Chapter 55

Led by the referee, the players of Chelsea and Rosenborg lined up in two rows and walked into the Stanford Stadium from the player tunnel.

Rosenborg head coach Torum lined up a 451 formation in this game, with goalkeeper Hirschfeld, forward Kony, midfielders Shelbrey, Sapara, Lises, Teti, Traore, and defenders Strand, Basma, Kopinen, and Dorsin.

The 451 formation is a typical intensive defensive counterattack. It is a popular style of play nowadays and is also the tactical formation that weak teams usually use when facing strong teams. Whether or not you can beat the opponent depends entirely on luck. The ultimate goal is to force a draw with the opponent and try not to lose the ball.

However, because there are 5 players in the midfield, if Chelsea does not perform well in this game, the Rosenborg team, which originally sought stability, will take an active and bold attack and become a new dark horse in the Champions League.

After both sides tossed a coin, the referee blew the whistle to start the game. Chelsea's first game of this year's Champions League group stage officially kicked off under the attention of the outside world.

The first team to kick off was Rosenborg. They adopted a 451 formation and did not hide in the half court right away. Instead, they directly made a gesture of a massive attack. Forward Kone was in the front, and midfielders Sapara and Lises were on the left and right respectively. The three players were arranged in an orderly manner and fired three arrows at the same time, rushing directly into the Chelsea penalty area.

Although Chelsea's four defenders did not expect Rosenborg to play like this right from the start, they were not at all afraid and directly stuck to the three of them, not giving the opponent, especially forward Connie, any space to receive the ball.

After receiving the pass, Rosenborg midfielder Tetti rushed towards Chelsea with the ball. Traore and Dorsin followed behind Tetti, always keeping a certain distance from the latter, so as to facilitate Tetti's pass and cooperate with each other to pass the ball.

On the other side, Rosenborg midfielder Shelbrey, like Tetti, led two defenders Strand and Basma to press towards Chelsea's center circle. They were slower than Tetti and his two companions and positioned further back. On the one hand, they kept an eye on Chelsea's midfield and frontcourt players on the left side, and on the other hand, they responded to the pass from the left side in time and waited for an opportunity to launch a second attack.

"Chelsea's all-substitute lineup in this game gave Roseborg's coach Torum confidence. Roseborg started the game with three-way attack and played very aggressively."

"Tetti rushed forward with the ball, and Wright Phillips and Sidwell came forward to double-team!"

"Tetti made a fake move! He fooled Wright Phillips! Tetti pushed the ball to the right! Dorsin followed up! Two passes to one! Sidwell was left behind!"

"Tetti receives the ball again, Chelsea defender Ferreira is coming up! Get ready to steal the ball!"

"Teti passes the ball directly! A long pass!"

The football flew high into the sky and then fell at the feet of striker Connie. Alex, who was staring at Connie, was so nervous that his heartbeat almost stopped. He bent down slightly, leaned to the left to block Connie's route to cut inside, and stared at Connie's feet, waiting for the opponent to reveal a slight flaw so that he could kick the ball.

Connie was not at all panicked. As Roseborg's number one striker, although he was unknown in the eyes of outsiders, his strength was not inferior to Alex. After his route to cut inside was blocked by Alex, Connie was not forced to go to the bottom as Alex expected. Instead, he gently pulled his feet, increased his speed and cut directly to the inside!

Alex quickly moved forward and tried to push Connie away, but Connie was strong and Alex tried to push him several times but failed to push him away. Instead, he was almost knocked over by Connie.

Relying on his speed and physical fitness, Connie beat Alex and rushed to the penalty area along the inside line. He looked up at the famous British goalkeeper in front of him, quickly observed Endrit's position, and decisively kicked the ball.

Before Connie's football took off, Endrit adjusted his position, with his legs slightly bent and his arms spread out. Connie knew at a glance that if he shot the ball in the near corner, Endrit would definitely catch it easily, so he shot the ball straight to the far corner.

As soon as the football took off, Endrit jumped up like a spring, with his arms spread in the air like an eagle soaring in the sky, his arms stretched out, aiming directly at the football that Connie shot towards the far corner.

Connie closed his eyes and silently comforted himself that the man was a famous British goalkeeper. There was nothing surprising about him judging the direction so quickly and saving the ball. He... huh? etc! It seems there is still a chance!

Belletti, who had always wanted to prove himself and had become a regular starting defender, kept his eyes on the football. When he saw the football flying to the far corner, he let go of midfielder Shelbrey, who he had been staring at, turned around and rushed towards the football and raised his foot to block it, but he seemed to have misjudged the length of his legs and failed to kick the football. It only brushed Belletti's leg and bounced directly towards the ground.

The original flight path of the football immediately changed. Although it was still flying towards the goal, it had already gone straight from the far corner to the blind spot below the goal.

Connie raised the corner of his mouth and looked at Endrit who was still in the air, and raised his hands directly to celebrate the goal: Endrit definitely didn't have time to change his movements!

Endrit stared at the football, and after falling to the ground with a bang, he immediately flipped to the right. His outstretched right middle finger just touched the football that was about to enter the goal.

The football changed its course again under the influence of Endrit's force, so Connie watched helplessly as the football that was about to hit the goal post and go into the net changed direction, hit the post, and bounced back into the penalty area.

The Chelsea fans sitting in the Stanford Stadium felt like they were on a roller coaster as soon as the game started. As soon as Endritt made his save, they knew the ball was secured. So what if the opponent's attack was beautiful? They still couldn't score, right?

Belletti’s sudden appearance also made them excited, and they wondered if this was a collaboration between the two of them? The result was not cooperation, but an active attack that raised their blood pressure and directly assisted the opponent to score a goal.

Many Chelsea fans have already cursed. Although there are no tears in their eyes, they are ready to start spitting at Belletti. Then, they saw the save scene that they had remembered for a long time: after landing, Endrit flipped sideways and poked the ball out, and the ball was bounced to the left side of the penalty area. Rosenborg midfielder Teti seized the opportunity to make a supplementary shot. Endrit, who had just risen halfway from the grass, straightened his upper body and slapped the ball to the right side of the penalty area with one hand.

Before Endritt could stand firm, the football flew over from the right penalty area again - it was Shelbrey who was left open and rushed to the football and volleyed!

Endrit didn't have time to breathe. He held his breath and moved his body towards the direction of the football. He quickly pushed down the football that was about to touch his chin, and then held the football tightly in his arms.

Endrit didn't dare to trust his four defensive teammates anymore. After putting the ball at his feet, he kicked the ball towards the midfield. After he watched the ball temporarily disappear from his sight, Endrit breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Mourinho on the sidelines.

Endrit didn't say anything. After all, even if he spoke, the latter couldn't hear him. He just looked at Mourinho eagerly, hoping that the latter could understand what he meant: Don't just stand there, coach, quickly replace a few defenders. He really doesn't want much, just John Terry and Ashley will be enough!

After the game started, Mourinho didn't really look at the frontcourt. His eyes kept wandering between his own backcourt and Endrit, so he quickly met Endrit's eyes and quickly understood what Endrit meant.

If it were the previous games, Endrit would not have to wait at all. Mourinho would have asked the assistant referee for a substitution when Belletti assisted the opponent. But now, Mourinho pretended not to see Endrit's eyes and silently focused his attention on the frontcourt, as if he had been attracted by the confrontation in the frontcourt.

"The camera on the scene showed Chelsea coach Mourinho. His expression was very calm. He didn't seem surprised at all that Endrit could complete such a series of amazing saves just now."

"Yes, before the game, Coach Mourinho was very confident in Endrit's performance. He believed that even if the team composed of the media were Endrit's teammates, Endrit would not lose any football!"

"I don't know if it's true or not, but judging by the series of saves Endrit just made, coach Mourinho has every confidence to say that."

"After Endrit fell to the ground, he stood up almost without stopping and completed the second and third saves. This completely ignored the existence of physics!"

The ball was in Chelsea's hands, and there was a fierce scramble for position between the two teams in the midfield. Sheva relied on his rich experience on the field to grab a favorable position in the melee. He broke through the crowd with the ball. The Rosenborg players who were chasing him quickly did not give Sheva time to adjust, and he shot directly.

Fortunately, because the melee just now distracted the vision too much, Rosenborg goalkeeper Hirschfeld couldn't keep his eyes on the football. Sheva immediately shot after breaking through. After the football flew for a distance, Hirschfeld determined the direction of the football, jumped into the air and rushed towards the upper left corner of the goal.

But because the starting speed was a little late, before Hirschfeld jumped to the highest point, the football went straight towards the net. After the football hit the net, Hirschfeld's hand touched the trajectory of the football.

“Beep, beep…”

The referee of the game, Duhamel, blew the whistle to signal that the goal was valid, and the entire Stanford Stadium instantly became a sea of ​​joy.