Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
Argentina, who lost their first game, were in a must-win situation against Mexico, replacing Papu Gómez, who hadn't done much in the previous game, with a man who had played a lot in the last game.
Brighton
Mexico started the game in a five-guard formation with the intention of playing a complete defensive counterattack, while Guido Rodríguez and DePaul were paired in the midfield in a formation close to 442.
(Both teams start)
After the game started, you can see that Argentina is really different from the previous game, Allister did not insist on breaking through but kept passing around the left side to create opportunities for his teammates, and the original four-back formation changed to three backs after the game started, the left side of the left Acuña can play as a left center midfielder, he entered the center midfield to strengthen the propulsion power of the middle, and Lisandro Martinez moved to the left side to become a left back. Lisandro Martinez shifted to the left to become a left-sided defender, this configuration is very suitable for them, Acuña's original impact is good, and Lisandro Martinez is actually very fast, rather than playing center back he is more suitable to cover the area of the defense on the left side, and his backfield out of the ball is fast and accurate, and out of the side of the ball will be very penetrating.
However, Mexico's defense was solid and they knew Argentina's old rival very well. The five defenders formation started the game with two wingbacks, Kevin Álvarez and Jesús Gallardo, entering the midfield, expanding the middle to five and compressing the central area of the defense, which made it difficult for Messi to enter the middle where he excels and, at the same time, due to too many people gathered at the back, it was hard for Messi to pass and create a shooting chance. At the same time, with too many men gathered at the back, Messi was separated from Lautaro Martinez, making it difficult for him to pass the ball and create chances on goal.
Scaloni quickly saw the dilemma, and in the middle of the first half he asked Argentine right back Gonzalo Montiel to go forward as well, to increase the right channel for DiMariz and Messi to be able to pass the ball out to expand the range of the side, while the two Mexican strikers Alexis Vega and Hirving Lozano were still waiting, Vega had already made several high-speed attacks forward. Vega had already attacked at high speed a couple of times, and Scaloni asked Guido Rodríguez to move back to cover the center backs, so the back position was wide open, and the work in this area was handed over to DePaul.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
However, the distribution of this section is not very successful, because DePaul's ability is limited to cover such a large area, he was originally a player in the middle of the field, so he had to keep chasing back and also have to go forward to play the ball, so it makes a big mess, and a bigger problem is Guido Rodríguez, his favorite ability was originally the center of the field to play the ball and back to the defense, after the beginning of the match he seems to be in the state of not very good. After he moved to the back of the field, it even affected his ability to play the ball. Later, he even passed the ball directly to the opponent, and after he retreated, DePaul was unable to support his waist alone. Although the number of activities in front of the number is still not enough, but the number of Argentina's defense is also small, once the interception fails to turn into a Mexican long drive, so the pressure is quite large.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
Messi was forced to drop back to take the ball in this situation, but the Mexican players stayed on him, as soon as he tried to get inside the 30-yard line he was immediately double-teamed, and DiMaria was never able to get past left back Jesús Gallardo, who tried to switch sides a few times in this game, but never made the breakthrough either left or right. The first half ended in a stalemate between the two teams, as was already the case in the first leg against Saudi Arabia, but Argentina's attempts to keep the pressure on led to Mexico's veteran Andrés Guardado going off with an injury before the end of the first half and being replaced by Érick Gutiérrez.
At the start of the second half the situation did not improve, Scaloni replaced Montiel, Lautaro Martinez and Guido Rodríguez with Molina, Álvarez and Fernández to make the front line more flexible, and the attacking six and defending four were already spread out, which was a bit risky, but it had to be done in order to score a goal. It was a risky move, but it had to be done.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
At the 64:00 mark, because Argentina's attackers have become more, the central pressure increased, Acuña can go up to play as a left winger, resulting in Mexico's backfield defense has become a wider range, which makes the back position of the gap, DiMaria in the left side of the ball to see the center of the space, he immediately crossed the pass to Messi, Messi to take the ball is free from the staring at him Érick Gutiérrez's state of mind, he directly stopped the ball and kicked a super-fast low goal directly from 24 yards. When Messi took the ball, he was free from Érick Gutiérrez, who was watching him, and he took a shot from the center of the field, and he kicked the ball from 24 yards with a super high and low ball.
