Qin Xiong learned his lesson.
It was impossible to break through from the middle.
So what if he could break through Gattuso?
It was impossible for him to completely stick the football under his feet to break through the opponent. While he accelerated, he strode the ball forward, which would inevitably give Maldini or Nesta the best opportunity to intercept. For the world's top center backs, this kind of judgment was like eating a meal, and it was not easy to make a mistake.
He dribbled the ball to develop to the flank. Seedorf and Pirlo's defensive zone might be a better breakthrough, even though their defensive zone was still far away from the most dangerous area in front of the goal.
It was impossible to shake AC Milan's defensive line by attacking in a straightforward manner. They could only give up what was close at hand and seek what was far away, accumulating advantages from the periphery.
Pirlo and Seedorf were both very strong, but they also had their own characteristics. They were strong in offense and weak in defense.
Qin Xiong was not 100% sure that he could absolutely restrict them, and they were also not absolutely sure that they could block Qin Xiong. Everyone was an offensive player, and the standard to evaluate the strength of a player was definitely not based on who won or lost in a one-on-one.
Qin Xiong took the initiative to develop the attack towards Pirlo's side. After cooperating with Snede for a short pass, he suddenly accelerated to break through in a straight line. Before Nesta and Cafu joined forces to defend, Qin Xiong passed the ball to the center forward, Ibrahimovic, but Ibrahimovic could not touch the ball. Gattuso returned to defend and poked the ball away, and the goalkeeper, Dida, steadily confiscated the ball.
Once again, the attack failed to succeed!
Qin Xiong was not discouraged. He thought calmly as he jogged back.
AC Milan did not have a large army to suppress the border, but on the field, they were firmly suppressing Ajax.
This method was similar to how Ajax suppressed AZ Alkmaar a few days ago.
It was too difficult for Ajax to shake the opponent's two defensive lines of the midfield and defense with just Qin Xiong, Snede, Van Der Vaart, and Ibrahimovic!
The opponent wouldn't give you space, nor would they rush forward impatiently, allowing you to break through consecutively.
On Ajax's side, there were still two full-backs who could provide support. However, they did not dare to rush up rashly. The reason was that Andriy Shevchenko could pull the flanks and Kaka's individual breakthrough ability in the midfield was extremely strong. Once the full-backs went up, the number of defenders at the back would be reduced and the horizontal defensive area would also be expanded.
AC Milan's vanguard was suppressing the frontline, while Siddarth and Pirlo were at the back. No matter how active Qin Xiong was and how wide his coverage was, it was impossible for him to keep an eye on the two midfielders!
Qin Xiong had been in the First Team for a long time, and his teammates were already familiar with his style of play, especially his characteristics in organizing attacks. He was good at sudden transitions and catching the opponent off guard.
In the 28th minute of the attack, Qin Xiong made use of this characteristic. He and Snede stirred up trouble in Pirlo's defensive area, and the two of them continuously passed the ball in a "provocative" manner. Then, when Gattuso closed in with a murderous aura, Qin Xiong suddenly sent a kick diagonally over the top, directly creating an opportunity for Van Der Vaart, who was cutting into the penalty area!
In a high-level confrontation, the faster the speed, the less time the players had to deal with the ball.
Van Der Vaart's cut into the penalty area was successful this time, cutting in between Kaladze and Maldini. However, Maldini was very steady, so steady that it made people feel hopeless. He retreated in a straight line, but he still did not close in on Van Der Vaart. He blocked Van Der Vaart's shooting angle and guarded against Van Der Vaart's dribbling to cross out the angle of the shot.
After Van Der Vaart stopped the ball with his chest, he could barely see the goal!
He wanted to shoot, but Maldini was less than two meters in front of him. His tall and strong body was like a city wall, blocking his vision and ambition to move forward!
Van Der Vaart was a little timid. The confidence he had in the Netherlands trembled in the face of the steady and cold Maldini, a world-class center back!
He chose to pass the ball, intending to create an opportunity for Ibrahimovic.
However, his cross pass was accurately intercepted by Nesta!
In front of the decisive and ruthless Nesta, Ibrahimovic had no chance of winning!
Even his physical advantage was a joke in front of Nesta!
The former King of Rome, who was now the defensive general of the Rossoneri, relied on his experience and top-notch defensive awareness to guard AC Milan's final pass with Maldini!
No one could behave atrociously in front of them!
The penalty area was their world!
Ajax's attack did not succeed, so he turned around. Before Qin Xiong could run back to his own side of the field, Seedorf's straight pass had already reached Kaka's feet!
Kaka did not force a breakthrough this time. He used his dribbling to tear apart the defense of the two defensive midfielders, and immediately sent out a straight pass when there was an opening.
On the frontline, Tomasson unexpectedly retreated. He did not adjust his position when he took the ball with his back and directly passed it to Andriy Shevchenko, who was in a parallel position.
The Ukrainian nuclear warhead was dribbled out at an angle, and a heavy cannon shot was fired!
This ball was extremely threatening, and Lobonte displayed his bravery. He moved two steps laterally and pounced to pluck the ball from the air!
In the stands, the Ajax fans applauded for Lobonte and cheered for the team.
They could see that the team's offense had improved after Qin Xiong's appearance. At the very least, they had players who could control the ball in AC Milan's penalty area!
Moreover, outside the penalty area, they could ensure that the offense was smooth.
However, Qin Xiong himself was not optimistic on the field. The simplest principle was that the ball would always run faster than the person.
AC Milan was a team with excellent technical and tactical qualities, and it was developing in a direction where he could not do anything even if he ran until his legs broke.
However, he still had to run back every time he switched from offense to defense. He had to run!
Otherwise, Siddarth and Pirlo wouldn't have simply sent a straight pass. Instead, they would have pressed forward unscrupulously, giving them a greater advantage in the frontline!
His return to defense was to guard against the opponent's midfield line's forward pressure.
However, in this way, the starting position of his every attack would be in the midfield, or even further back. He could not get the opportunity to rush directly in the middle of the field like Kaka and create as much panic as possible.
This was the foundation of the situation laid by the quality of the defense of the two teams, and there was no way to change it!
For Ajax, this was an extremely difficult game.
For Qin Xiong, the situation was even more difficult.
The plan before the game was disrupted. When he came on, the score was already behind. The entire AC Milan team had more advantages than Ajax, who was at home, in terms of psychological state, playing environment, and fighting posture!
This made it more difficult for Qin Xiong to be creative.
AC Milan was at ease. In fact, they still had control of their fate even if the game ended in a draw. However, no one expected that AC Milan, who only played in the second half at home, would actually play from the start of the game in Amsterdam, catching Ajax by surprise.
Qin Xiong could not count on the same offensive routine to accumulate advantages and achieve good results.
AC Milan is too experienced. Trying to use the same method to continuously try and destroy their defense is harder than ascending to the heavens!
Therefore, Qin Xiong had to take the initiative to change, so that AC Milan could not adapt to Ajax's offensive routine and make Ajax unpredictable.
In the 33rd minute, Qin Xiong was still cooperating with Snede on the left side of the front field. He was keenly aware that AC Milan's defensive line paid more attention to Van Der Vaart's marking. Obviously, they were wary of Qin Xiong's old tricks!
But this time, Qin Xiong completed the switch with Snede. He came to the front of Cafu, and after Snede passed the ball back to him, he dribbled horizontally and cut into the middle!
Pirlo appeared to be confused in this defense. He did not know whether to defend against Qin Xiong or Snede. The two's switch to confuse and interfere were still very effective, which made Gattu want to absolutely seal off Snede!
Qin Xiong's horizontal dribbling was like a viper from the gap between Cafu, Pirlo, Nesta, and Gattuso's two lines!
When Gattuso reacted and Nesta was about to snatch it, Qin Xiong suddenly raised his leg. Although Nesta and Maldini had tried their best to block his shooting angle with their bodies, Qin Xiong still caught a very narrow shooting angle!
He decisively raised his leg and shot a long shot!
The football flew in an arc towards the far corner of the goal.
Dida could only look at the ball and sigh. In fact, when he saw the football flying over, it was already too late because his line of sight was blocked by Nesta. He did not see Qin Xiong's movement at all.
In that narrow shooting angle, the football passed through AC Milan's defensive line. Maldini and Nesta looked back at that moment, and their hearts jumped!
Fortunately, the football brushed the outside of the far post!
Qin Xiong saw the football sliding out of the goal. He gritted his teeth, turned back, and ran back.
The shooting angle was still too small, too small!
In order to avoid the football bouncing off the opponent's body, he had done his best to circle around the far corner for a long shot. However, he was just a little short.
In the stands, the applause was thunderous!
Qin Xiong's long shot, which was less than twenty centimeters away from the goal, gave Ajax's fans hope!
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