Mister Legend

Chapter 552 Reborn performance

Immediately after being knocked out of the FA Cup, Moody Lee and his team sorted out the emotions of the fans and traveled to the West London side of the River Thames on the second day of April Fool's Day. Craven Farm Stadium, their opponent in this round is Fulham, the younger brother of the same city.

The latter, nicknamed the farmer, has performed poorly this season and is currently in the relegation zone. He must win all the last three games to have a chance to avoid relegation.It's a pity that the team's strength is too bad. The top scorer Serbian center Mitrovic is still missing due to injury. Naturally, Arsenal can't get any cheap at this level.

A 0-2 complete defeat allowed Fulham to almost secure a relegation spot, and at the same time allowed the Gunners to finally raise their ranking to fourth in the league standings. The Champions League next season is already waving to them.

Arsenal got what they wanted thanks to Liverpool's help. The Red Army defeated Manchester United, which had consumed too much in the middle of the week, 2-1 in the away game, indirectly shuffling the situation of the European qualification competition.At present, with only two rounds left in the league, the Gunners have 75 points, Manchester United and Chelsea have 73 points, and they still maintain a fierce competition for the last Champions League ticket.

At the same time, the ownership of the Premier League title, which was already almost certain, also changed. In order to prepare for the duel with Barcelona, ​​Manchester City also hid a lot of main players this round. As a result, they were forced to 0-0 by Everton at home, making their lead The advantage has been reduced to 4 points, and there is a theoretical possibility of being counterattacked by Liverpool.

This situation makes the remaining five Premier League giants except Tottenham face an uncertain ending situation. This created a huge change, but at the same time it also created a lot of suspense, which stimulated the Premier League, which already leads the world football in terms of the football market, to become more eye-catching.

In the remaining seven games that kicked off on Sunday, not only were the stadiums full, but four of them had temporary seats, which continued to increase the attendance rate of the Premier League and made the other major leagues except the Bundesliga envious. have to die.

And this kind of huge attention also appeared in the UEFA Champions League match in the middle of next week. The 1 tickets for the first round match between Arsenal and Real Madrid were snapped up in less than a minute on the Internet. Sold out, and this is the case when the number of Gunners' member priority purchases is controlled to a low level.

If it wasn't for UEFA's permission, the top Gunners could really arrange temporary seats in the stands. After all, due to the team's performance in the first half of the season, the attendance at the Emirates Stadium has dropped significantly.Although the full state will be restored after November, the income gap caused by the previous season compared with last season can no longer be made up.Their desire to increase their turnover as much as possible is understandable. After all, they have a big family and a big business, and no matter how frugal they are, they can't save much money. They still have to find ways to open source.

As for the second round of the Bernabéu battle, because Real Madrid members have to be taken care of, in addition to the [-] tickets reserved for the visiting team, the number of tickets that can be sold is at most about [-], which cannot satisfy the outside world at all. Due to the demand, the ticket price has been fired to a crazy price of [-] euros for a single ticket, and there is still no market for the price.

It's no wonder that teams from all countries are struggling to get the right to participate in the Champions League. This not only affects the honor, but also involves a large amount of income. Even local tycoons such as the Premier League giants cannot easily give up.

On April 4th, the night of the traditional Ching Ming Festival in China, the first match between Arsenal and Real Madrid officially started in London, attracting many big-name stars to watch the game.In addition to a group of big names in the film and television industry, Raul, who is working in the UK and is rumored to be running for the new Real Madrid chairmanship, also appeared in the stands of the Emirates Stadium and became the object of frequent attention of the broadcast cameras.

But as the referee Kargil from Turkey blew his whistle, everyone's attention returned to the green field. The dialogue between the world's number one football giant and the representative of England's artistic football, which has just achieved revival, is naturally worthy of all fans Stay tuned the whole time.

And this game did not live up to everyone's expectations. There was a small climax after only 2 minutes of kick-off.With the assistance of Isco and other teammates, Ceballos and Toni Kroos completed consecutive one-kick passes in the midfield. Finally, the German veteran sent a sharp slash through, allowing Asensio on the wing to win Opportunities for high-speed forward insertion.

Real Madrid's new No. 7 used the change of rhythm to deceive the somewhat aggressive Kolasinac, then immediately cut inward to the center, and rushed into the home team's penalty area in two steps.

The four-back position arranged by Li Mudi today makes their defensive ability in the middle not very strong, and the speed of the two international players Diego Llorente and Harry Maguire is also slightly above the passing line. Facing the vitality of Mbappe and Asensio, it will naturally look a little embarrassed.Fortunately, the Gunners still have the upper hand in terms of experience, and they have the help of Ndidi, who can run all over the field. Even though Real Madrid's right winger's horizontal strike is accurate enough, Mbappe's grabbing points in the middle is still greatly disturbed , was successfully blocked by his former teammate Llorente and resolved the danger.

After that, Ceballos gave another wonderful long shot. He suddenly kicked a great arc of inspin from a position 30 meters away from the goal in the middle, and the ball bypassed Torreira's body. Go straight to the intersection of the right column and beam.In the end, it was slightly off because of too much pursuit of angles, but it was enough to make the home team dare not be careless anymore.

However, the gun fans were not depressed for too long. In the 7th minute, Spanish high center Chuma also made a threatening attack. After receiving a diagonal pass from Beracino on the right, he first used his chest. The ball stopped firmly in the future, and then immediately made a sideways volley. The connection between the forward and backward movements was extremely fast and smooth.

It's a pity that Varane's left leg arrived in time, and he blocked the potentially classic attack from the bottom line, causing the home team supporters on the scene to sigh.

And 40 seconds later, a bigger wave of exclamation occupied the entire stadium, because Maguire overwhelmed Varane after receiving a corner kick from Barco, and completed a powerful head swing. Attacked the goal, but was blocked out of the post by Courtois with a wonderful flying side throw. Arsenal missed a good opportunity to take the lead.

Set-pieces are one of the strengths of the home team. Whether it is a direct attack or a pass to the goal to let the high point compete, the Gunners are a level stronger than their opponents, so it is considered by the outside world that they may beat the defending champion. As a powerful weapon, Li Moody naturally arranged a key strategy in training, creating a big threat in the opening stage of the game.

So what is Real Madrid's advantage?Obviously it's their impact. Mbappé may not be able to beat Bellerin, who is in his golden age, in terms of absolute speed, but the French star can use his excellent skills reasonably in the process of running at high speed with the ball. Test the defender's ability to predict and the strength of the ankle. This is a headache for all defenders.

Coupled with the magic-like footwork of Isco and Asensio, who are flexible in position, if Arsenal do not rely on the number advantage, the difficulty for Arsenal to limit the opponent's super trident can be said to be hell level.

Comparing these two strong points, people can naturally understand why the two teams try to change the rhythm of the game into completely different styles when they control the ball.The home team hopes to play a slow-paced positional battle for the entire match, while the visiting team is blindly speeding up the ball, hoping that the opponent will run with them, so as to find the loopholes in the Gunners' defense and complete the fatal blow.

This will test the ability of the midfield playmakers of the two teams. Real Madrid's Toni Kroos needless to say, as the world's top passer and midfield metronome, the German has used it for the past ten years. Countless perfect performances prove that he is worthy of everyone's trust.Although Arsenal does not have a clear pass and control core, the players on the three lines, Llorente, Torreira and Barco, have formed a set of adjustable engines that cover the entire field. A way to achieve the rhythm arranged by the team coach.

For example, in this game, the Spanish central defender has greatly reduced the long-distance long pass that he is best at. Even in the face of the opponent's striker's fierce high-position press, he can pass far higher than his peers through personal skills and excellent passing skills. Pass the ball to your teammates.The Uruguayan in the middle position has increased his already above-average running distance, actively involved his teammates to create a line for the ball, and also reduced the desire for long shots when the opportunity is not particularly good , has become the team's conduction ball center.

As for Barko, he did not deliberately reduce some attempts to threaten the ball because he was afraid of passing the ball, but his range of activities was much larger than normal. The first pass of the Real Madrid defenders, thereby reducing the chance of the opponent's quick counterattack.

This is a classic battle of control and anti-control, suppression and anti-inhibition. It can be said that the two sides meet each other and meet good talents. It is rare to play a feast for the eyes in such an important stage of the semi-finals. High-quality The duel was highly praised by commentators and experts from various countries.

However, in any game where the most important thing is to decide whether to win or lose, especially when neither team chooses to be conservative, the possibility of a draw is infinitely reduced.Arsenal's desire for victory is obvious, because if they can't take the lead at home, then the prospect of going to the Bernabeu in two weeks is not optimistic.

On the contrary, Real Madrid did not choose to temporarily avoid the limelight when the defense line was tight, which was somewhat beyond the expectations of the outside world. However, Guti said after the game that he hoped to establish a victory as soon as possible so as to divert the team's attention. The statement of returning to the domestic league is still somewhat reliable.After all, with the last three rounds left in La Liga, they are tied with their city rivals Atletico Madrid, and the relationship between the outcome of the two rounds between the two sides is also the same. In the end, it is very likely that the goal difference will determine the championship.For the Galaxy Battleship, which has missed the league title for four seasons, it is also an honor that they need to strive for.

It’s just that Guti and his disciples still underestimated Arsenal’s current strength, even though the latter won two important trophies in the Premier League and the European League last season, even if they took out the Arsenal after the wave of injuries this season passed. Strong rebound performance, even though they know Li Moody's magic far better than others, but in the eyes of Real Madrid, which claims to be the best club in the world, the Gunners are still a second-level opponent, not as threatening as Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool.

The Fourteenth Master believes that although his friend can formulate counterattack tactics that make other teams daunting, it is just the most basic routine of Real Madrid. Varane, who has the fastest central defender in the world today, also has excellent skills in this regard. With Odriosola and Theo who are capable, coupled with their superior frontcourt trident, the chances of winning the away game should not be small.

However, Li Mudi unexpectedly used an extremely rare positional offensive tactic in this game, and directly photographed the high center forward Chu Ma in the penalty area of ​​Real Madrid. This made the La Liga giants feel very uncomfortable. Passive in tactical duels.

Before the end of the first half, Beracino sent a cross from the right, and Skriniar, who was in a fight with Chuma, barely pushed it out. As a result, Torreira got the second spot, and he kept the ball. The volley hit compatriot Ernesto Valverde's shinplate and then changed the line, which made Courtois, who had already made a save, feel cold.

Fortunately, luck was on the side of Real Madrid this time, and the ball brushed against the goal post on the other side and flew out of the baseline, without causing a tragedy.

However, the score of 0-0 was still not maintained until the intermission stage. Arsenal finally took advantage of this corner kick to knock on the opponent's door. Under the cover of the two high points of Maguire and Chuma, Diego · Llorente headed off Theo in the middle of the penalty area to help the home team take the lead.

Theoretically speaking, the result of losing a goal in the away game is still acceptable, but Guti did not change his tactics after the rematch. Instead, Carvajal replaced Odriozola, who was unfavorable for assists in the first half, Hope to get an away goal.

However, his wishful thinking was quickly shattered. Barco's wonderful direct free kick in the No. 603 minute widened the difference between the two sides to two goals. At this time, the Real Madrid coach finally felt that the situation was not good. The move to stabilize the line of defense was too late.

The young local winger Jayden Sancho, who came off the bench for the home team, broke into the penalty area and made a controversial penalty in the 704th minute. Barco scored twice to help Arsenal beat a strong opponent with three goals at home. , One foot has already stepped into the field of the final.

(End of this chapter)