Chapter 516: Get the Lead
Although there were nearly two minutes left before the end of the first half, Kaka, who was standing in the center circle, received a pass from Balotelli and did not immediately pass the ball to Shaarawy on the left to attack, but chose to pass the ball to his teammates behind him more safely.
For AC Milan, who were trailing by the scoreline, although they could not bear the bad situation of losing at home, in the eyes of coach Seedorf, Kaka made a safe choice before half-time. After all, the opponent who had just overtaken the score was in high spirits at this time, and if he launched an attack rashly, it would not only be difficult to equalize before half-time, but it was even possible that Atletico Madrid would use the fast counterattack that they are best at to extend the lead.
While Seedorf was applauding Kaka's right choice, Atletico Madrid, who had re-established their lead, did not mean to allow AC Milan to make a smooth transition into the second half. Because, the moment Balotelli passed the football to Kaka, Diego Costa, Feng Quan, and Alda Turan rushed to the opponent's half at the same time, and immediately launched a ferocious press in the front court. Not only that, but even Cork and Mario Suarez were the first to press near the halfway line, further compressing the space for AC Milan to possess the ball.
Under normal circumstances, even if the strength of this AC Milan team is no longer the style of the champion division of previous years, it will not easily concede goals in the face of Atletico Madrid's high pressing.
However, the poor turf condition of the Italian stadium has caused AC Milan another serious blow.
Just when Nigel de Jong, who had just fallen behind again because of his foul a few minutes ago, was about to stop the ball passed back by Kaka, and then use his foot skills to "pass" the poor defensive Fengquan, so as to "chic" crack the opponent's high pressing, but the football was less than half a meter away from Nigel de Jong's right foot, because of the unevenness of the lawn, there was a sudden bouncing situation, and the direction of rolling also changed to a certain extent.
Nigel de Jong was so preoccupied with how to get past the rushing wind after stopping the ball, so much so that it wasn't until the ball was about to roll past him that the Dutchman scrambled to adjust his movements.
Although Nigel de Jong barely managed to block the ball, he scrambled to stop the ball more than two metres in front of his side. If it had been someone else, the Dutch beast might have had a chance to make amends, but the "King of Speed" Feng Quan completed the instant acceleration at the next moment when Nigel de Jong made a mistake to stop the ball, and also stabbed the ball in front of Diego Costa, who was high-speed forward before the opponent cleared the ball.
Diego Costa stopped the ball and sent a through ball behind Nigel de Jong, and the wind that had been waiting there took the right foot past the defending Essien before dribbling the ball into the AC Milan penalty area.
In the face of Mex's defense, Feng Quan made 3 consecutive feints to step on the bicycle and shake the opponent's center of gravity, and suddenly moved the ball sideways with his right foot to dodge a little shot, and then completed a powerful heavy bombardment at the top of the penalty area slightly to the right.
Although the ball shot by the wind was pounced on by Abbiati, who reacted quickly, it still grazed the post on the right side of the goal with the whirring wind and drilled into the net, 3-1.
The moment the football crashes into the net, the San Siro stadium, which was originally noisy, immediately takes on the silence of a pin drop.
Moments later, however, even at the risk of not being able to return to Spain safely, more than 1,000 Atletico Madrid fans from afar immediately cheered wildly for Feng Quan's wonderful solo performance.
That's right, many of Feng Quan's previous goals in La Liga are even more exciting than this long-range shot, and the strength of Barcelona and Real Madrid that he has encountered is far from being comparable to today's AC Milan.
However, for Atletico Madrid, which has not been able to break into the quarterfinals of the Champions League for nearly 20 years, Feng Quan's goal near the end of the first half has almost "locked" the ticket to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in advance.
Although there are at least 45 minutes left before the end of this game, AC Milan have no chance of turning the tables in the eyes of Atletico Madrid fans. After all, Atletico Madrid's overall strength already has a certain advantage, and the unexpected goal conceded at the end of the half was a serious blow to the home team's morale.
In fact, as Atletico Madrid fans expected, after the change of sides, AC Milan, which was already at a disadvantage and had a serious morale setback, not only struggled to organize an effective attack, but also had a porous defense at the back.
With Feng Quan already scoring a hat-trick in the first half, he focused more on helping his team-mates score in the second half.
In the 13th minute of the second half, Feng Quan got rid of three defenders in the middle and came to the top of the penalty area, and then took a long shot.
The Milan players, who had already learned the power of Feng Quan's long-range shot, naturally did not dare to slack off, and three defenders, including central defender Mex, immediately pounced towards Feng Quan's position.
However, Feng Quan did not choose to bombard the goal this time, but aimed at the small gap between Mexes and Nigel de Jong, and sent a through ball to the space on the right side of the penalty area.
Immediately afterwards, Diego Costa, who had already been ambushed in the box, suddenly started to rush to the space on the right side of the box, and then shot the ball into the top right corner of the goal before Rami stepped forward to block, 4-1.
Although AC Milan is no longer the strong strength of the Europa League, the heritage of being a giant has allowed this team to always burst into strong fighting power on its home turf. Therefore, it will be extremely difficult for any team to walk away with a win at the San Siro.
In less than 60 minutes of this game, Atletico Madrid has scored four goals, which really disappointed the Milan players.
As a result, the backwardness of the score and the impatience of the mood led to the defensive actions of the Milan players becoming bigger and bigger, and at the same time, the vicious foul actions were also endless. And it wasn't until the referee on duty showed three yellow cards in a row that the foul actions of the home team players were reined in.
Although the speed and physical reflexes of the wind were not easy for the opponent to foul him, in order to avoid the "accident", Diego Simeone still warmed up David Villa on the bench, and then replaced the wind with 69 minutes of full-time.
Although the home team fans in the stadium couldn't help but applaud Feng Quan for his wonderful performance in the game, the expression on Feng Quan's face as he walked to the sidelines was not particularly happy while politely applauding and thanking the fans for their respect. After all, Feng Quan only needs to farm one more assist to get double the reward of "Side Mission (4)".
However, although Feng Quan regretted that he didn't get the "double reward", he still knew very well that Diego Simeone's move was also to protect him. Therefore, after walking off the field, Feng Quan still took the initiative to walk in front of the team coach, and then gave the opponent a big bear hug.
With the pressure on AC Milan's defence drastically reduced due to Feng Quan's downfall, Seedorf made a big bet on his own team, even if they couldn't equalize in the end, to try to narrow the gap in the score in order to leave some hope for a comeback in the second leg of the away game.
Unfortunately, AC Milan, whose morale had already suffered badly, was unable to recover the deficit, but was also saved by Atletico Madrid in stoppage time to make it 5-1 for David Villa.