Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

"Lin, may I have a moment to talk to you?"

During the team's training session on the second day, Mourinho approached Lin Feng privately, wanting to have a talk with him.

Lin Feng guessed it was about the last two matches. The team's current form wasn't quite right, and Mourinho must be quite anxious, especially since the Champions League quarter-finals were about to begin.

If Real Madrid continues their poor form in the league into the Champions League, they will most likely be eliminated in the quarterfinals this season.

Although being eliminated in the quarterfinals is not a failure, after all, there can only be one Champions League champion, while there are so many big clubs eyeing it, and most of them will be eliminated.

If success or failure is judged solely by the Champions League title, then everyone is a loser, and all national leagues might as well be abolished.

But Real Madrid's opponent is Chelsea, which makes the situation somewhat delicate.

Mourinho is not incapable of his team losing, but he absolutely cannot lose to Chelsea.

"Coach, what's up?"

Upon arriving at Mourinho's office, Lin Feng sat down and got straight to the point.

Seeing Lin Feng's directness, Mourinho didn't beat around the bush with him:

"The team isn't doing well right now, I'm sure you've noticed, haven't you?"

Lin Feng nodded. After playing football for several years, he had accumulated some experience and knew that March and April were the most difficult time for professional players.

During this period, the league, cup competitions and the Champions League are all entering the final sprint stage, and the physical exertion from competing on multiple fronts is enormous.

The physical strength built up at the beginning of the season has been completely depleted after being used up for most of the season.

As a result, most players get more and more tired as they play, and even proper rest can't help them recover.

This kind of fatigue is not only physical, but also psychological.

Every year, as the season nears its end, players face immense pressure to achieve their goals.

A single goal or a single mistake can directly alter the fate of a team, rendering all their hard work and sweat throughout the season futile.

Therefore, every year some teams falter at this stage, a typical example being Arsenal in the English Premier League.

"The team is currently in a slump, which is due to a combination of factors. However, I have observed that you are maintaining a good level of performance and have not been greatly affected. Therefore, I hope that you can take on greater responsibility!"

Lin Feng frowned. What did he mean by taking on greater responsibility?
Before he could start to overthink, Mourinho quickly explained:

"Well, what I mean is that you need to play more aggressively in the game, be more attacking, the team needs your goals."

So this is what taking responsibility means!

If you say that, then I'm no longer sleepy!
Lin Feng perked up and listened carefully to Mourinho's new tactics.

……

Has Mourinho lost his magic? Real Madrid is caught in a winless slump!

Real Madrid is showing signs of fatigue and may be worn down by competing on multiple fronts!

From trailing by 15 points to trailing by 10 points, Barcelona rallied to close the gap by 5 points in two rounds!

The Red and Blue Legions are staging an epic comeback!

Messi's Barcelona is on a winning streak, while Lin Feng's Galacticos are sinking!

The media are all opportunists. When Real Madrid is in good form, they praise them in every way possible. Now that Real Madrid's form has declined, these same media outlets have immediately sided with Barcelona, ​​questioning Real Madrid and praising Barcelona.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that Barcelona was leading the standings right now!

In fact, even after two winless rounds, Real Madrid still leads Barcelona by as many as 10 points.

With nine rounds remaining in the league, it won't be easy for Barcelona to catch up with those ten points.

However, considering that the two teams still have another El Clásico to play, if Barcelona defeats Real Madrid in El Clásico, the gap will be narrowed to 7 points.

With eight games remaining and a seven-point lead to win, the difficulty seems to have suddenly decreased considerably.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that Real Madrid's current poor form continues; otherwise, Barcelona still has no chance.

Therefore, all eyes were on the La Liga Round 30 match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at Real Madrid's home ground.

In the first half of the season, Real Madrid suffered a 0-2 defeat to Sevilla away from home, and in the last six matches, Sevilla has an even more impressive record of 5 wins and 1 draw against Real Madrid.

This overwhelming advantage earned Sevilla the title of Real Madrid's star.

Now that the two teams are facing off again, and Real Madrid is in a slump, almost no one expects them to beat Sevilla.

Most people thought Real Madrid would be defeated twice by Sevilla at home. Even the odds offered by bookmakers before the match were that the away team would give up half a goal, which was outrageous!

This match is crucial for Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and the entire La Liga.

If Real Madrid loses this match and Barcelona wins, the gap between the two teams will narrow to 7 points.

If Barcelona wins the next El Clásico, the gap between the two teams will be narrowed to four points.

The suspense surrounding the La Liga title will be reignited, and Real Madrid, who have been trailing behind their opponents, may succumb to the pressure and collapse completely.

If this happens, it's highly likely that Mourinho will be fired, and Real Madrid will probably be plunged into turmoil again.

Therefore, this match is crucial for Real Madrid and could very well determine Mourinho's job.

La Liga officials are very savvy; they know everyone is paying close attention to this match, so they specifically placed this highly anticipated game as the last match of the series.

……

On March 30, the first match of the 30th round of the league kicked off at Real Betis' home stadium.

The two teams facing off are Real Betis and the in-form Barcelona.

As Real Madrid's junior partner, Real Betis has always been duty-bound to take on the task of thwarting Barcelona.

Moreover, this match was also crucial for their own relegation battle, so Real Betis, playing at home, gave it their all, hoping to end Barcelona's winning streak.

But Barcelona's recent form has been incredibly strong. In the first half, they took an early two-goal lead thanks to goals from Eto'o and Messi.

But in the second half, it's unclear what kind of magic potion the Real Betis coach gave his players in the locker room, but the entire Real Betis team seemed to be on steroids, launching a desperate counterattack against Barcelona.

In the 63rd minute of the second half, Edu headed in a cross from Sobis on the left wing, pulling one back for Betis.

In the 75th minute, Real Betis won a penalty during a counter-attack, and Edu stepped up to take it.

Just when everyone thought Edu would equalize, his shot was saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes.

Seeing the penalty saved, the Barcelona players were ecstatic, wildly hugging and kissing Valdes. Meanwhile, Edu stood with his hands on his hips, looking utterly helpless.

At this point, even the vast majority of neutral fans couldn't help but marvel at Barcelona's incredible luck.

However, just when everyone thought Barcelona had survived a major disaster and would surely be blessed with good fortune, Betis scored again!
Just one minute after Edu missed his penalty, Ilic threw in a throw-in, and Yaya Toure made a fatal misjudgment, allowing Juanito at the far post to control the ball with his chest and, before it hit the ground, unleash a powerful volley to equalize for Betis.

The Real Betis fans in the stadium went wild, hugging and celebrating wildly, and loudly taunting the Barcelona players on the field.
You're celebrating too soon!

As it turns out, Real Betis fans were too optimistic, because there was something even more exciting to come!
In the 78th minute, Edu stepped up again. After breaking through on the left wing, he used a feint to get past Thuram, and then scored with a powerful shot with his right foot, scoring his second goal and helping Betis to miraculously take the lead.

In those short three minutes, the emotions of fans around the world went through a rollercoaster ride.

The difference is that Barcelona fans were devastated, while Real Madrid fans were so happy they wanted to sing a song for Real Betis.

This younger brother of mine is truly a go-getter when things get tough!

……

Barcelona's unexpected loss greatly relieved the pressure on Real Madrid before the match, allowing them to face the challenge from Sevilla with a lighter burden.

The worst outcome is unlikely; even if they lose this round, the gap between them and Barcelona will not widen.

But if they win, the point difference between the two teams will return to 13 points.

With only eight rounds left in the league, it seems only theoretically possible to catch up with 13 points!
In just one round of the league, the two teams were separated by six points, truly a case of heaven and hell in an instant.

But all of this is based on Real Madrid winning; if they can't win, it's all just wishful thinking.

Mourinho attached great importance to this match, and he specially adjusted the team's formation for it, abandoning the previous double defensive midfielder formation and fielding a 4-1-2-1-2 formation.

Raul and Van Nistelrooy remained the strikers, with Lin Feng leading the diamond midfield formation.

Behind them are Sneijder and Robben, followed by Real Madrid's lone defensive midfielder Mascherano.

In defense, Pepe returned to the center-back position to partner with Cannavaro, while Marcelo and Ramos occupied the left and right flanks respectively.

Upon seeing Real Madrid's formation, Sevilla's coach couldn't help but frown:

Is Mourinho planning to give up?

He couldn't avoid conceding goals even when he fielded two defensive midfielders, so isn't he afraid of conceding even more goals by only using a single defensive midfielder?
However, this is also good, as Sevilla intends to play an attacking game against Real Madrid, and the opponent's deployment of a single defensive midfielder makes it easier for them to attack.

But Mourinho doesn't think so.

In his view, the main reason Real Madrid lost in these rounds was that the players were physically exhausted, which led to a decline in the quality of their defense in the second half and a large number of goals conceded.

To solve this problem, in addition to adjusting the training plan and minimizing the players' exertion, we also need to allow them to recover more physical strength.

We also need to do a good job of rotation and try to avoid overusing key players.

The reason he dared to field a single defensive midfielder lineup was not only because Mascherano's coverage area was large enough and his interception ability was strong enough.

It's also related to his midfield rotation arrangements!

Since the defensive players' stamina drops in the second half, which affects the quality of defense, why don't I just substitute them when their stamina drops and bring in fresh players to fight the enemy hand-to-hand?

After signing Mascherano, Real Madrid has a slightly more surplus of defensive midfielders, now having at least two regular defensive midfielders, Diarra and Mascherano, who can be used in rotation.

If the team's lead is large enough, Mourinho might even bring on two defensive midfielders at once to completely stifle the opponent's hopes of scoring.

By reducing the number of players in the defensive midfield position, Real Madrid can commit more players to attack.

This helped them get off to a good start in the first half and establish a bigger lead!
Thinking of this, Mourinho's gaze fell on a player in the attacking third:

Lin, it's time to see your performance!

After the match started, the audience and commentators quickly noticed that Real Madrid's formation had changed.

Although it's still a 4-4-2 formation, the players' positions on the field are completely different.

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems like Lin Feng is positioned closer to the goal than usual?"

"It doesn't seem like an illusion. He's definitely closer to the goal than usual, and Lin Feng's attacking desire is very strong today. The game has only been going on for five minutes, and he's already taken a shot!"

Sevilla's goalkeeper also noticed this; Lin Feng's long-range shot was very sudden and the angle was very tricky.

If he hadn't been focused, he might have actually been taken advantage of.

But Sevilla wasn't going to sit idly by. Kanoute stretched out his long leg, stopped Keita's lobbed pass, and took a shot at the bottom left corner of the goal.

Although the shot went slightly wide at the end, it still gave the Real Madrid defenders a real scare.

In the first five minutes, both sides gave their opponents a taste of their own medicine.

Such a fast pace of offense and defense destined it to be a spectacular back-and-forth battle.

Real Madrid welcomes Sevilla's attacking tactics, which involve attacking rather than parking the bus.

Because most La Liga teams choose to park the bus against Real Madrid when they come to the Bernabéu, Real Madrid always has a headache about how to break through their opponent's defense.

Sevilla didn't do that; instead, they attacked, not only relieving Real Madrid of their worries but also giving them the opportunity to launch a counter-attack.

Unlike Guardiola, Mourinho does not require his defenders to have a particularly strong ability to pass the ball.

He also strictly forbids defenders from making long passes blindly during counter-attacks. Unless there is a particularly good opportunity, a long pass is just giving possession of the ball to the opponent!

In the 7th minute, Cannavaro intercepted the ball and launched a counter-attack.

Sevilla's players reacted extremely quickly. Kanoute immediately went to harass Cannavaro who was dribbling the ball, while Keita and his teammates rushed towards Mascherano, who had dropped back to receive the pass.

Having just finished their defensive work, Real Madrid's two full-backs were still near the penalty area and unable to break through.

Therefore, from the perspective of the Sevilla players, Cannavaro either had to launch a long ball or pass the ball to Mascherano, who had dropped back to receive it, on the ground.

In their view, the latter is more likely. Keita anticipated this and had already prepared to intercept. Once he successfully intercepted the ball, Sevilla would quickly transition from defense to attack.

However, to their surprise, Mourinho anticipated their move, and in addition to Mascherano, Real Madrid's midfielder Sneijder also dropped back to receive the ball.

Seeing that Mascherano was being marked tightly by the opponent, Cannavaro naturally chose to pass the ball to Sneijder.

The moment Sneijder got the ball, the situation on the field became much clearer.

Large gaps were exposed in the attacking third and on the right flank, and Lin Feng and Robben reached out for the ball almost simultaneously.

Sneijder hesitated for half a second, choosing not to pass the ball to his compatriot, but instead passing it forward. (End of Chapter)