Chapter 398: Two Goals in Three Minutes
When the players from both teams returned to the field, everyone was surprised to find that Barcelona had made a substitution.
Rijkaard replaced two players at once.
Giuly and Oleguer took a shower in the locker room, and young players Iniesta and Messi replaced them.
In this way, Barcelona's formation is still 433, but the midfield has become Xavi staying back, Deco and Iniesta rushing forward, Messi playing as right winger, and Marcos returning to the back line to partner with Puyol.
This is not the first time this has happened, but it still takes courage to replace two players at once in such an important game.
"There is no way out for Barcelona at this moment."
"The 0-4 scoreline in the first half forced Rijkaard to make changes and adjustments."
"Substituting two offensive players, including young player Messi for Giuly, was a big gamble."
"Giuli's performance in the first half was indeed not satisfactory, but whether Messi can change the situation remains to be seen."
…
With the referee's whistle, the second half of the game officially began.
After AC Milan kicked off, they passed the ball directly to the back line and slowly prepared to control the ball and slow down the pace.
The trident led by Su Dong, Ronaldinho and Messi pressed forward at the same time and launched pressure on AC Milan.
The Rossoneri's passing and controlling ability is not bad. Pirlo, Seedorf and others are good at passing and controlling the ball. Barcelona's pressing effect in the midfield and frontcourt is not very obvious, and the Rossoneri quickly passed the ball across the center line.
The first shot of the second half was still made by AC Milan. Kaka's long shot from outside the penalty area was not strong enough and was caught by Valdes.
After the goal kick, Barcelona's passing and control of the ball still found it difficult to pass the center line.
AC Milan still deployed heavy troops near the center line. This strategy was exactly the same as in the first half, but after AC Milan took a four-goal lead, they played more steadily and at a relatively slower pace.
The situation seemed to have not changed at all, and even AC Milan played beautifully twice in small-scale cooperation and advancement on the wing.
Barcelona does not have a full-time defensive midfielder, which means the team's protection in front of the penalty area is not good enough.
Fortunately, Deco and Iniesta were both very active in retreating.
AC Milan slowly advanced, pressed into Barcelona's half, and kept exerting pressure.
"Barcelona's morale is so low."
"At this time, if someone can stand up and score a goal, I believe Barcelona will play more energetically."
"Throughout the first half and the start of the second half, Barcelona gave people the feeling of chaos, lack of backbone, lifelessness and lack of vitality. This is related to AC Milan's defensive cutting, but Barcelona also has bigger problems of its own."
"Look at AC Milan's attack this time, it was still initiated by Kaka."
"The 23-year-old Brazilian played very well tonight."
…
When AC Milan tried to pass the ball to Shevchenko and rushed into the penalty area from the left rib, Puyol decisively kicked the ball in front of the penalty area and blocked it. Iniesta quickly passed the ball to Xavi.
Xavi knocked the ball back, Iniesta turned around and chased after him, then kicked the ball to Messi in front.
After stopping the ball, Messi ran horizontally from the right to the middle, avoiding AC Milan's left-back Maldini.
Maldini followed Messi all the way, but as a left-footed player, Messi took just two steps, spotted an opportunity, and quickly kicked a low long pass with his left foot.
The ball was kicked quickly, passing directly between Stam and Nesta and falling to the left side of AC Milan's penalty area.
Su Dong burst out with speed in an instant, rushing forward at the fastest speed, chasing after Messi's pass.
Nesta's reaction was also very quick, chasing closely all the way.
Just after stepping into the AC Milan penalty area, Su Dong caught up with Messi's pass and made an emergency stop.
Nesta also stopped immediately, moved closer to Su Dong, and leaned against him with his body.
After Su Dong stopped suddenly, his body was squeezed by Nesta and he almost lost his balance, but he relied on his excellent balance to stabilize his body. After turning sideways to block Nesta with his shoulder, he relied on his height and long legs to adjust the football under his feet with his right foot.
Since Su Dong had already stepped into the penalty area, Nesta could only use his body to block and did not dare to make any other moves.
Stam has also chased back to the top of the arc and is about to surround Nesta.
At this moment, Su Dong suddenly took a step forward, stood still with his left foot, and kicked out quickly with his right foot.
The ball flew out from Su Dong's right foot at an extremely fast speed. The speed of the ball was as fast as lightning. After leaving a streak of light, it went straight to the right side of the goal.
After Dida reacted, he leaned sideways and rushed out, but it was too far to reach.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the 51st minute, Su Dong volleyed the ball with his right foot in the penalty area and broke through AC Milan's goal."
"This is Barcelona's first goal of the game, from Su Dong!"
"It was a very good goal. It wasn't even a good chance, but Su Dong took it."
"From the slow motion footage, we can clearly see that when facing Nesta, Su Dong still relied on his height advantage to control the ball, turned around and shot."
"This goal fully demonstrates Su Dong's personal strength and characteristics as a world superstar."
"But it still can't save Barcelona!"
…
After scoring the goal, Su Dong did not celebrate, but rushed towards the goal quickly.
Before Dida, Su Dong picked up the ball and kicked it towards the center line, signaling to kick off quickly.
On the way back, Su Dong kept waving his hands and shouting to the fans, signaling them to be more passionate.
Barcelona fans were also infected and started cheering in the stands.
With this goal, Barcelona would at least avoid being shutout and avoid the humiliation that happened eleven years ago.
"Press forward and continue attacking!"
Even though the stadium was filled with noise, the camera still captured Su Dong's shouting at his teammates near the center circle.
Inspired by Su Dong's goal, Barcelona players seemed to rekindle their fighting spirit.
When AC Milan restarted the game, Barcelona players began to press forward.
The front trident began to press AC Milan's defense fiercely, and the midfield and defense also pressed forward at the same time.
For the first time, Barcelona showed a desperate momentum and determination.
This pressure made AC Milan a little flustered.
During a cooperation between Maldini and Seedorf on the wing, Seedorf tried to hit the ball into Iniesta's legs and sent it out of bounds. Unexpectedly, he became the last person to touch the ball.
The referee was very observant and directly gave Barcelona an opportunity for an out-of-bounds ball in the frontcourt.
Belletti quickly threw the ball to Xavi, and the Barcelona midfielder made a long pass, trying to hit the penalty area directly behind him.
Stam was very steady. He judged the landing point of the ball and headed it out.
But the ball did not fly far. Ronaldinho kicked the ball off at the top of the penalty area, blocked Nesta and Pirlo with his body, and knocked the ball back to Deco who came in from behind.
Deco quickly stepped forward, stopped the ball, glanced at Ronaldinho, and found that the Brazilian was actually in the middle. What about Su Dong? The Portuguese midfielder had almost no hesitation, because this was not the first time.
After taking a glance at the positions of Cafu and Nesta, he pretended to look for Ronaldinho for cooperation, but secretly he suddenly made a straight pass with his right foot. The ball passed between Nesta and Cafu and entered the penalty area.
The moment Deco passed the ball, Su Dong shook off Cafu and rushed behind AC Milan's defense line. He stopped the ball with his left foot and pushed the ball into the far corner with his right foot. His movements were as smooth as flowing water.
By the time everyone reacted, Su Dong's shot from the far corner hit the inside of AC Milan's right net as Dida was unable to save it.
The referee's whistle to signal the goal was effective sounded in an instant.
In an instant, the Ataturk Stadium erupted into wild cheers.
All the Barcelona fans in the stadium were shouting Su Dong's name frantically, while Su Dong stood where he was, constantly encouraging the fans, signaling them to shout louder and louder.
"Two to four!"
"My God, Barcelona scored two goals in less than three minutes in the second half, which was as amazing as the two goals they conceded in the first half."
"AC Milan was thrown into disarray by Barcelona's aggressive attack."
"They obviously missed the defense against Su Dong in the goal just now, which was quite inappropriate."
"Barcelona have now scored two goals in a row and their morale has gradually recovered."
"We saw that not only Su Dong was boosting morale, but Puyol was also constantly shouting, urging fans and teammates to keep up the good work. The mental outlook of Barcelona has changed a lot."
“This is football!”
"Morale is very important in all multiplayer games, including football and ancient warfare."
"With two goals in three minutes, shouldn't Ancelotti make substitutions?"
"Although AC Milan has players such as Rui Costa, Tomasson, Sergio and Kaladze on the bench, they are obviously not good substitution options. Ancelotti obviously still wants to stabilize the situation."
When Puyol came back to prepare for kick-off, he called all his teammates together again.
"Two goals in three minutes, only two goals left, we must still have a chance, come on!"
The teammates all spoke up.
"If you have a chance, try to pass it to me. No matter what the ball is, I will definitely get it into the goal!" Su Dong promised confidently, "We will get it back in the second half just the way we lost the ball in the first half!"
This statement was a bit exaggerated, but shouting it out at this moment not only showed Su Dong's confidence, but also boosted the team's morale.
After hearing Su Dong's words, everyone regained their confidence.
If they hadn't chased two goals in three minutes, perhaps they wouldn't have been so motivated.
But now, they are beginning to believe that the team may really be able to turn the situation around.
Win or not, it doesn't matter anymore! What's important is that the team must turn the situation around and get back the dignity lost in the first half!
It would be best if all those who thought Barcelona were doomed and had no hope in the first half realized their stupid mistakes.
…
The game starts again.
Everyone was surprised to find that Barcelona was like crazy and launched a frantic pressing towards AC Milan.
(End of this chapter)
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