Chapter 200 League Cup Champion and Double Best!

Twenty-seven or twenty-eight meters from the goal, Sabaletta did not dare to commit a reckless foul, after all, the last guy who committed a reckless foul had already gone down. At this time, Sabaletta was not as mature and experienced as he was after entering the Premier League, so he could only hold Li Qi in a conventional manner and restrict him from turning around.

Li Qi first made a fake move by lowering his shoulder to the right, and then suddenly turned to the opposite left side with the ball. However, it was obvious that Sabaletta was not fooled and his center of gravity was not deceived; but the key was that he was too close, and Li Qi relied on Sabaletta's top defense as the axis, turned directly, and blocked Sabaletta to the side.

Although he was still disturbed by Zabaleta's defense, Li Qi was already facing the goal and could break through, pass or shoot...

Of course, Li Qi's previous shoulder drop fake move was not useless, because he was not intended to deceive Zabaleta. After all, the fairly agile Argentine would defend him closely, and even if he was fooled for a moment, he would pounce on him immediately; so the previous fake move was used to deceive the other Spanish defenders.

And when they misjudged the situation and thought they had also gotten rid of Zabaleta, they would subconsciously rush over, which would cause fatal loopholes in the Spanish defense!

So when Li Qi turned around, he didn't stick to the ball too much. Facing Halke who was rushing over, he lightly sent a diagonal pass to the left wing where he had made a fake move. And that position was right in front of Renato's high-speed forward run!

Luis Garcia, who was originally marking Renato, was also attracted by Li Qi's pretending to work alone, and was immediately thrown off by Renato; Renato took two steps, stole the ball passed by Li Qi and went straight to a half-solo opportunity.

As for Li Qi's post-up singles? You're kidding. This is not a basketball game. It didn't exist from the beginning. It was just a pretense to bully Zabaleta to attract defense, and then create opportunities for other teammates who are advancing, such as Renato who is advancing from the back, or Kanoute who is cutting in from the side.

However, this time, Renato had a better chance and angle, which was equivalent to a slow three-beat wall-hitting cooperation with Li Qi, but the effect was excellent, and he even achieved a 2-on-3 effect.

However, Renato, who came on as a substitute in the second half, was obviously a little too excited. Seeing such a great opportunity, he did not even continue to develop the ball and took a long shot directly from 25 yards away from the goal.

Unfortunately, the ball was blocked by Torreon who flew over, and it went out of the baseline, and Espanyol lost a corner kick.

Just when Navas was about to take a corner kick on the right side, Li Qi gave Navas a heads-up in advance. Navas looked back and saw that it was Sabaletta who was closely guarding Li Qi. He immediately understood...

Just now, Li Qi protected the ball in the middle, turned around and made a cool pass. He was so handsome. Sarafina and her girlfriends in the VIP box were instantly ignited by hormones and started shouting excitedly until Navas placed the ball and prepared to take a corner kick.

Emma was still mumbling, "That little bastard No. 8 is so annoying. He keeps pulling my brother Ricardo..."

Huh?! That's right, at this time, Zabaleta hadn't turned bald yet, so he hadn't become stronger yet... Oh? That's not what I'm talking about. That's right, Sarafina also heard it, and couldn't help but glance at her little girlfriend beside her. She began to be alert in her heart: What's wrong? He has become your brother Ricardo before we even met? Is this the power of a football star's philandering?

Before Sarafina could turn around and think about it, the girls in the box and the commentators on the TV broadcast suddenly burst into enthusiastic cheers. Even the thunderous shouts from the stands were transmitted into the box through the glass curtain wall!

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"Sevilla smashed the ball into the Espanyol goal again! The referee indicated that the goal was valid! 3 to 1!"

"It can be said that Sevilla has already touched half of the championship trophy! The Espanyol team is in a desperate situation! Not only is it one man short, but it is also two goals behind! And the situation has been very passive the whole time."

"We looked back through slow motion and saw that the corner kick from the right side taken by Navas went straight to the back post; the main high points and header masters of both teams were concentrated in the front and central areas of the small penalty area."

"The main person ambushing at the back post is Li Qi, and the one responsible for marking him is Zabaleta. There is a clear height difference between the two!"

"But there is no other way. Spain's previous star player Moiles was sent off, and Rufete, who is also of decent height, was also replaced. Several tall central defenders have to mark Dragutinovic, Navarro, Kanoute and other well-known aerial masters..."

"It seems that Sevilla still has a considerable height advantage, with many high points. So Li Qi took advantage of his height and headed the ball towards Navas's precise corner kick, and the ball went straight into the upper corner of the goal!"

“Even if Elisos was disturbed by the crowd in front of him during the extra time, he would probably just be able to watch the ball and sigh!”

"Li Qi's goal almost killed the game, and this was his 11th goal in the UEFA Cup this season, tying Pandiani, who is at the top of the scorer list..."

While Sevilla was passionately celebrating the goal, Espanyol was even reluctant to take the ball out of the net. It seemed that most of the players were in despair. It was mainly because of the gap in the main players that Espanyol was helpless.

But Valverde obviously has not given up hope. Maybe a miracle will happen? The Spaniard used the last substitution shortly after the restart. Midfielder Jonatas replaced the short-statured Foye De La Pena, who did not play much in this game, to try to make up for the height difference. Anyway, they just play long passes and lobs, so technical control is not important!

Sevilla also made the last substitution just as the game entered the last ten minutes. Juan Ramos replaced Adriano, who was already exhausted, with Marti. After all, he had just returned from injury. And with a two-goal lead, all they had to do was hold on to the advantage. The opponent had no chance at all, as long as they didn't make any mistakes...

However, avoiding mistakes does not guarantee safety on the football field.

In the final moments of the game, Sevilla was always in control of the situation. The Spaniard tried his best to prevent losing the ball, thanks to Iraizos's continuous and consecutive saves in the final moments, once again blocking Kanoute's close header, Renato's low shot from the edge of the penalty area and Li Qi's follow-up shot in front of the goal.

However, when the game entered the injury time, the entire Sevilla team's minds were no longer on the game and football. They basically destroyed whatever they could and kicked wherever they could, just trying to delay time and use up the last hundred seconds or so.

So the Spaniards finally had the opportunity to calmly organize an attack and scored another goal in the 93rd minute!

Honatas played a clean wall-kick with Pandiani who was retreating in the middle, and then shot a long shot in the middle of the field 25 yards away from the goal, facing Marty's defense. The ball went through Marty's crotch, and then hit Marty's calf, which changed direction a little; but the ball was shot with great force and momentum, and it went straight into the dead corner of the lower right corner of the goal and into the net.

The line of sight was disturbed, the ball bent again, and it was indeed a world-class angle. Even though Palop flew to the extreme, he was unable to stop the ball from entering the net.

The Spaniards chased the score to 2 to 3 in the final moments of the game. Fortunately, it was the last minute of the game, otherwise the Spaniards with high morale might have created some difficulties for Sevilla.

Just after Sevilla restarted the game, Swiss referee Busacca blew the whistle to end the game!

Sevilla successfully defended the UEFA Cup title with a score of 3-2!

However, at the award ceremony, Maresca, who was wearing a commemorative T-shirt celebrating his victory, still grabbed Li Qi and asked with resentment: "Didn't we agree on a clean and decisive victory? Why did we only win by a narrow margin of 3 to 2?"

Li Qi shrugged and said helplessly: "There's nothing I can do. I tried my best. It's all because Frederick (Canute)'s feet are too smelly..."

So after Maresca sprayed all the champagne hidden behind him on Li Qi's head, making him drunk and dizzy and leaving the award stage, Maresca forgave this fellow countryman who did not fulfill his promise with a loud laugh, and also accepted an interview on his behalf.

There's nothing we can do about it, because the double best player in the final and the best player in the League Cup season was allergic to alcohol and passed out!

Although the score of the whole game was 3 to 2, there is no way to directly reflect Sevilla's overall advantage in this game. With nearly 70% ball possession, they suppressed the Spaniard so much that it was almost impossible for them to pass the half, especially in the second half. They had 28 shots in the whole game, 12 of which were on target. If it weren't for the outstanding performance of Espanyol goalkeeper Iraizos, this game would have been over.

On the contrary, the Spaniards had 8 shots in the whole game, 3 of which were on target, resulting in two goals, both of which were long shots. They were really lucky.

However, the statistics of Li Qi, who won the best player of the game, were indeed impressive. Not only did he score a goal and have an assist, he also made 55 passes, 50 of which were successful, including 10 threatening balls, 9 steals, 8 dribbles, and 6 headers, 5 of which were successful... He simply destroyed the opponent's midfield with just one person.

Moreover, Li Qi, who scored 11 goals and 5 assists in the entire series of the UEFA Cup this season, is tied for first place in the scorer list and second place in the assist list. He also deservedly took over the honor of the UEFA Cup Player of the Season from his teammate Alves.

While Sarafina took over the responsibility of taking care of the still confused Ricardo, Maresca was still talking nonsense to the media, bragging about his friendship with Ricardo and how he took care of and guided Ricardo when he first came to the team, which led to the miracle of the two best players in the UEFA Cup this season...

Of course, he said all this in order to downplay his clumsy and selfish performance in the first half. Whenever a reporter wanted to bring it up, Maresca would deliberately look around and talk about other things. If he really had to say a few words, he would just make up a story that it was a tactical deception and then flee...

After the game, Le Monde used a lot of space to report on Ricardo Richie's wonderful performance in this UEFA Cup, praising him as the biggest discovery of this UEFA Cup and the newest genius of La Liga, and believed that his value in the summer transfer market would not be less than 3000 million Euros!

"10 points or perfect is not enough to describe Li Qi's performance in the final. In the second half, Navas was replaced by Maresca. After the team regained balance, Li Qi took over the game directly. He made 55 successful passes out of 50. This can no longer be described as dominance in such a tense final, especially since Li Qi's position was in the midfield where the competition was the most intense..."

"In the final, he contributed 1 assist and 1 goal to completely kill the game. Throughout the season, he led the pack with 11 goals and 5 assists. It can even be said that Li Qi alone helped Sevilla to become the defending champion again. And under Li Qi's leadership, Sevilla still has a chance to pursue the dream of winning the treble..."

"Sevilla did a great deal this season, loaning Li Qi from Barcelona to the team at almost zero cost... But it is conceivable that Li Qi will definitely not stay in Sevilla next season, which may be the biggest loss for Sevilla fans..."

"However, it is still unclear whether Barcelona can keep Li Qi. After all, Li Qi, who has grown up, may not be willing to sit on the bench at Camp Nou. It is said that a Premier League giant has prepared a check of 3000 million euros to take away the Italian genius star at the end of the season..."

The next morning, Ricardo woke up in the hotel's big bed with Sarafina's body scent still lingering on it. While eating the breakfast sent by the hotel to sober up, he felt a little embarrassed watching the crazy media licking him. Fortunately, Sarafina went out to play with her girlfriends, otherwise Sara would see his blushing face and laugh at him again.

However, Ricardo also felt emotional in his heart. According to old Li Qi's memory, the one who really shined in this League Cup should be the old goalkeeper Palop!

Not to mention the last-gasp header in the away game against Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarter-finals, which helped the team come back from the dead and eliminate the opponent; in the original final history, Espanyol tenaciously tied Sevilla 120-2 in 2 minutes of the game, and in the end it was all thanks to Palop's brave three consecutive saves in the penalty shootout, single-handedly defeating the opponent and helping the team win the cup!

Ricardo felt that he not only won the UEFA Cup by taking advantage of the strong Sevilla, but also stole the limelight from Palop. He felt a little sorry for this hardworking veteran hero and must compensate him. How should he compensate him? The apartment I live in seems to be pretty good...

In addition, Maresca, that bastard, deliberately knocked me down after the celebration, knowing that I am severely allergic to alcohol... Damn, he must have done it on purpose, just wait and see how I deal with him when I get back... It seems that the team returned to Seville to celebrate overnight last night, and missed it again! Fortunately, the championship parade should be arranged uniformly at the end of the season.

Then, while thinking about how to take revenge on Maresca, Ricardo continued to read the media's evaluation of Sevilla's overall performance. He was mainly concerned about whether any media would seize on Maresca's clownish performance in the first half and criticize him so that he could go back and throw it in his face.

Unfortunately, only a report in Daily Sports titled "Salute to the New European UEFA Cup Champion Sevilla!" mentioned Maresca briefly. It seems that his diversion yesterday was effective:

"The UEFA Cup recreates a miracle night in 21 years! Applause and silence for Espanyol, the runner-up of the UEFA Cup who won the victory despite the defeat... Football is football, and it only allows one winner. This time, the winner is still Sevilla. The UEFA Cup champion, the King's Cup has reached the final, and there is still a possibility of winning the La Liga. This is the current Sevilla. If Sevilla's performance last season was dazzling enough, then this season's Southern Bulls have achieved a more difficult self-transcendence."

"Sevilla are the only team in Europe that could win the treble, and if we replace the league with the European Super Cup, which they have already won, then their dream of winning the treble will be easier to achieve. Europe has not seen a treble since Manchester United in the 1998-99 season."

"Sevilla's squad was already strong last season, but this season, the club has strengthened some of the team's weak links, such as midfielder Maresca, who often makes mistakes. Li Qi's loan signing has effectively made up for Sevilla's lack of midfield organization and control..."

"Both Sevilla and Espanyol reached the UEFA Cup final for the second time in history. However, Sevilla won the championship twice, while Espanyol tasted the bitter fruit twice. This is also the first time in 21 years that a champion team has successfully defended the UEFA Cup. The last team that successfully defended the title was also from La Liga, that was the Five Eagles Real Madrid in the 1980s!"

……