Six updates a day for the seven days of National Day!
Happy National Day to everyone!
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Ljungberg was so excited that he went crazy. Villarreal's generals were stunned. Alvarez lowered his head like a child who had made a mistake and did not dare to raise his head. It was as if an atomic bomb had been thrown into Highbury. The explosion shook the entire area!
"Arsenal has scored the second goal! Ljungberg's lucky goal!
Looking back at it in slow motion, the trajectory of the football after Ljungberg's shot had deviated from the goal. However, Alvarez subconsciously wanted to lift his leg to break the encirclement, but the football refracted. Then, the football flew into Villarreal's goal!
Ljungberg increased Arsenal's lead. Based on Arsenal's defensive strength this season, this might also be a goal to seal the victory!
After Qin Xiong opened the scoring, he once again performed the assist that we were all familiar with. He calmly and keenly set up a cannon for Ljungberg in the penalty area. Arsenal's creativity and agility in the offensive end could be said to be the top team in European football!
Villarreal is in a difficult situation. They are one goal behind. If they return to the El Madrigal Stadium, they may still have the strength to fight. However, if they are two goals behind, they are undoubtedly in a desperate situation!
Arsenal has maintained a record of ten clean sheets in the Champions League this season. Now, in the eleventh game, they are only ten minutes away from expanding this record! "
Arsenal's players hugged each other passionately on the sidelines. Everyone knew that Ljungberg's goal was as important as gold. It was the cornerstone for them to advance to the Champions League final.
At this time, it was difficult to see a happy and enjoyable expression on the faces of the Arsenal players. They were only excited and excited, but they still had to suppress this emotion!
They could not repeat the same mistake. They did not want to taste the taste of disappointment again.
Pellegrini's face had become ugly on the sidelines. He made substitutions. Almost all the offensive players were removed and focused on strengthening the defense.
This was not a magnificent Highbury, but the Yellow Submarine was on the rocks!
Villarreal had to hold on to the last minute. At least Pellegrini thought that it was not impossible for them to go back to their home ground after being two goals behind. However, if Arsenal scored another goal, then the ticket to the Champions League final would really be out of the question.
Villarreal CF made use of substitutions to slow down the pace of the game and consume some time at the same time.
Riquelme seemed to have an unpleasant argument with Pellegrini when he left the field. The two probably had different opinions about the team's final adjustments.
Arsenal continued to attack wildly under the opponent's all-out defense. Of course, they hoped to further expand the results of the battle!
However, Villarreal had already protected the penalty area impeccably. Qin Xiong, Fàbregas, Pires, and even Silva's long shots from the periphery were all fruitless.
When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, all the Arsenal players on the field roared to the sky, clenched their fists and stared at each other. In the meeting of their firm eyes, everyone had the same belief: Go to Paris!
"The first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal at home against Villarreal CF has ended. Arsenal took the lead with a 2: 0 victory over Villarreal CF thanks to Qin Xiong and Ljungberg's goals. In Highbury, Villarreal CF is definitely at a disadvantage. Arsenal is in good form. Although Henry's performance did not meet expectations, Arsenal's multi-pronged attack made it so that they did not miss the opportunity at home. In a week's time, both sides will move to El Madrigal Stadium for the second leg of the fierce battle. Can Villarreal CF make a comeback? No matter which of the two teams advances, it will be the first time in the club's history to reach the Champions League final!
There is one more thing worth mentioning. With Arsenal moving to the Emirates Stadium next season, today's game will be Arsenal's last Champions League home game at Highbury!
To be able to use the Champions League semi-final as a curtain call, Highbury, which carried the memories and rise and fall of countless gunners, was worthy of our highest respect. The stadium erupted in applause and did not stop for a long time. This was the fans bidding farewell to Highbury Stadium for the European competition. They must be reluctant to part with it, but just like how Arsenal was writing new records step by step in the Champions League and creating new history, Arsenal was moving forward. Highbury was a symbol of the past, and the Emirates Stadium, which was larger in scale and had better facilities, was Arsenal's future!
Friends in the audience, we'll see you at El Madrigal Stadium next week! "
Arsenal's players walked together. Everyone took off their jerseys and high-fived each other in celebration. Wenger stood on the sidelines with a smile on his face, waiting for his players to leave the field.
The reporters on the sidelines pointed their cameras at Arsenal's players, but the focus of the cameras was no longer on Henry.
The reporters tacitly pointed their cameras at the person: Qin Xiong!
Wenger hugged each of his players and finally put his arm around Qin Xiong's shoulder. As they walked into the players' tunnel, Wenger smiled and said in Qin Xiong's ear, "Today's performance was great. You have truly become the core of Arsenal. Maybe there are some unresolved issues between you and the club, but I believe we will have a satisfactory ending soon."
The outside world had long regarded Qin Xiong as the core of Arsenal, but today was the first time it came from Wenger's mouth.
Qin Xiong had a tacit understanding as to what issues Wenger was referring to.
Naturally, it was the renewal of the contract.
Now that Wenger had given his guarantee, it looked like he had to put more pressure on the board of directors.
Qin Xiong turned his head and smiled at Wenger after hearing that.
At the post-match press conference, the triumphant Wenger praised the entire team's performance. Because one of the reporters' questions was Qin Xiong, Wenger happily chatted a little more.
"I am not surprised that Qin Xiong has grown to the level he is today. He is obviously stronger than when he first came to Highbury. His improvement in the past two seasons is obvious to all. This stems from his exemplary professionalism, his attitude during training, his focus on football, and almost no off-field scandals. He is single-mindedly working hard to achieve his dreams. I am very happy that he has achieved what he has today. In Arsenal's squad, he has become an indispensable key player. We hope that he can continue to play for Highbury. Who knows, maybe one day he will be the captain of Arsenal! "
Wenger, who said these words, did not make any substantial guarantees, but under the watchful eyes of the crowd, his stance was very clear.
At the very least, the manager could not casually say that a player could be the captain in the future. This required careful consideration and caution.
Wenger had always wanted to keep Qin Xiong, just like when he personally went to Amsterdam to discuss the transfer with Qin Xiong. His sincerity and confidence in Qin Xiong had never changed.
Pellegrini faced difficulties from the Spanish reporters at the post-match press conference. Fleet Street was happy to see the other side's "internal strife."
The Spanish reporters mocked Pellegrini for being too careless. He clearly had problems with the rear defensive line, but he dared to send out two strikers when they were away. This was undoubtedly a suicide mission.
The reason he lost to Wenger was also directly labeled as "lack of European experience."
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