Chapter 41 UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Back to the previous corner kick, Li Qi originally wanted to go into the penalty area to make up the numbers. After all, he has grown to 1 meters this season...
But in the final stage of the game, Barcelona changed the previous dilemma of being at a disadvantage in height due to its small and fast football style.
Because he was afraid of Mallorca's rough fouls, Rijkaard replaced the 80-meter-tall Larsson with the 1-meter-tall Maxi Lopez in the 87th minute of the game, even though Larsson is also a good header!
So, for this corner kick, the players who squeezed into Mallorca's penalty area included Edmilson (1 meters), Oleger (86 meters), Motta (1 meters), Van Bommel (87 meters), Lopez (who had just come on the field), and Li Qi (1 meters). There were 86 players around 1 meters tall, and there were only 87 players on the other side, excluding the goalkeeper...
Being outnumbered, the Mallorca full-back who was only 1 meters tall was responsible for marking Li Qi closely...
So Deco keenly discovered this weakness and accurately sent the ball to this weak point...
Li Qi didn't even jump, he just headed the ball. The goal was so big and the distance was so close, even if Li Qi's grandmother came, she could have scored!
Li Qi shook his head and headed the ball into the upper corner of the goal. To be honest, it almost flew away... But as long as the ball goes in, there is nothing wrong!
In the end, Barcelona, with two more players in the second half, defeated Mallorca 4-0. The best player of the game was the Cameroonian cheetah Eto'o, who scored twice in just half the game!
After the game, Li Qi actually felt that Mallorca's head coach's tactical arrangement was correct in principle, but the execution of the details was too poor or there was no specific execution arrangement at all...
But having said that, Li Qi was very appreciative of the referee of this game. He obviously tightened the penalty standards after the national team match date and before the start of the Champions League, but he did not directly show a red card. Two yellow cards turned into one red card left Mallorca speechless.
This is also the structure of the La Liga Referee Committee, which is in line with the long-term interests of La Liga, protecting the health of superstars and ensuring unnecessary reductions in the number of players for European teams... No wonder small players like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta were not kicked out before they grew up.
This is much better than the Premier League referee committee. As long as the game is exciting, the Premier League referees often have no bottom line... This has also led to serious internal friction among the Premier League giants, which in turn has caused the Premier League teams to often perform poorly in the Champions League.
As for the Serie A referee committee? ... We will know next summer...
Also, as for the refereeing committee of a certain country... I've said too much, beep, beep, beep, beep... I'm going to delete this book...
……
The next morning, Ricardo received congratulations from his parents, brother, Sarafina, Julian, Raiola, Pimenta, and a bunch of friends: Good luck, good fortune, chosen by the gods, luck bursting, good luck pouring down on you…
Are these little dogs just copy and paste?! No sincerity! Get the negative points and get lost...
In contrast, Chiara is obviously more creative!
It was still an ordinary selfie of her lower body, but this time she was wearing a brown slit long skirt and black stockings... However, between her thighs was a pair of black panties, and in the middle was a white sanitary napkin with a bloody red color...
"Ah! It's an eyesore!"
"Damn it! I'm sealed by this scarlet..."
"This little girl... is waiting for your aunt to leave..."
……
The day after the game, before I had recovered from the excitement of the previous game's excellent performance, I received a notice from Rijkaard after the routine training session that I was selected in the 18-man squad for the Champions League in the middle of the week, ready to travel with the team to Bremen in Germany.
It seems that Rijkaard has been impressed by his recent excellent performance and multi-position attributes, and he has asked Ricardo to experience the atmosphere of the Champions League! Well, the atmosphere of the Champions League bench is also the atmosphere of the Champions League...
Barcelona missed the Champions League last season, but this season it returned to the Champions League as the defending champion of La Liga. It participated in the Champions League group draw as a seeded team, so it can try to avoid strong teams from other leagues in the group stage.
The group stage of the 05/06 Champions League is as follows:
Group A is led by Juventus and Bayern Munich, and also includes Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna, two teams that the media believe can only compete for third place in the group.
The giants in Group B include Arsenal and Ajax. In addition, the Swiss team Thun and the Czech team Sparta Prague are considered by the media to be only supporting roles.
Barcelona is in Group C, which has a good or bad luck. Apart from Barcelona, there are no traditional giants, but the other three teams are not weak either. The media estimates that there will be a chaotic battle in this group except for the group leader. The other three teams are Werder Bremen, Udinese and Panathinaikos.
The situation in Group D is similar to that in Group C. Manchester United leads the team and they will face challenges from Villarreal, Benfica and Lille respectively.
Others may not know, but Ricardo knows very well how powerful the Yellow Submarine has been in the past two seasons, and it is estimated that this is enough to give Manchester United a hard time.
Group E is also a relatively balanced group of death, including AC Milan, Schalke 04, PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce.
Group F is the group that Real Madrid is in, and is considered by the media to be a good group. Its other opponents in the same group include Lyon, Olympiacos and Rosenborg.
G is the recognized group of death in the group stage of the 05/06 Champions League, which includes the Premier League duo, Liverpool and Chelsea, as well as Real Betis and Anderlecht. And when it comes to Liverpool...
Forget it, let’s not mention it, so as not to poke holes in people’s wounds. Anyway, Liverpool relied on their status as the defending champions of the Champions League to start from the first qualifying round and squeezed in through the play-offs.
Because this is also the first time in the Champions League that the Champions League champion is only ranked fifth in the league and does not qualify for the Champions League...
This is unscientific! This also indirectly confirms the involution of the Premier League, or is it just the effect of Liverpool coach Benitez's cup master buff?
So, at the call of fans (mainly Liverpool fans and Premier League fans), the defending champions should be given a chance to defend their title... and Liverpool got the chance!
The result is that before UEFA's fair and just draw ceremony, inside information had already been released that Liverpool would inevitably be in the same group with other Premier League teams - because the price UEFA paid for giving Liverpool the opportunity was that Liverpool would not have the principle of avoiding the same national league. After all, it has already given the Premier League an extra spot in disguise, and it is also necessary to take into account fair and just competition order under a fair and just draw ceremony, right?
Manchester United and Arsenal: "...It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you play with. Playing in the same country also saves you the trouble of traveling..."
Chelsea: "...mmp, I knew that UEFA had bad intentions, and you always mess with me..."
Everton: "...Don't look at me, I didn't make the finals."
Although they would never agree to give up their Champions League spot to their city rivals Liverpool, Everton was eliminated by Villarreal in the qualifying play-offs...
Everton fans: "Yes! Even if we don't make it to the Champions League, we can't give it to Liverpool!"
So even though the Premier League was granted five special seats, there were still only four Premier League teams in the final 5/05 Champions League group stage, and there must have been two Premier League teams in the same group.
The last group is Group H, where Ricardo's former club Inter Milan is located. It is also a good draw. In the same group are last season's defending champion Porto, Glasgow Rangers and Slovakia's Artmedia.
……
The entire Barcelona team arrived a day early in Bremen, a city with a population of only 66 that is the capital of the German state of Bremen, the second largest port city in Germany, the fifth largest industrial city in Germany and the center of northwestern Germany.
Werder Bremen's home stadium is the Weserstadion, which was built in 1909 and is located on the right bank of the Weser River. The stadium was renovated in 1997 and can accommodate spectators.
The home stadiums of German teams are known for their fanaticism, let alone the home stadium of the Champions League. Although the game was held on a weekday, Wednesday, the stadium was already full half an hour before the game started.
不莱梅队的首发阵型和意大利国家队的主要阵型有点类似，是可以称呼为4-3-3的4-3-1-2；由10号米库，出任意大利国家队10号托蒂的位置。
The French star John Micoud in Bremen is a player that Ricardo particularly admires. Just hearing his name makes you think he is very rich, right? Micoud...
Another advantage of Miku that Ricardo admires is his low profile. As a regular in the French national team, he is indeed Zidane's number one substitute... Isn't this tragic? That's about it...
Johan Micoud was born on July 1973, 7 in Cannes, France. He is 24 meters tall and a right-footed player. Last season, he helped Werder Bremen win the German Football League championship after a 1-year absence. In the same year, he won the double crown and won the German Cup with the team.
Later, Toni Kroos, the main core of both the German team and Real Madrid, became a big fan of Miku.
On this side, Barcelona's starting formation is 4-3-3:
Goalkeeper: No. 1 Valdés;
The back line from left to right is No. 12 Van Bronckhorst, No. 23 Oleger, No. 5 Puyol, No. 2 Belletti;
The iron triangle in the midfield is No. 4 Marcos, No. 6 Xavi and No. 20 Deco at the defensive midfielder;
The forward trident is left winger Ronaldinho, right winger Giuly and center forward Eto'o!
Ricardo and Messi sat on the bench together waiting for their chance...
At the beginning of the game, although Bremen took the lead with the advantage of home court, Ricardo knew that Ronaldinho, who had not been to a nightclub for 4 days, would definitely show his power in this game. Oh no, he would show his divine power!
Messi, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but cover his mouth and secretly asked Ricardo: "How do you know that Ronaldinho hasn't been to the nightclub for 4 days?"
Ricardo calmly said, "Isn't it because I am very allergic to alcohol? If Ronaldinho went to a nightclub the night before, he would have drunk alcohol. The sweat he exuded during the training session the next day would have smelled of alcohol. I am very sensitive to alcohol, so I could detect it."
Messi: "⊙o⊙~ Yosi! Sodisni! What a powerful dog nose..."
Ricardo: "Ahem... you're asking for a fight! When are you going to give me the 100 autographed photos you owe me?"
Ricardo's inner thoughts: "Actually, Ronaldinho told me personally... I greet him every day and ask him how he spent the night..."
Sure enough, although the first shot was created by Bremen, from Paraguayan striker Valdez...
But! ...Oh, the second and third shots also came from the home team, this time it was Croatian striker Krasnic...
However, Barcelona's defense was very focused and did not pose a threat...
In the 12th minute of the game, Ricardo finally scored! Barcelona, led by Ronaldinho's father, broke the deadlock first!
Van Brontehorst came in from behind and made a cross from the left. Deco, who received the ball in the middle, stopped the ball and passed it to Ronaldinho for organization. The Brazilian elf made a clever cross pass in the left rib of the penalty area in the face of Bremen's three-man defense...
After Eto'o received the ball in the middle, he attracted the opponent's last defender and passed it back to Deco. The Portuguese calmly shot from 20 yards on the left. The ball hit the feet of central defender Pasaan who came over to defend and changed direction and bounced into the near corner.
Bremen goalkeeper Reinke had no way to deal with this deflected goal...
Afterwards, the two teams attacked and defended each other, but overall, Barcelona's offense was more powerful and threatening under the organization of Ronaldinho's father!
In the 27th minute, Bremen striker Valdez crossed from the right side, and Krasnic tried to shoot with his heel, but missed the ball and it slipped past the goal.
Barcelona then launched a quick counterattack. Ronaldinho's father dribbled the ball and broke through the penalty area. Cameroonian cheetah Eto'o's left-footed shot from 8 yards in front of the goal was blocked by Reinke!
Barcelona missed the chance to expand their lead, and Bremen almost equalized the score in the 36th minute.
Krashnich intercepted Belletti on the left front court and passed the ball directly to the middle after dribbling too much and hesitating. However, Valdez also missed a shot from 8 yards in front of the goal at the far end; but unlike Eto'o's shot from 8 yards in front of the goal, Valdez's shot was higher than 8 yards in front of the goal...
In the 41st minute of the game, Barcelona changed the score again: Deco passed the ball straight through the middle, and Eto'o pushed the ball into the net from 10 yards on the right side of the penalty area.
However, the referee cancelled the goal due to offside, but the slow-motion replay on TV showed that at the moment Deco passed the ball, Eto'o did not pass Schulz, who was the last man at the time.
"It would be nice to have Var... but Var is also fine... Oh, never mind, let it be, this ball has nothing to do with me anyway." Ricardo muttered to himself while warming up on the sidelines.
In the final stage of the first half, Bremen launched a strong attack and formed a siege at one point, but 4-5 shooting opportunities were just a hair's breadth away and could not change the situation.
Barcelona went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
At halftime, Rijkaard replaced the out-of-form Belletti with Edmilson, and Oleguer moved to the right...
Ricardo wanted to raise his hand and say, "I've played right back in the national team before!" But he thought, "Will I play right back more often in the future?" So he held back... He had to keep a low profile...
The second half was similar to the first half. Although Bremen attacked first, Barcelona's attack was more powerful and threatening under the organization of Ronaldinho's father!
And they almost extended the lead in the 50th minute, this time Eto'ola passed the ball from the penalty area to the penalty area line, Baumann, who was distracted by Ronaldinho's advance, made a tackle to clear the ball, but Deco shot from 20 yards! Unfortunately, the shot, flying like an eagle, hit the right post of the goal and bounced out...
In the 66th minute of the game, Argentine youngster Messi replaced Giuly and played as right winger.
The other poor substitute can only warm up on the sidelines, and he must sweat enough from warming up to be able to take a shower after the game without any worries or embarrassment!
10 minutes after Messi came on the pitch, he helped Barcelona win a penalty!
In the 77th minute, Ronaldinho's father attracted a double-team and suddenly passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area, once again breaking through Bremen's defense.
Central defender Schulz, who came to defend, was passed by Messi who received the ball. Seeing that Messi was about to shoot, he had no choice but to pull Messi down...Norwegian referee Hauch decisively awarded a penalty kick!
The penalty kick was taken by Ronaldinho's father...
Although Bremen goalkeeper Reinke made the correct judgment, the angle of the ball shot by Ronaldinho's father was too tricky, and it went into the 10-point bottom corner of the goal along the goal post...
Rijkaard then used his last substitution, with Van Bommel replacing Xavi to strengthen the defense and midfield.
After that, the Germans basically gave up their efforts, and Barcelona seemed to have no intention of fighting. In the final garbage time, Marcos and Deco received yellow cards respectively.
In the end, Barcelona defeated the Bundesliga powerhouse 2-0 away on the first Champions League match day.
Ricardo sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes in his first Champions League campaign! Oh, that’s not right, he spent more than half an hour warming up on the sidelines in both the first and second half, and he was still sweating, so he had to take a shower after the game…
……
