Highbury was unprecedentedly grand. It was supposed to be a game that would make all Arsenal fans nervous.
But tonight, when they welcomed Real Madrid to Highbury, every Arsenal fan felt extremely excited and relaxed.
It was as if they came to the scene with a pure appreciation of the game.
They had no fear of Real Madrid, even if Wenger repeatedly emphasized that Real Madrid had the ability to make a comeback in the away game.
But the fans were so confident and relaxed!
For Real Madrid, it was unrealistic to think about how to contain Qin Xiong and Henry.
Firstly, their strategy to build the team over the past few years had failed, resulting in a top-heavy situation. When it was time to build a fence, they found that there was no suitable material at all, and they were not familiar with how to do it.
Secondly, they were three goals behind. As long as they still had the slightest ambition to advance to the top eight, it was impossible to weaken the offense and invest in the defense compared to the previous game. In the previous game, they could not break through Arsenal's goal at home. If they did not strengthen the offense in this round, how could they make a comeback and advance?
When the players of the two teams lined up and entered the field, the contrast in their spirit and temperament was obvious.
The Arsenal players were in high spirits and confident, while the Real Madrid players more or less carried the attitude of a mourning soldier going into battle.
"Welcome to Highbury Stadium, the focus of the second leg of the Champions League 18 finals. The game between Arsenal and Real Madrid is about to begin. The score after the first 90 minutes of the first leg is 3: 0. Arsenal leads Real Madrid by three goals. Although both managers repeatedly emphasized before the game that the second leg would not be a routine game, the British media's prediction for this game is consistent, and that is, Arsenal will undoubtedly advance to the top eight of this season's Champions League!
Arsenal made a big rotation in the last round of the league to prepare for this game. Qin Xiong's consumption of the main force was not much, and Real Madrid was still behind Barcelona in La Liga by a huge margin. Now is the most difficult period for Real Madrid in recent years. If they are eliminated today, Real Madrid may be doomed to fail for three years in a row, and the chaos in the club may reach a peak!
Let's take a look at the starting lineup of both sides.
Arsenal starting 4-5-1.
Goalkeeper: Lehmann.
Defenders: Eboue, Touré, Senderos, Flamini.
Midfield: Ljungberg, Fàbregas, Qin Xiong, Silva, Pires.
Forward: Henry.
Real Madrid start 442.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Salgado, Ramos, Bravo, Carlos.
Midfielders: Beckham, Gravesen, Guti, Zidane.
Forwards: Ronaldo, Raúl. "
Real Madrid's lineup was more complete than it was in the previous round, but it was difficult for them to control the pace of the game since it was an away game.
Because they were too eager to attack to get a chance to shoot and score.
Arsenal did not play too aggressively at home.
Instead, he focused on controlling the situation.
Real Madrid's defensive improvements were targeted to a certain extent.
Qin Xiong would be sandwiched in the midfield by Guti, Gravesen, and Beckham from three sides.
Beckham simply ignored Pires and completely handed it over to the veteran Salgado. Guti did not care much about Fàbregas's forward insertion. Zidane occasionally participated in the defense, and most of the time he and Carlos were on the left side to create opportunities for the forward combination of Raúl and Ronaldo.
In the fifth minute of the game, Zidane suddenly transferred the ball to the right after he controlled the ball on the left side of the front field. Beckham plugged in to the front of the penalty area and received the ball for a direct long shot. The football went over the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Qin Xiong was surrounded by a number of players in the middle. He did not dare to easily lose the ball, so he created a chance for Fàbregas to plug in. Then he switched positions with Fàbregas and withdrew to take over Fàbregas' defense, allowing Fàbregas to control the ball and advance forward to attack.
Fàbregas passed the ball to Pires in the front field, who cut inside. Pires could not see the path to pass the ball to Henry outside the penalty area, so he also took a long shot. Unfortunately, the shot was too straight and was easily confiscated by Casillas.
Real Madrid seemed to have found a way to contain Qin Xiong after the start of the game, and it was effective in the early stages.
But as Arsenal gradually got better, Qin Xiong began to frequently switch positions with his teammates.
Among them, he switched positions with Pires the most frequently.
In the 16th minute of the game, Qin Xiong received Flamini's pass and passed the ball to the flank in the middle. Then he ran to the flank himself, and Beckham followed like a shadow. Guti and Gravesen quickly retreated.
Pires controlled the ball in place and was not in a hurry to advance forward to attack. It was not until Qin Xiong and Beckham came near him that he began to cut and advance.
Beckham did not firmly follow and defend against Qin Xiong, and Pires felt that it was exactly what he wanted.
When Beckham went to intercept Pires, Pires immediately passed the ball to Qin Xiong, who was crossing the flank forward.
Qin Xiong dribbled the ball all the way forward along the flank. He was like a cheetah released from a cage, and his speed was amazingly fast.
Salgado was a veteran over 30 years old. In terms of explosive power, he was certainly not as good as Qin Xiong, who was now full of energy.
Qin Xiong was five meters away from him when he changed directions to cut inwards in the direction of the penalty area. This time, the inwards cut came with an acceleration burst, making it difficult for Salgado to keep up with Qin Xiong's speed.
Ramos was the player with the lowest rating in the game in the previous round of confrontation. He was very wary of Qin Xiong's change of direction. At this time, he was worried that Qin Xiong would continue to dribble horizontally in the front of the penalty area and find the right opportunity to shoot.
Just when Qin Xiong's dribbling rhythm had an obvious pause, Ramos took the initiative to move his center of gravity to the middle. However, Qin Xiong did not continue to move to the middle. Instead, he rushed past him in a straight line. Ramos subconsciously raised his foot to sweep the ball under Qin Xiong's foot. The ball had already passed. Qin Xiong dodged his sweeping leg, but his speed was inevitably reduced.
Salgado and the center back, Bravo, came to defend against Qin Xiong. Gravesen had already been withdrawn into the penalty area to block beside Henry.
At this moment, Qin Xiong could barely raise his leg to shoot, but when he saw Casillas blocking the near post, Qin Xiong knew that there would be no unexpected gains if he forced himself to raise his leg. The opponent was a world-class goalkeeper.
So, he chose to pass the ball at the last minute.
Back pass to the top of the penalty area arc!
In order to pass the ball to the right place, he turned halfway during his high-speed run and pushed the ball out with the arch of his foot. He leaned back and then rolled sideways into the penalty area.
The football rolled through the narrow gap between Ramos and Bravo. Guti was just about to intercept when Pires rushed out from his side. He did not stop the ball in a very small area and directly stabbed with his right foot!
Pires' shot was not fast, but it won at a tricky angle!
Casillas ran in the direction of the far post in a panic. However, when he ran halfway, he pounced out to save. Obviously, he was too slow. The football hit the inside of the post and bounced into the goal!
Highbury instantly erupted!
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