Lineker pulled the computer to his face, looked at the screen, and said, "Let's take a look at Sporting Lisbon's starting lineup at home. It seems that Bento knows that his team is at a disadvantage in terms of strength. He has fielded a 3-5-2 formation today. It seems that Sporting Lisbon hopes to use its numerical advantage in midfield to fight against Leeds United."
"Stojkovic remains in goal. The three defenders are Tonell, Polga, and Abel Ferreira. The five midfielders are led by Moutinho, the team's core player, flanked by Veloso and Leandro Romagnoli. The two central midfielders are Ronnie Heberson and Marat Ismailov. And the two forwards up front are Liedson and Jalo!"
After introducing Sporting Lisbon's starting lineup, Lineker took a breath.
Jon continued, "Then let's look at Leeds United. After the break from the last league match, most of Leeds United's key players have recovered their fitness."
"Today, Li used his recently favored 4-3-3 formation, with Neuer still in goal. In defense, due to Cannavaro's minor injury while with the national team, Li opted for a safer approach, fielding young Hummels alongside captain Kompany as the central defensive pairing. Lahm and Sun Jihai were positioned on either side of them. In midfield, Mascherano played as the lone holding midfielder, flanked by Kaká and Rodriguez. For the forwards, Ibrahimovic was in the center, flanked by Reus and Adriano!"
"Gary, judging from Lee's lineup today, it seems he's determined to get a winning start in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon." After reading out the starting lineup, Jon turned his gaze to Lineker.
Lineker nodded: "Absolutely. Overall, Leeds United have been in great form this season. Although they lost a game at the beginning of the month, they recovered quickly. There's no reason for Leeds to hold back against an opponent like Sporting Lisbon, who are clearly weaker than them..."
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The two commentators were discussing the starting lineups for both sides.
Inside the Alvalade Stadium, a coin toss ceremony was underway. The two young captains stood before the referee, with Kompany winning the right to choose a side and Moutinho winning the right to kick off.
I took into consideration the atmosphere of my home stadium.
Kompany chose the goal from the north stand in the first half.
The reason is simple.
The south stand of almost every stadium is where the most die-hard fans of each club gather. From the moment the referee blows the whistle to start the game, the fans in the south stand will do their best to cheer for their home team.
Similarly.
They will also use all sorts of wonderful blessings to attack the away team's goalkeeper standing in front of this goal, trying to use this method to affect the away team's goalkeeper's condition as much as possible.
Although Neuer is a bit of a show-off.
But Kompany thought it wouldn't be good if Neuer got too excited in the first half due to the home fans' cheers and made some basic mistakes...
····
After a set of rituals is completed.
The players from both sides returned to their respective halves and took their positions.
After arriving at the center circle, referee David glanced at his watch, waited a few seconds, and then blew the whistle to start the match.
"—Alright, the match has begun! Ladies and gentlemen, fans! Welcome to the first match of the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League group stage! Today's match is between Sporting Lisbon from Portugal and Leeds United from England. Sporting Lisbon, playing at home, are wearing their traditional green and white jerseys, while Leeds United are wearing their yellow away jerseys. Sporting Lisbon kicks off first, their striker Djalo passing the ball back to Mourinho—"
After the kickoff, Sporting Lisbon immediately launched a fierce attack on Leeds United's half.
Bento and the Sporting Lisbon players had a simple thought: since Li Shiguang was so arrogant before the match, would he pass on this arrogant mentality to his players?
In any case, their own strength is indeed inferior to that of their opponents.
Then we'll take advantage of our home field and the possibility that our opponents might underestimate us, and try to take the lead when we're still physically fit in the first half. That way, we can confidently retreat to defend and try to get 3 points in this way.
But Sporting Lisbon's players seem to have underestimated Leeds United a bit too much.
The attack after the kickoff, passed by Moutinho, eventually reached Sporting Lisbon striker Liedson, who was positioned in front of the penalty area.
When Liedson received the ball, he was facing away from the Leeds United goal and used his movement and the distance between him and Kompany to create a gap of about two to three meters.
So after receiving the ball, his first thought was to turn around and then decide whether to break through or shoot directly depending on the situation.
Kompany didn't give Liedson a choice at all.
A distance of two or three meters is not a problem at all for the tall and strong Belgian defender.
So as soon as Liedsson used his right foot to scoop the ball to his left side and turned his body, he felt himself hit a wall.
That's not all.
Before Liedson could pass the ball, he realized something was wrong.
A thick leg appeared in front of him and then, right in front of Liedsson, poked the ball away from his feet!
The ball, poked away by Kompany, landed at the feet of Mascherano, who was making a defensive run.
Just in that instant.
Possession of the ball changes hands, and the roles of the offensive and defensive teams are reversed.
Mascherano quickly turned around and found Kaká immediately, passing the ball to him without hesitation as Kaká was already half-turned and ready to start.
Mascherano gave Kaká plenty of time to anticipate the ball's trajectory, so he didn't need to slow down too much. When the ball rolled to his side, he gently guided it with his left foot, then took full throttle and charged down the right flank towards Sporting Lisbon's penalty area!
Realizing something was wrong.
Center-back Toner immediately rushed towards Kaká and blocked his path to cut inside. Toner preferred to let the Brazilian cross from the byline rather than let Kaká cut inside and shoot.
And that is indeed the case.
Toner's interference prevented Kaká from finding an opportunity to cut inside.
He could only try his best to bring the ball towards the baseline.
Just as the ball was about to reach the byline, Kaka suddenly accelerated, created space, and then swept the ball across the goal with his right foot, sending it towards Sporting Lisbon's goal.
In front of the goal.
Because Kaka's pass was very fast and it was a half-high ball.
So neither Polgar nor goalkeeper Stojkovic touched the ball, and it flew straight to the far post.
Unfortunately.
Reus, who was positioned at the far post, couldn't keep up with Kaká's speed.
The football slid past him and flew straight out of bounds...
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