Chapter 397: An Important Chess Piece
Despite Thierry Henry's helplessness, Barcelona still dominated the field, both in terms of time spent on the ball and the number of shots on goal, and in the 12th minute, Xavi shot wide from the right side of the penalty area. In the 16th minute, Thierry Henry's shot was again blocked by Abel. In the 18th minute, Messi's right rib broke through and the arc ball was deflected by a continuous inward cut.
Messi's right side suddenly cut inward to dribble horizontally and then suddenly arc the ball to shoot the goal, Han Sen is not the first time to see Messi do this in training, due to Messi's small size, low center of gravity, fast frequency characteristics, the success rate of passing is quite high, basically can complete the action in one go to Zuihou shooting, but I don't know the reason for Liliang's lack of this kick, Zuihou's shot is difficult to hit Liliang, most of the time it is to rub the far corner with the inside of the foot, Sometimes the goalkeeper may be caught off guard by the angle, but if it is not on target or the goalkeeper is on guard, there is no threat.
However, just 3 minutes after Messi's shot missed, Barcelona got a corner kick opportunity! Xavi took a corner from the left, centre-back Max headed in from 9 yards out, Keita stretched out his left leg and couldn't reach the ball, but his action shook the opposition goalkeeper Patricio and frantically watched the ball bounce into the far corner. 1 to 0! Barcelona took the lead in the 21st minute.
After the goal, the Barcelona players were excited, obviously, the team reshuffled the cards significantly, and only scored one goal at the beginning of the league, one draw and one loss, which put the coach and players under huge pressure, and the comprehensive suppression of Racing Santander in the last game only scored one goal and one draw, which made this pressure reach a critical point. Now that they have finally taken a double lead on the pitch and goals in regulation time of about 20 minutes, how can the players not hug each other with excitement. Pep Guardiola on the field also disregarded the image of his suits and leather shoes. Instead, he waved his hand decisively and couldn't help the excitement in his heart. Han Sen and other substitute players also jumped out of the bench one after another, cheering for the main players on the field.
Sporting Lisbon only got their first chance in the 26th minute after scoring from Barcelona, but midfielder Romagnoli's shot was comfortably saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Valdés. Subsequently, Sporting Lisbon took advantage of the momentum to play a small climax. In the 31st minute, Puyol fouled the opponent Yannick, and Roshenbach's free kick at the edge of the box was saved by Valdés. Then Valdés cleared the ball, Barcelona quickly launched a quick counter-attack, Xavi and Iniesta up front, and Messi made a quick and fluid combination in a small space on the right flank, and then the ball was transferred to Eto'o in the middle. Samuel Eto'o didn't choose to get the ball right away. Instead, he leaked the ball to the back post and let the ball go to Henry on the left, who also shot again and was again collected by Patricio.
To say that the opposing goalkeeper Patricio must have been the busiest player in the first half, less than two minutes later, in the 36th minute, Keita's volley from outside the box was saved by Patricio to the left.
Keita started back-to-back as a midfielder in both games. He had many more chances on goal than Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who were fellow midfielders. This is because in terms of function, Xavi is responsible for assists, Iniesta is responsible for breaking through and pulling, and for Barcelona, most of the time is spent in the opponent's backfield, Keita after completing the defensive task, inserted into the front court as long as he gets the ball, there is basically nowhere to go, only one shot to test the goalkeeper.
However, Keita's treatment made Han Sen hate it so much, you know, this kind of shooting outside the penalty area with a little irresponsible nature, after Han Sen landed in La Liga and practiced hard, was the opportunity he most wanted to find, and now watching Keita waste his feet, how can he not make Han Sen feel anxious, but there is nowhere to say.
In the 38th minute, Iniesta made a beautiful turn and pass from 25 meters in front of the penalty area, and Henry inserted a left-footed shovel shot high from 13 meters in front of the goal, and missed the opportunity to score again.
However, Henry did not need to be upset, because this was also Barcelona's chance in the first half, after which Barcelona still dominated the ball and did not risk attacking, and the score remained 1-0 until the end of the first half.
"Very good fight!" Guardiola has finally entered the dressing room with a temporary lead in the last two games, so it is inevitable that he can't hide a smile, "The outside media only saw that we wasted opportunities, but they didn't see that we created countless opportunities, and they are more likely to ignore it, the other side can hardly get opportunities on us, and now everyone has not adapted to the rhythm of the game, I believe that as long as you adapt to this kind of game, the opportunity will come, believe me." ”
Due to the calm in the first half of the game, Guardiola did not give big tactical instructions, but let the players rest, at this time, he walked in front of Han Sen, first muttered something to Messi, and then sat in the middle of Henry and Han Sen.
“handsome!” Pep Guardiola switched to English, "I know you're in a hurry to wait off the pitch right now. ”
Han Sen grinned, noncommittal, thinking to himself if he could not be in a hurry? Speaking of it, he sits on the bench with 6 million, but if this bench sits like this, he can't tell who the 6 million is!
Guardiola also had a slightly serious expression: "You also have to believe me, you will be the most important piece in my tactics, but now your physical condition is not at its best, and your awareness with the team is not at its best, so I have to put you on the bench now." ”
Han Sen's heart pounded when he heard this, and he thought to himself, Guardiola, if you dare to fool me, I will go to your house tomorrow to eat!
Guardiola lowered his voice a little, as if he was saying something very important: "Don't worry, as long as the score expands in the second half, you will have a chance to play, but you must ensure that you follow the command, I will give you the most haode opportunity!" ”
Although he speaks English, there is no guarantee that anyone can hear it in the locker room, but fortunately, Messi and Henry around him are partners who have no direct competition with him on the field. Listening to the head coach's chest-like guarantee, Han Sen naturally had a lot of confidence in his heart, looking at the sidelines in the locker room, he nodded slightly at Guardiola, Guardiola patted Han Sen's shoulder with satisfaction and stood up, and then went to chat with other players. Hansen took a closer look, what Guardiola was looking for was basically himself, Keita, Toure and Cáceres and other main players, not the main force, let alone the second-tier team like Pedro and Busquets.
At the beginning of the second half, Han Sen, who received Guardiola's secret guidance, did not dare to slack off, barely sat on the bench for long, and did not wait for assistant coach Vilanova to come over to call him, and immediately ran to the sidelines to warm up by himself.
In the second half, under the premise that Barcelona still controlled the tempo, the opponent was the first to attack, and in the 53rd minute, Roshenbach of Sporting Lisbon cut inside on the right and fired a left-footed volley high from 20 meters in front of the goal. 6 minutes later, Xavi crossed from the right, Eto'o relied on his body and reaction in the middle to grab the front point to fight for the top, and was pushed down by the opposing defender Abel who was carrying behind, penalty!
Seeing the penalty, Han Sen, who was cheering in the audience, didn't have time to celebrate with the fans and teammates, and suddenly looked at Guardiola first, and saw that after Guardiola shook his fist and waved his hand to celebrate the penalty, he subconsciously turned back to look at the bench for the first time, and then looked left and right, obviously finding that Han Sen didn't know where to go. Han Sen quickly straightened up and trotted all the way to the bench.
Guardiola finally found Han Sen, his head was biased, and he meant to prepare!
Han Sen thought to himself, Guardiola is really a bit dead-eyed, the last game said that it was a draw, but Messi scored a penalty, and he didn't have to go on. In this game, it is said that the score will be expanded, and if this penalty is not scored, it seems that it is difficult to say. So Han Sen simply slowed down and saw how the penalty was punished first!
Probably because this penalty is the reason why Eto'o is fighting for it, Messi did not step forward to grab the penalty right, and Eto'o has been the top scorer in the Barcelona team for the past two seasons, and he has always been the penalty before, and now it is natural for him to take the penalty. I saw Eto'o Eto'o volley his right foot into the bottom left corner (click to watch the goal video), 2-0! In the 59th minute, Barcelona expanded the score!
And as Pep Guardiola promised, and as Hansen thought, Hansen once again stood on the sidelines for his first Champions League game, but as unexpected as the replacement of Puyol was this time he came on to replace Eto'o, who had just scored his first goal of the new season! (To be continued......)