The Premier League and League Cups of various countries have come to an end one after another, and the whole world has gradually turned its attention to the Champions League final to be held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

This is a world-recognized peak showdown.

Liverpool, which already holds three Premier League championship trophys, and Barcelona, ​​which have won two La Liga and Copa del Rey, no matter who wins, these two teams will create the history of their own football.

What is even more exciting is that these are two completely different teams.

Liverpool is known for its offensive and defensive balance. Although Benitez has brought rigorous tactics from the European continent and created a meticulous offensive and defensive system, the players' technical abilities are far less sophisticated than Barcelona, ​​and they still retain the momentum and bloodiness of traditional English football in their bones.

The Catalan media even exaggeratedly mocked Liverpool before, believing that the only player that this team has the ability to gain a foothold in the first team of Barcelona is Yang Yang. When others come to Barcelona, ​​they may not even be able to play as a substitute.

This is enough to prove that Barcelona's characteristics are completely different from Liverpool.

From Cruyff in the 1990s to Van Gaal later to Rijcard afterwards, Barcelona's usual tradition of possessing the ball, which was once again promoted after Guardiola took office.

In the 2008 to 2009 seasons, Barcelona's average ball possession rate was as high as 65.7%, and their pass success rate was close to 90%. This report card can almost be said to make all opponents feel scared.

Football matches are complicated and complex, but they can be said to be simple and simple.

The concepts of Guardiola and Barcelona are extremely simple, with only one ball. As long as you control the ball firmly, you can put yourself in an invincible position and force your opponent to actively reveal your flaws.

Relying on this seemingly simple football concept, Guardiola's team has been through the clutches and is invincible, reaching the Champions League final, facing Liverpool, which is balanced offense and defense.

It can be said that this is a collision of two completely different concepts.

Benitez was born in Real Madrid, but his philosophy was deeply influenced by Serie A and emphasized offensive and defensive balance. Guardiola is a native Catalan leader, and his concept of passing and possession has been deeply rooted in the bones.

So much so that in Spain, many people believe that this seems to be a contest between Liverpool and Barcelona is actually a struggle between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The decisive battle is imminent, how to face Barcelona's pass and control ball has become a big problem for Liverpool.

The morning after receiving the Premier League championship trophy at home, after the training class, Benitez called Yang Yang, Gerald, Xavi Alonso and Carragher to the office, to negotiate with the coaching staff how to restrain Barcelona's tactical play.

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When Liverpool plays Barcelona, ​​the first thing to consider is defense.

Some people may find it strange. In terms of offensive ability, Liverpool is not at all inferior to Barcelona. With a killer weapon like Yang Yang, why should we consider defense?

The reason is very simple, there is no advantage in passing and controlling the ball.

The truth on the football field is very simple. Whoever holds the ball will take the initiative.

Facing Barcelona, ​​which has such excellent pass and ball control skills, Liverpool has no choice at all, and even all teams in the entire European football world have no choice but to focus on defense.

"From the information we have received at present, Messi, Etoo and Henry, these three people are certain, and Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield are also certain, but there is suspense in the position of the midfielder. It is not clear whether it is Yaya Toure or Busquets. However, judging from the various signs before the game, it is very likely that Busquets."

Duff McDonoff, a tactical analyst at Liverpool, has been tracking Barcelona for two weeks in a row, preparing for the upcoming final.

"The defense line should not be much of a problem. Abidal, Pique, Puyol and Daniel Alves are Barcelona's current main defense line. If there is no accident, this should be the configuration."

After Yang Yang listened to McDonoff's words seriously, the first thing that flashed through his mind was Crouch.

"Can we start with a fight?" Yang Yang suggested.

All the smart people present are all the core people of Liverpool. They all understand what Yang Yang means at first.

At the beginning, Crouch took advantage of the English tall guys' advantages to grab a start and strive for the first goal.

Benitez shook his head, "I've thought about this, but it's very risky."

As he said that, Espanyol walked to the tactical board and explained while gesturing, "If we use Crouch at the beginning, our pressing and pressure in the frontcourt will inevitably be affected, and mobility will also become a problem."

"Barcelona has excellent assists on both sides, especially Daniel Alves on the right. I know this player very well. His offensive ability in the back can almost be said to be the best in today's European football."

Yang Yang nodded, but he felt that his friend, Macon, who played for Inter Milan, was not inferior to Alves.

"If we play Crouch, we can only play three forwards, and the midfield will become weak, especially the midfielder."

In Liverpool's deduction, Guardiola may not put Messi on the right side, but if he really put Messi on the right side, Messi will definitely cut inside. At that time, there will be no players on the midfielder to provide protection, which is definitely not possible.

What's even more terrifying is that the two Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Iniesta also have very strong back-inserting ability.

"I said that the most terrifying thing about Barcelona's pass control system lies in two points. One is the ball control outside the 30-meter area, which depends on their midfield and defense line. But to be honest, it is not difficult to do this. Many teams can do it, and even we can."

"The key to the reason why Barcelona is strong now is that they have achieved the first point and have achieved the second point, which is the pass and control of the ball outside the penalty area. They tear open the opponent's defense line at the front of the penalty area through the skillful and tacit small-scale pass and control cooperation between Xavi, Iniesta and Messi."

"Faced with Barcelona's style of play, one-on-one cannot be defended at all. They can only rely on the advantage of numbers to build up, and rely on their rigorous defensive formation and position to block the opponent's pass and ball space."

"When Mourinho's Chelsea faces Barcelona, ​​they like to use foul tactics the most, but Guardiola has pushed Xavi, Iniesta and Messi to the front of the penalty area. Fouls in this area are very fatal, we don't do it, so we can only rely on rigorous tactics to compress the opponent."

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood what Benitez meant.

Three midfielders, you can only use three midfielders to play Barcelona.

The combination of double midfielders of Xavi Alonso and Mascherano is unparalleled in the world, but no matter how strong it is, there are only two people. After facing Xavi and Iniesta, Messi's incisive cut, and even Alves's side attack cannot be stopped.

"I can suppress Alves." Yang Yang said confidently.

"No." Benitez shook his head without hesitation, "You are the key to our offense. Whether you can win this game depends entirely on you, not only because of your personal ability, but also because you are the only player in the frontcourt who has the ability to hold the ball under the oppression of the opponent. This is crucial to our counterattack."

Benitez's implication is that Yang Yang will still be arranged in the middle lane, but it is unknown how to arrange it.

If Gerald really plays as a three-middle midfielder, and Gerard is responsible for suppressing the position of Busquets or Yaya Toure, then there will be two forwards left in the frontcourt. This is why Benitez said just now that he dare not let Crouch.

No one can ask a player who is more than two meters tall to run and press and press and press like a player who is over 1.8 meters tall. When passing and controlling the ball are not as good as others, and Yang Yang must invest more in running and receiving the ball in the backcourt, Kuyt, who actively runs and presses, is obviously more suitable.

If it was a normal game, Benitez would definitely be a gamble, but this is the Champions League final.

Sometimes this is the case. In the finals, the coach's tactical starting point is to first put himself invincible.

...

"The three midfielders should be able to cut off the connection between Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, as well as Etoo and Henry, but in the next two days, we need to strengthen it in training." McDonoff analyzed.

"There's another point," Benitez added, "Guardiola has let Messi play in the middle several times this season. If we use double midfielders, once Messi plays in the middle, Etoo and Henry pull over, and Messi retreats to find Xavi and Iniesta, we will fall into a huge passive."

Everyone nodded.

In such a final, any possibility will arise, and you must not be lucky.

"This will definitely be a tough battle." Benitez looked at Yang Yang, Gerald, Xavi Alonso and others.

"Barcelona's pass and ball control advantage is too obvious. I even think that our possession rate in this game is likely to be less than 30%. In this way, there will not be too many opportunities left to us in the whole game, and we don't know at all when such opportunities will occur."

This is the huge psychological pressure that the pass-by ball control tactics bring to the opponent, because the whole game is under the control of the opponent, and you can only wait for the opponent to make a mistake to get the opportunity.

Of course, theoretically, there is no team that does not make mistakes.

But for the players on the court, you don’t know when this opportunity will come and how many times?

Maybe the whole game will take place once every 90 minutes, and I won’t give you the first 90 minutes, but I will give you it at the last moment.

If you cannot maintain absolute concentration and dedication, and cannot maintain enough patience and calmness, you will not be able to grasp the opportunity when it appears.

The reason why Barcelona is terrible is not only because of their advantages in passing and controlling the ball on the court, but more importantly, their advantages in passing and controlling the ball bring huge psychological pressure to their opponents.

"Don't worry, as long as you get the chance, pass the ball to me, I can catch it!" Yang Yang stood up and promised loudly.

Everyone also looked at him, and trust and dependence were revealed in their eyes.

Except for Yang Yang, no one in Liverpool is confident of doing this.
Chapter completed!