Chapter 77 Before the Second Round of Battle, Part

In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Chelsea, there was a controversial red card, a lucky own goal, a return own goal, and then a comeback goal. With so many dramatic details and the two teams being in the limelight in their respective leagues, as well as a lot of grievances and hatreds, the media gave wonderful comments after the game, and even previewed the second leg in two weeks:

"13 days later, the fate of Chelsea's third attempt to reach the top of Europe under the Abramovich era will be announced. After losing at home, the Blues have reached the brink of death. The conditions for revival are very harsh: winning alone is not enough. The score of 1-2 means that if Chelsea wants to eliminate Barcelona, ​​they must not only defeat their opponents, but also score at least 2 goals."

"To be more clear, if Chelsea wins 2-0, the Blues will be reborn and Barcelona will be eliminated; if Chelsea wins 2-1, the game will go into overtime; if both teams score higher, as long as Chelsea wins, they will successfully advance."

"However, it is not easy to stage a big comeback away from home. Looking back at the history of the Champions League, there has only been one precedent in the past 10 years: in the 1995-96 season semi-finals, Ajax was defeated by Panathinaikos at home, and the then defending champions then won 3-10 away from home and entered the final. years later, no team has been able to stage a comeback away from home after losing in the knockout stage of the Champions League."

Ricardo couldn't help curling his lips as he watched the media reports: "Yes, there weren't many precedents before, but there have been many since then; and most of them have the chance to be included in the inventory... It's really exciting!"

……

Just two days after returning to Barcelona from London, Ricardo took the train with the team to visit Zaragoza on Saturday morning to compete in the 25th round of the Spanish Football League.

Ricardo had just come out of Chiara's gentle embrace, and before he had enough fun, he was sent back to the base by the beauty - there was no other way, although he was likely to be a substitute, he was selected for the roster for the evening game. If he didn't restrain himself, JJ would be chopped off...

Ricardo was still hard on the train, still not satisfied... He couldn't help but secretly swear: "Fortunately, I will rush back to Barcelona overnight after playing tonight. Tomorrow, I'll see what excuses you can use to fool me..."

At 2006:2 on the evening of February 25, 22, Barcelona's away game against Zaragoza officially started.

Compared with the lineup that defeated Premier League champions Chelsea away in midweek, Rijkaard only replaced Oleger and Van Bronckhorst with Belletti and Sylvinho in the starting lineup, while the rest of the positions remained unchanged.

After all, one month ago, Barcelona was defeated by Zaragoza in the King's Cup away from home, and the record-breaking 1-game winning streak was ended. Puyol, Deco and Eto'o, who were absent at the time, have all returned to the team; therefore, all the main players of Barcelona team are determined to take revenge.

This is also Rijkaard's arrangement in preparation for the second round of the battle with Chelsea in 10 days. Let the main players use up the remaining excitement of the win in the middle of the week in this game, and then arrange rotation in the league next weekend, so that they can adjust their physical fitness and good condition at the same time, and make progress on both fronts.

As for the opponent, Diego Milito, who has scored 12 goals, and Brazilian fast horse Everton will still be the biggest threat to Zaragoza. Their style is completely different from Chelsea's attacking group, and Barcelona's main defense needs to face it with caution.

After the opening, Barcelona obviously learned from the lessons of the previous game and protected the back line more fully than the last time, especially the defensive midfielders Edmilson and Motta restricted the opponent's midfielder's direct passes facing the defense line, and Puyol's defense of the gap behind the defense line was very successful.

In the first half, both sides were in a stalemate for a long time. As they paid more attention to defense and needed to pay attention to the distribution of physical strength after the big battle with Chelsea in the middle of the week, Barcelona's offense was also played cautiously; so while not giving Zaragoza any obvious opportunities, Barcelona did not have many threatening attacks.

In the 5th minute of the opening stage, Marcos made a long pass from the center circle to Deco outside the penalty area. The latter stopped the ball with his chest, made a wall pass with Eto'o, and then passed it directly to Messi who was cutting in from the other side. Gabi Milito in the middle predicted and made a tackle in advance, but failed to intercept the ball... After the Argentine stopped the ball, he shot at a small angle facing the goalkeeper who blocked the near corner, but unfortunately the ball hit the side net.

In the 26th minute, Ronaldinho's father dribbled the ball and suddenly took a long shot from 30 yards on the left. Zaragoza goalkeeper Cesar was careless when he tried to save the ball... Fortunately, his second reaction was still quick, and he still managed to get the ball into his arms before Eto'o could make a follow-up shot.

At the end of the first half, in the 43rd minute, after receiving a pass from Deco, Motta also tried a long shot with his left foot from 30 yards in the middle. The ball hit Milito's calf and bounced off the left post...

In the first half, Zaragoza faced Barcelona with ease, and the home team did not lose the upper hand on the field... However, according to an insider who wished to be named, the boss arranged for the decisive moment in the second half.

As expected, after returning to the first half, the Barcelona team immediately increased the rhythm of attack and defense transitions, and began to frequently threaten Zaragoza's goal... Of course, on the other hand, Zaragoza also got more counterattack opportunities because of Barcelona's pressure.

In the 55th minute, Rijkaard replaced Motta with the cute new puppy Li Qi, which was also a signal for Barcelona to further speed up in the midfield.

After receiving the midfield clearing mission assigned by his boss and being able to play in the midfield, Li Qi was very excited. He cooperated with big brother Edmilson, constantly intercepting the ball and then passing it to Deco or Ronaldinho's father to organize the attack.

After Li Qi came on the pitch, his playing style was similar to Motta's brave and ruthless style. Li Qi moved faster, made more accurate predictions, and had a better ability to read the game. Li Qi intercepted more passes and dribbled the opponent with almost no tackles.

After Li Qi came on the court, he immediately made a lot of outstanding performances on the defensive end. Soon he helped Barcelona suppress the entire Zaragoza team and left the frontcourt space to the big brothers, which in turn created more offensive opportunities.

In the 59th minute, Zaragoza striker Everton retreated and received the ball and wanted to speed up for a counterattack. Li Qi accurately predicted Everton's intention. At the moment when the latter stopped the ball slightly away from his body, Li Qi quickly grabbed the ball from the side and directly intercepted it.

After Li Qi intercepted the ball, he did not waste time and passed the ball to Deco to organize an attack before Everton could counterattack; the latter made a direct pass into the penalty area, Messi stopped the ball with his chest, and then broke through to the right baseline and made a cross, but unfortunately the ball was cleared by Ponsio with a header before Eto'o.

In the 61st minute, Li Qi read the game accurately again, predicting the direction of the Zaragoza defender's long-foot clearance and the path of the ball in the air under the pressure of the Barcelona forward. Li Qi jumped high near the center circle and intercepted Zaragoza's long pass to Diego Milito in advance. He stopped the ball steadily with his chest and passed it directly to the wing to Ronaldinho's father who retreated to meet the ball.

After stopping the ball, Ronaldinho made a fake move to shake off the defense, then cut inside to the middle and shot from about 28 yards in front of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the ball hit the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line...

Li Qi's consecutive wonderful defensive steals and interceptions also won Rijkaard's nod of approval. Seeing this, the latter continued to signal the players to press forward and not to be afraid of Zaragoza's counterattack, as the height and speed protection in the midfield and backcourt were sufficient. He sent veteran Larsson on the field in the 65th minute to replace Messi.

Because once Barcelona attacked, Zaragoza would have 10 players defending half the field, and Messi's dribbling advantage would be weakened. Larsson played as a double striker with Eto'o after he came on the field; Ronaldinho retreated to play as a front midfielder, and the midfield became a diamond formation - with Li Qirang taking on more tasks of protecting the defense line, because he was a new comrade.

At the same time, the two full-backs participated in assists more boldly. If Edmilson, who was in the defensive midfielder position, retreated a little to the back line, this formation would be a bit like the later popular 3-5-2 double wing-back style.

However, just when Barcelona had been pressing Zaragoza for about 10 minutes, something unexpected happened...

In the 75th minute, Eto'o was ready to walk off the field due to racist attacks from fans watching the game. Players from both teams urged the fans to calm down and let the Cameroon Cheetahs resume the game...

The game was interrupted for about 5 minutes. Finally, the fans who carried out racist attacks were asked to leave the stadium, and Eto'o returned to the stadium to resume the game.

Shortly after the game resumed and entered its final stage, Barcelona finally broke the deadlock in the 80th minute. Ronaldinho took a corner kick from the right side, and Edmilson half-volleyed and volleyed the ball into the far corner from 16 yards on the left side of the penalty area! This shot was very exciting! Edmilson's footwork was very good, not only did he press the ball into the goal frame, but the ball also flew in an arc at a very fast speed, bypassing the goalkeeper's diving...

However, former Real Madrid midfielder Celades destroyed this world wave with a volleyball move on the goal line, hitting the ball out with his hand... The referee Torres took out the red card without hesitation and awarded a penalty kick.

Ronaldinho's father scored the penalty with devilish steps, scoring his 13th league goal of the season and helping Barcelona lead Zaragoza 1-0.

Li Qi also secretly patted Edmilson on the shoulder to comfort this poor brother. His first league goal (and a wonderful world wave) was ruthlessly taken away by a handball...

Later, facing Zaragoza, which was one man down, Barcelona played more easily; the home team also quickly replaced three players, adjusting the formation while trying to equalize the score.

But soon, Barcelona expanded the score in the 82nd minute and killed the game. It was Li Qi again who predicted the through ball from Savio, the former Real Madrid winger who had just recovered from injury and came on as a substitute, to Diego Milito, and then passed it to Eto'o on the right.

The Cameroon Cheetah had just been discriminated against and was feeling very angry. After receiving the ball, he made a violent breakthrough to the right edge of the penalty area, and then swept a powerful low ball across the middle!

Larsson scored with a clever shot from 6 yards in front of the goal. This was the Swede's sixth league goal of the season and the score was fixed at 6-2.

However, in the final moments of the game, something happened that made Rijkaard worried. In the 87th minute, Ronaldinho strained his left leg and was replaced by Iniesta.

In the end, Barcelona defeated Zaragoza 2-0 away from home, avenging their elimination from the King's Cup.

At the press conference after the game, Rijkaard first supported Eto'o and reflected the racial discrimination of Zaragoza fans: "Eto'o is also a human being. I feel sad for those people. At the same time, I am happy for the players. They not only helped Eto'o but also responded to the boos with actions. Thank you Eto'o and the players. It was them who let the fans see a wonderful game."

Then the Black Swan emphasized the team's victory and praised Ricardo and Larsson who came on as substitutes: "Zaragoza played at home, but their tactics were not to oppress us, but to wait for us to concede a goal and then look for a quick counterattack... Zaragoza basically did not create any threat. During the halftime break, we decided to threaten the opponent in the second half... Li Qi and Larsson kept looking for depth after they came on the court. They did a good job. The former protected the defense and assisted in the offensive organization, and the latter's goal directly helped us secure the victory..."

……

Ricardo was very happy to receive the praise from his boss. He was in a good mood and naturally in a great state. So the multi-round battle with Chiara the next morning was even more exciting, and he also received silent praise from the boss in bed... (Of course, for the sake of love and peace, the battle content of several thousand words was naturally omitted)

After having fun, the scumbag Ricardo pulled up his pants, but this time he didn't just pat Chiara on the butt and let her go. Instead, he personally took a flight to send Chiara back to Milan.

Of course it's not because the scumbag has a change of heart, but because Lippi has called up Ricardo to join the national team training camp again, to face the challenge of the German team in Florence on March 3st - this is also the last official international A-level friendly match of the Italian team before the 1 World Cup finals.

After joining the training team, unless there are major accidents, Ricardo should be a key candidate for selection into the World Cup finals roster.

……

At 2006 p.m. on March 3, 1, an international A-level friendly match before the World Cup was held at the Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy. It was also a warm-up match for the two teams participating in the World Cup finals.

The two teams are the Italian national team wearing blue shirts, white pants and blue socks, and the German national team wearing red and black shirts, white shorts and red socks. Since both teams are strong historical teams with outstanding records, this game is also attracting much attention.

Italy has not lost in 2004 games since October 10, 15 of which were without Totti. Therefore, Italian coach Lippi was not at a loss because of Totti's injury, but directly activated the second plan, with Del Piero, Luca Toni and Gilardino forming an attacking trident; and Italian goalkeeper Buffon also started for the national team for the first time since August last year.

In addition, Italy's starting lineup also includes Cannavaro and Nesta, with Zaccardo and Grosso forming the back line on both wings, and the midfield iron triangle composed of Pirlo, Camoranesi and De Rossi - Gattuso is absent due to injury.

A number of good players including Li Qi, Iaquinta, Materazzi, Barone, Zambrotta and others were on standby on the bench.

Germany was missing a key player in both attack and defense, with Oliver Kahn and Lukasz Kuranyi missing due to injuries. German coach Klinsmann let Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann start, with Klose and Podolski joining the front line.

Germany's starting lineup consisted of Huth, Mertesacker, Lahm and Friedrich in defense, with Deisler, Frings, Ballack and Schneider forming a parallel midfield.

There are also famous players such as Metzelder, Borowski, Schweinsteiger and Asamoah as backup forces for changes.

Back on the field, there was a breeze, the sky was sunny and rainless, but there was still a slight chill in the early spring at the Florence Franchi Stadium. The two sides had already started their battles, and this classic battle was about to begin!

……