Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

”...Today, both Chelsea and Bayern Munich have opted to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation.

For the home team, Bayern, the starting goalkeeper is Neuer. In defense, Pellegrini continues with the Alaba and Boateng center-back pairing, with Bernat at left-back and Lahm at right-back.

Thiago and Javi Martínez will sit as the two holding midfielders, Müller will play as the central attacking midfielder, Ribéry and Robben will cover the left and right wings respectively, and the center forward is Lewandowski.”

”Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper today is Oblak. In defense, Terry steps in for the injured Maguire to partner Thiago Silva, with Azpilicueta and Trippier as the fullbacks.

In midfield, Matić and Kroos will hold, with Li Ang as the attacking midfielder, flanked by Hazard on the left and De Bruyne on the right.

Up front, the starting striker is Suárez...”

At the beginning of the match, commentators from various countries quickly completed their introductions of the teams’ starting lineups and formations.

Overall, both Chelsea and Bayern were dealing with key players missing due to injuries, so both Mourinho and Pellegrini chose safer, more stable starting setups.

Once the match officially kicked off, the cautious probing attacks from both teams made it clear that both coaching staffs had opted for conservative tactics.

However, on Chelsea’s side, Li Ang was visibly more proactive and lively on the ball. His few attempts at driving forward put considerable pressure on Bayern’s midfield and defensive lines.

Thiago and Javi Martínez, having faced Li Ang many times in the Champions League, knew better than to take him lightly.

Whenever Li Ang started to drive forward, both immediately dropped back into position, determined not to allow him to penetrate into their defensive third.

Even Alaba, who had transformed into a ball-carrying center-back frequently joining the attack in Bundesliga matches, stayed disciplined at the back early in this game.

Such a scene was rare — Bayern, a team that traditionally dominated games with their attacking play, was choosing to defend cautiously against Chelsea.

Who said Pellegrini couldn’t be flexible with tactics?

Clearly, he wasn’t just an offense-obsessed manager!

Pellegrini understood that facing this stronger version of Chelsea meant he needed to prioritize defense first and look for counterattacking opportunities later.

It was much like how Guardiola had become more pragmatic in the Premier League — adapting when necessary.

While Bayern still played aggressive, dominant football against other Bundesliga teams, Pellegrini knew full well that if they wanted to survive against Chelsea, they couldn’t afford to stubbornly insist on attacking at all costs.

Mourinho was somewhat surprised by Pellegrini’s tactical adjustment.

But upon second thought, he could understand it — it made sense.

Now that Bayern had willingly surrendered the initiative in attack, a new tactical dilemma presented itself to Mourinho:

Should Chelsea accept this offer and take control of the game themselves?

Should they push forward and press Bayern aggressively even at their home ground?

Normally, this wouldn’t even be a question for Mourinho — Chelsea often preferred to defend first.

But times had changed.

When even a team as powerful as Bayern was showing deference to Chelsea, Mourinho needed to start preparing for future matches where Chelsea would be expected to seize the initiative.

Standing on the sideline, Holland and Mourinho quickly discussed the situation.

It took less than two minutes for Holland to step to the touchline and signal a tactical adjustment to the players.

Mourinho chose to accept Bayern’s gift — Chelsea would take the initiative!

Since Pellegrini dared to concede it, Mourinho dared to take it.

Chelsea had no problem controlling the tempo when needed — Mourinho trusted Li Ang and Kroos to manage possession and structure the attacks properly.

After confirming the tactical shift with Holland, Li Ang altered his previous approach of aggressively carrying the ball forward.

Instead, he began dropping deeper to link up with Kroos and orchestrate Chelsea’s buildup play.

Organizing play from deep was no problem for Li Ang and Kroos.

Chelsea quickly pushed their entire formation higher, applying pressure to Bayern’s two defensive lines inside their half.

The sight of Chelsea gradually overwhelming Bayern’s half made the home fans uneasy, but for Bayern’s coaching staff, this was exactly what they had planned for.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern faced little to no serious opposition — even Borussia Dortmund couldn’t really trouble them.

Although Bayern hadn’t yet built a massive points gap over Dortmund, within the team, no one truly saw Dortmund as a real threat.

Compared to the Bundesliga trophies they had already grown tired of winning, Bayern’s real goal was to continue making history in the Champions League.

Just as Chelsea viewed Bayern as their biggest obstacle on the road to European glory, Bayern similarly regarded Chelsea as their primary threat.

In terms of research on Chelsea, Bayern’s coaching staff were no less thorough than Manchester City’s.

This season, Pellegrini had thoroughly dissected Chelsea’s tactics, inside and out.

Thus, he decisively abandoned any idea of trying to overwhelm Chelsea with attacking football before the game even began.

He had no interest in engaging Chelsea in a positional battle.

Because the data from dozens of Chelsea’s recent matches had made one thing abundantly clear to Bayern’s coaching staff:

Teams that tried to aggressively attack Chelsea’s defense had consistently met with disaster.

None of those teams managed to even scrape a single point off Chelsea — those who dared to push too high were ruthlessly crushed by Chelsea’s lethal counterattacks!

Bayern themselves had suffered heavily from this in the past, so Pellegrini had no intention of repeating the same mistakes.

Even if it meant not gaining any advantage in the first leg, even if Bayern couldn’t secure a lead at home, Pellegrini was determined not to order a full-on assault against Chelsea’s rock-solid defense.

Dragging the game into a slow-tempo positional battle? Even worse.

When the game slowed down, Chelsea’s defensive organization became their deadliest weapon.

And with Chelsea’s young center-back Maguire currently injured, and veteran Terry’s lack of pace becoming a vulnerability, Chelsea would naturally prefer to slow the tempo and avoid exposing their back line too often.

If Bayern wanted to dismantle Chelsea’s defense and take a commanding lead in the first leg, they needed to avoid falling into a positional battle trap.

Thus, Bayern’s coaching staff formulated a tactical plan centered around deliberately conceding possession at the start.

Up until now, Bayern’s tactical plan was proceeding smoothly and methodically.

Chelsea’s aggressive pressing had indeed created the conditions Bayern needed to launch quick counterattacks!

Li Ang, on the pitch, had already considered the possibility that Bayern deliberately surrendered control to hit Chelsea on the break.

But even so, he didn’t believe that Mourinho’s tactical adjustment — taking the initiative to attack Bayern — was a mistake.

Opportunity and risk have always gone hand in hand on the football field. You can’t enjoy the benefits of aggressive offense while expecting to completely avoid the risks of counterattacks.

The same principle applies to playing counterattack football — if you want the reward of exploiting space behind an opponent’s defense, you must first accept the risk of being pinned back under heavy pressure.

Thus, Li Ang had no complaints about Chelsea taking the initiative against Bayern. If Bayern dared to give up control, then Chelsea were bold enough to accept it!

What was there to be overly worried about?

In terms of attacking power, was there any opponent left in world football that Chelsea needed to fear?

Looking at the frontline ahead of him, Li Ang brimmed with confidence.

This was a trident composed of Hazard, Suárez, and De Bruyne!

Dribbling, passing, organization, penalty box finishing — whatever a top frontline needed, they had it all. They were in no way inferior to Real Madrid’s famous BBC trio.

Li Ang firmly believed that given enough ball possession, his attacking teammates would break down Bayern’s defensive line.

Bayern’s coaching staff had thought things through, but they seriously underestimated the upper limit of Chelsea’s attacking prowess.

By the end of this season, when Suárez seized both the Premier League Golden Boot and perhaps even the European Golden Shoe, no coach would ever again dare to employ tactics that allowed him any shooting freedom...

Chelsea’s attacking rhythm ramped up quickly after pushing forward.

At this point, Pellegrini still had faith in his defensive line.

Indeed, in the Bundesliga, Bayern’s current backline did enjoy a significant advantage over their domestic rivals.

But when Bayern willingly abandoned the initiative and sat deep in defense, their defenders were nowhere near as dominant as they imagined.

At the very least, neither Bernat nor Alaba could be considered among the elite in their respective positions defensively.

Chelsea had, after all, broken through Atlético Madrid’s fortress last season and upgraded their attack further this year.

To be honest, Li Ang really couldn’t understand where Pellegrini got the confidence to allow Chelsea to take the attacking initiative!

In the 9th minute of the first half, Li Ang made a late run to join the attack.

After quickly transferring the ball to De Bruyne, he continued his run into the far post area, pulling Bayern’s defenders’ attention.

De Bruyne, in perfect understanding, lofted the ball toward the near post of Bayern’s penalty area.

Suárez, having slipped away from his marker, darted forward and stabbed at the ball, forcing Neuer into his first world-class save of the match!

Neuer managed to palm the ball out for a corner, but after scrambling up from the turf, he immediately roared at his defenders, warning them not to take any chances!

At that moment, Boateng looked rather aggrieved — when Li Ang had made his forward run into the box, Boateng had to be the first to track him.

Thus, the responsibility of marking Suárez had naturally fallen to Alaba.

Alaba’s momentary lapse in marking caused both him and Boateng to catch flak from Neuer, a reaction that was somewhat unfair.

Still, as the organizational leader of Bayern’s defense, Boateng could only grit his teeth and gesture to Neuer that he understood.

But he hadn’t realized that this was just Chelsea’s opening salvo.

Li Ang continued to apply relentless pressure on Bayern’s backline, forcing Boateng to focus the bulk of his defensive attention on him.

It wasn’t Boateng’s fault — everyone knew how lethal Li Ang’s late runs into the box could be.

Li Ang could pretend to be a decoy, dragging defenders away to create space for Suárez.

But the moment Boateng and Alaba switched marking assignments, Li Ang could instantly transform into the main attacker!

Would Bayern’s defenders dare to gamble?

No, they wouldn’t. Because if they guessed wrong, the price could very well be a goal conceded — a responsibility none of them wanted to bear.

Watching his side’s passive defense, Pellegrini began to waver internally.

Chelsea’s attacking scheme was laid out openly — Li Ang targeted Boateng to draw Bayern’s attention, allowing Suárez to gain the upper hand against Alaba.

Bayern had two choices: either pull midfielders back to double-team Chelsea’s attackers or endure the current defensive pressure while patiently waiting for a counterattack.

It was a brutal decision to make, and Pellegrini’s hesitation in making tactical adjustments only worsened the situation.

His indecision led to Chelsea continuously battering and stretching Bayern’s backline.

When defenders are under immense pressure, their movements inevitably lose sharpness and composure.

In the 28th minute of the first half, after over ten minutes of sustained pressure, Chelsea found another breakthrough opportunity.

Li Ang’s clever decoy run opened space for De Bruyne’s cross to find Kroos, who was making a late surge forward.

The former Bayern midfield maestro delivered a sharp through ball to Hazard, who cut in diagonally through Bayern’s half-space.

In an instant, Bayern’s penalty area was thrown into chaos!

Hazard capitalized, whipping in a cross. At this moment, Boateng gritted his teeth, abandoning Li Ang to rush toward the far post.

But Suárez had already beaten Alaba to the favorable position at the far post.

Initially planning to head directly at goal, Suárez spotted Boateng’s rapid approach and quickly changed his mind.

Leaping into the air, he redirected the ball with a deft flick, sending it back into the center of the penalty area!

And waiting there, perfectly positioned, was Li Ang — who calmly trapped the ball and, without even taking a step, unleashed a vicious shot!

Neuer, with his line of sight heavily obstructed by the tangle of players, chose a direction to dive — but he was half a beat too late!

Li Ang’s shot rocketed into the top left corner of Bayern’s net like a cannonball!

The Allianz Arena was stunned into absolute silence.

And in that frozen moment, Li Ang stretched out his arms and sprinted passionately toward the corner flag!

The rest of the Chelsea players swarmed after him, celebrating wildly in the heart of Bayern’s fortress!

With this crucial away goal, Chelsea had secured exactly what they came to Munich for!

On the sidelines, Pellegrini looked on in despair at Li Ang’s roaring celebration, shaking his head repeatedly.

Like countless Bayern fans, he could only sigh internally.

A miscalculation.

A serious miscalculation.