Argentina 1-0 Venezuela, Lautaro wasted an outrageous opportunity, Enzo’s midfield cornerstone is solid

In the friendly match between Argentina and Venezuela, there was a lot to watch. Lautaro missed 65 good opportunities in the unofficial match, and it was inevitable that the team would win a small victory over its opponent. In this game, Paz hit the post with a long-range shot. Fortunately, Lautaro, whose shot failed, assisted Lo Celso to take the lead. In the second half, neither team made any achievements. The best player in the game was Venezuelan goalkeeper Contreras, because he made 10 saves, which made the opponent's strikers sigh.

In this game, Messi watched the team's performance from the stands, and he must have been very anxious. Fortunately, Enzo quietly supported Argentina's midfield skeleton with 111 touches of the ball and a 91% passing success rate. In this crushing battle with 70% ball possession rate, the value of this core midfielder is not reflected in the glorious statistics of goals and assists, but through continuous rhythm control and defense penetration, the team's advantage is transformed into a continuous offensive. Post-match data showed that Enzo touched the ball 123 times, ranked first in completed passes 101 times, ranked first in accurate passes to the opponent's half with 61 times, and ranked first in passes to the offensive third with 25 times.

In the 11th minute of the game, an inverted triangle pass from the right almost assisted Lo Celso to score, which was just a microcosm of Enzo's many key passes in this game. He accurately found his teammates 4 times out of 7 long passes, made 3 cross attempts that constantly stretched Venezuela's wing defense, and completed 3 successful ground confrontations and 1 clearance on the defensive end, perfectly interpreting the characteristics of a modern midfielder that integrates offense and defense. With Paredes' slightly conservative partner, Enzo's forward pass became the key to breaking the dense defense. It was also the midfield rotation he led that allowed Argentina to form continuous pressure in the frontcourt and create 15 shooting opportunities for the forwards. The post-match rating of 7.8 points is proof of this invisible and dominant midfielder.

In sharp contrast to Enzo's stability, Lautaro once again put the efficiency dilemma on the table with a performance full of contradictions. The Inter Milan forward contributed 5 shots and 1 assist in the game, but missed five excellent opportunities and became the backdrop for Venezuelan goalkeeper Contreras's battle to become a god.

From the perspective of tactical value, Lautaro's contribution should not be completely denied: in the 30th minute, the diagonal pass from the top of the central arc accurately tore open the defense line, helping Lo Celso score the winning goal, demonstrating his ability to support outside the penalty area; the intensity of fighting and winning 9 of 13 one-on-one confrontations in the game also continued his characteristics as a pressing forward. However, as the core of the striker, his shortcomings in key ball handling were fully exposed: in the 4th minute, his volley was blocked, in the 41st minute, his low shot was blocked, and in the 85th minute, consecutive follow-up shots in front of the goal failed. Three close opportunities were missed due to deviations in shot angle selection or improper timing of the shot.

This contrast between the ability to create opportunities and the ability to seize them is the epitome of Lautaro’s awkward tactical positioning in the national team. Compared with Alvarez's agile finishing, Lautaro's physical advantage is difficult to use in the dense defense of the South American team, and his speed disadvantage makes it difficult for him to connect with the counterattack rhythm. Behind the 7.4-point rating is the imbalance between tactical value and scoring responsibility.

This 1-0 small victory was essentially the result of the joint effect of Enzo's system cohesion and Lautaro's efficiency shortcomings. Enzo's stable performance proves that Argentina has gradually built a midfield transmission system that does not rely on Messi. Its 91% passing success rate is even close to the team's peak transmission level; while Lautaro's dilemma is a warning that Scaloni still needs to find a better solution for the forward. When Alvarez is also constrained by the opponent's goalkeeper, how to activate the finishing efficiency of the striker will become a core issue in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

Messi in the stands may have already understood that Enzo's maturity has given the team the ability to cover tactical situations, but Lautaro's transformation speed may determine the upper limit of Argentina's post-Messi era.