Chapter 102 Season Europe's Peak Battle

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the European Cup, this European Cup is the 51st competition, so the final returned to Paris, the venue of the first final, to show honor.

Paris, France, was extremely bustling on the evening of May 2006, 5, local time. Especially on the road leading to the Stade de France, there were heavy traffic and crowds of people.

The Stade de France is located in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, France. It is a large multi-purpose sports venue that can accommodate 8 spectators. This modern professional football stadium was built for the 1998 World Cup and served as the venue for the 1998 World Cup final.

After its completion, the Stade de France has been the home stadium of the French national team; however, the stadium is not used as the home stadium by any team in Ligue 1. The main club in Paris, Paris Saint-Germain, uses the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris as its home stadium.

After 246 days and 124 games, Barcelona, ​​with the most goals, and Arsenal, with the most efficient defense, entered the final battle. Both teams remained unbeaten in the Champions League this season.

Both teams have more or less French elements. Barcelona's leader Ronaldinho once played for Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona's main winger Giuly is French. However, Arsenal has more French elements. Not to mention French stars such as Pires, captain Henry was born in the suburbs of Paris, and coach Wenger has the hope of becoming the first French head coach to win the Champions League.

Therefore, the local fans in Paris have more Arsenal fans. If it weren't for Barcelona's gorgeous passing and controlling style in recent years that captured a lot of international fans, the originally neutral Paris stadium might have become Arsenal's home stadium.

This is the fifth time that Barcelona has reached the Champions League final, with the only previous title coming in the 5-1991 season. Barcelona has faced English teams three times in European finals, but has not won any of them. They were against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa in the 92 and 1980 Super Cups, and against Manchester United in the 1983-1990 Cup Winners' Cup final. Rijkaard hopes to become the fifth person to win the European Cup as a coach and then as a player.

The English Premier League and La Liga teams have dominated the European finals this season. In the UEFA Cup final a week ago, La Liga's Sevilla defeated the English Premier League's Middlesbrough 4-0. However, in the history of the European Champions Cup, England and Spain have only competed for the championship once before, in 1981, also in Paris, when Liverpool defeated Real Madrid 1-0.

Last year, Liverpool won the fifth European Cup in its history, bringing England's number of championships to 5, tying with Serie A and La Liga. England has had four teams win the title before, more than Serie A's three and La Liga's two, ranking first among all national leagues. If Arsenal wins, it will become the fifth team to win all three major European cups.

In terms of the starting lineups of both teams, Messi, who had just recovered from injury, was not included in the squad. Veteran midfielders of both teams were reused, with Van Bommel replacing Iniesta, Pires replacing Reyes, and Ashley Cole playing in the European Champions League for the first time since last September.

A short but wonderful song and dance performance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Champions League was held before the game. Football legends such as Beckenbauer and Platini attended the game and were captured by the TV broadcast.

When the time came to 20:45 in the evening, the 51st European Cup final was about to begin at the Stade de France in Paris. The starting players of both sides had already started their battles and the battle was about to begin.

After the opening, I don’t know if it was because they won the championship 3 rounds in advance, Barcelona’s main lineup had rested for too long, but Arsenal, who were fighting for the top four, were the first to get into the game.

Just 2 minutes into the game, Arsenal got the first great chance. Eboue broke through on the right and Van Bronckhorst made a cross. Henry calmly stopped the ball with his chest in the middle and faked to get rid of Marcos. After getting out of the gap, he shot with the outside of his right foot 7 meters in front of the goal! Fortunately, Valdés was focused and fell to the ground in time to block the ball out of the baseline with his body.

Henry then took a tactical corner kick from the left, then received a pass from his teammate and cut inside, and shot with his right foot into the near corner from 18 meters in front of the goal, but the ball was again blocked by Valdes.

After that, Barcelona finally stabilized and started to launch an offensive.

In the 7th minute, Barcelona suddenly made a large-scale transfer. Eto'o made a low pass from the left side, and Ronaldinho got the ball on the edge of the penalty area. Under the double-team of several opponent's defenders, Ronaldinho suddenly kicked the ball from the spot to the far corner... Fortunately, Lehmann was prepared, and he jumped high and caught the ball steadily.

One minute later, Giuly successfully used a small technique to break through Ashley Cole's defense. As soon as he entered the penalty area, he shot directly from a small angle. However, German goalkeeper Lehmann was on guard and guarded the near corner to block the ball from going out of the bottom line.

After that, both sides attacked and defended each other, but the game took a major turn in the 18th minute!

After Ronaldinho attracted several Arsenal defenders in the middle, he used a little trick to dodge the gap and suddenly sent a straight pass with his right foot. Eto'o, who successfully got offside, got in in time and pushed the ball past Lehmann who was attacking...

Lehmann had no choice but to tackle Eto'o on the edge of the penalty area, and Giuly followed up with a low shot from a small angle on the right side and scored into the empty goal, but the Norwegian referee Hauge had already whistled and the goal was invalid. However, he showed his ruby ​​card and sent Lehmann off!

From the slow motion, Lehmann's hand grabbed Eto'o's left ankle and the red card was undisputed.

Lehmann was the first player to be sent off in the Champions League final! It is not known whether this is a good or bad record. Another record of Arsenal not conceding a goal in the Champions League, led by Lehmann, is still being refreshed every minute and every second...

Wenger had no choice but to replace French veteran Pires with Almunia, who was likely to bid farewell to the Gunners at the end of the season, and changed the formation to 4-4-1, shrinking the front line and playing a counterattack honestly...

Arsenal, who were defensively defensive, gradually stabilized their defense. Barcelona did not have many chances for a while. After all, breaking through dense defense is a global problem.

However, when the time came to the 37th minute, the game took another dramatic turn!

Arsenal's fast winger Eboue broke through on the right in a counterattack, and Puyol had no choice but to knock him down. Henry was responsible for taking this rare free kick in the front court...

The King of Highbury kicked a smooth and high arc ball with the inside of his right foot, and the ball just passed over the heads of the three defenders at the front point! Veteran Campbell actually got ahead of young player Oleg, forced the shot, and headed the ball 7 meters in front of the goal. The ball was pushed into the far corner like a cannonball! Valdés could only watch...

Arsenal, who were one man down, scored the first goal and led the cosmic team Barcelona 1-0! This was the first goal of the black and hard Campbell in 39 European Champions League games!

Barcelona, ​​which fell behind, could only step up its offensive, but the midfield seemed to be not functioning well and they were unable to break through Arsenal's defense until the first half stoppage time...

After receiving the ball from Deco on the left, Ronaldinho decisively cut inside, dodged the double-team, and secretly sent a straight pass...

The ball passed through a narrow route and found Eto'o who was making a diagonal run. After receiving the ball with his back to the goalkeeper, the cheetah made a fake move by lowering his shoulder to the left, but then he moved his right foot in the opposite direction and turned around quickly to get rid of Campbell's close defense.

Then the Cameroon cheetah shot a powerful left-foot shot towards the far corner from 8 meters in front of the goal, but Arsenal's substitute goalkeeper Almunia reacted extremely quickly, swung his body, stretched his arms, and just touched the ball with his fingertips!

This crucial save also caused the ball to change direction slightly, and it hit the left post with a "bang" and bounced back into the field... Ronaldinho followed up with a side shot but failed to reach the ball. Arsenal escaped and successfully entered the halftime break with a score of 1-0.

During the half-time break, Rijkaard was well aware of the current situation and had to make changes, especially since the midfield was obviously strong in defense but weak in attack. In the current favorable situation of having one more player, not continuing to strengthen the attack would be tantamount to destroying one's own strength.

So Rijkaard finally made up his mind and changed the pre-match arrangement, sending Iniesta to the field, replacing the defensive midfielder Edmilson, responsible for assisting in delivering the ball to Arsenal's defensive zone 3. Marcos was in the defensive midfielder position, Van Bommel was responsible for sweeping, and Deco was responsible for organizing some of the recovery.

Barcelona's adjustment had an immediate effect at the beginning of the second half. Deco's retreat gave them more space to organize the game, and the appearance of Andres Iniesta revitalized the frontcourt's connection and attack.

Barcelona began to create threats frequently, but because Barcelona's formation pressed forward, Arsenal also kept using long passes to find Henry to counterattack. Henry's personal ability was indeed strong, not much worse than Ronaldinho, and often required Marcos and Puyol to double-team to snatch the ball...

In the 53rd minute, Iniesta broke through on the right rib and his powerful low shot with his right foot from 18 meters in front of the goal was saved by Almunia.

In the 55th minute, Iniesta made a straight pass, Ronaldinho broke through the middle and was tackled by Eboue. Barcelona got a free kick at the top of the penalty area. Ronaldinho's right-footed free kick hit Gilberto in the wall, and he then made a follow-up shot that missed the left post.

In the 58th minute, Ronaldinho deceived Eboue with a feint on the left side of the penalty area, broke through to the bottom line and passed the ball with his left foot to Giuly who was covering the middle, but Almunia who was guarding the near corner subconsciously blocked it with his left hand, breaking up the opponent's attack.

Rijkaard observed for 15 minutes and felt that the attack was not strong enough, so he had to go all out. He replaced Van Bommel with Larsson. This was the last time the Swedish veteran played for Barcelona. Ronaldinho retreated to midfield and formed a technical attacking midfield with Iniesta and Deco.

However, a purely technical midfielder will inevitably have loopholes in defensive interception and protection, so before Barcelona equalized the score, Arsenal launched a sharp counterattack!

In the 62nd minute, after receiving a long pass in a counterattack, Hleb dribbled past Van Bronckhorst and shot with his left foot without hesitation on the penalty area line. The ball penetrated the defense line and flew out of the bottom line close to the goal post.

Then in the 65th minute, Henry made a wonderful pass from the left to break through Puyol and cut into the penalty area. Puyol and Marcos worked together to pull, tug and tackle to limit Henry's continued breakthrough. Then Valdés made a wonderful move and got the ball from the feet of three people.

In the 67th minute, Oleger was slow to move in front of the penalty area, and Ljungberg got behind him to intercept the ball, cut directly into the left side of the penalty area, and then shot from a small angle. Fortunately, the ball was touched by Valdez's fingertips and hit the crossbar and bounced out of the bottom line. Then Arsenal took a tactical corner kick, and Oleger tackled Ljungberg from behind and was given a yellow card warning.

Rijkaard finally came to his senses. He realized that the substitution he had just made had no effect. Instead, it disrupted the balance between offense and defense, especially Oleg, who was almost beaten. He had to make adjustments quickly, and this was the last substitution in the game!

So Rijkaard turned around and looked at the players warming up on the sidelines and the bench: "Hmm... should I play Belletti or that passionate young man?"

Before Rijkaard could think clearly, in the 70th minute, Henry received a direct pass from Oleger and broke through to create a single opportunity. Oleger did not dare to foul, so Henry advanced to 14 meters in front of the goal and shot with his right foot. Fortunately, Puyol returned to defense and made a tackle in time to interfere, and the ball went slightly off the left post...

Rijkaard knew he couldn't wait any longer. Belletti had just warmed up, while the spirited youngster had been warming up since the second half. He should be able to perform immediately, and he can play in multiple positions. If things don't work out, there's still room for self-adjustment on the field. A 1-meter-tall guy could also get into the penalty area at the last moment...

The assistant coach hurried to call Ricardo, who was still foolishly warming up, back to the court, ready to replace Oleg who had been given a yellow card: "Li Qi, you will play as a right back first. When attacking, speed up on the right and blow up the opponent's left. When defending, pay attention to the protection of the defense line and lock down Henry!"

Li Qi was tightening his jersey on the sidelines while listening to the assistant coach's tactical arrangements. He was a little surprised: "Is it so sudden? I am allowed to play in such an important Champions League final? There was no news before the game..."

"It seems that this should be a snatch of Belletti's original opportunity?"

"I was thinking of just warming up and playing ball on the sidelines, and then sitting back and winning the championship... My coming on as a substitute won't change the original trend and result, right? It seems that sitting back and winning the championship is also risky..."

But standing on the sidelines, looking at the bustling stadium and the fierce battle between the two sides, Li Qi loudly promised without hesitation: "Got it! I guarantee to complete the task!"

After Ronaldinho's long-range shot with his right foot from 20 meters in front of the goal slipped past the far post, Rijkaard decided to continue to strengthen the attack, and Li Qi replaced Oleger. The fourth official on the sidelines had already raised the substitution sign, No. 66 on, No. 23 off.

……

Raiola and Pimenta, who were watching the game, were surprised and excited to see that Barcelona was going to replace Li Qi. The surprise was that they had not received any news before the game that Li Qi could play in such an important final. The excitement was that no matter what the result was, Li Qi's value would definitely increase after playing in the Champions League final, it was just a matter of how much. It seemed that the plan to negotiate a new contract and team positioning after the World Cup had to be revised again...

The parents, brothers and girlfriends who watched the game on TV were also surprised: "This bad boy, when we asked him for tickets before, he was still making excuses, saying that he probably wouldn't have a chance to play. It seems that he just doesn't want to spend money to invite us to watch the game in person, and see if he won't be punished after the game..."

After high-fiving and hugging Oleg, and touching the grass on the sidelines, Li Qi, who was fully prepared for the occasion, had already made his debut. If he knew that he might be beaten up after the game, he might have cried out in injustice: "I didn't know I would have the chance to make my debut! And... I really can't let my girlfriends come with me, because it won't work, and it will be a big problem after the game!"

……