From the man behind the football king to the football king

After narrowly defeating Chievo, the Udinese team flew to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, to prepare for an away game against Ludogorets in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.

Since Ludogorets' home stadium, the Ludogorets Arena, is only a small stadium with a capacity of 8,000 people and does not meet the requirements for the Champions League competition, Ludogorets' Champions League home stadium was chosen to be in Vasi, Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Levski National Stadium.

Since Udinese had qualified for the group stage two rounds in advance, Guidolin did not pay too much attention to this group match and made a large rotation of the team's starting lineup. Captain Di Natale did not go to Bulgaria with the team. Although Bruno went with the team, he was most likely sitting on the bench.

On the night of the game, Udinese held another pre-match meeting, and Guidolin announced his starting lineup.

The goalkeeper is Skuffet, the defense is Erto, Maguire, Bubonijic and Piris, the midfielder is Kante in the back, Badou and Pingqi are in the center, and the frontcourt is Muriel and Taylor. and Aguirre.

Bruno is on the bench. The specific time to come on depends on the trend of the game, but it should be in the second half.

"Let me introduce to you, first the visiting team Udinese's starting lineup."

The most threatening shot since the start occurred in the 21st minute. Muriel passed back to Badu. Badu passed the ball to the left. Erto quickly inserted his left foot in the back row and passed to the back point.

Players from both teams walked off the court one after another, each one already dripping with sweat and panting like an ox.

………………

Bruno looked and saw that only about half of the stands were occupied.

With the active counterattack in the frontcourt, every time Udinese finally brought the ball to the frontcourt, they directly faced Ludogorets' two stable defense lines. If the counterattack failed, it directly became In a critical battle, the attack immediately became impossible to start.

"Although the club has qualified early, everyone should not ignore this game. After all, we still need to compete with Real Madrid for first place in the group, which will determine whether we have a relatively easy opponent to deal with in the Champions League knockout stage."

After everyone heard this, they couldn't help but raise their heads and chests.

On the day of the match, after Udinese had breakfast, they held another tactical meeting. This time it was mainly about studying the offense and defense of free kicks. Guidolin's preparations were even meticulous about the tasks of each player.

In the last chance of the first half, Udinese broke into the penalty area from the right and was knocked down by the Ludogorets goalkeeper after receiving the ball. The linesman had already raised the flag, indicating that both Pingchi and Taylor were in an offside position.

………………

When Udinese players passed by Bruno, they all took the initiative to high-five Bruno and other teammates on the bench, and then walked back to the player tunnel and returned to the locker room.

………………

After the warm-up was over and they returned to the locker room, none of the players spoke.

"All the viewers in front of the TV, the fifth round of Group B of the 2014-2015 Champions League group stage is about to start."

"Now we have a clear view of the starting lineups for both teams."

Not long after, Ludogorets quickly counterattacked.

Lunch, rest, afternoon tea, departure.

Everyone nodded in unison.

Udinese then actively opened up the two wings. In the 29th minute, Piris actively moved up the wing. After receiving a level ball, he dribbled the ball straight to the baseline.

Once the ball is lost in the frontcourt, Ludogorets' frontcourt will immediately engage in counterattack. The two forwards and No. 8 are very active in the counterattack. No. 18 and No. 7 will immediately retreat in front of the defense. position, forming a three-back defensive line.

The left back jumped into the attack, got the ball and passed it into the penalty area. Maguire headed the ball to clear the ball. However, Ludogorets took the ball back on the right and No. 8 passed the ball diagonally to the penalty area at a 45-degree angle. No. 84 He stopped the ball with his back, turned around and hit the goal but was blocked by Maguire. Kanter got the ball and made a big-footed clearance.

Basically, Ludogorets' entire tactical style was similar to what the Udinese coaching staff expected before the game. In this game, their pressing area was mainly concentrated on the midline. If it didn't work, they would retreat to 30 meters. district.

"The players from both teams walked out of the tunnel one after another under the leadership of the referee."

"As for the home team, almost the entire main lineup is playing. After all, Ludogorets is only 4 points behind Real Madrid, and there is still the possibility of qualifying for the group. At least they can compete with Basel for third place in the group and play in the Europa League. Goalkeeper 21 No. Stoyanov, the four defenders are No. 80 Kaikara, No. 27 Modi, No. 55 Teziev, and No. 25 Minev. The midfielders are No. 93 Misidyan and No. 18 Deya. Kove, No. 8 Espinho, No. 7 Mikhail Alexandrov; the forwards are No. 84 Marcelinho and No. 17 Aballo.”

In the first half, the two sides finally shook hands with a 0:0 draw.

On the road, Udinese decided to respond with a defensive counterattack. After all, even a draw is acceptable for Udinese.

The home team Ludogorets controlled the ball, but it was not until the third minute that they found a gap. Espinho passed the ball through the penalty area. Aballo wanted to rush over to chase it, but the Udinese goalkeeper Skuffett struck decisively and fell first to catch the ball.

"It can be seen that after qualifying two rounds in advance, Guidolin conducted a comprehensive rotation of Udinese's lineup. The only main player was Kante, the midfielder, who started. Bruno, the core midfielder, sat on the bench. , the offensive core captain Di Natale was not even included in the team roster."

Badu quickly took a free kick, but Ludogorets goalkeeper Stoyanov took the ball first in the penalty area.

Bruno sat on the bench, his attention always on the court.

Everyone stood up.

After speaking, Guidolin hugged the group of warriors who were about to take the field one by one.

"But don't put any pressure on us, just enjoy this game and do our best without leaving any regrets. That's enough."

After tidying up things in the locker room, he soon walked into the stadium under the leadership of the coaching staff and UEFA staff for the last warm-up training before the game.

This should be a pressing and pressing strategy consciously adopted by coach Ludogorets after in-depth analysis.

The capacity of the Vasil Levski National Stadium is more than 43,000, which is about the same capacity as the Friuli Stadium. However, the attendance rate of the stadium is not high, because it is a full 350 kilometers away from Razgrad, where Ludogorets is located, and Razgrad is only a small supermarket with a small population.

………………

The contact between the two forwards is also very fixed, with No. 84 basically connecting the ball, and No. 17 wandering around to grab the second spot.

………………

The two teams exchanged offense and defense after the start. They obviously played more cautiously, with a slow pace, and they obviously focused on stability.

"I won't say any more. We have prepared everything that needs to be said and prepared."

Bruno and others continued to stay on the court to warm up.

Bruno came to Udinese for more than a year and was deeply influenced by Udinese's style. He felt that Ludogorets' style was too conservative, but he had to admit that this Bulgarian team could reach the Champions League. During the game, this conservative and pragmatic tactical style played a key role.

The Ludogorets defender desperately chased back, tackled Piris from the side and behind, and gave Udinese a set kick in the frontcourt. At the same time, the referee also gave the opponent's defender a yellow card, but Udinese subsequently The free kick hit the wall directly.

Soon, Udinese also made a counterattack, making a long pass from the backcourt to find Taylor. When the Udinese forward was dribbling the ball, he was tripped by Dyakov who was returning to the defense. The referee whistled for a foul and gave Udinese the ball. Dines took a free kick in the frontcourt, but was not given a card.

From the first minute of the game, Udinese consciously shrank its defense, but did not retreat too far. The three lines were kept very tight and compact.

"The goalkeeper is Skuffet, the defense is Erto, Bubonjic, Maguire and Piris from left to right. The midfielder is Badu, Kante and Pingqi, and the forward is Murie Er, Taylor and Aguirre.”

Guidolin walked into the locker room and started mobilizing before the game: "Okay, everyone."

The first half of the game was dull. Neither side created good scoring opportunities, and both sides played conservatively.

After hearing the referee's whistle, Bruno quickly stood up from his seat and ran quickly to the sidelines.

Udinese played more actively and actively tried the ball behind them. In the first fifteen minutes, Taylor, Muriel and Piris each had one offside.

Ludogorets' defense is very flexible. When the home team attacks, the two midfielders No. 18 and No. 7 will take the initiative to press forward. One midfielder, No. 93, drags behind alone, and the other midfielder, No. 8, remains the same. Occupying the attacking midfielder position, this makes Ludogorets' midfield somewhat like a diamond midfielder.

But unfortunately, Taylor was double-teamed by two players and failed to follow up in time.

After the meeting, everyone performed simple restorative training in the park next to the hotel.

With the referee's whistle, Udinese took the lead.

………………

In addition to the midfielder, the two wingers are also very interesting. No. 25 on the left is more active and will jump in when there is an opportunity, while No. 80 on the right is more conservative and basically stays in the backcourt. This makes Ludo Gorets basically has three defensive players in the backcourt. Once the ball is stolen, they will actively pass the ball to the forward.

Needless to say, Ludogorets, Udinese also intends to protect their defense. Guidolin is very aware of how fragile his defense is. Although Udinese has qualified early, the first position in the group still needs to be He wanted to compete, so he has been suppressing the positions of Heitinga and Maguire, while trying to prevent Badu and Ping Qi from overpowering him.

On the contrary, the two wingers played more energetically, with Erto and Piris appearing to be more active.