Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Conversely, Rio Ave showed great resilience and launched a strong attack at the start of the second half.

They scored two goals in the 57th and 61st minutes to overtake the score and take the lead with 54 points!

Morales was stunned by the attack.

Cristiano Ronaldo angrily punched and cursed in the attacking third; he could barely touch the ball except when he dropped back.

The team has become that same deadbeat again.

Similarly, Deng Kai also experienced firsthand what powerlessness truly meant.

This is the limit to a team's ceiling.

It's not anyone's fault; that's the most authentic part of Morelens.

In professional sports, an individual player may be able to change the score on their own, but it is difficult for them to change the course of the game on their own.

This is something that future Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Yin Bu, and De Bruyne will not be able to do.

Previously, in the youth training team, Deng Kai had the confidence and ability to completely transform a team in a short period of time. His performance in the match against Wahaha was the best proof of that.

Wherever he goes, that side wins by a large margin.

Such a thing is unlikely to happen again in the future.

"Calm down...stay calm...there's always a chance..." Deng Kai frowned and began to retreat to the defensive midfield position to participate in the defense, while carefully observing the situation on the field.

He quickly saw an opportunity.

Or rather, we saw another Morelens.

boom!

After gaining possession of the ball, Deng Kai launched a long ball towards the left flank.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been waiting patiently, wouldn't miss any crucial opportunities. He moved with lightning speed... and was brought down.

"They played too easily. Is this the genius midfielder you all call even better than Sneijder and Van der Vaart?" Van Gaal swirled his wine glass in the stadium box.

He actually knew about this Deng Kai; Guardiola had mentioned him many times.

However, Van Gaal and Guardiola gradually developed tactical differences, and after their honeymoon period, they entered an awkward phase.

Therefore, the players Guardiola favors, Van Gaal naturally doesn't.

He even knew that Guardiola often asked his teammates for autographed footballs and then sent them to this Duncan, Rivaldo, Kluivert, and the like.

Beside Van Gaal, the head of Ajax's scouting department stood with a forced smile.

He invited Van Gaal here to help them assess Klopp; they were very interested in him and planned to buy him after the season ended.

About three minutes later, Deng Kai, who had received the ball, launched another long pass counterattack.

Van Gaal frowned as he looked at it.

This is utterly disorganized.

Guardiola even said the kid looks a bit like Iniesta from Xavi's youth academy... How can that compare to a single leg hair of a Barcelona player?

boom!

Deng Kai launched his third long pass counterattack to find Ronaldo.

Van Gaal's brow suddenly furrowed.

Because the situation suddenly... opened up!

With Deng Kai's three long passes and counter-attacks, Ronaldo's speed and explosiveness were fully demonstrated.

Even if he dribbled into the attacking third by himself, he couldn't cause too much trouble for Rio Ave's defense, since they had several defenders and it was impossible for one person to break through their defense.

But it looks scary!

One man, a dragon on the wing, cutting inside to enter the penalty area, it's enough to get your blood pumping.

This is a typical threat that is visible to the naked eye.

Because of this, Rio Ave's advancing formation instantly retreated.

He proactively handed over control of the midfield to Moreirense.

They are afraid!

They don't want to concede a goal.

They, just like Morales, have developed the same "weakness" stemming from limitations in their roster's potential!

When both teams want possession, the team that is better at ball control and has a stronger midfield will get more possession.

When neither team wants possession of the ball, the team in the lead can genuinely choose not to have it.

So even though Moreirense's players weren't too keen on going out, the other team had already retreated, so we couldn't just not go up, could we?

We still need to catch up!

Morellens began to press forward.

Deng Kai's sense of powerlessness disappeared, and he regained control of the team.

In the 73rd minute, Deng Kai passed the ball to Alex, who was making a run down the right wing.

Alex's cross created a dangerous situation, giving Rio Ave's defense a scare. They urged their midfield teammates to come closer and protect the defense, preventing the opponent from having any easy aerial duels in the penalty area.

In the 76th minute, Alex feigned a run down the wing but actually passed the ball to Flavio.

Flavio swept the ball across the front of the goal, but unfortunately the ball couldn't get past the Rio Ave defender and was kicked away.

In the 77th minute, Serafim's cross from the left wing created a corner kick.

Deng Kai then took a corner kick in an attempt to catch the opposing goalkeeper off guard, but the goalkeeper reacted in time and easily caught the ball.

Rio Ave also launched a counterattack, and Kilop paid the price of a yellow card for trying to stop it.

Rio Ave's head coach, players, and fans are all incredibly relaxed.

They made the right decision.

After taking the lead, you can pull back to strengthen your defense, making it less likely to lose possession while also launching counter-attacks. You can easily create high-quality counter-attack opportunities – how comfortable is that!

Even Van Gaal felt that although Duncan had managed to force the opponent to retreat, it actually made it harder for Moreirense to catch up.

Teams that play an offensive game are more likely to concede goals than teams that play a defensive game. It's such a simple truth, how could Deng Kai's little brain not understand it?

"Often, attacking teams are harder to break down than defending teams," Triglar explained to his assistant coach, who shared Van Gaal's perspective. "Our defense is a positional and aggressive one, designed to deny the opposing team any space to control the ball in our area."

"So many teams have much more possession than us, but in terms of possession in the opponent's half, we actually have more."

"Is having possession of the ball in your own half considered threatening? Not really, at least not as threatening as having possession in the opponent's half."

"And an even less useful statistic than possession in the backfield is passive possession, which is possession aimed at avoiding the opponent's pressing. Even if this possession rate reaches 100%, it's useless!"

"Rio Ave, who had scored two goals earlier, played with high morale and dominated possession in our half for a long time. Our players' passing after receiving the ball was all passive, mainly to avoid their pressing, which was purely ineffective possession."

"Now, our possession is mainly concentrated in their half, which is the most efficient way to control the ball in the attacking third. The probability of scoring is much higher than with the previous passive possession. Even considering the difficulties their defense brings, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

"The answer to how Moreirense achieved more advantages than disadvantages can be found in their performance in the first half of the season. They almost never won a single game in which they were in the lead, which speaks volumes."

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.