From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 986 World Class Showdown
What makes Guardiola and Manchester City players extremely frustrated is that Manchester City actually lost all the first five encounters this season.

In the fourth round of the League Cup, although Manchester City tied with Manchester United in regular time, they lost in the penalty shootout and were eliminated from the League Cup.

The only game Manchester City had seen hope of winning was the 28th round of the league more than a month ago. They had led Manchester United twice in the game.

This game is also seen as a turning point. Although they failed to defeat Manchester United in the end, that game was very important for restoring the morale and boosting the confidence of the entire Manchester City team.

Now in the more important Champions League knockout round, Manchester City naturally hopes to continue their momentum in that game and truly defeat Manchester United once in the more valuable Champions League knockout round, and completely end the embarrassing situation of 15 consecutive defeats against Manchester United.

Because of their thorough preparations, Manchester City had the advantage on the field at the beginning of the game. Their offense was more threatening and also restricted Manchester United's offense.

Although Bruno was able to avoid Rodri's close defense by running, it was impossible for other Manchester United players to run all over the field like him without paying any attention to the formation.

If that were the case, wouldn't Manchester United's formation become a mess?
They also have to stay in their positions and cooperate with others through passing and running.

Once Manchester City marked them, Bruno's pass was of no use.

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Formation is the foundation of modern football. All tactics are based on formation. Without formation, there would be no rich and varied tactics today, and there would be no viewing value of football.

Think about it, a man is running forward with the ball, refusing to pass the ball, and all around him are his teammates running with him. Nine of them are rushing towards the opponent's goal. Either they complete the attack with a shot, or the opponent steals the ball...

What’s so good about a football match like this?

But at the beginning of modern football, this is indeed how football was played!
At that time, passing the ball was considered a cowardly act of shirking responsibility. Passing the ball was discouraged and was meaningless and useless.

At that time, a football game was a player charging forward with the ball and then shooting the ball into the opponent's goal.

If a player lets the ball leave his feet, he has failed. Even in the face of tight defense, he must rush forward without hesitation, so as to show his manliness.

If he passes the ball, oh my God, he must be afraid of confrontation, he is a coward without courage!

It wasn't until later that the Scots took the lead in this regard. Compared with the English who liked to dribble and charge, they preferred to pass the ball back and forth.

And they defeated the arrogant English team with this kind of football that looked as ridiculous as juggling in the English media, which gradually changed everyone's attitude towards passing the ball.

As passing the ball gradually became an important means in football games, the concept of formation also emerged. Football is no longer about ten people lining up in a line and charging together, but some people are behind to defend, while others are in front to attack.

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The existence of the formation gives meaning to passing the ball, and passing the ball allows the formation to begin to develop and change.

After step-by-step evolution, the football form we see today was finally formed.

It may be difficult for people today to imagine that passing the ball, the most important technical and tactical means in football, was not used by anyone more than a hundred years ago!
Today's football is based on formations and passing.

The formation ensures that tactical concepts can be executed by players on the field through passing and movement. Without the formation, it will be a mess and no one will know how to play.

In view of Manchester United's reliance on Bruno's passing and organization, Manchester City strengthened the defense of other players, making it difficult for Bruno to find a suitable passing target, which had the effect of preventing Manchester United's attack.

Of course, Manchester United doesn't just surrender.

After slowly adapting to Manchester City's tactics, they also made adjustments.

Their adjustment is to strengthen the running of all players involved in the offense, so that they are no longer restricted to their current positions and prescribed positions when attacking, and encourage players to change positions.

Kicking the ball while standing is the lowest level of kicking the ball and is most easily blocked by the opponent. Although kicking the ball according to a fixed routine is more advanced than kicking the ball while standing, it can still lead to the opponent figuring it out.

However, if you switch positions during the attack and use the Great Shift, it will be much more difficult for the opponent to restrict the attack. Although it cannot be said that the opponent's defense will be 100% ineffective, it can increase the chances of a successful attack on your side.

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The biggest disadvantage of this approach is that it requires a lot of physical fitness. If the physical fitness of the whole team is not up to standard and some people can't run, then this tactic will have problems and eventually lead to collapse. However, this is not a problem that Manchester United will worry about, because Manchester United's physical fitness is well-known.

Another problem is that this frequent position change requires players to have a deep understanding of tactics and a high level of tacit understanding.

Running around blindly in order to prevent the other party from finding the pattern will not have any good effect.

But Manchester United does not need to worry about this, because most of the players in the current Manchester United have been working together for many seasons, and their level of tacit understanding is naturally beyond doubt.

Greenwood, the last player to join Manchester United's starting lineup, also started playing for Manchester United's first team in the 2018-2019 season, and it has been exactly three years.

In this game, Manchester United's official formation was 433, but it was actually 4231. Harry Kane was the lone striker, while Bruno, Rashford and Greenwood formed the forward line. The three of them lined up behind Harry Kane in this game, with Bruno in the middle, Greenwood on the right and Rashford on the left.

But the three of them actually have no fixed positions. Once the attack starts, the three of them will keep changing positions and running in a dizzying manner. When the last pass was made, Rashford was still on the left, and when he received the ball next time, he might have been in the middle, while Bruno went to the left.

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The two evenly matched teams were evenly matched in the game. Both teams had times when they could threaten the opponent's goal, but they also had times when they were threatened.

Just looking at this scene, it is difficult to say which side will definitely win the game.

Commentator Andy Gray was satisfied with this situation: "This is the highest level of British football! Whether it is the technical content demonstrated by the players or the tactics carefully prepared by the coaches of both sides for this game, they all reflect the highest level of British football! The scene is stalemate and full of suspense. Whether it is an amateur or an expert, they can see what they want to see in this game. It is simply perfect!"

In China, iQiyi Sports commentator Jin Xiangkai also praised the performance of both teams: "...Although the score has not been changed, such a game, even if it is 0:0, is still full of exciting scenes. Manchester United has dominated the Premier League for the past six seasons, and their opponent Manchester City is not in the best form. But this season, Manchester City's outstanding performance has given Manchester United the best opponent. I think it is a blessing for all Premier League fans to be able to see the competition between these two strong teams!"

The first half of this powerful dialogue came to an end amid the commentators' praise.

Although everyone had some opportunities during these 45 minutes, no one seized them, or it can be said that their defense was good.

In short, there was no goal and the two teams entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0.

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During the half-time break, the head coaches of both teams did not make many adjustments to their teams' second half.

They all insisted that their tactics were correct and there was very little room for adjustment.

Moreover, in such a high-level matchup with evenly matched opponents, being the first to make adjustments is not necessarily a good thing. After all, whoever makes adjustments first may reveal a flaw, which will create some opportunities for the other side.

Since no problems were found in the first half and the team did not make any mistakes, why make adjustments?

Both coaches praised the players' performance in the first half to a limited extent, and encouraged them to keep up the good work in the second half. We should not be too proud to think that the situation is very good, but we should not be too anxious either.

Mourinho, in particular, emphasized the requirement of "don't rush".

Manchester United played at home and won the first leg away game, which gave them the upper hand in the two-legged knockout match. Even if this game ended in a draw, Manchester United would still advance in the end.

So in this game, if they can't score a goal, there's no need to worry. But if Manchester City can't score a goal, they will be anxious.

In a competition of this level, the most important thing is patience.

He also used the team's recent away game against Manchester City as an example to tell everyone the importance of patience.

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During the halftime break, Andy Gray was promoting the importance and popularity of this game: "...This game was broadcast in 223 countries and regions around the world. You should know that there are only 233 countries and regions in the world. This is a good thing, and it is also the credit of teams like Manchester United and Manchester City. The competition between these two teams makes the Premier League more exciting, and everyone can see it from this game..."

At the same time, Andy Gray expects the two teams to continue their wonderful performance in the first half in the second half and give the best Premier League promotion to the world.

After the second half of the game started, neither side made any personnel adjustments, which means that the second half of the game is likely to maintain the excitement of the first half!
(End of this chapter)