Chapter 1069 Analysis

While watching the video, Zhou Yi would pause it with the remote from time to time, then scribble and draw in a notebook on the coffee table, contemplate for a while, and then press the remote to continue playing.

After watching it once, he started from the beginning and replayed it.

He turned off the TV only after repeating this process several times.

When he entered the bedroom, Cottana was already in bed, ready to sleep.

"I thought you were going to watch it until late at night," Cottana joked at first.

But she noticed that Zhou Yi didn't react to her joke at all, and was still frowning, so she asked seriously, "What's wrong? Are they a strong opponent?"

Zhou Yi hummed. "Very strong."

"Stronger than Bayern Munich?"

"In a sense… stronger than Bayern Munich. Mainly their tactics are very targeted, especially towards me…" Zhou Yi sat down on the edge of the bed. "Simeone's team is very good at physical confrontation, and I happen to be not good at physical confrontation."

Of course, Cottana knew Zhou Yi's strengths and weaknesses, and she became worried. "That's indeed a troublesome opponent. Do you have any solutions?"

Zhou Yi shook his head. "No solution."

"Ah?" Cottana was surprised to hear Zhou Yi say that. "What should we do then?"

"We have to play even if there's no solution. Just go all out then." Zhou Yi really didn't have any solutions at the moment. He planned to enter the virtual space and play against Atletico Madrid, accumulating enough experience in repeated matches against them.

For now, this was the only countermeasure.

He couldn't possibly transform himself into a muscle monster in just three or four days, completely unafraid of physical confrontation.

And Atletico Madrid would definitely capitalize on his physical characteristics.

※※※

Before training started the next day, Zhou Yi went straight to Klopp's office, returned the USB drive to the head coach, and Klopp was a little surprised. "…You could have continued watching…"

Zhou Yi shook his head. "No need. I've already memorized it."

Klopp didn't question Zhou Yi's statement. He trusted Zhou Yi, so he asked, "Did you notice their 'isolation' of Messi?"

Zhou Yi nodded. "I did."

Atletico Madrid's defense against Messi in that match was very successful.

Before the match, Barcelona's official website had even looked forward to Messi's performance in the match: "Messi has breached Atletico Madrid's goal eight times at the Calderon Stadium. Fans should remember Barcelona's 6-0 slaughter of Atletico Madrid in 2007, in which Messi scored twice. He has scored twenty goals against Atletico Madrid, and is the Mattress Makers' killer. Atletico Madrid's defenders will have a nightmare!"

Barcelona's coach Martino also said that Messi would be the key to victory in this match.

As a result, these two flags were well and truly set.

Throughout the match, there were very few shots of Messi. The few close-ups that were shown depicted him looking dejected and listless.

Atletico Madrid's high-pressure pressing forced Messi out of the penalty area, defending it desperately and preventing Messi from entering.

And away from the penalty area, Messi's connection with his teammates was cut off by Atletico Madrid. Iniesta, Xavi, and Busquets found it difficult to control the ball calmly under Atletico Madrid's pressure, and it was also difficult to connect with Messi.

As a result, Messi had to compete with a group of Atletico Madrid's tough guys in terms of physicality and perseverance.

This wasn't Messi's strength.

So at the Calderon Stadium, Messi completely disappeared. There were no familiar dribbling skills, no accurate passes, and the shots were repeatedly off target.

In addition, Messi's condition in this match was indeed not good, but it was not known whether it was due to Atletico Madrid's targeted defensive tactics or whether he was in bad shape to begin with. Because Atletico Madrid entered their rhythm from the beginning, they did not give Messi a chance to show his condition at all.

After the match, there was a statistic of the total distance run. Messi, who played the full ninety minutes and was not substituted, only ran six thousand eight hundred and fifty-three meters! Not even seven kilometers!

And Barcelona's goalkeeper Pinto had a running distance of five thousand three hundred and fifty-nine meters in this match. The thirty-four-year-old veteran Xavi even ran more than ten thousand meters!

Such a performance even made people suspect whether Messi had gone all out in the match against Atletico Madrid…

After the match, in response to Barcelona's official website's arrogant declaration before the match, Atletico Madrid fans created a missing person notice to mock Messi and Barcelona: "Lionel Messi, twenty-seven years old, nationality Argentina, plays for Barcelona. He went missing at the Calderon Stadium in Madrid on April 10, 2014, at 7:45 p.m. He was wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts when he went missing… If anyone has any information, please contact Barcelona immediately, and there will be a generous reward!"

Truly full of malice…

"I think as long as Simeone isn't crazy, Atletico Madrid will 'isolate' you like that too," Klopp said.

"Of course." Zhou Yi didn't seem surprised at all, and he didn't even seem worried or annoyed.

Klopp noticed Zhou Yi's reaction, so he asked curiously, "Do you have any countermeasures?"

Zhou Yi shook his head. "I wouldn't call it a countermeasure. I just have an idea…"

Klopp didn't expect Zhou Yi to actually come up with something. He felt more and more that he was right to let Zhou Yi watch the match video—he knew Zhou Yi would definitely create surprises!

"Oh? Tell me about it!" Klopp leaned forward expectantly, looking like he was "all ears."

"Atletico Madrid's high-pressure pressing is indeed a big trouble for teams that value ball control. But coach, we're not a ball control-type team…" Zhou Yi spread his hands.

Klopp was stunned when he heard Zhou Yi's words.

Zhou Yi didn't stop, and continued, "We do have a ball control advantage against those weaker teams, but against those teams with similar strength, or even stronger than us, we never have the upper hand in ball control. Think about our recent match against Bayern Munich. We had 29 percent possession throughout the match, but we won 3-1 against Bayern Munich. So I don't think we should be too afraid of Atletico Madrid's high pressing."

Klopp nodded repeatedly, thinking that Zhou Yi made sense.

"Also, we have a powerful weapon to deal with pressing, which is our 'footbonaut'. Our quick passing and short combinations are simply the natural nemesis of high pressing."

Hearing this, Klopp's eyes lit up.

What is high pressing? It's about forming a numerical advantage in a local area by pressing to encircle and suppress the ball-controlling side.

Doing so will inevitably leave some areas that cannot be taken care of elsewhere, and there will definitely be gaps behind.

However, most teams that are pressed find it difficult to even protect themselves, and they cannot take advantage of the gaps left behind by the opponent's pressing.

But this is not a big problem for Dortmund, a team that can play quick passing and short combinations.

You can come up and press, but I can pass the ball out before your pressing is in place. As long as I can get the ball out of the encirclement, your pressing will be useless, and I will have a lot of space to develop the attack.

Of course, such an analysis is only based on theory and lacks practice, but as Zhou Yi said, it does provide Klopp with an idea, and a very good one at that. It's better than having no idea at all, right?

Klopp was excited and happy. He looked at his star pupil again… a true "star pupil," making him proud. Among all the players he had coached, Zhou Yi was the player he liked, appreciated, valued, and relied on the most.

Sometimes, the role and influence that Zhou Yi showed in the team had already exceeded the scope of a top player.

He had only shown him the match video, and didn't really have any hope, just wanting Zhou Yi to be mentally prepared for what he would face in the match.

But Zhou Yi gave him a big surprise. He asked curiously, "Did you think of this in one night?"

Zhou Yi could hear the surprise and appreciation in Klopp's tone. He wanted to be low-key, so he shook his head. "Not really. I had considered what to do if we encountered them when I was watching the match live, but it wasn't very clear at the time. After repeatedly watching the videos that the coaching staff edited this time, my thoughts gradually became clearer…"

In fact, he told a lie, a benevolent lie. He couldn't possibly tell Klopp that he had simulated eight matches against Atletico Madrid in the virtual space where he slept at night before he figured out his ideas, right?

Klopp saw that Zhou Yi had already considered it, and although he hadn't come up with something earth-shattering overnight, it was still very remarkable—how many players would actively watch the opponent's matches and think about tactical issues?

Zhou Yi had done well enough, and he couldn't ask for anything more.

So he stood up and rubbed his hands excitedly. "Well done. Next is training. We must strengthen our quick passing and short combinations in training! We must modify the training plan…"

As he spoke, he couldn't wait to call each of the coaching staff members and tell them to come to his office for a meeting.

Zhou Yi saw that there was nothing for him to do, and decided to say goodbye and leave, but he was stopped by Klopp. "Wait, Zhou Yi, stay here. You can explain your ideas to them. I think only you can do it."

Zhou Yi had attended meetings between the coaching staff before, so he didn't refuse and nodded in agreement.