Chapter 152 Dortmund Should Thank Us. Ajax Will Have to Beat Manchester City in the Next Round.

Mancini is a great team-building coach.

Let him build the team's foundation steadily from scratch, give him two or three seasons, he won't spend much money, but the team-building effect will not be bad.

He can lead the team to the top four in the league steadily, and there is the Champions League to play. With some luck, he can also win the league championship during this period.

But if he wants to achieve results in the European war in a short period of time, he has no choice.

The shortcomings of being stiff on the spot and lagging behind in adjustment make Mancini's performance in the cup competition very average.

At least he is still like this now.

After Manchester City was scored by Real Madrid, he did not choose to stabilize the team's position and command Manchester City's players to reorganize the formation.

Whether it is attack or defense, there is a clear tactical instruction at this time, and Manchester City's players will not be too panicked.

Unfortunately, Mancini did nothing.

Yes, he comforted the mentality of Manchester City players and signaled that they still need to keep their heads clear.

Then, there is no more!

Mancini stood on the sidelines with his hands folded.

Mourinho could probably guess what Mancini was thinking at this time.

Mancini probably didn't think there was anything wrong with his tactics.

There was a luck factor in this goal, and Real Madrid might not have such an effect even if they counterattacked.

So he thought that Manchester City only needed to maintain the previous offensive thinking, and there was a great possibility of equalizing the score in the first half.

So he chose to continue to trust his players and his own tactics.

This idea is not wrong. The head coach must show some courage to continue to trust his tactics at certain moments of lag.

But Mourinho completely disagreed with Mancini's approach.

If it were him, he would continue to believe in his tactics while making timely adjustments.

Yes, it is a "gesture", even if it is just a pretense, it is better than doing nothing.

To put it bluntly, as a head coach, whether you have measures to deal with changes in the situation in your mind and whether you have a bottom line in your heart is one thing.

And making your players more confident and making them believe that you will be able to turn the situation around is another thing.

Football is not a simple sport of strength and tactics. In many cases, players on the field have to compete with mentality and tenacity!

Mourinho is undoubtedly a top master in this regard.

Even if he sometimes thinks that the game is difficult to win.

But he will still try to make tactical adjustments on the sidelines. He will tell the players:

Which side we are playing on, we must put more limited defensive energy into which area.

In this way, at least Real Madrid players will always have hope in their hearts.

They will have a psychological support, knowing that their head coach still has a way and is still thinking about it!

So Mancini's "trust" at this time is actually throwing tactical problems to Manchester City players.

Continue to play the same way as before?

But the ball has been lost, will it really work if we continue to play?

Would it be better to focus on defense/attack first at this time?

The thinking is not unified. The players in front want to seize the time to attack more times, and the players in the back are afraid that Real Madrid will counterattack like this again, and are unwilling to press forward.

The Manchester City players in the midfield are even worse.

They were to blame for not getting the offensive ball in front, and they had to keep going back to intercept because they didn't feel safe in defense.

After this tug of war, not to mention continuing to maintain the previous offensive rhythm, Manchester City's performance on the field was "split".

And Real Madrid's counterattacks were more resolute each time.

Mourinho was also a little confused, and he even thought Mancini was setting a tactical trap.

"Could it be that Mancini thought of a deeper tactical aspect, that is, he wanted to take advantage of our counterattack to return to defense, and then intercept the ball to counterattack us?"

Mourinho thought from Mancini's perspective, and a seemingly feasible plan really appeared in his mind.

But before he could signal Li Ang not to advance too frequently, in the 33rd minute of the first half, Real Madrid launched another counterattack after intercepting the ball.

Li Ang had already decisively pressed forward with Matuidi!

After attracting Yaya Toure's defense while dribbling the ball, Li Ang passed the ball to Matuidi who was running in front of him on the right.

Matuidi passed the ball to Carvajal, who cut inside and took Kolarov away. Carvajal then made a low pass from the bottom!

Ronaldo once again caught up with Morata's cover and shot in front of Manchester City's penalty area one step faster than Kompany!

This ball went through Joe Hart's small goal and the Manchester City goal behind him close to the grass!

Ronaldo, who scored twice, smiled happily and slid on his knees to celebrate at the Etihad Stadium.

A familiar feeling came to his heart. Even in the face of the boos and middle fingers from Manchester City fans, Ronaldo still smiled very happily.

More than 4,000 Real Madrid fans at the Etihad Stadium celebrated happily again!

Mourinho's eyes widened, and his first reaction was not excitement and joy, but confusion.

Without a full chase, and even without arranging a special person to protect Kompany, Real Madrid once again broke through Manchester City's goal? ? ?

What are you doing? !

It was not until this moment that Mourinho really reacted.

It seems that Mancini is not thinking too much to set a trap for him, but he has not thought about anything at all!

"Hey, I'm a little confused about who needs these three points more, or is it that the formation we arranged today is enough to suppress them in Manchester City's midfield?"

Mourinho couldn't help but complain, and Karanka also covered his mouth to hold back his laughter.

If we really talk about the strength of the lineup, Manchester City has a normal starting lineup, and it will still have the upper hand against Real Madrid's rotation lineup.

But Mancini is going to do something today.

In Mancini's 3-5-2 starting formation, Silva is the front midfielder, and Yaya Toure and Nasri are the two back midfielders.

Yes, neither of the defensive Barry and Garcia started today.

This midfield combination is simply betting on offense and control, and there is almost no defensive interception.

Isn't that encouraging Real Madrid to fight their counterattacks?

Now, after losing 0-2 in the first half, Mancini is completely unable to sit still.

Maybe he still feels particularly frustrated and angry in his heart.

Because he exchanged his trust for a worse and worse result.

But at this time, seeing the expressions and atmosphere of the Manchester City players on the field were wrong, Mancini also endured it and did not do anything wrong.

As soon as the whistle blew at the end of the first half, Mancini called his disciples to quickly return to the player channel.

There were sporadic shouts of dissatisfaction at the scene.

That was the Manchester City fans venting their emotional dissatisfaction.

It was fine that they lost to Real Madrid, which had played all its main players before, but this time, at home, they played against a Real Madrid team that had rotated most of its main players. It was a life-and-death battle!

As a result, they lost two goals in the first half. Even the most die-hard Manchester City fans couldn't stand it!

Before the start of this season's Champions League, Manchester City was ambitious and was not afraid even if they were assigned to the death group.

Even if they couldn't beat Real Madrid, Manchester City fans at that time were confident that they could at least draw with Dortmund and beat Ajax.

As a result, in just two months, Manchester City only had two draws and two losses, and they were about to lose this game.

Disgusting, this record is really disgusting to the fans!

If they lose this game, Manchester City will basically miss the Champions League knockout stage this season.

If Dortmund draws with Ajax again on the other side, Manchester City does have a theoretical chance to qualify.

But will Dortmund fail like them again?

Manchester City fans only felt that the prospects of qualifying were bleak.

However, the Manchester City players who played again in the second half seemed to have regained their morale.

Mancini, who didn't dare to do anything else, withdrew Maicon and replaced him with Barry.

The formation also changed from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2.

Silva and Nasri went to the side, and Yaya Toure was accompanied by a defensive midfielder who was responsible for cleaning up his butt.

In this way, Manchester City's performance finally became normal.

At least the offense and defense were relatively balanced. Even if they continued to attack all the way, there was at least Barry in the midfield to hold the position.

Real Madrid's counterattack momentum slowed down. In the 60th minute of the second half, seeing that there were no good quick counterattack opportunities, Mourinho simply replaced Ronaldo to rest.

Ronaldo, who scored two goals today, had no objection. When he left the field, he hugged and laughed with Mourinho on the sidelines.

Jesse, who replaced Ronaldo, was very active. Facing Zabaleta, the top defensive gate on the right side of the Premier League, he was not afraid at all and dared to make moves.

Seeing this, Li Ang simply squatted in the backcourt to watch Silva and Aguero, and all the counterattacks were handed over to Matuidi and Jesse.

Real Madrid entered a squatting mode that was more inclined to stabilize the score and occasionally counterattack.

Li Ang and Essien covered the three defensive zones, and Manchester City could only go to the side more.

Fortunately, Dzeko was in good shape today. Facing the still immature Varane, he had the upper hand in confrontation.

So when Manchester City finally abandoned the extra offensive routines and began to frequently kick the ball from the two wings, Dzeko's advantage in the header gave Manchester City fans hope again.

Unfortunately, at this time, there were only the last twenty minutes left in the second half.

Dzeko's header in the 76th minute helped Aguero, who was at the back of the goal, to get a great shooting opportunity.

Aguero did not let Dzeko down this time, and he broke through the goal guarded by Casillas with a clever move!

But Manchester City only had this great opportunity throughout the game.

After Albiol replaced Callejon, Dzeko fell silent again, and Manchester City lost the initiative on the offensive end.

When the game ended, looking at the desperate score of 1-2, many Manchester City players stood on the court with their hands on their hips and remained silent.

The rotating players on the Real Madrid side naturally laughed and high-fived and hugged each other to celebrate!

This is a big achievement for them. They won the home of the defending champion of the Premier League. It would be a lie to say that they are not happy and proud.

After the game, facing the interview request from domestic acquaintance reporters, Li Ang agreed relatively readily.

When talking about the feeling of defeating Manchester City, Li Ang also made a humorous joke.

"I think it doesn't matter whether we are happy or not. Dortmund should be happy to thank us."

There was a laugh at the scene, but Li Ang secretly added the next sentence in his heart.

"Ajax will have to give Manchester City a kowtow in the next round~"