Opinion – PVC: Equilibrium in Italian if you speak Ancelotti

In several moments of the first half of the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, in Paris, it was possible to see Vinicius Junior behind Alexander-Arnold. While the brilliant English point guard swooped in diagonally and left the right wing to Salah, or Henderson, Real’s zone marking left Casemiro behind a line of guards, with Valverde, Modric and Kroos.

Vinicius released.

True, it wasn’t always like that. Sometimes Vini worried about Arnold, but the tactical design showed Ancelotti’s intention: the counterattack.

The winning goal, a pass from the Uruguayan Valverde, in the space granted by Robertson, to the Brazilian Vinicius Junior, behind Alexander-Arnold, shows that Ancelotti knew that the possible space was in Klopp’s two wings: the wings.

Ancelotti is not a fan of the counterattack at all costs, he is not an old-fashioned Italian. A disciple of the Swedish Nils Liedholm, his coach at Roma de Falcão, national champion in 1983, and of Arrigo Sacchi, twice European champion for Milan in 1989 and 1990, Ancelotti is the balance between the old school and the new school in Italy.

He played in the 1990 Cup under the command of Azeglio Vicini, with individual marking. But their teams play by zone. He was England’s best attacker with Chelsea in 2010 (103 goals) and always with a hard-to-beat defense, no records.

In Italy in the 1990s, Arrigo Sacchi was criticized for violating the tradition of a four-time world champion school, defensive and traditionalist about marking man to man. Ancelotti is faithful to the most modern game, by Sacchi, with global characteristics, but with the Italian culture present.

He has Tite as his admirer and teaches him to say balance, in his language. The only difference is the letter ü, pronounced as if there were an umlaut, killed by the spelling reform.

You can bet that Ancelotti wasn’t happy to see his team finish a miserable time against Liverpool, taking Benzema’s disallowed goal. In being champion for having a goalkeeper who decides matches, as did the Belgian Courtois, author of four saves against the nine correct shots of Salah and company.

Guardiola is the most transformative of coaches, Klopp follows his example and demands more and more intensity, with consecutive tackles in the attacking field. On Saturday, La Gazzetta dello Sport defined in a paragraph the differences between the Italian and the German coach.

“Carlo is the calm of Real Madrid, who also scored after the 45th minute. Jürgen is the fire for Liverpool, who attack before the first minute.”

At 54 seconds, the English stole the first ball in the offensive field.

Ancelotti is not the revolution, it is knowledge. It’s not the attack at all costs. It’s balance. The first manager to win the Champions League four times will not leave a new style attached to his name, like Guardiola’s pressure and possession or Klopp’s “gegenpressing”.

Real Madrid 2022 is the team that believes until the last moment and studies opponents to try to attack their weaknesses. That’s why Vinicius Junior seemed loose, behind Alexander-Arnold, positioned to try to score the title goal.

Tired

Santos played better than Palmeiras in most of the Vila Belmiro derby, Raphael Veiga missed a penalty, and, tired, Abel Ferreira’s team made it 1-0 with Gustavo Gómez. Now, with a week off, it’s the kind of result that shows fighting for the title.

São Paulo almost

São Paulo is the team of almost, at this point in the season. Almost beat Corinthians in Itaquera, almost took the lead in the Brazilian and is almost safe with three defenders. Suffering two goals from Ceará, tired of the trip to Argentina, took away the chance to lead.