Chapter 786: The ball is there!

Watching the ball flying from the backcourt getting closer and closer, Ibrahimovic was judging where the ball would land while also paying attention to the movements around him.

Krychowiak came, but the best position was already taken by Ibrahimovic, so he had to stand aside.

WHAT ELSE?

Oh, teammate James Rodriguez is coming up!

What a smart guy! He comes here at this time just in time to help me.

Maybe, if I snatch the ball and turn back to the penalty area, I may still have time!

On the left side, Hazard tried to move away as much as possible, and it seemed that he was also waiting for an opportunity.

The key is whether the ball can be headed down.

In fact, after Ibrahimovic got stuck in position, it was difficult for Krychowiak to shake him.

The Swedish center forward was like a majestic mountain, and Krychowiak could only look up and sigh.

"Neuer made a long pass to the front court and Ibrahimovic got the first point..."

The Swedish center forward headed the ball to the left and it landed right in front of James Rodriguez.

The Colombian midfielder ran over quickly, stopped with his left foot, and took control of the ball.

With a glance out of the corner of my eye, I found that the Swedish center had quickly turned around and rushed into the penalty area.

At this moment, James Rodriguez knew that Ibrahimovic had to find a solution on his own.

That's right. The biggest danger for the Swedish center is in the penalty area. It's already quite difficult for him to go out of the penalty area to grab the first point, not to mention that everyone is consuming so much energy now and he is so big, so...

After glancing at Ibrahimovic, James Rodriguez noticed Hazard on the left.

The Belgian was pointing in front of him, signaling him to pass the ball behind Juanfran!

Good opportunity!

Just at this time Koke was defending step by step. After James Rodriguez stopped with his left foot, he adjusted slightly and rubbed the ball with his left foot.

The ball immediately flew up from the grass, gradually climbed over Juanfran's head, and fell to the left side of the court.

Hazard understood what he meant and rushed forward quickly.

"A beautiful lob pass from James Rodriguez!"

"Atletico Madrid also returned to defense quickly, Griezmann and Juanfran are back!"

There is no way to do this. Hazard's absolute speed is not fast. He is just short and flexible, with fine footwork, fast movement frequency and excellent foot feel, so he basically never loses the ball when dribbling.

If it was the faster Sturridge who was in the spot just now, he would have probably created more distance and passed the ball directly.

But there is no way, this is Hazard's characteristic.

So, as soon as the Belgian received the ball, Juanfran and Griezmann chased after him, trying to block him on the left side of the penalty area.

Otamendi, who was also running into the penalty area, was always paying attention to the movements on this side and was ready to provide support at any time.

It seems like there is no chance!

After all, it’s one against three, who dares to say that they are sure?

But who is Hazard?

Bielsa gave him the power to dribble the ball in the frontcourt because he believed in Hazard's dribbling ability!

Even this season, Hazard's dribbling has broken the deadlock for Southampton many times.

Therefore, the teammates in the penalty area are also waiting for Hazard to bring the ball out!

Of course, James Rodriguez was also running into open space to receive the ball.

As soon as Hazard stopped the ball, Juanfran, who was returning to defense, had already surpassed him. Griezmann was only half a body length behind him. As long as he stopped, the double-team would be successful.

But Hazard was skilled and bold. He suddenly slowed down, dribbled the ball, and dribbled diagonally into the penalty area. Juanfran went a little too far this time, and the Belgian used his body to block Griezmann who was chasing back, and barely got the ball out from the gap between the two people.

The physical training that Hazard had been doing over the past period of time showed results. At least when he was carrying Griezmann, his body did not lose balance and the frequency of his feet was still as fast.

But Juanfran reacted quickly, stopped immediately, and pounced again.

Otamendi, who had already reached the right side of the penalty area, also rushed up immediately, and the two were about to form a double team again.

But Hazard reacted faster. With a sudden change of direction, he dribbled the ball around Otamendi's attempt to steal the ball, and then changed his original diagonal run into the penalty area to a run down the bottom line.

At the same time, he blocked Juanfran with his body!

Already in the penalty area at this time, Juanfran had to stop his body abruptly, because he knew that if he hit Hazard, there was a high probability that the cunning Belgian would fall to the ground and he would definitely get the penalty!

But as soon as he pulled it back, Hazard passed by!

"Beautiful! Hazard, very beautiful continuous dribbling, so wonderful!"

The entire Stadium of Light suddenly became boiling!

Even though Hazard was fighting alone throughout the entire game and did not have any eye-catching performance, he conquered all the fans at the scene and in front of the TV with just this one move!

But everyone was also worried, as it depended on how Hazard would handle the ball.

You know, Hazard has always been very good at dribbling, but his ability to handle the ball has been criticized. This is because after dribbling the ball, he always has some unreasonable ways of handling the ball, which either causes the team to miss opportunities, or he himself wastes the opportunity.

So, dribbling the ball beautifully is one thing, but how to handle it is another!

Hazard himself is very clear about it!

He received a virtual training system at Staplewood and trained for a full year. It is impossible to say that he did not gain anything from it.

So, the moment he dribbled past Otamendi and passed by Juanfran, he had already glanced at the goal.

Ibrahimovic, who had just retreated to grab the first point, only ran to the front of the penalty area at this time.

If I pass the ball to him, the distance is a bit far, and Miranda is there, so it might not be easy to pass the ball.

Later on...

Suarez!

Goalkeeper Courtois decisively chose to attack because he had no other choice!

As the Belgian goalkeeper, he knows Hazard's strength better than anyone else, so he attacks!

But just when he was halfway through his attack, he suddenly saw Hazard making a lob pass.

Courtois looked up and watched the ball fly over his head. He immediately stopped and turned around...

"Be careful behind!"

Courtois' reminder reached Felipe's ears in time, but when the Brazilian left-back just reacted, he saw Suarez had already moved before him.

Having missed the best opportunity, Felipe could only follow Suarez closely.

Even if we fail to get the ball, we must not let him threaten the goal, right?

But Suarez seemed to have guessed his thoughts long ago. He rushed to the bottom line on the right side of the goal, jumped high, and headed the flying ball.

The ball hit Suarez's head and was about to fly out of the baseline, but now it turned in another direction and flew back into the court.

But it didn't go straight to the goal, because Suarez had no angle to shoot!

"Good chance, Suarez heads the ball..."

The commentator on the scene didn't care about anything else. He jumped up from his seat and shouted at the top of his lungs.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

Courtois realized that Suarez was going to pass the ball, and rushed over with all his strength, his hands ready to go.

But he is fast, there are people who are faster than him!

Ibrahimovic rushed past the penalty spot and saw Suarez's header was about to fall back into the small penalty area. He didn't have time to think about it and just flew forward and dived to head the ball, rushing towards the incoming ball.

At this moment, the Swedish center no longer cared about anyone else, or even anything else in the world.

There is only the football in front of you!

The moment the ball hit his head, center forward Ibrahimovic knew, it happened!

Damn it!

Courtois was a beat too slow after all. His hand arrived, but it hit Ibrahimovic's head hard.

But the ball had already flown into the goal in a straight line!

The commentator on the scene excitedly shouted out an amazing goal cheer.

In the stands, almost all the fans stood up and exclaimed!

Who could have thought that this ball would go in!

“GREAT GOAL!!!”

"Great goal from Swedish striker Ibrahimovic, one to zero!"

“It’s wonderful, wonderful!”

"Southampton has been attacking for more than 70 minutes, and now they have finally broken through Atletico Madrid's goal!"

“So beautiful!”

In the penalty area, Ibrahimovic fell heavily on the grass. His head was hit by Courtois and it hurt a lot, but he still raised it up with force, took a look at the goal, and found the ball bouncing inside the goal. He immediately laughed, laughed out loud!

In order to grab the ball, Suarez rushed out of the court. As soon as he landed, he saw the ball go into the net. He immediately rushed into the court excitedly. Seeing Ibrahimovic still lying on the ground, he dived and pressed heavily on the Swedish center.

Then came Hazard from the left, followed by Sanchez, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos...

Finally, there are the big-name players Javi Martinez and Neuer…

"Oh my god, be careful, don't squash Ibrahimovic, please!"

The on-site commentator laughed excitedly.

Finally a goal, right?

"This goal by Southampton was amazing!"

"Ibrahimovic dropped back to head the ball and James Rodriguez cleverly flicked it to the left."

"Hazard's continuous breakthroughs on the left were very beautiful and crucial. He attracted Atletico Madrid's defensive players and then passed the ball to the back post. Suarez headed the ball back. Finally, Ibrahimovic made a diving header in front of the goal and it was a sure goal!"

“It’s wonderful!”

The moment Ibrahimovic scored, everyone in Atletico Madrid seemed to have lost all their strength.

They struggled for more than an hour, each of them exhausting the last bit of their strength to keep their goal.

But unexpectedly, they had tried their best, and even performed beyond their expectations, but they still lost the ball!

Not only the players were confused, but even Simeone, who was standing on the sidelines, was also confused.

He had the courage and determination to finish the game with Southampton within 90 minutes.

In fact, to some extent, he was mentally prepared to lose.

But when the goal was conceded, he still felt unacceptable and at a loss as to what to do.

He was unwilling to accept this, and none of them were willing to accept this!

After a season of hard work, the league title was lost at the last moment. Are we going to lose the Champions League title too?

Simone's eyes were red, he gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, his veins were bulging, and his whole body was trembling.

He would never accept his team losing miserably like this!

There is still time, more than ten minutes left, and we haven’t lost yet!

"Jordi!" Simeone turned around and shouted at the bench.

"Boss!" The short Dutchman Jordi Crasi immediately jumped up from his seat and rushed to Simeone.

"Hurry up and warm up, go up, and press forward. I want to score a goal!"

Crasi nodded heavily, "I understand, boss, but I don't need to warm up, I can go now!"

Simeone waved his hand heavily.

Krasi, who is good at both offense and defense, is known as the new Davis.

Davis is also good at both offense and defense. At his time, he was one of the most comprehensive players in the world.

So, Krassi has another nickname, Dutch Xavi!

Simeone attacked him at this time, obviously he was mad with anger and wanted to counterattack!

Crazy counterattack!