Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

The home team's locker room.

"Beckham and Veron are a huge problem!"

"We must find a way to deal with them."

Trigra is discussing targeted tactics with Duncan.

Maxa was communicating with the players about emotional matters.

The two Manchester United players with "Bay" in their names performed exceptionally well today!

"Manchester United know our ability to close the gap, and they can't continue their relentless attack in the second half," Deng Kai analyzed. "Ferguson will ask Veron and Scholes to commit more to defense."

"Beckham and Giggs will also move back to their respective positions."

"As a result, Veron's passing game completely lost its effectiveness."

"So we only have one real problem, and that's Beckham."

"Beckham's crosses are unbeatable, but his dribbling skills are simple and he lacks the ability to beat one-on-one opponents, making it difficult for him to exert his power when there are persistent defenders sticking to him."

At this point, Triguera understood: "Evra, go warm up, you'll come on in the second half."

"Guardiola, you need to take a break for a while now."

Guardiola nodded, indicating his understanding and support.

He accepted being substituted.

Because, from the perspective of limiting Beckham, Evra is far more suitable than him.

Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

The match between Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon has resumed.

Everyone noticed Sporting Lisbon's substitutions.

"Evra was brought in by Sporting Lisbon from a lower-league French team this season. He doesn't have much talent and so far he's been more of a versatile substitute for Sporting Lisbon."

"He replaced Guardiola as a defensive midfielder, probably hoping to use his running ability and speed to limit Beckham."

"However, judging from Manchester United's positioning, Beckham won't be too far forward in the second half. Sporting Lisbon's adjustments against Beckham are likely to fail."

Forty-ninth minute.

People underestimated Evra's role.

While Evra's defense is indeed not strong, his relentless running caused Manchester United considerable trouble.

Especially when Veron is unable to directly connect with the forwards.

Manchester United does not allow long balls from the backfield to the center forward when they have the initiative.

They primarily attack down the flanks, preferring to use Giggs and Beckham on the wings to advance the ball and create threats.

In the first half, Manchester United's attacking patterns were basically Veron looking for Giggs and Beckham on the left and right flanks of the attacking third.

The latter two then create opportunities for the forwards.

But when Giggs and Beckham are both deep in the backfield, Veron has to wait for them to make runs if he wants to pass the ball to them.

This time doesn't seem long, just one, two, or three seconds.

But those one, two, or three seconds greatly increased the difficulty for Veron in controlling the ball.

beep!

The referee blew his whistle, pointed at Veron, and showed him a yellow card.

Veron was dispossessed by Evra in the attacking third while waiting for Beckham to make a run.

Losing the ball in that position was dangerous, and Veron immediately fouled Evra.

Fifty minutes and eight seconds.

Matthäus, Evra, and Duncan surrounded Veron.

Veron's pass to Scholes was intercepted by Evra.

Evra passed the ball to Duncan.

Deng Kai made a quick pass and shot, sending the ball to the frontcourt.

Drogba charged into the penalty area, but Barthez, a step ahead, cleared the ball first, punching it out of the penalty area.

Sporting Lisbon created several dangerous opportunities in succession.

This put the Manchester United players on edge.

Sixtieth minute.

Deng Kai passed the ball back to Maicon, while pointing forward, indicating that Maicon should try to make a run forward.

Maicon passed the ball back to Matthäus, who then made a forward run.

Matthäus passes the ball across to Duncan.

Deng Kai chipped the ball over Veron and delivered it to Ronaldinho on the right.

Ronaldinho's feint to the right failed to shake off Phil, but he immediately passed the ball across to the left.

Maicon, playing as a makeshift center-back, flew directly to the right flank.

boom!

Phil turned and tackled Maicon, bringing him down and earning a yellow card for a one-on-two defense.

Sporting Lisbon were awarded a free kick from a relatively far position.

But Maicon fell to the ground, clutching his ankle.

"The Maicon plug looks beautiful!"

"Foul! Phil Neville gets a yellow card."

"Oh! Maicon seems to be injured. This is bad news. He had just found a way to help the team, and his runs forward were very dangerous."

"We can see Wu Xudong warming up."

"Sporting Lisbon is making a substitution. Domestic fans should be excited right now. Although it's a bit unfair to Maicon to say this, Wu Xudong is about to become the first Chinese player to play in the Champions League semi-final."

"This is a historic moment!"

"Alright! Sporting Lisbon makes a substitution, Wu Xudong replaces the injured Maicon. Wait, Ibrahimovic is coming on too, so early?"

"It's not Drogba! Ibrahimovic didn't replace Drogba, Matthäus came off. Is Sporting Lisbon... switching to a 4-4-2 formation?"

He Wei frowned: "It seems Sporting Lisbon has surrendered. Ibrahimovic and Drogba as the two center forwards, Ronaldo, Kaká, Deng Kai, and Ronaldinho as the midfielders. Evra, Fonte, Vidic, and Wu Xudong as the four defenders."

"It was a safe choice; they didn't want Manchester United to score again. I think their decision was correct. Since they already had no chance of winning, they didn't want to lose too badly."

"Otherwise, if the players' flaws are exposed one by one, their market value will drop significantly, which would be bad."

Just as He Wei finished speaking, Sporting Lisbon attempted a direct free kick from Deng Kai.

But the distance was too far, and the football couldn't be controlled, flying into the stands.

Sporting Lisbon's subsequent defensive retreat was indeed a 4-4-2 formation.

He Wei looked at Huang Jianxiang with a smug expression.

It means, "Look how awesome I am!"

Huang Jianxiang shook his head.

Naive.

You know nothing about Sporting Lisbon!

Defense?

This team never plays defense when they are behind.

On the field, the pace of the game slowed down for both sides.

Sporting Lisbon used a long-circle tactic to control the ball for extended periods, but failed to find opportunities on either side, returning the ball after each touch.

Seventy-seventh minute.

Ronaldinho passed back to Duncan, Duncan passed to Evra, Evra passed to Fonte, and Fonte passed to Duncan again.

boom!

Deng Kai suddenly fired a shot!

The ball was passed long to the right flank of the attacking third.

But strangely, after the pass back, Ronaldinho just kept circling around in midfield. Who should he pass the ball to?

Five seconds later, Ronaldinho?

"Wu Xudong! Wu Xudong and Xiao Luo made a crossover! He's accelerating!"

"Wow, Wu Xudong, Sporting Lisbon's substitute right-back, is incredibly fast!"

"Ronaldinho completely disrupted Giggs and Scholes, creating space for Wu Xudong to receive the ball."

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.