Many question marks before the Champions League struck: Red Star and YB in step with problems

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

It was the system that didn’t help against RB Leipzig. Three-point defense. Two sixes. Two defenders in the couloirs. Safety first. But the (surprised) Germans were still simply too good.

In principle, system discussions are not really relevant. Because they rarely determine the course of a game. It is always the players who fill in the system. Yet a system discussion was appropriate in the first Champions League match. For two reasons: Because Raphael Wicky had never played with this system in his 57 games on the YB bench. And because the basic DNA of the team, which has won the national championship five times in the past six years, was thrown overboard. Because this means: play ahead!

Will Benito be fit in time?

And now we go to the Marakana. A widely feared stadium with fanatical, noisy fans. And a home team that takes control at home and furiously tries to get to the start. Reason enough to try three-point defense again? Wicky let this system play itself out in the rankings in the final fifteen minutes when the point was to maintain the result over time.

He indicated that he would definitely play with a three-man defense again. Some time. Somewhere. And with Loris Benito, the man who perfectly fills the left position in a three-man defense could possibly become fit again. Benito missed the last three games due to muscle problems. “He’s quite advanced in advanced training. We take it day by day,” says Wicky.

Solidarity and self-confidence

For the rest, the resident of Upper Valais cannot deduce much from Wednesday’s performance on the Letzigrund field. Nothing regarding the setting. 5,700 came. On Wednesday that will be almost tenfold. Nothing in terms of space. There is a Piccobello lawn in the Marakana. And nothing in terms of performance, which was far from top class. Wicky puts it into perspective: “Playing is a brave word. It was a sporting battle on this field.” Why you can take exactly this with you: “Duels, in solidarity, with each other, for each other. And the result that gives you self-confidence, because football is a game of results. And we have to play football a little differently. We know we can do that.”

Red Star also wins 1-0 – and is not satisfied

Good to know that the slogans from Belgrade sound exactly the same. After two defeats against Cukaricki (the second in the SuperLiga…) and Manchester City, Red Star found its way back to victory: 1-0 against Radnicki Nis.

And there too it was said: “Victory is the most important thing. If you are not at your best and have lost your last match in the competition, it is important to get back to winning ways to regain your confidence. We are working on efficiency and trying out different systems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I think we will be better on Wednesday. The focus now is on the young boys.” Signed: Barak Bahar, coach of Red Star. You might as well have written Raphael Wicky under these words.

Source : Blick