Chapter 93: European semi-final first leg, Part

In the 22nd minute, Edmilson made a long pass from the backcourt, Eto'o cut in from the left and made a powerful low shot with his right foot from 22 meters in front of the goal, but the shot was caught by Dida.

In the 27th minute, Barcelona made a long pass from the backcourt. Kaladze jumped at the wrong time and headed the ball over the bar. Eto'o saved the ball when it went out of bounds, then lowered his head and accelerated to break through... Kaladze could only tackle him from behind and knock him down.

Ronaldinho was responsible for handling the free kick slightly to the right sideline, 25 meters from the goal. Unfortunately, the free kick was not high enough and was blocked by the wall. Then he followed up with a left-foot volley, but the ball was blocked by Nesta again, and then it was easily caught by Dida.

Barcelona gained momentum after a few waves of attack and gradually suppressed AC Milan, who were playing at home. However, the stars of the home team were no pushovers, especially Kaka, who was about to enter his peak period. He alone caused a lot of trouble for Barcelona's defense.

In the 33rd minute, Kaka was tripped by Puyol when he broke through the middle. Referee Sarr showed a yellow card and AC Milan won a set piece in the front court. Pirlo's right-footed free kick from 25 meters away from the goal on the left side passed the wall but missed the near post slightly.

In the 38th minute, Ronaldinho made a powerful low cross after Iniesta made a wall pass on the left flank. The ball passed through Milan's entire defense line. Giuly, who was on the left side, made a low shot with his right foot from 11 meters away from the goal. Unfortunately, the shot was not strong enough and was caught by Dida, who was in a very good position.

Not long after, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, and both sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0-0.

In the first half, the two teams had almost the same amount of possession time, AC Milan had the upper hand in the first half, but as the game progressed, Barcelona took more and more initiative in the game. However, neither side had any particularly good chances to score.

The second half started with a change of sides and the rhythm of the last part of the first half was continued. Both sides attacked and defended each other. Barcelona had stronger overall control, but Milan's stars were always able to create scoring opportunities through simple cooperation.

In the 51st minute, Gattuso, who had been mainly defensive in this game, suddenly dribbled forward and passed the ball to the middle from the top of the penalty area...

Shevchenko received the ball at the top of the penalty area and cleverly dribbled the ball past the defense line; Kaka successfully made an offside run and broke into the right side of the penalty area, and without stopping the ball, he volleyed the ball to the other side, avoiding Puyol's close-range play and Valdés' blockade.

Gilardino on the other side made a good run and shot from 5 meters in front of the goal, but with Marcos's strenuous interference, he missed the far post in the face of a mostly empty goal...

AC Milan missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring.

Wasting opportunities will be punished by the goddess of fate. Sure enough, in the 57th minute, it was Barcelona's turn to have the best chance of the game!

After receiving the ball, Iniesta broke through to the right and made a low pass to the middle; Ronaldinho took the ball in the middle and turned around, pushing away Gattuso who was pressing closely, causing the latter to lose balance and fall to the ground.

Temporarily freed from the entanglement, Ronaldinho had the opportunity to calmly observe the defense, and then he shook his right calf and rubbed out an extremely accurate overhead ball...

The ball was about to pass over the heads of Nesta and Kaladze, and Giuly quickly inserted himself into the left side of the penalty area through the gap between the two and grabbed the ball. Then, facing the arrival of the blockade, he simply volleyed with his left foot at a small angle 6 meters in front of the goal. The ball flew out like a cannonball, passed Dida's body, and went straight into the top corner of the near post of the goal!

Barcelona leads 1-0! The entire Barcelona team, including the cuties on the bench, embraced and celebrated passionately. This was a valuable away goal that could even decide the team's place in the final.

AC Milan, which was behind, had to press forward decisively, trying to equalize as soon as possible, or even tie the score. However, mistakes were made in a hurry, and the forward-pressing formation also gave Barcelona more space to counterattack.

In the 63rd minute, Serginho broke through to the left bottom line and then made a quick half-high pass. Gattuso's header at the back post missed the target and instead headed the ball out of the penalty area.

Seedorf intercepted the ball outside the penalty area, but was then intercepted by two big men, Edmilson and Van Bommel, and Barcelona immediately launched a counterattack!

Iniesta made a straight pass, Giuly received the ball in the frontcourt and passed it directly to Ronaldinho in the middle.

Ronaldinho dribbled the ball and broke through the middle. He first dodged Pirlo who was returning to defense, and then faced the blockade of Nesta who was fighting and retreating. He made a series of feints to create a gap, and then made a low shot with his right foot 16 meters away from the goal on the right side of the penalty area. The ball flew straight into the far corner of the goal like a sharp arrow!

Unfortunately, with a bang, the ball hit the inside of the far post and bounced back into the field, and then Dida pounced on the ball like a vicious dog and caught it in his arms. The AC Milan team was scared and broke into a cold sweat. They really couldn't give Ronaldinho a chance. His personal ability was too strong. At this stage, he is only stronger than Kaka or Shevchenko.

Seeing this, Ancelotti had no choice but to change the formation. In the 67th minute, he replaced Pirlo with Maldini and moved Serginho to the midfield to strengthen the interception and mobility of the defensive midfielder. Pirlo was obviously unhappy after leaving the field and pulled off the coat that the assistant coach put on him.

Rijkaard also responded immediately, replacing the goal scorer Giuly with Motta, and using three strong players to block the defense in the middle. At the same time, Iniesta was put in the front to cooperate with Ronaldinho and Eto'o to counterattack.

Then, in the 72nd minute of the game, the two championship coaches made adjustments again.

First, Barcelona's Oleguer strained his left groin while defending Serginho. Rijkaard didn't have time to worry about it and quickly sent the energetic young man Li Qi to take over as right back.

Ancelotti also replaced Pirlo's golden partner Gattuso with Ambrosini, and Gattuso was also very unhappy. But Pirlo was resting, and keeping Gattuso would not be effective, and he had a yellow gem card; in addition, Ambrosini's height and skills were better than Gattuso's, and his ability to get forward was also stronger.

However, after the adjustment, AC Milan did not get any good opportunities in attack, but was counterattacked several times by Barcelona.

In the 76th minute, Li Qi suddenly accelerated and stole the ball from Ambrosini on the wing. After Li Qi stole the ball, before Serginho could counter-steal, he knocked the ball to Ronaldinho in the middle.

The latter did not pretend to pass the ball to Li Qi who continued to advance at high speed on the wing, but passed the ball diagonally behind Stam from the outside of the center circle...

After successfully avoiding the offside trap, Eto'o received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, then he dodged the chasing Stam and shot with his right foot from 21 meters in front of the goal. The ball went around the fingers of Dida who was lying on the ground, but missed the far post.

In the 80th minute, Ancelotti played his last card, replacing Stam with Cafu, and Lacaze returned to the middle to continue to strengthen the attacking ability on the wing.

Sure enough, one minute later, Milan had another golden opportunity to score.

Kaka first protected the ball with his back to the goal at the top of the penalty area, then half-turned and cleverly sent a straight pass with his left foot...

The ball passed through Barcelona's defense line, and Ambrosini, who came in from behind, rushed over. Before Puyol could make a tackle, he fell to the ground 11 meters in front of the goal and shot with his right foot. Unfortunately, the ball hit the post and went wide of the left goal post!

AC Milan missed another chance to score.

In the 87th minute, facing the home team that was pressing hard, Rijkaard played his last card and replaced Ronaldinho with center forward Maxi Lopez. He played as a center forward to pass the ball to Eto'o during the counterattack, but more often he returned to the penalty area to compete with Nesta for headers...

With Kaka's shot from 13 meters in front of the goal on the right side of the penalty area missing the near post, Barcelona finally secured a 1-0 victory, which ended AC Milan's unbeaten record in the Champions League semi-finals.

……

At the press conference after the game, Rijkaard was excited but cautious: "1-0 is an important score for the entire Barcelona team, because we won this victory in a very difficult stadium, and the game was full of tension. The players of both teams worked hard."

Black Swan Ding did not indulge in the joy of victory too much. After the game, he asked his players to keep working hard and never get carried away: "Now we have to continue to work hard and stop thinking that we have won everything. Winning away is an important advantage, but we are facing a two-round knockout match. The first round was magical, but we still have to play the second round."

Ancelotti took the responsibility for the loss on himself: "We did well in this game, but we didn't seize the opportunity... We will work hard and strive to recover in the next round and reverse the situation and advance!"

However, third-party media are not as conservative as Rijkaard, nor as optimistic as Ancelotti. Instead, they use data to speak first.

Statistics from France's L'Equipe show that the home team has lost 0-1 in the first round a total of 50 times in the 30-year history of the three major European cups.

But then they went on the road and only three teams won, including one away game where they won 3-1 but lost in overtime.

Excluding these three teams, the other nine teams drew in the second round, and 9 teams continued to lose (some teams were repeated).

Therefore, if the team that plays at home first in the Champions League loses 0-1 in the first leg, their chance of qualifying is only 7.1%. Even if the war is expanded to all European competitions, the chance of a comeback is only 9%. In other words, Barcelona has a 1-0 advantage away from home, and their hope of advancing to Paris is as high as 92.9%.

The Spanish media all sang "Conquer" one-sidedly!

El Mundo called the match a battle of giants. The air was full of tension and tactics, but with Ronaldinho's super pass and Giuly's final strike, Barcelona broke the rhythm balance and disarmed AC Milan. After the goal, Barcelona completely controlled the game. If AC Milan wants to advance, they have to be more courageous in the next game. In addition to the practical value of winning, for Barcelona it also means the establishment of reputation and authority.

Mundo Deportivo praised Giuly's world wave for helping Barcelona win an important victory... Barcelona overwhelmed their opponents and also found their best football... Now, Rijkaard's team must continue to suppress their opponents at Camp Nou...

"Mundo Deportivo" praised Barcelona for proving itself at San Siro, and Barcelona is striding towards the final in Paris... Before the game, who dared to predict that Barcelona could achieve a score of 1-0 at San Siro... Now, Barcelona only has 90 minutes left until the final and only two games left until winning the championship.

"AS" commented that 12 years later, Barcelona finally completed its revenge for the 1992-0 loss to the opponent in the 4 Champions League final. Rijkaard's team now has a reason to book a hotel room in the City of Light (Paris). Giuly's goal gave Barcelona half or more of a ticket to Paris... 1-0 is a good score, but if your opponent is an Italian team, this score will not be decisive. But in any case, it is more likely that a Spanish civil war (Barcelona vs Villarreal) will be held at the Stade de France.

Marca even used epic writing: "The whistle at the end of the game made the Italian team feel relieved. They witnessed the disappearance of their hegemony on the European continent, while Barcelona took the new era into their own hands. Barcelona will not make mistakes because they are only one step away from making history."

……

On the second day, another European Champions League semi-final first leg was played at Highbury Stadium in London, with Premier League side Arsenal playing at home against visiting La Liga team Villarreal.

This is the first time that the two teams have participated in the Champions League semi-finals. It is also Arsenal's farewell performance in the European war at Highbury. Arsenal will move to a new home next season. In the past 93 years of history, Highbury has witnessed the Gunners' 22 European war seasons.

枪手此前连续8场冠军杯不失球，近13场冠军杯主场比赛中9场不失球。自2003-04赛季1/4决赛负于切尔西以来，阿森纳冠军杯主场取得6胜3平的不败战绩。

而客队比利亚雷亚尔近7场比赛只赢了1场，比赛状态不算太好。但黄色潜水艇的冠军杯客场战绩却非常出色，近12场欧战客场比赛仅负1场，其余11场3胜8平。

这是黄潜本赛季第4次开赴英伦三岛，此前3场是保持不败，分别是资格赛2比1击败埃弗顿，小组赛与曼联互交白卷，1/8决赛与流浪者战为2比2平局。

After 90 minutes of fierce battle, Arsenal finally won 3-1 against Villarreal at home thanks to center back Toure's second goal in the European Champions Cup - a shovel shot 0 meters in front of the goal at the end of the first half.

Arsenal successfully extended their Champions League clean sheet record to 829 minutes, while the defeated Villarreal also ended their nine-match unbeaten streak against British teams (including Scottish Premier League teams) since their first European campaign three years ago.

However, the 1-0 score at home cannot give Arsenal more advantages; next week, the second round at the Love Song Stadium will foreseeably still be a crucial and tough battle.

……

Originally, Ricardo was thinking about taking a day off after the game to stay in Milan to spend time with his family... But then he thought, no, this day is not enough for two little fairies...

And more importantly, at this crucial stage when both the league and the Champions League are coming to an end, as an ambitious young player, he should not ask for leave at will, which will affect the team's preparations and make his boss unhappy!

Hurry back to Barcelona with the team overnight to prepare for the weekend league!

If they win away at the weekend, maybe Barcelona can win the championship in advance...