This was a matchup that was hailed as the pinnacle of Henry or Ronaldinho before the game.
And within a few minutes after the start of the game, although Ronaldinho played, it was Henry who took the lead and posed a threat.
Barcelona did not expect Arsenal to play such a sharp attack.
They were really a little caught off guard!
But Barcelona was still very calm. They were by no means a small team that was inexperienced. Their mentality in the key game was adjusted very quickly.
They knew that in order to slow down Arsenal's offensive speed and disrupt Arsenal's rhythm, they had to control the game.
So, after almost being killed by Arsenal's defense, they began to shape the situation on the field through frequent passes.
Arsenal also controlled the game, but most of them were against teams that either could not defend well, or teams that were not as strong as Arsenal.
And when Barcelona did the same, or Barcelona was more proficient in this way than Arsenal, then Arsenal only had one choice: retreat!
This would make Arsenal's offensive momentum suddenly dissipate into nothingness. The players had to stay calm and not rush to intercept, which would cause a single point in the defensive system to break away from the system and expose a defensive flaw.
Soon Barcelona gained a firm foothold. In the seventh minute of the game, Barcelona made a large shift on the right side of the front field through Deco. At the same time, Ronaldinho and Eto 'o swapped positions. For a time, Barcelona's offense was dazzling, which made Arsenal's defensive system have to adjust correctly at every step. They must not mark and guard against leaks.
Eto 'o went down the left side and passed back to the penalty area. Ronaldinho stopped the ball on the edge of the penalty area. He thought that such an attack would make Arsenal's defense extremely flustered.
At the very least, there would be marking mistakes, such as multiple players marking an opponent, leading to flaws in key areas, or insufficient defensive strength against key players, etc.
But when Ronaldinho controlled the ball in front of the penalty area, he saw Qin Xiong standing in front of him. Fàbregas was on his side, Silva blocked the middle, and Ljungberg was next to him. Before Ronaldinho could make a decision on whether to break through, Qin Xiong came forward to intercept and fiercely and decisively intercepted.
Ronaldinho reacted leisurely and flicked the ball sideways. He dodged Qin Xiong's interception, but Ljungberg's pressing from the side followed up. Ronaldinho immediately made a second change in control of the ball, dribbling the ball to the front right. Ljungberg's interception also failed, but when he wanted to control the ball for the third time, he was shocked to find that Fàbregas had stepped forward to intercept him rather easily!
It could be said that Arsenal did not have a player who could completely block Ronaldinho one-on-one. Looking at the entire European football world, perhaps no player could do it. But under the strict and orderly joint defense system, Arsenal achieved the goal of making it difficult for Ronaldinho to play his ability.
After the successful defense, Fàbregas directly kicked the ball forward. Qin Xiong failed to defend against Ronaldinho, so he started faster than Ronaldinho and had a better chance. He was facing Barcelona's half of the field.
Qin Xiong easily controlled the football and dribbled the ball forward. Deco did not dare to defend against Qin Xiong head-on. One-on-one!
Although Qin Xiong was not considered to be able to ignore any opponent's one-on-one defense like Ronaldinho, he was definitely able to complete a breakthrough in one-on-one against more than 80% of the opponents!
Deco retreated to defend. He had to form a joint defense system with the two defensive midfielders before he dared to confront Qin Xiong head-on.
Otherwise, in a partial defense, if he was bypassed, he would really be bypassed and would not provide positive help to the entire defense.
When Qin Xiong dribbled the ball forward, Ljungberg quickly ran to the right side of the front field. Eboue also ran from the back of the right side to the front.
The two players' running positions were particularly eye-catching. Barcelona could not forget Arsenal's whirlwind play on the right side just a few minutes ago.
Deco retreated to the middle of the backfield. He had already formed a joint defense system with van Bommel and Edmílson.
At this time, he was ready to intercept Qin Xiong, but he saw Qin Xiong slow down his dribbling and stare at the right side of the front field.
Deco thought Qin Xiong was going to pass the ball to the right side. The other Barcelona players also thought so, because Qin Xiong had already turned slightly to the right side, as if to pass the ball more accurately.
But after Qin Xiong's right foot kicked the football and sent the pass, the Barcelona players were surprised to find that the football actually rolled to the front of the left side of the front field!
Qin Xiong's pass was the same as Ronaldinho's unique skill of creating a diversion!
After the pass, Qin Xiong did not immediately retreat, but he did not move forward either. It was as if standing in front of the center line was a threat. But Eboue, who was on the right side, immediately ran back to ensure the backfield defense. He did not intend to participate in the attack this time.
The football passed by Qin Xiong rolled to Pires' feet. Facing the Barcelona full back, Oleg, Pires did not use any ball control skills to break through Oleg. He just gently knocked the ball to the left side of his body.
Oleg's situation was just like van Bronkhorst's a few minutes ago. He was stunned to see someone rush up from behind Pires at lightning speed, then kick the ball to the end line in big strides, and then quickly rush past him!
Ashley Cole!
The real focus of Arsenal's attack this time was on the left flank!
After Ashley Cole's injury at the beginning of the season, Arsenal's offense on the left flank was half-paralyzed. Of course, this was relative to the effect of the previous sharp offense.
Flamini had played as a guest left back for most of the season. His defensive effect was good, but his offensive effect was still difficult to compare to Ashley Cole's.
After more than 200 days, Arsenal's "golden left flank" made a shocking comeback on the stage of the Champions League final!
Henry ran in the middle of the goal to contain and cover. Pires ran to the front left of the penalty area after passing the ball. Ashley Cole was more decisive than Eboue when he went down the ball. He went directly back to the edge of the penalty area, and Pires received the ball and directly volleyed it!
Valdés looked at the football that Pires shot out erratically. He moved to the right side of the goal, pushed hard on the ground, and pounced. His arms stretched to the extreme to move toward the trajectory of the football, but his palms could not touch the football. Valdés' heart was already half cold.
But when he fell on the goal line and looked up again, he did not see the football fly into the goal. His heart was relieved, but there were still waves of fear.
Pires let out a roar of indignation and then ran back like water.
"Arsenal almost opened the scoring. Pires' shot slid past the goal! Barcelona could not find a way in the face of Arsenal's almost impenetrable defense. But Arsenal, who is at the peak of quick attacks, is causing trouble for Barcelona time and time again! "
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