Clichy was facing huge defensive pressure on the left flank, and it was difficult for him to play any role in the offense. Therefore, when Arsenal counterattacked, they could only think of ways from their right flank.
However, Li Ang was already prepared for this.
Sagna was indeed a very capable player. In his first few seasons at Arsenal, he was really stable. He won the Premier League's best right back of the season and even pushed Eboue to the right midfielder position. However, Li Ang had studied this player thoroughly. Clichy's biggest shortcoming was that his offensive methods were too monotonous. He was always passing from the outside to the bottom, and his passes were not accurate. In other words, Sagna was overall a qualified defensive back. It was not realistic to expect Sagna to cause too much trouble for Inter Milan in the offense. At least, Inter Milan, who had been prepared for this, had no fear.
With Modric out injured, Li Ang sent Montari to start. Compared to Modric, Montari's role in the offense was greatly reduced. However, he contributed more in the defense. Under Li Ang's arrangement, Montari paid attention to his side's left flank. When Evra pressed out, Montari protected his side's left flank very well and restrained Sagna well.
The French full back, who had performed well this season, played very uncomfortably in this game …
*****
In the 21st minute of the game, Sagna went to the bottom again and prepared to pass.
Montari's judgment was accurate. Before Sagna could pass, he stretched out his leg to block. After the football hit Montari's leg, it rebounded to Sagna's leg. After that, Arsenal did not even get a sideline ball.
Montari quickly threw a sideline ball, and Inter Milan quickly launched a counterattack.
When Sagna desperately returned to defend, Inter Milan continuously passed the football to Mata's feet. The Spanish star dribbled the ball and broke through. He spiked the ball in motion and deceived Senderos, who came to cover the defense. Then, he suddenly accelerated into the penalty area and was pushed to the ground by his Spain national team teammate, Fàbregas, who rushed back to defend.
Inter Milan's bench cheered. They got up from the bench and shouted — they all thought it was a foul. Fàbregas fouled Mata in the penalty area and Inter Milan should be given a penalty kick.
Li Ang also got up from the technical area.
No penalty kick!
Hansen, the referee from Belgium, waved his hand to signal Mata to stand up.
Li Ang was furious on the sidelines. Of course, he thought that his player had been violated. It was definitely a penalty!
*****
"No penalty kick! No penalty kick! Hansen thinks that a penalty kick kick! "
"Counterattack! Inter Milan is pressing heavily. This is Arsenal's chance to fight back! "
At this time, Arsenal had already launched a counterattack.
Fàbregas quickly passed the football out. After Eboue took the ball, he dribbled the ball at high speed. At the same time, Hleb, Diaby, and Adebayor all desperately plugged forward.
And Sagna, who desperately returned to defend, also began to run back to participate in the attack.
Arsenal's attack, after advancing to the front field, was still a familiar formula.
The football was finally passed to Sagna's feet on the right wing. However, under the repeated sprints, the French right back's fitness could not keep up. His subsequent pass was not threatening and was easily caught by Inter Milan's goalkeeper, César.
*****
After a few rounds, the game entered a state of anxiety. Both sides played offensive football, back and forth, and the attacks were very lively.
"This is an open game!"
"For the fans, this game is definitely worth the ticket price!"
The game on the field was very lively.
But if one looked closely, they would find that the situation was very different for the two teams.
Although they were attacking each other, they were also playing very well.
But Inter Milan's morale was higher. They ran more actively than Arsenal. Inter Milan's players ran all over the field.
And, most importantly, Inter Milan's offense was more adjusted. They pushed forward very quickly, ran very timely, and cooperated very well. Almost every attack was enough to make Arsenal break out in a cold sweat.
And Arsenal's offense seemed to be very powerful, but there were very few opportunities that could really threaten Inter Milan's goal.
And, as Li Ang predicted, after he asked the team to increase the pressure on Clichy's side, Arsenal's offense seemed to be limping. They could only rely on Sagna's side, and the French right back's ability to assist was obviously unable to support Arsenal's effective offense.
Moreover, it was unknown what Wenger's considerations and deployment were, but Arsenal's ground attack was reduced today and they increased their passing from the flanks a lot. It seemed to be to play to Adebayor's ability to head and snatch the ball in front of the goal.
But it was clear that Li Ang was prepared for this. Whether it was Samuels or Chivo, they were not afraid of Adebayor in the air.
*****
Under such circumstances, Inter Milan's offense became more and more threatening. And on Arsenal's side, it was difficult to actually threaten Inter Milan's goal, and they began to become more impatient.
Li Ang could see clearly from the sidelines that he wanted to speed up Arsenal's impatience.
And it was clear that the most effective way to attack Arsenal and make Arsenal fall into chaos due to their impatience was to score goals!
Inter Milan wanted to use more goals to put pressure on Arsenal.
Now that they were leading Arsenal by a goal, it made the whole Arsenal team feel the pressure!
If they scored another goal, it would not just be pressure.
It would make Arsenal feel a sense of despair. In a two-legged knockout match at home, and in a two-legged home game, it was a terrible situation, and Arsenal's players would know it well.
In extreme cases, it would even accelerate the speed of Arsenal's collapse!
*****
Li Ang could see the impatience of the Arsenal players on the field, and Wenger could certainly see it too.
"Do you want to withdraw the formation?" Wenger's assistant, the legendary Arsenal defender Steven Bould, asked. He thought that under such circumstances, Arsenal should play defensive counterattack, and the team should try to avoid conceding any more goals. Now they had to focus on stability.
Wenger did not answer immediately. He was thinking.
Later, Wenger did not accept his assistant's suggestion. It was not known if it was because of the constant talk of "victory" before the game that made Wenger extremely eager to win, but the Arsenal manager chose a more aggressive tactic instead.
Wenger then conveyed his tactical instructions to the whole team: Arsenal had to play more aggressively and oppressively!
"Arsène!" Steven Bould still wanted to persuade Wenger.
"We need to score now!" The professor said, breathing heavily through his nose.
Bould shrank his neck and did not say anything more. After all, he was just an assistant, and could only provide advice. Wenger was the manager, the one who made the decisions and made the decisions.
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