charged.

In a hurry.

Li Mo has jumped up high.

Pique, on the other hand, could only passively take off.

This caused him to be pinned down by Li Mo for the second time.

"Header to the top!!"

to the exclamations of the commentators.

The entire Camp Nou let out a collective gasp.

boom!

Li Mo came up with an angle this time.

only.

It's too tricky.

The football hit the post with a thud and went out of the baseline.

"Post! Oh wow! Li Mo almost scored! The post saved Barcelona!"

"This is Arsenal's second threatening goal less than ten minutes into the game. It's almost the same scene. Li Mo beat Pique to head the ball! Twice in a row, Pique was defeated in the fight for the ball in the air. Li Mo is defeated."

"Although Barcelona has more possession of the ball, it is obvious that Arsenal is more threatening in these ten minutes! And judging from these two defenses, Pique and Li Mo can't match up at all, whether it is The judgment of the landing point depends on physical confrontation ability and the height of the jump. Pique fell behind in all aspects."

The commentators all stared and exclaimed.

They really couldn't believe it.

Arsenal can actually play such an attack.

The comprehensive offensive ability displayed by Li Mo also shocked the Spanish reporters and fans in the stands who still thought "Li Mo is just an opportunist".

Pique's face turned as dark as if he had passed through the bottom of a pot.

This time, faced with Valdez's accusation, he was embarrassed to say it was an accident.

"I underestimated the enemy too much!"

He explained.

Yes.

It must be so.

The low profile of the Arsenal bastards before the game rubbed off on us.

This led me to underestimate the enemy.

Now I'm getting serious.

Next.

There is something pretty to look at!

(End of this chapter)