The situation at the Stade de France suddenly changed.
Arsenal, who was in the lead, had to play with fewer players.
And the goalkeeper position was changed to the number two goalkeeper that everyone did not trust.
The Barcelona fans were filled with confidence in the stands.
11 against 10, they could win!
Barcelona took a direct free kick from a position slightly outside the penalty area.
Ronaldinho used too much force to make the shot go around the human wall that was a little close. The football went around the human wall, but there was no space to fall. The football went over the crossbar and flew out.
Following that, Arsenal was frequently attacked by Barcelona's crazy attacks.
In the 42nd minute of the game, Ronaldinho passed directly to Eto 'o in the front field. Eto' o, who took the ball with his back, kicked his right foot horizontally and completed a turn diagonally past Touré. Although the agile cheetah formed a semi-one-man attack, it made his shooting angle smaller and he could not use his dominant foot to finish the shot.
But he forcibly used his left foot to complete the volley, which was of high quality and went straight to the lower left corner of the goal. Almunia made a save to block the ball. It was obvious that he was still a little nervous in the face of danger. He could not completely hold the football and was not firm enough in blocking it.
After the football refracted, it hit the goalpost and bounced back into the penalty area. Touré, who ran back, kicked the ball directly out of the end line.
Barcelona's corner kick was cleared by Campbell's header. Qin Xiong, who used his chest to take the ball down in front of the penalty area, found himself surrounded by Barcelona players. He directly used a reverse hook to clear the siege and the football flew to the midfield.
Henry happened to receive his clearance ball in the midfield and then single-handedly charged into Barcelona's half of the field.
Although he bypassed Oleg, when he came to the front of the penalty area, Henry found that there was no one around to receive him. He did not dare to rush the opponent's defensive line and chose a long shot when he was thirty yards away from the goal.
The long shot was a little outrageous and directly used the anti-aircraft gun.
It could be seen that after the dramatic change in Arsenal's situation, the whole team's psychological state had a negative impact, which would affect their play on the field.
Fortunately, the first half was about to end and would give them an adjustment period.
In the first half of the game, Deco's long shot was destroyed by Silva's slide tackle and went out of the sideline to the end line.
The players from both teams walked into the locker room with heavy hearts.
Barcelona had to think about how to score, and Arsenal had more things to worry about.
Is it safe to have a lead of one goal?
Not to mention one less person, even if the number of people was balanced, it was still not safe.
But how to limit Barcelona's attack and how to play efficiently in the attack was something they had to think about carefully.
In the locker room, Lehmann, who had been sent off, looked at everyone helplessly and then sat in the corner in silence.
Pires, who had been substituted off the field, seemed to have sunk into a state of dejection, shutting himself off like an abandoned orphan.
Their teammates had no time to sympathize or comfort them.
Wenger also seized the time to speak to the team, telling them to pull themselves together, calm their minds, and not panic.
At the same time, they began to formulate the offensive and defensive strategies for the second half.
The players listened solemnly to Wenger's adjustments.
Actually, the defensive strategy was very simple. The seven of them would defend, and Ljungberg would retreat to strengthen the defense in the backcourt. The offense would then depend on Qin Xiong and Henry.
Fàbregas dealt the cards in the backfield, and Qin Xiong and Henry could switch their duties at any time.
Before the start of the second half, Henry, as the captain, encouraged everyone to work hard in the second half and persevere until the last minute!
Regardless of success or failure, they had to give it their all!
In the second half, both sides returned to the field and changed sides to play again.
The cheers of Arsenal fans in the stands were already a little sad. Originally, they could have supported the team a little more easily because although Barcelona had the advantage on the field, Arsenal's offense was more efficient.
Now it was different. Arsenal had one less person to play. How long could they hold on in the face of Barcelona, who was swallowing thousands of miles?
"The second half of the game is about to start. Barcelona's manager, Rijkaard, is the first to take the initiative to make a substitution. The young player, Iniesta, is coming on to replace the midfield defender, Edmílson. This is a signal to strengthen the offense."
Iniesta up, Edmílson down.
Barcelona made a reasonable substitution based on Arsenal's situation of playing one less person.
However, Arsenal had stabilized their emotions during the halftime interval and was mentally prepared to deal with such a situation.
In the second half, Barcelona's offense was bound to be more fierce!
The reason why a strong team was a strong team was that their overall psychological quality was definitely stronger.
Barcelona did not rashly launch an indiscriminate bombardment in the second half. In fact, everyone knew how much of a threat the offensive pressure on the field was. To put it bluntly, it was all bark and no bite. It was not of much use.
They used their advantage in numbers to actively shape the situation and then patiently create opportunities, as if ignoring the score behind. They firmly believed that they could reverse Arsenal's situation in the remaining time. Even if they could not reverse the situation in 90 minutes, as long as they equalized the score, Barcelona would be the more dominant side in the later part of the game, even if it went into overtime, unless the game was dragged to a penalty shootout.
Wenger made a mistake in the technical and tactical adjustments during the halftime interval.
The midfield wanted to rely on Ljungberg, Fàbregas, and Silva to form a defensive line to contain Barcelona's offense. This idea might have been realized in the first half.
However, after the offensive player, Iniesta, came on in the second half, Arsenal clearly showed signs of being unable to withstand in the midfield.
Iniesta's feet were nimble and his ball control skills were strong. In particular, he was a rare team player who understood the essence of La Masia's team philosophy.
In the 51st minute of the game, Iniesta rushed into Fàbregas' defensive zone after changing positions with Ronaldinho in the front field. The two players, who were also from La Masia, faced each other offensively and defensively on the field. Fàbregas was at a disadvantage in defense. After all, Iniesta was more mature than him, even if Iniesta was far from his peak.
Fàbregas lost his defensive position under the confusion of Iniesta's fake pass and was rushed by Iniesta. Fortunately, Qin Xiong rushed out from behind diagonally and destroyed the football at Iniesta's feet, so it did not lead to a disaster.
The chain reaction of Wenger's mistake in the midfield adjustment was that after Fàbregas was under more pressure, players had to fill in for his defense.
Originally, it was to let Qin Xiong and Henry shoot their arrows together to attack and counterattack.
Now it was Qin Xiong who was also dragged into the backfield. Although he took the initiative to participate in the defense, it was the conclusion he came to after reading the game that prompted him to do so.
Otherwise, Arsenal's defensive line would be in jeopardy!
He frequently filled in for the defense in the middle and backfield. Naturally, when there was a chance to counterattack, he could not rush to the front line to throw in the attack.
He had to consider that if the attack did not succeed, he would not be able to fill in for the defense. Then Arsenal's defensive line would be crushed by Barcelona at any time!
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