Chapter 170: Killing the Old Master, Part

When the game came to the 12th minute, Sevilla used the same trick again, only because Li Qi found an opportunity again. The gap between the formation widened, and the ball route was not good, which was suitable for high pressure... But this time the high pressure was a loss, all because Renato's one-on-one shot failed to score, the shot was too straight, and Valdes, who was not paying attention, made a great save and flew to hit the ball out of the baseline.

Then they blamed Li Qi, because his close-range shot after Alves' corner kick hit the left post and hit the side net...

So Valdes scooped the ball directly from the side net, and without waiting for the players in the penalty area to completely disperse, he took the risk of kicking the ball quickly, because Sevilla's defensive formation had not yet been in place.

Zambrotta then received Xavi's pass, broke through and made a cross from the bottom right. Ronaldinho, who was unguarded in the middle, headed the ball in the most unskilled way from 11 yards in front of the goal, scoring his 17th league goal of the season.

Barcelona took the lead in the 14th minute of the game with an attack that penetrated Sevilla’s defensive third for the first time!

"Damn! Such good luck?" Li Qi spitted. Of course, it was also his fault that he did not seize the opportunity of his header just now, or if Renato's shot in the middle of the penalty area had been more tricky, the home team Sevilla would have scored the first goal.

No matter what, the score was behind; then, under Li Qi's command, Sevilla stabilized for a few minutes after conceding the goal, so as to avoid being unstable and being exploited by Barcelona's counterattack again.

Then around the 20th minute of the game, Li Qi found an opportunity again, and the entire Sevilla team once again launched a high-pressure defense and this time they created another opportunity.

It was Li Qi's pressing forward again, forcing Oleg to hastily and blindly clear the ball with his foot, but he didn't kick it far enough. Paulson in the middle directly headed the high ball to Adriano on the wing. The latter did not hesitate and took advantage of Zambrotta's lack of defense to cross the ball directly from the left! Unfortunately, Kanoute, who was unmarked, easily stopped the ball 14 yards in front of the goal and volleyed with his left foot, but it went wide. Sevilla missed the opportunity again. This was already the fourth good chance to score a goal in front of the goal since the start of the game.

But things never happen more than three times, and after three, they will never come to a fourth time. Sevilla's fourth high pressure finally bore fruit.

In the 27th minute, Li Qi once again seized the opportunity to command the team to press forward. This time, it was Kanoute who forced Valdés to hastily clear the ball. However, the ball was intercepted by Alves near the center line, and then he accelerated and passed Giuly and Van Bronckhorst on the right before accurately passing the ball to the front point!

Li Qi was smart enough to run with a fake move, successfully get to the front point, and then shoot the ball with his heel! The ball went into the goal through Valdez's crotch...

Chiara, who was watching the broadcast on TV at home, jumped for joy, totally ignoring the fact that her naked body was exposed, after all, there was no one else at home.

"Marcos's forward route was blocked by Li Qi, so he could only pass back... Puyol... Oleguer! The pass was a little too far and didn't stop well!"

"Li Qi immediately followed up and pressed Oleg! The Sevilla team pressed forward collectively again!"

"Oleg couldn't turn around, so he passed the ball back to Valdés... Kanouté also rushed over... Valdés could only kick the ball..."

"This ball was not kicked well. Alves intercepted it on the wing near the center line..."

"Alves and Renato made a wall-run pass, shook off Giuly, and rushed directly towards Barcelona's defense area..."

"Van Bronhorst!"

"Oh my god! Van Bronckhorst dived too hard and Alves just passed him with a right-angle fake!"

"Alves is about to break into the penalty area... Puyol makes a comeback..."

"Alves made a low cross! In front of the goal!"

"Li Qi! Oh my god!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"Li Qi rushed to the front point, and shot the ball with his heel like a juggler, fooling Oleg and shooting through Valdes's goal!"

"Li Qi broke through the gate of his old club! He helped Sevilla equalize the score! 1 to 1! Li Qi killed his old club!"

"It's amazing! Let's take a look at the development of this goal through slow motion..."

"First, Barcelona made a mistake in passing the ball back. Li Qi seized the opportunity and commanded the whole team to press forward. Li Qi pressed Oleger without committing a foul... Then Alves intercepted the ball in the middle and almost broke Barcelona's defense on the wing..."

"Finally, it was Li Qi's wonderful performance in front of the goal! He first made a serpentine move, fooled Oleg, and successfully got to the front point. With the shooting angle extremely small, Li Qi used a juggling move like a dragon's tail to knock the ball with his heel, and sent the ball lightly and accurately through Valdés's small door..."

Chiara, who was watching TV at home, was so happy about her boyfriend's wonderful performance that her face flushed with excitement. But before the flush subsided, Sevilla, who had just celebrated the goal, was hit hard by Barcelona not long after...

In the 29th minute, Barcelona organized another attack after the kick-off. While the home team was still immersed in the excitement of equalizing the score, Xavi made a precise pass to Ronaldinho in the crowd. The latter stopped and passed the ball with his back, broke through Osio's defense and broke into the penalty area!

Osio was also impulsive and didn't react at all. He subconsciously made a tackle from behind to intercept. But unfortunately, Osio didn't touch the ball in the end, but directly knocked Ronaldinho down...

So the referee presented the most grand and cruel red dot meal without hesitation!

Not only Osio was confused, most of the Sevilla players were confused too! It had only been a short while since they tied the score...

Li Qi missed Eto'o very much at this moment. It would be great if the African cheetah came on the field to take the penalty kick. At least there would be a nearly 50% chance that it would not go in! But when he saw that it was Ronaldinho's father who was setting the ball and preparing to take the penalty, Li Qi felt a chill in his heart...

Li Qi could only pray: Slide the plane, slide the plane, slide the plane...

However, Palop, standing on the Sevilla goal line, looked calm. What storms has the old goalkeeper not seen? This pitfall defense line is not the first day to know, fortunately, the coaching staff prepared the penalty kick habits of several Barcelona penalty takers before the game...

Palop thought for a moment and recalled Ronaldinho's penalty statistics and description of his penalty kick habits: I don't know who was responsible this time, and it was very detailed, not only the probability of the direction and angle of the penalty kick, but also the probability of Ronaldinho's habit of deceiving with his eyes? 70% of the time, he looked at the lower right corner but shot to the left? And if the shooter moved in advance, Ronaldinho would change the direction of his ankle joint at the last moment of touching the ball...

Damn? How can I save him? Oh? I suggest you use your eyes to prevent the reverse direction, but don't give up your center of gravity completely and leave a foot, right? Got it! Just give it a try! A bicycle turns into a motorcycle!

So Palop's eyes looked at Ronaldinho firmly, revealing a hint of provocation and playfulness...

Ronaldinho and Palop looked at each other, and were stunned at first, but they immediately gathered their minds, their expressions became serious, and their eyes began to stare straight at the lower right corner of the goal...

Palop: Oh, what?! It’s starting to come true? Then let’s follow the script!

Then Ronaldinho took a run-up, his eyes and legs were all aimed at the lower right corner of the goal...

Then Palop jumped to the left side of the goal in advance...

Then it was Ronaldinho's turn. As expected, Ronaldinho, who originally wanted to kick the ball in the opposite direction of his eyes, saw Palop pounce to the left, and at the moment of touching the ball, his ankle shook and he temporarily changed direction.

But obviously Ronaldinho's body control is not as good as before because he is a little fatter. The ball did not turn to the right side of the goal as he expected, but could only kick the ball to the middle of the goal...

Then it was Palop's turn. As Palop had suggested before the game, although he dived to the left, he did not completely give up his center of gravity, but left one leg behind. Seeing that Ronaldinho had indeed changed the direction of the free throw and kicked the ball to the middle, Palop hurriedly gave up his center of gravity, stretched his long legs straight, and stayed in the middle to intercept Ronaldinho's penalty!

Bang! Ronaldinho's penalty kick went to the middle, but was blocked by Palop's legs!

Li Qi, who triggered the explosive point, seemed to have foreseen it. He took off immediately, rushed into the penalty area first, grabbed the ball and kicked it away directly...

After the ball was safely cleared out of the sideline, the entire Sevilla team rushed over and surrounded the old goalkeeper Palop and clapped his hands wildly: Awesome! Awesome!

It seemed like the whole team had forgotten about Osio who had eaten the ruby ​​card... Of course, the broadcast cameraman hadn't forgotten, and he even took a close-up shot of his face. Osio, who was originally upset about dragging down the whole team due to his impulsive behavior and had tears of regret all over his face, was seen distorting his face in excitement in the aisle, and then baring his teeth and claws, dancing wildly, which was very inconsistent...

In addition, head coach Juan Ramos was not affected too much by Palop's magical performance. He also remembered that Osio had received a red card on the field, so he quickly adjusted the formation and tactics before kick-off.

Paulson retreated to play as a defender, while Li Qi retreated to play as a defensive midfielder. Without making any substitutions, they sacrificed the frontcourt and had to fill up the defense first. It would have been more appropriate to let Li Qi play as a central defender, but Juan Ramos still needed to keep Li Qi close to the frontcourt to counterattack and command the pressing...

However, with one less player, Li Qi had to pay more attention to the protection of the midfield and backcourt, especially to limit the delivery of Barcelona's midfield duo Xavi and Iniesta to Barcelona's front line, which was really not an easy job. Li Qi could no longer rush forward and press at will, but could only direct Kanoute and Navas to press forward and press at the appropriate time...

However, despite playing with one less player, Li Qi still felt that he had the advantage. This was a mysterious feeling. Barcelona just didn't have the unstoppable momentum of last season. And up to now, Barcelona really hadn't had too many good opportunities. On the contrary, Sevilla's tactical layout in this game was very right. If Osio hadn't received a red card too early, the home team would definitely have won the game...

But even so, Li Qi still had a hunch that as long as he persisted and kept up the momentum, he could definitely win the game, especially the momentum generated by Palop's penalty save, which he had to make good use of!

So after Barcelona threw the ball out of bounds to resume the game, Li Qi took advantage of the situation and directed the whole team to make a rush first. Even if there is one man missing, don't be scared, just do it!

Then Barcelona's throw-ins were repeatedly blocked by Sevilla and went out of bounds. Of course, two of the balls were deliberately kicked out of bounds by Xavi and Iniesta, but Li Qi didn't care and continued to press. Of course, Li Qi also knew that the formation was seriously tilted to the left, and the left defense area had left Giuly and Van Bronckhorst empty...

As expected, this time Ronaldinho and Messi switched positions. Ronaldinho came to the sideline to receive the out-of-bounds ball and replaced Messi to the middle. The combination of Ronaldinho's physical fitness and superb skills really broke through the double-teaming of several muscular men of Sevilla, and passed the ball to Xavi, who then made a precise long pass to Giuly's feet on the weak side of Sevilla's defense.

But this was actually a flaw that Li Qi deliberately exposed. Of course, if Ronaldinho was still in the middle, Li Qi felt that this strategy would most likely fail. However, when the player switched to the middle was the young Messi, there was a high probability of success. It was not in vain that he had to stand up to his good brothers Messi and Iniesta, forced several out-of-bounds balls, and finally succeeded in switching Ronaldinho to the wing.

However, seeing Giuly receiving the ball in the open space, Van Bronckhorst sprinted to the side to take Alves away, while Messi was also attracting Paulson in the middle and ready to respond at any time. However, Sevilla's right side of the defense was too empty, and Giuly didn't want to miss this good opportunity. He took the ball to the upper corner and prepared to cut inside and shoot...

If it was Ronaldinho in the middle, Giuly would definitely pass the ball to Ronaldinho's father first and then move to create opportunities. However, the one in the front of the middle now is Messi, who is similar in size and technical style to himself (of course, Giuly would not think that Messi is better than him at this time...), so Giuly felt that it would be better for him to do it himself than to give him the ball.

As for Van Bronckhorst, who was on the wing, he had already completed his entire mission by pulling Alves away; Giuly didn't think that if he let him cross from the bottom, his and Messi's small bodies would be able to grab the cross ball among the crowd in the penalty area...

Messi saw that Giuly was going to cut inside by turning his hips, so he could only make a cross-run cooperation with Giuly to make room in the middle and divert Paulson's attention; at this time, Giuly was only separated from Sevilla's penalty area by Dragutinovic!

Then Giuly naturally chose to fake a move to create space and then take a violent long shot: I haven't had a chance to shoot since the start of the game!

Li Qi, who was making the plan, naturally understood Giuly's football style and knew that Giuly would most likely go to the middle and attack the defense alone, trying to shoot from a distance. So when Li Qi saw Xavi's long pass, he didn't hesitate at all, and turned around to defend the middle with all his strength. Just in time, Giuly, who was crossing with Messi and cutting into the middle to attack Dragutinovic alone, had already created an opening through feinting and was about to shoot a violent long shot!

At this time, Li Qi also triggered the breaking point. He judged the point accurately, let go of his center of gravity, and intercepted the ball from the side and behind Giuly, blocking the ball that had just bounced out from Giuly's feet to Alves on the wing!

Alves was startled by the ball that was blocked like a cannonball, but after all, there was still some distance, and he still had time to react. Although he didn't have time to adjust his posture, he managed to block the ball with his face...

However, the next moment, Alves didn't have time to care whether his burning cheeks were disfigured, and he quickly accelerated and rushed forward! Because there was an open space in front of him, Van Bronckhorst attacked, but it was not so easy to go back, and Giuly also cut inside, Messi also entered the penalty area, and Xavi and Iniesta were still on the other side!

The entire Barcelona left defense area only has Marcos and Oleguer! But Sevilla also has Navas, a golden opportunity of 2 vs 2, and it is still an open area. The small, agile and fast Sevilla right wing combination will not beat Marcos and Oleguer who are not good at speed?

This suddenly made Barcelona as a whole panic. They didn't expect that with one more person, Sevilla would find such a good counterattack opportunity.

Alves had just crossed the center line and faced with Marcos' interception, but he did not give the opponent a chance to foul. He directly passed the ball to Navas who was waiting on the wing, and then overtook the outside line and passed the interception.

Navas turned around and faced Oleg, who didn't dare to rush for the ball. He could only retreat and keep his distance, fearing that Navas would pass him by in one explosive move. He could only fight and retreat, delaying time and waiting for his teammates to return to defense.

But how could Navas give Barcelona this opportunity? At this time, they had to play fast and fast. They must not hesitate or stick to the ball. Every second wasted might mean missing the opportunity.

Navas sent a long pass directly to the bottom line, allowing Alves to sprint at full speed to compete with Oleguer.

Marcos was still separated from Alves by a person, so he definitely couldn't catch up. Oleg had no choice but to grit his teeth and rush over. He was still a few steps away when he made a tackle, because Oleg knew that he definitely couldn't touch the ball before Alves...

But Oleg's tackle was still a little slow. Alves touched the ball first and made an abrupt stop and dribbled the ball, sending Oleg, who had lost his balance, out of the sideline. The latter wanted to intercept Alves by raising his foot or stretching out his hand, but he was unsuccessful.

Alves stopped the ball before it went out of bounds, but Oleg couldn't stop and rushed out of the sideline. Now, Alves was left with nothing in front of him, facing the penalty area, and only Valdés was left between Alves and Barcelona's goal!

Not long after Sevilla saved the penalty, they created a golden opportunity through a quick counterattack!

……