"CCTV, CCTV!"
"Dear viewers, this is the live broadcast of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between Barcelona and Manchester City at home for you!"
In the CCTV live broadcast room, He Wei and Xu Yang introduced the formations and starting lineups of the two teams in a fast tone, and then said:
"This is Lin Quan's first return to Camp Nou on behalf of another team after leaving Barcelona. I wonder how he will perform against his old club at Camp Nou today?"
Stepping into the Camp Nou stadium, the boos and abuses that Lin Quan expected did not appear.
Instead of attacking him, Barcelona fans just ignored him.
They cheered loudly for every player who played and chanted the names of Barcelona players in unison.
When the DJ at the scene read the names of Neymar, Messi and others, the cheers reached its peak.
We have Messi, we have Neymar, we don't need a player who is not loyal to Barcelona!
This is probably what they are really thinking at the moment!
Lin Quan just glanced at it and then withdrew his gaze.
He was not interested in knowing what the Barcelona fans were thinking.
The only thought in his heart at this moment is to take away victory from here!
The chief referee of this game is Kuppels, who is from the Netherlands.
He ranked third in the 2013 referee rating and is a referee of outstanding ability.
Kuppers's enforcement standards are relatively strict and he likes to give cards.
Historically, in this season's Champions League final, Kuppers showed a total of 12 yellow cards to the two teams fighting, and he can be called a card-dealing machine.
This is obviously very unfavorable for Manchester City, because they are used to loose penalty standards in the Premier League. Suddenly encountering a referee with such tight penalty standards will be very uncomfortable and it is easy to get cards.
At 19:00 in the evening, with the referee's whistle, the game officially started.
Manchester City, wearing blue jerseys, occupied the right side of the pitch and attacked from right to left.
Barcelona, wearing red and blue jerseys, occupies the left side of the court and attacks from left to right.
Barcelona took the lead and Messi handed the ball to Neymar and ran forward.
Neymar passed the ball back to Iniesta and then quickly ran to the wing.
Barcelona played very actively after the opening. This is their own home court and they don't need to be conservative.
Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, Barcelona's players pressed forward heavily, and the football was quickly passed back and forth under their feet. Manchester City's players began to experience the power of Barcelona's passing and controlling the football.
In the 3rd minute, after Barcelona passed many passes in the frontcourt, Xavi suddenly sent a through ball.
Messi started early before Xavi passed the ball, instantly shook off the defender and received the pass from his teammate at the front of the penalty area.
He adjusted his posture to shoot, attracted Manchester City's defender to grab the ball, and quickly dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Zabaleta and Kompany were both attracted to Messi and both pounced on him.
However, Messi did not choose to shoot himself, but passed the ball to Neymar who came from the wing into the penalty area.
Neymar received the ball and shot directly without stopping. The ball was very threatening, but Joe Hart was very focused and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
"Concentrate and don't miss anyone on either side of the wing!"
Joe Hart stood up from the ground and reminded his teammates loudly.
Facing a top team like Barcelona, any mistake they make may be a fatal blow to their opponent.
Kolarov raised his hand apologetically, indicating that he made a mistake with the ball.
He did not stick to Neymar immediately, giving the opponent a chance to shoot.
Seeing that Neymar missed the shot, Messi touched his chin, lowered his head, turned and left the Manchester City penalty area, preparing to take a corner kick.
Neymar hugged his head with some annoyance. Such a good opportunity was wasted. If this goal had been scored, he would have become a hero of Barcelona.
The corner kick was taken and Kompany found the spot.
But there were Barcelona players on the outside, and the ball that was cleared was quickly controlled by Barcelona.
Xavi tried a long shot, which hit the defender and bounced back.
De Bruyne and Iniesta both rushed towards the football and the two collided and both fell to the ground.
The referee stopped the game and went to check on the injury.
Fortunately, the two were not injured and the game resumed quickly.
The referee awarded the ball to Manchester City, but before the ball could be passed out, it was intercepted under Barcelona's pressing. Barcelona continued to lay siege to Manchester City's goal.
A few minutes before the opening, the situation on the field was very passive for Manchester City. The football was always in their own half. Their formation was very compressed. Even if they got the ball, they could not spread the formation immediately, forming a Effective counterattack.
Seeing the team's advantage, the Barcelona fans who came to the Nou Camp were very excited and happily sang the Barcelona team song.
"We are believers in the color blue!"
"We share the same faith!"
"We have a name that will dominate the world!"
"Barcelona!"
"Barcelona!!"
"Barcelona!!!"
In the loud singing of Barcelona fans, Barcelona launched wave after wave of fierce attacks on Manchester City.
In the 13th minute, Messi's shot after a breakthrough was blocked by Joe Hart with his legs.
In the 17th minute, Neymar's long shot went over the crossbar.
In the 22nd minute, Iniesta's back shot hit the post!
…
Barcelona is getting closer and closer to scoring!
We can't continue like this, the team is too passive!
Thinking of this, Lin Quan simply withdrew and joined the defense.
In the 27th minute, football once again came to Messi's feet.
Just as Messi was about to move forward with the ball, he felt someone appeared in front of him.
He raised his head and glanced at the other person out of habit, and his pupils suddenly shrank - it was Lin!
Why doesn't he stay in the frontcourt and run to the backcourt?
"Here we go, Lin Huang is finally facing off against Messi!"
"Who can win? Who is xdm optimistic about?"
"Then he must be the club champion. Lin Huang is not a dedicated defensive player. If he defends Messi, he is no better than putting a wooden stake in front of Messi!"
"Haha, it's too much, too much. Although Lin Huang's defensive ability is not up to the top level, it is pretty good among forwards!"
"Having said that, aren't forwards used for offense? Whose forwards are used for defense?"
Netizens think this sentence is very funny. The defensive ability of forwards is generally not strong. What is the use of being a strong defensive player among forwards?
"Manchester City was suppressed so miserably in the first thirty minutes. Just looking at the scene, it feels like the two teams are not on the same level!"
"It's nothing. If you often watch Barcelona play, you will know that they have always played like this. If you look at the ball possession rate and so on, the gap between the two sides is even greater."
"Barcelona's passing and controlling pressure is very strong, but it's hard to say whether it can be converted into goals. This season, I always feel that their offensive ability is not as good as last year."
"It is indeed not as good as last year. Last year, Barcelona scored 115 goals in the league. Although there are still 7 rounds to play this year, the 26-goal gap feels like it cannot be recovered at all."
"Didn't I say that Neymar is very strong? Why did Barcelona's offensive power drop after he joined Barcelona?"
"The horse is really good, but Barcelona's midfielder is aging. Xavi's condition this season is much worse than last season, and he is older and his energy is not as good as before. It will be difficult for him to continue to play the whole game. Once Without Xavi's command and dispatch, Barcelona's offensive firepower has dropped by no means a little bit!"
"Barcelona must continue to sign players this summer. If they don't sign players to strengthen the team, I'm afraid their record will decline further next season!"
On the court, Messi was just surprised.
After he figured out that Lin Quan was an offensive player and not a defensive player, he no longer had any worries in his mind.
Even your defenders can't guard me, it's useless even if you come here!
Messi moved the ball and prepared to rush past Lin Quan.
However, as if Lin Quan saw through his intention, he stretched out his foot to grab the ball the moment he dialed it.
If it were an ordinary player, Lin Quan might not be able to defend him.
But with Messi, it's different.
After all, he is using the template of peak Messi, and he knows exactly what Messi is going to do.
Lin Quan's move surprised Messi, who quickly adjusted to try to control the ball at his feet.
In the past, Messi's move has been successful against other defensive players.
But today, he met his opponent.
Lin Quan's foot frequency was the same as his, or even faster than his.
Lin Quan touched the ball first, and he planned to pass the ball to Aguero near the center line.
Although Messi's kick was half a beat slow, he still hit the ball, causing the ball's flight direction to change.
The football flew out in front of the two men and flew behind Messi.
De Bruyne, who was cruising here, saw the ball flying towards him, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
However, before he could stop the ball, he lost the ball under the double-team of Alves and Xavi.
After Xavi intercepted the ball, he quickly handed it to Iniesta. Iniesta pretended to break forward, but after breaking into the penalty area, he passed it back in an inverted triangle to Messi who entered the penalty area.
Messi passed Kompany and then chose to volley into the upper left corner of the goal. The ball was of high quality, but today Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart transformed into Saint Joe Hart. He jumped high and saved Messi. This kick hits the goal!
Seeing that his shot was confiscated by the opponent's goalkeeper, Messi couldn't help but scratch his head.
This goalkeeper is a bit abnormal today!
Lin Quan had just seen De Bruyne get the ball and had already started running forward, preparing to attack. Unexpectedly, he lost the ball after just a few steps.
At this time, just as he was about to return to defense, he saw Joe Hart blocking Messi's shot.
Without thinking, Lin Quan immediately turned around and ran towards Barcelona's half.
Joe Hart saw Lin Quan's actions and gave him a thumbs up in his heart.
He did not throw the ball to Lin Quan immediately, but threw the ball to Cross at the edge of the penalty area.
Cross also observed Lin Quan's movement, but he did not pass it directly to Lin Quan, but quickly handed the ball to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne's position was closer to the half-court. After receiving the ball, he glanced in Lin Quan's direction, sent a through ball, and passed the ball to Lin Quan.
Manchester City's ground advance was very fast. Before most of the Barcelona players had time to retreat to their own half, their counterattack had already passed the half-time mark.
"Defend, retreat quickly!"
Seeing Manchester City's concise and efficient counterattack, Barcelona's head coach Martino's eyes widened in horror.
This fast-moving counterattack reminded him of Mourinho's Real Madrid team.
Is this the trump card that Manchester City has carefully prepared?
Fortunately, I also arranged Busquets as my backup!
As soon as Lin Quan passed the center circle, Busquets pounced on him and appeared in front of him.
As Lin Quan's national team teammate, Busquets is very aware of Lin Quan's strength.
You must not rush forward rashly at this time. During team training in Spain, Lin Quan had already shown everyone what would happen if you rush forward rashly.
He glanced at his teammates. Pique was not far behind him, retreating into the penalty area.
In front of him, Xiaofa was chasing back as fast as possible.
As long as it is delayed for a while, until teammates catch up, or dragged to the edge of the penalty area, and Pique and Mascherano step forward to help, they can stop the opponent's attack.
Busquets made an instant judgment. He gave up the idea of attacking and stepped back while concentrating on the movements of Lin Quan's feet.
Professor Bu's plan is to trade time for space, delaying the opponent until he makes a mistake, or dragging his teammates to assist him.
When encountering a player with very strong breakthrough ability like Lin Quan, he cannot guard him alone.
Therefore, what he has to do is to pull Lin Quan into his teammates' defensive area, form a double-team, and use multiple people to help defend Manchester City's attack.
When a forward dribbles the ball forward, if there is a defensive player in front of him who keeps a vague distance from him, it will put huge psychological pressure on the forward.
If the forward gets anxious during this period and exposes a flaw, the defensive player can still see the right opportunity to destroy the ball in advance.
Even if the forward is calm and not in a hurry, and drags both of them into the penalty area, the defensive player will have the advantage because there is a goalkeeper in the penalty area.
Therefore, retreating to defend is a very smart defensive strategy.
It is a pity that the defensive players or coaches did not realize this at this time, but Busquets understood this truth in advance.
Seeing Busquets' choice, Lin Quan frowned.
Does dropping back to defend compress space?
This kind of defensive method is quite shameless. The defender does not rush forward, does not take the ball easily, and just keeps retreating.
When people are retreating, they are definitely not as fast as running forward.
Therefore, the distance between the two will get closer and closer, which will lead to the safe space between Lin Quan and Busquets getting smaller and smaller.
When the space is small enough, the offensive player dribbles the ball forward and simply gives the ball directly to the opponent.
If they don't want to hand over the ball so easily, they can only slow down and control the ball at their feet.
Once their speed slows down, this quick counterattack will basically fail.
During the Liverpool period, Van Dijk relied on this move to resolve countless crises, and almost won the Ballon d'Or as a defender!
However, Professor Bu is not Van Dijk, and Lin Quan is not an ordinary player.
Originally, the distance between the two was getting closer, but at this time, Lin Quan not only did not slow down his speed, but also accelerated it further.
Busquez's eyes widened and sweat began to form on his back.
Is the other party planning to force it?
Busquez lowered his center of gravity slightly and assumed a posture ready to intercept.
When Lin Quan dribbles the ball forward, the ball never leaves his feet too far each time.
For ordinary players, every time they touch the ball and control the ball 1 meter away from their feet, it is considered a success, but Lin Quan, like Messi, can control the ball less than half a meter away from himself.
At this distance, it is too difficult to grab the ball from the opponent's feet!
But it's not completely impossible, the key is to see the timing right!
Busquets is waiting for the opportunity at this time!
The moment Lin Quan touches the ball and the ball flies away from his feet, if he takes action immediately, he has a chance to intercept the ball before him!
However, there is only one such opportunity.
Once he fails to grab the ball, Lin Quan will not give him a second chance.
Busquets waited until his time was running out. With the current speed of the two of them, if he didn't take action quickly, he would be passed by Lin Quan in a few seconds.
Finally, when he saw Lin Quan touch the ball again and the football was close to him, Busquets took action!
However, the moment he took the shot, Lin Quan's foot that had just finished touching the ball touched the ball again before him and kicked the ball past him.
trap!
Busquets was horrified and realized that he had been fooled.
He quickly reached out and tried to pull Lin Quan's jersey.
This kind of action is likely to get a card, but if he does it in a subtle way and releases it immediately after pulling it, the referee may not notice it.
Lin Quan staggered when he pulled his jersey, and almost lost his balance.
The referee saw Professor Bu's foul, but in order to facilitate the offense, he signaled for the game to continue.
good chance!
Piqué saw Lin Quan's staggering movements and immediately chose to destroy it!
No!
Busquets turned around and saw this scene, but it was too late to remind his teammates!
Almost at the moment when Pique's foot was about to touch the ball, his other foot stretched out and kicked the ball away.
Pique was shocked and turned around quickly to make up for it.
But Pique is not the kind of player who turns quickly. By the time he completed his turn, Lin Quan had already entered the penalty area.
His teammates were passed too quickly and thoroughly, leaving Barcelona goalkeeper Pinto with no time to attack.
He squatted down slightly and stared nervously at Lin Quan's movements in order to judge the direction of the opponent's shot.
Lin Quan glanced at the goalkeeper's position, swung his feet and finished the shot before Mascherano tackled the ball.
The position of this shot is almost exactly the same as that of Messi's shot just now, both heading towards the upper left corner of the goal!
Although Pinto is ready to save, he is old after all. The reaction speed of the 37-year-old veteran is definitely not comparable to that of the 27-year-old Joe Hart.
What's more, Joe Hart is still using the plug-in!
With a bang, the football hit the inner crossbar and the inside of the uprights and bounced into the net.
After being besieged for nearly 30 minutes, Manchester City took the lead in breaking the deadlock in the 29th minute of the first half.
The score was rewritten to 1:0, and Manchester City temporarily led by one goal.
This result was beyond the expectations of all the fans at the scene. Not only the Barcelona fans did not expect this result, but also the Manchester City fans who traveled with the team did not expect this result.
Being besieged for nearly thirty minutes, but scoring the first goal?
is this real?
The Camp Nou fell into a brief silence, and a few seconds later, huge boos flew onto the pitch.
Barcelona fans finally woke up!