Chapter 723: Goalkeeper
Ten minutes later, Lin Dong also ushered in a header on goal, Felipe forced a cross from the bottom, and Lin Dong's header in the penalty area was blocked by the crossbar again.
Barcelona not only has poor defender air defense, but even the goalkeeper is no better, after all, Pinto is 39 years old, and he is only 185 in height.
Atletico can create a threat, Barcelona is not bad, after Raul Garcia's header, Messi made a wonderful performance, got rid of the Atletico captain on the spot, rushed to the outside of the penalty area and brushed Godin, rushed into the box and fired a powerful shot that Courtois saved.
At the end of the first half, it was Messi, holding the ball to attract the defense to pass diagonally, Alba cut diagonally on the side, and blasted a heavy cannon outside the Atletico penalty area and hit the side net of the goal.
In stoppage time, Messi once again drew the ball after the defense, this time it was Iniesta who rushed into the box, but fortunately Miranda was calm enough to not go up and chooses to block Iniesta's shot route, and in the absence of more options, Iniesta's shot failed to create a real threat.
It was Barcelona's final shot on goal in the first half, and then Atletico launched an attack, but the ball was cut off by Mascherano before the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
"In the second half, we will try to be patient, just see if Barcelona can attack" Back in the dressing room, Simeone first performed Atletico Madrid's performance in the first half.
Of course, Simeone was not stingy, and directly praised Lin Dong by name, the goal in the first half, if there is no spirit of never giving up, it will definitely not be that goal, but at the same time of praise, Simeone actually hopes that other players in Atletico Madrid can be the same as Lin Dong.
After talking about the performance in the first half, Simeone naturally had to turn the conversation to the second half, in which Barcelona was still calm, but in the second half, it was definitely completely different.
This is the Camp Nou, the home of Barcelona, and Barcelona can't accept the current score, let alone an away goal in Atletico's hand.
You must know that before the game, Messi vowed to break the winless streak against Lin Dong in this round of knockouts, so in the second half, even if Martino really wanted to make a conservative decision, Messi would not agree.
This is the sadness of the Barcelona manager, why did Guardiola leave, and he couldn't suppress Messi is one of the reasons, rather than his future performance decline, and even fell out with Messi and left, not now.
Pep Guardiola is a smart person, and his choice is undoubtedly very smart, the same is true for Real Madrid, Mourinho is also a smart man, but unfortunately, Mourinho is too strong, if it wasn't for Lin Dong last season, Mourinho is afraid that he will leave Real Madrid gloomily.
Simeone's words are still very correct, after the game restarted, Barcelona was really much more proactive than in the first half, especially Messi, he didn't want to be slapped in the face.
It stands to reason that Messi's introverted personality will not say such things before the game, he is not Ronaldo, the reason why Messi is like this, the most important thing is to feel the threat brought by Lin Dong, he knows very well that if Lin Dong cannot be suppressed, the future of world football is really difficult to say.
Alves, after passing a few kicks, Alves suddenly started and rushed into the Atletico half, Xavi saw this decisive pass, the ball behind him, Alves took the lead, although Felipe turned around and chased back at the first time, but Alves's speed was not slow.
A cross, a half-empty kick, Alves is arguably the best right-back in football today, and the precise delivery is in front of Messi, who just needs to fight to get forward.
"Oooh~~~ world-class saves, Courtois's outstanding performance is nothing short of rubbing salt in Barcelona's wounds" Martinez was full of schadenfreude as he was apprehensive.
The aging Pinto gave Atletico a goal in the first half with a low-level to almost stupid mistake, on the other hand, Courtois on the Atletico side, not to mention this world-class save, in the face of Messi's close header, Courtois relied on excellent explosiveness and bounce to push the bottom line before the ball flew to the goal line.
It was in the first half that Courtois made a number of wonderful saves that allowed Barcelona's superstars to shoot in vain.
In other words, Barcelona actually hit Courtois with the idea, trying to bring in the Belgian goalkeeper, but unfortunately, Chelsea rejected Barcelona with non-sale.
Chelsea are not short of money, and besides, Cech is 32 years old after all, and he has suffered a serious injury, so Chelsea will certainly not give up Courtois, who has shown his ability.
This is also not good news for Atletico Madrid, Atletico has always wanted Courtois to stay in Madrid, and even now has not given up, but unfortunately, Atletico Madrid did not succeed, and even Atletico Madrid did this to a certain extent to help Courtois, of course, this is a later story, and the most important thing now is the game.
Corner, Barcelona's tactical corner, Xavi passes to Iniesta, who doesn't get the ball into the box, crosses diagonally outside the box and passes the ball to Sergio Busquets.
Long-range shot, Iniesta's pass was accurate and comfortable, Busquets didn't need to adjust at all, and shot directly from a distance, but this long-range shot finally completed Courtois and was directly confiscated by the Atletico goalkeeper.
Attacking and defending, Courtois looked for Lin Dong with a big foot, Lin Dong knocked back the header to Gabi, and the Atletico captain passed the ball with two steps and then crossed to Thiago.
At the moment when Thiago got the ball, Busquets immediately posted Lin Dong, and Batra quickly followed, although Thiago had confidence in Lin Dong, but it would be a bit stupid to pass hard in this situation.
Besides, Raul Garcia is not a decoration, a long pass to Raul Garcia, who is on the side according to Mascherano's header, Koke, Atletico Madrid's right midfielder has also rushed up.
"Shot~~~Long shot~~~Pinto~~~ Barcelona veteran saves Coke's long shot" After taking the ball, Koke adjusted slightly and shot directly from a distance, and the Barcelona goalkeeper jumped forward when he saw this, and the defense held up Koke's shot.
Atletico Madrid failed to grasp the corner, Batra cleared, Barcelona wanted to counterattack quickly, but the ball just reached Messi's feet Atletico fouled, but this time the referee did not show mercy and directly took out a yellow card to Juanfran as a warning.
However, Barcelona did not seem to have made Atletico Madrid more than the first, and in the subsequent wave of Atletico's attack, Andres Iniesta also applied for a yellow card for a tackle that retreated.