The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

"Klopp came well-prepared. He's not to be underestimated!"

Villanova turned and glanced at Guardiola, his eyes seeming to ask, 'Of all times, why are you praising the opponent now?'

"What do we do now?"

Guardiola looked at his somewhat anxious assistant and smiled faintly. "Don't worry. As long as we have possession, we have nothing to worry about. We'll just keep wearing down the opponent. You really think they can go 90 minutes without making a mistake?"

Why do teams from Italy play so defensively?

Because no team can guarantee that all their players will go 90 minutes without making a single mistake.

Playing defensively is about compressing space as much as possible to increase your margin for error.

But Dortmund didn't fall back and defend.

They practically set up their stranglehold near the halfway line, which was basically a high press.

Besides, Barça has more than just passing.

As he spoke, Guardiola stood up from his seat, walked to the sideline, clapped forcefully, and called out Harvey's name, making a series of hand gestures.

Only those inside Barça knew what Guardiola meant: run, and press aggressively to win the ball back.

After relaying his sideline instructions, Guardiola returned to his seat, looking incredibly calm and confident.

"If Klopp thinks all we can do is control the game through passing, he's dead wrong!"

On the contrary, possession-based passing was the foundation of Barça's tactics.

But the core of what made Barça so difficult to defeat was their counter-press and their incisive passing after winning the ball back.

It was an unsolvable puzzle!

They would constantly wear down opponents with their possession game, and the moment they lost the ball, they would immediately start pressing to win it back.

For an opponent whose stamina and patience were being constantly eroded, how much energy would they have left to control the ball?

Once they won the ball back in the attacking third, they had the agility advantage of Barça's smaller players, their masterful footwork, their telepathic passing combinations, and most importantly, Messi's superhuman individual ability.

Who could possibly stop them?

Even if you could stop them once, could you do it for 90 minutes?

Therefore, there was only one way to face Barça: park the bus!

But tonight, Dortmund had no intention of parking the bus.

That was suicide!

...

In the 18th minute of the match, just after Dortmund had won the ball near the halfway line, Harvey immediately launched a counter-press on Gundogan, successfully stealing the ball back and passing it to Messi.

Messi surged forward with the ball, executing a quick give-and-go with Iniesta in a very tight space. He charged to the edge of Dortmund's Arc Top District and, just before Subotic could close him down, unleashed a furious shot.

The shot was of extremely high quality, and the ball traveled at blistering speed.

But Weidenfeller was completely focused for this match, tipping the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

A mixture of cheers and gasps swept through the entire stadium!

Corner kick.

Afterward, Barça's corner kick failed to pose a threat.

Set pieces had never been Barça's strong suit.

But it didn't matter.

The match resumed and fell back into its previous rhythm.

"Barça's ability to control the game with passing is extremely strong."

"Messi is also playing deeper in the midfield tonight, forming a very tight possession square with Harvey, Iniesta, and Busquets. Their passing and rhythm are like a precision watch."

"Dortmund is sticking with their high-press formation tonight. They have very little possession, only 26% so far, far below Barça's 74%."

"However, we should also note that while Barça has a terrifying advantage in possession and appears to be completely dominating the match, they haven't really found an effective way to deal with Dortmund's midfield stranglehold."

Wang Shuo was constantly running.

Klopp had repeatedly instructed him before the match.

He was not only the spearhead of the team's attack but also its first line of defense.

And most importantly, he was responsible for pressing the number four position.

Whether it was Busquets, or Mascherano and Pique pushing forward, any defensive pressure required near Barça's number four position fell under Wang Shuo's purview.

This required him to run non-stop.

But it had to be said, Barça's ability to control the game with passing was just too strong!

Much of the time, Dortmund genuinely struggled to even get a touch on the ball.

In a situation like this, players could easily grow anxious.

Every time Wang Shuo made a fruitless run and felt his frustration rise, he would take deep breaths, forcing himself to stay calm.

Not only that, but he would also constantly call out to his teammates, reminding everyone to remain patient.

Waiting patiently.

Just keep waiting.

Then, in the 28th minute, Busquets dropped back near the center-backs again, and Pique suddenly surged forward with the ball.

This kind of sudden forward run from a center-back was a very effective way to disrupt the opponent's defensive midfield structure.

Lucio from Bayern used to love doing that.

So did Pique.

After a quick glance at his own midfield, Wang Shuo shouted to Götze and sprinted after Pique himself.

Pique was advancing quickly through Dortmund's right channel. Wang Shuo charged over at top speed, crossed the halfway line, and got physical with him just to the right of the center circle.

Wang Shuo's challenge was ferocious, and Pique, startled, tried to stop and shield the ball.

But just then, Wang Shuo beat him to it, poking the ball away to Piszczek.

Piszczek reacted incredibly quickly. Instead of letting the ball go out over the sideline, he kicked it to Kuba and sprinted forward along the right touchline at top speed.

With his back to the goal, Kuba controlled the ball, turned, and sent it back to the right sideline, right into Piszczek's path.

The Polish right-back sprinted wildly with the ball.