Ronaldinho broke through Qin Xiong at the start of the match and followed the left corridor to the front of Eboue's defensive zone. He wanted to move to the middle, but he saw Eboue and Fàbregas forming a joint defense. At the same time, Qin Xiong, who had been bypassed by him, returned to the back waist line in time to increase the number of defenders in the middle.
Ljungberg attacked from behind. Ronaldinho did not choose to force his way to the middle. Arsenal's defensive formation was already very tight.
He glanced at the penalty area and then sent a high-quality pass out from where he stood.
Kanber did not let Giuly, who had cut inside the penalty area, get a chance and directly headed the ball out of the siege.
The football fell at Silva's feet, and he directly passed the ball to Qin Xiong next to him.
Eto 'o chased two steps behind him, but Qin Xiong's speed of dribbling the ball forward was not slow. When he encountered Deco, he knocked the ball back diagonally behind him and then ran horizontally. Deco saw Qin Xiong pass the ball and began to retreat. He did not expect Qin Xiong to not go forward, but run out of space to receive Fàbregas's pass.
Qin Xiong, who had already reached the midfield line, controlled the ball to observe the situation. He did not dribble the ball forward to attack. Suddenly, he passed the ball diagonally to the front of the right flank.
Ljungberg rushed all the way forward, and van Bronckhorst was ready. But when the football rolled over, Ljungberg missed the ball. Van Bronckhorst's defense was obviously disturbed by Ljungberg's missed ball. Eboue, who was closer to the side, rushed up in big strides. When the football was about to go out of the sideline, he directly kicked the ball in the direction of the end line.
Van Bronckhorst turned around at this time, and obviously could not compete with Eboue, who was already sprinting.
He was directly rushed by Eboue from his side!
The whole Barcelona team was shocked!
Rijkaard also frowned on the sidelines, while Wenger calmly observed the situation on the field with a calm face.
Indeed, Wenger's on-the-spot command had always been criticized, but he still had a scheming side to his pre-match deployment.
When the whole world knew that Arsenal's offense was from the middle, and Qin Xiong and Fàbregas's offense became a sharp method, how could Barcelona not think of it?
For most of the season, Arsenal's full-backs were not involved in the offense.
This was due to the lack of players on the defensive line and the decline in the defensive strength of the midfield after Vieira's departure.
However, in this Champions League final, Wenger was still taking a risk. Qin Xiong would be the cover to interfere with the opponent in the middle. The real push for the attack would be in the side!
That was why Barcelona was caught off guard!
Arsenal also played the style that was beginning to take shape in the Premier League during this period: physical strength, speed, and impact!
Eboue rushed past Van Bronckhorst and went straight to the bottom line. When he turned inside, Barcelona's rear defensive line did not have a tacit understanding, because Ljungberg cut inside the penalty area at the same time!
But Ljungberg was still a cover.
Arsenal had a tacit understanding that they would attack around Qin Xiong and Henry.
Who would Ljungberg's positional threat serve?
Of course, it was that person, Henry, who had won the English Super League Golden Boot four times in five years and had been crowned as the top scorer in Europe for three consecutive seasons!
Arsenal's offense was like a whirlwind from the right flank. It was like a hurricane passing through the field. Only a few players were able to achieve the effect of directly hitting the vital points.
Ljungberg's cut inside formed a defensive interference for Puyol. Henry was a little slower and moved diagonally behind Marcos and Puyol. Just as he was moving, Eboue's ball crossed into the penalty area!
Puyol immediately turned around, only to see that his position, which he had retreated to intercept the football, had become Henry's corridor!
Fear swept through his whole body!
Henry!
Marcos was following closely behind, but he was passively chasing Henry. When Henry stopped the ball and took a step forward, Marcos was shaken off!
However, Henry's shooting angle was very small at this time. Henry shot a low shot from a small angle in the penalty area. Barcelona's goalkeeper, Valdés, quickly fell to the ground and used his body to save the ball out of the end line!
The Arsenal fans in the stands did not have time to feel sorry. They immediately applauded and cheered for the team's wonderful fast attack.
Even the football legends, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini and the others, who came to the scene, seemed to be thinking about something.
The English Premier League's gradual fast attack in recent years had a great impact on the entire European football world. Although the old football legends still held the technical style in high esteem, the English Premier League's unreasonable style of play seemed to be integrating some of the technical styles, causing a kind of simple technical style to set off a huge wave.
This might be the wave of the era that football was moving forward.
"In the second minute of the game, Arsenal completed a shot. Henry stopped the ball in the penalty area and shook off Marcos to test Valdés. Will this pinnacle match be based on offense? Arsenal does not seem to be showing any signs of weakness. Their decisiveness in the attack has left a deep impression on us! "
Three passes, two interceptions, and a strong speed push. The essence of the fast attack that Arsenal honed this season was to be used in this game!
Perhaps they were not as flamboyant as Barcelona, who emphasized ball possession and the shape of the game, but in terms of decisiveness and aggressiveness in the attack, Arsenal did not lose to any of their opponents.
Henry looked as usual after the shot. In a game like this, there was no time to vent his emotions after the shot was saved.
He kicked the football to the corner area and ran to kick the corner kick.
He did not give Barcelona any time to catch their breath.
When Barcelona quickly adjusted their defensive line, Henry's corner kick came out, which surprised Barcelona.
Because Henry kicked the corner kick back in the direction of the midfield. It was a tactical corner kick.
When Barcelona's defenders turned their sights to the midfield, they happened to see Qin Xiong running up. In the face of Henry's rolling ball, Qin Xiong did not stop the ball. He kicked the ball and sent it straight out!
Henry ran straight back after the corner kick. He seemed to be careless, but the moment Qin Xiong touched the ball, he immediately cut inside forcefully into the empty space in the side of the penalty area and rushed into the penalty area from the side of van Bronckhorst!
Qin Xiong's pass rolled past Edmílson and directly into the penalty area, almost following the trajectory of Henry's running position. The pass, the running position, the coordination was wonderful!
Barcelona's defensive nerves were relaxed after Henry's tactical corner kick because they had to readjust. But they did not expect Arsenal to suddenly attack directly into their own penalty area.
They reacted quickly to surround and intercept Henry. Henry also knew that there was not much time for him to stir up trouble in Barcelona's penalty area. When Puyol retreated, he suddenly spiked the ball back and then used his left foot to directly kick the inside of the far post of the goal!
Valdés became the star of Barcelona's opening. He made a world-class save and once again threw himself to the ground to block the ball with his body!
The flying football was directly kicked out of the sideline by van Bommel!
Barcelona was a little panicked.
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