Chapter 238 AC Milan in Desperation

"I really didn't meet him."

Tang Zheng tried his best to explain to the referee that he just learned from coach Klopp that if he gets a yellow card in this game, he will be suspended for the next Champions League match.

He is well aware of his importance to the team, so he tries to control his emotions as much as possible.

I remember that when I played for River Plate, in the first round of the 2008 Copa Libertadores quarter-finals against Fluminense, I got the third yellow card of the Copa Libertadores this season, thus missing the crucial second round contest, resulting in 0 for River Plate as a guest. : 1 lost to Fluminense and was eliminated with few away goals.

Is this going to happen again?

The referee Damian Skomina was very sure of his penalty. While taking out a pen from his chest pocket to record Tang Zheng's number on the yellow card, he stated the basis of his penalty: "Your right elbow really hit the yellow card. In the head of the opposing player, I'm sure."

"It was my natural movement to keep my body balanced. I really didn't hit it. If you don't believe me, you can watch the replay in slow motion." Tang Zheng pointed to the huge LCD screen at the Westphalon Stadium.

Hearing this, the referee Damian Skomina's patience was exhausted, and his face sank: "I'll tell you the last time, I see it very clearly!"

Captain Kyle realized that Tang Zheng might be getting emotional, he quickly pushed Tang Zheng away, and faced the referee, showing the captain's armband on his left arm, putting pressure on the referee.

Although the penalty made by the referee cannot be reversed, at least it can make him relatively cautious in the penalty of the next game.

At this time, the on-site director also gave a slow-motion playback.

Through the analysis of multiple shots, Tang Zheng did make a swinging movement with his right elbow, but whether he hit Ibrahimovic or not, the shot did not explain clearly.

Tang Zheng's innocence was not proven until the sixth shot cut.

Tang Zheng jumped higher than Ibrahimovic, he leaped high and pushed the ball out, what hit Ibrahimovic's head was not his elbow, but his shoulder.

It's possible that the referee couldn't see clearly what happened in the blink of an eye, and he wasn't in a good position.

German Sky commentator Marcel Leif suddenly realized the importance of this yellow card: "Don has received two yellow cards in the past seven Champions League games. This yellow card is his third yellow card in the Champions League this season. If Dortmund advance to the quarter-finals, he will miss the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals."

"The referee's penalty is really open to question. This yellow card will make Tang Zheng miss Dortmund's next Champions League match. Of course, the prerequisite is that Dortmund can stabilize the current situation, win the final game, and advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League."

Central 5 commentator He Wei also holds his own views on the referee's penalty.

"Don's importance to Dortmund needless to say. I think once Dortmund advances to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, they will be in trouble, because it is not easy for a team to enter the quarter-finals." British Sky commentator Andy Gray said.

Borussia Dortmund coach Klopp was very emotional standing on the sidelines, because no one knew Tang Zheng's importance to the team better than him.

Now the team leads by one goal at home, and the total score has expanded to two goals. It is only a matter of time before they advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.

There are no underdogs in the Champions League, no matter which opponent is drawn, the opponents in the quarter-finals will be difficult to deal with. If they lose Tang Zheng again, it will be a disaster!

Fortunately, assistant coach Zelico Buvac did not stand in front of the coaching bench in a daze. He and fitness coach Oliver Bartlett forced Klopp back to his coaching bench, and at the same time apologized to the fourth official.

The on-site broadcaster keenly captured this shot and played it in a subsequent dead ball opportunity.

Marcel Leff shook his head and said: "Jurgen Klopp is a character coach,

When Tang Wuwu received a yellow card, he was a little emotional, but he was a little impulsive. If it weren't for the assistant coach's quick response, not only Tang would be absent in the Champions League quarter-finals, but the head coach might also be added. "

Tang Zheng, who received a yellow card, lost control of his emotions. In the next assist defense against Ibrahimovic, he dribbled the ball and shoveled him out of the sideline.

Now the AC Milan players can quit. Tang Zheng's defensive action is very big, and he has a yellow card on his back. Most of the AC Milan players have very rich game experience.

How could such an opportunity be missed?

They complained emotionally, hoping that the referee would give Tang Zheng his second yellow card in this match.

Tang Zheng is very important to Dortmund, as an enemy he knows it best.

If Tang Zheng is sent off, then AC Milan has a great chance to reverse the defeat in the away game, and thus get the chance to advance to the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League!

But the referee didn't intend to give a card, and didn't even give a warning, indicating that this was an ordinary confrontation.

Captain Kyle realized that Tang Zheng's emotions seemed a bit excessive, he turned around and grabbed Tang Zheng's elbow, and quickly said: "Tang, don't be impulsive, be calm! You are not like this usually."

In fact, the referee regretted it when he blew the whistle just now, so he nodded slightly to express his understanding.

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Head coach Klopp came to the sidelines, wanting to remind Tang Zheng to keep his mind clear, but the captain Kyle did the job, and he happily returned to the coaching bench to take the nutrition handed over by physical coach Oliver Bartlett. Drink, take a sip.

In the past half an hour, he had consumed a lot of physical energy, and now he should add some nutrition.

Although Tang Zheng quickly calmed down, the AC Milan players still hoped to find a breakthrough from him, so as to get a chance to equalize.

It's just that the result made them very disappointed. Tang Zheng's defensive actions were fast, accurate, and ruthless, and he didn't give the AC Milan players a chance.

Even Dortmund almost got a chance to counterattack quickly because of Tang Zheng's excellent defense.

If it wasn't for Kuba's misjudgment of the game situation, the chances of passing the ball out of Dortmund as soon as possible would be better.

The game entered a stalemate again, with both sides gathering in the middle, and no one could do anything to the other.

The lagging AC Milan hopes to score an equalizer as soon as possible, thus retaining hope of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

As a result, when the referee Damian Skomina blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the score remained at 1:0.

Dortmund leads AC Milan.

Meanwhile, the Allianz Arena in Munich.

The scoreboard shows 4:0, Bayern Munich leads the visiting Basel by four goals at home, and the promotion to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season is already a certainty, and there will be basically no surprises.

On the other hand, for Dortmund, there was still some suspense in the second half.

With 45 minutes left in the second half, AC Milan is a very resilient team, and no one dares to guarantee that they will not score two consecutive goals in the remaining 45 minutes.

Therefore, Klopp talked about the most problems during the half-time break is to strengthen the oppression of AC Milan players, reduce their pass success rate, and at the same time switch from defense to offense, the first thing to do is to hand over the football to Tang Zheng, and then the second. It's Gundogan.

In the end, Klopp spoke with Tang Zheng alone.

"Tang, I hope you don't have too much burden on your heart. The knockout round of the Champions League consists of two rounds of home and away games, and the precondition for your accumulative yellow card suspension is that we will advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League." Klopp patted Tang Zheng on the shoulder and said. : "Trust your teammates, they are all great!"

"I know that." Tang Zheng nodded resolutely, and then gave Klopp a hug: "It must be our Dortmund that advances to the quarter-finals!"

"That's right!"

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again, and neither side made adjustments to the employment in the first half.

It seems that both Klopp and Allegri choose to trust the players on the field and make relevant changes when the situation develops.

Under the active pressure of Dortmund players, AC Milan's offensive pass success rate has been declining, and there is no way to organize an effective offense.

Emmanuelsen performed well during Ajax, but he didn't have many opportunities to play in AC Milan, so it is very difficult to expect him to play the role of veteran Seedorf in this relatively difficult game.

In the absence of a solution, Allegri chose to make substitution adjustments.

Pato, who is experienced in the game, replaced the gradually lost Shalawi, maintaining the offensive speed on the wing while increasing his scoring ability in the frontcourt.

Compared with Shalawi, Pato's speed and shooting ability are stronger.

It’s just that what Allegri didn’t expect was that Dortmund didn’t give AC Milan’s offensive players too much time to think about the ball. Whether it was Emmanuelsen or Robinho, their passes were under Dortmund’s active running. Passing the ball is very difficult, especially entering the attacking 30-meter zone.

Ibrahimovic is like a bare commander, stuck in the deadly area of ​​Dortmund, but Ibrahimovic, who has no football under his feet, is equivalent to a toothless tiger, unable to pose any threat at all.

The atmosphere of the UEFA Champions League match at the Westfalen Stadium is still frenetic. While the home team Dortmund is reducing the pass success rate of the visiting team, the number of attacks itself is also increasing.

It is disappointing that the offensive success rate has not come up for a long time.

Klopp is thinking, should he make adjustments to the offensive right?

Kuba's game state has declined significantly, perhaps using Royce is a better choice.

※※※

In the 60th minute, Royce replaced Kuba.

AC Milan also made the second substitution adjustment of the game. Allegri stood next to the fourth official and kept telling K. Boateng.

With K Boateng playing, AC Milan's 4312 formation has become a 433 formation.

Pato and Robinho played one left and one right, and K Boateng, who replaced Emmanuelsen, played a midfielder position.

For Allegri's adjustment, the Italian national TV commentator was not surprised, but he was a little worried: "With half an hour left in the game, is Massimiliano Allegri's change too early?" The midfielder itself is not dominant, and now Emmanuelsen is replaced, can Nocerino and Van Bommel alone withstand Dortmund's offensive at home?"

A series of questions made the AC Milan fans in front of the TV tremble with fear.

In fact, his fears were well founded.

And Dortmund also verified his point of view in a subsequent attack.

Tang Zheng and Gundogan switched positions, and K Boateng's position was higher than Emmanuelsen's, so that his position with Nocerino and Van Bommel was longer.

Van Bommel is old, and now he is playing football relying on his game experience, and his scope of activities is very small, which means that all the work of sweeping around is handed over to Nocerino.

But will he be able to do the job of sweeping around?

The answer is of course no.

It is true that most of Dortmund's players are young, but their tactical literacy is very high, and their skills are not weak. AC Milan, which is relying on its laurels, has no chance to breathe after Royce plays.

Not to mention strengthening the offense and striving for an equalizer.

Allegri stood and walked back and forth in the coaching area of ​​the away team, looking very nervous.

Dortmund coach Klopp is not much better, and this period of time is quite critical.

If the score is accidentally equalized by AC Milan, the game will be out of control.

Momentum is invisible and intangible, but it has a vital impact on the game.

A few minutes after the game, the on-site director took advantage of the relatively flat scene and suddenly switched the camera. Klopp said what Sven Bender was saying, like a last reminder before going on the field.

Many commentators have speculated on the upcoming adjustments Dortmund will make.

Sven Bender is a defensive midfielder with almost no role on the offensive end, so his playing means that Klopp is to strengthen the team's defense.

Who should I replace?

Is it to replace the offensive player, or to adjust the position?

Whoever is substituted will define the tone for the rest of Dortmund's games.

In the end, Tang Zheng's shot from the back hit the blocked Van Bommel and popped out of the baseline, a dead ball occurred, the referee signaled for a substitution on the sidelines, and the suspense was revealed.

Sven Bender replaces Gundogan.

This... is to strengthen the attack!

Sven Bender's defensive ability and coverage area are stronger than Gundogan's, and his playing is undoubtedly equivalent to liberating Tang Zheng.

In fact, Allegri prefers that Sven Bender replace Gotze or Lewandowski, so that he can signal the team to increase their offensive efforts.

Now, I can only bite the bullet and take great risks.

The game developed according to the adjustments on paper, and Sven Bender's playing greatly liberated Tang Zheng, allowing him to spend more time participating in the offense.

Van Bommel and Nocerino couldn't handle it at all, and K Boateng, who played the midfielder, had to come back to assist in the defense in the middle.

In this way, the game came to seventy-five minutes

Dortmund played very aggressively, and the Dortmund fans at the Westfalun Stadium exploded with greater energy, and the cheers were louder and louder.

The score is still fixed at 1:0, with Dortmund leading.

AC Milan wants to reverse Dortmund and advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The first thing they need to do is to ensure that they score two goals in a row without conceding a goal.

Only in this way can the total score be equalized and enter overtime.

However, time is running out, and there is not much time left for AC Milan.

With one last card left in Allegri's hands, he hesitated whether to adjust his defense or increase his offense.

Because now AC Milan is in a desperate situation!