Chapter 165: Bad pain

When the whole Marseille team arrived in St. Petersburg, the media reported at the airport about their visit to St. Petersburg. The French media reported that there was a sense of superiority. When they were talking about this, they basically regarded St. Petersburg Zenit as a group of dead people.

But we can't say that they are arrogant or something... because the situation is indeed infinitely close to the situation that is beneficial to Marseille.

Marseille is now leading by two goals, with a total score of 3:1. This score is very good. Anyone who has such a score in the first round will feel that he is sure to win.

But the players in Zenit, St. Petersburg, just felt unhappy and unwilling to accept it.

They are not very similar to the pessimistic view of the outside world, and they still have confidence within themselves because Chen Yingxiong's away goal was scored.

It's better to be just two goals apart than three goals apart.

This week, Edvokat has been practicing another tactic, which is to let Chen Yingxiong be the tactical center, rather than the scoring center. Let him attract Marseille's defensive attention and give Kerzakov, Arshavin, Domingos and others the chance to score goals.

This sacrificed Chen Yingxiong's scoring ability. But who made his scoring ability sharply decrease after losing the support of both wings?

Edvorkat needs the team to win now, so he doesn't care about Chen Yingxiong's feelings. So even though he knows that Chen Yingxiong will definitely have ideas, he can only insist on doing so.

Of course Chen Yingxiong had an idea... but he didn't show it. He knew that the team's performance was more important at this time. If he couldn't enter the quarterfinals, it would be useless for his performance to be good.

So Edvorkat asked him to play tactical center, and he unexpectedly did not object.

But no one knew the little abacus in his mind...

The starting lineups of both sides in this game are not much different from those in the previous round.

They all sent out the strongest lineup they could send. From this point of view, Marseille head coach Eric Gerets still attaches great importance to this game and is not as arrogant as the French media has shown.

But he values ​​it, but his players may not.

Before the game began, in the home team's locker room, Edvocart was encouraging the players to improve their fighting spirit and morale.

"Our goal is definitely not to go home after reaching the quarterfinals of the League Cup. We have to go further. As for how far we go, it depends on you! In fact, I think it was a good thing that we lost to Marseille 1:3 in the last game. Please let you know that the League Cup is not as simple as you imagined. From the knockout round, every game is a tough battle. I don't know if we can reach the final, but we can play every game as a final. Now, enjoy this final!"

The reporters from both sides either stood or sat in the media seats, and they were discussing the game before the game started.

"I think Marseille can at least enter the semifinals..."

"This team is in good shape, and it's not impossible to reach the finals!"

"Who will be the opponent in the next round?"

"You know, it's up to the results of the lottery."

French journalists are already discussing their future rivals.

The media in St. Petersburg and Chinese media are worried.

"The situation is very serious... Does Zenit have a chance to turn the tables when he is two goals behind?"

"Zenit fans said they will fight the team until the last moment, but I really hope this last moment doesn't come too early!"

"Pray for a miracle!"

"Is the best Chinese players' League Cup finals the top 16?"

"Although this result is the best in history, I'm really unwilling to give up!"

The emotions and momentum shown by the reporters on both sides are completely different, which is very consistent with everyone's attitude towards this game before the game.

The home team is not favored, while the away team is very popular.

It’s not that St. Petersburg will lose at home, but that as long as Marseille can score a goal, it will offset Zenit’s away goal advantage. At that time, Zenit has no choice but to score desperately and beat Marseille in the total score. But they have to defeat Marseille 4:1 at their home court, which is too difficult.

So before the game, the media in St. Petersburg had analyzed that the most difficult point of Zenit's game is not to win two goals, but how to prevent the opponent from scoring. Marseille's attacking strength is not weak, but since Scotter left, Zenit's defense has dropped to a higher level. Scotter is young, strong, outstanding air defense ability, and relatively comprehensive. He has always been the core force on Zenit's defense line. Once he left, the defenders who stayed behind were either too old or too young and lacked the backbone.

It is proof that he easily fed three balls by Marseille in the last game.

If the defense is recovered across the board, it can be defended, but how can we score the goal?

Therefore, the difficulty of this game is that you have to make a choice. Do you choose to attack or defend? In order to advance, you must attack, but you cannot concede the ball in order to advance.

Anyway, the reporters in St. Petersburg and China are confused and don’t know what to do.

This dilemma is the difficulty of this game.

After the game started, Marseille did not make a big attack. Their tactics were a little conservative. Gretz asked the whole team to pay attention to defense rather than offense. This approach was natural. They had already led two goals, and they only had to lead a few goals even more. However, without conceding the ball, they could ensure that they advanced smoothly with this score. Which one was lower cost? Which one was less risky?

A head coach like Gretz would not be unaware of it.

Marseille shrinks its defense and looks like he wants to play a defensive counterattack, which makes Zenit's offense difficult.

In the past, Zenit was not afraid of such positional battles, because there was a powerful center forward like Chen Yingxiong in their team. It was enough to poke the opponent's penalty area and have a few headers.

It doesn't work today. He lost the support from the cross from the wing. His purpose is more to make balls for his teammates than to head the ball himself.

Moreover, Marseille set up heavy troops in the penalty area and wanted to squeeze him out of the penalty area. Everyone knows that the further away from such a pure center forward, the smaller the threat, because they are not good at dribbling and their passing level is average. They can't do anything except shooting, and they can't even be complimented at long shots. Therefore, the smaller the threat of such a center forward is from the goal.

Chen Yingxiong's long-range shot is very good, but Marseille also has a way to defend him, that is, not let him turn around - let him always turn his back to the offensive direction. No matter how good your long-range shot is, do you have a chance to perform?

What other uses does the center forward not be able to turn around besides making walls for his teammates?

Judging from the first round of the game, Gretz already knew very well that Chen Yingxiong was a center with poor turning skills and poor skills in taking the ball from behind.

This center is useless except for being more powerful in heading...

He really understands why Edvokat used such a person as offensive arrows. Maybe it is useful in the Russian domestic league, right? But this is the League Cup, which is more than ten times stronger than the Russian Super League.

Being able to do well in the domestic league does not mean that you can take it all in the League Cup.

Gretz is very attentive in tactics. He feels that his arrangements should be enough to freeze Chen Yingxiong. As long as Chen Yingxiong is unable to shoot, he can pay attention to defending other Zenit players' shots. This is much simpler.

Edvorkat's task for Chen Yingxiong was to make balls for his teammates, and Chen Yingxiong did the same at the beginning. He passed a few balls to his teammates - most of the time he used his head, after all, his head was more skilled than his feet.

But the effect is not very good.

His teammates were also under very tight defense.

Marseille's defensive strategy is very simple - it is to defend the penalty area. I don't care whether you are Arshavin, Domingos, or Krzakov. Anyway, if you enter the penalty area, you are all surrounded by our Marseille people. If you want to score a goal, it's as difficult as climbing the sky! Even if you don't finish the shooting action!

If you are outside the penalty area, just maintain pressure appropriately and prevent the opponent from having a long shot in a too dangerous place. From 30 meters away, the defense is very relaxed, allowing Zenit to fall back and forth, but he just cannot pass directly.

Edvocart also saw it. He turned his head and looked next door. Marseille head coach Gretz was really well prepared. The confidence of the French media is also well-founded...

But how do you score a goal in this way?

In order to get a goal and gain an advantage, Zenit fought fiercely on the scene.

In the ninth minute, the "captain" Denisov, who started in this game, received a yellow card for a foul.

He had no intention of apologizing, but stared at the Marseille player fiercely.

Of course, Sana from Marseille also stared at Denisov with the same fierce look - do you dare to touch my player, don't you want to mess around?

In the 14th minute, Sana tackled Denisov to the ground, and the two sides had a skirmish. In the end, the referee showed Sana a yellow card.

During this conflict, Chen Yingxiong, who loved to join in the fun, did not rush in to stand up for his team leader. He was thinking about the problem.

Whether it is heading or passing the ball with his feet, he can only make one wall. Judging from the current situation, the effect of this wall is very limited. The team still cannot score.

The little abacus in his mind became active, and he decided to try what he did in the dungeon the night before.

In this game, the captain of Marseille, Lorik Sana, who is known as the "Marseille Killing Machine", did not play the back position where he was best at, but played the central defender. His task was to curb Chen Yingxiong and prevent him from turning around easily.

Lorik Sana, who is 1.86 meters tall, has the height of a central defender. He could have played multiple positions, including the central forward, the midfielder and the central defender. Therefore, the temporary guest appearance as a central defender is not considered a rush to be on the shelves.

Under his control, it was difficult for Chen Yingxiong to turn around.

This is a very difficult opponent, Chen Yingxiong had known before. His movements were fierce and fast, and clean and neat - all fouls were neat. And the most important thing is that his defense is very aggressive and full of momentum, and it can scare many people. Just look at his revengeful foul just now, and you can tell. He seems to be aiming at your ankle and knee, and you will never give up until you kick your leg.

But now he is going to make his own counterattack.

When Chen Yingxiong took the ball back again, Sana posted it up.

This time, Chen Yingxiong did not pass the football to his teammates who were receiving him nearby because he knew that this was just a throwback and back and forth outside the opponent's 30-meter area. Marseille strictly guarded the pass directly, and it was difficult to pass the threatening ball.

After receiving the ball, he stepped on the football under his feet and then leaned back suddenly.

A player like Sana would not run away when facing physical confrontation. Seeing Chen Yingxiong leaning towards him, he came forward instead.

The 1.86-meter-old Sana and 1.92-meter-old Chen Yingxiong collided!

With a bang.

Sana gritted her teeth.

Before he could come back to his senses, he suddenly felt Chen Yingxiong's body bow forward again... and then he arched his butt up.

It just hit his lower abdomen...

Unpreparedly, Sana's lower abdomen was tightened and she felt a stream of sadness coming from her crotch - he was in pain.

Chen Yingxiong was hit by the lower abdomen with his butt, and Sana's cold sweat oozed out. He fell down directly on his back.

In the battle between the killing machine and the giant bear, the giant bear won in the first round!

Just as Chen Yingxiong was about to turn around and shoot, he heard the referee's whistle!

foul!

Chen Yingxiong opened his hands and clenched into fists.

It's just a little bit!

But he also saw hope and just beat him like this! Let others get hurt!
Chapter completed!