Arsenal and Fiorentina belong to the first meeting, they are not familiar with each other, they are all through the video to understand the opponent, and the gap between the video and reality is huge, both sides dare not take out all the strength in the attack, the opening is to test the opponent, familiar with the opponent, ten minutes later, both sides are familiar with the players who are opposite to themselves, some feel that the legend is a very strong opponent is just so, and some feel that the opponent who looks slow and clumsy on the video is not slow at all, There are also those who find that the opponent who didn't pay attention to it is actually not weak at all.

However, no matter what, both sides are familiar with their opponents, and they also know their strengths and weaknesses, and they are gradually letting go of their offensive and defensive skills.

It was only in the 15th minute that the two sides created their first truly dangerous chance on goal.

Arsenal's midfielder controls the ball at his feet, and the midfielders led by Cesc Fabregas continue to pass and penetrate in the middle, but Fiorentina's defense is very tight, and the two backs are stuck tightly in front of the four defenders, Arsenal does not stand in the center of the Fiorentina penalty area, Henry's position is very erratic, and it is not fixed in the penalty area, so it is almost impossible for the ball to enter the penalty area, most of them are passed around the periphery of the penalty area, hoping to find the flaws in the Folientisa defense in the movement.

At this point, Arsenal's two full-backs, Flamini and Eboue, finally stepped in.

When Flamini ran to the side of the penalty area, Fabregas controlled the ball, Henry pulled to the left, Fabregas passed the ball to Henry, Flamini went down at high speed, Henry received the ball and pushed the ball to the bottom line, and Flamini played Fiorentina left-back Pasquier a one-two.

“…… Pretty! Nice fit! Flamini's breakthrough is successful! ”

The on-site commentators shouted loudly, and under the tight defense of Fiorentina, Arsenal, who have always been known for attacking, have rarely made such a breakthrough.

Flamini wasn't as fast as Pasquier, but he was sprinting and the pace was already up, and Pasquier struggled to keep the ball down before Flamini got his way down.

At the moment, the game was just getting tense, and Pasquier didn't want to make a hole in the defense because of his mistake, so Pasquier reached out and grabbed Flamini's shirt from behind.

Pasquier's pull was sturdy, and Flamini rushed forward three or four meters according to his original inertia before staggering to the bottom line.

"Force!"

Referee Plautez's whistle blew and the Austrian pulled out a red card to warn Pasquier and awarded a free-kick from the left side of the box, close to the wing.

“…… Arsenal were given a free-kick opportunity, which was not in a good position, and even with Thierry Henry, the king of Highbury, it would be difficult to create a little threat because Arsenal lacked a centre-forward to grab the ball, and the Italian team was not bad at defending high balls. ”

The on-site commentators did not think that Arsenal's free kick could create a threat, and the fans on the field did not think that such a ball could create danger, and the attack and defense of the two sides were relatively balanced, and neither had the ability to threaten the opponent's goal, so everyone did not expect a free kick in this bad position.

Henry stood in front of the ball, his mood was not easy, he had been calling the wind and rain in the arsenal for so many years, he had won any championship, but he had not won the Champions League, counting the national team, he lacked a Champions League trophy in his career, and now, the opportunity has come, as long as they can step over the Italian dark horse in front of them, they will be able to reach the final, to realize their dream of winning the Champions League, and draw a successful end to their career, he is 29 years old, and his teammates are getting younger and younger, and they will not win the championship again, there are not many opportunities in the future.

Goalkeeper Toldo is also not easy, although the position of this free kick is not even as good as a corner, but Thierry, the king of Highbury, is a ruthless character who can create a threat anytime and anywhere, and Toldo does not dare to be careless.

When the referee signaled that he could start the free throw, Henry ran from outside the sideline and swung his leg sideways to kick a curling ball, but it was not a high ball, he kicked a half-high ball near the waistline, and the ball hit the goalkeeper Toldo seven or eight meters in front of him, and the speed was fast.

The pass was a complete surprise to the defenders and goalkeeper Toldo, who did not touch the ball in front of him or in the middle, and goalkeeper Toldo did not dare to attack, but Arsenal's midfielder Ljungberg arrived just in time to leap forward and head the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.

“…… Yes! Strike! ”

"Ahh Nice header! ”

"Ljungberg!"

……

There was a burst of screams in the stands, and many Gunners fans climaxed early.

It was an unexpected free-kick combination, and even some Arsenal players didn't expect Thierry Henry to take the penalty in this way, and naturally no one expected Ljungberg to cut in at the back post.

At this time, Toldo's good consciousness saved the team, although the free kick was out of his expectations, but Toldo quickly moved to the right side when the ball flew by, saw Ljungberg's header, the tall Toldo was too late to save, he decisively stretched his leg to block, Ljungberg's header just smashed firmly on Toldo's leg and bounced out.

"Ahh

"Alas! Pity! ”

"What a shame!"

……

The Arsenal fans in the stands sighed, and when Ljungberg inserted the header, they all felt it, but they didn't expect Toldo to magically block the ball.

Fiorentina was in a big situation, and almost all the players came over to pat Toldo's shoulder and back and thanked him, without the performance of the veterans, maybe they would have fallen behind.

The Gunners have previously kept a clean sheet in eight consecutive Champions League games and nine of their last 13 Champions League home matches. Since losing to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the 2003-04 season, Arsenal has an unbeaten record of 6 wins and 3 draws at home in the Champions Cup, if Arsenal takes the lead, judging from Arsenal's past defensive intensity, it will be difficult for Fiorentina to break through the door of Arsenal, and the outcome is likely to be to return to Fiorentina with a score of 0:1, which is the worst outcome for Fiorentina.

The on-site commentator was very impressed by Thierry Henry's free-kick, "...... Henry's awareness and footwork are absolutely the top in the world, and Ronaldinho is nothing more than that, but unfortunately Toldo is too brave to destroy such a classic free kick combination! In the first 15 minutes, both sides were probing, now King Henry is the first to strike, now let's see if Fiorentina's ace Chen will perform, this game was originally a gladiatorial arena for the two of them, although football is a sport of 11 people, but the strength of the stars is decisive, if the two of them do not perform, it is difficult for the team to win......"

Such a Champions League semi-final is very important to attract the attention of fans, everyone understands who the boss of these two teams is, the previous 15 minutes, Henry and Chen Yu have reservations, this is not surprising to fans, such an important game, caution is not a bad thing, it is completely necessary, but after Henry's outstanding performance and created a very threatening free kick, everyone focused on Chen Yu.

After Henry took a beautiful free kick, Chen Yu's mentality seemed to be a little anxious, and when Arsenal got the second drop point and continued to attack, Chen Yu even returned to the front of his penalty area, apparently he quickly tackled Arsenal's ball and launched an attack quickly.

However, Arsenal has always been known for ball control, and their passing and cutting coordination is the best in the entire Premier League, which is considered by many fans and media to be no less than Barcelona.

Arsenal is indeed very familiar with the passing and cutting cooperation, Fiorentina has so many defensive players, they can also pass the ball very smoothly on the periphery, and even hit the Fiorentina penalty area a few times, but because Fiorentina's defense has no holes at all, Arsenal's ball passed to the penalty area and immediately played again, and it was not able to form a shooting threat.

However, it is very dangerous for the ball to always dangle in front of their own home, maybe a change of direction will enter, and the goalkeeper has no way at that time, so there is a football legend who says that the ball is the best defense away from his own door, and the ball is the best attack in front of the opponent's goal.

"Run faster!"

"Hold your opponent, don't let him turn around so fast!"

……

Chen Yu shouted hello to his teammates, almost becoming a defensive core, although Chen Yu's all-round ability is well known to everyone, and his teammates are also very convinced, but he is directing his teammates in the backfield at this time, which is also a very bad influence on the mentality of his teammates, which makes the whole team more nervous.

Fiorentina increased the intensity of defense, tackles and physical confrontation have increased a lot compared to the original, in the 20th minute of the game, Henry dribbled horizontally in the middle, ready to cut in from the ribs, Fiorentina's back Brocki and defender Dainelli closed the goal, blocking Henry's way forward, but Henry knocked on his heel, the ball passed to the middle of the space, Fabregas followed up with a long shot.

It was a powerful shot, very fast, very decisive, and barely gave goalkeeper Toldo time to react.

Toldo did only have time to make a half-saver and couldn't have touched the ball at all, but Fiorentina were lucky enough to save him from the crossbar, and the ball bounced off the crossbar with a thud.

The exclamations of the fans in the stands have not yet landed, and Henry doesn't know when he has **** the penalty area, and the ball that bounces over is a header.

Seeing Henry appear in front of the ball, the hearts of almost all Fiorentina fans were cold, they felt that it was over, as long as Henry was on top, it was impossible for Toldo to make a second save.