Former Inter Milan Stars Clash at Parc des Princes-35-Year-Old Ibrahimovic: Who Dares Call Him Old?
The opening whistle pierced the sky above the Parc des Princes!
Even playing away from home, Manchester City wanted to take the initiative and couldn't wait to control possession. They tried to steer the game's tempo through midfield passing and forward runs.
The attacking axis still consists of center-back Ranocchia, midfielder Tang Long, and forward Agüero.
However, Paris Saint-Germain is no ordinary team.
They have their own unique tactical system and a group of outstanding stars, and are determined to challenge Manchester City's dominance in possession!
Cavani, this striker from Serie A, was originally a sharp weapon in any team's attacking system;
However, overshadowed by Ibrahimovic's brilliance, he took on a tactical supporting role, playing a strong tackling and defensive role as a winger.
He rose to fame at Palermo and Napoli, and has an intimate knowledge of the habits of Serie A center-backs, which is the source of his confidence in harassing Ranocchia.
In the 5th minute, Ranocchia made a mistake in passing the ball!
As soon as Caballero's short goal kick arrived, before Ranocchia could even turn around, Cavani pounced like a tiger.
Having played for Manchester City for most of the season, Ranocchia mostly faced the brute force of Premier League strikers, possessing plenty of attacking power but lacking intelligence;
He habitually faked a pass and tried to get past Cavani, then passed the ball directly to Kolarov was making a run down the wing.
Unexpectedly, Cavani didn't react to the move, but anticipated Ranocchia's true intentions, taking a step forward in advance and blocking his position!
Bang!
The two bodies collided, their bones making a loud cracking sound, and then bounced back.
Fortunately Ranocchia was bigger and heavier, so although Cavani had a better position, his rebound distance was actually farther.
Ranocchia barely managed to control the ball and, not daring to be careless, quickly passed it to Kolarov. In his disarray, the ball went out of bounds.
Cavani laughed and said to him, "Andre, you're lucky. If you weren't ten centimeters taller than me, you wouldn't have gotten that ball!"
The two often met on the field when they were in Serie A. Although they weren't very familiar with each other, they knew each other and had even exchanged jerseys.
Ranocchia rubbed his aching ribs, grimaced, and nodded to Cavani.
Just now, Kovani subtly elbowed Ranocchia in the ribs, but escaped the referee's notice. Such small tricks are commonplace for strikers who have experience in Serie A.
This opening bluff gave Paris- Germain a huge boost in morale!
Motta and Maxwell both rose to fame in Serie A.
As a former Barca player, Motta's career was full of ups and downs. In 2009, he transferred to Inter Milan, where he helped the team win the treble that season, thus reaching the pinnacle of his career.
Maxwell is definitely a winner in life.
He is a good friend of Ibrahimovic. From Inter Milan to Barca, and then from Barca to Paris Saint-Germain, this full-back has always faithfully followed in Ibrahimovic's footsteps, achieving a grand slam of club honors.
He was even luckier than Ibrahimovic because he left Barca a year later and won the UEFA Champions League in 2011.
These two Brazil players, who have played in Serie A for many years, possess extremely high tactical awareness. After arriving in Ligue 1, they were simply outmatched, leaving their Ligue 1 opponents utterly defeated.
In the 13th minute of the first half, Manchester City, whose passing and possession tactics were not working, immediately launched a high press in the attacking third.
Simply passing the ball without pressing for it isn't true possession football. After losing possession, quickly pressing high up the pitch to win it back is also a crucial part of possession football tactics.
However, Motta remained calm and composed when surrounded by Toure and Tang Long, displaying remarkable composure.
He didn't rush to pass the ball despite the pressure from the two players – that's precisely the purpose of Manchester City's high pressing: to force them into a mistake.
Motta first used one hand to steadily separate Toure;
Then, with a backheel flick, he shifted his weight and circled around Tang Long's pressing from the opposite direction.
This pull, though not fast, was executed by someone nearly 1.9 meters tall with an extremely wide range of limb control, making him as powerful as a heavy truck, difficult for ordinary people to approach.
Tang Long, who missed his target, was secretly alarmed. Even though he was a player who had won the treble with Inter Milan, and even though the 34-year-old veteran in front of him had long passed his peak, his deep football skills were evident in his turn and pull of the ball under the heavy encirclement of his own team.
"Give me!"
On the wing, his Brazil compatriot Maxwell quickly put on his pass, shouting loudly!
When Motta clashed with Delph and Tang Long in the mid lane, Maxwell seemed to have already foreseen the outcome.
He didn't stand still, nor did he go to meet Motta; instead, he sped up the side road at high speed.
After Motta created space, he delivered a precise through ball with his left foot!
The ball was extremely fast and soon caught up with Maxwell's pace, rolling ahead of his sprint path.
The full-back opposite Maxwell on that side is France Sagna.
Premier League veteran Sagna remained calm and composed, refraining from rashly attempting a tackle and instead maintaining his position.
He noticed that Ibrahimovic was still in midfield, and that his team didn't have many Paris Saint-Germain players in their own half.
After Maxwell stopped the ball, he didn't dare to overtake himself and most likely could only pass it back to Cavani, who was coming to receive it on the wing.
However, Sagna was only half right!
After Maxwell pulled Sagna to the wing, he didn't get past him, but instead of simply passing the ball back to Cavani who was coming to receive it, he pushed the ball towards the center.
Suddenly, a figure shot out from the sky!
It's Thiago Silva!
The center-back's forward run caught Manchester City off guard and instantly disrupted their defensive formation.
Center-backs are usually marked by forwards, but Thiago Silva has moved up to a position level with Maxwell, while Agüero is still near midfield!
"Stay calm, seize the opportunity!"
Ibrahimovic, with his tank-like body, charged forward with tremendous force, but Thiago Silva controlled the ball;
The latter slowed down, waiting for Ibrahimovic to run over before passing the ball to him.
The key to this attack was Thiago Silva's elusive movement from the center, which provided an additional support point for Ibrahimovic, who lacked speed.
At this moment, most of Manchester City's defensive players have successfully positioned themselves.
Tang Long, Delph, Toure, and others all returned to their own half to participate in the defense.
Ibrahimovic looked up and saw that all possible passing lanes had been cut off by Manchester City players.
Anyone who could receive the pass was marked by a Manchester City player.
"Well, this is forcing me to go solo!"
A wicked smile crept across Ibrahimovic's lips. "You won't let me pass the ball? Fine, then let's go all the way and see it through to the end!"
First, charge in for Ranocchia!
The 195cm tall Sweden center forward actually used a fancy "Flip Flap" move to fool Ranocchia, causing him to miss the target!
Left-back Kolarov, seeing his own center-back get beaten, quickly moved to cover.
Based on Kolarov's prediction, given Ibrahimovic's current physical condition, getting past one player was already his limit. Next, he would definitely pass the ball. Therefore, Kolarov took a step towards the center to guard against Ibrahimovic passing the ball to Cavani at the edge of the penalty area.
Ibrahimovic saw through Kolarov's intentions and did the opposite, continuing his charge!
He flicked the ball to the left with his right foot, creating just half an opening before stopping and unleashing a powerful shot with his left foot!
This shot was delivered entirely with the power of the calf, the ball contact was precise, the shot was sudden, and the angle was tricky.
Caballero clearly saw the ball flying towards the top left corner, but his desperate save fell just short!
"Ibrahimovic dribbled past two players on the left wing and unleashed a powerful shot into the far corner!"
"It's unbelievable, is this really a 35-year-old player?"
"The older he gets, the more cunning he becomes—that perfectly describes him!"
"This attack was initiated by Motta, and then Maxwell, Silva, and Ibrahimovic all played in Serie A."
"Tang Long, Ranocchia, Kolarov, who were all beaten, have all played in Serie A!"
"Five of them have played for Inter Milan."
"This is really interesting; it's a clash between former Inter Milan players!"
Scoring goals wasn't enough for Ibrahimovic; he also had to provoke his opponents.
He rushed to the first person to pass Ranocchia.
"Hey, you big oaf, you still let me through so easily!"
Previously, when Ranocchia played for Paris- Germain and Genoa, he suffered a lot at the hands of Ibrahimovic.
He rushed over to Kolarov, pointed at his nose, and laughed:
"Serbia, after all these years, you haven't improved much since you were at Lazio!"
Finally, he even whistled at Tang Long, who was watching him from afar.
He'd only whistled twice when a sharp, piercing pain shot through his knee, causing Ibrahimovic to furrow his brow...
(The author is feeling better today, but thinking is a bit slow; it took two hours to finish this chapter. There's another chapter before midnight.)