Chapter 140: Breaking the Deadlock
The first leg of the Champions League semi-finals is over, and both Madrid have good results.
Atletico Madrid beat Lyon 1-0 at home and had a certain advantage in advance.
Real Madrid's 0-0 draw away at Manchester City was also a good result.
So after the two first legs, the media are predicting that this year's Champions League is likely to replicate the one two years ago, with the final Madrid derby.
However, Lyon and Manchester City both have chances.
Lyon have a chance to return to their home stadium to turn the tables, after all, they have overturned Bayern in the quarterfinals.
Manchester City have not lost at home and have a chance to go to Madrid to qualify, all it takes is a goalless draw.
But overall, it's the Madrid duo who have the better chance.
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After returning to France, Lyon continued to prepare urgently.
Having already had a familiar experience facing Bayern in the quarterfinals, the whole Lyon team was naturally calm.
And everyone believes that the team will definitely be able to make another home comeback.
On April 30, in the 36th round of Ligue 1, Lyon hosted Ajaccio.
In preparation for the Champions League, Lyon came on as a substitute.
With only a promoted side, Lyon won the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Cornet and Fekir.
With the three points in this game, Lyon's points this season have reached 86, successfully breaking the team record and achieving the highest points of the season.
But it is also a solid step towards the runner-up of the highest score in Ligue 1.
In this round, Paris defeated Rennes 4-0 at home, raising the season points to 90 points, becoming the first team in the history of Ligue 1 to break 90 points in a single season.
After the league, it will be the crucial second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Lion flags are flown all over the city of Lyon, and fans are waiting for Lyon's home comeback to reach the final.
On 2 May, the Atletico squad arrived in Lyon a day earlier to prepare for the second leg.
Lyon fans are doing their best to interfere and make a modest contribution to the team's comeback.
After all, in the first leg, Lyon suffered the same treatment away from Madrid.
On May 3, at 8:45 p.m. local time in France, the second leg of the 2015/16 Champions League semi-finals, Lyon's home match against Atletico Madrid officially arrived.
Atletico have the same 442 line-up as for the first leg.
Goalkeeper: Oblak;
Defenders: Felipe Luiz, Godin, Jose Jimenez, Juanfrán;
Midfielders: Koke, Gabi, Augusto Fernandez, Saul;
Forwards: Griezmann, Torres.
"Since beating Barcelona 2-0 at home in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Atletico Madrid have won six consecutive games in four La Liga and two Champions League games, all of which have kept clean sheets."
"As long as Atletico Madrid keeps a clean sheet at Lyon in this game, they will definitely be able to advance smoothly and complete the feat of reaching the Champions League final twice in three years."
Amid the Spanish commentator's praise of Atletico's defense, the game officially began.
Due to the defeat in the first leg away, Lyon must score at home.
At the same time, the first leg was only a one-goal defeat, so Lyon only needed one goal to equalise.
The premise is that the opponent can't score an away goal.
Therefore, Lyon's tactical arrangement is still based on stability.
Stabilize the defense and don't concede the ball, and let the forward line find a way to score one.
In fact, Atletico Madrid also used this method in the first leg.
It was not too good for the home team to take Lyon, and in the end it was Griezmann's individual ability to get one.
Lyon kicked off in the middle circle, but did not rush to attack.
Atletico's defensive counterattack was too sharp, and if one move was accidentally penetrated, it would really be a complete loss.
With Atletico's defensive ability, as long as they get away goals, Lyon will definitely be cool.
So the Lyon players passed back and forth carefully and played patiently.
It wasn't until the 5th minute that Zhang Chaoqiang received the ball on the periphery under the cover of his teammates and completed the first shot of the game with a left-footed heavy cannon.
Although it was a long-range shot from the outside of the area attempted with his left foot, the quality of the shot was not bad, and the ball went slightly over the crossbar.
After completing the first shot, Lyon unconsciously picked up the tempo of the attack.
In the 7th minute, Jordan Ferry went down to the bottom to return the pass, and Lacazette barely poked the ball out of the bottom line under the defense of Godin and Jimenez.
In the 10th minute, Valbuena tried to break through with the ball in front of the penalty area, but was cut off, and Atletico immediately launched a quick counterattack.
Griezmann made a quick push down the flank to the front of the pitch and sent a cross that Koke scrambled to shoot, but fortunately the post helped to bounce the ball off the line.
"Don't be in a hurry! Calm down!! The Lyon fans were taken aback by the goal, and assistant coach Genesio quickly rushed to the sidelines and shouted to cool down the field.
Atletico are not only good at defending counter-attacks, but also good at conceding possession.
Allowing the opponent to control the ball and dominate the attack, Atletico themselves used counter-attacks to find flaws in their opponents.
This is also Atletico's fun-loving means, and Lyon almost hit the trick just now.
After the coach's shouting, the Lyon players quickly calmed down and looked for opportunities unhurriedly.
In fact, with a slower tempo, Lyon are less likely to leak holes, but at the same time the likelihood of creating chances is also reduced, which is not conducive to scoring goals.
But the Lyon coaching staff was afraid of Atletico's sharp counter-attack and could only arrange it this way.
"Since they can all rely on their stars to score a goal, then we can do it too." Fournier stared at the pitch with a little worry in his heart.
When this tactic was formulated before the game, the coaching staff seriously discussed it, and such an arrangement is likely to lead to Lyon having few opportunities at home and eventually being suffocated by 0:0.
But Fournier insisted on it.
Rather do nothing than make mistakes, this is the insistence of defensive football.
Rather make mistakes than do nothing, this is the insistence of attacking football.
In terms of football philosophy, Fournier still leans towards defensive football.
Of course, on the other hand, he believes that Zhang Chaoqiang can get one in with his personal ability.
Just as Fournier was thinking, Lyon attacked the front again.
Due to the conservative tactics, Lyon did not have many players in the half, as long as Zhang Chaoqiang, Lacazette, Valbuena, Tolisso, and Jordan Ferry.
Tolisso and Ferri combined down the middle to split the ball to the right, but Valbuena was forced to cross the ball in a hurry.
Lacazette was one step inside the penalty area and jumped up to fight Uruguayan centre-back Godin for a header.
With a certain positional advantage, Lacazette managed to top the football.
But with Godin's interference, he couldn't put the ball in the back of the net.
So the ball was thrown high and fell in front of the penalty area.
Zhang Chaoqiang's eyes and feet were fast, and he stepped past Cork on his side and rushed to the football landing point.
But in the lateral position, Atletico captain Gabi, who is closer, is also desperately rushing forward.
Seeing that the two were about to arrive at the landing point at the same time, Zhang Chaoqiang adjusted his center of gravity one step in advance, and directly jumped up and swung his legs to fight!
Boom!!!
Zhang Chaoqiang's right outside instep was solid and hit the football, but at the same time, he was hit in the shoulder by Gabi, who arrived quickly.
The football flew out, and Zhang Chaoqiang was also knocked into the air, almost falling sideways.
Even after being knocked off, his eyes still did not take his eyes off the football.
The ball was pulled out of a large arc by Zhang Chaoqiang's outside instep, and flew towards the upper left corner of the Atletico goal in a rapid spin, like a scimitar.
Atletico goalkeeper Oblak reacted quickly and immediately flew to the side.
But it's always a little bit worse.
The ball went just around his fingertips and into the net.
"Goooooooooooal——————————" In an instant, the world's commentators erupted in screams.
"The ball is in!! Super Zhang!! Long Shot World Wave!! ”
"A volley from outside the penalty area hit the world wave, Super Zhang successfully broke the deadlock and equalized the aggregate score for Lyon!"
'Twenty minutes into the game, Lyon have already equalised, and they still have plenty of time to keep scoring and try to turn the game around!'
At the same time, the Chinese commentators were also chanting excitedly.
"Zhang Chaoqiang!! Strike!! It's so beautiful!! ”
"Zhang Chaoqiang's volley from outside the penalty area hit the world wave and directly broke through the Atletico goal!"
"Atletico Madrid, who have not conceded a goal in six consecutive games in all competitions, finally fell in front of Zhang Chaoqiang, and their golden body was broken!"
'The quality of the shot was so high, the volley from outside the box was a big curling banana ball and it was extremely fast, it was a must-have goal and it couldn't be saved.
"Coupled with this world wave, Zhang Chaoqiang has scored 10 goals in the Champions League this season, which is second only to Ronaldo's goal statistics, and more goals than Messi, Suarez, Lewandowski and other super strikers!"