Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 1046 Quick Passing and Moving
But Simone never imagined that high pressing wouldn't help Atletico Madrid contain Borussia Dortmund's attack. Instead, it gave Borussia Dortmund opportunities to attack…
Atletico Madrid pressed forward, constantly committing troops, but the number of players on the field was fixed at eleven, with only ten free to move away from the goal.
Committing more troops in the front meant fewer in the back. The field was so large that it was impossible to cover every area, and gaps would inevitably appear.
At this point, if Borussia Dortmund had someone who could seize those gaps, Atletico Madrid's defensive line would be constantly under threat.
After Borussia Dortmund stole the ball from Atletico Madrid, they quickly launched an attack straight at Atletico Madrid's goal.
They didn't pass the ball back and forth in their own half, looking for opportunities.
The opportunity had already appeared, and now it was a question of whether they could seize it. This was a contest of speed and precision, not patience.
Zhou Yi didn't stop the ball; he passed it directly to Reus, who had dropped back.
Borussia Dortmund's tactic in this match was quick passing combinations, requiring speed and precision in the passing. Under such requirements, long passes flying everywhere were unlikely; the team would rely more on short passes to advance.
To ensure the speed and precision of the passing, the distance between players naturally couldn't be too great. As the distance increased, the accuracy of the passing would decrease sharply. Even the best passers couldn't escape this rule.
Therefore, it was necessary for Borussia Dortmund's players to maintain a close distance, with the formation contracted around Zhou Yi as the center. Everyone had to run constantly; the forwards couldn't stay up front and not come back, and the defenders couldn't fail to press forward.
The lines had to maintain constant contact, so Borussia Dortmund's quick passing could work.
This tactic placed high demands on the players' stamina.
Even for Borussia Dortmund, known for their good stamina, it was difficult to maintain this for an entire match, especially at the end of the season when the players had little stamina left.
Therefore, scoring early was particularly important.
Only by scoring early and converting the advantage into a victory could the pressure on the team be reduced later.
The sooner the goal came, the better, and the more goals, the better.
Atletico Madrid used a three-pronged attack in the first twenty minutes against Barcelona to completely overwhelm them. Now, Borussia Dortmund also had a three-pronged attack waiting for Atletico Madrid.
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After receiving the ball, Reus was facing away from the direction of the attack, and turning around with the ball himself would waste time and risk being dispossessed. So he passed the ball back directly to Piszczek, the overlapping full-back.
This was why everyone was required to run actively, with forwards dropping back and defenders pressing forward, only in this way could a connection be established.
After receiving Reus's pass, Piszczek quickly moved to the center, giving it to Sven Bender.
Sven Bender then sent the ball out at the first time of asking, giving it to Zhou Yi.
All Borussia Dortmund players tried to adjust the ball as little as possible, trying to touch the ball only twice: once to stop it and once to pass it.
This was a key training item in the three days of training. Klopp required the players to do this, or they would be punished.
Under such rigorous training, the accuracy and timing of the passing between Borussia Dortmund's players had improved significantly.
In fact, the outside world's guess was right. In three days, how could any "secret weapon" be developed?
But this guess was based on the premise that this secret weapon was created out of thin air.
But the Borussia Dortmund players were no strangers to this "secret weapon." Ever since the team had the footbonaut, the Borussia Dortmund players had begun to try to play such football in matches.
Even earlier, when Zhou Yi, Mark Wagner, and Gotze were in the Borussia Dortmund youth team, they had already begun to use quick passes between the three of them to tear apart the opponent's defense, helping the Borussia Dortmund youth team win the youth-level competition.
So, strictly speaking, this tactic wasn't really a "secret weapon." Borussia Dortmund had played it before, and everyone knew it.
It's just that at this time, many people couldn't think of this point, which only existed in people's blind spots, and in this sense, it was a "secret weapon."
Simone definitely didn't expect Borussia Dortmund to use such a tactic against him…
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Most of the other Borussia Dortmund players would stop the ball first, then pass it. Being able to touch the ball twice was considered enough to meet Klopp's requirements.
But Zhou Yi's standards were different. He didn't stop the ball; he passed it directly! He sent the ball out with one touch.
Faced with the ball passed by Sven Bender, Zhou Yi turned his back to the direction of attack, but used the outside of his right foot to send the ball behind him, giving it to Yan Min, who was leaning towards the center to support.
Then Zhou Yi turned around and ran forward again.
After entering the midfield area, the person marking him closely was Gabi.
But Gabi didn't touch the ball at all. He watched Zhou Yi turn his back and was quite happy, thinking that Zhou Yi's initiative to turn his back to the direction of attack made it convenient for him to mark him closely.
Who would have thought that although Zhou Yi's back was to the direction of the attack, he could still pass the ball forward, and at the same time, he blocked himself in front of Gabi, protecting the ball well.
Seeing Zhou Yi turn around, Gabi also turned around and continued to defend Zhou Yi. This was Simone's task for him, and he had to complete it well.
Yan Min passed the ball diagonally, passing it again to Zhou Yi, who was pressing forward.
Gabi was still following him beside Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi didn't stop the ball while running, but used the outside of his right foot to push the ball to the right, giving it to Reus, who was cutting inside.
After passing the ball, he didn't stop running, but continued to run forward, and at the same time, he made a gesture to let Reus pass the ball to him, which was a very obvious wall pass.
Of course, Reus quickly passed the ball back.
At this time, Zhou Yi had advanced into Atletico Madrid's thirty-meter area, and the people defending him were not only Gabi, but also Atletico Madrid's center-back Godin.
He was originally on his own defensive line. Seeing that Zhou Yi had actually killed his way to his front, he naturally couldn't ignore it, so when Reus passed the ball to Zhou Yi, he also pounced on Zhou Yi, intending to sandwich him with Gabi, stopping Borussia Dortmund's attack.
Zhou Yi adjusted his pace while running, faced the rolling ball, raised his right foot, and made a move to shoot.
Godin immediately raised his foot and turned around, intending to block Zhou Yi's shot with his body.
Raising his foot was to increase the defensive area, and turning around was out of his body's instinct to protect itself—if he didn't turn around, it wouldn't feel good if the ball hit his face or crotch…
The ball rolled over, and Zhou Yi raised his foot!
But he didn't hit the ball!
Was it a miskick?!
No, it was a deliberate dummy!
Zhou Yi kicked only after the ball passed in front of him…
He let the ball go, but the ball did not slow down, and went straight to the front of Zhou Yi's left.
There, Aubameyang cut in and received the ball!
Due to the series of passing combinations between Zhou Yi and Yan Min and Reus just now, and the momentum of the central breakthrough, it attracted the attention of most of Atletico Madrid's players.
So when Aubameyang got the ball, they realized—so this is where Borussia Dortmund's killer move is!
When Aubameyang got the ball, he had already entered Atletico Madrid's penalty area.
He now has an excellent shooting opportunity!
Aubameyang didn't hesitate and shot directly!
Juanfran rushed up to try to stop Aubameyang's shot, his foot stretched out and touched the ball.
But the ball didn't change direction and fly out of the goal area because of this, but after a slight change of direction, it flew towards the near bottom corner of the goal!
Originally, Aubameyang's shot was going towards the far corner, and Courtois was also diving in that direction, but who would have thought that Juanfran would stretch out such a foot…
The ball changed direction, and Courtois was no longer able to do anything, and could only watch the ball graze the near post and roll into the goal!
"Goal! Goal!! Wow! Only three minutes into the game, and Borussia Dortmund has taken a one-goal lead! Aubameyang's shot! Borussia Dortmund has a perfect start!" Marcel Reif exclaimed excitedly.
Westfalenstadion was very noisy from the beginning of the game, and now it has reached a peak.