This was Carlos. His keen sense of smell and excellent choice of timing to snatch the ball successfully completed a snatch.
Carlos was the first to kick the football away. Then he went forward and blocked the position with his body to prevent Decaux's counter-snatch.
After Carlos got the ball, he immediately passed the football to Modric, who came over to receive!
Modric wanted to directly pass a long ball to Adriano in front of him. When he received the ball, he already saw the space in front of him.
However, it was clear that Rijkaard had a deep understanding of Li Ang's Inter Milan. Modric was Inter Milan's metronome. This was something that everyone knew. Seeing Modric take the ball, Barcelona's rear defensive line immediately responded.
Therefore, when Modric received the ball and was ready to launch a quick counterattack with a long pass, he noticed that the situation on the field had changed again. The gap that had been spotted earlier had already been filled by the Barcelona team's defenders at the first instance. The gap had already been filled.
There was also a player close to Adriano. It was Oleg. He had already noticed Adriano's position.
If Modric passed the ball according to the original plan, although Adriano's ball control ability and strong physical fitness meant that Adriano could also hold the football, he might be heavily surrounded by Barcelona. If things went wrong, the ball would be intercepted by the Barcelona players and let them fight back. This was not the result that Modric wanted.
Modric made a feint and slightly controlled the football under his feet. Then, he took a step forward and saw that his teammates were running forward. This caused the distance between him and his teammates to be a little far. This would not do. Therefore, Modric immediately made a gesture to "call for support."
*****
David Silva saw that Modric needed support and immediately ran back to help Modric. Barcelona's midfielder, Edmílson, followed him.
After seeing Li Ang send the young David Silva in the starting lineup, Rijkaard also quickly made adjustments. He let Van Bommel, who was stronger in defense, focus on Mata, and Edmilson was "assigned" to take care of David Silva. Obviously, in Rijkaard's eyes, Mata, who contributed to Sporting de Gijón's championship last season, and who was under Li Ang's direct command, was far more threatening than David Silva.
Modric saw Edmilson following behind David Silva. He pretended to pass the football over, but he did not really pass the football over. Instead, he suddenly dribbled the ball forward!
Modric suddenly dribbled the ball forward and he passed by David Silva.
Edmilson was shocked. The Brazilian star player hurriedly dropped David Silva and turned to pounce on Modric.
Modric was excited. His purpose was to use a push to attract Edmilson. He was waiting for Edmilson to go up and steal.
Seeing that Edmilson was attracted by him, it meant that there was no one around David Silva for the time being.
Modric immediately used his outside instep to pass the football to David Silva diagonally behind him while he continued to run forward. Edmilson already knew that he had been fooled, but at this moment, he had no choice but to continue to run with Modric. He was worried that David Silva would pass the ball to Modric.
Modric's dribbling to advance and his movement after passing the ball led Edmilson away, which created space for David Silva.
David Silva turned forward after receiving the ball. He dribbled the ball forward, which immediately attracted the attention of Barcelona's defensive line. Van Bommel could only temporarily leave Mata behind and fill the gap left by Edmilson.
When he saw van Bommel closing in on him, David Silva did not stick to the ball. Instead, he passed the football to Mata, who was originally entangled by van Bommel.
*****
"Beautiful! Inter Milan continues to pass the ball. They have fully mobilized Barcelona's defense! "Sky TV's Italian commentator, Ferrari, shouted.
"Inter Milan is playing very smart!" Yang TV's commentator, Zhang Lu, also said excitedly, "Li Ang is now a top manager in European football. He has made targeted arrangements for Barcelona's defense. Is Inter Milan going to attack?"
Inter Milan's tactical response was specifically requested by Li Ang. He hoped that the team would not stick to the ball as much as possible when passing through the midfield and mobilize the opponent's defensive line through quick passes. This move could be said to be the best and only way to deal with Barcelona, a team with an excellent overall defense.
This Barcelona team was more mature than the one Li Ang encountered in the La Liga last season. Their coordinated defense and full pressing in the midfield were already quite good!
Inter Milan's offense would be more difficult to find a breakthrough point if they relied solely on individual skills. Only by passing the ball quickly and fully mobilizing Barcelona's defensive attention and center of gravity could they tear open a gap.
And this gap was Inter Milan's path to goal!
*****
Van Bommel was taken away. Mata now had no one to defend beside him.
Mata received the ball easily. He was now on the flank. In front of him was an open space!
"Gap!"
"Inter Milan has torn open a gap on the left flank through continuous passes!"
In the commentator's roar, the fans in front of the television and in the stadium were excited. Inter Milan's fans were excited. They cheered for Inter Milan's pass and cut attack, while Barcelona's fans were nervous and worried about the team's defense.
Rijkaard suddenly stood up on the sidelines!
"Oh no!" The Barcelona manager's face changed.
On the field, Barcelona's center back, Marcos, rushed to Mata to replace Oleg's position. Oleg was taken away by Adriano's running.
Mata controlled the football under his feet and pushed forward!
Marcos was ready!
At this moment, the full back, Evra, who was behind Mata, suddenly sped up and rushed up!
This scene shocked the commentator and immediately excited him. After the start of today's game, both Inter Milan and Barcelona played very conservatively. The full backs of both teams were "strictly guarding the defensive line." There was almost no assist to the opponent's penalty area!
The full backs' assists and the extent of their assists were considered to be a measurement of a team's offense!
Evra's sudden plug excited the commentator!
"Evra suddenly plugged forward. His assist this time is very pressing! Is this a sign that Inter Milan is going to actively attack? "
Rijkaard frowned and became nervous. Now Marcos was completely attracted by Mata, and Oleg, who was supposed to be on the flank, was taken away by Adriano. Now, if Mata took advantage of the situation to send a straight ball, then Evra's front would be flat!
*****
Sure enough, in the next second, Rijkaard saw Evra pass behind Mata at high speed.
"Danger!"
"Fill the position!"
Barcelona's goalkeeper, Valdés, shouted loudly. In the penalty area, Barcelona's captain, Puyol, who was originally defending against Ronaldo, could only leave Ronaldo behind and face Evra, who suddenly plugged forward, to fill the gap on the right flank. At the same time, he shouted loudly to signal van Bommel to fill the position in the middle of the penalty area.
Evra's plug instantly caused a panic on Barcelona's defensive line again!
Barcelona's defensive focus was adjusted for the fourth time in less than half a minute!
"Beautiful!" In the commentator's seat, Ferrari shouted excitedly. As Sky TV's gold medal commentator, his eyesight was naturally amazing: Inter Milan's attack, continuous passes, positioning, plugging forward, and cutting through the air, fully mobilized Barcelona's defense. In a short period of time, the players from both sides had already met four times! And in these four encounters, Barcelona was completely passive, led around by Inter Milan!
Puyol made a prediction and pounced on Evra, who was plugging forward, ready to defend against the French full back's breakthrough with the ball!
However, Barcelona's captain was fooled!
Mata pretended to pass the ball to Evra, which caused Marcos, who was next to him, to shift his center of gravity. At the same time, it also allowed Puyol to speed up and run to Evra!
However, just when everyone in Barcelona thought that Evra would be the center of Inter Milan's offense, Mata, after making a pass, deftly dunked the ball, then suddenly dribbled the ball and rushed diagonally into the penalty area!
*****
Marcos, who had been tricked into changing his center of gravity, did not expect Mata to not pass the ball. He was caught off guard by Mata's sudden breakthrough, and he did not expect Mata's breakthrough to be so determined.
In the end, Marcos could do nothing about Mata's breakthrough. He could only watch as his opponent broke through from the side in front of him. There was nothing he could do.
When Mata suddenly broke through, Adriano moved. He ran diagonally and came to meet this side!
At this moment, Ronaldo began to retreat slightly, and Barcelona's defensive line was immediately forced to follow suit. Now, Barcelona's rear defensive line had been disrupted by Inter Milan's passing and positioning. Their defensive line was obviously lacking in manpower, so Barcelona chose the most direct defensive strategy: create offside!
This was the most direct and effective defensive strategy. If they succeeded in creating offside, then they would be able to resolve Inter Milan's attack!
However, this was also a risky strategy. Once they failed to create offside, once Inter Milan sent out a precise pass, the player who got the ball would directly face Barcelona's goalkeeper, Valdés!
The player who was most likely to receive the ball could be Ronaldo or Adriano. If these two top strikers got the chance to one-on-one ball, there was no need to think about what the result would be …
*****
Mata did not continue to dribble the ball. He glanced at the penalty area and passed the football over.
Adriano was running back, and Ronaldo was also running back. Both of them were afraid of offside!
Oleg's defense against Adriano was in place this time. He always followed Adriano, which allowed Adriano, who was afraid of offside, to take the ball with his back to the goal. Oleg's defensive blocking position was very good. Adriano originally intended to pull the ball and turn to face the goal, but he realized that as soon as he turned, he would face Oleg's face.
This was definitely not going to work!
The star player's genius performance bloomed at this moment!
Adriano knew what he had to do!
This was a lightning-fast thinking and decision!
Adriano faced the football that Mata passed over. He extended his right foot, but he did not let the football stay under his foot!
"Beautiful coordination!" Sky TV's gold medal commentator, Ferrari, stood up and shouted excitedly.
*****
Adriano did not stop the ball. He turned as he received the ball. Just when everyone thought he was going to pull the ball and turn to break through, Adriano's left foot swept the football out horizontally!
The target was Ronaldo, who was retreating!
He was not offside!
Ronaldo was not offside. Van Bommel was behind him. Of course, he was not offside!
However, this also meant that Ronaldo's back was now facing the goal. If he wanted to finish the shot, he must first find a way to complete his turn!
Van Bommel held on tightly to Ronaldo. He could not let Ronaldo complete his turn. He knew how dangerous this Brazilian was!
However, Ronaldo had no intention of turning around at all!
He did not even try to stop the ball. Instead, he faced the football that Adriano swept over and gently kicked it with his heel!
"Heel pass!" The commentators, Zhang Lu and Huang Jianxiang, shouted in unison. Both of them were so excited that they jumped up and down. It was as if they were watching a great show. It was so exciting that they wanted to dance for it. Now, it was the most exciting moment. That shout could not hold it in. His emotions were completely stirred up.
It was time to reveal!
*****
After Mata passed the ball to Adriano, he began to run forward!
Adriano swept to Ronaldo!
Ronaldo passed the ball with his heel!
All of this was done in the blink of an eye!
Almost at the same time, Mata had already rushed up.
"He's not offside!"
"Mata!"
The commentator shouted excitedly.
This time, Inter Milan's amazing passing, running, pulling, dribbling, plugging forward, and pulling were finally going to come to an exciting end?!
At the moment when Ronaldo passed the ball with his heel, Mata cut forward from the front of Barcelona's last line of defense. Naturally, he was not offside!
*****
Mata rushed up!
In front of him was the cannon and the football that Ronaldo had prepared for him!
Without the slightest hesitation!
The young Spanish player directly received the ball with a powerful kick and volley!
"Juan Mata!!"
Amidst the commentator's exclamations, Barcelona's goalkeeper, Valdés, did not manage to get the ball. Mata's shot was very fast. His body's reaction speed could not catch up with the shot at all!
The football skimmed between his two hands and fiercely drilled into the net, bringing up a large snowflake in the net and a crazy storm in the entire stadium!
"Juaaaaan — Maaaaattttta — Goooooaaaaal!" Over the star-studded Stade de France stadium, there was a hoarse shout of "Mata-Goal".
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