Chapter 941: An Unexpected Defense
The game entered the 80th minute, neither side dared to be careless, now the score is 3:3, as long as there is a careless, then this goal is likely to be a stunner, there is no equalizer at all.
So at this time period, there can be no mistakes, both sides are more focused on defense, especially the performance of Iroh and Messi is very good, if too many troops are invested in the attack, then there is a very likely problem on the defensive end, and there will be no point at that time.
Although both sides said before the game that they had to take all three points, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola both knew that a draw was acceptable, after all, a point was acceptable compared to watching the other side win.
The league is a long season, only twenty-six rounds have passed, and there are still 12 rounds left for them to run.
The Mestalla fans were still at a very high level, and the cheers never stopped, especially when Iello was carrying the ball forward......
However, in the 80 minutes, Iroh was in big trouble, and Barcelona's defensive attention was basically on him, so that he simply did not have much space to break through and shoot.
Commentator He Wei said: "As the game time enters the end of the game, Barcelona's defensive attention is basically on Elo, and now it is difficult for him to get space to break through, as long as he gets the ball, he will encounter at least four defenders to interfere......"
"Many people are misled by Guardiola's removal of Keita for Llorente, in fact, Guardiola is using Llorente, who is tall and strong in ball control at his feet, to attract in the front court, plus Messi is cruising in the two ribs, which means that in addition to Llorente and Messi do not need to defend, the other eight players have heavy defensive tasks, which makes them able to maintain a high defensive quality in the case of replacing Keita......"
Barcelona was very restrictive to Elo, and Valencia was also very restrictive to the active Messi, which was the biggest reason why the two sides reached a stalemate again after 80 minutes.
Another two minutes passed in a stalemate.
Except for the two waves of attacks, the two sides did not have any conspicuous place at all.
Sky TV commentator Martin Taylor said: "No one has the courage to take risks at this point in the game, but ...... There is still one chance for the two sides to make a substitution, but it is not known when Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola will be activated. ”
In the 85th minute, Barcelona switched from defending to attacking, Xavi passed the ball to Iniesta, who stopped on the spot and shook it past James Rodriguez in disguise to pass the ball directly to Llorente.
Albiol went up for the first time, Llorente did not stick the ball at his feet, and directly over-gave the ball to Messi, who was flexible and running.
Despite a yellow card on his back, Javi Martinez rushed from the side to Messi, who was taking the ball forward.
It's just that what he didn't expect was that Messi suddenly changed the direction of the ball, from a straight line to a horizontal dribble, and had a wonderful pass with Javi Martinez, who was in the half-circle arc of Barcelona.
However, Messi's horizontal dribbling also affected the rhythm of his forward dribbling, after all, at this time of the game, his physical energy is also very expensive.
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With Javi Martinez out of position and Albiol to juggle Llorente, Godin naturally shouldered the responsibility of stepping forward to defend Messi.
Right wing-back Cesar Azpilicueta naturally adducted and defended Messi with Godin in a play-and-retreat situation.
In the blink of an eye, Messi crossed the halfway line and faced the duo of Cesar Azpilicueta and Godin.
The Barcelona commentator in the commentary box shouted: "Messi, Messi, this is your chance!" Beat Valencia's defenders and put on a senior show at Mestalla to help Barcelona beat Valencia!! ”
At the same time, Cesar Azpilicueta and Godin both know that a fight-and-retreat defence is not a one-and-done affair, and if you push to defend the 30-metre zone, then the defence will be dangerous, and you will have to leave at least the same between Messi and football.
Godin, who was innocent, volunteered to step forward and wanted to use a foul to keep Messi in place.
As a result, Messi stabbed the ball forward with the tip of his left foot, and Godin just fell to the ground and slid the tackle......
This also creates a wonderful breakthrough that is very ornamental - the crotch is overwhelmed!
Messi continued to dribble under the exclamations of nearly 50,000 Valencia fans in the stadium, and Azpilicueta did not dare to step forward and deliberately foul like Godin because of a yellow card, so he had to choose a strategy of fighting and retreating.
At this moment, a huge shout suddenly erupted in the sky above Mestalla.
The change could have come as a bit of a surprise to Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola in the visitors' command area.
In his cognition, Messi passed Godin with a humiliating dribble, shouldn't the Valencia fans erupt in boos?
How did it just turn into a shout?
This is not scientific!
Soon, Guardiola knew what the Valencia fans in the stands were chanting for.
Because a white lightning bolt flashed over the Mestalla stadium at high speed, the big number nine behind him told everyone who this lightning bolt belonged to......
In the short time that Guardiola was amazed, Iello was only about three meters away from Messi with the ball.
His figure also entered the TV broadcast camera.
"Messi passed Godin, he will face Azpilicueta with a yellow card next, Barcelona is in danger!" CCTV commentator He Wei followed the white figure that appeared on the camera, his eyes lit up, his voice turned suddenly, and he shouted: "This ...... This is Iro! He's chasing back at high speed!! ”
The reason why Iroh is so active in defending has a lot to do with the trouble he has on the offensive end, plus when Xavi breaks the ball, he is not attacking the ribs, but pulls to 30 meters away, waiting for space to break through.
As a result, the opportunity did not wait, but waited for Barcelona's transition from defense to attack......
Getting back to the point, the home fans at the scene cheered as Iello got closer and closer to Messi.
Messi, who dribbled forward, frowned suddenly, excellent dribbling skills and keen senses, he immediately knew that there was an opposing player chasing back at high speed, and he was getting closer and closer.
But he really couldn't think of anyone else in Valencia who could catch up so fast......
Between the lights and flints, Iroh is only two meters away from Messi.
At his incredible speed, the distance was only a matter of a few tenths of a second.
Cesar Azpilicueta saw the white shirt getting closer and closer to Messi as he fought and retreated, and although he didn't have the experience to look up, he knew it was a team-mate.
So that's enough!
So Cesar Azpilicueta took the initiative to go up to the right to make a defensive move.
Messi's feet touch the ball very quickly, and the distance between the ball and the person is very delicate, in the process of high-speed dribbling, he delicately used the inside corner of his left foot to the right to dunk the ball in the opposite direction of Azpilicueta.
Before Messi could feel the joy of the breakthrough, he felt his foot touch the obstacle, and then the whole person swooped forward......
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Iello opted for a sliding tackle from behind the side when Messi flicked the ball to the right, aiming for the ball that left Messi's left foot.
And this is the time when Messi lost contact with football.
By the time Messi realized that it was too late for someone to put the ball away from the tackle, Ayroh's right foot was just on the trajectory of the ball, and the two forces came to a direct collision.
Next time, Messi swooped forward and the football remained at Iroh's feet.
This is...... Beautiful tackle to keep the ball!
The Barcelona commentator said indignantly: "This is a foul!" Definitely a foul! ”
However, the referee on duty did not blow the whistle in his mouth, but hooked his finger at Messi, who fell to the ground, and signaled him to hurry up.
Although the fans in the stands didn't see it clearly when Iroh fell to the ground and slid just now, it didn't affect their support for Iro, and huge cheers fell from the sky.
Instead of getting lost in the cheers of the fans, Iello got up from the grass with his hands and feet and took the ball forward.
At the same time, Guardiola in the away command area angrily yelled at the fourth official: "Damn it! This is definitely a malicious foul behind the scenes!! Why doesn't the referee blow it?? ”
At this time, Messi also saw clearly who was chasing back at high speed and cut off the ball......
In fact, it is not difficult to guess, with such a proud speed, who else can Valencia have on the field?
It's just that Messi didn't put the target of his suspicion on Iroh, as the team's attacker, he must have his own pride.
Defend?
That's just a sign of unproductiveness.
During the time when Messi was distracted, Iroh slipped the ball past Iniesta, who was actively involved in the attack.
Immediately after facing the poor Fabregas, Airo chose to kick the ball to Xavi Martinez with the outside of his left foot, and then ran diagonally out of Cesc Fabregas' control.
Xavi Martinez willingly played the ball to Elo, who slotted the ball to the left with the back of his right foot in the inside corner, got past Xavi, and slid the ball past the halfway line to Barcelona half.
In this way, Barcelona's high pressing was flexibly dodged by Iello and continued to move forward.
The cheers of the home fans grew louder and louder, and they knew that Iroh would be very likely to kill his opponent in the last minute of the game!
At this time, Busquets, as the team's only lone back, had to step up and deal with Elo.
However, Iello had no intention of going head-to-head with Busquets, as he kicked the ball to James Rodriguez, who was facing him, and accelerated past Busquets' right.
Busquets has nothing to do about it.
He had no choice but to turn and rush towards James Rodriguez, who was about to get the ball.
However, James Rodriguez only played the ball for Iroh as a wall, which means that Busquets' defensive choice was completely wrong!