Chapter 651: Heading for Germany
There was a lot of noise in the away dressing room.
The assistant coaches gathered around Yaldim to discuss, Falcao and several other veteran players signaled to their teammates to stay calm, and Bakayoko took Li Liang's arm and was teaching him how to "do something hard" with Ndiye.
Falcao clapped his hands vigorously and shouted, "Everyone, please be quiet!
We need to get back to our rhythm, this first half wasn't our real level! β
Another veteran, Raj, who was on the bench, also said: "The referee has set his sights on us, and we will suffer even more if we continue like this!" β
Jardim came to everyone, he glanced around the crowd, and asked loudly: "Guys, do you think that because we are going to Germany and are about to compete for the Champions League semi-finals, the players of Angers should respect us more?" β
This question was like a bolt from the blue, and the locker room suddenly became surprisingly quiet, and everyone became cautious even to breathe.
Bakayoko was comparing to Li Liang how to conceal the "elbow", his movements froze, and then quietly put down his arm and tiptoed back to his position.
Jardim continued: "It's not Angers' problem, it's all our own fault!
They chose the right tactics and it worked very well, and we kept struggling with our own rage!
Angers has no obligation to let us, they give it their all!
No opponent will show mercy to us because we are going to Germany, and this is the weakest sign of all! When our hearts become weak, it is difficult for us to win any confrontation on the field!
β¦β¦β
Yaldim's words were sharper than one sentence to everyone's hearts, and Li Liang lowered his head in shame.
Ndieh's aggressive style of play made it difficult for him to deal with, and his playful style of playing was even more disturbing, and he was completely unsatisfactory in the first half when his teammates were not playing properly.
Watching the reaction of the players, Yaldim was very satisfied with the results received, and he motioned for captain Falcao to continue.
Falcao smiled: "Brothers, I was the same when I first arrived in Europe.
Especially after I made a name for myself, I even asked my opponent on the pitch 'I'm Falcao, who the hell are you?'
Can you earn 1/10 of me a year? ββ
Everyone laughed, and Bakayoko shouted: "And then? Radamel? β
Falcao became serious: "Then I missed the penalty that would have led to the win, and we ended up scoring three goals at home......
I would say that no opponent will care that tomorrow we have to leave for Germany and everyone on the pitch wants to win!
On the contrary, the guys at Angers must know how much we care about the game against Dort, so they won't show mercy!
If we want to win, we have to get those three points back on our own! We must not count on heaven to give us alms! β
After that, everyone conducted a self-examination, and when it was Li Liang's turn, he first apologized to everyone: "Everyone, I'm very sorry, my lack of calmness has caused so much trouble to the team!"
I'm sorry, Camille [Glick], TimoΓ© (Bakayoko), don't worry, I'm going to keep my emotions in the second half and protect myself β and most importantly I'm going to get back into the game!
And, TimoΓ©, thank you for teaching me that, but I don't think I'm going to use it in the game......"
Everyone laughed again.
Before the appearance, Falcao brought everyone together and shouted in unison according to the encouragement, "Go!" Monaco! β
The Monaco players took to the pitch amid the boos of the home crowd as the second half of the game was about to begin.
Li Liang took the initiative to step forward and said to Ndiye: "I just got married and haven't had children yet.
By the way, brother, how many children do you have, I'll give each of them a jersey when I get back! β
Looking at the smiling Li Liang, Ndiye also smiled.
The second half started very quickly, and the situation was still completely different.
The home crowd was surprised to find that the Monaco players were in a completely different spirit from the first half, and it was simply a new look!
Ghazi finally relaxed, believing that after the half-time adjustments, Monaco had restarted at top speed like an F1 car with a completely changed engine.
Caldeira, Barros and other assistant coaches laughed at the performance of the players on the field, and Yaldim also smiled: "It was the same two years ago when we reached the last eight of the Champions League, and after experiencing these guys once, you will get used to it." β
Li Liang, who has recovered the same mentality as before, has let go of all his baggage, since he is destined to spend only in the stands in the game on the 12th, there is no reason to have reservations in this game.
He began to drop back sharply according to the arrangement of Jardim, and after switching places with Fabinho, he continued to play in a central midfield position.
Monaco, who had returned to a normal level of mentality, played as well as they deserved, and Angers simply could not replicate the slight dominance of the first half.
In the first half, Monaco's players had an extremely mixed mentality, facing the first Champions League quarter-final in their careers, several players suffered from gains and losses, hoping to seal the victory in the first half at the minimum cost.
This is in line with the old saying - "if you want to hurry, you can't reach it", coupled with the team's attacking core was successfully "provoked" by Ndiye's rush to attack, Monaco, which could not play the attacking tactics that he was good at, completely fell into the rhythm of Angers' steady counterattack.
A group of shackled players and a pre-match home team with a relaxed mentality became more and more anxious, and Monaco almost capsized in the first half if it weren't for veterans like Falcao and Subazic.
With this in mind, Li Liang had real respect for Angers, a stubborn opponent who gave their all in the first half against the mighty Monaco and almost did it to the extreme, only narrowly missing their goal.
Li Liang, who retreated, avoided the block of Angers' midfield and began to control the game in a deep position with his good vision and overall vision.
Fabinho managed to contain Ndie's defence up front, and Li Liang and Tiemoue Bakayoko took turns to cut in and make Angers' central defense quite tight.
In the anxious moment of the competition between the two sides, every weakness of Angers was exposed in front of Monaco, which was completely superior in all aspects, and it was constantly magnified.
Angers took the initiative to adjust, replacing the high school striker Dideshio and his partner Ekambi, who had completely silenced in the second half, and sent a defender and a defensive midfielder to continue to defend it.
In the 71st minute, Li Liang's back insertion led away the opponent's middle defense, Fabinho distributed the ball to the right side in time, and right-back Amamir Toure rushed to the right side to send a high-quality cross with his right foot, Falcao got rid of the defender's entanglement and grabbed the front point successfully, scoring his first goal after returning from injury and helping the team take a 1:0 lead!
The excited shouts of the home fans in the stands weakened suddenly, and looking at the Monaco players who were happily celebrating, the last mental support of the Angers players was finally completely broken.
Then the game completely entered Monaco's control, Li Liang almost covered the entire midfield, and under his dispatch, Monaco was full of firepower, if it were not for bad luck, Germain and Fabinho had the opportunity to expand the score.
Seeing that the situation was settled, Jardim replaced goal-scorer Falcao with Moutinho and brought on Lemar and Sidibi in the final moments of the game to keep things in shape.
At the end of the game, Monaco finally won three points away from home with a score of 1:0 and continued to move towards the league title.
Li Liang took the initiative to find Ndiye, not only gave him his jersey for this game, but also took a photo with Ndiye's family on the sidelines, and really promised to give every child of Ndiye a jersey.
Ndiye gratefully hugged Li Liang tightly, and he said to Li Liang sincerely: "Li, you are a good person, may you fulfill your wishes in the match with Dort!" β
Li Liang smiled: "It's a pity that I have accumulated yellow cards and been suspended for the game in Germany, and I can't play until the next game." β
Ndiye laughed and said, "Okay, Lee, I'll take the kids to cheer you on!" β
On April 9, with the joy of successfully retaining the top spot in the league, the Monaco team embarked on a flight to Germany.