Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

Barely an hour into the game, Barcelona coach Rijkaard knew he had to make a substitution.

Although Barcelona's possession rate in this game was higher than in the first leg, steadily above 6%, the threat they created was far less than in the first leg. Either they made a hasty kick outside the penalty area, or they kicked a high ball from the wing and it was headed out by Manchester United's tall central defender, and then they made another hasty kick from far outside the penalty area...

If they continue like this, Barcelona won't be able to score a goal to equalize the score even if they play for another 180 minutes.

Moreover, the Barcelona players who were lagging behind were also very anxious. Zambrotta, Deco, and even Iniesta were successively given yellow cards for intercepting Manchester United's defense. Ronaldo, Tevez and Li Qi each received one yellow card.

So in the 63rd minute, Rijkaard replaced Iniesta with Henry. The latter did not perform well today. After all, he spent too much energy on assisting Li Qi in defense, and he was a bit distracted. The spirituality in offense and organization was completely consumed by the exhausting defense.

Rijkaard has learned the lesson from the previous game and will not replace Deco at will. After all, the latter's speed in offense and defense transition is better than Iniesta, especially in defense. He can no longer be seized by Li Qi in the first leg to score a goal.

But after Henry came on the pitch, the effect was not necessarily very good. None of the Barcelona trident had the attributes of a stationary center forward or a forward. They all controlled the ball on the wing and cut inside.

Therefore, although Barcelona, ​​which was already somewhat desperate, formed a siege, it was difficult to break the deadlock, and breakthroughs in the middle or inside were frequently blocked.

Isn't that right? Manchester United will guard you when you cut into the middle, so don't be too easy to defend. If you want to go to the bottom, they will let you go to the bottom. Even if you cross the ball, you will find that there is no center forward in the penalty area to rob you...

In this way, ten minutes of uneventful and dull game passed, and Rijkaard also found the problem. Barcelona's trident was all standing outside the penalty area. Henry occasionally entered the penalty area, but fighting in the penalty area was indeed not his strong point.

As for the other two...

Among them, Messi repeatedly took Park Sam-fei back to the midfield to get the ball and then carried him on his back to attack Manchester United's defense, but he often couldn't get through the defensive midfielder and could only take long shots, and his physical energy was obviously consumed a lot.

The other one, Eto'o, turned into a ranger. They were not the elite commando team, but the real rangers who lived up to their name, wandering around without attacking and looking for a job while riding a donkey. They were more of a spectator than a participant in the show.

In the 71st minute, Yaya Toure flew to the wing to make up for the position, and through a tactical foul, he intercepted the cunning Li Qi and passed the ball to Park Sam-fei, who had just intercepted the ball from Messi and quickly turned around to make a run. He also received a yellow card.

Xavi and Puyol were the only two players in Barcelona's midfield and backcourt who had not received cards, as Abidal and Gabi Milito had already used up their quota in the first half.

But Rijkaard had no time to adjust the midfield and backcourt. If Barcelona didn't score again, it would be completely empty-handed this season. He could only quickly replace Eto'o with Bojan.

Rijkaard had no choice but to let a young player go to the center position to fight with the muscular men of Manchester United. There was no Larsson or Maxi Lopez on the bench...

Rijkaard looked at No. 17 Li Qi in Manchester United's lineup and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed: If this kid was on our side, the formation options would be much richer.

As soon as Barcelona finished making substitutions, Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United also made his move, substituting two players:

Fletcher replaced Tevez, who was already a little unable to run, to strengthen the midfield defense, leaving only Ronaldo in the front to launch counterattacks. At the same time, Giggs replaced Scholes, the goal scorer who was also a little exhausted, and let Li Qi return to the middle of the midfield, changing to a 4-4-1-1 formation.

In the subsequent games, Barcelona still had little way to deal with the home team's iron wall; the only chance allowed the emperor to once again prove to the world that there was a reason why he was not good at the center position - his header was too bad.

In the 78th minute, Henry received a corner kick from Xavi and headed the ball into Van der Sar's arms from 6 yards in front of the goal...

Just as Rijkaard held his head in his hands, unable to believe that the former Premier League's best striker bought for 2400 million euros had missed such a great opportunity to play the game, Manchester United launched a quick counterattack.

Van der Sar threw the ball directly to start the attack, and Li Qi volleyed the ball from the left and passed it to Giggs who was following up in the middle. The latter did not stop the ball and swept it directly to the other side of Barcelona's half.

Ronaldo cut into Barcelona's penalty area at high speed from the right wing... Fortunately, Yaya Toure came back in time and blocked Ronaldo's fierce attack with his body at the top of the penalty area.

But the whole Barcelona team was worried because Yaya Toure already had a yellow card!

If another player is sent off at this time, Barcelona will have no choice but to admit defeat.

Fortunately, the referee withstood the collective pressure from Manchester United players and showed mercy by only giving Manchester United a direct free kick about 25 yards in front of the goal. He did not give Yaya an additional yellow card, probably because Puyol and Gabi Milito were still in position.

After C Ronaldo's free kick was saved by Valdes, Rijkaard finally used up his last substitution and replaced Yaya Toure, who would probably be sent off by the referee if he committed another foul, with Gudjohnsen, who had just recovered from injury. He changed the formation to 4-2-4 and finally gave it a go!

Li Qi: Finally! That damned black guy is finally gone! How many minutes are left in the game? Shit! Only two minutes left in regulation time!

Just when Li Qi was planning to take advantage of the empty position of Barcelona's defensive midfielder to replicate the first round's steal, Puyol directly used a yellow card to knock him down on the grass. It was really a time to fight for his life...

But before Barcelona started fighting for their lives, another accident happened on the field.

Evra was injured during a scramble and fell to the ground, commonly known as lying on the grass.

In the end, Evra and the team doctor used up the entire regular game time before being carried off the field on a stretcher. However, Sir Alex immediately replaced him with Sylvester, who consumed another minute of injury time.

So the game soon came to the 96th minute. Barcelona hadn't scored yet. Li Qi grabbed a Barcelona free kick that was headed out outside his own penalty area. He was ready to take advantage of Valdes still in the Manchester United penalty area to make a long-range lob shot into the empty goal...

However, the referee did not want to give Li Qi a chance to steal the ball. When Li Qi just kicked the ball, he blew the whistle to end the game!

曼联主场1比0，两回合2比0力克巴萨。这是曼联自98/99赛季的三冠王之后，再度进入欧冠决赛。

Li Qi made a monkey tent pose and watched his lob not only miss the goal but also stopped at the edge of the penalty area due to lack of power. His complaints about the referee immediately disappeared: Fortunately! Otherwise, it would be embarrassing again.

@

Before the post-match press conference, the official statistical data of the two teams in this game was compared. Although Barcelona had a 61.4% ball possession rate and a 14 to 8 shot advantage, it was indeed behind 3 to 5 in terms of shot accuracy. It can be seen that Manchester United's counterattack was more efficient and more threatening.

Barcelona's dismal defeat at Old Trafford also announced that Rijkaard's team's efforts throughout the year had all been in vain and they would not be able to win any trophy.

This is definitely a sad night for the Dutch coach.

This season, rumors about Rijkaard's unstable position as coach have been rife, and now that the team is out of the Champions League, the possibility of the Dutchman staying is even slimmer.

But Rijkaard chose to avoid the prospect of staying at Camp Nou next season:

"Now is not the time to talk about this. We have reached a difficult moment and what lies ahead is how to persevere. The team urgently needs help... Now we must stand on the same front with the players from beginning to end with courage and pride and end this season with dignity."

Of course, Rijkaard could not hide his frustration: "We are very sad and disappointed. The team gave everything, we fought with all our strength, but still did not get the desired result, and we may just lack a goal..."

But when talking about the score of this game, Rijkaard did not want to talk about Scholes' world wave long shot, but for the first time mentioned Li Qi, whom he had been avoiding intentionally or unintentionally:

"In the first leg, Li Qi's goal was very fatal and crucial. He put us under pressure and passive throughout the second leg.

Yes, Li Qi has grown very fast since he left Barcelona. When he was still in Barcelona, ​​we all knew how good he was. But unfortunately, we were not able to keep him. The reasons are various. If there is a chance, I am willing to work with him again..."

Yes, in 2006, it was Li Qi's lore that helped Rijkaard's Dream Team reach the top of Europe in Paris, which seemed to symbolize the arrival of a prosperous dynasty.

However, since then, Li Qi was first loaned out, then directly transferred, leaving Barcelona, ​​and at the same time, the Dream Team II began to go downhill...

Is this the main reason why Li Qi was not retained?

Li Qi is not so brainless and naive. After all, he was just an insignificant substitute at the beginning, and a rotating substitute at that. The ones who really made the Dream Team famous were Ronaldinho, Xavi and Eto'o.

But when the conflict between Ronaldinho and Eto'o became public, the locker room was out of control, and the form of the superstars declined, the disintegration of the Dream II was inevitable.

If Barcelona wants to restore its dominance in La Liga and Europe, it can only rebuild.

But as long as they keep Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, the three main midfielders, Barcelona's return to the top will not take too long.

In fact, it didn’t last too long, and Meng San, who had learned from experience, would explode even more violently!

If Li Qi wants to continue chasing the championship in the future, he will have to face this somewhat dejected Catalan team again, or more than once.

@

After the game, Li Qi, who found that no one was paying attention to his super long-distance Q, quickly calmed down and prepared to get down to business!

Well! Before little Messi leaves, quickly exchange jerseys with him. Damn! Little Mule got there first!

Then hurry up and chase after Xavi's jersey. Damn! Carrick, you little bitch, got there first.

Can you go ask Henry for a jersey? Damn! Brother Leo, where is your moral integrity? This is your former mortal enemy? How can you exchange jerseys with him and still be so cheerful?

……