Chapter 259: Big Enemy, Oh No, It’s the Roman Legion Attacking!

After Li Qi passed the ball, he realized that he had missed the target, so he cursed inwardly: "Fuck..."

But when he saw the half-high ball evade the interception of Kurci and Roma's defenders and go straight to the No. 9 Luke who was lying in ambush at the far end, he changed his tone and said, "What the hell?"

Then Rooney faced the empty goal, drew his bow and arrow, and volleyed the ball with his right foot from 10 meters behind the goal, sending the ball directly into the stands! Li Qi changed his words again: "Fuck!"

It’s really helpless that I am uneducated, so I can only say “wow” all over the world… However, the tones and emphasis of the three “wow” are different!

Rooney shot into the empty net, forcing Li Qisheng to spit out the big cake he had fed him, and also wasted Manchester United's best chance since the start of the game...

In the next game, the whole Roma team looked at Li Qi with something wrong in their eyes: This guy is really annoying, even more annoying than Cristiano Ronaldo in this game, he is impossible to defend against and can't get the ball... Then we can only beat you!

So... in the 33rd minute, Li Qi retreated to receive the ball and was hit in the back by Cicinho's elbow. The former fell to the ground and the latter received a yellow card.

In the 35th minute, Li Qi cut inside to the top of the penalty area, and Meckels flew in from the side and hooked Li Qi who had dodged the tackle from behind. Li Qi fell to the ground again and Meckels was given a yellow card warning.

Fortunately, it should have been explained before the game that the foul committed by the Roma players on Li Qi was not an intentional one. It was more like a super technical move to limit Li Qi's performance and create a sense of pressure on Li Qi. It would have been even better if it could have caused some minor injuries, which in turn affected his subsequent performance.

After being beaten twice, Li Qi also found that he was a little too active. This kind of hatred-inducing work should not be done by himself! This is obviously the job of Ronaldo and Rooney. They have a high weekly salary. How much money can I make?

You have to keep a low profile first, wait for the right opportunity to deliver the fatal blow, and let Ronaldo and Rooney do the other dangerous work, oh no, the work of showing off in public.

So in the last ten minutes of the first half, Li Qi behaved much more honestly, mainly assisting with passing and cutting, and began to downplay his presence, trying not to let Roma's defenders target him. If that didn't work, he would try to pick on Cicinho, who had already been given a card...

The second half of the first half ended with Totti and Ronaldo taking turns to take free kicks and trying to attack the goal directly. Totti shot 3 times, one shot missed, one shot did not go around the wall, and one shot hit Vidic's chest and went wide of the near post. All of them missed the target.

Ronaldo shot 4 times, with slightly better results, one shot missed, one shot flew away, and two shots were on target. However, the quality of both shots was average, which did not really test Kurchi, as Kurchi easily caught both shots in his arms.

The two teams entered the halftime break with a score of 0-0, and in the second half, neither team made any substitutions.

During the halftime break, Li Qi kept thinking about new ideas: I can easily be beaten by you guys when I catch and dribble the ball, so why not take the initiative to offer a chicken? Well, it's worth a try...

According to Li Qi's understanding of Roma, Totti is undoubtedly the core of Roma's offensive organization. The attack in the midfield and frontcourt will definitely give priority to him for transition or completion. However, Roma has two other organizational nodes, one is De Rossi in front of the defender, and the other is Perrotta behind Totti. However, these two people are not very sticky to the ball and handle the ball very cleanly. It is difficult to find flaws under their feet.

However, looking at it the other way around, the first choice of both players is Totti, the second choice is each other, and the third choice is the wing. In addition, these two bastards seem to be deliberately avoiding me and deliberately not passing the ball to my side... So how can I take the initiative to pass the ball? It's not easy! I can't just yell and ask my little brother Aquilani to pass the ball to me, right?

Hmm?! He rarely passes the ball to his left wing? That means he will most likely not pass the ball to Cicinho. If Giuly and Totti are not in a good position, he will have few options to pass the ball immediately without holding the ball. He can take a gamble, provided that he observes everyone's positions first... Then when is the most densely packed position of Roma and when they need to pass the ball the most? The moment of counterattack when they switch from defense to offense!

In the second half, Li Qi started to observe constantly and tried to create the situation and situation he wanted through his running and passing. Of course, luck is also important. You may not encounter it several times in the 45 minutes of the second half, but you should be able to do it once or twice. Because Roma's tactics in this game are defensive counterattacks, every offensive and defensive transition is a possible opportunity. It just depends on whether Li Qi can find and grasp it.

Such an opportunity appeared in the fourth minute of the second half, but Li Qi hesitated and was half a beat slow in rushing towards De Rossi. In the end, he guessed wrong. De Rossi still took the risk and passed the ball diagonally to Mancini Jr.

However, Li Qi was not discouraged. At least, as he thought, he didn't know whether it was due to tactical arrangement or De Rossi's fear of his prediction, but he subconsciously avoided passing the ball to Cicinho behind him and Giuly behind him. If he could run better, he could probably cover the opponent's two passing points by himself, and if his teammates cooperated...

I don't believe you would take the risk of making a long diagonal pass every time!

However, two minutes later, De Rossi withstood the collision of Li Qi and made another long pass to Tonetto on the sideline. However, Tonetto did not stop the ball well and was almost intercepted by Ronaldo. He had to clear the ball decisively and the ball returned to Manchester United's control.

However, Li Qi was only thinking about counter-attacking and running to cut off De Rossi's passing point. When it was Manchester United's turn to attack, he was a little absent-minded. He basically passed the ball to Rooney or made a long pass to Ronaldo to complete the attack.

When the game reached the 55th minute, Li Qi had missed the third chance, and he had just guessed the direction of De Rossi's pass, which was a short pass to Aquilani. However, the latter resisted Li Qi while passing the ball quickly and accurately. Li Qi was half a step away and missed the chance to stop the ball.

However, just when Li Qi was frustrated and dazed, a turning point of the game finally occurred.

@

Julian in Chicago hasn't paid attention to her boyfriend Ricardo's competition for a long time, because she has been very busy since the beginning of the school year. She has to attend classes and help the professor with research projects. Her professor has also decided to publish an SCI paper this year...

But today in the lab, thanks to the help of several seniors, I was able to watch the game with them on the lab TV. This time, they all seemed to be Manchester United fans. In the first half, several seniors were still very interested in talking, but after the second half started, they all quieted down and handed the commentary work back to the live commentary on the TV broadcast:

"We've been playing for about ten minutes in the second half, and Manchester United's attack doesn't seem to be as sharp as in the first half. Especially Li Qi, who played well in the first half, has been a little quiet during this period..."

"C Ronaldo...break through and pass the ball sideways! Rooney...pass the ball back to Li Qi..."

"Oh oh oh! What happened? Li Qi made a mistake! He hesitated too much and the ball was poked away from behind by Cicinho!"

"De Rossi passes the ball to Giuly! Opportunity!"

"Giuli rushed forward with the ball, faced Evra, knocked it back from the right, and Perrotta..."

"Perrotta makes another ball... Oooooh!"

"What happened?! Perrotta's pass was intercepted by Li Qi who was returning to defense!"

"Li Qi directly launched a counterattack! Good opportunity, at this time Roma's midfielders were all out of position..."

"Li Qi passed the half court, Roma's defense line was retreating rapidly. De Rossi was chasing..."

"Li Qi is too fast and is about to reach the top of the penalty area. Ronaldo is asking for the ball, passing it... No! Li Qi dunks to the other side!"

"Mex got tricked and slipped. Li Qi entered the penalty area! Opportunity!"

"Small angle! Low shot!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"It was amazing! Li Qi made another long-distance run. This time the ball started from Manchester United's half. Li Qi advanced nearly 70 meters with the ball!"

"Li Qi's dribbling rhythm was so good and his speed was so fast. De Rossi was always following behind him but he just couldn't catch up with Li Qi."

"In the end, Li Qi took advantage of Ronaldo's movement and faked a pass to knock down Meckels at the edge of the penalty area. Rooney also helped Li Qi to block, Juan had no way to make up for it, and Cicinho was also restrained by Saha."

"The goal was caused by Li Qi's mistake, but he actively returned to defense, as if he had guessed in advance that Perrotta was going to pass the ball to Aquilani who was coming from behind. Li Qi ran directly from the left to the middle, blocked Aquilani's position in one step, and intercepted the ball."

"And then Li Qi's counterattack was also very decisive. He started from the spot and quickly counterattacked. He knew that Roma's midfielders were all out of position, so he rushed forward with the ball."

"The last low shot that Li Qi made when he cut into the penalty area was also very calm. He even looked up to observe the position of the goalkeeper's attack, and then shot a near corner. The ball rolled past Kurchi's feet, hit the inside of the post and bounced into the net!"

"Li Qi helped Manchester United break the deadlock in the 59th minute! 1-0!"

In the biology laboratory of the University of Chicago, Julian and several of her senior classmates jumped for joy and hugged each other to celebrate.

Even the broad-minded Julian hadn't reacted yet. Although the two brothers were Manchester United fans, why were they so excited about scoring a goal in the Champions League group stage? In addition, Brother B didn't seem to be a Manchester United fan, so why was he so happy that he wanted to hug and congratulate?

@

When Li Qi returned to the court, he had just finished his celebration of covering his ears when Ronaldo and Rooney, who came running over to join the celebration, messed up his hair and rubbed it hard, obviously blaming Li Qi for not passing the ball and feeding him a cake...

"Damn! You two were being watched closely! De Rossi probably shared his principle of giving priority to passing and assisting with the team, so in the end Roma's defense was blocking his passing route, including Kurci who attacked at the end, who was also blocking his cross pass to ambush Saha at the far end."

"But I didn't expect that I would do the opposite, just glanced at him without passing the ball, and shot him through the heart!"

"But... Is Aquilani okay? I think I just knocked him down..."

Li Qi looked back and saw that Aquilani had indeed fallen on the grass and didn't get up. Roma's team doctor had already entered the field to give him simple treatment. But it seemed that Aquilani could not continue the game...

Li Qi quickly ran to the stretcher and said sorry to his younger brother: I'm sorry Alberto, I wanted to do it to you on purpose, but I didn't expect to get you down. You should take good care of your injuries, and the outcome of the game is up to me, your brother!

Aquilani: Ricardo, you...wait!

Li Qi sent away Aquilani, who was reluctant to leave the court and the game. In fact, he did not feel too much guilt. After all, there was no foul in his stealing the ball just now, and he had a head-on physical collision with Aquilani, but the ball was still under his feet.

Although the cause of the ball just now was Li Qi's mistake, it was because Ya thought too much and was still struggling on how to have the opportunity to steal the ball from De Rossi at the critical position. He was not paying attention and the ball was poked away from under the crotch by Cicinho, whom he had never taken seriously.

But Li Qi also reacted instantly. This was also an opportunity. According to Li Qi's understanding of Brother Jiuli, due to his own physical fitness, the latter would not act alone when facing a single defense in a good position, and would definitely seek cooperation from the middle.

As the spearhead, Totti will definitely be sandwiched by the two big men Ferdinand and Vidic, and the target of the central channel will be either De Rossi or Perrotta.

Li Qi quickly returned to defense and bypassed De Rossi, naturally blocking Giuly's route to pass the ball back to De Rossi, so the only option was Perrotta.

Perrotta has Carrick by his side, and Li Qi, who knows the former well, knows that once someone defends closely, Perrotta, who has good but not outstanding skills, will definitely not hold the ball and attack, but will definitely pass the ball again.

But Li Qi, who had already triggered the breaking point in an instant, had judged based on Perrotta's posture and angle of stopping the ball that if the latter did not dribble the ball forward, he would either return the ball to Giuly, or pass it forward to Totti, who was surrounded by men on his left and right, or to Aquilani behind him.

Li Qi didn't think Perrotta would choose a difficult long pass to the left and right full-backs or Mancini, who was in the blind spot.

So Li Qi directly blocked Aquilani's point, and it turned out to be the right bet. After Perrotta stopped the ball and made a slight adjustment, he would pass the ball to Aquilani, and then run himself, and the latter would pass the ball forward or pass it to the side. This is a classic Roman-style fast pass and cut cooperation. Generally, teams that don't understand or adapt to it will not be able to judge the passing line in the first time, let alone intercept the ball.

But Li Qi was different. He knew Roma's midfielders and forwards too well, and he also triggered the breaking point. He even guessed the three-choice gambler-like early position interception.

So it looked like Perrotta had sent the ball directly to Li Qi's defensive line. Facing this knife-edge ball, Aquilani should have wanted to take the initiative to meet the ball and protect it under his body, but he didn't expect Li Qi to come faster and more urgently, and his positioning was more accurate.

What developed afterwards was a blessing in disguise for Li Qi. His mistake, oh no, it was a deliberate flaw that caused Roma's midfield to lose their defensive position during the counterattack. Then he made an accurate prediction and decisive counterattack, successfully stealing the chicken, oh no, it was a fatal blow!

Li Qigang privately asked the Roma team doctor that this should be Aquilani's old injury. He injured his waist in the league match against Inter Milan at the weekend and just got hit again. It was a recurrence of the old injury. It was not entirely due to himself, and it was not mainly due to himself.

Very good, feeling at ease, the heartless Li Qi continued the game.

Roma also took advantage of the time when the goal was scored, Aquilani was receiving treatment and left the field to quickly arrange substitutions, and Pizarro, known as the Chilean Pirlo, came on as a substitute.

On the Manchester United side, Sir Alex Ferguson also quickly made personnel adjustments. Tevez replaced Saha, who did not perform well in the whole game, to form a double short forward line, oh no, it was a strong forward line...

Manchester United's newly substituted offensive combination launched wave after wave of offensive climaxes, not sure if it was because Roma, who were lagging behind, tried to press forward and left more space in the backcourt, or because the new four-man combination was more skilled and had a more compatible style!

In the 65th minute, Li Qi made a diagonal pass, Ronaldo cut inside to receive the ball and attracted the defense, then passed the ball with the outside of his foot to Tevez who was in the corner of the penalty area. The latter turned his back and kicked the ball sideways to Rooney who was lying in ambush on the other side.

Rooney made a powerful shot from 20 meters away from the goal, but unfortunately the shot was too straight and the ball was lifted over the crossbar by Romacurchi with one hand...

But Manchester United's attack triggered thunderous applause from the audience, because the attack developed too quickly and the passing, cutting and running were too neat and tidy. Although not all four players kicked the ball out at once, the transfer and transition of the ball were very reasonable and rapid. During the whole process, Roma's defense was exhausted but had no chance to intercept or disrupt the attack.

In other words, if Rooney's final shot missed the target, or if Rooney passed the ball into the penalty area to the advancing Cristiano Ronaldo, or if he dribbled the ball back and passed it to the fast-moving Li Qi, both would have resulted in a more exciting buzzer-beater!

However, whether it was the audience at the scene, the fans in front of the TV, or Sir Alex Ferguson in the coaching booth, they all agreed that if they continued to play like this, Manchester United would not be far from scoring their second goal.

Sure enough, just 3 minutes later, Manchester United's fast break came back!

……