On August 23, in the second leg of the 2016-17 Champions League qualifying play-offs, Monaco hosted Villarreal.

In this game, Monaco continued to field Gilman's lone arrow, and the "Tiger" Falcao, who was absent due to injury, watched from the stands, with Dillard, Bernardo Silva and Lemar behind him, and Sidibe replaced the suspended Mendy.

For Villarreal, Dai Zhiwei continued to join Pato in attack, with Ruiz coming in for Ndiaye and Musacchio.

The line-ups of both sides -

Monaco starting line-up:

Goalkeeper: Subazic

Defenders: Raj, Glick, Jermosen, Sidibé

Defenders: Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko

Midfielders: Dillard, Bernardo Silva, Lemar

Forward: Gilman

Villarreal starting line-up:

Goalkeeper: Asenjo

Defenders: Gaspar, Musacchio, Ruiz, Angel

Midfielders: Castillejo, Trigueros, Bruno Soriano, Roberto Soriano

Forwards: Dai Zhiwei, Pato

Villarreal, who fell behind by a big score after the opening, did not show any desire to equalize, and was beaten hard by Monaco, who were playing at home-

In the 7th minute, Bernardo Silva crossed and Gilman's header from inside the box went wide.

In the 23rd minute, Fabinho passed the ball, Gilman shot with his right foot from the periphery, and Asenjo saved.

In the 28th minute, Raj crossed from the bottom line from the right, and Gilman jumped high to head the goal, but the ball was slightly wide.

In the 32nd minute, Roberto Soriano made a mistake at the back and lost the ball, and Bakayoko hit a left-footed long-range shot from the outside.

In the 41st minute, Dillard passed, Lemar grabbed the point and shot low at the first time, Asenjo subconsciously blocked it, the ball passed between his legs and stopped on the goal line, he immediately turned and saved the ball!

In the first half, the two teams played a 0-0 draw.

Yibian fought again, and Villarreal's attack improved slightly-

In the 53rd minute, Pato passed, Dai Zhiwei inserted a left-footed volley into the penalty area, and the ball was slightly off. Then Musacchio passed the ball, and Dai Zhiwei fired another right-footed volley from the outside, and the ball was deflected off the bottom line.

In the 57th minute, it was Pato who passed the ball again, and Castillejo fired a left-footed shot high from the periphery.

Unfortunately, just when Villarreal gradually began to take the initiative on the field, Monaco launched a counterattack in the 72nd minute, Musacchio subconsciously opened his arms to block the football in the penalty area, handball foul, the referee awarded a penalty, Fabinho scored with his right foot, 1:0!

Villarreal is already 1:3 behind, and half of his body is already hanging out of the cliff!

Listening to the incomprehensible songs sung by the Monaco fans, Dai Zhiwei frowned and looked at the Monaco players who were celebrating wildly, and kicked the lawn on the ground viciously, "I'll go!" ”

Bruno Soriano ran over to pick up the ball and put it on the halfway point, urging the referee to tell the Monaco players to kick off quickly.

Gilman's slow run back to the halfway line from the Monaco penalty area drew a frenzied lash from the Villarreal fans in the stands.

The fans sitting at Monaco at home were naturally unwilling to be scolded by the fans of the opposing team by the players of their own team, and immediately let out a tsunami-like boo, and the difference in the number of people was ten to one, suppressing the voices of the Villarreal fans.

Eskriva looked irritable on the sidelines, as if he had seen the Champions League exit and he was directing his players to attack like a madman.

The referee had to step forward to call the Monaco players back to the pitch, and they celebrated a little too long, and a penalty from Dai Zhiwei in the first half was not awarded so that his decision after the opening of the second half was indeed a bit biased in favor of the Villarreal players.

1:3, two goals behind, even with injury time, there are less than 20 minutes left in the game, and the yellow submarine has fallen half of its body outside the cliff!

Although Villarreal's recent record is not good, their strength is still there, and now they are 2 goals behind and they have completely unified their thinking - attack, attack again, and attack frantically regardless of everything!

With little time left, the Villarreal players frantically fought back against Monaco's position, with captains Bruno Soriano and Pato both running to the point of cramping but still holding on to the attack.

Less than five minutes after the restart, Villarreal's comeback paid off.

Bruno Soriano tackled off a pass from Cayoko and quickly slotted the ball to Castillejo on the wing, who flashed past Fabinho and sent the ball into the Monaco penalty area.

Bakambu, who had just come on the pitch, stretched out his foot in front of Raj and stabbed the ball, and the ball rolled in front of Castillejo, who did not lift his head and lifted his right foot to make a violent pump.

The ball rolled against the turf at great speed towards the gate guarded by Subasic of Monaco.

Subabasic couldn't make a save at all, the dense legs in the box blocked his view, and by the time he saw the ball, it was already rolling in the goal.

1:1, the big score is 2:3, and the yellow submarine pulls back a goal!

Castillejo didn't make a celebratory move, running into the goal to pick up the ball and running towards the centre loop, just high-fives his teammates along the way, apparently trying to get the score back or even reverse it with the little time left.

The few Villarreal fans in the stands chanted Castillejo's name frantically.

Castillejo's goal came in the 77th minute of the game, and Villarreal was still one goal behind, although the situation has improved, but Villarreal is still standing on the edge of the cliff at this time.

Take a step forward and live!

Take a step back and die!

In the warm atmosphere of the Stade Louis II, the game continued, and time was running out, but there was only one goal difference, and hope and light reappeared in front of the eyes of the yellow submarine.

The Villarreal players are not polite to Monaco, they need to score another goal, they don't need to be sent home with a loss, especially after winning the UEFA Super Cup and not being able to participate in the Champions League group stage, then they will become a joke in the world of football!

Recently, it is rare to think in one place, and the Villarreal players who are trying to make a move in one place have launched a desperate attack, Monaco seems to be a little difficult to parry for a while, especially Monaco's shrinkage in the half makes the Villarreal players have no fear, this time not only Gaspar frequently ran to the half to insert assists, even the defensive core Ruiz is a little unbearable and lonely, and frequently inserts forward!

Monaco's goal looked shaky, at least at the time of their struggle.

Coupled with the tireless interspersed running of the two forwards Dai Zhiwei and Bakambu, the Monaco players did not dare to be careless at all!

Trigueros and Bruno Soriano have been given space to pass the ball after a one-two collision with the wall, and his performance has not been good in the new season, but the power of Trigueros' passing cannot be ignored.

In the 81st minute of the game, Triguros's through ball shocked the Monaco defenders in a cold sweat, but unfortunately Bakambu's stop was a little bigger, and such a rough stop was absolutely fatal at this time.

The Monaco penalty area was already full of players, and Bakambu's stop naturally lost the opportunity.

Raj made a contribution at this time, and his clearance kicked the ball directly to the right side of the field.

Just when everyone thought the clearance would either fly off the touchline or be picked up by the Villarreal players, Bernardo Silva, the brightest player of the game, was there.

No one expected Bernardo Silva to appear there with such a quick speed, and after receiving the ball, he rushed straight to the back of Villarreal!

Villarreal's massive attack has finally revealed its shortcomings, and their backfield is really empty, with Musacchio and Ruiz being the only defenders in Villarreal's backfield other than goalkeeper Asenjo.

But the two were not fast, and when they met Bernardo Silva, who had already sprinted, the two gritted their teeth and desperately tried to get back into place, but they still didn't look optimistic.

Bernardo Silva completely got rid of Ruiz and saw that he was about to get a great chance to score, and the tens of thousands of Monaco fans at home were excited, and they will tell the proud Spaniards with a beautiful counter-attack that we will teach you arrogant guys a good lesson - we will be the ones who will qualify for the group stage of the Champions League!

Bernardo Silva was almost a one-on-one goal, he shook Ruiz and went into the box, but don't forget Asenjo who was guarding the Villarreal goal!

Although Asenjo sometimes makes mistakes of one kind or another, and although he is not yet at the level of the world's top goalkeeper, he is still a good goalkeeper overall.

Asenjo was already in a relatively high position, and Bernardo Silva did not hesitate to save when he formed a one-on-one ball.

Although Bernardo Silva's technique at his feet was excellent, he was not very fast, and he was knocked to the ground by the menacing Asenjo as soon as he burst into the box.

Yes, Bernardo Silva also fell to the ground, but the referee did not blow the whistle.

Because Asenjo pounced on the ball first, as for Bernardo Silva, he just inevitably had some physical collisions with Asenjo after he pounced on the ball.

Of course, there are also referees here who also did not give "care" after the penalty after Dai Zhiwei was knocked down by the goalkeeper in the first half.

The yellow submarine fans shouted frantically, but Asenjo didn't show his excitement.

After he pounced on the ball, he ignored Benardo Silva, who was still angry at Monaco, and ran directly to the edge of the penalty area with the ball, and when he was about to run out of the box, he kicked the ball forward with a fierce kick.

Dai Zhiwei calmly judged the landing point of the ball while running, and he felt that the opportunity had come!

He felt it was a good chance, a good chance to equalise, and the Monaco players uncontrollably loosened their dense defence when Bernardo Silva counter-attacked, at least a few of their attacking players ran forward to help.

However, Asenjo's unexpected save from Monaco's single goal caused the current Monaco backfield to dare not say empty, at least there is room for Dai Zhiwei to play.

He judged exactly where the ball would land, and it started to fall a little to the right in the middle of the centre circle and the penalty line.

In fact, Dai Zhiwei is not the only one who can judge the landing point of the ball, but the players of Monaco can also judge it, but he has an obvious advantage, that is, he is very close to the landing point.

Dai Zhiwei and Fabinho jumped high at the same time, and he didn't lose his balance from the physical contact that unfolded in the air – thanks to his fitness this summer.

He was the first to touch the ball and gently pointed it towards the Monaco goal.

After landing, Dai Zhiwei stumbled a little, although Fabinho pulled the corners of his clothes very covertly, but he staggered forward on the grass with his hands and feet, regaining control of the rhythm and firmly protecting the ball under his feet.

But the veteran Fabinho chased after Dai Zhiwei with a ghost, and he gently pulled Dai Zhiwei's shirt very skillfully, which would not cause the referee to make a penalty, and it could also reduce the speed of the attacking players and disrupt the rhythm of the attacking players.

Dai Zhiwei didn't care about Fabinho's little tricks, he has only been in his career for more than 1 year, he has not been treated like this, although this kind of defense is very annoying, but he has long been used to it.

Fabinho's entanglement made Dai Zhiwei annoyed, and he must solve this problem as he is getting closer and closer to the big penalty area, otherwise it will be difficult to deal with the situation of the Monaco defenders coming forward.

Dai Zhiwei slowed down a little, he needed to catch Fabinho off guard!

Dai Zhiwei's sudden slowdown gave Fabinho a good chance, at least after he slowed down, Fabinho had more opportunities to adjust.

Seeing the ball at Dai Zhiwei's feet, Fabinho saw that the ball had left Dai Zhiwei almost half a meter, and his eyes lit up, and he didn't hesitate to make a sliding tackle!

The exclamations of the yellow submarine fans, the fierce Fabinho rushed forward, and was about to fall down for a sliding tackle.

But the yellow submarine soon burst out with a loud call, and it turned out that at the moment when Fabinho made a sliding tackle, Dai Zhiwei suddenly accelerated, and the ball fell to Fabinho!

Dai Zhiwei was a bold gamble, and he deliberately exposed a flaw to let Fabinho kick, that is, he believed that his reaction would definitely be faster than Fabinho.

I have to say that Dai Zhiwei is very bold, but such a high-risk gamble can indeed bring great gains, at least there are no more defenders within 5 meters around him.

Dai Zhiwei steadied his rhythm, his eyes were open, and the Monaco defenders close to him were more than 5 meters away from him, and those 5 meters were enough for Dai Zhiwei to make enough handling - at this point, he was less than 10 meters away from the penalty area.

Unlike the panicked Monaco defenders, Villarreal's players are more excited at the moment, especially Villarreal's two strikers, Bakambu and Pato, who know that as long as they run out of a good position, as long as Dai Zhiwei wants to pass, then the ball will come to their feet in the next moment.

Here's your chance!

(End of chapter)