"Ahhhhh! What a pity! It was a brilliant pass from young De Bruyne, and Ibrahimovic got to it in the penalty area, but unfortunately, heading isn't his forte, and his shot went just over the crossbar! Coach Wang, I feel that Leeds United's performance at the start of the game seems a bit different from what you just said. In the last few minutes, their attacks have been coming one after another!"
Su Tao's excited voice echoed in the studio. Whether it was intentional or not, he brought up Wang Lu's earlier remarks while commentating and then criticized them.
Upon hearing Su Tao's words, Wang Lu could only awkwardly smile and remain silent where the audience couldn't see him.
He was a little confused. Had he misunderstood? He had clearly seen the Leeds United players looking serious and unsmiling in the players' tunnel just moments before.
But the situation on the field during this period was indeed very different from what he had expected. PSV Eindhoven, who kicked off first, only crossed the halfway line twice. For the rest of the time, they were pressed back by Leeds United in front of the penalty area and couldn't move. Was PSV Eindhoven just too bad?
Unable to figure it out, Wang Lu shook his head and refocused his attention on the television screen.
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"Well done! Zlatan! That's it, put plenty of pressure on their defense!"
"Kevin, great pass! But next time you could look further ahead. Frank's side was open just now. Remember what I told you during practice about making full use of the width of the field?"
Li Shiguang was very satisfied. It seemed that the morale card was working well. The result of the team's morale being at its peak was that they dominated Eindhoven in their own half for the first 10 minutes. The only regret was that they didn't score.
Ibrahimovic, who had just completed his attack, had returned to the center circle, and the encouragement from Li Shiguang was still echoing in his mind.
Receiving such blatant praise on the field, the usually mild-mannered Ibrahimovic was overjoyed and resolved not to waste any more opportunities like this in the future.
He was actually quite puzzled. When they were waiting to enter the players' tunnel, he felt that everyone was a bit lifeless and lacked passion.
For some reason, once they came on the field, they were all incredibly aggressive, running around like crazy. Basically, as soon as Eindhoven got the ball, several players would swarm around them.
Take that header just now, for example. If I had been even a little slower, Torres, who was almost in position, would probably have been the one to head the ball!
Finally, after nearly half an hour of relentless bombardment, Ibrahimovic managed to knock on the door of PSV Eindhoven.
In the 29th minute, Ribery received the ball on the left wing and made a high-speed breakthrough. Unfortunately, when he cut inside from the edge of the penalty area, he was tackled by PSV Eindhoven's center-back Alex. However, after the ball left Ribery's feet, it did not fly to Alex's teammate, but was instead controlled by Modric.
Modric didn't hesitate, delivering a brilliant through ball to the right flank, where Torres was already waiting.
Ribery's breakthrough caused PSV Eindhoven's defensive formation to shift slightly to the left, leaving Torres with only PSV's right-back Salcido nearby. After receiving the ball, Torres displayed his explosive power by dribbling past Salcido, who was unable to close in, and then swept the ball across PSV's goal from the byline.
Then, thanks to his height and long legs, Ibrahimovic managed to deflect the ball into the goal before the defender could make a move.
1-0, Leeds United take the lead away from home!
The moment the ball was blocked by Ibrahimovic, Eddie Gray's scream came from the TV screen!
"Gooooooooool～～Ibrahimovic! He gave Leeds United the lead with an unconventional shot!"
"Modric's precise through ball and Torres' decisive breakthrough combined to create Ibrahimovic's brilliant goal. Rejoice, Leeds United fans!"
It's no wonder Eddie Gray was so excited. The Leeds United fans watching the game on TV were even more excited than him, and many of the older fans had already started to quietly wipe away tears.
It has been five years since they last saw Leeds United achieve anything in the Champions League.
Fortunately, God gave them a golden opportunity, allowing Leeds United to once again stand on the top stage of European football!
Ibrahimovic was ecstatic after scoring, calling his teammates to run to a corner of the pitch to celebrate wildly in front of thousands of Leeds United players who had traveled a long way with him.
But this wasn't Elland Road, and the Leeds United players' wild celebrations eventually provoked the anger of the home fans, who kept throwing water bottles around them, prompting the linesman to quickly stop the players who wanted to jump around a little longer.
After the restart, PSV Eindhoven, trailing in the score, began a major offensive at Koeman's request.
At Li Shiguang's signal, Leeds United's players slowed down the pace of the game. Once they gained possession, they were not in a hurry to attack, but instead passed the ball around in their own half.
It wasn't that he didn't want the players to continue attacking; securing the victory as soon as possible was more important than anything else. However, the players' stamina bars, which were constantly flashing in the system, were also reminding him that if they continued to run like before, the risk of injury would definitely increase significantly.
In this context, Cannavaro's value becomes apparent.
After Li Shiguang bought him, some people questioned his age, believing that Cannavaro was too old and might not be able to adapt to the high intensity of the Premier League, and that he might become a breakthrough point for Leeds United in the new season.
But in the next ten minutes or so, he proved to the world why, a few months later, he would become the only player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award while playing as a center-back.
After acquiring Cannavaro, Li Shiguang spent his vacation training the players in a chain defense tactical system, hoping that they would be able to compete with strong teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Cannavaro became a key player in this tactical system precisely because of his exceptional one-on-one tackling ability and success rate.
Leeds United formed two straight lines, and their midfield and defense pressed together.
PSV Eindhoven's two forwards, Mendes and Kone, had very little space to get going.
Occasionally, when someone receives the ball and tries to turn, Cannavaro immediately closes in. The player gets past him, but the ball is left standing in place.
Finally, after Kone's failed attempt to break through again, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
Both sides will rest for 15 minutes.
Let's switch sides and start the game!
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