Chapter 69 Galata who ignites hope
In the Champions League group stage this season, Galatasaray's mood was very ups and downs.
From the regret and frustration of the team when they lost to Arsenal with a big score, to the turning point when they tied Juventus and then to the surprise of defeating Copenhagen to the second place in the group.
Who would have thought that Juventus, which dominates Serie A, would be such a team. They can only accumulate two points after four rounds of the group stage, only one more point than Copenhagen.
What is sighing is naturally the old woman fans, and the fans of other Serie A teams are no longer surprised. The Champions League is still waiting to be seen in Milan, and this sentence is not just a joke.
As for Galatasaray, they were naturally surprised and motivated. They thought they had no hope of advancing in the group this season and showed great subjective initiative after seeing hope again.
When they are about to fight against the Gunners, two veterans, Sneider and Drogba, were interviewed separately. Although they are very confident in the team's victory over Arsenal, they are very enthusiastic about scoring points at the Emirates.
"Our opponents are no longer Arsenal, their strength is obvious to all. Now we are considering the second place in the protection group to enter the knockout stage."
Galata's coach is even more unconcealed. When a team in the same group is too strong, it is understandable that it competes with other teams and bursts out with great enthusiasm for it.
After all, a team that is directly lying flat and playing is called a bad start, and now everyone can't do it. Well, this is not called a bad start, it is called returning to the same starting line.
That's what Galatasaray said, and so did they.
At Emirates Stadium, the game started with the visiting team's 451 stick. Although there are actually many offensive players in the team, their tightening is obvious to all.
As Galata's commander, Sneider was not uncomfortable. After all, in his years at Inter Milan, Mourinho had many tricks on defense in his tactical arrangements.
As long as the team still retains the ability to fight back, they will not have the problem of being wrong to keep hiding.
Facing the opponent's Turtle Shell at the beginning of the game, Arsenal's offense was also seriously hindered. After all, the professor did not let himself go like he was in the league.
He ranked 442 at home, Giroud and Liu Feng were paired with two forwards, Neymar and J Ronaldo played as full-backs on the left and right, and the midfield combination Wilhelgagan.
On the back line, Alba and Alves returned to the starting lineup, the iron gate combination of Mertesacker and Vermullen started together again, and the goalkeeper was Szczesny.
Such a layout has both stability and breakthrough ability, but the players seem to have used up their offensive spirit in the league three days ago, facing the opponent's tough defense, they have not been able to change the score at the end of the first half.
Therefore, it was believed that Arsenal's most ugly first half game this season was born.
The two sides fought fiercely for 45 minutes but failed and entered the locker room with a score of 0-0.
Although the Galatasaray team members were sweaty, they all looked happy, obviously very satisfied with the team's restriction of the Gunners' offense.
Only Sneider and Drogba looked a little nervous. The team's first half was not a defensive counterattack, but a complete retreat. I thought the counterattack that could be played was not played at once. Arsenal's offense was really in a state, otherwise it would be over if the goal was lost.
After entering the locker room, they quickly expressed their views. The team's coach himself respected the two veterans very much, and now he followed their words to criticize other players. In this way, Galata's overly optimistic atmosphere ended.
On the side of Arsenal, the professor also had a tense face. He was stunned when he saw Galata's bus at first, but then he smiled confidently and fully trusted his disciples to be able to blow away the opponent's turtle shell.
However, the final result of the first half and the team's performance on the court made his confident smile turn into a honey smile, and his own offense could not even knock on the opponent's turtle shell.
"Doduo take the ball and break through the sidelines, don't be afraid of physical contact. You are playing football, don't be like a foal!"
It is okay to protect yourself, and it is okay to play smartly, but what the professor saw in the first half was that the team's football style was ridiculously soft, which was not what he wanted.
"You can try long shots more in the middle, and you don't have to penetrate or stuff them straight in every time. Football can be very simple. I didn't ask that every goal is art!"
“…”
In the entire locker room, the professor's roar was the only sound, and all the team members lowered their heads and dared not let out.
It was not until the end that Wenger pointed out all the criticisms that everyone raised their heads and looked at the tactical board with his hands.
"The opponent's defense is mainly concentrated in the middle, or in the three midfielders. Try to bypass them in the second half, especially Sneijder. When he gets the ball, don't waste his energy and grab it. Find his pass point to intercept the ball. The same thing is said, go to the side more..."
With a series of adjustments and tactical changes, when Wenger stopped, the players in each position had received new instructions, everyone's expressions were very serious, and at the end he responded loudly to Wenger.
"I understand the boss!"
As the locker room door was knocked, the second half of the game soon began again. The players of both sides returned to the court, and He Wei, who was responsible for commenting on the game, also returned to his post.
"Okay, the second half of the game started again. Galatasaray took the ball. They passed the ball into their hinterland, and they still controlled the ball and defended it."
Time passed quietly between the Gunners' attack on Galata's defense. The two sides slowly began to change after the ten-minute stalemate at the beginning of the second half. Finally, in the 60th minute of the game, something exciting for the fans watching the game happened.
It was not an attack from Arsenal, but a counterattack initiated by Galatasaray by Sneijder from the midfield line.
"The ball directly crossed half of the court, and passed the ball unexpectedly. Drogba took the ball out of his chest and gave it to Ilmaz on the left. Their attack was very fast."
He directly pulled the entire midfield defense line behind him, and this counterattack was so perfect that it was unbelievable.
When Ilmaz returned the ball to Drogba in the middle when facing Vermalen's position, Drogba took advantage of the situation and the ball rolled into the open area of the Gunners' defense line.
Due to the overall lineup, the Arsenal area is as empty as a racetrack.
Chapter completed!