Chapter 95: Enter the finals, see you in Paris!

On the evening of April 2006, 4, the weather in Barcelona was extremely cool and comfortable, completely different from the rainy weather in Seville at the weekend; today was perfect for a football match!

At 20:45 in the evening, the second leg of the 05/06 UEFA Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and AC Milan officially kicked off at Barcelona's home stadium, the Camp Nou.

这是巴萨第100场冠军联赛，自2002-03赛季1/4决赛输给尤文以来，巴萨已经保持冠军杯主场连续9场不败(7胜2平)。

而首回合在主场1比0输球的AC米兰如能实现逆转，将是近4个赛季第3次打进决赛。但冠军杯扩军以来的14个赛季里，只有1996年的阿贾克斯在半决赛首回合0比1落后的情况下翻盘晋级，而且AC米兰本赛季冠军杯客场只有1场胜绩。

As the league was postponed last weekend due to heavy rain, Barcelona got extra rest time. Only Oleguer and Messi were absent due to injury under Rijkaard. Deco returned from suspension, Larsson was on the bench after recovering from injury, and Xavi returned from injury but was not included in the squad.

So compared with the previous round, there were only two adjustments in Barcelona's starting lineup. Belletti returned to the starting right back, Deco replaced Van Bommel and formed a midfield barrier with Edmilson and Iniesta.

AC Milan also had many injured players return to the team, only Nesta was not included in the squad because he failed to recover from a thigh muscle strain in the weekend league.

So compared with the previous round, AC Milan's starting lineup also had only two adjustments. One was that Costacurta, who turned 40 two days ago, replaced Nesta as central defender and served as captain, and Inzaghi replaced Gilardino as the lone striker.

Before the kick-off, 9 fans at the scene used red and blue cardboard to piece together a huge Tifo pattern, which was extremely spectacular; the battle between the two sides officially began with the referee's whistle.

However, shortly after the start of the game, a loophole appeared in Barcelona's defense. Kaka drove straight along the right rib, then made a powerful low shot with his right foot in front of the penalty area, but the ball went slightly wide of the far post.

However, Barcelona almost scored with their first attack in the second minute. Deco sent a straight pass from the right rib, Eto'o received the ball and entered the penalty area, faked a shot and dribbled past the defender, then pushed the ball with his left foot from 2 meters in front of the goal. Fortunately, Dida attacked in time and fell to the ground and blocked the ball out of the baseline with his body...

Barcelona then gradually took the initiative on the field and created more offensive threats.

In the 16th minute, Costacurta played with fire on the right side of the backcourt. He rashly passed the ball to Kaladze in the middle. Kaladze was pressed and the ball was intercepted by Eto'o!

The Cameroonian cheetah dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the middle, and Seedorf behind him couldn't catch it... Then Eto'o shot with the outside of his right foot from 9 meters in front of the goal, but Dida made another key save and he bravely fell to the ground to block the ball!

After being blocked, the ball still bounced into the air and flew towards the empty goal. Fortunately, Costacurta arrived in time and cleared the ball in front of the goal line.

In the 20th minute, Ronaldinho took the ball from the left rib and cut inside. Facing the siege of four Milan players, he shot with his right foot from 25 meters in front of the goal. The ball hit the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line.

In the 21st minute, Kaka took a tactical corner kick from the left, Pirlo made a lob pass from the middle, Shevchenko successfully made an offside, and volleyed from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area and hit the side net.

In the 28th minute, Stam made a cross from the right, and Inzaghi knocked the ball back from the front point... But Puyol predicted the ball successfully and launched a quick counterattack; Iniesta ran nearly 50 meters with the ball, drove straight in and then passed the ball to Eto'o. Eto'o made a slight adjustment and pushed the ball into the far corner with his left foot 15 meters in front of the goal, but unfortunately the shot was blocked by Costacurta again.

Afterwards, Giuly intercepted the ball outside the penalty area and passed it to the right. Belletti broke into the penalty area and with a small angle, he shot towards the goal with great force, but the ball slipped out of the far post.

In the first half, both sides played very openly, attacking and defending each other, but overall, Barcelona's offense was more threatening, while AC Milan was obviously more cautious, so they were the side with more ball possession in the second half of the first half.

However, neither side was able to successfully score a goal, and the game entered the halftime break with a score of 0-0.

If this score remained until halftime, Barcelona would eliminate AC Milan and advance to the final; therefore, when arranging the tactics in the midfield, Rijkaard made it clear that the second half would focus on defensive counterattacks, and more attention would be paid to the protection of the defense line, especially the marking of the legendary Inzaghi on the offside line and the young Kaka.

In the second half, the two sides continued to attack and defend each other, but it was obvious that Barcelona handled the ball more cautiously, and the defense line retreated more decisively, basically leaving no space for Inzaghi to counter-offside and Kaka to advance with the ball, and they were even willing to give up control of the ball for this.

But Milan couldn't wait. If they didn't break through Barcelona's goal, they would be eliminated. So after testing for 5 minutes, Milan's defense line pressed forward collectively and intensified the offensive.

However, Milan's defense was exposed in the backcourt as they pressed forward, and they were almost broken through by Barcelona's counterattack in the 54th minute of the game.

After Belletti intercepted Kaka's pass from the flank, he dribbled forward and made a cross pass to the middle near the midfield... Ronaldinho stopped the ball and turned cleverly to get rid of Gattuso's entanglement, then made a very penetrating straight pass from the right rib!

Taking advantage of the gap in AC Milan's defense, Giuly, who successfully got ahead of the offside, moved forward to the right side of the penalty area and received the ball. Facing the attacking Dida, he calmly made a low pass to the far end.

Belletti, who had been running at high speed, faced a half-empty goal and made a tackle to shoot, but he didn't even touch the ball! Stam then kicked the ball out of the baseline.

Seeing that simply pressing forward could not change the situation, Ancelotti made the first substitution, replacing Costacurta with Cafu, Kaladze played in the middle, and the captain's armband was handed to Shevchenko. At this time, there were 7 Brazilians on the court, including Deco, who was born in Brazil.

After the substitution, AC Milan became more active on the wing. In the 67th minute, Serginho made a breakthrough and made a cross from the left. The ball was hit by Valdes to the back post. Cafu made a shot from 11 meters in front of the goal, but unfortunately the ball was headed high.

Seeing that the substitution was effective, AC Milan further strengthened its offensive power, replacing defensive midfielder Gattuso with offensive midfielder Rui Costa. This was already considered giving up interception in the midfield, because the remaining Pirlo and Seedorf were not good at defense.

Seeing this, Rijkaard began to make adjustments to his troops. First, in the 68th minute, he replaced Giuly, who could no longer run, with Larsson, and then brought Ronaldinho back to the midfield to strengthen control.

However, it was after this substitution that AC Milan created the biggest threat of the game.

In the 69th minute, Serginho cooperated with Seedorf and broke through Belletti's defense on the left again, then made a cross from the bottom... Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shevchenko got in position and headed the ball from 9 meters in front of the goal, heading the ball into the left side of the goal!

Just when the entire Milan team was preparing to celebrate, the German referee Merkle had already blew the whistle in advance, judging that Sheva had pulled down Puyol when he was in position, which was a foul and the goal was invalid.

So in the 74th minute of the game, Rijkaard made the second substitution, sending on Li Qi, who had better physical fitness, to replace Belletti, who had been broken through by Serginho several times and missed golden opportunities.

However, not long after Li Qi came on the court, he successfully launched a threatening attack.

In the 75th minute of the game, Serginho and Seedorf tried to make a move on the left again, but new player Li Qi created the breaking point moment.

Li Qi first blocked Serginho's possible pass to Seedorf through precise positioning, and at the same time exposed a flaw to the former, making Serginho inclined to continue to break through from the outside.

However, just as Serginho lowered his head and prepared to accelerate, Li Qi predicted in advance and rushed forward directly, accurately intercepting the ball from Serginho's feet, successfully defending 1 against 2!

The TV commentators in the broadcast room couldn't help but applaud Li Qi's defensive performance, but they didn't have time to applaud more and had to continue their commentary.

Because Li Qi switched directly from defense to offense after stealing the ball, he started to drive straight into the game with the ball and launched an attack.

After bypassing Pirlo who was unable to return to defense, Li Qi, who cut inside, was almost at the top of the penalty area. Then, facing Stam's defense, he decisively passed the ball... After Eto'ola received the ball on the wing, he directly sent a 45-degree cross with his right foot!

Larsson, who had shaken off Costacurta, headed the ball from 8 meters in front of the goal. The ball was headed beautifully with a good angle and strength, and it went straight to the lower left corner of the goal!

But Dida made another great save, reacting incredibly quickly and kicking the ball out of the baseline...

Larsson, Eto'o and Li Qi, who were all ready to raise their hands to celebrate, instead held their heads in disbelief. This ball was even saved? What a pity!

After Li Qi came on the pitch, he plugged the loopholes in the wing defense and actively participated in the backcourt passes instead of blindly passing the ball forward; so Barcelona began to use skilled back-passes to waste time.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, Ancelotti made a last gamble. Gilardino replaced Inzaghi and began to frequently send high balls to threaten Barcelona's penalty area.

But Barcelona's defense was very tight, AC Milan had difficulty finding gaps. At the same time, Rijkaard replaced Eto'o with Van Bommel to strengthen the fight for high balls at the edge of the penalty area.

In the end, Barcelona managed to maintain its overall score advantage until the end of the game.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the entire Barcelona team celebrated passionately for advancing to the final, while many AC Milan players collapsed on the grass...

Ricardo, who was a cunning man, did not go to comfort his teammates in the national team, but decisively found the Dutch legendary central defender, Jaap Stam, to exchange jerseys! Hey, the defensive iron gate born in 72, now 33 years old, will retire in two years!

After all, for the big Italian football stars, it was relatively easy for Ricardo to get their jerseys thanks to his hometown relationship and his junior status on the national team.

Ricardo made a silent decision: "If I meet AC Milan next time, I will have to change to Shevchenko's jersey... or Cafu's? Oh, I am so confused..."

……

巴塞罗那在主场0比0战平AC米兰，以两回合1比0的总比分晋级决赛，这是巴萨12年来第1次也是历史上第5次打进欧洲冠军杯决赛。

On May 5, Barcelona will compete with Arsenal for the Champions League title this season at the Stade de France in Paris, and is expected to repeat the glory of the 17/91 season - winning the double of La Liga and the Champions League.

巴塞罗那与阿森纳两队在欧洲三大杯历史上只交战过2场，巴塞罗那队1胜1平占据优势，进5球失3球。两队最近的交锋是在99/00赛季；本场决赛也将是两队在欧洲冠军联赛历史上第2次交锋。

In the first stage of the group stage of the 99/00 season, the two teams were tied in Group B. The first match between the two teams was held at the Camp Nou in Barcelona in the third round of the group stage. After Luis Enrique opened the scoring, the Gunners tied their opponents 3-1 away with Kanu's goal.

Two weeks later, Barca travelled to Wembley Stadium to challenge the Gunners for the second leg. Barcelona won 4-2 and advanced first. The scorers were Rivaldo, Figo, Enrique and Cocu, while the scorers for Arsenal were Bergkamp and Overmars.

……

In the post-match press conference, Ancelotti was a little out of control. He was angry at the referee Merck for disallowing Shevchenko's goal in the second half.

Ancelotti believes that the whistle had a negative psychological impact on AC Milan: "It was a good ball. No one understood why an experienced referee would call a foul at this time. Puyol was left behind by Shevchenko, lost his balance and fell to the ground... This was an important game. Such a misjudgment weighed heavily on our shoulders. We certainly felt unfairly treated... We are very disappointed. This penalty kept us out of the final. I don't think it should be such a result."

Gazzetta dello Sport also believed that this was an ambiguous decision.

Finally, Ancelotti encouraged the team and praised the team's performance: "I think we can walk out of Camp Nou with our heads held high. Although we had some difficulties at the beginning of this Champions League, the team gradually got better. Unfortunately, we were eliminated in the semi-finals. The team tried its best and created opportunities, but the goal was blown off, which brought us regrets."

As for the controversial penalty, Rijkaard was unwilling to comment further: "The referee made this decision for his own reasons."

Rijkaard instead focused on praising the team for their excellent implementation of the defensive counterattack tactics: "To be honest, I had to do this (defend). Because we were facing a strong team, AC Milan, and we had a score that could help us advance... Facing a great team, we had to endure the pain, but we also fought our hardest, and in the end we achieved the result of advancing to Paris. Barcelona's goal of advancing to the final has been achieved, but we are not the favorite to win the championship, because there is never a favorite in such an important final."

Finally, some media mentioned that if he leads the team to win the Champions League this season, Rijkaard will become the fifth person in history to win the trophy as both a player and a coach, but Rijkaard does not want to think about it: "I don't want to think about this issue now."

Yes, Ricardo didn't think about this problem either. He just wanted Friday to come quickly and Chiara to come quickly to save little Ricardo who had been vegetarian and lonely for almost two weeks...

……