Chapter Seventy-Eight: An Unexpectedly Fierce Battle
The day of the competition is fast approaching. At the Saraggio Stadium, the home of Fenerbahçe, the stadium that can seat more than 50,000 people is almost packed with fans.
From this point of view, I still have to thank the media for the verbal war provoked by the game before the game. There is no hot topic, it is just a Europa League group stage game, and it is not the Champions League, and it is impossible to have so many fans in the stadium.
The reason why so many fans came this time was because Fenerbahce fans wanted to watch their opponents lose at home. A lot of them are ready to take a selfie and tweet it, Facebook or something. And the best background is of course the appearance of the Granada team after the loss.
When the players of the home team Faybaneche entered the stadium, they were greeted by the endless cheers of the home fans. But when Yan Feng and other Granada players appeared on the big screen on the sidelines, they would be greeted with a burst of boos from the home fans.
In the face of unfriendly boos from the away side, Yan Feng has not experienced it. But facing nearly 50,000 opponent fans, this can still bring him a lot of away pressure.
Even Yan Feng felt the pressure from the away team, not to mention the rest of the Granada team.
On the contrary, Lin Fan, this kid, looked eager to try. It seems that this kid is really not a loser, he is famous for his big heart.
In fact, Lin Fan will be like this, mainly because he was not only selected for the squad for this competition, but also was placed in the starting line by Pirlo with high hopes. This made Lin Fan so excited that he ignored the pressure exerted by the home fans.
Seeing Lin Fan's excited and looking forward to the game, I don't know why, the tension and pressure in Yan Feng's heart eased a lot. Moreover, the fighting spirit is also rising.
"Lin Fan, a kid who is less than 20 years old, is not afraid, how can he be cowardly when he is older?"
Taking a deep breath and stabilizing his mind, Yan Feng began to fulfill his responsibilities as a captain.
"Remember what we thought before the game? Look at the opposition fans around the week, we are here today to challenge these people on behalf of the Granada fans. Although there are many of them, we must not be intimidated. ”
"You just have to remember that we are here today to slap these people in the face. The more people in the stands, the more fun it is to slap your face. ”
"That's right, knock them out. "The more people, the better. Under Yan Feng's words, when everyone clenched their fists and shouted, their faces were not as tight as before.
After the warm-up and various entrance ceremonies, the competition finally began.
As the whistle blew for the start of the match, the home team Fenerbahce began to excitedly launch an attack on the Granada team.
Fenerbahce formed a 4231 formation, with Van Persie, one of the famous Dutch trio at the top. Don't look at Fenerbahce's formation is a balanced formation in attack and defense, but under the leadership of Van Persie, the attack is extremely ferocious.
Fenerbahce launched an onslaught without even trying the game from the start, which put a lot of pressure on the Granada team.
Fortunately, the Granada team is still mentally prepared for this situation. Fenerbahce is not only a Turkish Super League giant, but also a famous team in Europe. This is a strong team that currently sits below the top of the group for reasons of winning or losing the situation. As long as they win this game, they can qualify early. Pirlo had told Yan Feng about this early on, and after a discussion, everyone felt that the Fenerbahce team would definitely attack with all their might.
With psychological preparation, of course, there will be no shortage of targeted strategies. Therefore, although Fenerbahce launched a fierce attack, the Granada team still withstood stubbornly.
Faced with this situation, coupled with the disadvantage of playing away from home, it is inevitable that the Granada team will gradually lose the upper hand.
Seeing this, the fans at home were naturally excited. They shouted and cheered excitedly, expecting the goal to come soon. Of course, I also feel that the goals will come soon.
"Bang!", "Bang!", "Bang!", Fenerbahce constantly threatened the Granada goal. For nearly ten minutes in the opening period, Granada were pinned down in the half, struggling to counter-attack. However, the Granada team, under the leadership of Yan Feng, has been gritting its teeth and persevering. They defended stubbornly, as hard as a stone.
As Fenerbahce attacked again and again, the hearts of the supporters in front of the TV of the Granada team were getting bigger and bigger. Hoping that the team can create a miracle, the more they watched the game, the more nervous and worried they became.
"Hold on. You must hold on!"
"This is so passive at the beginning, what should I do?"
"Playing so passively, this game hangs in the air!"
"In such a tense game, it seems that letting China Lin start the game did not play a role. This kind of passive defense, the role he can play is questionable. ”
Unlike the nervous worries of their own fans, the players of the Granada team played passively, but they did not lose confidence and morale. On the surface, they look passive, but their defense is still solid.
Contrary to what fans think, after Granada started Lin Fan, their defensive quality was actually rising. Compared with Samper, Lin Fan has faster speed and better physical fitness, and he is also stronger and more active in defense.
In many cases, the confrontation between the two armies is based on the unity of spirit. Fenerbahce started the game with the advantage of the home field, and after 10 minutes of the game, the Granada team gradually adapted.
As Granada adapted to the pace and intensity of the game, Fenerbahçe's attacking effectiveness diminished.
Granada are starting to have a chance to fight back. After successfully withstanding Fenerbahce's attack, Yan Feng and Costa organized a wave of attacks from the center and back. After a series of passes, it was passed to Sundel by Lin Fan, and Sundel completed a long-range shot.
Xander's long-range shot failed to score. However, it was Granada's first shot on goal in the first half and the first time they threatened their opponents.
After that, the chances of Granada to complete the goal gradually increased. Although the number of shots on goal is still lower than that of the opponent, it is a sign that the game situation is no longer so passive.
With the Granada team fighting back, the game became more intense and exciting.
The Granada team is tenacious, the Fenerbahce team is fierce, and the two sides are more and more fighting on the field to create sparks of collision. It also happens from time to time that people turn on their backs.
Before you know it, the game is getting more and more intense, and the two sides are also forming more and more shots. Sadly, neither side got on the scoresheet.
In the heat of the game, time often flies. With the tireless running of players on both sides, the time for the end of the first half came quietly.
It wasn't until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half that the players on both sides suddenly reacted. That was the end of the first half.
Both sides seized the time to rest and lay out tactics. The second half soon began as well.
After the start of the second half, Fenerbahce attacked again. The dominance of the first half gave them a lot of confidence. After the break, they were recovering and trying to score as soon as possible.
In this way, the Granada team is naturally starting to be at a disadvantage again. Fenerbahce's strong offensive once again pinned them down in the half.
"I'm super again?"
"Fenerbahce are such a bully. ”
"Hold on. Be sure to resist. Just like in the first half, don't give the opponent any chance. ”
As the second half began, the Granada fans began to curse again. Their team is once again at a disadvantage, which makes them nervous and worried again.
Fenerbahçe's attack was even more ferocious than in the first half. In particular, Van Persie, the heart of their attack, is constantly creating threats. In order to relieve the pressure on the backline, Yan Feng sometimes had to retreat to the position of defender.
The home team's attacking fire was fierce and intimidating, but fortunately Granada's defence was stubborn and solid at the moment. Under the concerted efforts of the Granada team, for a while, the Fenerbahce team still failed to score.
Granada's tenacity surprised the home team. After a long period of inaction, even their attacking arrowhead Van Persie shook his head and sighed as he looked at the Granada's impregnable defence.
After a burst of onslaught, Fenerbahce's offensive momentum began to relapse. As in the first half, Granada gradually began to counter-attack. Everything looks like it's going to be a repeat of the first half.
As time passed, Fenerbahçe's belief in victory began to waver. The Granada team in front of them is not as vulnerable as the scouting data collected. Their defense was stronger than expected, and their counter-attacking ability was stronger than expected.
The psychology of the players on the field has changed, and as a fan in the stands, the change in mood is even greater.
"It's strange, we have a big advantage, but what about scoring against them?"
"The Granada team is even more tenacious than I thought. They weren't able to threaten us, but they were really hard. ”
'We had more shots on goal but we couldn't score. Maybe Allah had mercy on them. ”
'You can't score a goal with such a fierce attack, maybe it's going to be a draw. ”
"A draw is not unacceptable. It's a draw and we still have a good chance of qualifying. ”
The home fans, from the beginning of the thought of the must win, but at this time, also began to have doubts about winning. The tenacity of the Granada team was beyond their expectations.
Fenerbahce fans are starting to think that this match is likely to end in a draw.
But soon, they realized that they were wrong.
Due to the fast pace of this game and the intensity of the confrontation, the physical consumption of the Fenerbahce team, which is focused on attacking, is extremely great. Within 70 minutes of play, their players' fitness dropped dramatically.
As the suppressed side, the physical consumption of the Granada team is also not low. However, their physical strengths are starting to show.
The Granada team, which is younger overall, is in a better physical condition than Fenerbahce. And with Yan Feng and Lin Fan, who is also in good physical condition, the Granada team began to show strong vitality.
The physical depletion forced Fenerbahce to reduce their tempo and intensity. But at this time, the Granada team had no such plans. With the advantage of physical strength, they launched a counterattack at a very fast pace.
Granada's attack became more and more violent, forcing Fenerbahce to switch to passive defense for the first time in this game. The Granada team, under the leadership of Yan Feng and Lin Fan, maintained a fast pace and constantly put pressure on the home team.
The tide was flipping and the Granada team began to launch wave after wave of onslaughts. Fenerbahçe became more and more passive and had to deal with the attack of Granada with all their might.
In the face of the sharp turn for the worse, the home fans were a little stunned. It was unexpected, and it was too fast. Especially when they saw that the Granada team was still able to maintain the game at a very fast running speed, they started to get nervous.
Soon, the nerves of the home fans escalated into panic.
Under the strong counterattack of the Granada team, the fitness problems of the Fenerbahce team were even more prominent. And it brought a lot of confusion as a result.
To ease the pressure, Fenerbahce made a big substitution. But such actions did not have much effect. The quota limit of only three people can be changed, and their physical disadvantage cannot be changed.
Granada kept the pressure on Fenerbahce and in the 77th minute they were awarded a well-placed free-kick.
Lin Fan confidently stood in front of the free throw. He had a good quality free-kick on goal. It's a pity that this time the goalkeeper of the Fenerbahce team is superb, and he saved Lin Fan's inevitable shot.
However, the Fenerbahce team did not escape the disaster. Because the ball saved by their goalkeeper was smashed into the goal by a leap from Sundel, who was following him.
1.0 Granada unexpectedly took the lead over Fenerbahce away from home.
In their own home stadium was actually scored. The home fans were completely stunned.
However, their confusion is only the beginning.
A few minutes later, after a series of quick short passes, Pereira scored a long-range shot.
2:0!
Fenerbahce fans at home fell silent.
They expect their team to rise back and fight. Change this reality that they are unwilling to accept.
Fenerbahce did rise up and launched a counterattack. However, the Granada team, which they thought would back down, did not switch to the defensive.
Granada not only did not retreat, but also began to press high in the frontcourt. Fenerbahce, who were looking to fight back, were caught off guard, but their counterattack gave Granada more chances.
Eventually, after a successful tackle by Granada near midfield, a blistering assault was carried out. After a few quick and accurate matches, Yan Feng inserted a long-range shot to complete the final blow.
3:0!
When Yan Feng hit the ball in the goal, it rolled inside the goal. After the home fans were stunned for a few seconds, some people couldn't help but cry.
The game was completely killed.
A game that was full of thought that the home team would win had such an incredible result. This was a brutal disaster for Fenerbahce.
And for the Granada team, this is a surprise that will be scared by itself!