A Thrilling Goal-Fest! Guardiola "Leaves" Tang Long Alone, but Has a Master Plan!
Guardiola was stunned!
What stunned him was not Tang Long's brilliant performance.
Tang Long's abilities were tracked by Guardiola and his trusted scout Raymond for almost the entire season.
They knew Tang Long's skill level all too well!
Given this position and this opportunity, Tang Long is definitely going to shoot!
One shot and it's a sure thing.
What baffled Guardiola was Vidal.
What was this guy thinking? He kept banging on things, what was he even doing? Did he think he was some kind of monk striking a bell?
Guardiola was furious. If Vidal had acted like this during training, he would have immediately blown the whistle and sent Vidal off the field.
Now, Guardiola doesn't need to personally issue the expulsion order; Vidal has come down on his own!
When Vidal fell, he braced himself with his wrist, which quickly swelled up and became deformed. The team doctor diagnosed it as a fracture, and Vidal had to leave the field.
Guardiola suppressed his anger, comforted Vidal for a few words, and then substituted Muller into the game.
Guardiola can tolerate players' lack of ability, but he can't tolerate players not playing according to his tactics. He immediately mentally drafted Vidal's starting lineup for all the remaining games of the season.
When Muller came on, the positions of the three midfielders were slightly adjusted, with Alonso and Thiago moving further back and Muller moving slightly forward.
The Germany star has been with Bayern for many years and is considered a versatile player in the attacking third. His greatest strength is his high football intelligence. Guardiola is very fond of him and even wants to bring him to Manchester City next season to continue their mentor-student relationship. It's just unknown whether Muller will agree.
Tang Long killed two birds with one stone: he scored a goal and also injured and substituted one of the opponent's key players at the start of the game.
Pellegrini was all smiles.
He looked at Guardiola smugly and said, "So, you want to coach Manchester City next season? Get your Bayern through this hurdle first!"
Pellegrini had initially thought that Vidal's unexpected injury and substitution would disrupt Bayern's pre-match plans and weaken their midfield strength.
Unexpectedly, Bayern benefited from this, as their passing in the midfield and defense improved significantly!
This is mainly reflected in the fact that, despite the pressure from players like Tang Long, Agüero, Sterling, and Navas, the ball distribution from the backfield became much smoother.
"After Muller came on, Bayern's ball distribution became much more relaxed!"
"He almost always touches the ball with one foot. Even when there's physical contact, he quickly finds a teammate after pushing the ball away!"
"He can play striker and midfielder. If you put Muller at center-back, I reckon he wouldn't be too bad!"
"No wonder Muller has remained at Bayern for so many years, despite having gone through several head coaches; this is a testament to his ability!"
Manchester City continued their high-pressing strategy.
Time flew by and it was now the 31st minute of the first half.
After half an hour of high pressing, Manchester City's players' concentration began to wane.
Alonso received the ball in the backfield and dropped deep, almost standing at the edge of his own penalty area.
Tang Long pressed forward and successfully blocked Alonso's path of advancing with the ball.
Tang Long's movement was fine, but the reason this high-position press failed was because of Sterling!
Alonso's passing lane is directly towards right-back Lahm;
This position should have been Sterling's pressing position; as soon as Alonso passed the ball, Sterling should have immediately closed in on Lahm.
But Sterling was a step too slow!
He was daydreaming, looking at a blonde girl sitting in the front row.
In that moment of distraction, Lahm's side opened up, giving him ample space to dribble and advance the ball.
Agüero in the middle was furious and cursed loudly. Sterling suddenly realized what was happening and quickly chased back to chase Lahm, but the alert Lahm had already dribbled the ball several steps ahead, and Sterling couldn't catch up.
Guardiola nodded slightly.
He studied the characteristics of every Manchester City player.
Discipline is Sterling's greatest weakness.
Lahm passed the ball across to Thiago, who immediately made a wide pass, and Ribery got the ball!
The Robben-Ribery duo dominated the football world, but both Robben and Ribery were long-term injury victims. It was always one of them getting injured or sick. This season, they only made a dozen or so appearances for Bayern, and the opportunities to play together were even fewer.
With Robben sidelined due to injury, the task of breaking through on the flanks naturally fell to France star Ribery.
"Thiago this time was extremely precise across a wide area!"
"After Ribery received the ball, he quickly moved closer to Sagna!"
"While other Bayern players are still pushing forward, Ribery doesn't have any good passing opportunities. What can he do?"
"... Wow!!!"
"Ribery feigned a back pass, but at the last moment he flicked the ball and turned past his opponent!"
"Is this the legendary Cruyff technique?!"
"Sagna was faked out! He was faked out so easily, it's unbelievable!"
"Ribery dribbles and cuts inside!"
Ribery dribbled inside like lightning, not only getting past Sagna but also drawing both defensive midfielders Delph and Toure over him. He then played a through ball, tearing apart Manchester City's defense, where Lewandowski appeared like a ghost and slotted the ball into the net!
1-1, Bayern equalized in the first half!
Guardiola and his assistant coach gave each other a high five and cheered!
If Sagna being easily outmaneuvered was just an accident, then the gaps that appeared when Delph and Toure partnered in the defensive midfield were exactly what Guardiola had anticipated before the match, and he had precisely instilled those gaps into Ribery.
Gündoğan played in European competitions for Dortmund in the first half of the season, so after joining Manchester City in the winter transfer window, he could only make appearances in the league.
Right now, he's sitting at home, watching on TV as Ribery's pass between Delph and Toure goes by with ease, and all he can do is stomp his feet in frustration!
"Sigh! If I were in that position, I definitely wouldn't have passed it to Ribery!"
The two teams went into the second half with the score tied at 1-1.
Manchester City's tactics are very clear: since Bayern has already secured an away goal, they must score as many goals as possible, at least to achieve a victory, which would be the basic objective.
Therefore, the whole team resolutely implemented the tactics that Pellegrini had instructed before the match, passing the ball to Tang Long as soon as they received it, allowing him to organize the attack.
"Bayern's players can't stop Tang, even when he's double-teamed, they'll still pass him the ball!" Pellegrini said.
However, after ten minutes of the second half, Pellegrini found Bayern's strategy to be very perplexing.
When Tang Long received the ball and made runs, neither the midfielders Muller, Alonso, and Thiago, nor the two full-backs effectively marked Tang Long.
They contracted very tightly, almost allowing Tang Long to organize the offense from the attacking midfield position.
In the 58th minute of the second half, Tang Long received the ball in the middle of the field and, without any hesitation, played a through ball that instantly broke through Bayern's defense. Agüero made a decisive diagonal run and put the ball in under Neuer's arm!
2 to 1!
Manchester City take the lead!
Pellegrini didn't look at his celebrating players on the field, but instead curiously looked at Guardiola to the side.
He had initially thought that Guardiola would be annoyed by Tang Long's lack of marking – after all, Vidal had been dispossessed by Tang Long earlier, directly gifting Tang Long a goal, and Pellegrini could still hear Guardiola's roar echoing in his ears at that time;
But to the Chile' utter bewilderment, Guardiola appeared completely unperturbed, showing no anger whatsoever, and even smiling as he applauded and encouraged the Bayern players.
"This bald Spain man, leaving Don unattended like this, has he gone mad?" Pellegrini was extremely suspicious, unable to figure out what Guardiola was up to.
Little did they know, Guardiola's idea was very bold: if he couldn't defend against Tang Long, then he wouldn't bother defending against him, lest two or three people crowding around him disrupt their formation and give Tang Long more opportunities to exploit!
In the 65th minute, Bayern immediately equalized.
Bayern displayed beautiful passing and teamwork in the middle.
Facing pressure from Tang Long and Sterling, Alonso immediately passed the ball to Lahm, who was coming to receive it. Lahm, without stopping the ball, passed it with his left foot to Thiago, who had pulled up.
Thiago also touched the ball with one foot, flicking it gently, and Muller behind him accelerated past Toure!
Split sides!
This time, Ribery didn't choose to go one-on-one with Sagna. Instead, he moved towards the center early on, and with Lewandowski and Costa pulling him along, he charged all the way to the center of the penalty area!
Slap! Slap!
He executed a one-two pass with Lewandowski, facing Ranocchia.
Ribery suddenly shifted his center of gravity, Ranocchia!
Ranocchia had no choice but to use his signature "Bow-step interception," attempting to intercept the ball with his long, backward leg.
But instead of stopping the ball, Ribery was tripped and fell to the ground, and the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot!
Guardiola and his assistant coach high-fived, beaming with joy.
He had specifically studied Ranocchia before the match, and said in a meeting, "Ranocchia is full of weaknesses," and even pointed out his "Bow-step interception."
Guardiola analyzed the video and concluded that while Ranocchia's retreating steps covered a wide area and were precise in their defensive direction, they also had a weakness – they were too slow!
This slowness, for the average Premier League striker, is actually not slow;
But against Ribery's sharp stride, it was truly slow!
Lewandowski calmly converted the penalty, making it 2-2!
Tang Long comforted Ranocchia, telling him not to be discouraged, and then immediately organized the team to launch a new wave of attacks.
In the 78th minute, Tang Long received the ball in the middle and moved with unparalleled ease. Through changes in rhythm and skillful footwork, he dribbled past Muller and Thiago in succession. When he tried to Alonso, he found that the opponent did not react to his tackles and simply retreated.
"Agüero!"
Tang Long used a No-Looking Pass, looking at and calling out to Agüero on the right, but at the last moment he flicked his ankle and passed the ball to Sterling who was making a run down the left flank!
Sterling's shot was indeed saved!
Just as Bayern's defenders were still in a daze, a light blue figure burst out from the crowd and cleverly followed up with a shot into the net!
3 to 2!
Manchester City have taken the lead again!
Tang Long scored two goals and provided an assist, and the Etihad Stadium erupted in cheers that shook the entire stadium!
However, Bayern's offensive pressure showed no signs of abating.
Although Pellegrini made an immediate substitution in the 81st minute, replacing the exhausted Toure with Fernando to strengthen the running and coverage in the middle;
But it was Fernando's long-absent pass that led to Muller's interception, and then a pass that Lahm made a run into.
After another series of passes and turnovers in the middle, Alaba received the ball on the left wing and crossed it in!
The football soared over Ranocchia's head and flew behind Kompany!
Kompany is used to defending crosses along conventional routes. However, when faced with crosses that are high-arc, long-distance passes and land in areas he is not good at covering, he is a half-beat slower to arrive – this was Guardiola's pre-match advice to Alba, and he even showed him some video footage.
Alaba's passing was very cunning; he passed the ball between center-back Kompany and full -Kolarov.
Kolarov thought Kompany would drop back and head the ball away, while Kompany thought Kolarov would cover behind him.
In the end, neither of them managed to head the ball down, Lewandowski headed it into the net from that position!
3 to 3!
Both sides put on a goal-fest, much to the delight of neutral fans.
Due to time constraints, the final score was not changed.
Ultimately, Manchester City secured a draw at home in the first leg of this highly anticipated UEFA Champions League semi-final.
At the post-match press conference, Guardiola's rather puzzling remarks surprised the reporters present...