Chapter 10 Olympiacos

At 7:45 p.m. on September 16, in the first match of the group stage of the Champions League this season, the away game against Olympiacos, Greece, began as scheduled.

CCTV still broadcast the game live. Duan Xuan served as the commentator: "Dear audience, now we are broadcasting a game of Group D in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League this season. The defending champion of the Champions League, Switzerland's Gosau, challenged the Greek Olympiacos away. This is also It is the first game of the defending champion in the Champions League this season.

"First of all, let's introduce the starting lineup of the home team Olympiacos. Their goalkeepers are Urco, left-back Bravo, right-back Galijos, central defenders are Melbery and Torosides, and the five midfielders are Moise and Giannis. Papadopoulos, Abraham. Papadopoulos, Mitroglu and Miralas, the striker is Zairi.

The starting lineup of the visiting team Gosho is goalkeeper Chekareli, left-back Ribeiro, right-back Gugelman, centre-backs are Salihovic and Chevali, left winger Avanzini, right winger Holensten, back Ivanovic, front waist Lima, and forwards are Egman and Kodinho. This is also a lineup we are very familiar with.

"From the starting lineup of both sides, it can be seen that although Olympiacos is playing at home, their head coach Valverde is very careful to form a 451 defensive formation. Of course, in the face of the defending champion, their caution is understandable.

"And coach Lin Fenglei formed the offensive lineup of the 442 diamond midfield, which shows his ambition to win this game. With the whistle of the Spanish referee Marenque on duty, the game officially began.

After a short trial after the opening, the Gosho team turned away and launched a fierce attack on the goal of Olympiacos. Less than ten minutes after the opening, Gosho had four shots.

Although Olympiacos are fighting at home, their strength is limited. They can only use intensive defensive tactics to fight against Gosho's offensive. They brought to the extreme the defensive tactics of Greece winning the European Cup. They can't wait to put seven or eight players in the penalty area and block Gosho's team with their bodies. One shot after another.

Because most of their guard players are tall and physically confrontational, Egman's header, which was the most effective weapon for Gosho's previous intensive defense, also lost its previous power under the bag of several tall players.

Lin Fenglei was prepared for such a situation. He did not urge the players to continue to strengthen the offensive, but let the players be more patient in the attack and improve the quality of the attack.

Valverde is still very satisfied with such a scene. Under his **, Olympiacos' ability to defend high-altitude balls is extremely strong. No matter how strong Egman's header ability is, it is difficult for him to grab the point in the encirclement of several tall defensive players. Even if he grabs the landing point, it is difficult to resist under the interference of defensive players. High-quality header.

Although the defensive ground attack is the weakness of Olympiacos, the dense crowd in the penalty area also makes it difficult for Gosho's ground attack to penetrate Olympiacos' defense. Although Gosau consciously strengthened the long-range shot, the big guys in the penalty area of Olympiacos piled up, and their goalkeeper Urko was very focused, so it was difficult for Goshao's long-range shot to pose much threat, just a chance.

Valverde crossed his legs and was in a good mood. Although it was a home game, he felt that he would be satisfied if he could get one point against the defending champion.

In the 13th minute, after a breakthrough in the middle, Lima made a long shot at the front of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the shot did not penetrate the crowd and was blocked by an unknown foot. Gosho got a corner kick.

Ribeiro made a corner kick. The ball fell well. Egman jumped high, but his jersey was secretly pulled by several hands. As a result, the ball was rushed out of the danger zone by Mitroglu, who was nearly 1.9 meters tall beside him. Ivanovic shot the ball, but he did not suppress the ball and hit it. It's high.

In the 16th minute, Avanzini made a cross from the bottom of the left side, and Egman did not grab the point again. He was tightly clamped by the two defenders of Olympiacos. As soon as he got rid of the entanglement and jumped to the top, the ball had been once again by the tall Abraham. Papadopoulos pushed his head out of the penalty area.

In the 21st minute, Kodin Hora received a pass from Ivanovic outside the penalty area. After leaning on the opponent's defender, he turned around and made a long shot. The shot penetrated the crowd and went straight to the upper left corner of the goal, but the ball was hit out of the sideline by Ulko, the Belgian goalkeeper of the Olympiacos team.

Egman is very depressed. Today, Olympiacos's defense against him is very successful. At least two defenders cling to Egman at any time and try to fight him physically. In addition, there are one or two players with very strong header ability around him, grabbing the Gosau team in front of Egman. Take it away from his biography. This tactic looks very negative, paying the price of three to four defenders for Egman alone, but it is very effective, because freezing Egman weakens at least half of the Gosho team's attack power.

Of course, this tactic is also difficult to imitate, because first, few teams have so many defensive players with strong physical confrontation ability and good headers; second, they have to carry out intensive defense from the beginning of the game. In this kind of tactic, it is difficult for the weak team to meet the first requirement, and even if the strong team can meet the first requirement, they can't pull down for intensive defense. Moreover, such intensive defense means that they basically give up the attack, which is impossible for the strong team to accept.

After thinking about it, Egman strengthened his running position and wanted to use his running position to disrupt the defensive formation of Olympiacos. However, this method soon proved to be unfeasible. No matter where he ran in the penalty area, there were at least two players clinging to him, and the situation did not change. If he retreated outside the penalty area to get the ball, Olympiacos would not do anything except for a defensive midfielder to follow him. Follow him out of the penalty area.

No matter how strong Egman's ability is, his header is basically no longer threatened when he comes out of the penalty area. Why not let him hit it? If he withdraws from the long-range shot in the penalty area, on the one thing, some players will follow him to interfere, and on the other is that there are many players with strong long-range shooting ability outside the penalty area. It is nothing to add him, which greatly reduces the defensive pressure in the penalty area of Olympiacos. Therefore, this is what Olympiacos wants.

Egman soon realized this, and he had to return to his original position and fell back into a hand-to-hand fight with the defensive players of Olympiacos.

Olympiacos' successful defense against Egman aroused Egman's fighting spirit. Do you think such a simple move can defend me? I have to defeat your defense today!

Egman gestured to his teammates to pass the ball as high as possible, because he has found that a relatively flat pass will basically be intercepted in advance by the opposing defenders around him with good header ability. Then, if you want to hit the ball, you can only let your teammates pass the ball higher. Anyway, my explosive power and bounce power are stronger than these people. If the pass is higher, basically no one can compete with me. It's nothing more than spending more physical strength, and physical strength is the most indispensable thing for me.

Several side players of Gosho's sidelines nodded to Egman after seeing Egman's gesture. Although the cross higher will slow down the speed of the ball, it is difficult for Egman to borrow power when tying the ball. However, since it is difficult for Egman to grab the point in the current pass, it may be better to pass higher. Anyway, with Egman's head. As long as he can grab the point and hit the ball, there will be a considerable threat to Egman's teammates have considerable confidence in him.