September 13, Elland Road.
"The theme song of the Champions League has already sounded. At the same time as the "Champions League" sounds, athletes from both sides began to enter the stadium." Martin Taylor, the commentator of Sky TV, began to explain the first game of Group B of the UEFA Champions League in the 2006/07 season.
"Leeds United's home game against Inter Milan starts soon." Taylor's partner is his old friend, Ian Dark.
"At the same time, we also invited former Leeds United player Lucas Radebe to watch this game today." Taylor began to introduce today's commentator.
"Hello everyone, I'm Radebe." The South African center back couldn't introduce himself simply.
"Let's first take a look at Leeds United's starting situation today. Today's Leeds United's starting goalkeeper is still Edwin van der Sar. In the defense, because Mills was injured in the previous training, Milner replaced him, and his partner was Woodgate, Albuchesson, Matthijssen and Baines, it’s a five-back style.”
"The midfielder is a combination of Parker, Graveson and Smith. The forward is Kuyt partnering Robin Van Persie."
"Let's take a look at Inter Milan. They have a standard 442 formation. The goalkeeper is Cesar, and the back line from left to right is Grosso, Materazzi, Cordoba and Maicon. The midfielder It’s Figo, Vieira, Stankovic and Zanetti. The forwards are Crespo and Adriano.”
"Lucas, what do you think of Leeds United's lineup today?" Taylor asked Radebe, who had played for Leeds United before. In the 2003/04 season, when George Lee was still the acting head coach, Radebe He also played for Leeds United, then retired at the end of the season and served as coach of the Leeds United reserve team for a year.
"George Lee is a very thoughtful coach. We have seen that he will send out three, four and five backs according to different needs of the game. Today's five backs basically give priority to foothold and defense. Maybe Leeds United's best The high-position pressing and full-court pressing that he is good at will not be so obvious."
"Indeed, under normal circumstances, Leeds United will use a five-back combination when facing stronger opponents or particularly important games."
"The game will start soon, let's wait and see..."
While Smith and Zanetti were choosing sides, George Lee, who was standing on the sidelines, was drinking his second bottle of water today.
"George, are you nervous?" Kidd asked concerned.
“No.” George Li said casually.
"Then why do you drink so much water? What if you want to pee in the middle of the game?"
"Damn, don't tell me, I really want to go."
"It hasn't kicked off yet, hurry up and get going."
Then George Li ran into the player tunnel to use the toilet under the watchful eyes of all the fans.
"We saw Coach Li suddenly running towards the tunnel. Is something wrong?"
"Maybe. The game is about to start. Why did he return it? Maybe he forgot something."
The three commentators looked at George Li running back and were also very surprised.
At the same time, Inter Milan's head coach Mancini was also very surprised. He was also very curious when he saw the young head coach running into the player tunnel.
It wasn't until Leeds United kicked off here that the ball returned to the feet of Albchesson in the backcourt, and Lee George ran out of the tunnel again with a notebook in his hand.
George Li came to the coaching bench and threw the notebook towards Casper.
Casper picked up the book and looked at it. The cover said "Fire Patrol of Players Tunnel".
"Why did you give me this?"
"Isn't it better to hold something in hand to demonstrate, otherwise I would be so embarrassed."
"Have you zipped it up?" Casper asked kindly.
"Pull it, pull it, look at it specially."
After saying that, George Li started to look back at the court, and the game had just started.
Seeing that Leeds United was conducting transmission in the backcourt and Inter Milan was not pressing forward, he turned back to his assistants.
"Don't tell me, I became nervous as soon as the background music of the Champions League started playing."
"Then you won't have to go to the toilet every time a Champions League game starts?"
"No, it won't be...a good shot...it's a pity..."
While several people were still discussing going to the toilet, Leeds United took the lead in launching an attack.
In the 4th minute of the game, Leeds United made a large-scale transfer, and the ball moved from the right to the left. Baines stopped the ball near the sideline and handed it to Graveson.
Graveson faced Vieira's tackle and gave the ball to Smith in the middle with his foot.
Smith moved the ball to the right and hit the goal directly.
This ball was not a powerful and heavy volley like Smith's in the past, but a banana ball with a wide arc using the instep of his inner foot.
The ball flew toward the far corner. Cesar was originally at the near corner. When he saw Smith's shot, he flew toward the far post, but did not touch the ball.
But it was a pity that the ball flew out of the baseline against the post.
Smith immediately held his head when he saw the ball flying out, which was a pity even for the home fans.
The exclamation was followed by a warm round of applause for their captain.
Smith also raised his hands high, and after two shots, he began to retreat. After all, the tactical requirements set by the head coach today were mainly defense.
It’s okay not to win, but you absolutely can’t lose.
This is George Lee's first Champions League game after joining Leeds United, and it is at home. If he loses, it will have a great impact on the team's morale.
In the 12th minute, when Leeds United passed the ball in the backcourt, Parker's pass was blocked by Stankovic and passed to Adriano.
King Meazza leaned on Albuchesson and then turned around with his left foot and shot. Fortunately, the ball was on the right path and was firmly held by Van der Sar.
"Pay attention when passing the ball, what the hell do you want to do Scott!" Seeing his midfielder's mistake, Li was also very angry off the court.
He didn't want to be led by his opponent right after the start, and it was such a strong team that he would be in trouble once he was led by them.
Li was angry and nervous. He was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. He opened another bottle of mineral water and drank it.
And Van der Sar loudly said to the Danish center back: "Stick him, jam him, don't let him turn around.",
In the video given before the game, there are many goals made by Adriano's left foot after turning around after taking the ball.
This Brazilian striker, who is very powerful in all aspects, is the Adriano that Li least wants to meet at this time. If it had been a year or two later, Li wouldn't have to worry about Adriano at all.
But even without Adriano, Inter Milan still has Ibrahimovic on the bench, which may be a more difficult player to deal with.
After each side took a shot, they began to control the rhythm of the game, neither wanting to advance the game too quickly.
Leeds United is based on defense here and does not want to be counterattacked by Inter Milan. Inter Milan has too many veterans here, so don't waste your energy too early.
Therefore, the fighting and running of the two parties have been much restrained.
Especially for Leeds United, interspersed movements in the league have been invisible in the past. In most cases, they stand still and wait for the pass, which can avoid too many passing errors.
In the 39th minute of the game, Inter Milan's Vieira suddenly moved forward after taking the ball, causing chaos in Leeds United's midfield. When he came to the penalty area and wanted to pass the ball to Crespo in the penalty area, the ball was poked away by Woodgate.
This change of pace highlights Inter Milan's experience. The veterans on the field will change the rhythm of the game through analysis and judgment during the game, posing a threat to the opponent.
