The game lasted forty-four minutes, and the first half was about to end, but Barcelona did not dare to relax at all.
Facts have proved that they were right to do so.
Just in the last minute, Lazio launched an attack.
This time their quick passing and cutting prevented Barcelona from keeping up.
It was an oversight. Modric pushed the football into the ribs of the penalty area. When David Silva and Cavani attracted the attention of the Barcelona defenders, left back Balzaretti was inserted.
!
"Balzaretti! What a chance!!"
the narrator exclaimed.
Then Balzaretti tried to shoot, but he swept the ball into the center.
Valdes was completely deceived, and there was almost an empty goal behind him!
Cavani followed up in the middle and planned to grab points.
As long as he can touch the ball, the ball will most likely be scored!
Puyol pulled and followed him, desperately trying to stop him.
Finally, when Cavani took a shot, he finally found an opportunity, tackled the ball with his foot, pushed the football to the side, and Cavani kicked him on the knee of his right leg!
Pique, who was next to him, rushed over and kicked the football out of the sideline!
The shrill alarm in front of Barcelona has finally been lifted...
But look at Puyol, who is lying on the ground holding his knees and looking in agony, and then look at Valdez, who is in shock.
You know how embarrassed Barcelona is now!
Cavani sat on the ground and raised his arms to signal the referee that Puyol had committed a foul.
But no one paid attention to him. After Pique kicked the football off the sideline, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
This move even aroused the dissatisfaction of many Lazio fans at the scene, and there was a burst of boos in the stands.
They believe that Lazio should be allowed to complete this attack completely, and at least throw out the foul ball...
※※※
At the end of the first half, players from both sides went from the court to the locker room.
There is only one exception.
Puyol was carried off on a stretcher.
There was a large ice pack wrapped around his knee.
When Cavani was shooting, he was kicked in the knee.
Cavani hit with all his strength and it was indeed a heavy blow to his knee.
Anyone who saw this scene knew that Puyol probably wouldn't be able to finish the pizza.
The expression on Guardiola's face was also anxious.
Although Puyol is 32 years old, he is still the most important player for Barcelona.
He is the anchor of the defense. Compared with him, Pique is like an ignorant boy.
If Puyol is gone, Pique's performance will also decline.
At that time, who will be responsible for our own defense?
Guardiola felt a headache.
Cavani's kick was a complete accident. He didn't mean to hurt anyone intentionally, but it happened to hurt Puyol.
This is really...
Damn it!
Guardiola cursed in his mind.
※※※
Although Cavani did not score a goal, he could be considered a contribution to the team.
He took Puyol down and made Barcelona's defense unstable. If Lazio opened a gap from here in the second half and finally scored, Cavani's contribution must be mentioned.
During the halftime break, Chang Sheng had already arranged tactical adjustments for his team in case Puyol was unable to play.
If Puyol is not good at it, the space behind Pique will become a target for Lazio to attack.
Because no one will wipe his ass anymore.
If Guardiola does not arrange for Pique to penetrate forward, Barcelona's offense will not be as sharp as before, and Lazio's defense will be easier - Pique's backward penetration is a very important part of Barcelona's offense.
If Guardiola continues to let Pique go forward, then the space left behind him can be exploited by Lazio. Neither Marcos nor Zyglinski are perfectly compatible with Pique.
Anyway, no matter how Guardiola adjusts, Lazio doesn't need to worry.
"In the second half, our offense was all directed at Pique. We must defeat Pique!"
Chang Sheng punched Pique's name on the tactical board.
Lazio players nodded while stuffing bananas into their mouths.
※※※
In Barcelona's dressing room, when the players enter here, the team's physiotherapists start to get busy.
Guardiola knows Lazio well enough. He knows that the team's physical fitness will be severely challenged by then, so he brought all three of the club's physical therapists to Rome.
This is when it comes in handy.
Three physiotherapists worked together to seize the time to massage the Lazio players to relieve their fatigue and allow them to regain some strength.
The players were receiving massages from the physiotherapists while listening to Guardiola's analysis of the first and second half.
"Lazio obviously want to wear us down with the pace they are good at! If we fall into their rhythm, we will be finished. I believe the last ten minutes of the first half are enough for you to understand this..."
No one refuted or doubted Guardiola's words anymore.
The last ten minutes really left a deep impression on them.
Even deeper than Lazio's previous goals.
They have never seen a team with such good physical strength...
No wonder the coach calls Lazio's tactics "mad dogs". These are indeed a group of mad dogs...completely tireless. They either bite their prey to death before stopping, or they die of exhaustion...
"Their advantage lies in speed, while our advantage lies in control. Control, gentlemen. Control. In the second half, the game must be controlled at our feet. The physical fitness of both sides will not be very good in the second half. We use control to slow down the pace of the game.
, so that our physical energy can be restored more, while their physical energy is constantly being consumed. When the time comes, the initiative will naturally fall into our hands."
"Then let's talk about offense...Leo."
Guardiola looked at Messi.
Messi raised his head and looked at him too.
"When we control the rhythm and the overall rhythm is slow, Leo, I need your breakthrough and speed to change the rhythm. When they think we are just playing slowly, you come back and give them a fatal blow!"
"
Both Lazio and Barcelona are good at using passing to determine the outcome of the game, so they are both top-level in this regard. They are not only good at using passing to attack, but they also naturally know how to defend this kind of passing.
It is unrealistic to expect to defeat Lazio by passing the ball.
Just relying on passing, Barcelona and Lazio are basically tied.
If you want to break the balance, you have to rely on personal ability.
As for personal ability, I'm afraid Messi is indeed Barcelona's number one player.
Messi nodded and accepted the task.
Barcelona won six crowns, but he always heard people say that Lazio was also very good. If Barcelona really wanted to be number one at that time, it had to beat Lazio.
So for this game, Messi's fighting spirit is very strong.
Then Guardiola started talking about Puyol's replacement.
This matter gave him even more headaches.
Puyol's injury was a complete accident. He probably didn't even expect that he made a tackle to clear the ball, but Cavani unexpectedly kicked him in the knee, and then he was disabled...
The preliminary conclusion from the team doctor's examination is that Puyol may miss the season.
Guardiola could only sigh helplessly.
Now he can't think too much about Puyol's injury. He has to find a substitute for Puyol immediately.
Gabriel Milito, who transferred from Valencia this season, is quite suitable. Guardiola has also stayed in Valencia, and Milito was introduced to Valencia with a winning streak, so Guardiola also
Very familiar Milito.
Unexpectedly, not long after buying it, Milito began to get injured frequently.
Four months ago, he simply suffered a serious injury and said goodbye to this season.
So I can't count on this game at all.
The only center backs available now are Marcos and Zygrinski.
Zygrinski is an excellent central defender, but he does not fit Barcelona's system. Therefore, he performed poorly after arriving and was relegated to the sidelines by Guardiola, who planned to sell him at the end of the season.
In this case, Marcos was the only one.
Guardiola asked Marcos to replace Puyol. But Marcos and Puyol are not the same type of center backs, so he cannot perfectly replace Puyol.
Guardiola also told Pique not to go up and participate in the attack under any circumstances.
Pique nodded in acceptance.
But whether he really took it seriously...only God knows.
※※※
After a fifteen-minute break, players from both sides stood on the court again, ready to kick off.
Guardiola stared at the players on the pitch from the sidelines.
After a fifteen-minute break, Barcelona's players looked better.
But Guardiola is still worried that the physical strength these players have finally recovered will be sucked away by Lazio...
He is very familiar with Lazio, so familiar that he knows Lazio's halftime recipe.
In order to ensure the physical fitness of Lazio players, Chang Sheng pays great attention to what the players eat and drink during halftime.
Nutrition expert and physical fitness coach Elias Dominic was specially invited to formulate the players' diet.
They ate something that would allow them to regain their physical strength as quickly as possible and get back into the game in the second half.
After Guardiola became the head coach of Barcelona, he naturally copied this set of things from Lazio.
This trick works well against other teams.
But he really has no confidence in Lazio.
Because after he arrived at Barcelona, he basically learned from Lazio in terms of physical fitness.
But he felt that the effect was indeed not as good as Lazio.
He doesn't understand what he still lacks, and he doesn't think Barcelona's physical coach is inferior to Elias Dominic.
But Lazio's physical fitness is better.
He felt that he had accomplished everything he could think of.
Why is Lazio so physically fit?
Guardiola stood on the sidelines puzzled.
The second half of the game has already started in his doubts. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!)