Barcelona had not faced tight defenses before, but it had been difficult for them to play in many high-level tight defenses. For example, in the elimination match against AC Milan, they only won by one goal in two rounds and did not score again.
It was undeniable that La Liga's technical content was higher, but in terms of defense, La Liga used offense instead of defense in the traditional sense, especially like the Italian teams, who used pure defense to shape the ultimate defense.
The English Premier League was average in terms of defense, but it also had its own characteristics, which was aggressive and fierce!
However, such characteristics could become a double-edged sword in the European arena.
After Vieira left, Arsenal's style on the field was more technical and there was a significant decrease in their bravery. Therefore, they used the right defensive strategy to integrate the characteristics of close pressing to improve their defense.
Barcelona did not achieve the expected results after the start of the game according to the usual routine. Rijkaard did not seem too worried on the sidelines. He believed the team could solve the problem.
In fact, Rijkaard's coaching ideas could be said to lack a clear personal brand. He needed big-name players to support the team's hard strength. At the same time, in a step-by-step experiment, he placed every player with their own characteristics in the right position to make the best of their talents and then integrated them into a whole to explode with a strong fighting power.
It was not like Mourinho, Ferguson, or Wenger, who were full of totemic ideas in building the team.
Therefore, Barcelona was constantly improving in his words, and there was not much he could do after the improvement.
He thought Barcelona was strong enough and did not consider how to improve when they encountered targeted problems. Just like in the battle of Bernabéu, Ronaldinho's play was key. He single-handedly overturned Galactica's paper-thin defense. This was the performance of his individual strength. How much credit did the overall technical tactics have? Maybe no one cared about it under the cover of Ronaldinho's brilliance.
In the 12th minute of the game, Giuly successfully broke through Ashley Cole on the right flank. Ashley Cole was distracted by the threat of Ronaldinho running horizontally in front of the penalty area and Eto 'o changing positions again. He did not expect Giuly to not pass the ball and instead chose to break through himself.
Giuly, who had just cut into the penalty area, immediately chose to shoot. The football went straight to the nearest corner of the goal. Lehmann was fully prepared to block Giuly's shot and blocked the football out of the end line.
"Barcelona's first shot on target in the entire game has appeared. Giuly's shot is full of power, but unfortunately, it lacks angle. Lehmann's save is successful!"
Two minutes later, Barcelona continued to control the ball in the front field. Ronaldinho, who was at the cusp of the storm, encountered unprecedented difficulties. Arsenal itself was a static defense. Secondly, the defense against him was always faced with a joint defense system, which made it difficult for him to find space to break through. It would never give him a chance to break through one by one, and it would not give him enough space to walk on Arsenal's half of the field as if it were flat ground.
But that did not mean that Barcelona's offense in the middle had lost its threat.
With Ronaldinho alone as the focal point of the firepower, he pinned down a lot of Arsenal's defensive forces. Ronaldinho calmly played the ball for his teammates who plugged in from behind.
Deco was bound to be an offensive player that Arsenal was equally wary of, but Edmilson's plugging in from behind seemed to catch Arsenal off guard.
When Edmilson plugged in from the left side of the middle in the front field, Ronaldinho sent him a straight pass, and the football just rolled past Fàbregas.
It was no exaggeration to say that Arsenal's midfield defense was easily penetrated by Ronaldinho's straight pass!
At this moment, Touré decisively gave up the center back's defensive zone and went straight up to fight for the ball. He could not let Edmilson touch the ball without interference, otherwise he would attract more of Arsenal's defensive forces, and then free up the other Barcelona offensive points!
When Edmilson first touched the ball, Touré went up to him and engaged in a physical confrontation. The two men were entangled, and then Touré clearly moved across the ground to knock Edmilson away. Then the referee whistled to signal that he had committed a foul!
Touré defended himself with a few words and turned back to defend. Arsenal was able to rearrange the defensive line, and the offensive and defensive duel began again!
Barcelona's free kick in the front field was given to Ronaldinho. Under heavy pressure, Ronaldinho's free kick was deflected.
Just as Barcelona's players retreated like the tide, Lehmann seemed to go outside the end line to retrieve the ball from the ball boy's hands, but he immediately kicked the ball out when he returned to the small penalty area.
The football rolled to the feet of Fàbregas in front of the penalty area, and Fàbregas knocked the ball horizontally to the front of Qin Xiong.
Qin Xiong used the outer instep of his foot to poke the football forward, and then kicked out a long pass with a bang!
The Barcelona players, who were retreating, did not expect Arsenal to dare to attack so boldly. If the pass was wrong at this time, Barcelona would launch a quick attack again. Arsenal's defensive players were in a relaxed state and could be swept away by a wave of quick attacks!
But Qin Xiong was skilled and daring!
He rashly launched a long pass in front of the penalty area. The half-high ball penetrated the midfield line and flew diagonally to the left side.
Barcelona's players thought Pires would be there, but they did not expect Henry to move to the left side to receive.
After Henry steadily stopped the ball, he immediately dribbled the football toward Barcelona's penalty area and charged.
The full-back Oleg decisively stepped forward to intercept. When Henry's speed had just increased, Oleg's foot blocked in front of Henry. He could not touch the football, but he interfered with Henry's advance and forced Henry to fall to the ground.
The referee immediately whistled and ruled that Oleg had committed a foul!
Henry stood up from the ground and then placed the football at the spot where the foul was committed, waiting for his teammates to come forward.
Pires and Ljungberg both came forward. Barcelona's players were unsure of how Henry would deal with the free kick in front of the left side of the penalty area, which was not in a very good position.
It was at this time that a figure sprinted forward at lightning speed. He started from the center line and moved forward all the way. His eyes were firm, as if he was treading on the waves. He rushed past van Bommel's side and shocked van Bommel.
Márquez and Puyol wanted to close the door and block the man's advance, but they panicked when the man circled around the edge of the penalty area to the back of the right side of the goal.
That man was Qin Xiong!
He stepped into Barcelona's penalty area for the first time!
Henry's free kick came out. The football circled around and went straight to the back of the penalty area. It was on the route of Qin Xiong's running position!
Because Qin Xiong's sprint was too fast, like an arrow shot from the bow, piercing Barcelona's defense. His cooperation with Henry this time made Barcelona completely panic.
Qin Xiong took off from the back of the penalty area and swung his head toward the falling football to attack the goal!
Bang!
Qin Xiong tried his best to head the ball to attack the goal. His strength was off the charts, as if he was shooting a shot with his foot. Unfortunately, the angle left for him was not big. Coupled with his fast sprint, it was difficult to control the angle of the header. The football was finally blocked by Valdés' arm after he blocked the near corner of the goal!
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