In the 71st minute of the game, Sporting de Gijón requested for a substitution.
Juan Arango was substituted, and Juan Mata came on as a substitute.
Marcos was substituted, and Antonio Di Natale came on as a substitute.
The camera focused on the sidelines, and Mata and Di Natale high-fived Arango and Marcos before running onto the field.
There was an uproar in the commentary box.
"Li Ang actually substituted two players in a row!"
"Substituting Marcos, who is purely defensive, for Di Natale. Substituting Arango, who is a little slow, for Mata, who is more impactful. Is Manager Li Ang going to launch a large-scale attack?!"
"It's too surprising. It gives me the feeling that Li Ang is stimulated by Barcelona's goal. Is he going to show people the offensive strength of his team?"
Li Ang's bold substitution attracted a lot of discussion and doubt.
*****
Li Ang naturally did not know about the discussion caused by his substitution. He stood on the sidelines, hugged Arango and Marcos, and said in their ears, "Well done!"
It was indeed praiseworthy. Marcos worked hard. It could be said that he completed the defensive task given to him by Li Ang relatively well. Arango also performed well. Arango's beautiful pass was credited to the attack that led to Ribéry's goal.
Seeing Li Ang's substitution, Rijkaard did not panic. Instead, he was very happy. He could not wait for Sporting de Gijón to press forward and attack. If that happened, it would mean that Sporting de Gijón's defensive line would not be so tight. With Barcelona's offensive strength, it would be easier to score.
Rijkaard shouted loudly and gestured for his team to work harder and continue to attack. With Li Ang's substitution, Sporting de Gijón received the signal from their manager: now was the time to counterattack!
With the wave of Li Ang's flag, Di Natale and Mata went into battle. The most exciting moment of the 20042005 season's La Liga championship had arrived.
Barcelona continued to press heavily. First, Messi used his personal skills to dribble past Grosso and then pretended to shoot, but he diverted the football to Ronaldinho, who plugged in from behind.
The Brazilian star player shot a low shot under the interference of Carlos, who followed him around like a shadow. The football slightly deviated from the left post, causing the Sporting de Gijón fans to break out in a cold sweat.
Barcelona had been constantly trying to shoot long shots, and the results were getting better and better. After scoring that wonderful free kick goal, Ronaldinho's feet seemed to be burning hot. The quality of the long shots was quite high.
Ronaldinho was a little annoyed that he missed the goal. He stood up and clapped his hands hard.
Li Ang clenched his fists. Ronaldinho's shot gave him a fright.
Later, Barcelona had another attack. This time, after Iniesta dribbled the ball continuously, he opened up a gap and shot a long shot. After the football was blocked by Modric with his body, Eto 'o shot with a reverse hook from a long distance. There was no threat, and the football was received by Valencia.
Li Ang was not too panicked this time. He carefully observed Barcelona's offense. Although the offensive was fierce, it was slightly disorganized. It relied more on the individual play of the star players.
This kind of Barcelona was not the most terrible. Compared to the clattering passes a few seasons later, Barcelona's offense, which relied on the individual ability of the star players, was still lacking.
*****
Barcelona's offense was getting fiercer and fiercer. To a certain extent, they could not care less about defense, or they could care less about one thing and lose sight of the other.
Barcelona had to win this game. They knew that a draw would be a failure for them, not to mention that they were now behind by one to two. They had to find ways to score two more goals. So now everyone's mind was full of goals, goals, goals …
As for defense?
Although they knew that the team's reckless offense meant that there were bound to be loopholes in the defensive line and hidden dangers, everyone still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts. They thought that they would be the first to break Sporting de Gijón's goal.
As long as they scored one more goal to equalize the score, Sporting de Gijón would collapse in the face of Barcelona's strong offensive power. Then, as long as they scored one more goal, they would be able to reverse the game and stride towards the league title!
Or from another point of view, they had no other way but to attack. So, their minds were now full of attacking Sporting de Gijón's goal, so much so that they did not care about the safety of their own goal …
*****
"They're a little too passive!" Seeing Barcelona's tide-like offense, Scotterre was a little worried.
"One chance! Just one chance! "Li Ang said. He did not know if he was answering his assistant, but he was nervous and talking to himself.
Messi took the ball. This time he went to the left side and faced Ivanovic. He pulled the ball horizontally and then suddenly dunked it back. Start, accelerate!
Then, he saw Ivanovic's body collide with him. The thin and weak Messi was at a disadvantage in the physical confrontation and fell to the ground.
The referee, Marienko, blew the whistle. He ruled that Ivanovic had fouled!
Barcelona's free kick.
Ronaldinho stood at the penalty spot.
Li Ang bit his cheek. Every time a superstar like Ronaldinho stood in front of the football, it made him nervous. It could not be helped. He was the best player in football at this time.
Ronaldinho took a high-quality free kick. The football was blocked by Valencia and hit the outside of the post. After it bounced back to the goal, Messi rushed up to shoot. Someone reacted faster than him. Ivanovic beat him to kick the football out.
He did not kick it far!
Outside the penalty area, Harvey tried to control the football. However, in the face of Modric's pressing, he had to pass the football out in a hurry. Carlos was already ready. He rushed up and agilely poked the football away on the passing route. Then he strode forward again and caught up with the football.
Iniesta wanted to counterattack, but he found that the boy in front of him was as strong as a calf. He could not push Carlos at all.
Carlos blocked Iniesta's counterattack from behind and he directly passed the football out.
*****
Modric got the ball!
The Croatian dribbled the ball and rushed forward at a sprinting speed.
Modric suddenly accelerated and successfully got rid of Decaux's advance, leaving the latter behind.
But he dribbled the ball to get rid of it, and he felt that the world was suddenly much wider. Modric dribbled the ball forward for five or six meters and found that Barcelona's defensive system had not been established. The opponent could be said to be extremely chaotic now. Some were trying to press on, some were rushing back to defend, and some were hesitating whether to go forward or retreat …
It was a mess!
The most direct manifestation of this was that in Modric's eyes, there were too many gaps in Barcelona's defensive line at this time!
Modric remembered Manager Li Ang's instructions. His task today was very clear, which was to be the midfield organizer: find the gaps in the opponent's defensive line as quickly as possible, find the passing route to tear open the gaps, and send the football out!
Modric made a prompt decision. He did not continue to dribble the ball. Instead, he diverted the ball to the flank. There, Barcelona's full back, van Bronckhorst, had not returned after the assist. At this time, there were no Barcelona defenders. It could be said to be a large open area.
Mata was running desperately. He saw the gap and he sped up. He believed that Modric could see the gap. What he had to do now was to accelerate forward and wait for his teammate to pass the ball!
Then, Mata saw Modric's pass roll diagonally in front of him.
Modric responded to his teammate's trust with a timely wonderful pass.
*****
Seeing Mata appear in the gap and successfully receive the football, the Barcelona people were shocked.
As van Bronckhorst had not returned to his defensive position, the ball had to be made up by the center back.
Barcelona's two center backs, captain Puyol and Marquis, looked at each other. Marquis immediately understood the captain's meaning. The Mexican strode to the flank.
Marquis originally wanted to rush up to intercept the ball, and then he heard the captain shout behind him: Block! Block!
Puyol was experienced and knew that Mata's footwork was excellent. If Marquis directly rushed up to intercept, there was a high chance that he would be bypassed. At this time, the safest way was to block Mata's way forward!
Marquis immediately braked and did not rush up rashly. He listened to the captain's arrangement and intended to block the inside line and not let Mata directly break through. It would be best if he could force the football out of the sidelines with his jamming and forcing. Even if he could not do that, it would be a successful defense if he could force Mata to slow down and buy time for his teammates to return to defend.
To be honest, this was the best choice that the center back could make in this situation.
However, what Marquis and the Barcelona people did not expect was that Mata did not want to cut into the penalty area at all. He controlled the football under his feet, looked forward, and then made a fake move to break through. This immediately deceived Marquis into retreating to try to block the forward route. This was exactly what Mata wanted. It was Marquis' retreat that created a space between Mata and Marquis, a space for a pass!
Seizing the opportunity, Mata directly raised his left foot and passed!
*****
It was a half-high ball!
The football drew an arc and flew straight to the penalty area!
Di Natale suddenly rushed to the front and the Italian stretched out a leg!
This attracted the attention of the Barcelona goalkeeper, Valdés, who quickly moved his feet to defend his left side.
The football drew past the goal!
It swept past the top of Di Natale's right leg and past Valdés' eyelids!
Valdés was shocked and quickly tried to move his feet to the right. However, just as he turned his head and before he could move his feet, he saw a black shadow rushing up!
。
"Diego — Milito!" the commentator roared, dragging his voice.
Diego Milito threw his entire body out. It was a diving header!
The Argentine faced the football head-on and crashed into it!
Valdés subconsciously reached out his right hand and tried to grab the ball!
However, it was too late!
The football was smashed into the goal by Milito and the Argentine himself flew into the net along with the football. Puyol, who was guarding him, flew into the net with him. The Barcelona captain was half a beat slower and the last thing he could do was to fall into the net with Milito!
*****
“Goooool！”
“Goooool！”
"The ball is in! Milito! Milito! The Argentine almost scored in the first half of the game! He finally scored now. This is his first game since returning from his injury and he broke through Barcelona's goal! Sporting de Gijón has pulled the score to two goals again! "
"Barcelona's offense has not been successful for a long time and Sporting de Gijón has scored once again! Mata, who came on as a substitute, assisted and Milito gave Rijkaard a fatal blow! "
"Mata's pass! Di Natale's clever shot from the front interfered with Valdés' judgment! Milito's header was brilliant! His first goal since returning from his injury is so important! "
"This victory belongs to Li Ang! He seemed to be crazy to substitute two players in a row, and now it's working! "
Li Ang, who was standing on the sidelines, clenched his fist and waved it to the sky.
He had been waiting for this opportunity!
Now he seized it!
Li Ang was extremely excited. He knew better than anyone how much pressure this goal would put on Barcelona, who had to win the game!
Sporting de Gijón's goal would be a huge psychological blow to Barcelona in a situation where they had not been able to win for a long time and their stamina was rapidly declining!
Rijkaard, who was standing in the away team's technical area, spread his hands in annoyance. His face was full of anger and frustration. He knew that his team would press heavily and there would be gaps in the defensive line. This might give Sporting de Gijón an opportunity. However, he still had the hope that Barcelona would score before Sporting de Gijón. However, he did not expect Sporting de Gijón's counterattack to be so sharp and efficient. They scored just like that.
When Li Ang brought on Mata and Di Natale, especially when he saw Márquez being brought off, Rijkaard was very happy. If Sporting de Gijón wanted to compete with Barcelona in offensive ability, he thought that his team would use this goal to teach Sporting de Gijón a lesson. However, the result was that he had miscalculated.
It could even be said that he had been slapped in the face!
*****
The Sporting de Gijón fans in the stands at the El Molinón Stadium erupted in huge cheers. Everyone went crazy because of the goal.
Milito, who scored the goal, ran over and hugged Juan Mata, who assisted him. A group of people behind him came up and surrounded them, celebrating the goal excitedly.
Milito's goal not only changed the score to 3: 1, but also gave the team a two-goal lead again. Most importantly, it dealt a psychological blow to Barcelona. If Barcelona wanted to make a comeback, they had to score three more goals!
Considering that Barcelona had been looking for a goal for the entire game, but had only scored one goal so far, it was easier said than done to score three goals in less than 20 minutes of the game.
The Sporting de Gijón players knew this, and the Barcelona players also knew the difficulty. Therefore, when they saw that Rijkaard was in a bad mood after conceding the goal, the faces of some Barcelona players on the field instantly darkened.
"Diego Milito, he returned from his injury and was entrusted with an important position by Li Ang. The Argentinian repaid the manager with a goal! This night belongs to the Argentinian! And Barcelona is in big trouble. If they can't create a miracle, their efforts throughout the season may be covered by a huge shadow … "The commentator's hoarse voice was like a huge haze in front of the Barcelona fans.
PS: Weakly asking for support.
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