novelhk Chapter 226
Chapter 226
"Damn it! This big guy is so unsportsmanlike!"
After the referee blew the whistle, Deco stood up, patted his shorts, and complained to Xavi who ran over to pull him up.
The second half lasted less than 10 minutes, and Deco couldn't remember how many times he was knocked to the ground by the black guy who came on in the second half, and the black guy always knew how to deal with him. The foul was always 40 meters away from their goal, and the foul was always just the simplest physical collision, which guaranteed that he would not get a card!
"It seems that they have changed their style of play." Hearing Deco's complaints, Xavi also stared at Alonso and responded, "Didn't you see that I was knocked down by Alonso several times? This guy defended me in the first half at most Kaka's position, and he started to use his body after the start of the second half."
Deco was a little puzzled by the change in Leeds United's midfield play: "But the ball is still at our feet, and they didn't get any benefits? What's the point of doing this?"
Shaking his head, Xavi didn't quite understand Leeds United's current style of play. He had a little guess in his mind, but he was not sure: "Maybe they want to keep the draw? I don't know, let's play like this first, if there is any problem, the coach will remind us!"
As Xavi said, Rijkaard also noticed the changes in Leeds United's midfield play during this period. They no longer seek to compete with Barcelona for possession of the ball in the midfield.
When defending, if you can intercept the ball on Barcelona's passing route, intercept it. If you can't intercept it, just rush up and foul directly, interrupting Barcelona's offensive rhythm in this way. When attacking, they rarely advance from the middle. Rivaldo is now a ball distribution machine standing in the middle. The football will not stay at his feet for more than two seconds before being passed to the two sides.
Looking at Li Shiguang, Rijkaard knew that this man finally gave up the head-on confrontation with him in the midfield. Leeds United's style of play returned to their best quick counterattack!
But is it useful?
Zambrotta and Belletti are both experienced players. Since Barcelona almost pressed Leeds United throughout the first half, the physical energy of the two full-backs was not greatly consumed. They were able to block Bale's impact. As for Sneijder, speed is not his strong point!
Also, it is not the first time that Barcelona has encountered a team that is good at defensive counterattacks. Wasn't Chelsea stronger than your Leeds United last year? Were they still kicked out?
Thinking of this, Rijkaard shook his head slightly, a little contemptuous smile appeared on his face, and he suppressed the impulse in his heart to make substitutions after seeing Leeds United's change in playing style.
But he still took the opportunity when Xavi was about to take a set-piece, walked to the sidelines and called Zambrotta who was close to him, asking him to pay more attention to Leeds United's counterattack and never give them the opportunity to hit directly behind him.
Interestingly, Li Shiguang didn't miss these thoughts of Rijkaard, otherwise he would have said a few words back.
Really good guy, you still have the nerve to mention Chelsea last year? You didn't mention Del Horno's red card at all, have you forgotten what Mourinho said? I played against you 4 times in two seasons, and you never beat Chelsea as long as it was 11 vs. 11 on the field!
But Rijkaard thought so much, but he overlooked one point, that is, Rivaldo, whom he regarded as a ball distribution machine. He never thought about why Li Shiguang didn't replace him even though Rivaldo seemed to be useless now!
But it's not his fault. Rivaldo had almost no outstanding performance except for the unexpected assist at the beginning of the game.
He strolled in the middle circle throughout the first half, and controlled the ball slightly when it came to his feet. If Motta rushed up to defend, he would pass the ball back to his teammates as soon as possible. However, it was precisely for this reason that Rivaldo's physical energy consumption was not great, and he still had the strength to fight!
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In this situation, the game gradually entered the last 15 minutes. Barcelona was very close to scoring several times. Fortunately, Schmeichel played stably and kept the goal with high catches and blocks.
Rijkaard also made some adjustments to the lineup. Just now, Eto'o, who replaced Saviola, received a cross from Messi on the right and shot the ball, but it was too straight and was directly confiscated by Schmeichel.
Schmeichel did not hesitate. He held the ball and kicked it directly to Toure in the middle.
This kind of high-altitude ball has never been the strong point of Barcelona's midfield, so Deco only interfered slightly behind Toure, and Toure easily passed the ball to Riva behind him.Rivaldo.
Seeing Rivaldo take the ball and turn around, Motta rushed up immediately. In his mind, his old teammate should also pass the ball back to Toure or Alonso behind him as soon as he saw him rushing up.
But this time, Rivaldo made a different choice!
Facing Motta who had already rushed in front of him, Rivaldo did not pass the ball. Instead, he did the same as Ronaldinho in the first half, flicked and knocked the ball with his left foot, and shook off Motta with a beautiful bull tail! Then he ran towards the right half of Barcelona with the ball.
"Rivaldo! He also swung the bull's tail! He broke through Motta's defense!" Seeing Rivaldo easily pass Motta, Lineker exclaimed, "Hahaha, there are Brazilians in Leeds United, and he can also swung the bull's tail!"
Seeing that Rivaldo did not choose to pass the ball this time, the Barcelona players were shocked, but they quickly reacted, especially the central defender Marcos and the full-back Zambrotta stationed on the right.
Marcos moved first.
Zambrotta followed closely behind, but he ran only two steps and suddenly remembered Rijkaard's instructions just now. He looked up and saw a white figure running towards this side along the sideline, so he immediately stopped and tried to turn around and run back.
But Rivaldo would never give him such an opportunity! When he saw Zambrotta's body leaning forward, he had already adjusted his pace with the ball, and when Zambrotta stopped, Rivaldo had already passed the ball!
"Be careful! Overhead ball!" The commentator at Camp Nou could not care less and shouted anxiously.
Like him, the fans watching the game from a bird's eye view also saw Bale running parallel to Zambrotta. For a moment, a huge booing sounded over Camp Nou...