Louis II Stadium in Monaco.
This is the second time Leeds United has come to this stadium. Like last season, this time it is also a European Super Cup game. It's just that the opponent of the game has changed from Barcelona to AC Milan.
Compared with Barcelona, Li George actually feels that this AC Milan team is more difficult to deal with.
Because whether it is Dream 2 or Dream 3, without the help of external forces such as referees, Barcelona still does not have an advantage against Premier League teams. They can control more than 60% of the ball possession rate, but it is difficult for them to open the door of the Premier League team.
But AC Milan is different. Ancelotti, who won the Champions League last season, has already mastered the use of the "Christmas tree" formation.
After losing Shevchenko, the top single arrow, Ancelotti found another key to victory.
If last season's Champions League final couldn't explain anything, Kaká's performance in the second leg of the semi-finals told everyone that no one can put pressure on his "Son of God" in the past two years.
Just like in today's game, Kaka completed a wonderful personal performance in just 5 minutes.
After receiving a midfield pass from Ambrosini, who was the captain today, Kaka accelerated his way between the two Leeds United midfielders. Then, when facing Woodgate who was rushing forward, he changed direction and stepped out of an angle before pushing and shooting with his right foot.
This shot has a small range of motion and is very concealed. If Van der Sar hadn't been experienced and correctly judged Kaká's intentions and acted in advance, Kaká might have kicked the ball in.
The ball was aimed at the lower right corner of the goal. After Van der Sar pounced on the ball, the ball still hit the post.
Everyone at Leeds United was shocked into a cold sweat.
Even if George Lee takes care of the players on the field before the game, he must keep an eye on Kaka and not give him any chance to start.
But the Leeds United players on the field can't know how powerful their opponents are until they experience it for themselves.
Watching it on video and experiencing it in person on the court are two different feelings. In the Premier League, they have also coached some powerful dribbling masters, such as Ronaldinho, Duff, and Robben who just became a teammate. But Kaka gave them a bigger shock.
How can someone combine man and ball so well?
"Hey hey hey~"
Off the court, George Lee had already come to the sidelines and began to remind his players to focus and not make the same mistake again.
As the captain of the team, Smith, who was placed in the midfield today, took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility. When he came to Parker and Barry, he said that he would restrict Kaka as soon as possible and try not to give him a chance to speed up.
On the court today, George Lee did not use the 433 formation used in recent games. Instead, he used his usual five defenders to deal with strong teams. What is even more outrageous is that today he left Kuyt as a forward and changed to four. Midfield.
Because of dealing with Ancelotti's "Christmas tree", George Lee could only compete with his opponents in the midfield for thickness of midfield.
Kuyt even retreated to midfield most of the time to harass Pirlo.
The offense relies on Kaka, and the organization relies on Pirlo. As long as these two points of AC Milan are firmly restricted, Leeds United can block the opponent's attack.
As for your own offense?
In the 15th minute of the game, Leeds United took a corner kick and scored Sneijder's corner kick through Granqvist's header into the gate guarded by Dida.
AC Milan, which originally had the upper hand, suddenly panicked.
Ancelotti kept looking at George Lee, who was 18 years younger than him, feeling extremely conflicted in his heart.
Through these two seasons of European performance, some teams from other countries have also become aware of this newly emerging team in the Premier League. Especially Sevilla and Roma, who have played against each other many times, are even more aware of this young English coach.
He doesn't play his cards according to common sense and has a lot of weird ideas. He thinks about new tactics, new formations, and new ways of playing all day long.
Just like today, Ancelotti never expected that George Lee would put Robben, who had performed well in the Premier League recently, on the bench, and instead fight with him in the midfield.
AC Milan only has one Gattuso, but Leeds United has Smith, Parker, and Barry constantly fighting for it.
Kaka was marked, Pirlo was restricted, Ambrosini couldn't keep up, and Seedorf's big butt that he was proud of in Serie A didn't squeeze past Smith.
Coupled with the two tall Nordic central defenders and Woodgate who kept filling in, Ancelotti felt more than once that he was not playing Leeds United, but Chelsea with a "bus". Only the arrogant Portuguese would do such a thing after taking the lead.
Ancelotti thought it would be best if he could make a comeback in the first half, otherwise he would really have to make adjustments during the halftime break.
In the 27th minute of the game, Leeds United used a counterattack again, allowing Sneijder to pass the ball behind Kaladze. Kuyt's shot after receiving the ball missed slightly due to Nesta's interference.
In the 36th minute of the game, Seedorf's long shot was caught by Van der Sar.
In the 39th minute of the game, Smith's header went slightly over the crossbar.
George Lee kept gesturing and calling his players on the sidelines. He hardly stopped for nearly 40 minutes.
Ancelotti, on the other hand, folded his hands and frowned.
Anshuai now understands that the Leeds United bus is not placed in front of his goal, but in the midfield. AC Milan controls the ball in the backcourt, and Leeds United's Kuyt, Sneijder, Smith, and even the two full-backs Baines and Milner will come up to press. Anyway, AC Milan's two full-backs are not very capable of assisting today, and Leeds United's two wingers are not under much defensive pressure. If AC Milan plays a high ball directly from the backcourt, Leeds United's three central defenders will clear the ball away immediately.
AC Milan finally pushed the ball into the frontcourt, and then Leeds United's defense began to shrink. The two defensive midfielders would firmly protect the position in front of the penalty area and not give AC Milan players any chance.
In the injury time of the game, AC Milan finally had their best chance to take the field.
Gattuso grabbed the ball during a scramble with Smith and then passed it to Ambrosini.
The Italian found the space behind Albuchesson and made a through ball that passed in front of Barry and Albuchesson.
Inzaghi, who was overwhelmed by the Leeds United defense for nearly half the game, finally waited for this opportunity. Before Ambrosini passed the ball, he glanced at Woodgate and suddenly started.
Stopped the ball, faked a move, dunked past Van der Sar, and succeeded in pushing the ball into the empty goal.
This kind of goal is what Inzaghi is best at. There is no speed or body, but Inzaghi relies on his keen sense of defense to kill people invisible.
But today Inzaghi met his match.
Before he could celebrate after scoring the goal, he saw the flag raised by the linesman, indicating offside.
Inzaghi, who spread his hands with an innocent face, couldn't believe it. He clearly glanced at the opponent's defense before Ambrosini passed the ball. He would never forget this basic operation.
But he didn't expect that at the moment he turned his head after reading, Woodgate took a step forward.
"In addition to Pirlo and Kaká, another thing to pay attention to is Inzaghi. Jonathan, in addition to filling in for the other two central defenders today, you also have to pay attention to his anti-offside."
Woodgate firmly remembered the coach's pre-match arrangements. He guessed that AC Milan was going to play a through ball and that Inzaghi was going to be offside, so he quickly stepped forward.
Van der Sar, who took the ball out of the goal and prepared for the goal kick, gave Woodgate a thumbs up.
After all, if Woodgate hadn't successfully blocked the offside just now, the goal would have been scored by the opponent.
On the other side, the AC Milan players who were lagging behind were very dissatisfied with the referee's decision. Gattuso and Ambrosini approached the referee to start arguing. Inzaghi, who had his goal disallowed, also ran over and joined the battle. group.
"Aryan, don't go to the locker room for a while, just warm up."
Li George called Robben directly, because according to the plan, he decided that the decisive moment with AC Milan would be at the beginning of the second half, and Robben was a crucial card he prepared.
It's just that the situation was better than previously expected. In his original expectation, Leeds United would first ensure not to concede the ball through defense, and then start to counterattack in the second half. But now he is leading 1-0, which makes him a little excited.
On the field, the referee finally drove away all the AC Milan players surrounding him, or it could be said that the AC Milan players left on their own after seeing that their arguments were fruitless. Because they saw that the referee was a little impatient and there might be a risk of being kicked out if they kept talking, the well-informed people hurriedly left.
Just after Van der Sar kicked the ball into the frontcourt, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
Li George slowly walked into the player tunnel. Before walking in, he took a look at the AC Milan bench and saw someone on the other side preparing to warm up. It was probably Ambrosini who was also preparing to warm up in the midfield. Changed.
