Chapter 334: Sinking Huang Qian, the formation at Old Trafford!
As the major award ceremonies at the end of the season come to an end, Leicester City also faces the last obstacle to the Europa League final.
That is the La Liga team "Yellow Submarine" Villarreal!
Villarreal has performed very well in both La Liga and the Europa League this season.
Although the offensive firepower of the league is average, the defense is very good, second only to the three heroes of the Western Super League.
In the Europa League, it brought many surprises to fans and the public.
An upset victory over Napoli, the last Europa League runner-up, a clean sheet against Bundesliga powerhouse Leverkusen, and a complete victory over Sparta Prague. Along the way, they have shown strong momentum.
There are also some familiar faces in this team.
For example, winger Castillejo, midfielder Danny Suarez, central defenders Bailly and Musacchio, and forward Soldado.
It is worth mentioning that it was Bailly's outstanding performance on the defensive end this season that attracted the attention of Manchester United and was appointed by Mourinho in the summer window!
And Soldado, who was still at Tottenham last season, has a second spring after returning to the familiar La Liga.
Although he still didn't score many goals, he became the team's assist leader with his experience and running position.
And his strike partner, future Guoan star Bakambu, is the biggest beneficiary.
Played eleven times in the Europa League and scored nine goals, with amazing efficiency!
Among the four teams that have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, the player with the most goals is expected to compete for the Europa League Golden Boot.
In comparison, Leicester City did not score many goals in the Europa League.
And due to the heavy rotation of the lineup, the player who scored the most goals in the Europa League was actually substitute forward Ulloa!
The Argentinian has played most of his playing time in cup competitions this season. He has scored ten goals in total in the FA Cup and League Cup, plus the Europa League!
Among them, there are five goals in the Europa League!
After Ulloa, there is Ling Feng who scored four goals.
Due to the favorable schedule of visiting first and then home, and having already won the league title ahead of schedule, Ranieri directly lined up the strongest lineup in an attempt to end the suspense of the two-round match in the away game!
On the plane flying to Spain, Ling Feng also took the opportunity to open the [Character Panel] and check out the wave of system rewards he had just received.
After completing three achievements in succession [PFA Young Player of the Year] [PFA Team of the Year] [England FWA Footballer of the Year], Ling Feng suddenly received six free attribute point rewards.
Coupled with the three points of [Best Player in the Premier League], he suddenly gained as many as nine free attribute points!
The achievement of [PFA Player of the Year] allowed him to once again obtain a player skill treasure chest.
However, considering that I have not fully mastered the skills of [Horse Stepping on Meteor] and [King of Outer Instep], adding another skill is just biting off more than I can chew.
As a result, Ling Feng did not unbox it immediately, but planned to wait until the end of the season before making a decision.
He also has his own ideas on how to add nine free attribute points.
At present, he does not have any major shortcomings in physical, technical, or even mental aspects.
However, as he continues to show phenomenal performance this season, opponents will only find more ways to restrict him.
In the Champions League, the opponents and defensive intensity he faces will only become stronger.
He must protect the ball under the close pressure of his opponent before he can proceed with the next step.
So, he first added four points to the [Ball Protection] attribute, raising it from 82 to 86!
Then, considering that after he transfers to a wealthy club next season, and considering the tacit understanding and running-in of his teammates, he may have to shoulder a greater offensive task.
In addition to feeding his teammates, he also scores more goals himself.
What's more, in order to compete for the Ballon d'Or, scoring goals is an essential selection criterion.
To score more goals, it is necessary to strengthen your finishing ability!
Currently, he does not enter the penalty area most of the time. Instead, he putsts at the top of the penalty area and shoots low, or fires remotely from thirty meters away.
And thirty meters away, with the blessing of the [God of War Heavy Artillery], his shooting power can be instantly increased to 99.
Although the ball speed has increased, the accuracy of shooting is still a little worse.
Therefore, he added the remaining five points to [Long Shot], raising it from 80 to 85!
Following this, Ling Feng looked at the colorful clouds outside the window and couldn't help but feel very happy:
Villarreal, let me test the sword with you!
. . .
“The ball is in!”
"Zero to one!"
"Jamie Vardy took the lead to help Leicester City take the lead!"
In the Love Song Stadium, which can accommodate 22,000 fans, only The cheers of the away fans.
Leicester City, the new Premier League champions, showed the style of a team of kings from the very beginning.
After successively defeating the Premier League giants Manchester United and the Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, the Blue Fox has built up huge self-confidence.
They even turned against the visitors and took the initiative to control the ball and launch attacks.
And Ling Feng showed the delicate skills that only Spanish players can have!
In the 13th minute of the first half, with Ling Feng's lateral dribbling, he avoided Villarreal midfielder Thomas Pina's attack and suddenly sent a scalpel through ball.
Vardy, who understood it well, successfully countered offside and faced the goalkeeper alone.
And Vardy, who has scored more than 30 goals in all competitions this season, did not miss the opportunity and shot a low shot through Asenjo's fingers at Villarreal.
Leicester City takes the lead and gets off to a fantastic start!
However, Villarreal was not too surprised and used its tough defense to adapt to Leicester City's tactical play.
With the cheers from the home fans, they quickly gained a foothold and put pressure on the Blue Fox through aggressive pressing.
The Blue Fox, playing away from home, took their time after taking the lead.
Under Ling Feng's command, they just kept the ball at their feet and lured the opponent's formation to press forward, thus exposing the space behind them.
Under constant temptation, Huang Qian's entire formation slowly moved forward, giving Ling Feng a larger passing space.
However, just when the Blue Fox fans thought that Ling Feng's ghost pass could easily penetrate the entire Huang Qian defense line, one person stood up many times:
That is Huang Qian's main central defender Eric Bailey!
Bailey's performance on the defensive line is nothing short of eye-catching.
The Cote d'Ivoire international doesn't look very muscular, but he has excellent defensive positioning and attacking awareness.
After seeing Ling Feng's passing skills, he also appeared on the passing route many times, rushing to intercept Ling Feng's pass to Vardy.
Furthermore, due to his excellent physical fitness and flexibility, his turn and return speed are visibly fast to the naked eye.
What Vardy fears most is this kind of central defender who is relatively light but has strong core strength.
Except for the counter-offside in the first half, Vardy couldn't get much advantage from him. Even though Vardy was closely followed by Bailly, he still created many long-range shooting opportunities for Ling Feng through active running and pulling in the frontcourt.
In the first half, Leicester City repeatedly threatened the goal guarded by Asenho through Ling Feng's long-range shots and passing.
But Lingfeng's feet felt average today, and the angle of his long-range shots was still too straight.
Even though Asenjo's hands were numb from the attack, he grinned secretly. But in the end they were unable to penetrate Villarreal's goal for the second time
However, when the game entered the second half, Leicester City continued to firmly control the ball, allowing Huang Qian to grab it.
Even if Huang Qian can occasionally steal the ball, their offensive ability is worrying. The combination of Soldado and Bakambu cannot get past Kante in the midfield.
This put Huang Qian in a basically suppressed and passive defense situation.
And everyone knows that if you defend for a long time, you will lose!
When the game came to the 68th minute, Ling Feng and Mahrez played an exquisite match against the wall on the right. Then Ling Feng held the ball and tried to break through, but he knocked back with his heel.
Mahrez, who moved laterally, flicked the ball with his left foot and took advantage of the trend to shoot!
The inside of the left foot made a perfect arc and hit the far corner of the goal!
And this was also the last goal of the game.
In the end, the Blue Fox, who came from afar, sank the Yellow Submarine with two goals in the away game!
In this game, Leicester City showed a level of strength that made many people clamor before the game, "Let the English see the power of Spanish football" and "Teach the Premier League champions a lesson." "The Spanish media were also speechless.
Until this moment, they truly understood why Leicester City was able to break out among the major giants and powerful teams in the Premier League and win the Premier League championship five rounds in advance.
This team should not be underestimated!
With a dominant situation and two away goals in hand, the British media unanimously believed that Leicester City had half a foot in the final at St. Jakob Park!
. . .
After easily defeating Villarreal in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals, Leicester City returned to China and ushered in the thirty-sixth round of the league.
And their opponent is the Red Devils Manchester United, who have met many times this season!
According to multiple media revelations and reports, Manchester United has reached an agreement with Mourinho and will take over as Manchester United coach next season.
Even if he is stuck in the quagmire of fourth place, even if he knows in his heart that his time at Old Trafford is running out.
However, he still hopes to lead the team to play well in the next few games.
Then try to leave your own mark in this most influential club in the world!
As for Leicester City, considering that they have won the championship, they also have to prepare for the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals.
Therefore, Ranieri also carried out extensive rotations, allowing many substitute players to get starting opportunities.
According to English football tradition, if a Premier League team wins the championship early, the home team should line up to welcome the champion team before the remaining games.
Therefore, when entering the stadium, the entire Manchester United team lined up on both sides of the entrance and applauded to welcome the Leicester City players.
Since the two sides are not mortal enemies, most Manchester United players applauded politely.
However, many Manchester United players also clapped mechanically, with absent-mindedness written all over their faces.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time for Manchester United to line up at Old Trafford to welcome the Premier League championship.
According to former Red Devils captain Gary Neville, an incident in the 2004-05 season impressed him deeply.
At that time, after Mourinho took charge of Chelsea, Abramovich's team rose rapidly.
That season, the Blues won the championship ahead of schedule after defeating Bolton Wanderers away in the 36th round.
The home battle between Manchester United and Chelsea was originally in the 33rd round.
However, it was postponed for some reason and was postponed to the penultimate round of the season.
This also allows Chelsea to visit Old Trafford after winning the championship and accept the etiquette of being welcomed by Manchester United players.
Although Ferguson, the then Manchester United coach, was unhappy about it, he did not think it was a shame. Instead, he was very active in organizing players to line up to welcome the championship.
Because this is a very unforgettable championship education course that allows players to personally feel the pain of losing the Premier League championship!
According to Neville's recollection, Ferguson's idea was to inspire the players' fighting spirit.
Seeing the team that stole the championship from you come to your home court, you had to line up to applaud them.
Such shame will inspire you to desire victory and change this situation!
Sure enough, Ferguson’s move worked.
It was this championship education that made Manchester United players full of desire for the championship. Two years later, they finally reached the top of the Premier League again and completed three consecutive Premier League titles!
However, this time is not that time.
Today's Manchester United no longer has Ferguson's "hairdryer" in their ears.
The team no longer has players with great mental attributes such as ambitious Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Giggs, and Scholes. Instead, they have Martial, Lingard, La Liga, etc. Shford, Smalling and other younger generations who cannot bear the pressure.
However, as a world-famous coach, Van Gaal still deserves recognition in terms of management level.
He also feels that lining up at home to welcome the new champion is a good motivational method.
Especially this champion is Leicester City who have defeated them three times this season.
So in the locker room before the game, an order was given that everyone must applaud and not leave the queue until all Leicester City players enter the stadium!
The purpose of this is the same as Ferguson.
However, the effect is a matter of opinion
At least after the start of the game, Manchester United, playing at home and with all the main players, immediately showed a good competitive state.
Under Van Gaal's increasingly proficient "big circle tactics", Manchester United firmly controlled the ball and then organized the attack leisurely.
The Blue Fox, who are all substitutes, also focus on defensive counterattacks.
However, without Ling Feng, without Vardy, and without Mahrez, the quality of the Blue Fox's counterattacks is outrageous.
It’s no different from a mid- to lower-tier team!
However, the offensive end cannot produce quality, but the entire defensive system is still very solid.
Manchester United attacked and the Blue Fox defended. The whole game was so boring that it made people want to sleep.
Sitting on the bench, Ling Feng looked at the quality of Manchester United's offense and shook his head helplessly.
If I really want to move to Manchester United, it will really be a huge challenge
Until the 85th minute of the game, just when everyone thought the game would be a dull draw, Manchester United The offensive finally paid off!
However, it does not rely on collective cooperation, but on individual flashes of inspiration!
Martial took the ball on the left, played a pass and cut with Mata in the center, and then got a one-on-one opportunity to face the full-back.
The "New Henry" looked like someone owed him millions. He dribbled the ball suddenly, connected the fried meatball with a fake move, and passed the Blue Fox right back De Lai. special.
Immediately after, he entered the penalty area and shot directly into the far corner.
Although Schwarzer made a save, it was too late.
In this way, Manchester United relied on Martial to show the talent of Europe's golden boy, scoring the only goal of the game, beating Leicester City, and winning three precious points in the league's fourth place!
(End of this chapter)