On the evening of March 23, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
When referee Mallenco blew the whistle to start the game, Barcelona, who took the kickoff, quickly played the ball back.
Amid the cheers of more than 85,000 Bernabéu fans, Real Madrid slowly set up their shape and prepared to face Barcelona.
Gao Shen, dressed in a neat Kiton suit, stood in front of the home dugout, becoming the focus of the entire stadium and even the live TV cameras. At this moment he was focused on studying Barcelona's starting tactics.
The formation had changed.
Goalkeeper: Valdés.
Defense: Alba, Piqué, Thiago Motta and Alves.
Midfielders: Fàbregas, Busquets and Xavi.
Forwards: Iniesta, Messi and Neymar.
This was Barcelona's current starting lineup and positions. Several roles were beyond Gao Shen's expectations.
Before the game, when Gao Shen received Barcelona's starters, he still guessed the midfield would be the iron triangle of Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets, Barcelona's mainstay.
Fàbregas would play centrally, Neymar on the left, and Messi on the right. That was also how Barcelona had set up against Real Madrid previously.
But once the match started, Gao Shen found that was not the case at all.
Iniesta was pushed to the left wing, Messi still occupied the middle, and Neymar had actually switched from the left to the right.
The midfield was a pairing of Fàbregas and Xavi.
This was a bit unexpected.
Gao Shen really did not expect Martino to suddenly change tactics before such a big game.
It was worth noting that although Iniesta played as a left winger, his position was very flexible. He often dropped off and drifted inside, which in effect created a four-man midfield.
What Barcelona are best at is forming a local numerical advantage in tight areas, then breaking the opponent's defense through quick passing and combinations. So for Barcelona, Iniesta moving inside did not look congested.
But with Iniesta vacating the flank, the left side was not empty. Alba often pushed forward.
Just two minutes into the game, Alba made a forward run and asked for the ball.
When Fàbregas received in midfield, he did not play into Messi straight away, though he wanted to find him. Ramos intercepted first and launched a counterattack.
Seeing this, Gao Shen frowned and immediately walked to the touchline.
"Daniel."
Real Madrid were attacking from left to right, and right back Dani Carvajal was on Gao Shen's side.
"Boss." Carvajal hugged the right touchline when he heard Gao Shen's shout.
The ball had been lost up front and Real Madrid's entire shape was retreating. Carvajal dropped while listening to Gao Shen, and Gao Shen followed him all the way to the byline, constantly reminding him.
"Pay attention to Iniesta's position. Do not keep following him inside. You were too close to the center just now, and the entire left side was open. Did you notice? Alba had already gone and nobody was picking him up."
This was also because Di María had not recovered into position in time.
But Carvajal's position just now was indeed too narrow, which tilted Real Madrid's defensive block to the left and left the right side completely open.
In fact, if Fàbregas had slipped the ball to Alba on the left, the full back could have burst straight into the left side of the box to square it.
That was a threat.
"I will ask Di María to pay more attention, but you need to be aware of your positioning. Do not follow blindly. Our midfielders can cover. You have to help us maintain the width of the line, especially on the left side. Stay sharp."
At the end, Gao Shen clapped hard to fire up Carvajal.
"Got it, Boss!"
Carvajal raised his right hand and sprinted back.
Barcelona's attack came again.
Gao Shen stood at the edge of the technical area and looked back, just in time to see Di María also recovering. He immediately walked over and called to him, asking him to drop deeper and, when necessary, keep an eye on Alba.
"You need to pay more attention to protecting the right side," Gao Shen shouted.
Di María nodded to show he understood.
In Gao Shen's system, Di María was never a traditional winger or a weak-side winger.
He was more of an all-around wide player who could even drop off and launch attacks with long diagonal passes on his left foot.
In fact, when Di María dropped off, Modrić would step up, and the Argentine would hit a diagonal with his left foot to find Ronaldo and Benzema. That had always been a key attacking route for Real Madrid.
The Argentine could even switch to the left to open a new outlet from that side.
Positional interchanges were also a hallmark of Real Madrid's trident.
There were even times when Ronaldo, Di María and Marcelo overloaded the same wing.
There was one adjustment in Real Madrid's lineup tonight, Toni Kroos was injured.
Gao Shen did not select him, and let Pogba take over.
But he really did not expect Martino to change the shape and come up with such a strange setup.
Real Madrid's trident, and Barcelona's Messi and Neymar, were all players with match-winning ability.
In this kind of heavyweight clash, Barcelona were best at breaking Real Madrid's defense through tight combinations and their passing-and-possession advantage.
Real Madrid's greatest advantages were speed, efficiency and height.
"Keep an eye on Thiago Motta. I feel like he is not very lively tonight." Gao Shen walked back to the home bench and instructed his analyst Carlos Vargas.
Barcelona's full backs were similar to Real Madrid's, used almost as wingers.
Alves was a winger among wingers.
If Thiago Motta was not in good shape, Gao Shen had to strike that side hard and completely destroy Barcelona's right.
Just as Gao Shen was talking to his assistants, Barcelona suddenly produced a diagonal pass outside Real Madrid's box with Messi on the ball. Just as Gao Shen had expected, Messi's pass went diagonally into the right side of Real Madrid's penalty area.
It was not Alba, it was Iniesta who had burst forward.
Gao Shen immediately tensed on the touchline, rushing to the sideline shouting for Carvajal.
In fact, there was no need for Gao Shen to shout. Carvajal had already sensed the issue, especially after Gao Shen's reminder. He was more alert, but still a step slow.
After Iniesta controlled Messi's pass, he shot first time.
Carvajal slid across and managed to deflect Iniesta's shot out of play. It almost became an own goal. It was extremely awkward and dangerous.
"Daniel, where is your mark? I told you, do not get too close to the center," Gao Shen yelled from the sideline.
Carvajal took Courtois's hand, got up off the grass, and raised a hand apologetically to the head coach. He could feel Gao Shen's anger.
He had been warned just now, and he still lost Iniesta.
This was Barcelona's strength.
They could slip in a killer pass amid that fast, rolling circulation.
When Messi had the ball, Ramos and Pepe were drawn in. Carvajal wanted to protect Pepe's side, so he tucked in. As a result, Iniesta surged forward at some point.
Di María had pinned Alba and had no time to recover to Iniesta.
Fortunately, Carvajal had been reminded by Gao Shen, otherwise they would have conceded.
"Hey, kid, wake up and stay tight," Gao Shen shouted.
Pepe also turned and looked at Carvajal. "Do not worry about us. It is not that easy for him to get past me."
After saying that, Pepe flashed a confident smile.
He knew Carvajal had come over to cover him, but if that caused Carvajal to lose his position, that was unnecessary.
Barcelona's corner naturally posed no threat to Real Madrid, and Courtois came out to claim.
Gao Shen walked to the sideline again and signaled for Real Madrid to push up and increase the press in the front third.
Midfield, step over the halfway line and push up.
Gao Shen gave instructions to Xabi Alonso and Modrić.
Before the game, Gao Shen's plan was to concentrate numbers around the halfway line, with Benzema still screening Busquets. That was a tactic Gao Shen had used repeatedly against Barcelona in recent years.
But Martino had shifted his plan tonight and made many adjustments.
For example, Neymar moved to the right.
Sánchez, Barcelona's second-top scorer, did not play, and Iniesta started on the left.
Everyone knew Iniesta lacked pace, and although Alba was quick, Di María was tying him down.
Marcelo needed to be more careful with Neymar, but he could certainly ramp up the pressure on the right.
What is more, Gao Shen realized he could not allow Barcelona to settle and combine like that on the edge of his penalty area. Otherwise, gaps would appear, and it would be hard to guarantee Barcelona's stars would not create a killing chance out of nowhere.
So the best approach was to keep them away from the danger zone.
The biggest advantage of a mature team is that it can quickly understand the head coach's tactical intentions and adjust on the pitch in the shortest time.
When Gao Shen asked the players to push up and increase the pressure in midfield and the front line, Real Madrid's players quickly understood and, led by the trident, began to press Barcelona's defense proactively.
This was clearly different from Real Madrid's approach after kickoff.
Especially in the 13th minute, Real Madrid quickly put together the first wave of front-pressing counterattacks.
Di María and Benzema boxed in Alba and Piqué on the left side of Barcelona's penalty area, forcing Piqué to roll it back to goalkeeper Valdés. But Di María still pressed Valdés and Piqué high.
Piqué could not handle Di María's interference and tried to drill a pass straight into Xavi 30 meters out, but Modrić stepped in first.
The ball was quickly recovered by Barcelona, though.
Just as Barcelona connected a few passes and tried to play into Iniesta again, Carvajal had tracked him all the way, stepping up into the right corner of Barcelona's box. When Iniesta received facing the byline, Carvajal suddenly put his foot through it from behind.
The entire Bernabéu erupted with thunderous cheers.
Real Madrid had completed a very dangerous high interception.
(To be continued.)
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