Chapter 695: Chapter 694: Top Three in Brazil
Barcelona players on their home ground clearly became anxious after falling behind.
Their attacking pace started to pick up.
But the impressive thing about this team is that even with a faster pace, their passing game remained extremely fluid.
Simply put, the players’ basic skills were solid.
However, the Barcelona players soon realized something was amiss.
That is, even after entering "acceleration mode," they were not able to outpace Manchester City in terms of attack and defense speed.
It was as if Manchester City was very comfortable with this rhythm.
Rijkaard’s expression turned grave.
Indeed!
Manchester City also had an "acceleration mode".
Many people have misconceptions about possession football.
They think that possession is just constant back-passing from the defense.
It’s about slowly and leisurely controlling the ball.
They think that counterattacking, which they see as the opposite of possession, is about fast attacks and quick passes.
But in reality, top-level possession football is never slow!
That kind of rapid one-touch passing among three or four players in a tight space.
That combination of long and short passes.
That sudden burst of speed in a short dribble past an opponent or lateral evasion.
It’s infinitely more thrilling to watch than counterattacking styles.
It’s just that most teams’ possession skills aren’t up to par.
Or rather, their players’ technique, tactical understanding, and mental reaction times fall short of the requirements.
This is also the biggest reason why many core players from weaker teams fail to perform after moving to stronger clubs...they can’t keep up mentally.
Any given move, if you allow this core player from a weaker team to adjust even half a step, they could produce effects comparable to those of a core player from a strong team.
But the problem is, the tactics of strong teams and their opponents won’t give them the time to make that half-step adjustment.
Hesitation leads to defeat!
This saying is considered a half-truth in the football world.
"No wonder Manchester City has been able to unleash such terrifying offensive power this season," Rijkaard thought with a chill in his heart.
Currently, Barcelona can’t maintain the "acceleration mode" for long due to shortfalls in player ability and tactics, or perhaps it’s simply a matter of team coordination not being up to standard.
Even though some players have only joined Barcelona this season.
But the core members of Barcelona’s control-based play have been playing together since they were children.
On Manchester City’s side, it’s a setup that was put together last season and reinforced this season, but it seems their understanding of the "acceleration mode" is even deeper than Barcelona’s.
Their true synergy might be slightly lacking.
But the average technical ability of the players is a bit stronger than at Barcelona.
Their tactics also seem to be more polished than Barcelona’s.
Laymen watch the excitement, experts watch the technique.
Rijkaard had to admit that Barcelona was in a precarious position in this match.
However, they were not completely without chances.
The performance of Ronaldinho and Quaresma was crucial for Barcelona.
These two players were Barcelona’s strongest factors for breaking the deadlock and represented their highest potential.
On Manchester City’s side, Ribery was one of them, while Deng Kai was the other.
Deng Kai had to take on the organizing duties, thus his ability to change the game was evenly matched with Ronaldinho’s.
Quaresma, however, was considerably more mature than Ribery.
After all, Quaresma became well-known much earlier than Deng Kai, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldo.
He was Cristiano Ronaldo’s prototype!
And Ribery only really came into the public eye this season, beginning to show the style of a top-class winger.
Oh!
There it is, in the 25th minute.
Quaresma, on the right flank, directly executes multiple changes of direction before dribbling to the byline, getting half a body ahead of Lahm.
Then he sends a cross into the penalty area, creating a threat.
Unfortunately, when Saviola receives the ball, the angle for a shot is already very tight.
And with the ball traveling fast, it’s a highly difficult play to make.
He pushed the football into the side netting, squandering a golden opportunity.
In the 31st minute,
it was Quaresma again, taking on Lahm one-on-one, and delivering another cross.
But unfortunately, Chiellini overpowered Saviola in the air to clear the ball with his head.
Saviola, nicknamed "the Rabbit," wasn’t as adept at jumping as his namesake.
In front of the 1.87-meter-tall Chiellini, attempting a header was disrespectful to him.
However, this also reflected a situation, that Lahm couldn’t handle Quaresma.
33rd minute.
Ronaldinho found a good chance at the attacking midfield position.
Xavi made a diagonal pass to find Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho, shielding Mascherano, flicked the football with the back of his heel.
Nutmeg!
Then he turned around, splitting with the ball!
Mascherano didn’t even realize what had happened.
"Oh! Mascherano was actually performing quite well, but it was a bit of a pipe dream to think he could contain Ronaldinho."
"Ronaldinho is one of the key midfield players for the Brazil national team."
"Whereas Mascherano hasn’t even made it into the Argentina senior national team yet."
"If he could limit Ronaldinho, he’d immediately be called up to the Argentina national team! And he’d become a starter!"
Ronaldinho dribbled into the penalty area.
Thiago Silva tried to defend with both feet and hands.
But alas, Ronaldinho was too agile, swaying left and right, he ended up kicking Thiago Silva’s calf, then fell to the ground.
Whistle!
The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot.
Thiago Silva, in pain, clutched his head and did not seek explanation from the referee.
Because he truly couldn’t stop him.
Chiellini went over to argue with the referee, but the referee was resolute in his decision.
Ten seconds later.
Ronaldinho himself converted the penalty he had earned.
"GOAL!"
"The aggregate score is now three to three!"
"Barcelona, with two away goals, takes the lead over Manchester City, and they’re one step closer to the UEFA Cup final once more!"
"Ronaldinho has started his samba dance; that’s his celebratory move."
"Barça fans are calling out in the stands."
"Camp Nou has turned into an ocean of joy!"
"Young Thiago Silva has made a huge mistake, letting the team’s lead slip away. But we can’t blame him, for he was up against one of the top three strongest Brazilian players!"
"And twenty-year-old Thiago Silva has yet to be called up to the Brazilian national team."
"His performance at Manchester City makes us believe he’ll have his day, but clearly not today."
On the field, Deng Kai was consoling Thiago Silva, helping him adjust his state of mind: "It’s okay, if you can’t stop Ronaldinho. Desailly, Kompany, they can’t stop him either."
"It’s already good to be able to limit Ronaldinho somewhat."
"He is one of the strongest offensive players in the world, even far better than me at breaking through."
Thiago Silva nodded his head.
That’s right.
During internal training matches, Thiago Silva could even somewhat limit Deng Kai, the world’s number one, so not stopping Ronaldinho now, clearly, was an issue with Ronaldinho.
Too strong to play by the rules.
42nd minute.
Deng Kai carried the ball across the middle, shaking off Xavi and drawing Dai Weisi’s defense before lofting a pass to the flank.
Ribery, with a touch and go, directly took out Van Bronckhorst.
Van Bronckhorst, although having played for Arsenal last season, was mostly a substitute.
And at that time, Ribery was still rather raw.
He clearly underestimated Ribery’s capabilities, and lost a major asset due to carelessness.
