Valencia's goalkeeper, Canizares, lay on the ground, looking at the trembling crossbar above his head. His back was drenched in cold sweat, and he was scared out of his wits.
Di Natale's judgment of the second drop point was too accurate. After Ribéry's shot was blocked, Di Natale immediately got rid of Kameny and went straight for a cold shot!
If not for the crossbar, Valencia would have conceded in less than three minutes!
Canizares was not the only one who was shocked. On the sidelines, Valencia's manager, Ranieri, was so shocked that he stood up. He really thought they were going to concede. If they conceded so early in the game, it would be very disadvantageous for Valencia. Now, the whole of La Liga knew how sharp Sporting de Gijón's defensive counterattack tactics were! Therefore, they could not let Sporting de Gijón score first. If they did, Sporting de Gijón would come up with a defensive counterattack, and Valencia would struggle.
*****
The pace of the game was fast, and both sides played offensive football.
Sporting de Gijón's first attack, Di Natale passed the ball. Modric inserted himself in front of the goal to head the ball, but he was surrounded by Valencia's goalkeeper, Canizares.
Then, Canizares threw the ball vigorously to launch an attack.
After a few passes, the football quickly reached the front of the field.
Albelda passed the ball to Baraja.
Baraja took the ball and looked like he was going to pass the ball, but he suddenly dribbled the ball straight into the middle. Albertini came up to defend, but Baraja changed direction.
Carlos rushed over from the side and directly knocked down the intruder.
Valencia was awarded a free kick about 27 meters away from the goal.
*****
Aimar stood at the penalty spot.
Li Ang's heart was in his mouth. Aimar was definitely the most threatening player in the Valencia team.
It could be said that Valencia's dominance in La Liga over the past few years was closely related to Aimar!
In 2002, the Argentine who played for Valencia was experiencing the peak of his career and enjoyed all kinds of highlights with the team. In 2001, Valencia broke into the Champions League final, and Aimar was also a member of the lineup. In the end, they lost to Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout and missed out on the trophy. However, the moment that truly belonged to Aimar had to be traced back to when Benítez took over. In Benítez's eyes, Aimar's talent was enough to become a traditional number 10 player, so he made him the core of the team's offense. Benefiting from such a tactical positioning, Aimar was able to unscrupulously display his latent offensive talents, displaying his innate ball sense, ball control, and passing vision to the fullest. In view of his style of play, as well as the corresponding various dazzling techniques, the fans compared Aimar to a magician on the field and called him a "clown."
As early as when he was working for River Plate after his debut, Aimar's outstanding ability had already established his future in Europe. In 2001, he joined Valencia for 13 million. The various realms had never been stingy with their praise for him. Maradona once said that Aimar was the only player in the world who he was willing to pay to watch. Later, Messi said more than once that Aimar was his childhood idol and was especially obsessed with his elegant style of play.
After Benítez took over, Aimar dominated the rhythm of Valencia's offense on the field every time. With such a style, they won the La Liga title in 2002 and 2004, and won the UEFA Europa League after defeating Marseille in Gothenburg.
Now, in Valencia under Ranieri, Aimar was still the absolute core of the team's offense.
He was the most threatening player in the team!
*****
Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper, Valencia, nervously directed the team to form a human wall.
The goalkeeper, who had the same name as Valencia, knew the power of the person standing in front of the football.
The referee, Llorendero, whistled and looked at Aimar. The latter nodded, indicating that he was ready.
Llorendero stepped back, then blew the whistle in his mouth.
Albelda ran in front of the football, but no one paid attention to him because everyone knew that Aimar would be the one to kick the ball.
The Argentinian 'clown' ran up and kicked the football with his right foot. It was like the tip of a whip hitting a spinning top. The football flew up and over the human wall. It spun violently and flew straight to the top left corner of the goal.
Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper, Valencia, correctly predicted the trajectory of the football. He threw his body out and tried his best to reach the football!
However, he failed!
The angle of Aimar's kick was too tricky. The football almost grazed the intersection of the crossbar and the pillar and flew into the net.
*****
“goooool！！ Aimar! The first team to break the deadlock is Valencia! The first team to score is the away team, Valencia. They are leading Sporting de Gijón by 1: 0! "
"What a wonderful free kick! A great international goal!"
"Valencia scored first. In such an intense match, the balance has tilted towards Valencia!"
"In the ninth minute of the match, Valencia's offense has paid off. Their biggest star player has stepped up! A goal worthy of being voted into the best goal of the week has been born! "
Ranieri, who was on the sidelines, rushed out of the technical area and clapped excitedly like a child when he saw Aimar score the goal.
Aimar stood on the spot and opened his arms high to welcome his teammates. They surged towards him like a tide!
This goal was too crucial for Valencia!
The match had been going on for nine minutes, but the Valencians had realized that their opponents were difficult to deal with. This Sporting de Gijón was obviously more mature and more threatening than the Sporting de Gijón in the Supercopa de España before the season! In such a situation, it was crucial to score first!
In the ninth minute of the match, the Argentinian star player, Aimar, who was nicknamed 'The Clown', scored with a beautiful free kick!
The score on the field became 0: 1. The away team was in the lead!
*****
Li Ang cursed something on the sidelines. He was helpless about the goal concede. It was not a problem with the defensive line. It was a reflection of the opponent's star player's personal ability. Such a beautiful free kick to directly score was really a crime. If he had to nitpick, it would be that Carlos should have been smarter at the spot where he committed the foul and tried to stay away from the danger zone.
Li Ang walked to the sidelines and gestured to the players to stay calm and not be affected by the goal concede. They should play as they should. It was just a goal concede!
Before the match, Li Ang had analyzed all kinds of situations for the players, including the early goal concede. After all, their opponents were the defending champions and were strong. No matter how conceited Li Ang was, he did not think that their opponents could not score.
On the field, the captain, Hierro, was clapping his hands vigorously and shouting to boost the morale of his teammates. In such a situation, as the captain and leader, he had to stand up and stabilize the morale of his teammates.
When the match resumed, Sporting de Gijón showed a more mature side than before. They did not panic because of the early goal concede. Instead, they continued to attack according to the established plan. They wanted to put pressure on Valencia's goal. They had lost the ball, so they just had to turn it around!
PS: Update 9, one more chapter. One more chapter. La la la la!
Old Lin's chrysanthemum wanted to escape. What a rare opportunity! I've never been so close to this beautiful stamen! Brothers, please help me again! Monthly votes!
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