Chapter 785 The Last Chance

Tired, so damn tired!

This is Ibrahimovic's biggest feeling at this moment.

His physical strength had been almost exhausted. Even though it had only been seventy minutes, he was really almost exhausted.

But he still kept walking back and forth on the court, sometimes even running.

It’s not because he is diligent, but because he is worried that if he stops, he will never be able to run again.

Those damn legs started to tremble whenever he exerted any strength. He really doubted how long he could hold on.

This was the first time he played in the Champions League final in his life, and it was also the best Champions League season in his career.

He made his debut in Malmö, Sweden, became famous in Ajax, Netherlands, rose in Juventus, Italy, established himself as the world's number one center forward in Inter Milan, and then transferred to Barcelona for an astonishingly high price, but was expelled from Camp Nou in disgrace after one season.

Ibrahimovic has won countless honors in his life, including league championships and cup championships.

But the only thing he missed out on was the Champions League.

As a Swedish international, restricted by the national team, he is destined to miss international competitions in his life.

The World Cup, the European Cup, the Confederations Cup, they have nothing to do with him.

Therefore, he attaches great importance to the Champions League.

The irony is that everyone has always said that he is a weakling in the Champions League!

When Ibrahimovic transferred from Ajax to Juventus, it was the last glorious period of Serie A. The Old Lady was one of the strongest teams in Europe at the time, and Ibrahimovic was eager to reach the top of Europe in Turin.

Who would have thought that two years later, the phone-gate scandal broke out, Juventus was fined and relegated.

Ibrahimovic was unwilling to follow Juventus into Serie B, so he moved to Inter Milan.

The Nerazzurri was the Italian team with the greatest hope of making a big splash in the European arena at the time, and Moratti also personally promised that Inter Milan would aim for the European championship.

In fact, in those years, Inter Milan's investment was quite large and its overall strength was also very strong.

But we are still a little far from the Champions League.

In Mourinho's first year, the team continued to be invincible in Serie A, but failed to make a breakthrough in the Champions League, and was eliminated in the round of 16, completely defeated by Manchester United.

This made Ibrahimovic very disappointed!

Because as he gets older year by year, he is getting further and further away from the goal of the Champions League, and he feels scared!

He has always been proud and confident, but he is very afraid that he will end his career with lifelong regret!

Coincidentally, at this time, Barcelona, ​​which had just swept the entire Europa League and won the triple crown with unprecedented huge advantages in the European arena, extended an olive branch to him, hoping to bring him to Camp Nou with an astonishingly high price.

Guardiola promised that Ibrahimovic would succeed at Camp Nou!

It should be much easier to win the Champions League in Barcelona than in Inter Milan, right?

So, Ibrahimovic resolutely chose Spain!

Ironically, in the first season after he left Inter Milan, Mourinho's team won the treble, including the European Championship that Ibrahimovic had always dreamed of!

In contrast, Ibrahimovic encountered an unprecedented career crisis in Barcelona.

That was the lowest point in his career!

He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. He even wanted to slap himself a few times.

But where in the world can we find medicine for regret?

If it were just regret, that would be fine, but what’s more important is questioning.

As soon as Ibrahimovic left Inter Milan, Inter Milan won the Champions League, and as soon as he joined Barcelona, ​​Barcelona immediately faced a tactical crisis. What does this mean?

It couldn’t be simpler!

This Swedish center is a tactical cancer!

This statement has appeared more than once in newspapers, in the mouths of fans, and in Ibrahimovic's ears.

He needs help, but at this time, Barcelona wants him to transfer, but Guardiola tells him, how can we continue?

I'll go on, fuck you!

I don’t want to play anymore!

AC Milan's Galliani wants to get Ibrahimovic, but his conditions are to lower the transfer fee and significantly reduce wages!

But this obviously hurt Ibrahimovic's self-esteem!

Just at this time, Southampton, which had just been acquired, came to the door with great sincerity. Master Huan went to Barcelona in person to negotiate and was humiliated by the Barcelona management.

This made Ibrahimovic feel a strong sincerity!

More importantly, Master Huan promised to build a competitive team around Ibrahimovic and to make it rise strongly in the next few years!

Ibrahimovic made a crazy decision, he chose Southampton!

This seemed crazy to everyone at the time!

A superstar ranked among the top three in the world and the number one center forward actually joined a team in the third-tier league in England?

If this isn’t madness, what is?

But four years have passed. Now, who would still question Ibrahimovic's decision?

As the team's top star, he led Southampton all the way from the English League One, promoted year after year, and entered the Premier League. In the first season, he won the Premier League championship as a newly promoted team, and successfully defended the league championship again in the second season.

Based on this transcript, who dares to say that Ibrahimovic was wrong to join the Saints?

More importantly, Southampton miraculously reached the final of the Champions League when they participated in the Champions League for the first time!

This surprised Ibrahimovic like never before!

He wants the Champions League title so badly that he's going crazy!

So, in this game, he tried his best, he ran without sparing his energy, and he didn't care even if he was asked to retire on the spot after the game.

Because he knew that this was his last chance!

He was very tired, so tired that he felt like he would collapse at any time. But every time he turned his head and looked at the St. Boleder Cup placed on the sidelines at the exit of the player tunnel, a surge of strength surged in his heart again.

This is the last regret in his career, and he longs to make up for it with his own hands!

But Atletico Madrid, a team that can reach the Champions League final, is definitely not an easy team to deal with.

With the Swedish center forward playing for so many years, Atletico Madrid's defensive tactics in this game were perfect.

Although there were few counterattack opportunities and threatening attacks, they were indeed quite unique in defending Southampton's attacks and hardly gave the Saints too many chances.

Even though both sides adjusted their playing styles after replacing two players each, they still failed to break the deadlock.

After all, this is the Champions League final!

Ibrahimovic felt that he was about to die!

But that Argentine dwarf, oh, by the way, the guy named Otamendi, is still full of fighting spirit.

That guy is really a fighter, his fighting ability is quite amazing!

Even as an opponent, even though he was more than ten centimeters taller than him, Ibrahimovic still had no way to defend against him.

What's more, there is an experienced Godin behind him.

The two of them must have studied Ibrahimovic in detail, so their defense was very targeted.

This made the Swedish center both admire and annoyed.

Damn it, we finally got to the Champions League final, how could it be ruined by them?

Find a way, you must find a way to break their defense!

How to solve it?

After adjusting the team's tactics, Atletico Madrid's tactics look more like 4-1-4-1.

The defense line remains largely unchanged, with Krychowiak in the midfield and Isco and Koke in front.

The fact that these two players are still here proves that Atletico Madrid is still determined to counterattack and attack!

The two wingers are Griezmann and Tevez, with Griezmann's position being relatively forward and tending to the right, while Tevez is more likely to cut inside between Southampton's midfield and defense line.

Diego Costa plays as a lone striker, but his position is also a little to the right.

This is probably related to the fact that Atletico Madrid's counterattacks often involve long diagonal passes to the right.

David Alaba was under a lot of defensive pressure on his side and it was impossible for him to provide offensive support to Hazard in front of him.

On the other hand, Southampton is more like a 4-4-2 tactic.

The back line also remains unchanged, with two players in the midfield, Toni Kroos slightly further back and James Rodriguez further forward, with a freer position.

There is Hazard on the left, Sanchez on the right, Ibrahimovic as the center forward, and Suarez roaming around him.

Although Southampton's midfield was much weaker, the ball was still under Southampton's control.

Therefore, the key issue now is not how to get the ball back, but how to break the opponent's defense!

With Atletico Madrid's tactics, there will often be a defensive formation of nine players in the backcourt, with only Diego Costa left in the front. Such a defense is very layered and impregnable.

If you want to break through, you must disrupt their defense!

Only when there is chaos, there is opportunity!

Thinking of this, Ibrahimovic immediately made a decision.

"Luis!" the Swedish center called out to Suarez.

When the Uruguayan looked over, he made a gesture.

The latter immediately understood, nodded, said "Understood!" and ran away.

The Swedish center forward also winked at Toni Kroos in the distance, indicating that he should retreat.

The German midfielder immediately understood and informed James Rodriguez and his teammates in the defense behind him.

Soon, everyone in Southampton knew that Ibrahimovic decided to expand his range of activities and retreat to receive the ball.

Now it seems that both teams are playing with a single defensive midfielder, one is Krychowiak and the other is Toni Kroos.

But the tactics of the two teams are completely different.

It is difficult for Atletico Madrid to adopt the forward retreat support route, because as soon as Diego Costa retreats, Southampton's double central defenders can follow one of them.

In fact, Varane often followed Diego Costa's retreat and pressed forward.

This makes it difficult for Diego Costa to make any progress.

But Southampton is different.

Ibrahimovic retreated and Suarez immediately moved forward.

And the two of them have a tacit understanding.

Just like this time, Ibrahimovic saw an opportunity to advance effectively in the backcourt and immediately retreated and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

His route was towards the left, trying to avoid Krychowiak's defense.

So, Suarez was smart enough to immediately move up to become a center forward, and his position was right at the intersection of the opponent's two central defenders' defense zone and the defensive midfielder.

This gave Atletico Madrid players a headache. What should they do?

With Suarez's personal ability, one on one, plus Sanchez who can come from the right at any time, two on two, Atletico Madrid is definitely at a disadvantage, no doubt about it!

So, in the end, Atletico Madrid made a prompt decision. Krychowiak went to watch Ibrahimovic, and the two central defenders did not dare to move. They maintained a compact formation with Felipe and always paid attention to the offensive direction of the Saints.

After the ball was passed back and forth in the backcourt, seeing that there was no chance, it was passed back to goalkeeper Neuer.

Neuer looked up and saw Ibrahimovic retreating and raising his hand to ask for the ball.

So, the German goalkeeper kicked the ball forward without any hesitation.

This seems more like a solution out of nowhere.

But the problem is, when the ball reaches the frontcourt, the situation is different!