At the beginning of the second half, neither side made any substitutions and continued to maintain the lineup of the first half.
During the break, Li George asked the team to continue to pay attention to defense, because only by doing a good job in defense can they have a chance to counterattack.
What Barcelona is afraid of is this counterattack. If you take the initiative to attack Barcelona in this period, you are seeking death. An excellent organizational midfielder coupled with a frontcourt with excellent personal abilities can completely kill the game in a few minutes.
Regardless of Leeds United's two-goal lead in the first half, if he didn't beat his players during the midfield, George Lee might have had trouble in the second half.
"Don't be careless, forget those two goals and defend every Barcelona attack."
Leeds United have also done this very well.
The second half turned into a defensive exercise for Leeds United. The defensive intensity was infinitely strengthened, making it difficult for Barcelona's offense to adapt.
In the 47th minute, Sylvinho fouled Milner on the wing and received a yellow card.
Then Barcelona also saw the power of the famous "Bad Boys Army" in England. As soon as Milner fell to the ground, De Jong and Graveson ran over. First, one person helped Milner up, and then De Jong immediately went up and pushed his opponent.
The referee had to show De Jong another yellow card to control the situation.
But Barcelona has the situation under control, but Leeds United is not easy to control.
In the 49th minute, when Leeds United was attacking, Kuyt got the ball passed by Smith through blocking. But when he was about to hit the goal, the referee stopped the game.
When the referee thought Kuyt was stuck, he knocked down Puyol.
Kuyt kept asking the referee to argue, and then he was shown a yellow card warning.
In the 54th minute of the game, when Leeds United was defending on the right, Mills kept pulling at Ronaldinho, all the while tugging at the Brazilian's jersey. Then after the ball rolled out of the sideline, Ronaldinho couldn't bear to retaliate against Mills.
The referee quickly came over and showed Mills a yellow card.
George Li happened to be standing on the edge and began to protest to the referee, because Ronaldinho's elbow swing was also very wide, but the referee only warned Mills.
In this way, the actions of both sides did not converge due to the referee's stoppage and yellow card, but became increasingly louder.
The head coaches of both teams almost stood beside the fourth official and kept protesting.
On one side, Rijkaard believed that Leeds United kept committing fouls and the referee should continue to increase penalties and control the trend of the game. On one side, Li complained that Barcelona players fell down at a touch, which was completely staged.
However, as the game progresses, the balance of the game is increasingly tilted towards Leeds United.
The score was Leeds United's lead, and then Barcelona was unable to organize the offense smoothly because the game was interrupted.
Finally, in the 57th minute, Rijkaard took the lead in making adjustments.
He used two substitutions at once, replacing Motta with Iniesta, and replacing Messi, who was out of shape for the game, with Gudjohnsen.
The Argentinian youngster was completely submerged in Leeds United's midfield and backcourt today. Baines, who was defending from the front, kept close to him for a distance, not attacking, but just following. Coupled with Parker, De Jong and Matteisson, Messi is constantly restricted to a small area.
As for Gudjohnsen, Lee George also wanted to introduce him this summer, but the Icelander preferred to join Barcelona, thus rejecting Leeds United.
After Li George saw the substitutions at Barcelona, he also took action decisively.
De Jong was replaced with Swedish central defender Granqvist who joined this summer, and then Smith was withdrawn to the midfield, leaving the frontcourt to Milner and Kuyt. Anyway, today they have strengthened their determination to counterattack. They can launch from left, center or right. As long as the defense is successful, the counterattack will not be effective.
In the 60th minute of the game, Parker fell to the ground while fighting with Ronaldinho. The ball was picked up by Graveson next to him. Leeds United was ready to launch a counterattack.
However, the referee stopped the game again, signaling that Parker had committed a foul.
At this time, the Leeds United players who felt targeted by the referee finally broke out, and almost all Leeds United players surrounded the referee.
"Our man also fell to the ground, why was it us who fouled again."
"Their people fall down at the first touch, how can they kick the ball?"
"This is the Champions League title, but we might be relegated from the Premier League."
Smith kept protesting to the referee, and was then shown a yellow card. Finally, he was pulled away by Van der Sar.
George Lee and the Leeds United players on the field kept shaking their heads, wondering if the person they picked was indeed violent.
He turned around and looked at Button, Thatcher, Van Persie and Davis who were eager to play on the bench. He thought about whether he should plan carefully for future games. He could not send all these bad guys out at once, but should leave a few on the court. A more sensible player.
In the 63rd minute of the game, Barcelona had another shot that was confiscated by Van der Sar.
Barcelona seemed to have no other option except long-range shots, and Rijkaard was also very anxious off the court.
First of all, I am the Champions League champion. If I lose to the UEFA Cup champion, I will feel very shameless.
There are many head coaches of teams sitting in the stands. If several La Liga teams and Champions League opponents are like this this season, then this season will be difficult for me.
Real Madrid brought Capello, and Cannavaro was bought from Juventus. In the Champions League, Chelsea is also a team famous for its defense. If I can't even break through Leeds United's defense, how can I play against those two teams?
Looking at the situation on the field, I thought Barcelona really had no other choice. It can be penetrated but not penetrated. There are people inside and outside the restricted area. Except for Ronaldinho, the personal abilities of other players here are not too strong. And Ronaldinho was completely disappointed, and the Brazilian was not in great shape today.
Rijkaard had a headache.
Just when he was troubled, Leeds United's counterattack came again.
In the 67th minute of the game, Leeds United's long pass from the wing found Kuyt in the penalty area.
Kuyt's header was passed to Smith who came in from behind, and the Leeds United captain directly chose to header the goal. The header from 8 yards missed the post slightly.
In the 69th minute, Ronaldinho made a cross. After Iniesta got rid of it in the middle, he shot a long shot with his right foot from 25 yards, which also missed the post.
2 minutes later, Eto'o's shot was blocked and then deflected to the far point. Gudjohnsen's shot in front of the goal was saved by Edwin van der Sar in time.
Then Van der Sar was also shown a yellow card by the referee because he was reluctant to kick off.
George Li was so angry that he almost took off his glasses and dropped them. He turned around and asked Casper which players had to check. He didn't want Leeds United to be sent off one man and ruin the good situation.
Barcelona's Champions League this year was due to Barcelona's comeback and victory after Arsenal was sent off a man.
In the 74th minute, Leeds United's offense almost scored.
Baines stepped in from the left, passed Deco and Belletti in succession, and broke into the penalty area.
A shot was blocked by Valdes.
"Huh~"
Barcelona and Leeds United fans in the Louis II Stadium screamed in surprise.
Then, the fans here at Leeds United gave Baines a warm ovation.
"Both full-backs are very tired today." Kidd said to George Lee.
"You have to keep an eye on Ronaldinho and Messi, and you have to intervene in the offense, that's for sure. In order to keep an eye on Messi today, I didn't even dare to let Leighton play as a midfielder, so I hugged the wing tightly to prevent being hit from behind. .”
Li George discovered that Barcelona's lineup today can only play smoothly.
The guys in the frontcourt didn't defend. When Leeds United attacked, Barcelona relied on the backcourt to deal with it, and the midfield was not strong enough to help.
After Leeds United scored from the opening minute, it was difficult for Barcelona to beat them.
