Chapter 222 Champions League: vs. Juventus (IV)
The situation on the field was already a little off when Eggsy's header was launched. Real Madrid's current attack was a defensive counterattack, and the attack speed was quite fast. Eggsy noticed that Juventus' attack always leaned to the left, so he attacked the middle and right, giving up the ball to Kroos to help him distract the enemy.
Kroos's speed after holding the ball is not slow. He is best at breaking through the baseline, so once he really accelerates, he can definitely keep up with Modric and Eggesie's rhythm. That's why the three of them are so stable in the midfield ball control area.
Eggsy's dribbling is fast and steady. Someone once calculated that he was tackled and intercepted no less than 30 or 45 times in every game on average. However, Eggsy's dribbling and breakthrough failure rate was only 24.38%, and the loss rate was only 17%.
Although not as low as Modric's 22.1% failed dribbling and 9% ball loss rate, Eggsy has tried very hard.
Kroos' dribbling and breakthrough were indeed very good. When he was about to approach the penalty area, he was already looking at Eggsy's position. Just when he was about to pass the ball to Eggsy, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
This feeling of something not being right came from behind him. Kroos also felt it and jumped up with the ball, but unexpectedly he was kicked directly on the ankle by someone, which caused him to feel a sudden pain!
Dybala's attack was made with the intention of intercepting the ball. It was only 20 minutes into the first half. If he lost the ball at this critical juncture, he probably wouldn't be able to hold his head up in the club.
The head coach had noticed Dybala's mistake just now. He cursed fiercely and even punched himself on the leg, but in his mind he immediately calculated what the consequences would be if the ball was lost and Dybala was chasing it frantically.
Does he need to prepare for subsequent tactical changes immediately?
Just as he was thinking this, boos suddenly broke out in the field, and the referee's whistle sounded randomly. The Juventus coach was so scared that he stood up on the spot and immediately looked at the field. However, he still saw a scene that made him terrified.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Dybala kicked Kroos' ankle while chasing him. In fact, Dybala didn't kick him on purpose. He immediately withdrew his strength when he felt he had kicked him, but Kroos still fell over with the ball.
The referee blew the whistle immediately. Because of the foul in the penalty area, there was no way to escape this penalty kick. When Dybala was given the yellow card, he felt the blood in his body run cold!
At this time——penalty?!
Dybala was so angry that he almost vomited blood. It was originally his fault and he really wanted to make up for his previous mistakes first, but he never thought that he would make such big mistakes one after another!
Penalty!
A penalty was given away in less than 20 minutes of the first half! Dybala was so angry that he vomited blood, but Real Madrid almost didn't thank the other side for the gift. Dybala was almost crying with anger. His teammates and a few people patted him on the shoulder as a consolation, but everyone's face was not good, which was even more unbearable for him than scolding him.
When Cross fell, he used his hands to support himself, so he was not seriously injured. He just sat on the ground, feeling fearfully to see if there was any pain on his body.
"How is it?" Eggsy quickly ran over, stretched out his hand to Cross, and pulled Cross up.
"It's okay." Kroos especially felt the foot that was kicked by Dybala. Fortunately, Dybala reduced his strength and he didn't feel any pain now. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" The referee came over next. He saw Kroos still turning his ankle after standing up, so he wanted to check on his condition.
"no problem."
Kroos had just finished answering when he was urged by the referee: "Since you are not injured, take the penalty."
The penalty kick was already a foregone conclusion, and most of the Juventus players had to accept this fact. Dybala was upset at this moment, but there was nothing he could do.
Kroos was standing outside the penalty area preparing to take a penalty kick. He looked at where his teammates were standing. Ronaldo and Bale were trying to receive the ball and shoot at the corners of the penalty area. Eggsy was standing in the middle of the penalty area, and the other Juventus players were also crowded in this small penalty area.
Kroos was thinking a lot in his mind. These three players were standing so close to each other. Who was he going to pass the ball to? It was obvious that there would be chaos after this ball was passed. But Kroos didn't want chaos, he wanted a goal! !
Who should I give this ball to?
Seeing that time was running out, Kroos kicked the ball out directly! First, it reached Bale on the right, and Bale also jumped up hard, but unfortunately the ball was too high and he couldn't reach it at all!
Bale could only squeeze forward, trying to get a good position in the penalty area and see if he could make up for it. After all, the goalkeeper they were facing was Buffon, and he didn't even dare to think about shooting close to the goal.
The ball went from right to left, across the entire middle. But according to this ball path, Ronaldo, who was on the left, probably couldn't get the ball, but Eggsy in the middle suddenly jumped up, and with his height of 192cm, he really left a lot of people behind when he jumped up.
But there were too many people on Eggsy's side, so it would be difficult for Eggsy to make a bigger move. Moreover, the Juventus players were also guarding against Eggsy, fearing that he would head the ball, so they deliberately squeezed his space.
It has to be said that Juventus' defense was really good. Even the direction of the goal was blocked so tightly that even if Eggsy turned his head, he knew he could not expect to score with a header.
So Ronaldo, who couldn't get the ball on the left, really had a last resort, and Eggsy passed it directly to him. When the ball was thrown out by Eggsy's head, everyone thought he was heading the ball.
"Ah, it's a pity for Real Madrid to score this goal, this goal..." The guest on the broadcast said that Eggsy's shooting opportunity was wasted, but the reality is that it is impossible for anyone to shoot now. Ronaldo was in a good position but couldn't reach the ball, and Bale just missed the opportunity and didn't get a good position.
But when Eggsy turned around, the ball was heading towards the left goal post. As soon as this direction came out, everyone knew Eggsy's intention!
He is passing the ball to Ronaldo!
Although Ronaldo's position was good, he was not in the penalty area of Kroos, so he could only wait. However, Eggsy's header really helped a lot. When Ronaldo saw Eggsy's header coming, he didn't even wait for the ball to land, and he shot it directly!
It just so happened that the connection of this ball was very timely, completely blocking the sight of goalkeeper Buffon. He originally thought that Eggsy would head the ball, so he ran towards this side to save it, but he never expected that Eggsy would pass the ball in the opposite direction, giving Ronaldo a chance.
It would be unfair to Eggsy if he didn't score this goal, so when the ball went into the net, the entire Real Madrid stands started shouting wildly!
When Ronaldo saw the ball completely go into the net, he jumped up, punched the sky, and quickly rushed to his own fans' stands to salute. But halfway, he saw Wang Hui jogging Eggsy, who was now being patted on the head and hugged by his teammates.
But just when Eggsy was giving them a hug, Ronaldo suddenly hugged Eggsy's slender waist from behind, held him in his arms and rushed forward for a long time, then he held Eggsy and turned around, and couldn't help but kissed Eggsy's cheek hard!
Now the whole audience was so excited by their celebration that they started to make a noise. However, the other teammates also came over and kissed Eggsy, so they were used to it.
20 minutes into the first half, Real Madrid scored a goal with a beautiful combination, but their attack was not over. So Juventus would definitely not give up, they would only start to attack frantically, trying to make up for the goal as soon as possible.
So when Juventus attacked, they also made their own adjustments. Instead of just looking at Real Madrid's central attack, Juventus changed their strategy. Higuain and Mandzukic started a double-line attack on the left and right sides, followed by Dybala's central attack, and began to bombard Real Madrid's defense.
This was truly a bombardment. Without Ramos, Real Madrid's defense was indeed lacking. Just when they had just taken the lead, they turned around and saw Mandzukic running all the way to the left and diagonally cutting into the penalty area!
"Cross!"
Marcelo shouted, intending to ask Kroos to come and help. The trust they placed on the left side was really not enough!
But Kroos was still fighting with Dybala, so he might not be able to make it. But was he going to give up the one-point advantage that he had just gained? Of course not! Eggsy, as an attacking midfielder, turned around and headed straight to the left. Before Mandzukic could shoot, he quickly stuck to him and started to intercept.
But Mandzukic was not stupid, how could he wait for Eggsy to come over and intercept him? So he quickly shot the ball. Eggsy saw that he could not catch up, but he would not give up. He just ran over quickly and made a sliding tackle. Although it was still a little late, at least the tip of his shoe touched the ball!
For goalkeeper Navas, Eggsy's simple touch was enough. The ball was originally heading for the blind corner, but with a touch from behind, Navas reacted quickly and rushed out, blocking the ball like a hungry tiger, completely killing Juventus' attack.
After Eggsy rushed over to catch the ball, he took a deep breath and lay directly on the grass. He did not stand up until Marcelo came over to pull him up.
It was only 30 minutes into the first half, and he already felt that their battle with Juventus was definitely a physical battle!
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