Chapter 51: Retreat
Arriving in Paris in a hurry, the Granada team didn't have much time to adapt and prepare. Soon the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 arrived.
In this second leg, the Granada team was far less relaxed than the first leg. That time it was at Granada's own stadium, and that time they had a full squad and a military spirit. This time, they came to an unfamiliar stadium, they were not well organized, and their morale was not too high.
It's stressful!
There are Granada's own, and there are also Paris Saint-Germain's own. And the Parc des Princes stadium is full of fans, which has brought huge psychological pressure to the Granada team.
Today is the decisive battle to decide who can advance, and few parties will feel easy. Rao is Yan Feng, who has always been full of fighting spirit, and this will also feel a heavy pressure in his heart.
Yan Feng, who has experienced the AFC Champions League, naturally understands the significance of the Champions League. Foreign wars are always more important than civil wars, and they are more important to the fan club. With the team drawn at home, there is no way back for Granada in this leg.
"There's no way back, this time we have to fight to the end. Yan Feng knows that his side is a passive side, and it is extremely difficult to win the game at the home of Paris Saint-Germain. Feeling the overwhelming sound of the Parc des Princes stadium during the entrance ceremony, Yan Feng's eyes became fascinated, and then the fierce battle intent began to ignite.
The race was soon underway.
Because it is passive, it needs to be active. After the start of the game, although the Granada team still played their usual 4231 formation, from the first touch of the ball, they were very determined to attack the home team.
This time, the Granada team also had to be counter-oriented, and there was no temptation to start the offensive.
On their home turf, Paris Saint-Germain naturally won't let themselves be attacked easily. With a methodical defense, the Granada team naturally failed to succeed.
After the attack failed, the Granada team immediately turned to the front court to press high. They want to keep the pressure on them and take the opportunity to attack them unprepared.
This move by the Granada team immediately brought the game into a fierce confrontation. The Granada team came up so fiercely this time, which really scared the Paris Saint-Germain team. However, this is the home of Paris Saint-Germain, and they reacted quickly and did not allow Granada to succeed with a calm pass.
After withstanding Granada's high press, Paris Saint-Germain finally began to fight back.
Although they knew that the Granada team had to take the initiative to attack, the Granada team's anti-guest approach made the stars of the Paris Saint-Germain team very angry.
"This is our territory, we are here, and we dare to be so arrogant to them!"
Even if there is an advantage in hand, even this draw can be promoted, but the current Paris Saint-Germain team has its own pride. At home, they prefer to advance by winning.
At the Parc des Princes, with the support of nearly 50,000 fans, Paris Saint-Germain can play better to their strengths. Therefore, when they started to attack, the Granada defence immediately felt a great threat.
Paris Saint-Germain were more ferocious and more threatening than they were in the first match. This threat brought great defensive pressure, so that Yan Feng, who originally wanted to participate in the offense more, had to put more energy into defense.
The Granada team, which had been in an all-out attacking posture at the beginning of the game, was soon forced to shrink after the Paris Saint-Germain team launched an attack. The home team is stronger and more pressing than they are.
The strong momentum of the Paris Saint-Germain team after the start of the attack made the fans in the stadium excited.
"Defeat them and let them roll back to the country!"
Paris Saint-Germain's attack was really fierce at home, but these Granada teams were mentally prepared. Therefore, after increasing the defense, the strong attacks of stars such as Neymar failed to break through the defense of the Granada team.
With the advantage of being at home, Paris Saint-Germain gradually gained the upper hand in the following games.
The Granada team, who need to score more goals, will attack resolutely whenever they have the chance. With Luka Modric organised, Granada's attack is still very threatening.
It was only after Riyad Mahrez was injured that only one side of the Granada team's two-horse charge remained. Aslan, who came on as a substitute, simply couldn't match the contribution that Mahrez brings. Only Anthony Martial's side was left to attack, which greatly reduced the attack of the Granada team.
Compared to the first leg, Granada's attacking firepower has dropped a lot, which is naturally more difficult to break down the Paris Saint-Germain goal.
And the attacking firepower of the Paris Germans team this time is sharper and more fluid. But after the Granada team injured McTakie, Darmian, who had just transferred, did not have time to play, and the ability to substitute the full-back was much worse, which made the originally solid defense line porous.
It was this weakness in Granada's defense that led to PSG's Kylian Mbappe attacking this side. Originally, McTaki was very difficult to defend Mbappe, and after changing to a more powerful latent player, he couldn't defend it at all. Mbappe swooped into the left side of the Granada team as if no one was there, and kept making killings in the penalty area.
It was discovered that Mbappe's lethality was too great, and Yan Feng had to transfer his position with Lin Fan to reinforce him.
A large part of Yan Feng's energy was spent on reinforcing the side road, so that he was also pinned down there. If it weren't for the extreme tenacity of their team-mates in other areas, Granada might have been able to withstand the home team's attack.
In terms of situation, Granada, who need to score, are at the bottom of the game, which is really bad for them. And that was the case throughout the first half.
The only good thing was that they didn't let PSG score in the first half. But they didn't score either. Therefore, after the end of the first half, the faces of the Granada team did not have too good expressions.
After the break, Yan Feng and his teammates started the second half of the game with solemn expressions.
In the second half, Granada could not afford to let the situation repeat itself. So, they made a change of formation. They need to be more aggressive, even against PSG.
After the restart, the Granada team raised the formation and attacked more resolutely.
Paris Saint-Germain, as the home team, was also not satisfied with the lack of goals in the first half. They are equally committed to attacking.
In this way, the second half became a confrontation from the start.
Playing against the attack is actually more beneficial to the Paris Saint-Germain team. And that's exactly what happened with the game. The originally unorganized Granada team will inevitably increase the space for defense after pulling the formation apart to increase the attack. This gives the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe a bigger chance.
If you attack it, the hole will be bigger, and the danger will be greater. This forced Yan Feng to put his energy into defense. Yan Feng ran left and right, stalling everywhere, which made the goal guarded by Ochoa not penetrated for the time being.
The danger at the back of the Granada team is increasing, but they can't give up on attacking, they can only grit their teeth and stick to see if they can score first. All it takes is one goal and your fate is in your own hands. But it's easier said than done.
Ten minutes into the attack, Granada were pushed back after PSG came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.
Paris Saint-Germain's attack is more dangerous than Granada's and closer to scoring. In this case, the Granada team naturally could not insist on attacking. With just one more goal conceded, Granada will be on the verge of elimination, and it will be impossible to pull it back.
Being forced to reduce their attack and focus on defense in favor was a big blow to the Granada team, who were desperate to score.
"Huh~Huh~" Yan Feng gasped for breath. Before that, he was almost one person and two people. But even if they tried so hard, they still couldn't stop Paris Saint-Germain from bringing killing chances to their own goal.
No matter how strong Yan Feng is, he is just one person, he can limit one Mbappe, but he can't whip Neymar who thinks another.
Although the full-back there is Dabil, who is a former Barcelona player with Neymar. Kobir still couldn't contain Neymar. If it weren't for Dabil's tenacity and Lin Fan's support, he would have been suddenly turned into a slag by Neymar. But Rao is like this, and he still gives Neymar a lot of opportunities.
It is said that the goalkeeper of the weak team, Ochoa, a previously well-known goalkeeper, saved several threatening shots from Neymar today.
These teammates in the back, although facing such heavy pressure, under the leadership of Yan Feng, seem to be in a good mental state.
However, when Yan Feng turned his head to look at the offensive players who were forced to retreat, he found that the teammates who were responsible for the attack had very solemn faces, and even looked like they had lost confidence in the game.
'Brothers, hold on, as long as there is time in the game, we have a chance to score. Yan Feng had to give words of encouragement to his teammates on the front line.
Yan Feng didn't know how much his words could help. After saying that, he turned his head and threw himself into the defense. Paris Saint-Germain are on the offensive again.
After seeing the Granada team being pressed back, the morale of the Paris Saint-Germain team can be described as a surge. The advantage of away goals and now the upper hand in the game has brought PSG's confidence to victory to a peak.
The surging momentum of the Paris Saint-Germain team, under the fanatical cries of the home fans, is like a tiger descending from the mountain, which is bound to swallow the Granada team in one fell swoop.
Yan Feng felt the biggest pressure since this game. The opponent has such a strong momentum, it can't be broken, and it will crush them.
With the support of strong momentum, the Paris Saint-Germain team attacked like a tiger. Granada made an interception in midfield and couldn't stop it.
The ball hit Mbappe's feet again, and Yan Feng hurriedly rushed over to defend.
In the face of Yan Feng's reinforcements, Mbappe was extremely confident this time. Even if he was sandwiched by two people, he still dared to make a move.
Yan Feng guarded strictly, but this time he still couldn't see Mbappe to death. was unexpectedly used by Mbappe to break through the side of teammate Verkovil.
Yan Feng crossed Verkovwill and desperately chased Mbappe, but Mbappe's speed was very fast, and he couldn't catch up for a while. When Yan Feng caught up, he failed to block Mbappe's bottom cross.
Yan Feng followed Mbappe's cross and looked into the penalty area, and his whole heart instantly became entangled.
Mbappe's cross was of great quality, and the fast low ball flew right between the goalkeeper and the defender, making it impossible for Ochoa to stop halfway. Neymar and Edinson Cavani are flanking in and look very likely to get the spot.
"It's over. It's over!" Yan Feng only had this voice left in his mind. He closed his eyes in some pain, he didn't want to see the ball hit into his own goal.
As long as this goal is scored, Granada will have to score two goals to come back to life. But in this situation, it will not be possible.
A sense of frustration about to fail began to flood Yan Feng's mentality.
Yan Feng thought that he would soon hear the cheers that resounded through the heavens and the earth, but after waiting for a while, he didn't hear the cheers, anyway, he heard another kind of regret that made him a little happy.
Sorry for it~
Yan Feng opened his eyes with some expectation. Sure enough, he didn't see the opponent who was celebrating wildly, but saw the joy on the faces of Ingasin and the others. and Neymar and Edinson Cavani, who are not very friendly in communication.
I copied it, and I really escaped from it. Yan Feng breathed a deep sigh of relief.
The other party's two-person outflanking in place, and obviously grabbing the point, didn't score? Yan Feng was particularly surprised. It depends on the situation, the opponent did grab the point, but I don't know if it was Neymar or Cavani who wasted the opportunity almost like hitting an empty goal.
And soon, Yan Feng knew what was going on from the defense on the screen on the sidelines.
It turned out that the other party really grabbed the point. It was Edinson Cavani who grabbed the spot, and Neymar next to him arrived almost at the same time. It's very good double ghost knocking on the door. Only this time, Cavani didn't know what was going on, and showed off his footwork again, and actually came to the goal with a backheel.
In the past, Cavani did score the best goal highlights. It's just that his luck seems to be a little bad today, his beautiful and impeccable shot, but he brushed the post and rolled out of the bottom line.
"I'll go. Yan Feng secretly wiped his sweat. It was really just a little bit of luck to become a world-class goal. I almost became a backdrop.
Once this kind of goal is scored, it will be a world wave, and once it is not scored. It's not~ Neymar was angrily asking Cavani. It's just that Cavani doesn't seem to be able to take advantage of this. The two didn't communicate very friendly.
Seeing that the two were arguing, Yan Feng didn't have the idea of stepping forward to persuade them. Instead, he thanked the other party in his heart.
The Granada team was lucky to escape, and this goal also made Yan Feng feel that their luck was not bad. Thus stopping the depression psychologically.
Paris Saint-Germain seems to have been badly affected by this. In particular, there has been a conflict between Neymar and Cavani. This also made the next game, the two of them did not respond at all, and even went it alone in order to compete for success, preferring to fly away rather than pass the ball to the other party.
Paris Saint-Germain fell into a state of ineffective attack. And their manager, Unai Emery, while a little angry about the situation, doesn't seem to have a way to change it. And replacing one of them is not easy to decide.
In this way, the Granada team turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and they also got a respite under the self-imposed force of the Paris Saint-Germain team. Then there was a chance to fight back.
After seeing the Paris Saint-Germain team's offensive disorder, Yan Feng also went out to participate in the attack. His addition also doubled the offensive threat of the Granada team.
The tide was reversed, and Granada, in turn, suppressed the home team. They began to press aggressively and create frequent threats.
In view of this situation, and the fact that time was slowly entering the game, Unai Emery did indeed allow PSG to switch to a contraction defence.
The Granada team began to gain the upper hand on paper. But Paris Saint-Germain didn't rest on their laurels. In attack, Neymar and Cavani will ignore each other, but they also understand the importance of qualifying, and they are still quite active in defense.
With Paris Saint-Germain's aggressive and tenacious defence, Granada failed to score on several attempts. Even if Yan Feng slammed a few violent long-range shots, he still failed to break the goal.
Time keeps ticking. The 90 minutes run out and then stoppage time.
Yan Feng fought hard to get past Rabiot with the ball, and then forced his morale to shoot angrily. The ball flew away like a cannonball. It's just that the personnel who are towering in front of him can't find any angle to shoot.
When the ball was slightly out of the goal, Yan Feng squatted down in despair. It was Granada's last chance, but he couldn't get on the scoresheet.
Granada did not score, Paris Saint-Germain did not score, and the match was played 0-0.
The Granada team retreated from the Parc des Princes, but they couldn't cheer, it was their opponents who cheered.
Paris Saint-Germain advanced, while Granada were eliminated. Unbeaten and defeated, the Champions League journey stops.