Chapter 254: The Second Half

Perhaps due to the decision, the players of both teams were unable to create any good chances for the next 10 minutes or so.

Even with five minutes of stoppage time in the first half, both teams were unable to find the back of the net. The two sides went into the break with a 1-1 scoreline.

There was a lot going on in the first half, but after a half-time break, the players finally got their mentality back up and put their attention back on the game.

The Atletico Madrid players in the second half had a psychological advantage.

You guys just led us with a misjudged goal, what's the big deal!!

Therefore, in the second half, the players of Atletico Madrid held their breath and threw themselves into the attack, which made the game start to open up.

It's rare for a Champions League final to be so open.

Atletico Madrid's attack is mainly through a low cross or a long pass from the back, which revolves around Li Qingshan. It's just that Li Qingshan is not a god, and he can't be able to grasp every high-altitude ball well. Therefore, Atletico Madrid's ability to control the perimeter is quite crucial.

It was only then that people realised the significance of Enrique's arrival at Mathieu – in the last meeting between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Barcelona were defeated by Atletico Madrid's constant high-altitude bombardment.

After Atletico Madrid's cross is cleared, the ability of Atletico Madrid's midfielders to quickly control the ball and then continue to attack is the source of Atletico Madrid's attacking efficiency. And Mathieu's play was not specifically to defend Li Qingshan - it turned out that it was not cost-effective to arrange a special person to defend Li Qingshan.

And Enrique's thinking in this game is obviously different, since it is difficult to defend against Li Qingshan, then Barcelona will try not to give Atletico Madrid a chance to launch a continuous offensive.

In the last meeting between the two sides, Sergio Busquets was the only one on the front line of the backline, so Atletico Madrid developed a continuous offensive - every time Barcelona cleared the ball, it always fell at the feet of the Atletico Madrid midfielder. In this way, although there are not many points in Atletico Madrid in the scenic area, because Li Qingshan alone already has enough deterrence, and there are enough crosses in Atletico Madrid, which caused the rout of Barcelona.

In his post-match summary, Enrique made this judgment.

Barcelona's expertise is by no means high ball defence, and Enrique knows that very well.

But it can't be said that Barcelona are not good at defending. In fact, Barcelona is a very good team, and the essence of their defense is to start a siege immediately after conceding the ball, and do their best to put pressure on the ball carrier and get the ball back as soon as possible. This kind of defense can easily suffocate the opponent.

As a result, Enrique was determined to exploit his strengths and avoid his weaknesses. Since it is difficult for Li Qingshan to compete with him on the high-altitude ball, no matter how hard he works, he can only make a fuss on the ground.

Li Qingshan's header is very threatening, but he can't grab a point every time he jumps, and even if he grabs a point, he can't hit the goal with a header every time.

Therefore, the location of the periphery is quite crucial, and it is here that Enrique's eyes are focused.

This will be the main battleground for Barcelona. As long as this area can be controlled, Atletico Madrid's chances of crosses from the wing will be greatly reduced, and conversely, Barcelona's chances of attacking will be increased.

If I turn the game into a back-and-forth tug-of-war battle.......... Barcelona doesn't necessarily suffer!

Because Barcelona's players have enough on-field possession, their passing and control are generally higher than Atletico Madrid's. Enrique has such self-confidence!

In the 56th minute, after Raul Garcia and Juanfran made a combination, Juanfran set the side, and then knocked the ball back to Raul Garcia at the baseline position, and Raul Garcia crossed the ball with a curling kick before the defender could catch up!

Almost ten minutes into the second half, Atletico Madrid didn't get many crosses. But this time, Li Qingshan didn't let the football slip away from his eyes again.

He leaped high and flicked his header!!

It's a pity that Atletico Madrid was not very lucky, the football hit the crossbar and bounced back, and the Atletico Madrid players didn't have time to get upset, so they had to immediately go all out to defend - now it's Barcelona's counterattack!!

Mascherano passed the ball to Iniesta, who didn't turn and knocked it back to Busquets. Busquets didn't stop the ball either, he pushed straight forward and found Neymar!

Neymar did not choose to dribble the ball, but transferred horizontally diagonally to find Messi on the other side!

Mascherano, Iniesta, Busquets, Neymar, Messi.

Barcelona's dazzling series of passes were all non-stop passes. This is the hallmark of Barcelona football, where their players pass the ball to each other very skillfully.

Messi stopped the ball lightly with the instep of his foot, and then dribbled the ball into the Atletico Madrid penalty area!

Fortunately, Atletico Madrid's return defense was fast enough, Siqueira did not press at all, the two central defenders were still in the penalty area, Gabi and Thiago had also returned, and Raul Garcia on the other side was also in place in time.

Atletico Madrid's direction remains fairly intact.

However, this is not the time to breathe a sigh of relief. Because at this time, there is only one defender by Messi's side.

Messi one-on-one!

How dangerous this is, everyone knows very well.

Siqueira didn't dare to be careless, he fought and retreated, while preventing Messi from breaking through directly, and also paying attention to Messi's possible passing line.

Of course, what he has to do now is not to break the ball, he just needs to delay Messi and wait for all the players of Atletico Madrid to return, even if Messi is as strong as a god, he will be helpless in the face of a defensive system composed of 11 players.

Of course, the most important thing is that Siqueira is self-aware. He knows that he will never take advantage of Messi one-on-one.

However, even if Siqueira was well prepared, he couldn't fully defend against Messi.

Messi shook past Siqueira and crossed to the back post near the baseline.

"Neymar !!!!!!!!!!"

In the roar of the commentator's lengthened voice, Neymar interjected and tackled!!

Bang!!!!!

The sound made all Atletico Madrid break out in a cold sweat.

Later, it was discovered that the football had once again hit the post in addition to the bottom line.....

Back and forth, both teams' attacks were defused by the goalpost and the goalpost.