Chapter 85: European Quarter-Finals First Round, Part 1

At 2006 p.m. on March 3, 25, at the Rose Garden Stadium in Malaga, which can accommodate 20 spectators, the sea breeze blew gently, and the sunny spring day with the sunset glow made people feel comfortable and relaxed, which was very suitable for a football match; so the 30,044th round of the Spanish Football League, Barcelona's away challenge to Malaga, officially started at this stadium.

In preparation for Benfica's Champions League match next week, Rijkaard benched the core of the attack, Ronaldinho, Puyol was suspended, and Marcos was also injured and absent.

Therefore, Barcelona's 4-3-3 formation in this game was considered a weakened team, but their opponent in this game was the second-to-last team in the league.

The goalkeeper is No. 1 Valdés, who also serves as captain in this game.

中卫组合是全新的首发搭配，23号奥莱格与66号里卡多-李奇，配上两翼边后卫2号贝莱蒂与第50次代表巴萨出场的16号西尔维尼奥；

The midfield triangle is also a brand new starting combination, with No. 3 Motta, No. 17 Van Bommel and No. 19 Gabriel.

The three forwards are a starting lineup that has only been used once. No. 7 Larsson returned from injury and partnered with No. 8 Giuly, who performed well in the previous game, and No. 200 Eto'o, who made his 9th appearance in La Liga.

Although Deco was also rested in preparation for the Champions League, Rijkaard still brought the Portuguese midfielder to the away game in case of an accident; and Iniesta was on the bench as a backup plan left by the boss. Rodri, the second team's central defender, was also included in the match list for the first time this season, sitting on the bench with Esquero, Van Bronckhorst, Maxi Lopez and Jorquera.

Li Qi, who started as a central defender for the first time in the league this season, felt it was a bit novel. He stood in a different position and had a different perspective on the field.

However, Li Qi is also well aware that his burden in this game is not light, because his partner Oleg is a well-known ball-missing king in the media.

During the training in the past few days, Li Qi felt the arrogance of Oleg - he wanted to lead the defense without hesitation. In addition, his ability to read the game was indeed lacking, so relying on Oleg's command to arrange the defense and create offside was purely a job for Valdes.

Fortunately, during the training in the past few days, Rijkaard and Valdes also discovered this situation, so the burden of commanding the defense was handed over to... Valdes. After all, he is also an experienced No. 1 goalkeeper of a top club, although sometimes he would do things for himself and add some drama...

However, in this game, Li Qi was determined to complete the defensive priority task assigned by Rijkaard, and to protect the goal first... because Li Qi was also an unstable element in the eyes of the media.

So today, Barcelona's central defender combination is a young ball-leaking king plus an even younger unstable element...

However, Li Qi is not too worried about the defense in this game, because the three midfielders in this game are three tough guys. Although the combination of Van Bommel, Gabri and Motta may lack imagination and technical ability in offense, they are definitely not lacking in hardness, coverage and running in defense.

After the game started, both sides were cautious. Barcelona was because they needed to adjust their three-line combination, while their opponents were afraid of the reputation of the hot league leader...

The game was therefore a bit dull and lacked brilliance in the early stages, with Li Qi holding his position firmly and not being challenged or threatened by anyone, let alone Valdés. So after 10 minutes, Barcelona gradually got into the game and began to press forward to put pressure on Malaga's defense.

Barcelona almost broke the deadlock in the 13th minute. Belletti made a cross from the right side of the penalty area. Veteran Larsson, who had been rested in the last round of the league, headed the ball into the near corner from 6 yards in front of the far goal, but unfortunately the ball was saved by Malaga goalkeeper Arnault.

In the 16th minute, Van Bommel made a run in the middle and shot from 30 yards out, but the ball was blocked by the opponent's midfielder Bovio and went out of the baseline.

Malaga's counterattack was difficult to overcome Barcelona's tough midfield combination, so they could only frequently shoot long shots to test Valdes, but it did not create any threat.

In the 10th minute, Duda's long-range left-foot shot from 30 yards out in the middle was caught directly by Valdes who was in a well-positioned position.

In the 20th minute, Gomez passed the ball from the right, and Conago's powerful shot from 25 yards out in the middle was easily caught by Valdes.

The subsequent game fell into a stalemate, and Malaga's multiple set pieces sent into the penalty area were all cleared by Barcelona without any danger.

The controversial focus of the first half occurred in the 39th minute of the game.

Sylvinho sent a free kick from the right into the penalty area, Larsson successfully headed the ball at the far post, passed it back to the front of the goal, and Eto'o followed up and shot into the goal.

But then Malaga players argued that Larsson committed a handball foul when heading the ball, and referee Rodriguez canceled the goal after consulting with linesman Guerrero.

However, the slow-motion replay of the TV broadcast showed that it was Malaga defender Navas who committed the handball foul when Larsson headed the ball, not a Barcelona player. This was a complete mistake. Not only did it cancel out Eto'o's good shot, but it also failed to give Barcelona the penalty they deserved.

Malaga was lucky to escape with the help of the referee's misjudgment, but Barcelona's midfielders and forwards were also affected by the misjudgment in their mood and performance, so in the last period of the first half, neither side made any progress.

Li Qi, who had not undergone any tests, successfully completed half of the tasks assigned by the head coach.

The two sides entered the halftime break with a 0-0 draw, and neither side made any adjustments in the second half. In fact, Li Qi felt that Iniesta should be substituted as soon as possible to organize the attack or activate the midfield: "But maybe the boss still needs to balance the playing time of the two big guys, Gabri and Van Bommel."

In the second half, Barcelona, ​​who tightened their defense, still got more opportunities and continued to launch wave after wave of attacks on Malaga's defense in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but they just couldn't break through the opponent's goal line.

In the 49th minute, Larsson pulled out of the penalty area and passed the ball with his heel. Giuly broke into the right side of the penalty area and shot the ball 12 yards in front of the goal, but it was saved by Arnault.

In the 50th minute, Eto'o's long shot from 30 yards was also caught by Arnault.

In the 51st minute, Larsson's powerful shot from 25 yards in the middle was saved by Arnault at the bottom line.

In the 52nd minute, Belletti took a corner kick from the right side, and Oleguer headed the ball from 12 yards away, but it was again confiscated by Arnault.

In the 56th minute, Eto'o shot from 25 yards on the left, but was once again saved by Arnault.

In the 57th minute, Eto'o tried to volley again from 22 yards in the middle, but unfortunately it was saved by Arnault again.

Then in the 60th and 64th minutes of the game, Rijkaard replaced Giuly and Gabriel with Esquero and Iniesta respectively.

Iniesta, who just came on the pitch, obviously injected a different vitality into Barcelona's midfield and frontcourt. Unlike Barcelona's previous attack, which was so rigid and hard, it was more agile and elegant.

In the 67th minute, Iniesta, who had just come on as a substitute, broke through the middle and passed the ball cleverly. Eto'o followed up in the middle and took a long shot from 28 yards, which hit the post and went wide of the near corner.

In the 72nd minute, Van Bommel and Iniesta made a wall-to-wall pass and passed the ball directly into the penalty area. Esquero, who successfully got out of offside, made a diagonal run into the middle of the penalty area and shot, but unfortunately it was saved by Arnault.

In the 75th minute, Rijkaard used up his last substitution and replaced Larsson with center forward Maxi Lopez. After all, the Swedish veteran also has to save his strength for the Champions League quarter-finals next week.

Soon the game entered its final stage; in the 87th minute, Iniesta made another move in the middle, and although Sanz intercepted Xiaobai's pass, he made a mistake in clearing the ball... Eto'o intercepted the ball, then broke into the middle of the penalty area and shot with his left foot on the penalty area line, but unfortunately it was confiscated by Arnault, who was like a god in this game.

In the last minute of stoppage time, Barcelona still had a chance to win the game, but unfortunately Eto'o, who received Iniesta's overhead pass, volleyed from 10 yards in front of the goal and hit the crossbar!

In the end, the two sides shook hands and settled for a draw at 0-0.

Barcelona had a total of 22 shots in the game, 11 of which were on target, but Malaga goalkeeper Arnault performed above his level, making high saves to keep the goal intact.

So even though the leader Barcelona failed to beat the opponent currently ranked last in the league in this battle, Rijkaard, who had a lot of injured players and had to prepare for the Champions League quarter-finals, did not blame the team. After all, they are still 1 points ahead of Real Madrid, who won 4-4 against Deportivo La Coruna in this round.

At the post-match press conference, although Rijkaard complained about the referee's mistaken call of a good goal: "I still don't understand why he blew that goal away." But the Black Swan still praised the team's defensive efforts: "... Although we created a lot of opportunities in the game, we didn't know how to turn them into goals... But we did a good job in defense. The two young players who partnered up for the first time performed very well and seemed calm and mature throughout the game..."

Although he does not like being defined as a defensive player, Ricardo is still very happy to be praised. Moreover, based on the current personnel situation of the team, he may be able to start as a central defender in the Champions League away game against Benfica.

So the next day, Ricardo returned to Barcelona and celebrated with Chiara. The details were omitted for the sake of love and harmony. Anyway, until Chiara boarded the flight back to Milan in a triumphant manner, Ricardo's stock was completely emptied once again...

After a brief training session on Monday, the Barcelona team selected 18 warriors and set off to the Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, to prepare to challenge their Champions League quarter-final opponent, Benfica, on the evening of Tuesday, March 3.

However, Ricardo was naturally honored to be selected for the expedition again...

……

After about two hours of flight, the Iberia A320 flight carrying the Barcelona expeditionary force slowly landed at Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal. Before getting off the plane, Ricardo listened to the stewardess on the plane introducing the Portuguese capital and the famous European tourist city that receives more than one million tourists every year.

Lisbon (English: Lisbon), located in western Portugal, less than 12 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, is the westernmost city in continental Europe, with an area of ​​84.8 square kilometers and a population of 56.5. Influenced by the Atlantic warm current, Lisbon has a good climate, with no ice in winter and no heat in summer. Most of the year is sunny and warm, as comfortable as spring.

There are four professional football clubs in Lisbon, two of which are more famous. One is Sporting Clube de Portugal, which has a 104-year history and has trained many wingers including Cristiano Ronaldo; the other is Barcelona's opponent this time, Benfica Football Club (SL Benfica), which has a history of more than 102 years and has won the Champions League trophy twice.

After checking in at a five-star hotel in downtown Lisbon, the whole team arranged to rest early. This time Messi was absent due to injury. Ricardo shared a room with Andres Iniesta. The two otakus, one was working on school homework on a laptop, and the other was watching a movie on TV. There was no conversation all night...

The next day, the whole team went to Benfica's home stadium, the UEFA five-star stadium that can accommodate spectators, the Luz Stadium, early in the morning to check out the field. This stadium is a modern stadium that was newly built after the demolition of the old Luz Stadium in 2002. The facilities and lawns are extremely beautiful.

Stepping on the smooth and slightly soft court, Ricardo couldn't wait for the evening game to arrive. Yes, Ricardo was scheduled to start again tonight. Rijkaard's starting lineup tonight was still 4-3-3, but the formation was very different from the last round of the Champions League 1/8 knockout round:

The goalkeeper is No. 1 Valdés;

The back line from left to right is No. 12 Van Bronckhorst, No. 66 Li Qi, No. 23 Oleg and No. 2 Belletti;

Because of his stable performance in the last league game and the actual combat training he had with Oleger, Li Qi successfully squeezed out Motta, who might be considered a bit impatient and reckless, to play as the guest central defender in this game. Motta will be on standby on the bench and be ready to respond to any emergency at any time.

However, Li Qi is very confident that he can definitely play the whole 90 minutes of the game, and if Motta needs to be replaced, it can only be Oleger or Van Bommel.

Rijkaard made adjustments to the midfield lineup based on the actual results of the previous round of the league, letting the technically better No. 24 Iniesta start, partnering with No. 17 Van Bommel and No. 20 Deco.

"It seems that the boss is not willing to accept a 0-0 draw away from home, and still hopes to create an away goal through midfield control..." Ricardo naturally understood the coach's thinking. Otherwise, if Motta or Gabriel Garcia were to play like in the last round of the league, the defense would be harder and more effective.

The forward trident is the three players who have scored the most goals for the Barcelona team this season, No. 7 Larsson, No. 9 Eto'o and No. 10 Ronaldinho.

The bench also includes good players such as Giuly, Sylvinho, Gabriel Gabri and Esquero.

……

很快，2006年3月28日星期二的晚上19时45分，双方球员就已经在这座宏伟又现代化的光明球场上拉开阵势，巴塞罗那客战本菲卡的欧洲冠军联赛1/4决赛首回合马上就要开始了！

……