"Die Meister" (German: The Champions)
"Die Besten" (German: The Best Team)
"Les grandes equipes" (French: The great teams)
“The champions”
As the beautiful female singer sang the Champions League theme song between the Champions League logo in the middle of the stadium and the two team logos held by 24 ball boys on both sides, the players from both sides also walked to the sides of the center line and lined up.
As soon as the song ended, the whole audience burst into cheers!
Chen Xiaoliang looked towards the VIP stands. Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill, Evra and other Manchester United legends were sitting in a nearby area. Totti and De Rossi were also seen behind him. Gerrard was not far from them. Before the game, Chen Xiaoliang also received text messages from them, saying that they would come to the scene to support him.
The Oil Daddy team did not sit in the stands, but appeared in the box wearing headscarves. When the awards are presented later, they will come out of the box and go to the royal box stands to jointly preside over the awards ceremony.
French President Marco Polo has also arrived and is in the next box with Sunak. Next door are Mr. Li and Wu Mi, as well as several politicians from other countries.
On a stand below the VIP stand, dozens of five-star red flags of various sizes were waving. Chen Xiaoliang's vision was blocked, and he could only vaguely see General Fan and Wu Lei inside.
As the live broadcast in the stadium announced the starting lineups of both teams, the two teams came to the other team one after another to shake hands and greet each other. As the captain of Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe did not make eye contact with Chen Xiaoliang, but clapped his hands and walked away.
Zhan Jun: "Welcome to Wembley Stadium!"
"You are watching the 69th UEFA Champions League final! It is also the 32nd final after the UEFA Champions League was officially renamed from the European Cup to the European Champions League!"
"The guest commentators invited to the scene today include Coach Zhang Lu, Colonel Guan Zeyuan, and Coach Xie Hui!"
“Whoever wins this game will create a corresponding record.”
"If Paris Saint-Germain wins, they will not only win the first Champions League trophy in the club's history, but will also become the first treble-winning team in French history!"
"If Manchester United wins, it will win the club's fourth Champions League and become the third team after Barcelona and Bayern Munich to complete the treble twice!"
"And tonight, the Champions League final is held at Wembley Stadium for the 8th time. Wembley, the birthplace of modern football, is truly the holy land of world football!"
Zhang Lu: "PSG spent so much money but didn't win a Champions League title. It's really not right."
Xie Hui: "The Champions League is still quite accidental. The competition between the giants is too fierce. Even if you invest a lot, no one dares to say that they will definitely win the championship."
Zhan Jun: "Tonight's referee team is from Italy, and I believe Xiaoliang's fans should be familiar with the referee, it is Italy's golden whistle Osato."
"He has officiated , two group matches and two knockout matches, and there have been no major controversies."
"Okay, both sides have chosen their sides. Mbappe is standing at the kick-off point in the center circle. Paris Saint-Germain will attack from right to left!"
"The referee blew the whistle and the game officially began!"
On the court, Mbappe pushed the ball back to midfielder Ugarte, then turned around and started running forward.
Compared to Ten Hag who was already standing on the sidelines, Mourinho looked much calmer. He was sitting on the bench and talking to his assistant coach Forti who accompanied him to work in Paris Saint-Germain.
As expected before the game, Ugarte and Kone simply controlled the ball and passed it to Nuno Mendes who was already advancing on the left, allowing the fast horse on the wing to start the attack.
Paris had the ball on the left, and Manchester United immediately tilted their entire formation to the right.
Nuno Mendes took a few steps and met Rashford who was defending deep. He forced his way through a step or two and found that Rashford was stuck on the wing. He then passed the ball to Mbappe who retreated to the center line to ask for the ball.
Timber's task today is to keep a close eye on Mbappe. Ten Hag chose him to start instead of B Fee and Milinkovic-Savic because of his defense and physical fitness.
However, to understand how fast a person can run, you can only experience it in person. Watching videos or looking at data will not allow you to personally experience the excitement and despair brought about by the lightning-fast process.
Timber was full of confidence as he followed with a distance of more than 1 meter, but Mbappe did not receive the ball. Instead, he stepped forward with his left foot, passed the ball to himself 3 seconds later, and rushed forward directly along the left side line!
Timber had never expected that Mbappe would choose such a direct way to dribble past the defense with his first touch of the ball. He quickly turned around and ran back, reaching out to stop Mbappe.
But after running about 5 meters, his heart sank.
Speed ​​competitions on the football field are usually based on short-distance sprints of no more than 30 meters. Basically, professional players can tell how fast their opponents are just by taking the first three or five steps, let alone 5 meters.
Tinbell ran another 3 meters, and from leading by half a body length, he was overtaken by Mbappe and fell behind by one body length.
He ran furiously, cursing in his heart, "Is this a human? Is this a human?! What a beast!"
However, even if Wan-Bissaka came over to double-team him, he was still unable to stop Mbappe who had already accelerated at full speed, so he could only reach out and grab the jersey on his back.
“Beep!”
Mbappe was pulled to the spot. When he heard the whistle, he immediately turned around to look at the referee, spread his hands with an expression of dissatisfaction.
The referee Osato did not take a conciliatory attitude and showed Tinbell a yellow card without saying a word.
Zhan Jun: "Wow, the game was less than a minute old and Mbappe used his speed to eat up Manchester United's defense, resulting in a yellow card for Timber!"
"Today, Timber is starting with an important defensive mission!"
Zhang Lu: "This will definitely have some impact. We won't dare to make any large-scale defensive moves next time."
Xie Hui: "Not only that, Mbappe, including Neymar and Nuno Mendes on this side, saw that he got a card and they all kept an eye on him next time."
On the court, Ting Beier looked at Chen Xiaoliang who was retreating with some helplessness, his eyes seemed to say: "Captain, I really can't catch up with this!"
Chen Xiaoliang waved his hand to signal him to calm down.
However, he also saw the ball just now. Compared with the previous two friendly matches, it seems that the 25-year-old Mbappe's speed is still increasing.
This is truly a gift from God, an absolute talent that surpasses all other people.
Manchester United retreated and Dybala came over to take the free kick.
He may be the one who treats this game with the most awe , because no one among his teammates knows Chen Xiaoliang's strength better than him.
However, no top player comes to the game to lose, and Dybala also comes with the belief of winning.
The reason why he feels confident that he can win is Mourinho, who has led him to success, and Mbappe, who is equally terrifying in his eyes.
"Beep!" Osato signaled the kick-off and Dybala started his run-up.
In order to prevent Manchester United from launching an equally sharp and quick counterattack, Mourinho banned the three central defenders from participating in corner kicks in the first 35 minutes of the first half. Therefore, in addition to Mbappe, the two defensive midfielders Ugarte and Kone also competed for headers in the penalty area.
Ugarte, 23 years old, is a Uruguayan defensive midfielder, 182 cm tall and 72 kg in weight. Paris Saint-Germain spent 60 million euros to buy him from Sporting CP at the expense of Chelsea. He is the strongest defensive fighter under Mourinho this season. Not only did he win the league's steals title, but he also terrified many attackers with his super strong style of play. France Football even compared him to a defensive version of Chen Xiaoliang.
Cone, also 23 years old, is a French midfielder who can play both forward and backward and has excellent footwork. Although his defensive skills are not as good as Ugarte, he can often force his way back to the lost position after losing his position due to his dark and strong physique.
At the same time, in offense, he can move forward and use dribbling and passing to help the frontcourt players organize the offense.
The combination of these two players is deeply trusted by Mourinho. He will send them into the field in every important game, leaving Verratti, Vitinha and others sitting on the bench.
Dybala passed the ball in, Mbappe tied down the defense in the small penalty area, Cone competed for the header, but the ball was headed away by Casemiro.
On the penalty area line, Neymar headed the ball back into the penalty area before Kvart. This time it was Ugarte who stepped back smartly and hooked the ball sideways. Fortunately, De Gea was well prepared. He jumped up and took the ball with both hands, then fell to the ground and pressed it under him.
Zhan Jun: "Paris Saint-Germain's set pieces are quite threatening. Today we need to note that Manchester United's defense is not very strong in the air. Lima and Timberl are both less than 1.8 meters tall, and Varane is the only tall player. Mourinho's team may be able to create some good opportunities through set pieces."
Paris Saint-Germain's two consecutive shots just now made Ten Hag's heart tremble on the sidelines.
In the 2018-19 season, he led Ajax, a team famous throughout Europe with an average age of only 24 years and 257 days, to the semi-finals of the Champions League. The experience of losing to Tottenham at the last moment has lingered in his mind almost every day in the past few years.
Five years later, he finally broke through himself and led a more talented and promising team, but also shouldered greater pressure and expectations from the giants.
He shouted loudly at Rashford on the sidelines, asking him to retreat to the penalty area line when defending set pieces, while letting Kvar, who was not good at confrontation and heading, stay in front and form a counterattack threat with Cesco.
De Gea stood up and kicked the ball. Mourinho did not choose to press high in the frontcourt. Instead, he chose to retreat across the board and set up a defensive formation to meet Manchester United's positional warfare. At the same time, it also reserved more energy for the front three to use on offense.
The ball was thrown to Casemiro, who took a few steps and passed it to Luke Shaw who came on the left.
Dybala ran over to press, Luke Shaw got in position and dribbled inside before pushing the ball to Chen Xiaoliang who came over to receive the ball.
As soon as Chen Xiaoliang received the ball, Mbappe accelerated and rushed over.
Chen Xiaoliang pulled the ball with his left foot, and Mbappe rushed over from his right side and wanted to steal the ball, but Chen Xiaoliang just pushed the ball forward and ran out. Mbappe missed it and immediately stood still and stopped chasing, just watching how his teammates would defend next.
A hint of displeasure immediately flashed in Mourinho's eyes.
Chen Xiaoliang dribbled the ball forward and came to the offensive third zone, where Ugarte was already waiting in front of him.
He changed direction to the right, and Ugarte immediately half turned to his left, and as he turned, he put his right hand up.
As expected of the tackle king who received more than 10 yellow cards in a season, the first move he made hit Chen Xiaoliang on the throat.
At this moment, Chen Xiaoliang could have fallen backwards, and the referee would have called a foul, but this was not a good place to fall, and even if he got a free kick, it was still too far from the goal.
Chen Xiaoliang made a strong breakthrough, and Ugarte was obviously shocked by Chen Xiaoliang's impact, just like Timber who just defended Mbappe!
He had seen fast people and had been overtaken by Mbappe many times during team training, but he had never seen someone who ran so fast and had such strong confrontation ability. He pushed hard with the right side of his body, but he couldn't push Chen Xiaoliang at all!
Cone on the other side also rushed over at full speed!
Today, Mourinho gave only one task to these two defensive midfielders: as long as Chen Xiaoliang approaches the attacking third zone, no matter which way he takes, left, center or right, they must find a way to stop him.
If he goes on the left, Ugarte will help Ashraf to double-team him. If he goes on the right, Kone and Nuno Mendes will double-team him. If he goes in the middle, the two defensive midfielders will naturally double-team him.
The ball can pass, but people can't pass!
What Mourinho is also concerned about is that he must not give Chen Xiaoliang the opportunity to shoot directly in the fan-shaped area in front of the goal within 30 meters!
In the frontcourt, Chen Xiaoliang changed direction to the front right, and just as he got rid of Ugarte by about half a body length, Kone rushed up from the right. Chen Xiaoliang changed direction again and dribbled the ball forward, trying to use his speed to completely get rid of both of them and prevent them from closing the door.
At this time, Paris Saint-Germain's French left center back Disasi was already standing about 5 meters in front of Chen Xiaoliang in the penalty area, ready to fill the gap at any time.
But unexpectedly, at the moment when Chen Xiaoliang was about to shake off the two and rush into the penalty area, Ugarte and Kone on the left and right sides of his body simultaneously stepped down and tackled!
Moreover, Ugarte on the left side tackled with his right foot, and Disasi on the right side tackled with his left foot!
Chen Xiaoliang didn't see clearly which foot tripped him, he just felt his body lose balance and fell forward.
“Beep!”
The referee Osato's whistle sounded a second late, and because of the split second he couldn't see clearly, but his colleagues from the video referee team had already told him in the headphones that Cone's left foot had touched Chen Xiaoliang's right ankle.
Osato maintained the same standard of judgment and came over to show Kone a yellow card.
Zhang Lu: "Haha, this is interesting! At the beginning of the game, a defensive midfielder from each side received a yellow card."
Zhan Jun: "That's right! And they were all fouls committed by the ace players of both defenses when they were dribbling through!"
Guan Zeyuan: "The abilities of these two people are indeed unique."
Cesco came over, stretched out his hand to pull up the fallen Chen Xiaoliang, and Manchester United prepared to take a free kick.
Paris Saint-Germain's set-piece defense was similar to that of Manchester United just now. Dybala retreated to the penalty area line, with a total of eight people involved in the defense, leaving only Neymar and Mbappe in front.
However, the difference is that central defenders Varane and Casemiro ran to Paris Saint-Germain's penalty area to prepare to participate in the header, while midfielder Timber retreated to the central defender line and was responsible for defense with Lima and two full-backs.
Zhan Jun: "Look at Xiaoliang's free kick!"
"Curve ball with right foot!"
"Varane at the back post!"
"Italy's goalkeeper Donnarumma was very steady and blocked the ball back!"
"Ashraf made a long clearance, and Luke Shaw didn't pass the ball forward immediately after receiving it. Instead, he waited cautiously for his teammates to get into position before reorganizing the game."
Xie Hui: "The two set pieces at the beginning were quite threatening. In a positional battle where the two teams were still testing each other and did not dare to press forward in a big way, set pieces were indeed a good way to open up the situation."
In the next 10 minutes, the offensive tactics of the game were very simple.
Apart from sporadic set-piece attacks, Paris Saint-Germain's main tactic is to attack from both wings, and then pass the ball to Mbappe through passes from Neymar and Dybala.
Once the ball is at Mbappe's feet, as shown in a large number of game videos analyzed by the Manchester United coaching staff before the game, as long as he can shoot, Mbappe will definitely choose to shoot himself. If he cannot shoot, he will try to go down the bottom, and then make a reverse triangle or a close pass to his teammates.
The offensive tactics were very simple, but with flexible dribbling and super-fast starting speed, the defensive players on both sides of Manchester United faced great pressure.
On the Manchester United side, since Paris Saint-Germain's double defensive midfielders blocked the front very tightly, both Chen Xiaoliang and other attacking players adopted the method of going down the bottom or making crosses at a 45-degree angle to find Cesco, allowing the main center forward to fully warm up first and also find the feeling in the confrontation with Skriniar and others.
But everyone knows that this is not the real killer move of the two teams.
Everyone is waiting for a great opportunity.
In the 21st minute, Manchester United once again got a chance for a free kick on the right.
Since B Fee and Eriksen are not on the field, Chen Xiaoliang becomes the number one free kick taker on the field.
This time, since the ball was not in front of the goal, Paris Saint-Germain only sent two people to act as a goal wall to prevent Chen Xiaoliang from kicking the ball directly towards the goal from the side.
"Beep!" Osato whistled and Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball.
Zhan Jun: “This time he didn’t kick the ball directly, but passed it to the right side, and Wan Bissaka made a cross!”
“Look at the effect of the cross!”
"The pass was a little too long and Donnarumma jumped up and caught the ball."
Zhang Lu: "Manchester United's right side is still unbalanced in attack and defense. Wan-Bissaka is strong in defense, but he is not as good as Dalot in passing the ball. Dalot is better in attack, but in one-on-one defense, especially against flexible and fast wingers, his effect is much worse than Wan-Bissaka."
Guan Zeyuan: "Rashford's crossing ability is also average."
Zhan Jun: "Paris Saint-Germain's formation was scattered, and Donnarumma threw the ball to Skriniar."
"Pass it forward, Neymar retreats in the middle!"
"Hit it directly to Cone on the left!"
"Kone didn't stick to the ball, he passed it to Dybala in the middle!"
"Opportunity!" (Zhang Lu: "Good shot.")
"Casemiro comes back to defend!"
"Dybala sends a straight pass to the right with his left foot!"
"Mbappe..." (Guan Zeyuan: "Yo!")
"Rushed into the restricted area!" (Zhang Lu: "Not good!")
“Just shoot the door!!!”
"In the 22nd minute, the ball went in!"
"The superstar from France! Kylian Mbappé!"
"Paris Saint-Germain suddenly exerted force. Manchester United's formation had not yet been fully formed. It seemed that before they could recover from the previous attack, Paris Saint-Germain launched a quick counterattack!"
Xie Hui: "From the time Donnarumma passed the ball to the time Mbappe scored, there were only four passes in total, and the ball went from our own penalty area to the opponent's penalty area."
Zhang Lu: "This is Mourinho's style."
Guan Zeyuan: "The pressure is now on Xiaoliang. I didn't expect the balance of the game to be broken all of a sudden. Paris Saint-Germain will definitely focus more on defense, and Manchester United's attack will become more difficult."
Zhan Jun: "Mbappe! Director M! He scored the first goal in Paris Saint-Germain's last and most crucial game! He excitedly ran to the sidelines and made his signature celebration move with his hands on his chest!"
Guan Zeyuan: "I wonder how Xiaoliang feels when he sees his former good partner Dybala throwing himself into Mbappe's arms right in front of him."
Everyone: “Hahahaha!”
Barrage:
【It was a wrong payment after all】
[You hurt me and laughed it off...]
[Last year she was Sweetie, but now she has become Mrs. Niu? ]
…
Ten Hag frowned on the sidelines, thinking that Paris Saint-Germain would launch a fast attack, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.
There were four consecutive passes, the first three of which were passed directly after receiving the ball, without waiting for the Manchester United defenders to get close. It was a simple attack, plus Mbappe moved to the right rib and made a rapid run without the ball. Before the final shot, Lima had not even gotten close before the ball had already hit the goal.
The problem with this ball was still in the midfield. Chen Xiaoliang's free kick was not in position yet, Casemiro and Timberl were too deep, one was too deep, and the other was too forward when pressing Neymar, resulting in no one standing between him and Mbappe when Dybala made a straight pass.
On the other side, Mourinho was still sitting in his seat. He didn't even get up when the goal was scored. He just raised his arms and cheered, then looked at the field calmly, as if everything was within his calculations.
Zhan Jun: "I watched the replay again and the live data came out. From the time the ball was passed to the goal, four passes and one shot, it took a total of 11.6 seconds!"
Guan Zeyuan: "It reminded me of the descriptions in martial arts novels."
Zhan and Guan said at the same time: "In the world of martial arts, only speed can not be defeated!"
Paris Saint-Germain was celebrating over there. Chen Xiaoliang walked back to the half court and clapped his hands vigorously towards his teammates in the midfield and backcourt, reminding them not to be upset by the opponent scoring first.
At the same time, he also gestured to his teammates to ask for the ball.
30 seconds later, the game resumed. Cesco kicked the ball to Chen Xiaoliang, who passed it back to Varane. Manchester United, who were one goal behind, began to press forward as a whole. Now their top priority was to score a goal first.
Manchester United's backcourt kept passing the ball back and forth. Apart from Mbappe who took two symbolic steps to make a defensive move, only Dybala was actively running.
The ball was passed to the right, Wan Bissaka couldn't find a good point to pass the ball, so he passed it back to the middle, and Lima in the middle passed it to Luke Shaw on the left.
By continuously passing the ball forward, Manchester United's two full-backs were almost approaching the center line.
Luke Shaw looked at Kwa who was about to start in front of him, and then looked at Ashraf who was following closely, plus there was Lucas Hernandez behind him who was ready to steal the ball at any time, so Luke Shaw gave up the idea of ​​hanging behind him.
Then he looked at the middle again and saw that Chen Xiaoliang retreated a little. There was no one within 5 meters around him, so he immediately made a long pass from medium distance.
Chen Xiaoliang took a step forward, raised his right foot to meet the falling ball, and the ball bounced forward twice.
At this time, Ugarte, who was intercepting the low ball from the Manchester United midfielder to Chen Xiaoliang in the middle, immediately rushed up, and Kone, who was guarding the front of the penalty area, also rushed over.
Regardless of whether there is a yellow card or not, as long as they get close to the offensive third zone, stopping Chen Xiaoliang is the death order given to them by Mourinho.
When the two approached to about 3 meters, Chen Xiaoliang looked down at the ball that bounced up for the third time and was about knee-high in front of him, and while looking at it, he had already adjusted his pace.
Then, he swung his right leg back and fired a long volley with his right foot from the right side of the midfield, 34 meters away from the goal!
【Good at powerful shots】
【Good at long-distance shooting】
Plus the volley triggers [Good at difficult shots]
The triple BUFF bonus, combined with the long-shot attribute of 19 and the technical attribute of 20, increases the curvature of the outside instep of the ball, making the ball draw an arc in the air like a precisely guided hypersonic missile that can maneuver in the air to avoid anti-aircraft fire, and fly towards the goal of Paris Saint-Germain with an afterimage!
"You're knocking on the door right now?!"
At that moment, this question popped up in countless people’s minds!
Even Mbappe, who was walking in the frontcourt and looking back at the situation behind him, had this question, and then opened his mouth slightly in surprise!
Donnarumma, who is 196 cm tall, was standing on the edge of the small penalty area at this time and had never expected that Chen Xiaoliang would shoot directly from this distance.
The violent outward rotation of the ball delayed his judgment of the ball's path for a moment, and then he used all his strength to jump to his right side, stretched out his right hand, and tried to stretch and open his body as much as possible!
However, the arc of the ball just avoided his defense.
After a moment of silence, there was an earth-shaking roar!
"ah!!!"
"yeah!!!"
"Oh my god!!!"
The Manchester United players were stunned for a moment, looking at the ball that hit the upper left corner of the goal. After making sure that they were not sleepwalking, they immediately turned around and rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang from all directions!
Zhan Jun: "Shocking!!!"
"It's hard to imagine. In less than 2 minutes, there was a chance that was not a chance at all. Xiaoliang took a long shot without being closely defended in the midfield!"
"The ball hit the theoretical blind corner!"
Xie Hui: "This is a very sharp angle, without a doubt a very sharp angle."
Zhang Lu: "No one can save this ball. The ball is too fast, the arc is too big, and the key is that it comes out of nowhere."
Guan Zeyuan: “…”
Barrage:
[Don't smile, be stunned! ]
[Just when he said that Manchester United would have difficulty attacking, Xiaoliang scored a goal... Pele would definitely think that there is someone to take over after seeing this.]
[Manchester United fans beg Guan Zeyuan to praise Paris Saint-Germain! ]
[Guan Zeyuan, hurry up and speak up, don't just stand there, Mbappe is the best in the world! ]
…
Zhan Jun: "1 to 1! Both sides are back on the same starting line!"
"If Mbappe's counterattack goal was 'the best martial arts in the world, only speed can break it', then Xiaoliang's goal at this moment is..."
Zhan and Guan said again in unison: "A heavy sword has no edge, and great skill is useless!"
The game was tied so quickly that Mourinho, who had been calm and relaxed just now, jumped up from his seat instantly. He walked to the sidelines and shouted at Ugarte and Kone: "Why don't you push forward? Why?!"
After he finished yelling at the game, he saw that the two men lowered their heads and dared not look at him. He walked back to the bench with an angry face and started complaining to Forti.
Chen Xiaoliang ran to the gathering area of ​​the Red Country fans under the VIP stands, sprinted forward and jumped high, then punched hard as Manchester United fans shouted "KING!!!"
Wu Lei and General Fan in the stands were so excited that their faces turned red. General Fan kept shouting "Old Luan! Old Luan!"
Zhan Jun: "The camera was on Mbappe, he kept shaking his head, he seemed to be very dissatisfied with the performance of his teammates on the defensive line because the lead he just took was equalized so quickly!"
Zhang Lu: "It seems that his teammates are also a little afraid of him and don't dare to communicate with him. I didn't see anyone go up to talk to him."
Xie Hui: "It seems that Dybala only said a few words to him after the game."
Zhang Lu: "Dybala is very popular. He is unique in that he has been teammates with Messi, Ronaldo, Xiaoliang and Mbappe in his life."
After celebrating in the frontcourt, Chen Xiaoliang started walking back. When he passed the center circle, he met Mbappe who was also walking back to his own half.
Guan Zeyuan: "This scene is a classic! The two people passed by each other without any communication, not even eye contact, as if they completely ignored each other's existence."
Xie Hui: "The king does not meet the king."
Zhang Lu: "Haha, it looks like these two top players are going to fight each other. The next game will be interesting!"