At the Gerland Stadium, Real Madrid was in a predicament.
Real Madrid's offense hit a wall after Lyon contracted their defense and put up an iron bucket defense of four defenders, one sweeper, and three defensive midfielders.
Beckham's long pass from the middle of the backfield was useless because there was no space in the front field. The time the football flew in the air was enough for Lyon's defenders to seize the landing point and destroy the offense.
Even if Robinho and Reyes could successfully break through on the flank, they could not form the next step of the offense by combining the sides and the center.
Carlos and Cicinho also came up to assist, but it was still difficult to create excellent opportunities on the flank.
However, there was one advantage: Lyon's offense lost its source of offense after Juninho came off the field.
The quality of their offense was also greatly reduced. Even if Real Madrid's backfield had a huge space for them to use, none of their teammates in the middle of the backfield could accurately send out a long pass like Juninho.
Ramos also rushed up and went directly to the front line to increase the number of headers in the penalty area.
In the 79th minute of the game, Qin Xiong controlled the ball in the middle of the front field. After getting rid of Carlstrom, he slanted towards the right flank to dribble. In the process of dribbling, he suddenly lifted his leg and crossed diagonally. Robinho, who cut inside from the left flank, charged into the penalty area in a narrower space. He took the ball with his chest parallel to the penalty area and then volleyed the ball. The football hit the side netting!
A minute later, Qin Xiong and Emerson did a two-versus-one pass in the midfield. He once again broke through Carlstrom's defensive zone and flicked the ball forward before Tiago and Toularang tried to close the door to defend. With van Nistelrooy as a cover, he created a good opportunity for Ramos, who charged straight into the penalty area.
Unfortunately, Ramos was not a striker. He directly headed the ball to the goal when he had space to adjust. The football was slightly higher than the crossbar, causing the Lyonians to break out in a cold sweat.
Houllier watched from the sidelines with trepidation. Qin Xiong was still able to create good opportunities under such intensive defense. No wonder this young man was the hottest new superstar in European football!
Ever since Qin Xiong yelled at Capello, his teammates were willing to create opportunities for him to show his importance. It was as if they were fighting against Capello.
In the 84th minute of the game, Sicinho dribbled the ball to break through on the flank and was intercepted by Abidal. After Abidal intercepted the ball, he directly kicked the ball to the front field. The center forward, Fred, moved to the flank and moved the ball to the other side in a wide range. Malouda launched a solo attack into the penalty area.
At this time, Cannavaro showed his strength as a World Cup champion. He calmly followed Malouda's rhythm. At the moment when Malouda tried to change direction, he decisively intercepted and perfectly stifled Lyon's threatening counterattack.
Sighs came from the Gerland Stadium, followed by a wave of applause.
The Lyon fans were very satisfied with the team's performance. With a two-goal lead, even if the team's threatening attack ended prematurely, they would selflessly and enthusiastically cheer for the team.
As Qin Xiong continued to create opportunities in front of the penalty area, it caused Lyon's midfield defensive line to retreat further. Almost all of them stood in front of the penalty area to compress the space in the penalty area to the extreme. Qin Xiong could not break through anyone alone if he wanted to. He would inevitably encounter their crazy encirclement and suppression.
In the 87th minute of the game, after Real Madrid's continuous passes from the outside, Qin Xiong came to the left side in front of the penalty area.
In front of him, Toularang and Carlstrom did not dare to rush forward. They waited for Qin Xiong to break through or pass the ball. In that case, they would be more confident in ending Real Madrid's attack.
Qin Xiong's eyes were constantly observing the situation of Lyon's defensive line. He was not flustered, but he was indeed not optimistic.
Because of Lyon's dense defense, Real Madrid's attacking players did not have any gaps to pass, cut, or run. Even if they broke into the penalty area, Qin Xiong could not see a reasonable and effective passing route.
If Capello had not replaced Raúl, the situation might not be so pessimistic. However, removing the defensive players to increase the attacking players was not in line with Capello's style.
As a result, Robinho's role was not more prominent than Raúl's when it was necessary to break the dense defense and increase the attacking points in the penalty area.
At that moment, Qin Xiong suddenly saw a route that opened up an obvious gap between Revier and Chris Christie behind Toularang and Carlstrom.
Unfortunately, there were no teammates to cut through the running area.
However, Qin Xiong could still make use of it.
He kicked the football at his feet to the right, and then decisively swung his leg and kicked the goal!
Like a sudden clap of thunder, the football flew past like a meteor, passing between Toularang and Carlstrom. The two men looked back. Revier and Chris Christie did not interfere with the football, and the football, which was bombarded through the gap between the midfield line and the defensive line, was like a sharp knife cutting through Lyon's defensive line, going straight to the top left corner of the goal!
The goalkeeper, Kupe, gave up the save after seeing the football. He was too far away!
Boom!
The football flew into the top left corner of the goal!
"Real Madrid has narrowed the gap to one goal again!
Qin Xiong scored a brace!
The world class broke through the goal!
What a wonderful and shocking long shot!
At this moment, Qin Xiong stood up. There are still five minutes left in the game. Does Real Madrid have any hope of equalizing the score?
Lyon's defensive line is too passive. They are waiting for Real Madrid to attack. They should be more defensive and aggressive, especially not letting a dangerous player like Qin Xiong control the ball for a long time. God knows what kind of incredible things he will do! "
Capello shouted on the sidelines for the players to return to the half of the field to prepare for the kickoff, and strive to equalize the score with little time left.
Van Nistelrooy picked up the football from inside the goal and ran back to the midfield.
Lyon's manager, Houllier, shook his head on the sidelines.
He had used up his last substitution quota.
The goal scorer, Fred, was brought off. He also won the applause of the Lyon fans in the stadium.
The player who was brought on was Arao Diarra to increase the defense in the midfield!
This time, Lyon used almost nine pure defensive players to set up the defensive line and midfield line to resist Real Madrid's attack.
In the face of the opponent's almost impeccable defense, Qin Xiong had no other way.
Diarra was full of stamina and followed closely behind him. If there was a slight sign that something was wrong, he would use foul tactics.
In the last five minutes, Qin Xiong only tested the goalkeeper, Kupe, with a direct free kick. In the rest of the time, Real Madrid's attack could only pass the football into the penalty area through players like Beckham, Carlos, and Cicinho. But that kind of play could not even create a trace of chaos.
Lyon succeeded in holding on to the score of 3: 2 at home!
At the end of the game, Qin Xiong stood in place with his hands on his hips. He really felt a sense of frustration that he could not reverse the situation!
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