Rebirth 1994: Football Situation

Chapter 634 The Victory of the Mean

The first half ended in a back-and-forth attack and a back-and-forth error, Lyon's tactics worked out well, a zero-to-nil score was enough to satisfy them, but it didn't satisfy Mourinho and his disciples satisfy.

"In the second half, we need to be more patient in the attack...Nie Fei, that midfielder is very troublesome, so we have to find a way to deal with him, and cooperate with Ibrahimovic more. I don't believe he has the physical strength to run faster than the ball... …Damn it, I didn’t notice that this Ghana midfielder has such excellent running ability and judgment, but he is still young, so it is impossible to be so experienced. In fact, their defense is not high, and their offense is theirs. The characteristic is that their defense is very good because of the midfielder Essien. In the second half, we must not be impatient and be careful of their counterattack. As long as we persevere and continue to attack, the goals will come naturally. Yes. Robert, you can also move closer to the center, give full play to your technical characteristics, and hang into the penalty area if you have the opportunity. Viduka's impact is a great threat to their defense. Do you understand? "

"Understood!" The players replied in unison. They also felt very angry about the first half of the game. The opponent's defense was not that strong, but it was difficult for them to attack smoothly.

"Also, pay attention to fouls in front of the penalty area... They have a very good free kicker in the team, don't give him any chance." Mourinho added.

The players in the backcourt nodded one after another. They naturally knew who Mourinho was talking about—Mourinho had watched Juninho’s direct free kick highlights several times. The ball monster has any contempt for it.

"Okay, our first task in this game is to win, the second task is to win without conceding a goal, and the third task is to win with a big score without conceding a goal-I only accept these three endings. Accept any other ending... You must remember this." Mourinho said categorically: "You know what this game means to Newcastle. In front of [-] Newcastle fans, your performance But what concerns the honor of Newcastle ... how to surpass history depends on how far we can go. Come on, everyone."

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After the start of the second half, Newcastle's offense began to appear more patient, and the distance between the three lines became tighter. Nie Fei, Ibrahimovic, Robert and Janus, who often inserted in the back row, took turns to attack in the middle. Essien and Diarra The two of them also began to feel strenuous. After all, there were only two of them. Whether it was the two full-backs or the midfielder, the opponent often ran to the center to participate in the attack. Lyon's defense in the middle began to look a little stretched.

In 7 minutes, Makelele sent a beautiful long pass from the backcourt to the left. Robert received the ball from the side. He did not go down, but dribbled the ball to the center.

Ibrahimovic ran over to meet him, Diarra followed closely behind him, but Ibrahimovic did not catch the ball, but ran to the left penalty area, Robert blocked Diarra with his body, and then concealed a Heel pass, the ball passed to Ibrahimovic in the penalty area!

At the same time as Robert passed the ball, Janus and Nie Fei rushed into the penalty area at the same time, one ran to the forward point, and the other ran to the middle. The two defenders of Lyon immediately followed them.

Facing De Frede's defense, Ibrahimovic flicked his feet nimbly, dodged the opponent's outstretched foot, and then stabbed the ball near the bottom line. The whole person rushed over, and then put De Frede firmly Stuck behind him, he kept moving forward at a small angle.

Coupe quickly moved to the front to block Ibrahimovic's shot. Janus and Nie Fei also ran to the middle to respond. Lyon's two central defenders followed closely behind them. No one is guarding him.

Essien felt that something was wrong, turned his head and saw that Viduka had run into the small penalty area. Just as he was about to run towards Viduka, Ibrahimovic flicked his ankle and passed the ball!
The ball flew close to the ground and flew to the back point. Ibrahimovic controlled the power of the pass very well. Such a dense crowd in the penalty area could not touch the ball... Kupe turned around in a hurry, but it seemed that he was absolutely impossible to pass the ball. Running from one end of the goal to the other in such a short time...

Viduka chased after the ball, and when he was still a short distance away from the ball, he immediately fell to the ground and swept towards the ball-his approach was very wise. Essien followed him less than two meters behind him. It may not be able to shoot smoothly.

Seeing that Viduka had already shot, Essien gritted his teeth and fell down with Viduka, desperately stretching his feet, hoping to stop the ball before it entered the goal.

But he couldn't touch the ball. Before his foot was in front of the goal, Viduka's foot had already swept the ball fiercely. The ball flew up quickly and flew in front of Kupe. goal!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL - Mark Viduka!" Williams shouted passionately through the sky: "His shot in front of the goal opened the door to victory for us! And our offensive line before the goal A series of wonderful cooperation It’s even more eye-opening!”

"Good job!" Mourinho waved his hand fiercely-finally leading!For Newcastle now, it is enough to lead by one goal at home. After all, in addition to positional offense, they are better at quick counterattacks. Now Newcastle can completely bring the rhythm of the game into their own control. The rest of the game is the next game.

"Keep up the pressure and try to expand the score!" Mourinho called over Makelele, who was celebrating, and said to him: "Tell the frontcourt players to let them continue to attack...you have to reduce the number of assists, be careful of them Counterattack, hang them, but don't foul, get it?"

Makelele nodded. Newcastle has always done this in this game. Neither Juninho's organization nor Malouda's and Govo's breakthroughs on the wing failed to achieve any good results. Elber was even more submerged in Newcastle's tall defenders-except for some unsatisfactory offense, Newcastle's performance in this game was almost perfect.

"That's enough." Mourinho sat calmly on the coach's bench. For the two-round home and away knockout rounds, not conceding a goal at home is even more important than winning. A [-]-[-] home win is better than a [-]-[-] win. Much better, even if you only win one goal in this game, you can use quick counterattack tactics in the next away game. After all, as long as you can score one goal, your opponent will score two more goals.

I don’t know how many examples there were of not winning at home and only getting a zero-to-zero draw but eliminated their opponents with multiple goals in an away game. Therefore, this kind of knockout games will become more and more conservative.

In the next game, Newcastle continued to entangle with the opponent in the midfield. If they had a chance, they would press up and attack. At the same time, Newcastle's counterattack brought them a lot of pressure. Although Essien was still running in the midfield, he failed to play any role.

The performance of the two defensive midfielders on both sides is very interesting. Essien's performance is very eye-catching, but his team is behind. Makelele can't see his people on the field most of the time, but Newcastle's defense is impregnable. Lyon's organizer, Juninho Jr., can give full play to his organizational ability-this is probably the gap between Essien and Makelele. In terms of defense, he is still not as experienced as Makelele. As a defensive expert, he needs to be more comprehensive, but Makelele's role in the team is irreplaceable.

In the remaining half an hour of the game, the two sides fell into non-stop fouls and mistakes in the midfield. Lyon did not have the courage to break the boat, and Newcastle did not want to concede a goal because of risks. The coaches of both sides began to let the players Stability is the main priority, and time is passing quickly as the two sides continue to fall back and forth.

Both coaches have succumbed to the reality. Lyon is now chasing and entangled with Monaco in the domestic league. Compared with the Champions League, they now pay more attention to the league. Although Newcastle is in a good situation in the league now , but there will be a League Cup final three days later, so Mourinho did not dare to let the players consume too much energy during the game, so in the last moments of the game, the coaches of both sides chose the safest and most conservative The way.

The golden mean-if Mourinho knows this word, he must feel that this word is most in line with his current thinking.

Finally, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. Newcastle beat Lyon [-]-[-] at home. Both sides were quite satisfied with the result. Although Lyon lost the ball, they still have a chance to win back at home. , and although Newcastle failed to expand the score advantage, the [-]-[-] score is also the best result in a one-goal victory at home. The head coaches of both sides stood up and shook hands with each other. The round match is the time to decide life and death.

But for Mourinho, he put the game behind him as soon as it was over, and began to pay attention to the Carabao Cup final three days later.

Three days later, the League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales! After 1999, Newcastle appeared in the championship battle for the first time in an official competition, the first time in the new century, the first time in the new Newcastle!
(End of this chapter)