Football’s First Defender

As far as Liverpool’s tactics formulated before the game, it’s not that Bayern’s so-called “weakness” was not found. It’s just that in the game, Liverpool’s targeted offensive style of play was always defeated by Bayern’s last line of defense at the last moment. Eli resolved.

Liverpool's offensive players have created an offensive space on the wing, and they have also got the opportunity to pass the ball. Always able to make Liverpool's offense fall short at the last moment.

Taking advantage of the space when his own team was attacking in the frontcourt, Yang Feng, who was in the middle and backcourt, also immediately communicated on the field about the goal that the opponent just scored.

"Watch out for their diagonal passes back from the wing."

"Alaba's pass on the left at the beginning, and Muller's pass on the right this time, were all oblique back passes to find the central area. This may be the tactical arrangement specially formulated by Bayern today."

"Lucas, wait a while and tell Henderson in front of you that you two must pay attention to protecting the center area near the penalty spot when the opponent is attacking from the side. You must not let the opponent get hit in the center easily. There's a chance."

Yang Feng is still communicating with his teammates in the backcourt about the precautions on the defensive end, but the game format on the field has changed.

Liverpool shifted the ball from the right to the left in a wide range. After Sturridge received the ball, he tried to pick a pass directly into the penalty area. Suarez wanted to use his turn while running to complete the change of direction to catch the ball, but in the penalty area However, Van Buyten took advantage of his excellent body width to block him tightly.

On the contrary, it was Van Buyten's partner Dante, who easily controlled the football and passed it directly to Ram in front to counterattack.

Bayern's counterattack was extremely impactful, and the team was directly staring at the gap left by Liverpool's defense in a full-scale attack.

But in looking for opportunities, Bayern players are actually paying attention to Yang Feng's position.

Yang Feng's defensive deterrence in counterattacks is definitely the top in European football. Bayern is pursuing an efficient offensive method and will not easily touch Yang Feng's minefield.

Mandzukic used his restraining force to pass directly diagonally to the right. The oppressive Yang Feng had to keep following him.

In the empty space in the middle, after Martinez and Schweinsteiger passed two quick short passes in a row, the ball was passed directly to Toni Kroos who inserted in the middle.

Toni Kroos, who just scored a goal, has already played with confidence on the offensive end. Although he is tall, he has always passed the ball in the midfield and will not make too many fancy moves.

But in this quick counterattack, Kroos also showed his unusual dribbling ability.

Facing Lucas' defense, Kroos dribbled the ball quickly, faced Lucas' block in front, and directly in the process of marching, he buckled his ankle and completed a slight change of direction in the air, and then With the help of body collision, he continued to maintain the state of changing direction and broke through Lucas' defense in an instant.

Fortunately, Henderson's defense was very quick. He directly blocked the ball on the other side and intercepted it with the ball. Although the referee whistled a positive free kick, it was better than letting Kroos enter the penalty area. Better to pose a bigger threat.

A free kick of about 30 meters in the frontal area does not have a good angle, and the distance is a bit remote. The free kick at this position is actually not very suitable for hitting the goal.

However, Bayern has an offensive weapon, but they can try to create threats.

That is the Belgian central defender Van Buyten who started the game.

As a central defender, the veteran Van Buyten has had good scoring statistics throughout his career. He can not only rely on his height to complete headers in the penalty area, but also directly attack the goal with long-distance free kicks. Van Buyten's forte.

Many goals in Van Buyten's career have fully explained what it means to make a miracle with great effort.

However, in addition to Van Buyten preparing for a run-up from a long distance, there are also Ribery and Kroos, who are separated on both sides of the free kick position. Should Van Buyten take a direct kick or give up Van Buyten? This high point, passing the ball unexpectedly into the penalty area to compete for the top, also put forward requirements for Liverpool's defense.

Franck Ribery moved first, with a slight lateral move, disrupting Liverpool's human wall.

Toni Kroos didn't do much, but just stepped on Ribery's pass with one foot.

Van Buyten took two full run-up steps, volleyed directly, and bombarded the goal heavily!

It's just that this heavy shot hit the goal. Although it seemed of good quality, it was still blocked by Liverpool players.

The ball directly blocked Yang Feng in the middle. Although the bounced ball was recovered by Van Buyten, who was inertially forward, but with many Liverpool players pressing forward and forming a human wall, Van Buyten could not complete it again. For a supplementary shot, you can only control the ball and pass it back to organize.

After passing back to Ribery, Ribery immediately chose to cross into the penalty area, but without Van Buyten's high point, Yang Feng and Skrtel still had a considerable advantage in defending Mandzukic. Yang Feng headed Mandzukic before Skrtel slid the ball past Jose Enrique on the left with ease.

Jose Enrique observed the situation on the field, adjusted a bit, and prepared to pass the ball directly to Sturridge, who was already running forward and rushing forward.

However, it took too long to adjust. Although Jose Enrique had already made a good posture and passed the ball, Thomas Muller, who was actively pressing, jumped up and stretched his legs in the air to complete the interception. .

"Thomas Müller blocked the ball and went right into the box."

"Mandzukic! Moved forward very smartly, caught the ball that Muller had scrambled for, and after receiving the ball directly in the penalty area, tried to get rid of it and complete the shot."

"But! Yang Feng's press is very aggressive."

"I didn't relax my vigilance. Although there was no way to grab this spot in the first place when Mandzukic was stuck in the position, but after Mandzukic unloaded the ball, Yang Feng directly put his body on it, restricting Mandzukic. Further moves by Zhukic."

Mandzukic, who was forced by Yang Feng's close body, directly lost the opportunity to turn around, and after all, this was an unexpected opportunity. In the penalty area, Mandzukic also knew that there would be no other teammates who could support him for the time being. On the contrary, Liverpool. Sufficient defensive force, come back to help Yang Feng.

Mandzukic simply dribbled the ball directly to the bottom, trying to make an angle, even if it was a small angle, but tried to complete the goal.

It's just that Yang Feng didn't give him a chance to hit the goal. At the moment when Mandzukic moved the ball forward and wanted to complete the goal, Yang Feng saw the right time and directly exerted a big physical confrontation.

Mandzukic was subjected to external force, which affected his speed of movement, and the ball was too close to the bottom line, and it rolled directly out of the bottom line, Liverpool's goal kick!

Bayern did not retreat and wait for a chance to counterattack because Liverpool needed to attack at home.

Instead, it is more active to use the press in the frontcourt to put pressure on Liverpool's offensive conduction ball, to help the defense line to relieve the pressure, and when the frontcourt successfully completes the defense, it can also be played more directly. A more threatening counterattack on the spot.

Compared with the threatening opportunities created by Bayern, Liverpool's offensive progress has not formed absolute suppression on the scene.

"Another opportunity for Bayern to fight back."

"Once again Ribéry was on the counter-attack, active on the right flank, which caused huge problems for Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique."

"This time Ribery chose to force a breakthrough during the acceleration process. Enrique could only use a foul to stop Ribery's defense this time."

"We can see that Enrique is signaling to his teammates to come over more to defend."

"At the moment when Bayern launched a counterattack just now, Liverpool's defense did not complete the scheduling, and it actually allowed Bayern to form a 3-on-2 opportunity on Jose Enrique's side, forcing Jose Enrique to only Stop this chance with a foul."

"A set-piece on the right side of the front."

This kind of free kick position that requires a certain footwork, of course, does not need Van Buyten's vigorous attack, but this time Van Buyten entered the penalty area, which obviously put more pressure on Liverpool's air defense.

"Most of the free kicks in this position are given to the left back Alaba to hit the goal or pass the ball. In the previous rounds of the Bundesliga, in a similar position, Alaba once scored. Score with a nice free kick."

"approach!"

"Hit the door!"

"It's Schweinsteiger!"

"It's a pity! It bounced off the body of a teammate!"

"Kroos' follow-up shot!"

"It hit the Liverpool player's leg, bounced off the baseline, another corner for Bayern."

While Franck Ribery headed to the corner, Schweinsteiger was communicating with Thomas Muller on the field.

The broadcast camera was aimed at Schweinsteiger, but it was obvious that "Little Pig" had been "remonstrating" Muller with anger, maybe he was talking about why Mueller was at the position of the human wall and did not take it apart. , but stood there standing upright.

Even if the team has the lead, it can be seen from the anger of Schweinsteiger who criticized the free kick this time that Bayern still does not want to give Liverpool too many opportunities in the away game. An opportunity, everyone wants to seize it very much to further ensure their leading edge.

"Bayern sent a tactical corner!"

"Ram on the right, after receiving a corner kick from Ribery, chose to pass the ball in a wide range to the back point in the penalty area."

Because of his running ability, Mandzukic was followed by Yang Feng, who was more meticulous in defense, while Van Buyten, who was at the highest point, was handed over to Skrtel to deal with it with physical confrontation, but for Dante, Liverpool can actually only release this. A weak matchup, and try to gather a numerical advantage in the middle to prevent Dante from playing.

It's just that, in Bayern's set-piece tactical system this time, it did take advantage of Dante's height advantage when facing other Liverpool players, but it didn't directly look for Dante's header ability.

"Dante ran to the back point, easily snatched the landing point of Lahm's side pass, and headed the ball directly to the area in front of the goal."

Under the tense spirit, let Dante play his advantage in the position, pass the ball directly from Dante, and then push it into the small penalty area. This attack is indeed the same as Bayern's tactical design, causing Liverpool There was great chaos in the restricted area.

This kind of chaotic battle is absolutely beneficial to the attacking side. Perhaps only one chance to touch the ball is needed to score a goal.

However, in the face of Dante's header pass, Yang Feng directly took two steps back. After winning a small run-up distance, he accelerated his jump and beat Mandzukic who was fighting on the spot. The ball was directly cleared to the vicinity of the penalty area, which did not allow Bayern to attack this time and form a real threat.

"Liverpool's chance to fight back!"

After this kind of positioning ball is converted, as long as there are enough offensive players, you can take advantage of the absence of the opponent's central defender to form an excellent counterattack opportunity. Of course, you must first ensure your own advancement and will not be left behind by Bayern's full-back There are also midfielders who stopped with fouls.

Henderson took only two steps with the ball, and before he could fully speed up in the future, he felt the defensive pressure brought to him by Dante who returned to defend from his side.

In order to seize this counterattack opportunity, Henderson had no choice but to play the ball with one kick. Fortunately, during the rapid advance, Henderson's efforts in normal training were not in vain. He found Gerrard in front of him very accurately.

Gerrard was in the midfield area, turned and stopped to receive a pass from Henderson, but also realized that there were chasing and blocking Bayern players in all directions.

The veteran's experience has played a role. Gerrard will not be like those stunned youths who forcibly "touch porcelain" after getting the ball. Even if it causes a foul by the opponent, it will completely end this counterattack threat.

"Gerrard! After receiving the ball, before the encirclement of the Bayern players was formed, he directly kicked the ball diagonally and passed it to the left position, giving Sturridge a big lead."

"Sturridge accelerated forward without slowing down at all. After chasing the pass, he continued to accelerate and moved forward bravely."

Sturridge's acceleration left only Lahm a defender in front of him, but it has to be said that Lahm's experienced position selection was indeed stuck.

Sturridge is in the most uncomfortable position on the counterattack route.

In order to avoid being directly intercepted by Lahm, Sturridge had to choose to slow down during the ball, and then tried to go outside on the left, hoping to get a chance.

However, the deceleration chosen by Sturridge also made other Bayern defensive players, in the case of rapid pursuit, basically chase back to the same level as Ram.

"Sturridge, nice smash, lateral dribbling."

When Lahm followed Sturridge's action and went to the outside to defend, he was directly smashed by Sturridge to change direction, passed it, and then went to the middle again, but faced several Bayern players who returned to defend. Players, Sturridge lost the opportunity to move forward and could only dribble horizontally, waiting for the support of his teammates.

"Sturridge hesitated a little, but his foot skills are outstanding. He changed his left and right feet in a small area, and avoided the Bayern players' two attempts."

"Direct diagonal pass to the right."

"Sterling's drive arrived just in time to give Sturridge a target to pass the ball to."

Bayern's defensive line is on the right, and there is space again!

Sterling waded directly to the ball to accelerate, regardless of Alaba's defense on this side, using speed to determine the winner, and really let Sterling waded over.

"Sterling, get into the penalty area!"

"Inverted triangle pass!"

"Suarez!"

"GOAL!!!"

"The goal is scored! Suarez followed up and scored in the middle!"

"I hit the dead corner in the upper right corner. The ball was very fast. Neuer's save was too late to react. Liverpool tied the score 1-1 in the 11th minute of the game!"

"Bayern's advantage was wiped out in a quick counterattack by Liverpool!"