Chapter 1064: The Energy Is Exhausted

With one player missing and one goal behind, Barcelona was forced into a desperate situation.

Originally, some players in Barcelona had the idea of ​​​​defending the tie and starting a penalty shootout, but now, even if one of the core players is missing, Barcelona must attack.

Barcelona's two full-backs, Puyol and Abidal, began to press forward to help the midfielder, especially Puyol, who had already pressed into the winger position.

Manchester United welcomed Puyol's forward pressure. When they counterattacked, they hit Puyol behind him, allowing Nani to cross and challenge Barcelona's central defender, creating opportunities for his own players in the middle.

Barcelona was fully prepared for this. After Puyol advanced, Busques retreated to the center to share the central defender's duties, leaving Mascherano to defend Nani.

This move is very effective in dealing with it. Mascherano is quick to turn around and has fierce kicks. It is difficult for Nani to break through Mascherano's defense by relying on his own strength alone.

At this time, Nani's choice was not smart enough. He seemed to be competing with Mascherano. After counterattacking in the backcourt, he focused on getting past Mascherano, but in the end he always couldn't get past him, and was then beaten by Mascherano. Counterattack after destroying or stealing the ball.

In the 100th minute of the game, Manchester United defended a wave of Barcelona's offensive. Fletcher passed the ball to Gao Xiaodong. Gao Xiaodong, Xavi and Villa counterattacked and distributed the ball to Scholes. Si hit a long pass to Barcelona's right wing, and Nani received the ball and quickly inserted it into Barcelona's penalty area.

Mascherano was once again stuck on Nani's path, waiting for Nani's arrival.

Although Nani had failed to make breakthroughs against Mascherano many times before, Nani was still confident. He made a horizontal move, trying to dribble horizontally, and then spiked the ball toward the baseline.

Nani's two moves were very coherent, but Mascherano was not fooled. He followed closely and was not thrown away by Nani even a step.

Nani had no choice but to dunk the ball back and break through laterally.

There is a problem if you perform three extraordinary moves in a row. Not to mention that the defensive players quickly catch up, Mascherano also mastered Nani's breakthrough rhythm. When Nani spiked the ball again, Mascherano Rano made a decisive move and knocked the ball away from Nani's feet.

Puyol has been desperately rushing back. When Mascherano destroyed it, he finally arrived and passed the ball to Busques in the middle before Gao Xiaodong.

Busques had already thought about how to deal with the ball before receiving it. After the ball came, he did not rush to release the ball. He used a Marseille spin to bypass Rooney's pressing from the side and behind.

Then he passed the ball to Harvey and moved forward quickly.

Busquet's forward pressure forced Manchester United's two wings to move closer to the center, blocking Barcelona's attack in Manchester United's center.

This is Manchester United's usual tactic when dealing with Barcelona in a passive situation. They give up both sides and squeeze the middle, which is to bully Barcelona's lack of ability to grab high points in the middle.

However, this time Barcelona was obviously well prepared. Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta made continuous short passes in the middle, suppressing Manchester United's Scholes, Fletcher and the back line to the penalty area line and penalty area. .

Xavi split the ball to find Pedro, and Pedro returned it to Iniesta. Iniesta dribbled the ball quickly into the ribs of the penalty area. After encountering the defense, he passed the ball back to the midfielder to find Xavi.

At this time, Gao Xiaodong had returned to the front of the penalty area. He quickly came over to press Harvey, preventing Harvey from controlling the ball and passing the ball.

When Harvey caught the ball, he already had a clear understanding of the situation on the field. Before Gao Xiaodong arrived, Harvey hit Villa with a diagonal pass.

At this time, Busquets has not yet returned, but Pique has quickly stepped in. Villa decisively passes the ball to the penalty area, looking for Pique and Busques who are advancing.

Busques does not have the ability to move forward. He just pretends to attract firepower to Pique. The main point of attack is Pique.

Pique is a forward on the back line. He has complete forward skills and a forward's heart. His forward penetration is a great threat to Manchester United. Vidic immediately pounced to mark Pique, while Ferdinand To defend Busquets.

Villa's cross was very accurate. Vidic fell behind during the fight and was caught by Pique.

Since Vidic was right in front of Pique, it was difficult for Pique to move forward towards the goal even if he grabbed the spot. Pique cleverly moved the ball to the back point to find Pedro.

Barcelona played very patiently in this wave of counterattacks. Even if Manchester United's frontcourt players came back, they were not in a hurry to attack. This time they finally found a chance. Pedro used his flexibility to head the ball into the penalty area before Abidal. cutting edge.

Gao Xiaodong was defending Xavi, Rooney did not come back because he was the bridgehead to prevent counterattacks, and Iniesta was left vacant. What Pedro was looking for was Iniesta.

Facing the ball in the air, Iniesta did not stop the ball. He adjusted slightly and volleyed directly with his right foot.

This kick reminded countless Barcelona fans and Manchester United fans of the scene when Iniesta beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

At that time, Barcelona and Chelsea fought 0:0 at Camp Nou. Chelsea scored first at Stamford Bridge. In the last minute of stoppage time, Iniesta volleyed a volley to tie Chelsea, eliminating Chelsea on away goals and advancing to the final. .

Some people also think of the World Cup in South Africa. In the overtime period, Xiaobai's volley defeated the Netherlands and won Spain's first World Cup championship.

The young Iniesta is the creator of miracles!

In an instant, the air on the field seemed to freeze, and all eyes were focused on Iniesta and the ball.

The ball drew a beautiful arc through the crowd in the penalty area and flew straight to the upper right corner of the goal.

Van der Sar had just moved to the left side of the goal when Pique headed the ball. Iniesta hit the ball in the opposite direction. Van der Sar had no time to react. He tried his best to rush out of the goal line to intercept, but it was out of reach.

Seeing the ball flying towards the goal, Barcelona fans and players were excited to applaud, but the ball hit the goalpost with a bang and bounced out.

"Hold the grass!"

"What a pity Xiaobai!"

"that's too regretful!"

The Barcelona players let out a long sigh of great frustration, and the Barcelona fans were so angry that they stamped their feet and beat their chests, complaining that God was unfair.

Manchester United fans hugged each other and were thankful that they had survived the disaster. It is conceivable that if the goal was scored and Barcelona defended it until the penalty shootout, Manchester United's mentality would be unbalanced and it would be dangerous.

The on-site commentator He Hui also sighed: "Xiaobai's winning goal didn't work. Luck is on Manchester United's side. It seems that Barcelona has run out of energy!"

The Manchester United players had no time to rejoice. After the ball bounced out, everyone ran desperately to the landing point, trying to clear the ball as quickly as possible.

Manchester United was lucky. The ball bounced to the side. When Puyol got the ball, Evra brought Puyol down with a foul, ending Barcelona's attack.

In overtime, Manchester United went ahead. Manchester United, with one more man, failed to steadily control the situation on the field, and almost equalized the score with Barcelona. Ferguson was very annoyed. He felt that the problem lay with Nani. Although Nani's personal skills were good, he was not good in the game. In terms of offensive choices, Nani is too rigid and lacks an overall view.

Although there was only a little more than 15 minutes left, Ferguson decisively made substitution adjustments. Nani came off the field and Giggs came on. Ferguson asked the extremely experienced Wang Laoji to help the team control the situation on the field and open up the wings. attack.