"Oh no, Arsenal's defense is in danger!!!"
Atletico Madrid winger Koke quickly dribbled down the wing, his speed as fast as lightning.
What's even more surprising is that he timed his pass perfectly, even faster than his speed.
Without hesitation, Koke moved the ball to the center and delivered a precise pass to Saul.
Saul also demonstrated excellent skill and awareness, passing the ball with one touch without any hesitation.
This pass was as precise as a scalpel, delivering the ball to the unmarked striker Costa.
At this moment, Arsenal's defense is down to just Koscielny.
Seeing this, Atletico Madrid fans held their breath, hoping their team could create a miracle at home.
In front of the goal, after seeing that the opponent was gradually forming a half-one-on-one situation, Lei Ming calmly instructed Koscielny to mark him, while he focused most of his attention on Griezmann.
All we could see was Costa slowly advancing with the ball, then suddenly changing direction to try and shift his weight, but luckily Koscielny didn't fall for it and stayed close to the opponent's shooting angle.
Just then, the opponent's reinforcements arrived. Costa seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and without even looking, he passed the ball to his teammates who were rushing to support him.
After receiving the ball, Vitolo pretended to look for a shooting opportunity. This left Koscielny unable to cover both of their angles, giving Vitolo an opening. He then decisively fired a shot into the far corner.
Lei Ming also sensed the trajectory of the ball, but because the opponent had lofted it quite high, he was in a position where he couldn't reach the ball at all. Fortunately, he felt that the ball's trajectory seemed to ultimately end on the goalpost.
Just as he had imagined, there was a loud "clang" as the ball did indeed hit the goalpost. But an unexpected turn of events occurred: the ball bounced off the spot where Griezmann was standing. He demonstrated the qualities of a top La Liga striker, shooting the ball without hesitation, relying entirely on his body awareness.
The football slid almost across the grass before a beautiful low shot flew directly into the goal, leaving Lei Ming helpless against the fast and sudden strike.
"Boom!"
The moment the ball crossed the goal line, the entire Wanda Metropolitano Stadium seemed to ignite, erupting in deafening cheers.
At this moment, countless fans erupted in cheers, their enthusiasm sweeping across the entire stadium like a surging torrent.
Their own team put on a brilliant performance at home, scoring a valuable goal early in the game, which undoubtedly gave everyone a huge boost.
Every spectator felt the team's strength and determination, and they were full of expectations that the team could equalize the score.
The goal scorer, Griezmann, was ecstatic. He immediately performed a smooth knee slide celebration on the sidelines, his fists clenched in excitement. He had finally added Lei Ming to his goal's backdrop, how could he not be thrilled!
After all, in the last match, they were completely overwhelmed and almost disappeared. But fortunately, after the head coach's reminder, they finally found an effective way to attack.
Although this attack was largely a coincidence, it was actually a tactic they had practiced many times before. Otherwise, how could he have been in that position so coincidentally? Of course, there was also a bit of a gamble involved. It was almost entirely in the plan if Vitolo failed to hit the woodwork, flew out of bounds, or scored directly.
Vitolo, who provided the assist, was also quite excited; he hadn't expected it to actually work.
He caught up with Griezmann and pinned him down to celebrate. His teammates followed, but most of them remained calm and didn't crush Griezmann. Instead, they patted him on the head as encouragement.
On Arsenal's side, Wenger was instantly jolted awake after seeing the opponent concede a goal. He finally realized that something was wrong with the game. He had originally thought that the players would solve the problem themselves, but it turned out that they didn't seem to take the three-goal lead seriously enough, which led to the goal being scored.
To be honest, this goal had little to do with Lei Ming's ability; he had already performed very well. But Griezmann's shot was just too sudden and too fast. Even the world's top goalkeepers couldn't have saved such a shot.
What angered him was that the players had no idea how to handle their own mentality.
Therefore, he directly issued a man-to-man marking tactic for the entire game.
To ensure the smooth running of this match, we are willing to sacrifice some of the players' physical strength.
The Arsenal players, who had conceded a goal, seemed to have been woken up, and everyone began to look more serious.
After seeing that the head coach had given them tactical instructions, they began to implement them seriously.
Although a two-goal advantage and a three-goal advantage are only one goal apart, there is still a big difference. At least Arsenal's players have begun to feel the urgency of being pressured by their opponents.
After Arsenal made corresponding tactical adjustments, Simeone's previously ecstatic expression instantly changed.
He became unhappy again as soon as he saw Arsenal players start pressing high and marking man-to-man tactics with all their might.
He was well aware that once Arsenal increased their intensity, it would be difficult for Atletico Madrid to replicate their previous teamwork. In fact, the game unfolded much as he had anticipated.
Throughout the first half, neither team managed to score, and the score remained 1-0 until halftime.
However, in the final moments of the first half, perhaps Atletico Madrid's players were too anxious, leading to a significant clash between the two teams. Atletico Madrid received two yellow cards, and Arsenal did not fare any better, with their midfielders also receiving two yellow cards.
It is evident that the referees in this match were quite strict in their enforcement, and any problems were addressed almost immediately.
As both teams returned to their locker rooms to rest, both head coaches unanimously chose to encourage their players with motivational speeches.
"We are one game away from winning the Premier League title, one Europa League final, and one FA Cup final."
"Guys, I know you must be exhausted by now, but you need to know that in the next three games, we just need to perform well. These three games are very important. No matter how hard you have worked before, I want to tell you that you must persevere. The championship is always reserved for the teams that crave it. Do you crave it?"
"eager!!!"
"We want a quadruple crown!"
In the Arsenal dressing room, the players roared, their veins bulging.
They have an absolute obsession with winning the championship.
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