Chapter 80: Second leg against Chelsea, Part
After Chelsea made the substitution, they changed their cautious style of play. The defense line began to move forward significantly and pressed Barcelona's front court more fiercely. The new players Gudjohnsen and Crespo also brought a different style and vitality to Chelsea's front court. However, Chelsea first had to deal with the gaps in the back court after the defense line pressed forward. How to deal with Barcelona's offensive and threats...
In the 59th minute, Barcelona made a long pass from the backcourt. Larsson retreated out of the penalty area and headed the ball. Eto'o stopped the ball on the left, broke through the edge of the penalty area and shot hard. The ball penetrated Chelsea's defense line. Fortunately, goalkeeper Cech was focused and saved the ball.
In the 62nd minute, Barcelona once again made a long pass to the gap in Chelsea's defense. This time, Ronaldinho's father stopped the ball on the left, then cut inside and shot from 25 yards in front of the goal. This long shot was blocked by Carvalho, and the ball was confiscated by Cech after slowing down.
Barcelona's counterattack was fruitless, so Chelsea created a wave of offensive.
In the 63rd minute, Joe Cole broke through on the right to create an opportunity and made a cross from the bottom. Crespo suddenly made a forward run in the middle and the Argentine striker shot with his left foot from 5 yards in front of the goal, but unfortunately the ball went wide of the near corner of the goal.
In the 67th minute, Chelsea tried a 45-degree cross. Ferreira made a long free kick from the right into the penalty area. Terry jumped high from 18 yards to head the ball, but was disturbed by Puyol's header and the ball had no power and was easily caught by Valdes.
In the 70th minute, Chelsea launched another attack on the right side of the frontcourt. Gudjohnsen's cross hit Motta's hand. At that time, Motta was standing on the edge of the penalty area, but the referee signaled the game to continue and no penalty was given.
In the 77th minute, Puyol fouled Gudjohnsen who was advancing with the ball in front of the penalty area and was given a yellow card warning. The Barcelona captain will miss the next game; and then Chelsea's set-piece was taken by Lampard and he also fired a cannon.
When Chelsea failed to break Barcelona's defense after a round of strong attacks, Barcelona counterattacked again, and this time Barcelona's counterattack finally bore fruit.
Barcelona broke the deadlock in the game and took the lead in the 78th minute; it was still a long pass from Barcelona's backcourt that directly found Eto'o in the frontcourt. Eto'o stopped the ball and turned quickly to get rid of Gallas' close defense, and then made a timely through pass when Carvalho came forward to fill the position.
Ronaldinho's father stopped the ball on the left wing and broke through with the ball, and with one acceleration, he shook off Lampard's defense; as he was about to enter the penalty area, Terry, who was marking him, quickly rushed up and wanted to directly hit Ronaldinho who was advancing at high speed...
But he didn't expect that Ronaldinho's father, who hadn't been to the nightclub for a week, was so strong and his lower body was very stable, just like the Harmony train at full speed, not only was it at high speed but it was also very stable! Terry didn't even knock Ronaldinho down. Instead, because of his excessive force, his feet got stuck and he completely lost control of Ronaldinho's high-speed advance.
So Ronaldinho's father successfully broke through the double-team defense of Terry and Lampard, and facing the last goalkeeper Cech, Ronaldinho's father shot the ball with his right foot from 15 yards in front of the goal. The ball hit the net in the lower right corner of the goal like a jumping rabbit!
This was the Brazilian's sixth Champions League goal this season, helping Barcelona to score the first goal of the game and making the score of the two rounds 6-3.
But in fact, this score does not have a particularly big impact on Chelsea, because Chelsea still has to score at least two goals. It’s just that originally scoring two goals would allow them to overtake the total score and advance, but now scoring two more goals will only tie the total score and drag the game into overtime.
However, the difficulty is different now, because there is not much time left, and Chelsea has not found a good solution to break through Barcelona's defense. It is precisely because the score is behind, the situation is not advantageous, and there is not much time left...
"Hey, why does this look so much like the situation that a men's football team in a certain East Asian country often faces? It's so strange, it shouldn't be like this, this is Chelsea with the magic bird..." Ricardo had just been warming up and complaining on the sidelines when he was suddenly called back to the coaching bench by the assistant coach and was about to come on as a substitute.
In the 80th minute of the game, Rijkaard played his second card of the game, replacing Deco with Li Qi, strengthening the midfield's toughness and speed, while also increasing the height of the lineup to deal with Chelsea's possible long pass and lob tactics.
As expected, Rijkaard successfully predicted the Magic Bird's next move. Chelsea also made a substitution in the 82nd minute. German high school defender Huth replaced Joe Cole, but he did not defend the back line as usual, but played the role of center forward to attack Barcelona's defense.
Just a week ago, Li Qi played against Huth in a friendly match of the national team. It was Huth who scored a goal to save the German team from a corner kick in the final stage of that match. Li Qi still remembered it clearly, so he also paid attention to assisting Huth in defending the high point. Of course, the main force in the melee was the desperate big brother Motta. However, Li Qi still received a yellow gem card for intercepting the breakthrough of the lamp god Lampard...
For a while, Chelsea's high-altitude bombing did not have much effect under Barcelona's tight defense. After all, the center forward with the greatest tactical power had been replaced.
However, in the 85th minute, Barcelona also missed the chance to kill the game. Li Qi got the ball from the top of the penalty area and then made a long pass to the Cameroonian cheetah waiting in the front court...
After receiving a long pass from Li Qi on the left, Eto'o stopped and dribbled past Carvalho's defensive tackle, then broke into the left side of the penalty area in two or three steps. Facing Cech's attack and Terry's defense, the cheetah chose to push the ball into the far corner from 10 yards in front of the goal!
The ball broke through Cech's save and Terry's block, but unfortunately it hit the far post and bounced out of the bottom line... Barcelona missed a good opportunity, and Chelsea escaped.
Just when Barcelona defended Chelsea's aerial attack, Chelsea suddenly launched a ground attack, and this change of tactics finally yielded some results.
Chelsea equalized the score in injury time. Makelele suddenly changed his previous practice of making long passes to the wing, and instead broke through the middle and dribbled before making a low pass.
And this direct pass was not to Crespo, Robben or Gudjohnsen and other offensive players... Central defender Terry made a forward run to meet Makelele's direct pass and dribbled the ball directly into the right side of the penalty area! This time the cooperation between the two defensive players was beyond the expectations of the Barcelona team, and for a moment, it actually created space for Terry to shoot.
Although Terry's feet were too sluggish when he tried to shoot - it was impossible because he was a central defender - Van Bronckhorst made up for him, but the latter still tripped Terry... The referee blew the whistle decisively and pointed to the penalty spot!
Chelsea got a last-minute penalty kick... Although the slow-motion replay on TV showed that the ball was offside, the controversial decision made by referee Merk could not be changed.
Afterwards, Chelsea's lighting god Lampard scored a penalty kick and scored a consolation goal in this round of knockouts - because after the penalty kick, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
In the end, Barcelona successfully advanced with a total score of 3-2 in two rounds, which can be regarded as revenge for being eliminated last season.
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After the game, the media reviewed the game in detail and believed that Barcelona abandoned the traditional high-pressure style of ball control and achieved perfect strategic restraint; indeed, the ball possession rate of both sides was half and half throughout the game, Barcelona 51% and Chelsea 49%; however, Chelsea committed 30 fouls and Barcelona also committed 20 fouls.
Rijkaard admitted after the game that Barcelona won due to the perfect tactical play: "Barcelona successfully suppressed a dangerous opponent. We were very serious on the field, which is very important against a strong opponent like Chelsea. The team has become mature..."
Mourinho also felt helpless about Barcelona's tactical style after the game: "Barcelona played differently today, they emphasized more on defense and pressing..."
However, the Magic Bird still insisted on his toughness: "If Joe Cole, Robben or Crespo had scored earlier in this game, we would have had a chance... and we did not lose when 11 players played against 11 players. Barcelona got through with the help of the referee. And in the past two years, in the four games combined, we tied with Barcelona."
But the media will not give face to the madman. After all, losing is losing.
The Times in London, England, used the English pronunciation of Barcelona genius Messi to satirize Chelsea's defeat in this game: "Mourinho's desperate move of starting three wingers at the same time proved to be a fatal failure, but the result after 90 minutes was also disappointing. Barcelona had Messi, while Chelsea had a mess (Barcelona had Messi, Chelsea had mess)."
In addition to complimenting Barcelona on their great victory, the Spanish media have already begun to set their sights on the next round of the European quarter-finals.
Spain's El Rey analyzed Barcelona's suspension: "In the second round against Chelsea, four Barcelona players had two yellow cards on their backs, namely Marcos, Oleger, Van Bommel and Puyol. As a result, the first three remained innocent, but Puyol received his third yellow card in the Champions League this season because of an uncalm flying tackle. The captain will be suspended for the next game."
Later, Marca focused on Messi's injury: "At 10 am on Wednesday, Messi underwent a detailed examination accompanied by the Barcelona team doctor. The results showed that the young Argentine had a partial strain on the biceps ligament in his right leg, and even a 5cm rupture. He must stay off the field for about a month. This is undoubtedly very cruel bad news for Barcelona, because in this month, Messi will miss at least four league games. Even worse, he is likely to miss the second round of the national derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid on April 4... In addition, Messi will not be able to play in the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals. Whether he can catch up with the second round will depend on his recovery..."
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"Well, Messi is injured, so I should have a chance to advance my playing order and try to get more statistics so that I can have a good argument with Andre at the end of the season..." The next day, Ricardo quickly browsed through the reports about the match between Barcelona and Chelsea and found that not many media mentioned his performance: "Indeed, I played for ten minutes, mainly played defensive support, and didn't have any outstanding performance. I had a chance to get an assist, but it was ruthlessly wasted by the big African cat..."
"Well, it's still early for training. I just finished reviewing my thesis this morning and don't want to study anymore. I'd better check out the results of other European games..."
On the same day as Barcelona, there were two second-leg matches of the Champions League round of 1.
In one of the matches, Juventus reversed Werder Bremen 2-1 at home and advanced to the next round with more away goals with a total score of 4-4.
In the first half, Micoud, who scored the winning goal in the first leg, successfully beat the offside trap and scored the first goal. In the second half, Trezeguet received a pass from Nedved to tie the score. In the 89th minute, goalkeeper Wiese, who had performed very well before, accidentally lost the ball, and Emerson made a supplementary shot in front of the goal to help the Zebras score the decisive goal.
The result of the other game was that Villarreal drew 1-1 with Glasgow Rangers at home. They also eliminated their opponent in a thrilling way by relying on away goals when the total score was 3-3.
Rangers' Lovenkrands opened the scoring with a follow-up shot in the 12th minute of the game, and it was only in the second half that Villarreal relied on classic attacking midfielder Riquelme to launch an attack, and Aruabarena equalized the score with a powerful shot in front of the goal.
On the next day, four more Champions League quarter-final matches were scheduled to decide the winners.
最为经典的对决就是AC米兰在主场4比1大胜拜仁慕尼黑，以5比2的总比分强势晋级8强。
Inzaghi scored the first goal in the 8th minute, and then scored twice in the second minute of the second half (he is indeed a representative of opportunistic strikers!), and Shevchenko and Kaka each scored one goal; Inzaghi also won a penalty in the 23rd minute, but it was unfortunately missed by Sheva. Bayern only got one point back with a supplementary shot by Ismael in the 35th minute.
The most surprising upset was that defending champions Liverpool lost to Benfica 0-2 at Anfield, and were eliminated with a total score of 0-3...
Liverpool has been in a difficult situation since the New Year. Crouch is the only striker to score this year, and Liverpool missed several scoring opportunities in this game. On the other side, captain Simao and substitute striker Miccoli each scored a goal, ending the team's 10 consecutive away games without a win in the Champions League and successfully eliminating the Reds.
The match between Arsenal and Real Madrid, which Barcelona fans paid the most attention to, was the first match in London where both sides drew 0-0. However, Arsenal eliminated the Galacticos, which had been in turmoil this season, with a total score of 1-0.
Although Reyes and Raul each missed a sure goal in the game, the entire game was generally lackluster and could be said to be a dull draw.
还有一场的比赛结果是里昂在主场4比0大胜10人埃因霍温，以总比分5比0大胜昂首晋级8强。
Lyon scored the first goal in the 26th minute by former Chelsea midfielder Thiago, who then scored twice in injury time in the first half. In addition, PSV captain Cocu was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in the final period of the first half, leaving the visiting team with one less player to play in the second half. In the second half, Wiltord and Fried also scored one goal each. Throughout the 90-minute match, Lyon's outstanding team tactics and individual performance left a deep impression on everyone...
The last Inter Milan home game against Ajax was postponed to next week on March 3th because of a conflict with the home games of AC Milan and Real Madrid - after all, the two teams share a home stadium, although one is called Meazza and the other is called San Siro, but they are the same stadium.
However, the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals was held as scheduled on March 8, without waiting for the result of the match between Inter Milan and Ajax...
……
