Chapter 104: War Begins
On the court, Degan was moving his body, waiting for the kick-off, and all around were the singing of Barcelona fans. The sense of oppression, even the thick line of Degan, could not help but feel nervous.
In this game, Jekaard arranged a 4-3-3 formation: goalkeeper Valdez, defense Belletti, Marcos, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, midfielder Deco injured Come back, Edmilson, Iniesta, the forward line is Giuly, Eto'o and Ronaldinho.
For AC Milan, Carlo Ancelotti still arranged his best 4-3-1-2 Christmas tree formation: goalkeeper Fiori, defensive line Stam, Costacurta, Karadze, Sergini O, midfielder Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf and Kaka, and Inzaghi partner Digan on the forward line.
This is Barcelona's 100th Champions League game. Since losing to Juventus in the quarter-finals of the 2002/2003 season, Barcelona has remained unbeaten in nine consecutive Champions League home games.
And because the league was postponed due to heavy rain last weekend, Barcelona also got extra rest time. Only Oleg, Xavi and Messi were absent under Rijkaard. Barcelona can be called a neat lineup. ?? Stadium Maniac 104
If AC Milan can achieve a reversal, it will be the third time in the past four seasons to reach the final, but in the 14 seasons since the expansion of the Champions League, only Ajax in 1996 fell behind 0:1 in the first leg of the semi-final A comeback to advance, and AC Milan's away record in the Champions League this season is very bad.
Among the many injuries that received attention before the game, although Nesta came to Barcelona with the team, he failed to recover from his thigh muscle strain and was not included in the squad. Costacurta, who will be 40 years old in two days, was replaced. And served as the captain of the field, Cafu sat on the bench, and Simic, the favorite right back before the game, continued to sit in the stands to watch the game.
Degan was preparing for warm-up and waiting for the referee's whistle when he suddenly felt two sharp eyes locked on him. Degan looked over and found that it was Eto'o.
Before the game, although the Barcelona fans seemed very unfriendly, the two teams were still in peace. After all, Rijkaard had played for AC Milan for a long time before, and reached the peak of his career while playing for AC Milan. AC Milan, Rijkaard is still very emotional.
But Barcelona has a big mouth, and they just like to spoil the atmosphere. The more harmonious they are, the more they like to jump out and make something happen.
"Using AC Milan as an opponent to warm up for our Champions League final is obviously perfect. I hate all teams wearing white clothes, and AC Milan is no exception!"
Eto'o suddenly made such a nonsense, obviously no one expected that AC Milan was also confused by the harmonious atmosphere before, and they were not mentally prepared to talk to each other at all.
Speaking of which, AC Milan is also lying down this time. Everyone on the earth knows that the Cameroon Cheetah hates Real Madrid the most. It happens that AC Milan's away team uniform is white again. This time AC Milan is just a helpless success. Eto'o is nothing more than a scapegoat to vent his grievances to Real Madrid.
In Digan's view, Real Madrid treated Eto'o too much. Now that Eto'o is rising in Barcelona, it is a crisis moment when Real Madrid is sinking deeper and deeper into the downward trajectory, but it seems that Real Madrid executives have no reason to regret it. Because when they sold Eto'o, they only had the euro in their eyes, and when the Cameroonian was in Real Madrid, the club treated him even worse than a piece of grass from the Bernabeu.
When Eto'o was brought to Real Madrid Sports City by scouts in 1997, he thought he was in heaven. Indeed, for most players, the Bernabéu is synonymous with heaven, and many people regard playing for Real Madrid as their ultimate dream. But in the ensuing years, he has only one experience representing Real Madrid.
There are many reasons why Eto'o is not valued by Real Madrid, but none of them have anything to do with his ability, and the two most important points are his image and tough personality.
When he played for Mallorca, Eto'o was already appreciated by Aragones, but he still openly competed with the old coach after being replaced midway. His personality is evident. Obviously, Real Madrid will not appreciate it. Such a thorn in the side of disobeying discipline.
In fact, in the 1998/1999 season, Eto'o had conflicts with the Real Madrid coach because of his main position. In addition, the ethos of Real Madrid's attention to the appearance of players did not start with Perez, but the image of Eto'o~~~~~~~~ Haha! This is doomed Eto'o body in heaven is better than the fate of hell.
In the summer of 1999, Real Madrid transferred half of Eto'o's ownership to Mallorca for 7.5 million euros. This year also happened to be the peak period for young players such as Casillas, Pavon and Bravo to appear in La Liga.
For this half ownership, Eto'o is very angry, so he also hates Real Madrid. He has been drifting outside and once found Valdano, hoping that the latter would recall him to the club, but he was refused. That being the case, Eto'o hoped to follow his mentor Aragones to Atletico Madrid to play football, but failed because the Lions of the Real Madrid club opened their mouths.
Real Madrid don't want their rivals in the same city to get such an excellent shooter, and they also hope to make a lot of money from Eto'o. The Cameroon cheetah thinks, since you don't need me, why do you still embarrass me everywhere? Do you just regard me as a money-making machine?
Many players regard joining Real Madrid as a supreme honor, but in Eto'o's view, they would rather stay in Mallorca for the rest of their lives than return to their old club. Real Madrid used him to rip off the Athletic club, which made him completely heartbroken.
In Mallorca, he became the greatest shooter in the history of the team. At the same time, another nickname was added: Real Madrid killer.
During his time in Mallorca, the Cameroonians would always kill Real Madrid and score goals almost every time. He will burst out with a very strong motivation, as if he has changed a person, as if he wants to get justice, as if he wants to make his opponent absolutely regret it. ?? Stadium Maniac 104
At the end of the 2002/2003 season, in the confrontation between the two teams, Eto'o relied on speed to create many threatening counterattacks, playing with Carlos, who is known as the best left back in the world. In the 52nd minute of the game, it was also a counterattack. He scored a very strange goal. In the eyes of many people, it seemed to be an impossible goal, but he scored. Carlos and Casillas fell to the ground and didn't get up for a long time.
At the end of the 2003/2004 season, Real Madrid, which had encountered many crises, met Mallorca and Eto'o again. In the game, he first used his speed to score the first goal, and then the perfect combination of speed and technology created the most exciting goal in his career. After getting the ball in midfield, he passed through Figo, Beckham, Pavon, Bravo in a row, and easily scored the ball in the face of Casillas. This should be a shocking goal, which is enough to break the confidence of Real Madrid players in distress.
After scoring the goal, he shouted to the "chairman" platform: I am Eto'o, I belong here!
After all, Mallorca is a small temple. Eto'o has long wanted to leave. Of course, Real Madrid is unwilling to push the players they have trained into the Nou Camp. Rented to Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona is not only willing to pay 24 million euros for Eto'o, but also guarantees his main position. Weighing the two, Eto'o chose Barcelona almost without hesitation.
Of course, Perez didn't care about Eto'o's betrayal, because the "dark horse" flying to Camp Nou brought him back a lot of euros. Eto'o showed that his love for the red and blue jerseys was not to please, because it was Laporte who helped him get rid of the reins and shackles of Real Madrid. From this point of view, he finally came to his own in the summer of 2004. place, and the Bernabeu is nothing more than a "pseudo-paradise" left behind by him.
Eto'o's hatred for Real Madrid reached a fixed point after Barcelona won the league championship in advance some time ago. During the club's celebration ceremony, Eto'o shouted loudly at the countless "fans" of Camp Nou : "Real Madrid bastards, salute the champion!"
AC Milan, who was lying on the ground, was naturally unwilling to be silent. Gattuso, the number one gunpowder barrel in the team, exploded first: "If that kid thinks that AC Milan is weak and deceitful, we will tell him during the game. What is the power of an Italian man!"
Eto'o obviously dismissed Gattuso: "I won't fight with a fool who only knows how to play with muscles, AC Milan!? Do they have anyone else besides Shevchenko?"
"Grandma" "Grandma"!
So defiant!
No one but Shevchenko?
So what is Maldini? What is Pirlo? What is Kaka? What is Inzaghi? What is Digan?
"I will kick that ugly devil's big mouth during the game! Let him know who else is in AC Milan?"
Degan was really angry. He admired Eto'o at first, but now his feelings for Eto'o plummeted, and he was blacklisted, and he was still locked.
Degan directly chose to ignore Eto'o's glare. Who is the hero and who is the hero? See you on the field!
Not long after the opening, there was a loophole in Barcelona's defense. Kaka kicked a through ball. As Degan said before the game, no one in Barcelona's defense could stop him. In terms of speed, Barcelona's defenders are considered fast. , but Degan was faster. After he received the ball, he shot along the right rib. Belletti stepped forward to defend, but was counter-reasonably charged by Degan and directly hit his grandma's house. Then Degan was at the front of the penalty area, right With a strong low shot, the football was subconsciously blocked by Puyol while it was running, and the result was slightly wide of the far post.
Seeing that the goal was missed, Degan was also annoyed for a while. If he can score a goal at the beginning of the game, it will be very important to boost morale.
Rijkaard also saw the danger, stood on the sidelines and yelled, signaling the team to stabilize.
Then Pirlo took a corner kick. Degan failed to reach the ball under the close defense of Marcos. The football was lifted into the midfield by Puyol's big foot. To'o inserted into the penalty area and dunked the defender, and shot with his left foot 11 meters in front of the goal, but Fiori's attack speed was still timely, and he fell to the ground and blocked the ball with his body.
Just at the beginning of the game, the two sides contributed two wonderful offenses, and the fans on the scene were also hooked.
"Both sides have put in all their strength in this game. It seems that it will not be easy for either side to win."