Chapter 486: Chapter 485: The Counterattack Only Needs Nine Minutes
Zivkovic charged at Ronaldo, who dodged the tackle with a "fried meatball" move, but Zivkovic tripped him by the calf, and he fell to the ground.
The referee was just about to blow the whistle when Guardiola rushed over, pushed the football forward with one step, and then crossed it with a kick.
Drogba leaped high!
Bang!
The football once again drilled into the goal.
"GOAL! Drogba scores with a header!"
"Beautiful team play!"
"Two-nil! Sporting Lisbon has evened the score!"
"It’s hard to imagine, after so many back and forth attacks in the first half and numerous threats, it was very difficult to score. But with the entrance of Deng Kai, scoring seemed to have become much simpler!"
"Guardiola’s timely move forward was perfect, Deng Kai blocked Ballack, leaving Guardiola completely open. Moreover, after he moved up, Deng Kai filled in his position, making sure they were not left vulnerable to a counter-attack if the offense failed."
"Ronaldo’s ball control and dribbling are really good, even when facing direct, up-close defense, he can still flick the ball away with a ’fried meatball’."
"Deng Kai is negotiating with the referee, he believes Zivkovic should have been booked, Ronaldo’s position was even close to the penalty area."
"The referee is also explaining to Deng Kai, who seems to accept the official’s standard of judgment."
"The referee sends Deng Kai away with a smile, it’s clear that Deng Kai’s inquiry put some pressure on him."
"This is the negotiating ability of a team leader, which is also very important on the football field."
After the restart, Bayer Leverkusen’s players clearly hoped to make a breakthrough on the offensive end.
They were supposed to secure an easy victory.
But now, they had to play with all their spirit.
Did they really think their offense wasn’t sharp enough?
In the 50th minute, Leverkusen’s engine, Ze Roberto, initiated an attack down the left.
However, under the pressure from Deng Kai, Barzagli successfully intercepted Ze Roberto.
Ze Roberto instantly counter-pressured.
This was also one of Leverkusen’s strengths.
In the first leg of the match, their immediate counter-pressuring once disoriented Sporting Lisbon’s defense.
Ronaldo was one of the rare players in this team who could handle such counter-pressuring, but he seldom dropped back to defend.
But now it was different.
Barzagli flicked the football to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai reached out with his right foot to control the ball.
Ze Roberto took a long stride towards him, knowing that Deng Kai liked to handle the ball without stopping it, he anticipated that Deng Kai would push the ball forward without stopping it, so he took half a step early and flew in with his leg raised.
Almost, it was like making a very large lunge.
But as Deng Kai’s foot cushioned the football upon contact with the ground, the ball seemed to stick to the instep of his foot, motionless.
Time seemed to stop at that moment.
Ze Roberto took the lunge, but the football remained on Deng Kai’s foot.
Bang!
Deng Kai flicked his foot, and the football rolled under Ze Roberto’s legs, moving forward.
Ze Roberto could only watch as Deng Kai and the football moved away.
Deng Kai used a perfect touch to deliberately slow down, predicting Ze Roberto’s anticipation.
In an instant, the field, which originally had no opportunities, presented numerous ones.
Deng Kai advanced with the ball down the right, with four potential passing options ahead of him.
And Leverkusen had to have a player leave their original position to help defend against Deng Kai.
Otherwise, Deng Kai could keep taking the ball up to just outside the penalty area.
Bang!
Leverkusen’s left-back Prasente abandoned Ronaldo and rushed toward Deng Kai.
How Deng Kai would pass the ball had become an easy question.
Deng Kai lofted a pass to Ronaldo.
After receiving the ball, Ronaldo took a step to cut inside to the left, leaving him the option to pass or shoot.
Drogba, Kaka, and Cristiano Ronaldo all took the opportunity to burst into the penalty area, looking for empty spaces.
Thump!
Ronaldinho made a diagonal pass.
Drogba suddenly dashed towards the right front of the penalty area during his run forward, while Ronaldo charged from the left towards the center, and Kaka moved from the center towards the left. The movement inside the penalty area was incredibly fluid.
It completely confused the Bayer Leverkusen defenders.
Drogba received Ronaldinho’s pass on the right side of the small penalty area and took a low-angle shot with his right foot in stride.
Even if it didn’t go in, it would create a chance for Ronaldo to follow up with a shot.
But the problem was...
Whoosh!
The football slipped between the goalkeeper and the near post, successfully finding the back of the net.
"GOAL! Drogba! It’s Drogba again!"
"Within three minutes, Drogba has bagged a brace!"
"That was a beautiful tight-angle shot!"
"Perhaps Drogba never thought he would score; as long as the attack was completed, it would have been a good one!"
"Besides Drogba, Ronaldo and Kaka were also in threatening areas, ready to pose a threat on goal."
"Deng Kai has orchestrated a goal for the third consecutive time. His one-on-one play against key player Ze Roberto is definitely one of the important reasons for this goal!"
"Three to zero! Sporting Lisbon has turned around the aggregate score against Bayer Leverkusen!"
"Now they are the team with one foot in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals!"
"The storm of youth from Lisbon seems to be overpowering the storm of youth in the Bundesliga!"
"Deng Kai has perfectly demonstrated what the core of the team should do!"
"Assisting teammates with passes, pulling defenders out of position to create space, negotiating with the main referee, one-on-one dominance over the opposing key player! Apart from scoring and providing assists, Deng Kai has done almost everything else that’s required of him on the pitch!"
"In fact, as he achieved all these, the goals and assists naturally followed."
"The Sporting Lisbon players battled for one hundred and thirty minutes without a single goal, but they waited for the return of Deng Kai!"
"And in nine minutes, Deng Kai helped the team score three goals, destroying all the efforts Bayer Leverkusen had made in the past one hundred and thirty minutes!"
"Charge, Sporting Lisbon!"
The camera focused on the face of Ze Roberto.
He inevitably began to show signs of anxiety.
Perhaps the only good news for Bayer Leverkusen now is that they are playing away.
As long as they can score another goal, they can overtake Sporting Lisbon.
They need just one goal!
In the fifty-fourth minute, Bayer Leverkusen’s relentless pressing paid off.
Neuville pressed Barzagli, who made a light back pass to Reina.
The swift Neuville even managed to get to the football before Reina, but fortunately, the football was blocked by Reina’s body.
Vidic then managed to clear the danger.
Sporting Lisbon had a narrow escape.
Their attacking momentum was also significantly reduced because of this.
Deng Kai signaled to Kaka to also drop back to help control the ball and slow down the pace of the game.
The sixty-sixth minute.
Shi Naide sent in a cross from the flank, which Vidic headed clear.
Pepe took control of the second ball and passed it to Kaka.
Kaka chested the ball and immediately accelerated, initiating a counterattack.
Ahead were Ronaldo and Drogba, with Deng Kai and Ronaldinho on the side... Sporting Lisbon’s four arrows were released at once!
Their movements from a bird’s-eye view looked simply perfect.
Ronaldo was furthest forward on the left.
Drogba was next in the center.
Ronaldinho was to the right, slightly behind Drogba, forming a trident formation.
Kaka was on the left flank, horizontally a bit behind Ronaldinho.
