Chapter 121 Chapter 121 Optimal Solution
After playing against Stuttgart, Leverkusen packed their bags and flew to London.
Leandri had just landed and was plunged into sorrow as he watched the drizzle outside that had been falling for a long time. Why did this place enter the rainy season at this time? The Banya people like the sun, they like the warm sunshine shining on themselves, and it would be best if there is a handsome blond boy lying next to them!
The most tired player in the game against Arsenal today was Leandri. On the defensive line, Heinks replaced veteran Hyypia with Reinartz. Friedrich also sat on the bench to drink water and rest at the beginning of the second half. In the last half hour, Yekas, who had not appeared for a long time, finally felt the atmosphere on the Champions League field.
Seeing that Hyypia was not on Leverkusen's starting lineup, many media were ready to criticize Leverkusen for its passive play after the game. Many media outlets that are good at "seizing the initiative" even thought of the headlines.
"Pharmaceutical companies focus on the league and give up everything in the Champions League!" 》
"Retreat to advance?" Leverkusen may end up with nothing! 》
"Is the core of competitive sports winning or fighting?" 》
Countless criticisms of Leverkusen had been circulating in the media's minds, but from the first minute of the game, these people began to delete them with one click.
As soon as the referee blew the whistle, Leverkusen, who took the lead, launched a lightning attack on Arsenal.
Kiessling and Deldiyok passed the ball to each other, quickly passed it back to Rolfes, and both rushed into the Arsenal penalty area.
Denilson failed to keep an eye on the captain of Bayer Leverkusen, and Rolfes passed the ball to Kroos with a pull and a flick.
The wide-faced midfielder looked left and right after holding the ball, and when the opponent tried to steal the ball, he suddenly shot a sneak attack. He swung his legs with a relatively small amplitude and made a long pass directly to Deldiyok who had already rushed into the opponent's penalty area!
Vermaelen didn't react in time, and by the time Wenger's angry voice was heard, the ball had already gone behind Almunia!
13 seconds into the game, Leverkusen blitzed Arsenal!
But this was just the starting point of Leverkusen's attack today.
In the 12th minute, Leandri intercepted Walcott's shot and threw the ball to the retreating Vidal, who launched another attack on Arsenal.
This time it was Kiessling who showed his brilliance. He stumbled and kicked the ball in the penalty area, but unfortunately it hit the post and was hugged by the terrified Almunia.
I was so scared, I thought the opponent would score two goals in less than 15 minutes!
Wenger kept making gestures to the Arsenal players to slow down and not follow the opponent's rhythm.
But the powerful Bayer Leverkusen players were particularly excited today. Most of them showed themselves on the Champions League stage for the first time this season. Although they lost badly to Arsenal in the first round, they generally felt that it was not a big problem.
Is three goals an insurmountable gap? Ryan is back, let him stay at the back and keep the goal safe. If Kuku scores four goals, we can advance!
Simple!
In the 19th minute, Banetta's long shot hit Arsenal's crossbar.
In the 25th minute, Kiessling missed the shot again.
In the 31st minute, Deldiyok's header hit the intersection of the crossbar and the goal post and bounced out.
Almunia wanted to hug his good brothers, the crossbar and the goal post, and give them a kiss. At this moment, no beautiful girlfriend or dazzling nightclub in London was as attractive as his three good brothers.
Great, no words needed!
Leverkusen is in a bit of a difficult situation here. It would be fine if they missed the shot once, but what does it mean to miss the shot twice, three times and four times? !
War criminal! War criminal-level crossbar and goalpost!
Arsenal must have done something to the Emirates Stadium before the game!
After a series of mistakes, Leverkusen's pace finally slowed down. Before the players could recover from their sighs, the game was instantly under Arsenal's control.
Fabregas passed two players in the midfield and kicked the ball next to Reinartz.
Lob shot!
All the Bayer players looked back at this effortless kick and their hearts sank.
The moment Fabregas touched the ball, Leandri, who had been standing relatively forward and guarding against Walcott, suddenly ran towards his own goal without looking back. He kicked his legs and held the ball firmly in his arms as if he was grabbing a rebound, so easily that no one competed with him.
Fabregas blinked his eyes. Is he crazy? What kind of goalkeeper dives the ball with his head facing outwards? !
"Leandri! He will always be our last guarantee!"
"Everyone is looking back, including himself! But Leandri looks back to make his opponents sigh!"
"Even Fabregas was shaking his head. Who would have thought that Fabregas's imaginative shot could not fool Leandri at all. It was as if he had seen through his thoughts from the very beginning."
"He passed Vidal and Rolfes in succession, using Reinartz's body for leverage. Walcott had already run to a good position next to him, and Castro had no way of defending him. Even Leandri focused most of his attention on him. Everyone thought Fabregas was going to pass the ball to Walcott, but he made a clever lob shot!"
"If any other goalkeeper were to take this ball, eight out of ten would be unable to stop it. But look at Leandri. He took two steps towards the goal and easily caught the ball. Who would have thought that the ball could be saved so easily?!"
Leverkusen's commentary entered into the familiar segment of praising their own children, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.
Love to listen and talk more!
Fans who accidentally tuned into the British Independent Television program and listened to the commentary praising a German club crazily were very sure that the opponent was definitely not our Premier League team. Looking again, hey, it seems that the German’s opponent is the Gunner!
This is a treasonous explanation!
Just as I was about to call to complain, the scene switched to the commentary booth.
It turned out to be McManaman. I'm used to it. This guy praises Ryan Derry all day long. I don't know what kind of magic potion the young boy gave him when he was a kid!
They are still so young and yet they only know how to deceive the simple British people. If that’s the case, why not deceive them as well? !
angry!
In the 39th minute, Arsenal continued to attack Leverkusen. Fabregas' pressure on the field was indeed worthy of Professor Wenger's support for the young him to be the captain. The several attacks he launched made Leverkusen's defense a mess. If it weren't for Leandri's repeated saves, the score might have been equalized or even widened.
At the end of the first half, Leandri sat down on the bench in the locker room and wiped his sweat.
Friedrich asked the physiotherapist to massage his legs as he felt something was wrong with his muscles. His appearance rate this season was astonishingly high, and he finally showed signs of fatigue at the end of the season. The team doctor checked and found that there was no serious problem, but he had obvious muscle fatigue.
Heynckes directly asked the other central defenders to go out for warm-up and, regardless of Friedrich's protests, demanded that he must rest in the second half.
"Kid, I know you want to win, but you still have a long career ahead of you. Playing with an injury is a hidden danger that could explode at any time."
"But this is the first time I've come this far, we've got one goal back and I can still go on. I don't know, I don't know if I can go this far in the Champions League in the future."
It's already the end of the season, and Leverkusen is still fighting hard on three fronts. They are not a top team and do not have a solid bench depth. They have come here thanks to the main players playing game by game. At the end of the season, they seemed to have hope on every front. The German Cup had reached the final, and they were still in the first tier of the league with a few games to play, so everything was possible. In the Champions League, they had defeated the invincible Barcelona with great difficulty, and now they were only two goals behind!
Is it difficult to score two goals? Is it easy to score two goals?
Friedrich's words are actually the voice of every player. If they miss this opportunity, can they go so far again?
"You always have to learn to make trade-offs. If you want everything, you may lose everything. Remember, no matter how important winning or losing on the field is, it is not as important as your health!"
"If this was your last game, and you were playing in the World Cup or European Cup final, I wouldn't stop you from playing with an injury. But it's different now, kid, you're still very young, and you still have a long, long way to go!" Heynckes touched Friedrich's head.
Without the main central defender who can attack and defend, it was extremely difficult for Leverkusen to score three goals without conceding any goals in the second half.
But they still don't give up. We all understand the truth, but if we succumb to reality, how can there be so many miracles on the court? !
The game resumed as Friedrich sat on the bench and unscrewed the kettle.
In the second half, contrary to everyone's expectations, both sides continued to attack, and the speed of transition between offense and defense was dizzying.
In the absence of Friedrich, Leandri did not dare to be careless for a second. Whenever the ball came to his own half, he kept looking left and right, being careful of every Gunner.
"Ryan really risked his life to save the ball today!" McManaman almost jumped up when he was commenting. Just now, Ryan fell against the goal post in order to save Walcott's shot, but his right hand still held the ball firmly in his arms.
"I thought Leverkusen would give up today's game. They are in the championship stage in the league and domestic cup competitions. There is no need to focus on this. Even if they win this game, they can't go any further. Heynckes didn't make a choice. It's not worth it. Maybe it will all be for nothing in the end."
"But isn't this the charm of football?" McManaman looked at the goalkeeper of the Chinese Brasilia team, who was in so much pain that he couldn't help but touch his back but was still directing his teammates to defend. His thoughts suddenly went back to the summer of 2003, when that child with a childish face held the ball and said to him stubbornly, "Don't let me win, I'm also very good!"
"What's important? Lifting the trophy is important, but fighting along the way is also important! The average age of Leverkusen's players on the field today is only 23 years old. They definitely want to fight. Without this fighting spirit, they wouldn't have gotten here."
Heynckes certainly knows that giving up this Champions League game is the best solution for Leverkusen at the moment, but the best solution in competitive sports is always to move forward!
In the 54th minute, Deldioc accidentally collided with Arsenal defender Vermaelen when he was trying to score in front of the goal, and a cut was made on his eyebrow bone.
Heynckes asked Yekas to warm up urgently and then used him to replace Deldiyok, a positional substitution!
With all the players on the field fighting so hard, Heynckes couldn't retreat to defend and directly give the qualification to the opponent.
Although the Arsenal players on the field had the upper hand in attack, they were actually very annoyed. After such a long time of thunder and no rain, they were still one goal behind? !
Arsenal players were gnashing their teeth in hatred as they watched Leandri take advantage of the substitution opportunity to drink water in front of the goal.
In the 72nd minute, Arsenal, who had been besieging Leverkusen for a long time but failed to break through, got a corner kick. Unfortunately, Leandri, who had already determined the position, saw the ball's landing point and grabbed it with both hands, then immediately kicked it forward!
"Toni!"
When Kroos saw Leandri move, his heart trembled, and he somehow left his own goal and ran forward. When he heard the sound from behind, the ball was already over his head.
With a deft use of his shoulder, Kroos continued to move forward, and at the moment when Sagna approached, he shook his ankle!
Pass the ball!
Yekas took advantage of the momentum and shot the ball into the goal!
0-2, Leverkusen was under pressure from the opponent for most of the time at the Emirates Stadium, but they were actually leading the opponent by two goals!
There are still 20 minutes left. They are not afraid of being tired. As long as they can score one more goal, they are willing to play overtime!
In the 78th minute, Leandri punched Fabregas' long-range shot away with both fists.
In the 85th minute, Banetta's cold shot in the penalty area missed the post.
In the 90th minute, Walcott continued his attack and faced Leandri alone, but the goalkeeper made a tackle to destroy his attack at the last moment.
In the last minute of stoppage time, Leverkusen players were extremely anxious. As long as they could score one more goal, they would still have a chance!
Even Leandri lost half the field and hovered near the center circle.
Bang!
With the last shot, the crossbar at the Emirates Stadium denied them again.
0-2, Leverkusen won the game.
3-2, Arsenal advanced.
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