Chapter 108 Fighting against the Dream Team! (Ch 108)

The game lasted 15 minutes.
Monaco continued to press and oppress Barcelona’s backcourt players with the ball.
The football came to Coman’s feet.
Looking at the dense cross-pressure network formed by Monaco, Coman gave up the idea of ​​passing the ball to the left or right.
In addition, the opponent’s forward Ikpeba began to pay attention to pressing him, so this time he had no way to directly find Laudrup in front of him.
So Coman chose to pass the ball to Guardiola who was closer.
In Cruyff’s 4-3-3 formation, Guardiola, Laudrup and Baquero formed an inverted triangle, with Guardiola standing at the back.
It can be said that Guardiola is the first classic No. 4 player created during Cruyff’s “Dream Team” period.
Cruyff redefined the role of the midfield through Guardiola, transforming it from a traditional defensive midfielder to a “field coach” with both creativity and control.
He has top-notch game reading ability, can simplify complex situations, and control the pace of the game through reasonable ball distribution.
It can be said that he is the “metronome” of Barcelona’s offensive and defensive transitions.
So, when the players don’t know what to do with the ball, just give it to Guardiola, that’s right!
Now, Guardiola had just stopped the ball and didn’t even have time to kick it, Ikpeba rushed over like a wild boar!
But Barcelona’s midfielder was very calm.
Without any panic, he gently pulled the ball back with his right foot and turned around.
Then he flicked the ball with his left foot, elegantly and perfectly dissolving the pressure from the Nigerian striker.
This move was not as complicated as the one Luo Yi had shaken him with just now, but it was very efficient.
This is also one of Guardiola’s technical characteristics.
He is slow and doesn’t have any fancy dribbling skills, but he can still get rid of the ball through tight and practical touches.
And after getting rid of the opponent, he also created enough space for himself to pass the ball.
“pretty!”
“Guardiola’s ability to get rid of the problem on the spot is truly unique!”
“Ikpeba’s diving was a little too aggressive and he was left behind.”
“Now Guardiola looks up and looks ahead, it seems he is ready to kick the ball!”
“He has a precise pass and vision, and can tear through the opponent’s defense in an instant.”
“Ah…someone is coming!”
Guardiola was preparing to kick his leg when he caught a glimpse of a red and white light approaching him rapidly from the side.
Before he could react, the ball disappeared from under his feet.
His legs and feet suddenly felt a violent impact, and then he was thrown to the ground!
It’s Monaco’s No. 8 again!
Luo Yi made a fierce tackle and kept the ball within his control!
“Luo Yi’s classic shovel move to retain the ball!”
“His tackling skills are truly world-class, efficient and elegant!”
“Guardiola spread his hands to the referee to indicate that his opponent had committed a foul, but the referee indicated that Luo Yi had tackled the ball first and raised his hands to let the game continue!”
“It is very dangerous to be intercepted in Guardiola’s position. Luo Yi can even shoot directly!”
really.
After stealing the ball from Guardiola, Luo Yi first quickly observed the position of his teammates.
Djorkaeff and Sjorfo on the left and right sides had just been pressing the opponent’s full-backs respectively, and now they were both on the wing, away from the danger zone.
Ikpeba just turned back to press Guardiola, and now he is not far from his side and his position is not good.
Klinsmann was in the opponent’s penalty area, but the tall and strong Nadal was watching him closely.
As for Pettit, he was still behind him.
It’s hard to spread.
So, long shots are indeed the best choice!
So Luo Yi gently pushed the ball to the side and made a running-up and shot action!
Barcelona goalkeeper Zubizarreta’s pupils shrank slightly and he quickly adjusted his position.
But at this moment, central defender Coman had already come up.
As a defender known for his long-range heavy gunner, Koeman is very familiar with Luo Yi’s series of actions!
Even when Luo Yi tried to steal the ball from Guardiola, he had already predicted Luo Yi’s next choice.
Therefore, before Luo Yi could fully stretch his body, Coman had already rushed in front of him and stretched his legs to grab the football under his feet!
Luo Yi could only change his strategy temporarily.
If he forced the ball, it would definitely be blocked by Coman.
He might even get injured because Coman poked the ball away in advance and caused his shot to miss.
So Luo Yi reacted quickly, changing his right foot’s pull to a dunk and dunking the ball to his left foot.
This also avoided Coman’s interception.
Then, before Coman could react, Luo Yi swung his left foot and shot directly!
If it was a little later, Guardiola would have chased back and Bakero on the other side would have come to help.
“pretty!”
“Luo Yi created an angle and shot directly from long range!”
“Hey, isn’t his dominant foot his right foot?…”
The ball was flying very fast and hit the upper left corner of Barcelona’s goal directly!
But Zubizarreta was prepared.
He kicked the grass hard, moved quickly to the left, then stretched out his fist and kicked the ball out directly!
Luo Yi held his head in his hands, looking annoyed:
“It seems that it is really difficult to break through the goal of this top goalkeeper with my left foot now…”
There was also warm applause from the stands of Camp Nou.
Of course, the applause was not for Luo Yi, but for Zubizarreta who made a wonderful save.
However, Wenger and his assistants on the sidelines were all surprised.
“I didn’t expect that the tactics we used today to press the frontcourt would actually unleash Luo Yi’s offensive talent.”
“Yeah, not to mention his steals, his moves after steals are all top notch.”
“No wonder Cruzeiro sometimes lets him play as a central midfielder…”
“His left foot is also very good. This long shot was taken with his left foot, which is of very high quality.”
“It doesn’t matter, just keep kicking like this, you’ll have a chance!”
Wenger’s strategy today is to press and disrupt Barcelona’s rhythm.
Everyone knows that Barcelona’s offensive capabilities are very strong, and its passing and control level is the best in the world.
Stabilizing defense and counterattacking is certainly an idea, but it also requires corresponding level of support.
There is absolutely no problem with Monaco’s midfield and frontcourt at the moment, but except for Thuram, the others on the defensive line are actually a little bit lacking.
Therefore, Wenger felt that if his team tried to defend stubbornly, they would not be able to hold on, so it would be better to do the opposite and actively press forward!
So far, it seems that the effect is quite good.
The attacking quartet was also very active when pressing, causing good disruption to the Barcelona defence.
What made people most happy was, of course, Luo Yi’s performance.
If the pressure in the frontcourt is mainly interference, then Luo Yi often makes the most fatal steal.
Not only that, after the steal, Luo Yi was able to quickly turn defense into offense and posed a threat to Barcelona’s goal, which was even more commendable.
—————–
But Cruyff on the other side was still very calm.
Luo Yi’s performance was indeed very good, but it was not enough to make him panic.
If his Barcelona could be defeated by such a young boy in one fell swoop, it would be an underestimation of the strength of the “Dream Team” and the tactical system that Cruyff created at Barcelona.
Why did Cruyff never win the World Cup or the European Cup in his life, but he has a very high status in the history of world football?
It is because of his outstanding contribution to the development of football.
This contribution even surpasses that of two generations of football kings, Pele and Maradona.
When he was a player, Cruyff represented the immortal football term “total attack and defense”.
Cruyff possessed outstanding balance, extraordinary speed and amazing ball control, but what was even more amazing was his awareness and vision.
“Total attack and defense” requires players to change positions frequently. Only Cruyff, who clearly understands the position of each teammate, can become the backbone of the entire team.
He also has a technique named after him, which is the “Cruyff turn”.
This is a fake move of kicking the ball with force. During the process, the kicking foot suddenly retracts the force, pushes the ball away from the foot, turns around and accelerates to complete the breakthrough from the other side.
When Johan Cruyff used this move in the 1974 World Cup, it amazed audiences around the world.
After becoming a coach, he ushered in his own glorious era.
At the Camp Nou, Johan Cruyff broke the old football mold and implanted a style that pursued beauty and artistry in Barcelona.
“The attack is initiated by the goalkeeper, and the defense starts with the striker.” This sentence explains the soul of Johan Cruyff’s total attack and defense system.
La Masia youth training can be said to be a concentrated embodiment of the essence of Cruyff’s entire football career.
He injected the word “continuity” into the soul of FC Barcelona, ​​allowing batch after batch of La Masia youth players to step onto the pitch, and they all have the “Tiki-Taka” gene in their bones.
It can be said that it was he who laid the foundation for the character and philosophy of Barcelona Football Club. He transformed the La Masia youth training and was the founder of Barcelona’s three generations of dream teams.
During this period, Guardiola was deeply influenced by Cruyff. Later, when he coached, basically all the tactics he used were influenced by Cruyff.
So, how could such a historical-level head coach be frightened by Wenger’s pressure in the frontcourt?
Aren’t these just the things he has left over?
At this moment, Cruyff just licked the lollipop in his mouth lightly and still sat in the coaching seat as steady as a rock.
Well……
In his early years, he often directed games while smoking, but later due to a heart attack caused by long-term smoking, Ke Sheng quit smoking and replaced it with lollipops.
He was giving orders while eating a lollipop, which has become one of the classic scenes in football history…
—————–
Back to the game.
After another 10 minutes.
As expected, Barcelona was not too affected by Monaco’s tactics and still played the game at their own pace.
Their technical level can support it!
This time it was full-back Barjuan who got the ball.
Before the opponent’s forward came to press, he took the lead and passed the ball to Begiristain in front.
Begiristain also passed the ball, and the ball immediately landed at Laudrup’s feet, while he continued to run forward.
This is the rhythm of Barcelona.
Swift and quick passes from defenders to midfielders.
At this time, Luo Yi and Petit also hurried over and double-teamed Laudrup.
But this time Laudrup reacted very quickly. He just pushed forward and the ball passed through the gap between the two people.
“nice shot!”
“Laudrup’s pass was very accurate and avoided Luo Yi’s defense!”
“Now Stoichkov has the ball.”
“He’s running!”
Stoichkov is famous for his footwork, but he is actually quite fast.
Facing Monaco’s full-back Brondo who came to defend, he just feinted with his upper body, then pulled with his feet and shook the opponent off.
Then speed up!
At this time, from the TV broadcast, you can see the running positions of Barcelona’s frontcourt players.
Begiristain, who had been running forward, ran sideways and pulled away Monaco center back Dumas.
Baquero also moved forward and supported on the right.
And what about Romario?
At this moment, he no longer strolled, but cut to the middle at an incredible speed!
Thuram, who was responsible for marking him, couldn’t catch up with his pace at all!
“Luo Yi hasn’t given up, he’s still chasing Stoichkov!”
But at this time, Monaco’s defense had been turned upside down.
Stoichkov slowed down slightly.
After feeling the sound of Luo Yi chasing him from behind, he kicked decisively.
He lightly lifted the ball with his right foot!
Valeri, who was rushing forward, had no time to turn around before the football had already lightly passed over his head and fell to the top of the penalty area.
Then……
Romario moves!
The fantastic pace made Thuram question his life.
Thuram, who is still very young, is totally unable to keep up with the pace of the lone wolf!
And when the football landed on Romario’s instep, it seemed to become a part of his body, sticking tightly!
Monaco goalkeeper Ettori stared at his opponent’s feet, trying to predict Romario’s next move.
But he couldn’t see it at all.
Because there is no trace of where Romario exerts force.
The lone wolf even pushed the ball lightly with the outside of his foot as if he was just passing by the goal, and then walked away.
The ball rolled gently into the blind corner of the goal.
When Ettore went down to the ground and rushed again, it was too late.
1:0!!!
The cheers that erupted in Camp Nou in an instant were like a landslide and tsunami!
“Romario!”
“This is Romario!”
“We have only seen him a few times in the game so far.”
“But once he shows up, it’s the most fatal blow!”
“This is also the most Romario way to score a goal!”
“A ghostly movement, an effortless stop, and a casual shot!”
“He uses the smallest leg swing to complete the most exquisite shot! This also makes it impossible for the goalkeeper to judge the direction of his shot.”
“And this whole process of scoring a goal also reflects the essence of Barcelona football!”
“From the full-back to the midfielder to the winger to the center forward, they basically all touched the ball and made the final move by passing it!”
“This is Barcelona! This is Cruyff’s football philosophy!”
“This goal was also the first goal Monaco conceded in the last seven games! Facing Barcelona’s firepower, their defense finally couldn’t hold!”
“It seems that Wenger and his Monaco still have a lot to learn…”
—————–
On the field, Romario is celebrating his goal.
His celebration was rather ordinary, he just stretched out his arms and ran, a bit like Ronaldo.
Maybe Ronaldo was influenced by him?
Anyway, it’s a community-level celebration.
On the sidelines, Cruyff was clapping with satisfaction.
In fact, from the perspective of tactical execution, Romario is not his most ideal center forward.
Because the lone wolf is too lazy and doesn’t like to run at all, let alone let him perform any tasks of pressing in the frontcourt.
But as a center forward, scoring goals is his first priority.
And Romario can obviously complete this task.
There was even such an outrageous thing that happened between him and Romario:
One morning after training, Romario found Cruyff and said he wanted to take eight days off to return to Brazil to attend the carnival.
Cruyff said unless he scores a hat trick against Real Madrid on Sunday.
Romario actually scored 3 goals! After the game, he went to the airport without even saying hello…
It can be said that Romario is really a combination of genius and devil.
In order to have fun, you can try your best to score goals. Isn’t this an alternative form of professionalism?
However, his character would not allow him to go far with Cruyff, who emphasized discipline.
This is a later story.
On the other side.
Although Wenger was a little disappointed about losing the ball at this time, it was actually understandable.
Playing this kind of front-court pressure against Barcelona at the Camp Nou is definitely a double-edged sword and there is a possibility of paying a price.
But now that we have lost the ball, it is unlikely that we will shrink our defense.
It doesn’t make much sense!
Now that you’ve attacked, keep attacking!
So after the game resumed, both sides played more openly and there were many exciting scenes.
This lasts for about 35 minutes.
Monaco launched a counterattack after intercepting the ball on the right.
Shifo made a straight pass along the right sideline, and Ikpeba got the ball with a straight run.
But he took too long to adjust and was immediately approached by Barcelona’s full-back Baljuan.
In fact, he could have passed the ball at this time, but he didn’t see Rickinsmann in the penalty area frantically raising his hands to ask for the ball!
This is the limitation of Ikpeba’s ability.
Otherwise, why didn’t he become the world’s top striker despite his good physical condition and fast speed?
It’s because of his vision and basketball IQ.
In the instant he started and received the ball, he was thinking more about how to dribble into the penalty area and shoot.
Once his way is blocked, Ikpeba’s brain sometimes short-circuits and he doesn’t know what to do for a moment.
“Give it to me! Pass it back to me!” Luo Yi shouted loudly behind him.
At this time, teammates need to remind each other to help Ikpeba make a choice.
Luo Yi did a good job in this regard.
His vision and basketball IQ are great!
He saw that Ikpeba had lost the opportunity to find Klinsmann in the first place, and a hard breakthrough was not the best option now, so it would be better to let him pass the ball back and reorganize the game.
Ikpeba obviously trusted Luo Yi very much, and after hearing it, he passed the ball back without thinking.
“Oops! Monaco wasted a good attacking opportunity.”
“In fact, Ikpeba’s run forward was very good, and Klinsmann was in position in the penalty area. Why didn’t Ikpeba pass the ball?”
“If you hesitate for a moment, the opportunity is gone.”
“Look, Djorkaeff on the left has also made a forward run. If the ball can be passed to Klinsmann, even if he doesn’t head the ball directly, passing it to Djorkaeff can still be threatening.”
“It’s no use now. We can only switch to positional warfare. Let’s see how Luo Yi handles this ball.”
Luo Yi first stopped the ball and looked up to observe.
At this time, Barcelona’s two midfielders had already pressed forward.
Guardiola did not rush forward directly, but prepared to block his passing route.
That’s the cleverness of his football.
Guardiola knew that he was not in outstanding physical condition and that he would not be able to fight Luo Yi by force.
Therefore, he needs to have a strong predictive ability to intercept the opponent’s attack in advance and become the first barrier before the defense line.
Another midfielder, Baquero, rushed up directly to intercept the ball from Luo Yi’s feet.
This kind of cooperation between the front and the back is to make sure Luo Yi has nowhere to escape!
But they didn’t notice that after passing the ball back to Luo Yi, Ikpeba immediately made another diagonal run towards the side of the penalty area.
At this moment, there was a connecting line between him and Luo Yi, which was the gap between Barcelona’s midfielder and central defender!
Luo Yi had already seen this gap in his field of vision.
So he didn’t plan to make any move to get rid of Buckro, but instead used his calves to push forward hard!
“Luo Yi’s through ball! The speed of the ball is very fast!”
“He was able to make such through balls often in the Brazilian league, and he will show it off in front of Barcelona today!”
“Ikpeba’s diagonal run was perfectly timed, and Nadal had no time to turn around!”
Guardiola was stunned.
In fact, he could also see this gap in his sight.
But he felt that Luo Yi would not be able to see this fleeting opportunity when he was being pressed, so he went to defend the potential route for Luo Yi to pass the ball to Pettit.
But unexpectedly, this loophole in the defense line was still discovered by Luo Yi!
And it was actually passed on!
This vision and this passing skill, he is like a midfield master!
The person defending Ikpeba at this time was central defender Nadal, the uncle of future tennis star Nadal.
This uncle is a defender with very obvious advantages and disadvantages.
He is very strong, has a lot of energy and is very capable in the header.
but……
The speed is very slow and the turning is not flexible!
This time, Ikpeba was left behind.
Before another central defender Coman could come to defend, Ikpeba made a curved shot!
The football spun violently and hit the far corner of Barcelona’s goal.
Everyone in the stadium was watching the trajectory of the football.
Barcelona, ​​are you going to lose the ball too?
But just as the football was about to enter the goal line, Zubizarreta’s hand appeared.
He jumped into the air, stretched his body to the extreme in mid-air, and then blocked the ball!
The football fell to the right side of Barcelona’s penalty area. Klinsmann, who had been waiting in the penalty area for a long time, jumped high and headed for the goal!
Subizarreta’s second reaction was also quick. He jumped up from the ground and reached out to grab it.
He actually caught the ball steadily in his arms!
“Zubizarreta’s double dive!”
“You are worthy of being the main goalkeeper of the Spanish national team!”
“Although he has some shortcomings in handling high balls, his reaction to saves is still world-class!”
At Camp Nou, Barcelona fans burst into thunderous applause!
The sighs of Monaco fans were instantly drowned out.
Ikpeba and Klinsmann looked even more depressed.
To be honest, the two of them handled the ball very well, but unfortunately they faced such a brave goalkeeper!
However, Luo Yi did not show any frustration.
He still clapped and encouraged his teammates:
“It doesn’t matter. We played a great offense this time. Let’s do it again. We’ll have a chance!”
Wenger kept nodding on the sidelines.
This kid has the spirit of a great general!
—————–
Luo Yi quickly demonstrated with practical actions that he was not just talking nonsense.
5 minutes later.
The game entered the final stage of the first half.
Laudrup took the ball and began to organize another attack for Barcelona.
Luo Yi suddenly stood in front of him and stretched out his left foot.
Laudrup leaned his body to the right, then pulled the ball with the inside of his left foot, avoiding Luo Yi’s attempt to steal the ball.
Laudrup’s small skills can be said to be at the top level in Europe!
The Camp Nou stadium was immediately filled with applause and laughter.
The applause was of course for Laudrup, and the ridicule was naturally directed at Luo Yi!
But Luo Yi didn’t care at all after being fooled.
His body was extremely flexible. He pushed the ground with his right foot, turned his body back, and then lay horizontally in front of Laudrup!
Laudrup originally wanted to pass Luo Yi and then continue forward, but now it seemed as if he had hit a city wall, and he was immediately separated from the football.
Laudrup staggered, but the ball had already been taken away by Luo Yi.
The Nou Camp suddenly became quiet.
This kid…
It’s really impossible to defeat it!
Luo Yi doesn’t care what the fans think. Now that he has intercepted Laudrup’s ball, it is another opportunity for a counterattack!
The four offensive players in front have also started to move into position.
Luo Yi took another step forward and found that Barcelona’s defense had quickly arrived and was blocking his passing route.
The main reason is that the threat posed by the through pass five minutes ago was too great, so we had to defend against it!
Luo Yi took another step forward.
We have passed the thirty-meter area.
Koeman realized something was wrong.
“This kid is going to shoot again!”
He quickly left Klinsmann behind and rushed towards Luo Yi again.
He wanted to force Luo Yi to shoot with his left foot like he did last time.
But this time, he was a little late.
Luo Yi had completed all his preparations quickly.
A run-up with small steps.
Then lean your body.
Swing arm…
Kick!
At this moment, it seemed as if the entire Camp Nou stadium was shaking!
“Bang!”
With a loud bang that resounded through the night sky, the hearts of all Barcelona fans seemed to be gripped!
Then, the football whizzed straight towards Barcelona’s goal!
There is no arc.
No rotation.
Just like it was measured with a ruler, the football formed a straight line from Luo Yi’s starting point to the upper right corner of Barcelona.
Everyone opened their mouths in surprise.
This force…
So domineering!
Subizarreta’s reaction was still quick this time. He exerted force on his feet, took two steps, and then jumped up with all his strength!
But when he stretched out his glove, he touched nothing.
The football hit the net heavily from the angle between the crossbar and the post, lifting the net high!
By the time Zubizarreta landed in despair and looked back, the ball was already stuck to the net, spinning non-stop.
The ball went in!!!
The score became 1:1!!!
The Camp Nou stadium was suddenly silent!!!