Chapter 345: Chapter 344: The Main Referee’s Face Looks Very Ugly
Pepe made an impact as soon as he came onto the field, successfully clearing Barcelona’s corner with a header.
In the following minutes, Barcelona applied the tactics from their last game, attempting to pierce through Sporting Lisbon’s "base" directly down the middle.
But with Matthaus and Pepe as sweepers, their coverage and interceptions were nearly flawless. With their efforts combined, there was no way to penetrate through the middle.
And a loss of possession in the middle was extremely dangerous for Barcelona.
Seventeenth minute.
Pepe intercepted Guardiola’s through pass in the backfield.
Cruyff ran past him, and once he got the ball, he would be on a breakaway.
This was a very risky move to intercept, and only Pepe would dare to do it.
Had it been Feng Te before, he would’ve certainly retreated conservatively and then faced Cruyff 1v1 with the ball in front of him.
Cruyff could easily bypass Feng Te with more than ten different methods and score.
But Pepe didn’t even give Cruyff the chance to take control of the ball.
Bang!
After intercepting, Pepe passed the football to Matthaus.
Matthaus quickly transitioned play to Viana, completing the defensive to offensive shift.
Xavi held his position, watching Viana closely, because if Viana got past him, Sporting Lisbon’s counterattack would fully roll out.
Bang!
Viana didn’t try to get past Xavi. Although he was capable of doing it, his deeper position meant that pushing forward would waste time and affect the efficiency of the counterattack.
Viana sent a long pass to the right wing.
Quaresma received the ball on the right and penetrated the offensive third.
Facing the belated Barcelona left-back Barjuan, Quaresma decisively cut inside.
Barjuan’s turning speed was definitely not as fast as Quaresma’s sprint. When he failed to intercept the ball with his leg, it was a clear sign he’d been beaten.
And sure enough, once Barjuan turned around, he couldn’t even see Quaresma’s taillights.
Within the penalty area, Drogba suddenly accelerated, raising his hand towards Quaresma to call for the ball as he made his way forward.
Barcelona’s left center-back Abelardo, who was originally going to cover Quaresma, was influenced by Drogba’s movement, ended up being awkwardly caught in between, wanting to move forward and to the left at the same time.
Bang!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Quaresma skillfully pulled off a nutmeg on Abelardo, completing a spectacular dribble past the player.
Since the match had just started, Guardiola still had plenty of energy. He chased after Quaresma and finally caught up.
Quaresma lifted his right foot, preparing to shoot with the outside of his boot.
Guardiola leapt forward with an extended foot, attempting a Lee Xiaolong-style block—It would’ve been impressive... if he had succeeded.
"Feint! Quaresma’s fake shot completely shook off Guardiola, sending him off screen! Guardiola fell out of bounds! He became the perfect backdrop for Quaresma’s magnificent triple bypass!"
"Quaresma faces the goal, and although the angle is tight, don’t forget that he is Sporting Lisbon’s ’Outside of the Boot King’! His technical skill with the outside of the boot is second only to Deng Kai, making his shots extremely threatening!"
Bang!
Quaresma started his shot with the right foot at the point where he’d normally strike for an outside of the boot shot, but at the last moment, he poked the ground with his toe, forcibly altering the direction of the force to turn it into a lob pass.
Near the small penalty area, Reina, to guard against Quaresma’s tight-angle shot, positioned himself forward.
This lob pass sailed right over his defensive area to the far post.
Fortunately for Barcelona, Deboer was there.
"Deng Kai made a forward run into the penalty area, always exceptional with his positioning, giving Quaresma a better option than a tight-angle shot."
"Oh, what a pity, Deboer has marked Deng Kai, not letting him get ahead."
"During their last encounter, Deboer was overwhelmed by Ronaldo’s late run, leading to a conceded goal. But Ronaldo is 183cm tall, while Deboer is 179cm, and Ronaldo has strong physical abilities, so it’s understandable that Deboer couldn’t hold off Deng Kai."
"However, Deng Kai is only 171cm tall, and as a shorter center-back, Deboer shouldn’t have any problem holding off Deng Kai."
Just as the commentator finished speaking.
Suddenly, Deng Kai braked, as if re-evaluating the trajectory of the ball.
Deboer immediately stopped and stuck close to Deng Kai.
Defense always involves two choices, one is to follow the ball, and the other is to follow the man.
This requires a decision.
If you’re confident you can take the opponent’s player and at the same time there are no other opposing players in your defense area, then you stick with the man.
As long as the opponent doesn’t receive the ball, there won’t be a threat.
After all, in the area close to the goal, even touching the football could result in an own goal; not touching the ball is the best option.
Of course, if there are many opposing players in the penalty area, then you need to prioritize dealing with the football instead—you can’t say that just taking out the one person you’re defending is enough.
At this moment, in the large penalty area of Barcelona, Drogba was offside, Ronaldo had not yet entered, and there was only Deng Kai in the middle. Deboer just had to take Deng Kai, he didn’t need to judge the falling point of the ball himself.
After Deboer and Deng Kai had positioned themselves, Deboer looked up and realized that they were still more than a meter away from the landing spot.
Perfect!
Deboer was delighted in his heart.
Under his close marking, Deng Kai hadn’t even reached the landing spot, let alone creating a threat.
"I’ve got him blocked!" Deboer even turned his head to signal to Rezeg, the right-back grappling with Ronaldo at the far post, to let him know that if he couldn’t keep up with Ronaldo, don’t follow him; just head to the far post to deal with the ball.
Rezeg immediately abandoned Ronaldo and dashed towards the end line, preparing to clear the ball with a strong kick.
However, at this instant, Deng Kai pushed off with his right foot, stopping abruptly before suddenly leaping forward.
With Deboer pulling on him, there was no way he could jump up.
But it didn’t matter. Deng Kai fell forward, using the strength of his feet, performing a diving header—a "Van Persie Fish Jump."
Deng Kai’s braking moment caused him to be late to the spot.
The football had passed the optimal shooting area, nearly reaching the ground.
But Deng Kai’s ground-skimming dive reached the ball that was close to the ground.
Bang!
At that moment, the "German Bomber" and "Van Persie Fish Jump" both came into play.
Deng Kai’s heading ability received a massive boost.
Even though the angle was tricky and the position extremely tight.
But with a slight adjustment in his neck, Deng Kai still managed to perfectly head the football into Barcelona’s net!
The Camp Nou fell silent in an instant.
Deboer, looking at Deng Kai on the ground and the ball inside the net, was still a bit stunned.
This... This kind of lying-down header that seemed to miss could still score?
That’s absurd.
This guy was as slippery as an eel, too tricky!
"GOAL!!!"
"Deng Kai! Deng Kai helps Sporting Lisbon take the lead!"
"One to zero! Sporting Lisbon leads with a total score of four to three against Barça, one foot stepping into the final of the Europa League!"
"Can they truly do it?"
"That was a beautiful header! Deng Kai was so persistent! He was completely marked by Deboer, but he did not give up, he scored in his own way! He’s simply unstoppable!"
After seeing the football hit the net, Deng Kai immediately got up and rushed towards the corner area.
He raised his arms high, ready to make his celebratory gesture, but was intercepted by Ronaldo who charged over and tackled him to the ground.
"Fuck!" Deng Kai knew he was done for.
As expected.
The next moment, Drogba, Viana, Quaresma, and other players rushed up in succession.
They pressed Deng Kai to the bottom.
The Sporting Lisbon fans went wild with celebration on the green turf of Camp Nou.
The faces of the Barcelona supporters grew even more disgruntled.
However, oddly enough, Gandour, the main referee officiating the game, also had a very unpleasant look on his face.
