I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 252: Ball control wins! I just want to win the Champions League standing still! Create anoth

Chapter 252: Control the ball to win! I just want to win the Champions League standing still! Create another glorious treble! [Subscribe]

Over the past half month, Yang Cheng has been thinking about a question.

How to play against Barcelona in the Champions League final?
Yang Cheng specifically watched the 2009 Champions League final at the Olympic Stadium in Rome over and over again.

In retrospect, the Chinese players in Bayswater actually played quite passively in that game.

The score was good, but it was mainly a defensive counterattack.

Compared with the lineup at that time, the current Bayswater Chinese are obviously stronger.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Toure drops back, Rakitic and Modric in the middle;
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Dzeko and Di Maria.

This was the starting lineup when they played against Barcelona in the Champions League final when they won the treble.

More than half of the players have left the team.

For example, the goalkeeper was changed from Neuer to Courtois.

Leighton Baines at left back became Marcelo, and Maicon at right became Piszczek.

The defensive midfielder changed from Yaya Toure to Matic, while Rakitic was replaced by Toni Kroos.

Judging from the overall strength, the team is indeed much stronger than in 09.

The core players are basically in their prime.

Gareth Bale was a fledgling young player back then, but now he is a successful top European star.

The central defender combination of Thiago Silva and Pepe has also been tested by many top attackers and major competitions over the years.

It can be said that the Chinese team in Bayswater is now strong and not afraid of any team at all!
But Barca are a very special team.

If we look at the strength on paper alone, Barcelona is not as good as the Bayswater Chinese.

If we only look at the midfield, Barcelona may not necessarily have the advantage.

Xavi is already 32 years old, and Puyol is 34 years old.

But the most special thing about Barcelona is their ball control system.

The midfield combination of Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi, plus Messi, and Puyol, Pique and Alves behind them, together make up Barcelona's entire ball control system.

Looking around the world, no team can match Barcelona in this regard.

Even the Spanish national team, which also has Xavi and Bailly in the midfield, lacks a superstar like Messi.

How do other teams play when they meet Barcelona?

When Mourinho played against Barcelona, ​​he basically adopted a defensive counterattack tactic.

In last season's Champions League final, although Wenger's Arsenal did not retreat, they actually gave up possession of the ball.

Moreover, Barcelona's players such as Puyol had just returned from injuries, so the game was dragged to the end, which was very disadvantageous to Barcelona.

To some extent, Wenger got some advantage in the Champions League last season.

Over the past period of time, Yang Cheng has repeatedly watched the Champions League finals and Barcelona's strong dialogue in the knockout rounds of the past few seasons, studying Guardiola's Barcelona.

This season, the two-round home and away games between Athletic Bilbao, coached by Bielsa, and Barcelona are very interesting.

Bielsa's team restricted Barcelona in the first half through strenuous running and coverage by all players.

And the effect is very significant.

But this style of play has a very fatal drawback, and that is the second half.

When your physical energy is consumed to a certain level, Barcelona will be able to dominate the game smoothly!
Yang Cheng has watched many game videos and studied many tactical ideas, but he has not yet come up with a final plan. He just asked the sports science department to continue adjusting the players' conditions and reserve physical strength.

So, no one knows how he plans to deal with Barcelona.

Only Yang Cheng knew the answer.

He hasn't thought about it yet.

On the one hand, he is now more confident and has more cards on his side, and is unwilling to adopt the overly passive defensive counterattack tactics like Mourinho did in 09.

For him, he has already defeated Barcelona several times, and adopting such tactical play is somewhat unambitious.

He wants to make breakthroughs at the technical and tactical level.

In other words, win the Champions League title standing still!

On the other hand, the Chinese in Bayswater are indeed stronger now, which gives him confidence and courage.

……

On the day after the 38th round of the Premier League, when the whole world was still promoting and hyping the unprecedented four consecutive championships of the Chinese team in Bayswater, Yang Cheng held another pre-match preparation meeting at the Brent Training Center.

Those in attendance were all first-team coaches.

The main topic of the meeting was the upcoming Champions League final.

According to the schedule, the team has a full four days to prepare specifically for this game.

"Barcelona's strengths and weaknesses are actually very obvious and everyone can see them."

As an assistant coach, Brian Kidd was the first to bring out some of the things he had discussed with Yang Cheng.

“For example, their back line.”

"Although Barcelona has scored 114 goals in La Liga this season, they have also conceded 29 goals."

Real Madrid scored more goals, 121, but conceded 32 goals.

This is very un-Mourinho indeed.

But that's not what Brian Kidd wants to emphasize.

"Guardiola has been coaching Barcelona since 08. In the four years since then, except for the 4/08 season when Barcelona conceded more than 09 goals, in the next two seasons, Barcelona conceded 30 and 24 goals respectively."

"But this season it's 29 goals."

"This proves that the quality of Barcelona's defense as a whole this season is actually declining."

This is obvious.

In Yang Cheng's previous life, in the 2012/13 season, Barcelona conceded 40 goals.

A very important reason lies in their defense.

The problem goes back to what Yang Cheng mentioned before.

When Barcelona and Real Madrid formed their teams, their goal was to create stars and help their top stars shine to the greatest extent possible.

But doing so will bring a disadvantage, which is the poor defense line.

Think about it, is this true?
Real Madrid and Barcelona's defenses have never been better, and they pay little attention to their defenses.

why?
Because they know that it’s useless even if they pay attention to it.

Today's football emphasizes overall combat. The stars in the front only think about attacking, so how can the defense be good?
When Real Madrid introduced Cannavaro, Samuel and others who won the Ballon d'Or, was it because their cards were not big enough or their strength was not strong enough?

But the result?

It’s still a shame when it’s time to be a shame!
Do you remember what Yang Cheng said about what Pepe said to Cannavaro when he first joined Real Madrid in his previous life?
The same applies to Barcelona.

Because essentially, the strategy of both teams is to highlight the offensive advantage of the frontcourt as much as possible.

As long as I score more goals than you, I win the game!
The same is true for Barcelona.

Why do they like pressing and oppressing in the midfield and frontcourt so much?

Because they knew that they had no way of returning to defense in time.

In that case, I might as well not go back to defend and just go straight to the front court to grab the ball.

This concept was by no means the first of its kind created by Guardiola, but has existed for a long time; it is just a matter of choice on the part of the head coach.

For example, during Rijkaard's coaching period, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in the derby match using this style of play.

That is why the joining of Davis, Deco and others is so important to Barcelona.

But everyone knows that Barcelona's defense is terrible.

The difference lies in whether you can withstand Barcelona's offensive pressure and, after doing so, still have the energy left to attack Barcelona's fragile defense?
Yang Cheng let everyone watch the two games between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona this season.

The first game was at Athletic Bilbao's home ground, where they drew 2-2 with Barcelona.

Bielsa's team gained the advantage in the first half and suppressed Barcelona, ​​but they ran out of energy in the second half and lost miserably.

The second leg was at Camp Nou. Bielsa's team struggled until the 40th minute of the first half, but was still scored by Barcelona.

In the first leg, the ball possession rate was 37 to 63.

The second round ended with a score of 55 to 45.

"Bielsa's tactics are right!"

Yang Cheng took over the microphone from Brian Kidd and spoke to everyone.

"If we want to suppress Barcelona throughout the game, we need to run more and consume more energy than Barcelona. We need to fight hard for at least 75 minutes, or even 80 minutes."

Do you know what this concept is?

Klopp's Dortmund is known for its full-court pressing, but if they go all out, they can only last for 60 minutes at most, or maybe only 55 minutes.

Sometimes the condition is not ideal, or when fighting on multiple fronts, we may not be able to hold on even before the end of the first half.

Just like when Athletic Bilbao played Barcelona for the second time this season.

"We need to have a stronger desire for victory and championship than Barcelona!"

"We need every player on the court to be 100% focused, especially when we don't have the ball, we must ensure zero mistakes!"

“No flaws, perfectly executed!”

Yang Cheng's words made everyone in the conference room fall silent.

is it possible?

Where is perfection in this world?
Everyone knows that what Yang Cheng meant is to pursue and approach perfection infinitely!
This is an extremely high requirement for any team or any player.

But can the Chinese in Bayswater do it?
The team has only conceded 9 goals in the Premier League this season and is hailed as the team with the strongest defense in history.

Pepe and Thiago Silva are hailed as the best central defender combination of all time.

Yang Cheng thought it was worth a try!
"Have you watched the match between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona? Did you find out why Athletic Bilbao couldn't win the match even though their tactics were correct?"

Yang Cheng did not intend to let his assistants answer, but gave the answer himself.

A PPT showing the offensive data and number of shots of Athletic Bilbao in the two rounds of the game.

In the first leg at home, Athletic Bilbao only had 37% ball possession, created 3 shots, 3 shots on target, and scored 2 goals.

But one of the goals was an own goal by Pique.

Barcelona had 16 shots, 9 of which were on target, and also scored 2 goals.

In the second leg at Camp Nou, Athletic Bilbao had 45% ball possession, but only had 4 shots, 1 of which was on target, and failed to score.

Barcelona had 55% ball possession, 20 shots, 14 on target, and scored 2 goals.

That's the difference!
"Athletic Bilbao lost because their offensive ability was not good enough and their players' individual abilities were not strong enough!"

Anyone who has played football knows that a football match is always a 90-minute contest.

As long as I play better than you in these 90 minutes, I win.

As for the fact that I am a relegated team and an amateur team, does it matter?

It's ok!
Real Madrid lost to an amateur team. Does that mean the amateur team is stronger than Real Madrid?

Athletic Bilbao can't create any offensive opportunities!
But Bayswater Chinese can!

Therefore, the same set of tactics will create two completely different threats in the hands of Athletic Bilbao and in the hands of the Chinese in Bayswater!
Of course, Yang Cheng would never say that he wanted to perfectly copy Athletic Bilbao's tactics.

This is unrealistic and even stupid.

Because the Chinese in Bayswater are stronger than Athletic Bilbao!

Each line is much stronger!

But Bielsa's tactical thinking is worth learning.

"For us Chinese in Bayswater, in this Champions League final, we just need to beat Barcelona physically and mentally, as long as you can be 100% committed and focused."

"Then, we will definitely be able to bring back the Champions League title!"

……

When Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had their pre-match meeting, Guardiola was studying the Bayswater Chinese with his assistant Tito Vilanova and others at the Ciutat de España in the west of Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Guardiola and his assistants are actually very clear about the problems that Barcelona has encountered in the past two years.

But there is no better way.

Is it possible to avoid Xavi and Puyol's aging?
In fact, something happened before this Champions League final.

Barcelona president Rosell hopes to renew Guardiola's contract, but Guardiola made it clear that he will not consider anything unrelated to the game until the Champions League final is over.

So, many people outside are saying that he will leave Barcelona after the end of this season.

This is not groundless.

Everyone close to Guardiola knows that he does have such thoughts.

Even though he never said it.

Barcelona's current situation is that its core players are getting old.

Puyol in defense and Xavi in ​​midfield.

These are all important players in Barcelona's entire tactical system.

To some extent, Xavi is the ballast of Barcelona's ball control system.

When Xavi starts to get older and loses his strength, Barcelona will expose more problems.

For example, Iniesta, who has always performed well, seems to be declining.

The pressing and oppression in the midfield and front court that worked so well in the past now seems to be leaking everywhere.

Then there are the forwards, midfielders and defense, and the connection between the three lines seems to be increasingly prone to problems.

If you compare carefully, it is easy to find that it is because the players' running ability has declined.

Especially Harvey.

"The overall strength of the Bayswater Chinese is definitely the best in the world, and they have almost no obvious weaknesses."

Guardiola said something in front of his assistant that he would never say outside.

This is definitely a high compliment for the Chinese in Bayswater.

"If I have to say, it's that their left-back Marcelo is lacking in defense."

"Also, their team lacks a super explosive point like Messi!"

Of course, this isn't really a problem.

There are only two super hot spots in the world like Messi and Ronaldo.

Gareth Bale seems to have potential in this area, but don't forget that he was born in July 89, so strictly speaking, he is only 7 years old now.

"Tell me, how do we play this game?"

Guardiola is obviously also in a very difficult situation.

Looking around, the assistants in front of him were also in the same dilemma.

Faced with an opponent who has almost no obvious weaknesses and is so powerful, I really don’t know how to fight.

"We definitely can't use three defenders. They have such strong wingers. If we continue to use three defenders, it will only expose our defense's weakness in defending high balls."

"Lewandowski is not only proficient with both feet, but also has great high ball ability. The same is true for Gareth Bale."

Vilanova reminded Guardiola.

He knew his best friend very well, and sometimes he was too idealistic.

If we really use three defenders to play against Bayswater Chinese, it would be tantamount to seeking death.

Set pieces and aerial attacks are Barcelona's Achilles' heel, but they are the strong points of the Chinese in Bayswater.

"I suggest that we should choose a more pragmatic tactical approach and play to our strengths."

Guardiola glanced at his assistant, "You mean...control the ball."

"Yes, this is our biggest advantage when facing the Chinese in Bayswater!"

"But Yang Cheng will find ways to disrupt our possession of the ball."

"That would give us the opportunity to infiltrate!"

Vilanova's words served as a reminder to Guardiola and many others present.

Crisis, crisis, crisis brings opportunity.

If you only seek stability, you will not only block your opponents, but you will also block yourself.

Barcelona controlled the ball and let the Chinese from Bayswater take it.

As long as the opponent's formation is disrupted when they are trying to fight for the ball, that is Barcelona's opportunity to attack!
"But our current midfield may not be able to control the ball under their pressure!" a coach nearby reminded.

This is also a problem.

Xavi is old and his running ability has obviously declined.

Coupled with Puyol's aging, Barcelona's entire passing and controlling system now has a clear downward trend compared to before.

"Then adjust the strategy, give up the frontcourt attack and bring Messi back."

Vilanova expressed his thoughts again.

"We have Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi in ​​the midfield. If Messi comes back, we will have four ball handlers. Puyol and Pique will be in defence, plus Alves."

"I think this configuration is enough!"

When Vilanova said this, he glanced at Guardiola and found that the latter nodded repeatedly. He immediately became more confident and continued.

"We used the ball possession to control the overall situation of the game and kept wearing down Bayswater Chinese, just like we had worn down teams like Athletic Bilbao before."

"As long as we hold on to the ball, we can ensure that we don't lose the ball. Even if the final score is 0-0 and we go into overtime, it's still good for us!"

As long as Barcelona keeps the ball, after entering overtime, the side with less player consumption will have a greater advantage.

Guardiola soon had a flash of enlightenment, "In this case, the pace of the game cannot be fast, it must be slowed down as much as possible."

A slow pace is beneficial for Barcelona to control the ball and to consume the Chinese players in Bayswater.

On the contrary, the fast pace is more advantageous for Premier League teams.

But this brings up another problem.

The rhythm and ball possession are different.

Barcelona can control the ball, but not necessarily the tempo.

Because if the Chinese in Bayswater go crazy for things, the pace will definitely be sped up.

This requires both sides to engage in on-the-spot gaming, as well as the head coach to control the situation.

Guardiola now has some direction in his mind and has thought of more.

Guardiola has actually felt the bottleneck for the current Barcelona team.

In terms of ball control, it has really reached the extreme.

Moreover, in this team, there are many things that are beyond our control.

In other words, Guardiola feels that he can no longer lead this Barcelona team to improve.

This was a pretty bad feeling for him.

That's why he wanted to leave.

But he still hopes that in this Champions League final, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese can bring more thinking and excitement to himself, Barcelona, ​​and even the world of football!

...No one knows what the Chinese in Bayswater and Barcelona are training after the league ends.

The two top teams trained secretly behind closed doors for several days.

There were even media reports that the Bayswater Chinese had given up two rounds of league matches early on and had been secretly preparing for the Champions League final for nearly a month.

No one has verified the outside world's claims.

But time is passing by little by little.

What happened one after another continued to stir up the emotions of all the media and fans.

UEFA has announced the referee for this season's Champions League final, Nicola Rizzoli from Italy.

This is a world-renowned international referee with a great reputation.

Rizzoli has officiated three Champions League group matches and one Champions League round of 3 knockout match this season.

In addition, he will also referee this summer's European Cup.

In addition to Rizzoli officiating this world-renowned peak match, the two assistant referees and the fourth official will all be from Italy, forming a team with Rizzoli.

This is also the regular configuration of the referee team in European football.

As the Chinese team of Bayswater won the Premier League and FA Cup, reached the Champions League final, and will soon play at the Allianz Arena in Munich, sponsors from all over the world have also taken advantage of it.

For example, German bus sponsor MAN has had a cooperative relationship with Bayswater Chinese for the past few years.

Before the Champions League final, they launched a special Champions League edition for the Chinese in Bayswater.

The overall configuration is the same as the second-generation Lion coach launched in 2008, which is currently used by the Bayswater Chinese first-team, but there are obvious upgrades in body paint, exterior style, and some interior configurations.

Before the Champions League final, the two sides held a press conference in Munich, Germany. Mann delivered the car on the spot and also announced the signing of the contract with Bayswater Chinese.

MAN officially becomes Bayswater Chinese partner in luxury buses.

This is also the first sponsorship contract signed by the two parties since they began their cooperation in 2004.

Yes, before this, although German companies had cooperation with the Chinese in Bayswater, there was no sponsorship relationship.

But now, they obviously also hope to use the influence of the Chinese in Bayswater to promote their global sales market.

Signing such a contract before the Champions League final can be regarded as a successful marketing for Mann.

Other sponsors around the world have also launched various marketing activities to coincide with the Bayswater Chinese team's journey to the Champions League final after a three-year absence, in order to attract as much attention from fans as possible.

In the UK, farmers have come up with another interesting activity in a unique way.

Alpaca!

At the World Cup in South Africa, Paul the Octopus became an instant hit and became famous all over the world.

Since then, using animals to predict the outcome of major football matches has become a very interesting topic.

Before the Champions League final, a 64-year-old British farmer named Linda Johnson also made a prediction, which attracted strong attention from the British media and fans.

Linda Johnson has an 8-year-old alpaca named Nicholas at home.

In front of him, there were two golf clubs, one representing the red and blue of Barcelona, ​​and the other representing the sand-colored gold coin of the Chinese of Bayswater. Nicholas was responsible for choosing.

Eventually, the alpaca from England hit the club with the sand-colored gold coin representing the Chinese of Bayswater.

The entire event was open to the public and broadcast live across the entire network, causing a lot of enthusiasm and heated discussion among media and fans.

The farmer, Linda Johnson, became famous because of this.

Spanish media were quick to hit back at the animal predictions from British farmers.

In a tourist town called Benalmadena, east of Malaga in southern Spain, there is an octopus named "Messi" in an aquarium.

The octopus also made a prediction for the Champions League final, believing that Barcelona will beat the Bayswater Chinese.

Guardiola will win his first Champions League title in his coaching career!
This also caused heated discussion in the Spanish media.

In the past two or three years, aquariums across Spain have launched copycat products, such as the octopus Iniesta, the octopus Casillas, etc., but the accuracy rate is generally average.

I don’t know whether Octopus Messi’s predictions this time can be as accurate and sharp as Messi on the court.

……

The beasts let Britain and Spain have a first fight outside the field.

The host city of the Champions League final, Munich, is also unambiguous.

The match was held on Saturday, May 5th, and by Friday morning, the whole of Munich had been transformed into a black and white football city.

More than 2 huge promotional posters of the two teams in the final were placed in major subway stations, squares and other places in the city.

Fans who came from far away could be seen everywhere on the streets of Munich, and stars from both teams were everywhere.

According to authoritative media predictions, this Champions League final will attract more than 3 million fans to watch the live broadcast.

This will create the highest ratings record for the Champions League final in history!

It will be the world's largest and most influential sporting event, with an influence that will exceed that of the American Super Bowl and will be the best in the world!
The mayor of Munich said excitedly in an interview with the media: "The hospitable people of Munich are ready to welcome guests."

They expect more than 14 tourists to visit Munich before and after the final.

On the night of the final, more than 8 fans will stay overnight in Munich, which will bring huge economic benefits to Munich's hotels, inns and bars.

Faced with such a large number of tourists, the local police in Munich treated the situation as if they were facing a formidable enemy and dispatched 2000 police officers to maintain order at the scene.

According to preliminary estimates, between 3.5 and 4 English fans will come to Munich.

Germany and the UK have maintained close cooperation and have banned 80 football hooligans from traveling to Germany.

But for safety reasons, on the final day, the sale of alcoholic beverages in glass bottles will be completely banned in the old town of Munich, and the sale of alcoholic beverages around the stadium will not be allowed.

Faced with such a grand event, the Munich officials have made sufficient preparations.

Everything is waiting for the arrival of two giant teams in world football!
……

"I just received news from the club that the London Mayor's Office has officially notified our club that Mayor Ken Livingstone and several important MPs will be in Munich in person."

"In addition, we have also received news from Downing Street in the UK that Prime Minister Cameron and several government officials have decided to accept the invitation of the German Chancellor and go to Munich to watch the game."

"The British royal family has arranged for Prince William and Princess Kate to go to Munich to watch the game."

At the training center in Brent, west London, Yang Cheng was walking in front, while Gary Worthington was responsible for following beside him, constantly reporting the latest news.

Yang Cheng was not surprised at all about the attention from London, the British government, and the royal family.

To put it bluntly, they also need to take advantage of such occasions to show up and increase their presence.

To some extent, the Chinese in Bayswater are bringing glory to Britain!
"What's the weather like in Munich on the day of the game?" Yang Cheng asked with concern.

"It is expected to be 20 degrees during the game, so the temperature and humidity are not bad."

Yang Cheng nodded and said nothing more.

"In addition, according to the news received by our club, Capello, Redknapp, Ferguson, Wenger and others will go to the Allianz Arena to watch the game."

Previously, Yang Cheng went to Wembley Stadium to cheer for Wenger. This time, Wenger will definitely return the favor.

"In addition, our driver has already been familiar with the area around Munich, and the hotel is also ready. We will go there at noon, and the afternoon familiarization time is scheduled at 18:30."

Since the Chinese team at Bayswater was drawn to play away, they had to start training to familiarize themselves with the field later than Barcelona.

As he was speaking, Yang Cheng had already arrived at his office.

"You go and inform Thad Fawcett, Oliver Bartlett, Tim Harkness and Neil Cannon. We'll meet again after the training session to discuss tonight and tomorrow."

"Ok."

With that, Gary Worthington turned and walked away.

Not to mention Thad Fawcett and Oliver Bartlett.

Tim Harkness is the psychologist and Neil Cannon is the nutritionist.

Yang Cheng needs them to provide a more detailed evaluation report to accurately grasp all the dynamics of the players.

……

The training session on Friday morning is more focused on recovery and adjustment.

With the war approaching, everyone could clearly feel the tense atmosphere.

During the secret training camp over the past period of time, Yang Cheng did not conduct penalty kick training.

Yes, he doesn't practice penalties!

This is actually equivalent to telling everyone that this game must not be dragged into a penalty shootout!

The intensity of the training session was not high and the atmosphere was good. Yang Cheng did not say much, but tried his best to let the players stay relaxed.

This is also his many years of coaching experience.

The more critical the moment, the more the head coach needs to create a sense of relaxation.

If even the head coach himself is nervous, what about the players?
People who have not experienced it cannot understand how much pressure the players are under now.

Someone once started suffering from insomnia after reaching the finals!
Everyone thought that Ronaldo's sudden illness on the eve of the 98 final was some conspiracy, but in fact, anyone who has played football, especially in major competitions, knows that it was caused by tension and pressure.

Do you know what medicines are most commonly prescribed by team doctors?

Sleeping pills!
Some players even cannot fall asleep without taking sleeping pills.

Over the past few years, all the processes that Yang Cheng has built at Bayswater Chinese are now fully operational.

For example, the club's training equipment has been shipped to Munich.

All food and drinking water were airlifted from London.

From the selection of hotels to various pre-match preparations, the Bayswater Chinese carried out everything in an orderly manner.

This time the plane was chartered by sponsor Qatar Airways.

The plane had already been spray-painted with the Bayswater Chinese team logo and huge posters of the stars.

At this moment, I am waiting at Heathrow Airport.

Before departure, everyone took a group photo at the Brent Training Center wearing Burberry suits.

All members of the first-team will go on the expedition together!

……

From the moment we arrived in Munich, the exciting Champions League final was officially on the agenda.

And the itinerary was arranged very tightly.

After a short rest and tidying up in the hotel, the team showed up at the Allianz Arena on time at 18:.

At this time, many fans who had arrived early had already gathered at the scene.

When the club's bus crossed the overpass and arrived at the Allianz Arena, the fans and media reporters who had been waiting at the scene cheered and cheered for the team.

As usual, Yang Cheng was the first to get off the bus.

He was greeted with cheers from the fans.

Afterwards, the players got out of the car one after another. All of them were wearing black Burberry suits, looking very cool.

Among the many players, the happiest one is Luke Shaw.

This kid never thought that after being suddenly called up to the first team, he would even get a chance to go to the Champions League final in Munich!

More importantly, is it outrageous that he can actually step into the Allianz Arena?

At most, he has only been in the first team for about 10 days.

He even tilted his head and fantasized all the way.

"If we win the championship, I should be able to get one of the 30 medals, right?"

Everyone burst into laughter after hearing this.

You know what, this guy is really lucky.

He can get this!
"Let's go, the youngest Champions League champion in history!"

Pepe pushed Luke Shaw into the player tunnel of the Allianz Arena amid the cheers of the fans.

Oh, by the way, due to sponsorship reasons, the Allianz Arena logo will be covered up for a few days before and after the final.

……

Yang Cheng didn't want to reveal his starting lineup too early, so he called together all the first-team players except Sterling who was participating in the national team training.

The training items are also very routine, and they are all familiar trainings.

During the group training, Yang Cheng deliberately separated everyone and put them in different groups, making it impossible to tell who would start in the final.

During the training, Yang Cheng also specially arranged offensive training for free kicks.

This is no secret.

The Chinese in Bayswater are famous for their free kick attack. The Barcelona players are relatively short and their ability to defend free kicks and high balls is relatively poor. If Yang Cheng does not take advantage of it, it will be suspicious.

After the training, Yang Cheng took notice of the players. They were generally in good spirits and went over to interact with the fans, including signing autographs and taking photos.

Capello, Ferguson, Wenger and others also came to the scene to meet Yang Cheng and the players.

Yang Cheng went to the press conference hall with them, where he met Beckenbauer, UEFA Secretary General Infantino and others, and naturally there were some polite exchanges.

At a previous press conference, Barcelona coach Guardiola said in an interview with media reporters, "Yang Cheng's team is a cup competition expert, and they have a very high winning rate in cup finals."

In response to this, Yang Cheng made a response.

"Guardiola is a very good coach and his job at Barcelona makes things very difficult for us."

"He has always been very calm and rational. He has done a very good job in controlling the team, which makes him harmoniously integrated with the team and the players. It's a dream!"

Yang Cheng also said that the most important thing for the Bayswater Chinese in the next Champions League final against Barcelona is to be able to play in their own style.

"Barcelona is a team with a very unique style. Facing such an opponent, we must stick to our own style of football, so that we can win."

As for what style and tactics he will adopt and what kind of players he will arrange to play, Yang Cheng said he has not decided yet.

"I will talk to the players again tonight, refer to opinions from all sides, and make the final decision on the starting lineup for the final based on the players' recent form."

Before the final, what does Yang Cheng want to say to the players?
Yang Cheng smiled and said that he had already told the players everything he should have said.

"We have already won the Premier League and the FA Cup this season and we don't need to prove our quality to anyone."

"We are one of the teams with the most goals and the most successful defense in European football, and that's enough!"

"Whatever happens tomorrow, they will be remembered as part of club legend!"

Yang Cheng’s meaning was very clear, he hoped that all players could put down their burdens and go into battle lightly!
……

Final day.

Since the morning, Yang Cheng and the coaching team have been busy.

The most important thing is to examine the players' emotions and state.

In every team, there are some players with big hearts and some players who are more easily nervous.

This is all normal.

Yang Cheng spent the morning having brief conversations with each player to understand their emotional state.

In the end, he once again arranged a 433 lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;
Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matic drops back, with Toni Kroos and Modric in the middle;
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Lewandowski and Di Maria.

There is actually not much controversy or suspense about the defense, goalkeeper and midfield.

These players have the best coordination and are also the strongest players.

If they lose a starter, that would be real news.

However, on the forward line, Yang Cheng chose Di Maria as the right winger, which was somewhat surprising.

Actually, this is quite normal.

Di Maria and Walcott have always been rotation players in the important right winger position.

Walcott has performed very well this season, scoring 19 goals in the league.

Everyone feels that the trident of Gareth Bale, Lewandowski and Walcott is the most threatening offensive combination of the Chinese at Bayswater.

But Yang Cheng chose Di Maria for some reasons of his own.

First of all, Di Maria's goal-scoring ability is indeed not as good as Walcott's, but his dribbling ability, as well as his personal ability and passing ability, are all better than Walcott.

More importantly, Di Maria is a very special player. He always gives an amazing performance in every crucial battle.

On weekdays, he looks inconspicuous, and even his statistics are not particularly impressive.

But once it comes to a strong dialogue and a crucial decisive battle, he immediately shows his power.

This kid has a big heart!

Therefore, Yang Cheng chose Di Maria to replace Walcott.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Walcott performed badly.

In fact, the performance of the little tiger this season is definitely at the level of a world-class winger.

And unlike his previous life, Walcott is now very good at stopping the ball, taking the ball, and passing the ball.

After all, he had been influenced by what he had seen and heard from the Chinese in Bayswater over the years.

Yang Cheng chose to put him in the position of a surprise soldier.

If necessary, let him go forward in the second half.

Barcelona's side is easier to guess.

Guardiola actually doesn't have many first-team players. Apart from players like Thiago, Cuenca and Tello who are basically unlikely to start, there are actually almost no secrets about Barcelona's starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Valdes;
Defense: Adriano, Puyol, Pique and Alves;

Midfield: Busquets goes deep, Iniesta and Xavi are in the middle;
Forwards: Villa, Messi and Pedro.

If nothing unexpected happens, this should be Barcelona's starting lineup.

As for Seydou Keita in midfield, that is basically impossible.

Once this player is on the field, Barcelona's midfield possession rate will be affected.

As for the three defenders...

Well, Yang Cheng really hopes that Guardiola will play with three defenders.

In this case, he wouldn't mind giving Guardiola's team a severe lesson!

The team rested in the hotel.

Yang Cheng held the last mobilization meeting before the game.

The time is very short, just a few minutes.

And that was before the team set off.

"We've said enough and stressed enough about this game."

"In the past month or so, we have invested a lot, and everyone has made extraordinary efforts!"

"Now, as we're about to enter the Allianz Arena, I just want to say one thing to you!"

"Believe me, please believe me!"

"You must believe that I will lead you to this stadium and win the last and most important championship of this season!"

"I will definitely lead everyone to create the glory of the Triple Crown again!"

"I never doubt your strength, and I never doubt your fighting spirit!"

“Don’t have any pressure or burden, just enjoy the fun brought by this world’s top football feast, and release your energy and talent to your heart’s content!”

"We will achieve ultimate victory!"

Yang Cheng's mobilization also received a warm response from the players.

(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like