Seven chapters!
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Ajax's defensive adjustments in the midfield and Comain's fine-tuning of the defensive tactics began to show results.
If Roten and Giuly attacked Ajax's rear defensive line alone, the results would be minimal.
Under such circumstances, the 1: 1 score was very disadvantageous for Monaco. They had to score. However, the three midfielders in the middle seemed to be overly focused on Qin Xiong, which significantly reduced their offensive role.
As a result, the full-backs, Evra and Ibarra, had to assist and give more support to Giuly and Roten. They had to generate more offensive coordination on the flanks and create chaos in Ajax's defensive line.
In the 71st minute, Ibarra came up from the right flank to assist. The Argentinian received Giuliani's cut and suddenly turned back to the side to pass a high quality ball. Morientes' header in front of the goal almost took the life of Jax.
Bang!
Morientes watched in disbelief as the header he was so sure of hit the crossbar and bounced out!
Lobonte did not make a save at all. If the ball had fallen into the goal, he could only look at the ball and sigh!
The Monaco fans in the stands let out a huge sigh. Even the Monaco royal family members in the VIP box thumped their chests and stamped their feet, feeling pity for the ball.
Ajax, who had recovered from the shock, immediately launched a counterattack. Galasek sent the ball out of the penalty area with a header. He deliberately headed the ball in the direction of Qin Xiong.
The header was not accurate. Qin Xiong and Kierkes both looked like they had a chance to snatch the ball. However, Qin Xiong was faster. He arrived at the ball's landing spot first. Without waiting for the ball to hit the ground, he kicked the ball directly to the right side of the midfield with the arch of his foot.
After the ball was sent out, Qin Xiong immediately ran to the front of the field.
Van Der Vaart received a pass from Qin Xiong on the right flank. At this time, Evra came up to snatch it like a shadow. He had no choice. He had to buy time for Monaco's defense to entangle Van Der Vaart and delay his opportunity to send the ball forward.
Ha, what a great Van Der Vaart, what a great Dutch golden boy. He actually turned around on the spot and knocked the ball to the middle of the front field with his heel.
Evra's defense was declared a failure. Van Der Vaart's improvisation was not a blind move. He had observed Ibrahimovic running over to receive him, which was why he had the inspiration to make such a pass.
Ibrahimovic retreated to the front waistline and steadily controlled the ball. At the beginning, he appeared isolated and helpless, so Snede took the initiative to come from the left to the front waistline.
Snede's running affected Qin Xiong's position.
There was no need for verbal communication or eye contact. Qin Xiong directly ran to the left flank after crossing the midfield!
He and Snede had unknowingly completed a role swap.
Snede and Ibrahimovic maintained a good distance in the front waistline to ensure that they did not lose possession of the ball.
Cisse and Bernardi could not do anything to the two players.
When Qin Xiong rushed to the left flank in front of the penalty area, Snede decisively passed the ball diagonally to Qin Xiong's cutting path.
Ibrahimovic was originally running neck to neck with Qin Xiong. After Qin Xiong ran to the inside cutting path, his defense appeared to be out of reach. He was gradually shaken off by Qin Xiong and blocked behind him.
Rodriguez moved over to block Qin Xiong's cutting path, but he did not expect that the moment Qin Xiong received Snede's pass, Qin Xiong would take the initiative to stop and pass the ball horizontally, instead of diagonally going straight to the goal!
A cross-cut dribble in front of the penalty area!
Rodriguez hesitated for a moment before going forward to snatch it. However, Qin Xiong's next step suddenly exploded with speed, causing Rodriguez's snatch to miss.
Givitt thought that Qin Xiong would take advantage of Rodriguez's gap and turn 90 degrees to cut inwards into the penalty area. He could only move horizontally to fill the defensive area on this side and act as a barrier between him and the goal.
But he was wrong. Qin Xiong did not seem to be interested in the goal at all. He still dribbled horizontally. After crossing Givitt, Cisse and Bernardi were only two steps away from retreating in and directly intercepted Qin Xiong from the side!
At that moment, Qin Xiong turned his head to look. Monaco's goal was in his sight. The goalkeeper, Roma, stood in a proper position. He no longer hesitated and shot a low ball from under his feet.
The football, which was less than half a meter off the ground, went straight to the bottom right corner of the goal. Roma's prediction was correct, but he could only watch the football fly into the goal as he moved and pounced!
After half a season, Qin Xiong became more and more familiar with the cross-cut in front of the penalty area that he learned from Peter Pan Robben to find an angle for a long shot. In particular, he felt that the accuracy of the shot was even higher when he was facing the goal at a 70-90 degree angle.
It might be easier to control the angle and footwork at the same time compared to a direct long shot with someone blocking his vision.
Qin Xiong also had to thank his teammates. Ibrahimovic and Snede diverted the opponent's attention for him, allowing him to cut horizontally in front of the penalty area as if there was no one there.
So, he ran backwards to the sidelines after the goal, laughing silently as he raised his hands to point at Snede and Ibrahimovic.
He was pushed to the ground by Snede. Fortunately, Ibrahimovic rushed over and did not press on. Otherwise, Qin Xiong might have screamed. Ibrahimovic stood beside the two men, clenched his fist and raised it. He roared at the stands where the visiting fans were.
Comain, who was dancing with joy, seemed to have lost his composure. He could not help but be excited. Leading Monaco in the away game almost meant that Ajax had one foot in the final!
“2:1！ Qin Xiong's goal helped Ajax to lead Monaco by 2: 1 in the away game! They reversed Monaco's situation! Although this is only the first leg of the semi-finals, if they can lead the opponent with a total score and have two away goals, the probability of Ajax advancing to this season's Champions League final is very high! "
Deschamps looked dignified. He was shocked beyond words by Qin Xiong's performance.
Ajax's ability to reach the Champions League semi-finals did not rely on luck.
Just as all the Ajax players were celebrating and feeling extremely happy, a basin of cold water was poured over them in less than two minutes.
Monaco was anxious to equalize the score. The pressure of their troops gave Ajax more space to counterattack.
Less than a minute after the restart, Ajax got another great opportunity. Van Der Vaart sent a wonderful pass to Ibrahimovic from the right wing.
Ibrahimovic was on the penalty area line and shot from almost the same position as Qin Xiong's goal. As a result, the football was directly kicked and flew into the stands. It was a ridiculous kick.
After the shot, Ibrahimovic stood in place and lowered his head. Then, he stretched his right hand to the back of his right thigh. He turned and walked slowly to the sidelines. It looked like his walking movements were a little awkward, giving people the impression that he had pulled an injury!
But at least he did not sit down and could still walk, which meant that the injury was not too serious.
His teammates' faces were gloomy. After disrupting Monaco's attack, the team doctor asked about Ibrahimovic's condition on the sidelines. Ibrahimovic said that his thigh muscles were uncomfortable. Comain did not force it and immediately made a substitution.
As for Ibrahimovic's specific condition, no one knew. But it cast a shadow over the hearts of the fans and players.
"Oh no, Ajax's number one striker, Ibrahimovic, left the field with an injury. He was frowning the whole time and no one could tell if he was in pain. But he's already on the substitutes' bench. We don't know if he can play in the next round. If he can't play, then it will be a great loss for Ajax. Comain made a substitution. He replaced Ibrahimovic with O 'Brien. A defensive midfielder replaced a striker. Comain wants to maintain a 2: 1 victory. "
It was undeniable that Comain was a good manager. He had his strengths, but of course he also had his weaknesses.
In this crucial battle with unprecedented pressure, Ibrahimovic's sudden injury gave him a difficult problem.
He did not choose to switch strikers.
Because Ajax, to put it bluntly, did not have a center forward that Comain could trust.
Sonke?
Sitting on the bench for most of the time, Sonke, Qin Xiong, Van Der Vaart, and Snede were unable to form a tacit understanding in the front field.
The most basic tacit understanding was passing and running.
There were two aspects to this. One was passing, and the other was running. Timing was crucial. Whether the pass was early or late, or whether the run was early or late, the results were all worlds apart.
So Comain could not trust Sonke.
And now the score was 2: 1. In order to maintain the fruits of victory, strengthening the defense was the most common and common method for a manager.
He chose to be a defensive midfielder, which seemed understandable.
But this substitution proved to be a terrible decision after the game.
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