Chapter 1013 First Half
"FUCK!!" Clark couldn't help but cursed after seeing the ball thrown.
In fact, when his team was so compressed by Catalonia that they couldn't even make it past halftime, he became very anxious and worried, fearing that he would lose the ball!
And the facts prove that whatever you are afraid of will come true.
If you are afraid of losing the ball, you will indeed lose the ball!
Leeds City is not a team that is good at defense. They will concede goals when they are under extreme pressure. This problem is not something he can solve.
He is very clear about his team's problems.
But he was still unhappy when he saw the ball dropped.
They had a perfect start, but failed to continue the momentum.
"Catalan United is too strong, Tony. There is no way..." Assistant coach Sam Landier heard the swear words and comforted him.
When the coaching staff discussed the tactics of this game before the game, although everyone agreed with the "first move" tactical strategy proposed by Clark, they attacked from the beginning of the game and strived to take the lead.
But they don't think that they can defeat Catalonia United just by relying on this kind of offense.
The reason why they still do this is just because Leeds City is only good at playing like this. Let them go to the home court of Catalonia United to shrink their defense and play defensive counterattack... I am afraid that they will lose the ball in the end and still be angry - -It was really frustrating to play like that.
Since you have to lose anyway, why not choose a way to lose that makes everyone comfortable?
Use the football that Leeds City is best at to attack Catalonia United, which is good at offense, on the road. Even if they lose, they can still win respect, and they can also test Leeds City's offensive quality.
Let’s see what level Leeds City’s offense is compared to the top offenses in Europe.
"I know, Sam... I just feel it's a pity. After being equalized, I thought we could keep the score until the end of the first half..." Clark shook his head helplessly. "Forget it... we're all behind anyway, so there's no need to think about other things besides attacking. Just continue to attack. Use the attack to push back their attack. You can't defend it."
Assistant coach Randhir nodded, then went to the sidelines and gestured to the Leeds City players on the field.
In the extremely noisy Sagrada Familia Stadium, shouting from the sidelines to the stadium is useless. At this time, a simple gesture can let everyone know what they are going to do next.
Not all Leeds City players who were in the pain of conceding a goal saw the gesture of assistant coach Randyll.
But there are always people who will tell their teammates the latest instructions from the coach.
For example, Pete Williams, who is currently the captain on the court, immediately noticed Randall on the sidelines after losing the ball and saw his gesture.
He turned around and slapped his teammates hard to remind them to pay attention, and then shouted:
"Attack! Boss, let us continue to attack!"
At the end, he added: "Brace yourself! We have an offensive ability that is no less than theirs! You must know that we scored the first goal in this game! Their offensive cannot continue forever, and there will always be times when it slows down. That’s our chance!”
It has to be said that Williams is indeed precocious enough. The way he said these words to his teammates while wearing the captain's armband made people completely unaware that he was only 21 years old.
After Lorenzo gradually faded out of the team's starting lineup, the captain's armband was worn on the arm of Pete Williams. Now he is still nominally the second captain, but in fact he is a veritable "captain" like Lorenzo.
※※※
"Go on the attack" is easy to say, but difficult to actually do.
Catalonia United, which had just overtaken the score, was now in high morale and their physical energy was not exhausted. Of course, they took advantage of the surge in morale to continue attacking Leeds City's goal.
Just like before they scored.
At that time, Leeds City failed to get any decent offensive opportunities, so how could they use offense to make Catalonia United restrain themselves now?
This matter is indeed a big problem for the average team.
But Leeds City has its own approach:
They have a very efficient shooter.
He doesn't need too many opportunities to seize the few opportunities he gets and create threats.
This is perfect for a team like Leeds City whose overall strength is not as good as its opponents.
Catalonia's offensive is very fierce, which does not mean that Leeds City has no chance to hit the frontcourt.
Especially after the reversal of the score, the mentality of the Catalan United players more or less changed, which created conditions for Leeds City to attack the opponent's 30-meter area.
When moving forward, Leeds City does not need to carry out very complicated passing and running cooperation in the midfield. They often directly find Kamara and Laski through medium and long passes.
Then they transport the football to the thirty-meter area.
The next step is to find a way to give football to Hu Lai.
Just like this.
When Lasky relied on his speed advantage to temporarily overwhelm Catalan United left back Francisco Calderon on the wing and barely exceeded half his body, he did not continue to dribble, but chose to pass the football directly to the center.
He has completed his task, and now it's up to Hu Lai.
Hulay, who scored a goal, has been heavily targeted by Catalonia United during the game, but Hulay still perfectly demonstrated his excellent judgment of the football placement and his ghostly movement in this attack - he first Accelerate towards the goal and make a fake move to receive the ball directly from the center.
Then he suddenly stopped after only one step, bowed and ran forward, throwing away Paul Fortune who was following him back.
The French central defender, who only transferred from Paris Eger this summer to replace the departed Louis Payson, did not expect that Hulay turned out to be a fake move and was thrown away in an instant. Even if he was fast, it would be difficult to catch him back.
Fortunately, another Catalan center defender Jimenez was always nearby. When he saw Hulay making an emergency stop, he immediately rushed up.
When Hulay jumped up to head the ball, Jimenez also rushed to him, and then leaned his whole body up to interfere with Hulay's header.
"Hu Lai——!" He Feng roared excitedly, followed by a regretful sigh: "Oh!"
Under Jimenez's timely interference, Hulay's head was deflected.
Although he didn't make it in, there was still a huge exclamation in the stands of the Holy Family Stadium, which sounded like cheering for Hu Lai:
"Hoo——!"
※※※
Leeds City's goalless attack initially achieved their tactical goals.
That is to use offense to push back the Catalan United's offensive, at least to make Catalan United's offense no longer so unscrupulous.
Let them know that behind them, there is a ghost that can wander in the Catalan United penalty area at any time - followed by two central defenders, Hulay almost allowed him to score.
This kind of ultra-efficient forward is indeed a headache for any team.
Catalan United head coach Jose Bernal also took it easy and did not let his team continue to siege Leeds City when there was not much time left in the first half.
He was also afraid that Leeds City would score a goal through a sneak attack, and then the hard-fought lead would be gone...
Who can I talk to to reason with you?
Faced with last season's Premier League Golden Boot and World Cup Golden Boot, even Bernal did not dare to take it lightly.
So with five or six minutes left in the half, he signaled the team to slow down and retreat to stabilize the defense to avoid conceding the ball at the last moment.
Leeds finally got the breather they wanted.
However, they did not stay in their own backcourt, but tried to attack, but they did not completely attack. After all, they still had to prevent Catalonia from counterattacking.
Mario Salado is in very good condition today. He has the speed to break through and is the best candidate to defend against counterattacks.
Clark also worried that his home had been burgled.
Both sides were afraid of being attacked by the other side, and the remaining minutes of the first half passed in this "tacit understanding".
The two teams failed to create any more opportunities, and the quality of the few attacks they had was not high.
After two minutes of injury time, the referee blew the half-time whistle.
"...The first half of the game is over. Although the visiting Leeds City took the lead thanks to Hu Lai, they still failed to hold on to the one-goal lead in the end..." There was a little regret in He Feng's voice, but more of it was Praising, "Although it was an away game, Leeds City's performance was remarkable. In the face of Catalonia's ferocious offensive, they fell behind by only one goal. This is a good sign. I hope that after halftime adjustments, Leeds City can We can perform better in the second half..."
This last sentence is actually more like comfort.
What could a better performance be?
It would be better if we lose fewer goals...
On the other side, the Spanish commentator was also satisfied with Catalan United's performance in the first half: "After losing the ball, he quickly equalized the score and then surpassed it... Catalan United burst out with amazing energy at their home court. As long as they can Keep this momentum going and Catalonia can score again in the second half!”
He said this with full confidence. The first half of the game has proved this. If there was not much time left in the first half, Leeds City would never be behind by just one goal!
In the broadcast footage, players from both sides walked off the court and walked through the corridor to their respective locker rooms.
The expressions on their faces were calm as usual. The Catalan United players who were in the lead were not smiling, and the Leeds City players who were lagging behind didn't seem very frustrated either.
It's impossible to guess their mentality through the details of these shots.
But in fact, no one wanted to guess anything.
This is an ordinary Champions League group match. Catalonia will win the game at their home court and secure first place in the group one round in advance.
As for Leeds City, they showed their courage in the game and did not lose hope of participating in the Europa League - compared with Catalonia here, it is still a direct competition to defeat Gulf Lighthouse at home in the next round of the group stage. The opponent is more important.
※※※
PS, the second update will be posted, and the third update will be at 6pm. Please vote for me! ! (End of chapter)