Arsenal's morale soared after the goal. Barcelona immediately spurred the attack after the restart. Ronaldinho carried out a large-scale attack on the left side of the front field. Giuly failed to break through Ashley Cole after receiving him on the right side.
Arsenal turned around and immediately spurred the counterattack.
Ashley Cole passed straight to Pires in front. Pires kicked the ball out and knocked the ball horizontally. Fàbregas followed up and passed the ball diagonally to the front right. Qin Xiong rushed across the midfield to control the football.
Three passes and two downs. There was no sloppiness. Arsenal's counterattack was quick and sharp!
Qin Xiong strode forward with the ball. Henry quickly plugged in from the left side of the front field to the middle of the goal. Henry attracted the attention of many Barcelona defenders. But on the right side, a player cut inside the Barcelona penalty area like a sharp knife.
Ljungberg!
Qin Xiong did not hesitate to send a challenge pass in front of Edmílson.
The football crossed the defensive line and flew straight to the right side of the small penalty area.
Ljungberg rushed to the goal with a header!
Unfortunately, his header was too straight and was directly received by Valdés!
The Arsenal fans in the stands held their heads in pity. Although Rijkaard looked as usual on the sidelines, he was in a state of shock.
Valdés immediately rushed forward after holding the football. He threw the ball out at the edge of the penalty area and rolled the ball to the feet of the midfielder, Deco.
Qin Xiong felt a little frightened at this time.
Because when he turned to look at his own half of the field, he saw Barcelona's offensive formation was very neat. In addition, Deco spurred the attack from the middle. This was the counterattack of Barcelona's counterattack!
Arsenal's defensive line may not have enough time to retreat. The key was to delay the opponent's attack. At this moment, Arsenal could not do a good job.
Qin Xiong wanted to harass Deco, but Deco did not give him the chance. He directly passed the ball diagonally to the left side of the front field, where Ronaldinho steadily controlled the ball.
Fàbregas defended in front of Ronaldinho. Although the attacking opportunities this time were slightly better than before, Ronaldinho would no longer try to break through the dense defensive area.
He pretended to break through from the left flank. After Fàbregas retreated and shifted his center of gravity, he suddenly flicked the ball horizontally and turned around to break away from Fàbregas at an extremely fast speed. When Silva moved over, he pretended to pass the ball to Deco, who plugged in from behind. Then, when Silva hesitated, he kicked the ball forward and successfully broke through!
At this time, Arsenal's defensive line was a little flustered. Perhaps it was the first time that Barcelona had so frighteningly penetrated their defensive line, so the defensive line automatically shrank towards the middle and pushed outwards to reduce the space for Ronaldinho to break through.
They did not dare to retreat. Once they retreated, Ronaldinho could possibly finish the shot within 20 yards of the goal. If they gave him such a chance to shoot, they would not be far from death!
But just as the defensive line moved forward, Ronaldinho's magical right foot sent out a straight ball. The football penetrated between Touré and Campbell and rolled directly into the penalty area.
The African cheetah, Eto 'o, charged into the penalty area with a bloodthirsty wildness.
Lehmann saw that the situation was not good and was already prepared to abandon the goal. When he rushed outside the penalty area, Eto 'o touched the ball first and flicked the ball diagonally in front of Lehmann, who had fallen to the ground, and changed direction to bypass him!
Just as Eto 'o almost bypassed Lehmann, he suddenly fell to the ground!
Lehmann's hand pulled Eto 'o's ankle, causing Eto' o to lose his balance and fall on the penalty area line.
And the football that Eto 'o bypassed Lehmann was directly sent into the empty goal by Giuly, who cut inside from the right flank!
Just as Barcelona began to celebrate the goal, the referee whistled to signal that Arsenal had committed a foul and disallowed Barcelona's goal!
"Oh my God! Barcelona's goal has been disallowed! How is the referee going to punish the foul and goal during this offensive process? Through the slow-motion replay, we can see that Lehmann did commit a foul. Given that Eto 'o had already formed a one-on-one opportunity, Lehmann's foul was fatal. But if the referee thinks that the offense is favorable, then Giuly's goal should be valid.
Oh, no!
The referee showed a red card to Lehmann!
There's no problem with the red card, but in a two-choice decision, I think all the spectators in the world who are watching this game must be hoping that the referee will choose the latter, declare the goal valid, and let Lehmann stay on the field to ensure that the number of players on both sides is balanced!
Anyway, the referee can't whistle for Lehmann's foul to end the game and show him a red card, and then declare Giuly's goal valid.
In a two-choice choice, the referee's choice is questionable!
Lehmann has become the first player in the history of the Champions League final to be sent off with a red card! He has written a record, but it's not a glorious record. "
Arsenal's entire team was very dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
They could accept conceding a goal, but they could not accept the terrible situation of playing one less player.
There were still more than 50 minutes left in the game!
What did it mean to let Barcelona play one more player than Arsenal?
Perhaps based on Barcelona's offensive strength, it would be difficult for Arsenal to fight back!
Barcelona was also dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
What they needed more was a goal, a goal to equalize the score, to restore a sense of security in their hearts.
In any case, choosing one of the two decisions was to their advantage. However, the immediate benefit was definitely a goal, not the opponent playing one less player.
Who could guarantee that playing one more player would guarantee a sure win?
Lehmann's red card seemed to have poured a bucket of cold water on Arsenal's high spirits.
The situation took a turn for the worse!
Wenger looked solemn as he made a substitution on the sidelines.
"With Lehmann sent off, Arsenal needs to replace the substitute goalkeeper, so they need to withdraw one of their main players. The player Wenger has chosen to withdraw is Pires!
Pires' Champions League final is over! "
When Pires saw the assistant referee on the sidelines dial the substitution number, he was stunned.
His Champions League final came to an end after Wenger's decision this time!
Why me?
Why me?
Why? Why?!!!!
Pires, who looked numb, was roaring in his heart, questioning and venting his unwillingness!
But he had to walk to the sidelines and leave the field.
When he walked out of the field, Wenger wanted to comfort him with a few words, but Pires turned a blind eye to Wenger and went straight to the substitutes' bench.
Although, in the big picture, it was the right decision to replace Pires.
The rear defensive line could not be moved. Henry and Qin Xiong could not be replaced. Fàbregas, the organizer and instigator in the middle of the backfield, could not be moved for the time being. Otherwise, Qin Xiong would have to be sacrificed to withdraw.
This led to the substitution actually being a choice between Ljungberg and Pires.
In terms of offense, Pires's value was greater.
But now that they were playing one less player, Ljungberg, who had the characteristics of a daredevil, could contribute more to the team. This was also an indisputable fact.
After all, Ljungberg was younger than Pires.
But if it was Pires, he might never forgive Wenger's decision.
Pires, who had originally planned to renew his contract with Arsenal at the end of the season, decided to say goodbye at this moment. He would go to the El Madrigal stadium on a free transfer next season and end his career as a Gunner.
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