Merry had no chance to show her determination and anger.
Because not long after Ramon Cantero scored, the first half ended.
When the referee blew the half-time whistle, huge cheers erupted from the shuttle field stands again.
"The first half is over! This is really an incredible first half! Who would have thought? At the end of the first leg, who would have thought that Manchester United, which was two goals behind, would actually overtake in just forty minutes!
No matter what the final result of this game will be, this first half alone is enough to be recorded in the history of the Champions League!"
"Atletico Manchester, who were forced into a desperate situation, showed their courage from the first second of the game, but the Kings were just the opposite. Maybe they were all blinded by the optimistic voices from the outside world, thinking that as long as they were a little more serious, they would win.
Just beat Manchester United..."
"Based on this first half performance, the King is obviously not worthy of advancing to the final! If Manchester United can really complete the comeback, then this season's Champions League final will be staged for the first time a 'Chinese Derby'!"
…
Accompanying these commentators' merciless criticism were the dejected Madrid Kings players who appeared on camera.
In fact, no one else needs to say it, they themselves know that their performance in the first half was very bad.
The root of all this actually comes from the penalty kick that Manchester United won less than a minute into the game.
The Kings of Madrid actually expected that this game would be difficult before the game, and they made adequate preparations.
However, no matter how adequate the preparations are, they are not enough to this point - who would expect that the opponent will take a penalty kick within half a minute of the opening?!
It can be said that Chen Xingyi's success in creating this point completely disrupted the plans of the King of Madrid.
The players of the King of Madrid were confused on the court, and the coach of the King of Madrid, Kily Borja, was confused off the court.
Before the game, various media swore that it had only happened once in history that a player was leading by two goals in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final, only to be overturned in the second leg.
As if this is something difficult to achieve.
But when Manchester United pulled a goal back, everyone realized that in fact, 2:0 was not a very safe score, because it was only one goal more than "the most dangerous score in the world" 1:0...
Back in the locker room, Kings head coach Kilí Borja closed the door and began to criticize the players:
"Our performance in the first half was like a piece of shit! I'm sorry to say that because that's all I can say! I can't think of anything disgusting in the world that can be used to describe the performance we played in the first half.
the match of!"
Everyone who can play for the Madrid Kings is an international player of their respective country, and they are also top-notch players. But these big names are now being trained by Borja so that they cannot hold their heads high.
On the one hand, it’s because their performance in the first half was really bad, and on the other hand, because Borja, as the famous coach who led the Spanish national team to win the World Cup, certainly has such authority that he can dominate the Madrid King’s locker room.
of big-name actors.
Even if he is a top star like Mellie Banega, he can still scold him.
"Melly, you didn't get into the rhythm of the game for almost the entire first half. Especially your handling of that counterattack was simply terrible! It makes me doubt that that's not what you should have done! I'll tell you the truth.
I’m afraid no one can do worse than you!”
This sounds outrageous and hurtful. But Borja didn't say it just to disgust Melly.
He knows the world's top player very well and knows that Melli has a very strong competitive spirit. Criticism can make him feel uncomfortable, and this discomfort will just stimulate him to perform better.
He wants Melli to be crazier in the second half, so he must be provoked now.
Sure enough, when Melly heard the criticism, although his face was calm, his response was frighteningly blunt: "Yes, sir. It's my responsibility. It won't be like this in the second half, I promise."
Faced with Meli's harsh response, Borja's expression softened a bit. He nodded with satisfaction and said: "Chen is obviously specially arranged by Munster to defend you, but I believe that as long as you find the rhythm, he can't do anything at all."
I can’t stop you. So in the second half, you have to increase your intensity and continue to torture him and consume his energy until he collapses!”
This time Merry didn't say anything and just nodded.
Borja also turned his attention away from Melli and said to the whole team:
"Although we are behind on the total score, you have to remember that we are only behind by one goal. Since they can come back from two goals behind, why can't we do the same thing? It's us
Are you any worse than them?"
Having said this, Borja raised his voice, waved his arms vigorously and pointed downwards.
"How are we worse than them?! We are not worse than them! The first half belongs to our opponents, you must give them the greatest respect. But the second half, the second half belongs to us! Let us take back the game that belongs to us!
"
With Borja's last shout, all the Madrid Kings players in the locker room roared together.
Seeing the expressions of his players, Borja nodded accordingly.
Well, morale is available.
※※※
The screams of the Madrid Kings players in their dressing room will not be known to the outside world.
Behind closed doors, no one knows what happens in the visiting team's locker room.
Likewise, no one knows what happened in the home team's locker room.
Unlike the lively visiting team's locker room, the atmosphere in the home team's locker room is not so lively.
All the players listened quietly to the coach's speech.
Despite taking the lead, Manchester Athletic head coach Jopp Munster had a very calm expression on his face and spoke very calmly:
"... Leading by one goal is not safe. We can fully imagine what the Kings will do in the second half - yes, they will fight back desperately and use all means to threaten our goal. This is natural, because if they don't
If you do this, you will be eliminated...
"If they really won the first round 2:0, but were reversed and eliminated by us, you can think about what a big scandal it would be...so they will definitely try their best to prevent this scene.
Happened. We will face an unprecedented difficult situation in the second half. I hope that by then, each of you will stay focused and deal with all the situations that happen on the field..."
Although he was talking about extremely urgent matters, Munster's tone was not anxious, but showed a little confidence.
He turned to look at Chen Xingyi and pointed at him: "I don't want to praise you any more for your performance in the first half, Xing, because that would take up all fifteen minutes of our halftime break."
Hearing his wise words, Chen Xingyi couldn't help laughing.
The other teammates in the locker room also laughed.
While laughing, Munster continued to arrange tasks with a smile on his face:
"In the second half, you need to continue your defensive performance in the first half, and the pressure you face will be much greater than in the first half. Others must also actively help the stars. Defense is not a matter of one person;
The task of the whole team. Whether it is Leandro, Todd, or anyone else, as long as Melli appears next to you, you must move closer to the star, shorten the distance with him, and compress Melli's ball-taking space.
"
Leandro Zapata and Todd Penny, whose names were called, nodded in agreement.
Finally Munster raised his hands, his voice was slightly louder and his tone was more serious:
"Boys, please remember again that we are only one goal ahead of them! Before this game, they were two goals ahead of us! They failed to defend both goals, and a one-goal lead is more dangerous.
! Cheer up and hold on for another half of the game, let’s play the final at our home court!”
※※※
"Merry wants the ball!"
Seeing Melli raise his arm, Chen Xingyi immediately followed it, even though the football hadn't been passed yet.
While sticking up, he continued to "touch and kick" Melli and actively engaged in off-ball confrontation.
In response, Melli raised his arm to block Chen Xingyi, while still raising his other hand high, firmly expressing his intention to get the ball to his teammates.
So the football was passed around.
When the ball came, Chen Xingyi tried to bypass Melli and steal the ball.
Merry kept adjusting his body, always stuck in front of him.
The two people just pushed and shoved towards the football.
It seems that because he was never able to get rid of Chen Xingyi, Melly did not receive the ball, but directly passed the football out to his midfielder teammate John Sett who was diagonally in front of him.
It seems that this is another "victory" for Chen Xingyi in defending Melly.
But when the ball was passed out, Melly accelerated forward and threw away Chen Xingyi.
Set immediately passed the football back.
However, Chen Xingyi was not completely thrown away by Meili. His start-up speed was very fast. Although he lost the opportunity at the beginning, he could use his super start-up speed to quickly recover.
When Meili was about to catch the ball, Chen Xingyi pressed against him again.
This time Melli raised his left foot, trying to throw the ball directly, but Chen Xingyi stepped up and blocked it.
However, Melli's left foot knocked the football from behind him to the right, and at the same time he made an emergency stop!
When he made a sudden stop, Chen Xingyi, who couldn't stop the car, rushed past him.
Melli, who temporarily shook Chen Xingyi away, moved very quickly. His right foot immediately moved the football forward and started very quickly - in terms of starting speed, Melli was not inferior to Chen Xingyi.
So even though Chen Xingyi quickly made a sudden turn and counterattack, he was still blocked by Meili.
At the same time, Manchester Athletic's defensive midfielder Todd Penny came up to help Chen Xingyi and intercepted Mellie head-on.
Faced with such double-teaming, Melly was not afraid at all.
His right foot gently knocked the football to the left, and at the same time, his left foot blocked the football forward.
Along with the very light croquette movement, Merry's body also forcibly merged to the left.
This time he learned the lesson from the first half and instead of chasing the ball, he got stuck first.
Sure enough, Chen Xingyi, who had just accelerated, saw Meili cutting in front of him, so he quickly braked and almost "rear-ended"...
Chen Xingyi just slowed down and Meili started.
He rubbed against Todd Penny and his body swayed slightly, but he did not lose his balance and still squeezed past Manchester Athletic's midfielder!
"Beautiful breakthrough! Melli! Melli Melli Melli!!" Upon seeing this, the Spanish commentator Sanchez began to transform into a "machine gun" in excitement.
After slamming on the brakes, Chen Xingyi started to catch up with Meili again. Although his starting speed was very fast, the distance between the two people had been widened, and it would be difficult for him to catch up again in a short time.
He could only watch helplessly as Melli passed by Penney and passed the football into the space in the ribs of the penalty area.
There, French forward Mendy Payet opened his stance, raised his left leg... and shot directly without stopping the ball!
The football made an arc and flew towards the back of the goal!
Manchester Athletic goalkeeper Dickinson jumped and stretched his arm to the limit, but still did not touch the ball.
However, the football did not finally fly into the goal. Instead, it circled the back post and flew out of the baseline amidst huge exclamations!
"What a risk! Oh my god!" England commentator Matthew Cox exclaimed like the Manchester Athletic fans in the stands. "Melli's personal ability is too strong! He disrupted the Manchester Athletic team by himself.
Defense! Although his performance in the first half was not satisfactory, only ten minutes into the second half, he was already threatening the goal guarded by Dickinson!"
Payet, who missed the goal, put down his hands covering his face and clasped his hands to Melli to apologize.
But Melli did not blame him for wasting this great opportunity, but gave him a thumbs up and shouted: "It doesn't matter, Mendy! Let us continue!"