The second game of the Champions League quarter-finals will be played on March 10, and there are still two league rounds to be played before that.
After returning to Rome, Chang Sheng stopped mentioning this matter.
Just let the team concentrate on preparing for the league.
In the twenty-sixth round, Lazio defeated Bologna 3:0 at home. This was the first league game.
The last game of this round of the league is between Inter Milan and Roma.
As a result, after a fierce battle, Roma drew with Inter Milan 3:3 in the away game.
The point difference between the two sides widened to six points again.
It's basically been this rhythm lately.
Either Inter Milan wins and Lazio draws. Or Lazio wins and Inter Milan draws.
No one can think of completely getting rid of their opponents, but no one will lose hope.
The gaps of six points and four points appear alternately.
Lazio still leads, but the lead is not reassuring.
Inter Milan fell behind, but they kept chasing after them.
In the twenty-seventh round, Lazio defeated Naples 2:0 away from home, and Inter Milan also defeated Genoa with the same score away from home.
It seems like this team is really a bit of a brother-in-law.
Although they are enemies, they have a tacit understanding.
After this league match, there will be the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Inter Milan challenges Manchester United away, while Lazio welcomes Arsenal at home.
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Wenger did not get carried away because he defeated Lazio at home and thought it was great like those idiot media.
His goal is not to win just one game against Lazio.
His goal is to eliminate Lazio and enter the quarterfinals.
In fact, the situation is not good for Arsenal.
Because of the home advantage, Arsenal only won one goal. It must be said that this was a failure.
You must also know that Arsenal is not playing defensive counterattack. With their offensive power, how can they only score one goal?
But Lazio really held on.
So Wenger admired Lazio's defense in this game. Although there were problems with their offense, their defense was still good.
This may be one of the reasons why Chang Sheng was calm after losing to Arsenal.
Because he also celebrated that he only lost one goal in the away game. It was not considered a failure.
He has plenty of opportunities when he returns to his home court.
Therefore, Arsenal are well prepared for this game.
Wenger did not intend to play against Chang Sheng. He had a one-goal lead in his hands. All he had to do was hold on to this advantage.
Counterattack based on defense.
Arsenal have such conditions because they have a fast "Little Tiger" Walcott in their team.
This created an opportunity for Arsenal to play a defensive counterattack.
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When the game started, Arsenal's defense was indeed tenacious.
They allowed Lazio to score a full thirty minutes without scoring a single goal.
But this doesn't make Arsenal supporters happy.
In fact, when Arsenal fans watched this game, whether they went to the venue or watched the game live in front of the TV, they were all on tenterhooks.
Lazio's offensive is too fierce!
They are really worried that their team will not be able to withstand it...
Even if they like it for five minutes, they will worry that they won’t be able to like it for ten minutes. After ten minutes, they start to worry that they won’t be able to like it for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, they still don’t dare to take it lightly, let alone take a deep breath.
Or something, for fear of being slapped in the face next.
Even if they managed to hold on for thirty minutes, those Arsenal fans were still nervous.
Also nervous is Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger.
Lazio's offensive attack is crazy.
Their attacks came one after another without stopping at all.
Arsenal initially planned to move back and forth in the backcourt after getting the ball. Control the rhythm and slow it down.
But Lazio didn't give them the chance to do this. As long as they got the ball backwards in the backcourt, they would just swarm it. They were really like a bunch of mad dogs.
This style of play makes Arsenal feel uncomfortable.
They can only be forced into Lazio's rhythm, which they are not familiar with...
Problems came one after another.
Wenger's brows furrowed as he watched from the sidelines. He never relaxed.
His players defended very hard, but... he could see that several times Lazio had opened up space, but their forwards failed to seize the opportunity.
Wenger seems to have figured out that the winning strategy is to use quantity to defeat quality.
He is not afraid of his forwards squandering opportunities in the Champions League. They can squander nine opportunities, and Lazio's midfield and backfield can create ten opportunities. There will always be one that can lead to a goal...
That's it now.
In the first thirty minutes, Lazio's offensive was overwhelming, and Arsenal seemed to be suffering every minute and every second.
For Arsenal, maybe conceding a goal would be a relief.
It means that they finally don't have to work so hard to defend.
Originally, Arsenal was not a team that was good at defending...
His original idea was not to defend, but to defend and counterattack.
As a result, at the beginning of the game, Lazio's powerful offensive directly beat back Arsenal's counterattacks, and the suppressed Arsenal could not lift its head...
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In the 34th minute, under continuous attacks, Arsenal's defense finally showed signs of collapse.
In this game, Balzaretti played a one-two with Cavani on the edge of the penalty area, broke into the penalty area, and then kicked a low shot.
The ball went into the goal from Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia's feet.
"Balzaretti!! Lazio finally broke the deadlock! They equalized the total score!"
A huge cheer rose from the Olympic Stadium.
Lazio fans have been waiting for this goal for too long. They have been expecting Lazio to score from the first minute.
It turned out that I had to wait for thirty-four minutes.
In fact, scoring a goal in thirty-four minutes is not too late, but for Lazio fans, every minute of this game seems extremely long.
When Balzaretti kicked the football into Almunia's goal, everyone let out a sigh of relief...
This game is normal.
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I saw the Lazio players celebrating a goal. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger's face looked more like Mr. Bean with a miserable look on his face. His face was crisscrossed with ridges and could easily kill a mosquito.
The defensive counterattack tactics lasted for thirty-four minutes and then failed.
The next step is to attack.
If Arsenal can score a goal away from home, they can take the initiative.
At that time, Arsenal will regain the lead with a total score of 2:1.
And Arsenal also had an away goal.
Lazio wants to advance. One more goal is not enough, they have to score two more goals.
In this way, Arsenal will be more relaxed.
Moreover, it is an away game now. As long as Arsenal scores a goal, it is an away goal. One away goal can be counted as two.
This is Arsenal's hope.
The only worry is that Lazio's offensive is so fierce that they might have already broken through Arsenal's goal before Arsenal can score...
But are there any other options now?
There is no other way but to attack.
Failure to attack will lead to death.
Attack, at least there is still a chance to break out of the siege.
Wenger gritted his teeth and issued the latest order.
Arsenal also changed their playing style accordingly.
Arsenal's players actually welcome this change. Defense is really not what they are good at. What they are better at is offense...
It's just that the cost is a lost goal, which is indeed a bit high.
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When the game restarted, Lazio continued to attack and they just equalized the score now. If they want to advance, they have to continue to score goals.
If you always win, you don't really want to play in a penalty shootout.
Arsenal also changed their previous defensive counterattack tactics and began to actively look for opportunities to compete with Lazio.
Chang Sheng saw this scene and turned to look at Wenger.
He knew that this was Wenger's decision, and it was a very helpless decision.
If you play like this, it will play into Lazio's hands.
If I were Wenger, I would definitely not be willing to do this.
It's really too dangerous to attack.
If we compare attack power... Now everyone knows how good Lazio's attack power is.
The teams that played against Lazio basically didn't end well.
But Balzaretti scored a goal. Arsenal was forced out, and they had to fight Lazio to the death.
Because the previous 34 minutes of the game had proved that Arsenal's defense alone could not defend them. They lost the ball in the 34th minute, and the players' mentality would be unbalanced and their tactical thinking could not be unified. Some people want to defend, and some want to attack.
,what to do?
In this case, Wenger must agree with the team's ideas and cannot allow this situation to continue to develop, otherwise the team may completely collapse.
He chose to attack.
This is what Arsenal are best at, but it may not be correct.
This is Wenger's helplessness. His Arsenal has insisted on artistic football and offensive football for more than ten years. It is really not an easy task for them to suddenly shrink their defense and play like Inter Milan...
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Arsenal chose the tactics they are best at, and Arsenal's players played comfortably.
If you feel comfortable playing, you will naturally be able to play well.
For a moment, the scene looked better.
Those Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the game said they controlled the ticket prices.
Audiences in Europe also applauded this game because they like to watch this kind of football!
However, for the two sides fighting on the court, they did not have time to enjoy offensive football or artistic football...
Now they just want to kill each other.
The two sides did not score again in the first half, the score was 1:0, Lazio took the lead.
In the second half, the side changed sides and the game started again. Lazio increased their speed and Arsenal gradually couldn't keep up.
In the 69th minute, Lazio took advantage of a mistake in Arsenal's defense and Cavani scored with a header, 2:0!
Lazio reversed course and took a 2:1 lead on the total score!
"This is the decisive goal!" the commentator shouted. "Lazio has taken the lead! Their advantage in the score will be converted into a psychological advantage! A team playing at home now has a psychological advantage.
...The next game will be very difficult for Arsenal!" (To be continued...)
