Midfielder

Two extreme styles, Lin Yi's high-speed breakthrough and his ball-passing speed have driven the entire Chelsea team to speed up, while Riquelme's slowness also affects Villarreal.

One is as agile as a rabbit, the other is as steady as a mountain. The competition between Lin Yi and Riquelme extends to the entire team, making the game clear-cut, and even the commentators on the sidelines feel that their mouths are not enough.

"Chelsea's No. 22 player Lin Yi dribbled the ball and broke through. He shook off Senna's defense and passed the ball straight. Anelka volleyed less than fifteen meters away from the goal, but the ball went over the crossbar."

"Oh my God, that ball just now was really dangerous. It was the almighty God who blessed Barbosa!"

The commentator, who finally took a breath, had not waited to calm down, and his heart was stimulated again.

"It's the black-haired kid dribbling the ball in the midfield again! When facing the double-team of Tacchinardi and Senna, he was able to pass the ball between the two and let Robben shoot."

Such commentary appeared at least five or six times in the first 25 minutes. Every time, Lin Yi tortured the two defensive midfielders of Villarreal with his extremely fast fake moves.

Whether it was Senna, who gradually became the main defensive midfielder in Spain, or Tacchinardi from the defensive country of Italy, they seemed a little helpless when facing Lin Yi's extremely fast and realistic fake moves. If they followed the defense, they might be fooled. If they didn't follow, who would dare not to follow?

Even though Villarreal's goal conceded rate in the first few Champions League games has always been ranked in the upper middle of the 32 teams, it relied on this kind of tenacious defense starting from the midfield and the multi-point interception of the back defense.

However, when facing the Chelsea offensive line led by Lin Yi, this multi-level defense gave Lin Yi enough space to use. He specifically looked for a small gap between the defenders and the midfield.

If Senna was too close to the defenders, Lin Yi would often dribble the ball at high speed and then rush directly towards him.

If Senna chose to follow Lin Yi's footsteps for predictive defense, the result would be tragic.

In the first ten minutes, Senna had tried this kind of defense, but he was repeatedly led by Lin Yi.

And twice, Lin Yi shot directly himself, because Senna retreated too deep, and the distance was completely within Lin Yi's shooting range, but the boy was unlucky at the time.

However, Barbosa was also shocked by Lin Yi's two cold shots, each time just barely passing the goal.

Not to mention Villarreal's goalkeeper, even the on-site commentator couldn't help but exclaim twice. Fortunately, Lin Yi was not the kind of sharpshooter who could shoot from a hundred steps away, and these two shots were finally unsuccessful.

But Pellegrini pulled Tacchinardi over to the sidelines and kept telling him that he must cooperate with Senna to complete the defense in the middle, and not to let Lin Yi take the initiative every time, as this situation was very unfavorable.

Although Chelsea was missing Gerrard and Lampard today, Lin Yi was closer to the goal, which completely made up for the disadvantage of Lampard's absence from the field and one less long-range heavy artillery. Don't forget that Chelsea also has Anelka and Drogba in the frontcourt, who can make full use of Lin Yi's passes.

In addition to those two cold shots, Lin Yi seemed to be determined to provide enough firepower support for Chelsea's offensive line. His short-distance and fast passes have been putting pressure on the opponent's defense.

Among them, the most beautiful performance was when Lin Yi faced a double-team in the middle in the 20th minute. He squeezed through the two people. This was a trick he stole from Iniesta.

The little guy from Barcelona used this trick when he played at Stamford Bridge.

At that time, it was because of his extraordinary move that Essien and Gerrard were stunned. Barcelona also seized the opportunity and played a beautiful counterattack. Cech was almost attacked by Messi at that time.

Lin Yi still remembers that beautiful dodge and move, and the biggest advantage of this kid is that he learns and uses it. From that day on, he has been thinking about this move in the training ground and training matches.

Once Makelele and Essien are caught by Lin Yi for sparring, it will be endless.

However, there is also an advantage of such sparring, that is, Lin Yi can figure out the skills of this move in a relatively short time, and he often softens these things into his own skills.

Unfortunately, this time, the pair of iron waists of the Villarreal team also tasted the taste of being fooled by Lin Yi.

With a pull of his feet, he used his flexible turning to pass directly between Senna and Tacchinardi. It is estimated that the two generals of the opponent had not reacted at that time. When they woke up, Lin Yi had already run away with the ball. Arzu came out to defend and could only choose a tactical foul, but he didn't even look at who he was facing now. If Lin Yi wanted to get rid of him, he actually had many ways.

However, Lin Yi chose to pass the ball this time, and suddenly poked the ball out with his toes. The speed of the football flying along the grass was very fast, and the opponent's entire defense line had not reacted at that time.

Robben inserted in time, he avoided Sorin's pursuit near the baseline, but he didn't take credit, and directly knocked a low ball back to the middle. Drogba at the front point met the ball and shot it. Alvarez rushed to the front point to block it. Although he was not as strong as Drogba, his predictive ability was very good.

This time Alvarez's prediction was completely accurate, but Drogba's shot was also powerful enough.

Alvarez's block failed to completely block the shot, and the ball bounced up and was kicked by Anelka in mid-air, but Arzu, who had just jumped out to commit a tactical foul, returned to defense.

Barbosa's nerves were almost broken by two consecutive blockades. Two impacts at such a close distance would probably make anyone's heart pound, not to mention that he is not a top-notch goalkeeper.

However, the first two shots were just an appetizer. Arzu's block failed to completely resolve the crisis. Lin Yi, who followed up, rushed to the ball before Tacchinardi shoveled it away and shot it in the air.

If it weren't for the Italian's long legs that affected Lin Yi's accuracy at the last moment, I don't know if Barbosa's heart could return to its place. He only heard the sound of the ball hitting the crossbar heavily.

Lin Yi, who was knocked down on the grass by the opponent's collision, saw that the ball did not go in, and punched the grass hard.

"Damn, damn, this weird follow-up shot!" Lin Yi was ready to have a good fight with Riquelme today, but he was still a little depressed about the shot that hit the crossbar. The opponent's defense was torn apart, and they were just a few centimeters away from scoring.

Not only did Lin Yi pound the grass and curse loudly, but Mourinho also muttered something when he saw this scene standing on the sidelines. Brito knew that it was a Portuguese national curse.

Fortunately, the TV broadcast camera failed to cut in time when Mourinho cursed, otherwise, those nosy reporters would definitely go to lip reading experts to decipher what Mourinho cursed at the time.

There is no way, Mourinho has been too calm recently, and those reporters have long been unaccustomed to it.

But just like he cursed, the Love Song Stadium sometimes does seem a bit weird. It always allows Villarreal to turn danger into safety in a passive situation, just like the shot just now.

Villarreal had only one win in the previous seven games, but in the four games played at home, they successfully defeated Inter Milan, and the remaining four games ended in a scoreless draw.

At least three of these games were played in the league with their main players, but at home, no matter how the opponent had the advantage, the final result was a failure.

Lin Yi did not believe in fatalism or the blessing of gods and Buddhas, but the Love Song Stadium was like the patron saint of Villarreal. When the team was not doing well, it was always a safe haven.

This time was no exception. Under the leadership of Lin Yi, Chelsea was in a state of full suppression in the first thirty minutes of attack. Even the on-site commentator was highly nervous, fearing that the opponent would score.

Thirty minutes, seven shots, five of which hit the goal frame. This accuracy rate was actually slightly higher than Chelsea in the Premier League, and the second half against Barcelona was no different.

But it was this fierce offensive rhythm that made the opponent sweat every time, except for Lin Yi's supplementary shot hitting the crossbar, but the result was still fruitless and failed to change the score.

Lin Yi's presence made Chelsea's offense like lightning, which is one of the main reasons why many teams are reluctant to face Chelsea this season. Last season, they still relied on their defense to kill others. Now their offense is fully capable of destroying the defense of any team, all because there is such a crazy kid in their midfield.

Chelsea's defense was already strong enough, but Lin Yi could drive their offensive line to oppress the opponent more fiercely. Even Chelsea could rely on strong pressing to make it difficult for the opponent to cross the half court in the Premier League.

Mourinho asked Lin Yi to get close to the goal, just to let this kid keep the most threatening passes in front of the opponent's penalty area. He would even take the risk of weakening his midfield defense, just to let Lin Yi leave no spare energy in the attack.

Starting from the match against Barcelona, ​​Mourinho no longer deliberately pursued the so-called offensive and defensive balance. There is no absolute balance in this world. Either you attack harder or you defend more firmly. Balance can only be relative. Now that there is an increasingly sharp knife like Lin Yi, Mourinho does not need to let the team continue to be conservative.

Attack! This is what Mourinho requires everyone to do before the game. Whether it is a forward or a striker, they must form a stable running route around Lin Yi, and then use Lin Yi as the offensive fulcrum to start a crazy attack.

Mourinho did not intend to play any solid defense at the Love Song Stadium. Since the opponent can kill Inter Milan's charge here, they will definitely continue to deal with Chelsea in that way. If this is true, it is better to spread the firepower net and completely cover Villarreal's defense line. Although there is no major personnel adjustment, Mourinho has to adjust his established tactics. Everyone thinks that Chelsea is a little more stable in order to advance, but this guy is going against the will of heaven.

Pellegrini has deliberately observed his on-the-spot command, and Chelsea has no secrets at this point, so Mourinho does not need to cover up anything. It is better to fight the opponent openly in attack.

So Lin Yi led Chelsea to attack frantically from the beginning of the game, in order to defeat the opponent's defense with one blow. Although no points have been scored so far, everyone can see that Villarreal's defense is under great pressure. Barbosa, who rarely roars loudly, almost roared in the first 30 minutes.

"Although Barbosa rejected Chelsea's shots several times in a row, it can be seen that his nerves must be very tense now. This kind of pressure from the opponent's attack has always threatened Villarreal's defense."

The Spanish commentator looked at the situation in the stadium nervously and analyzed the current situation of the two teams seriously. However, it can be seen that as Spaniards, they are more concerned about whether this only seedling in La Liga can withstand Chelsea's destruction. After all, the opponent has killed Barcelona in the previous two rounds.

Compared with Barcelona, ​​Villarreal is a level lower. No one knows whether they can fight Chelsea to the death with the confidence of a dark horse. No wonder the 20,000 fans are so nervous.

Villarreal is now suffering from such a squeeze. Although Pellegrini has set up two blockades in the midfield, it seems that their defense is still being hit by Chelsea's offensive firepower.

However, this cannot be blamed on Villarreal's poor defense. It is rare for them to keep a clean sheet in the first 30 minutes. After all, even Barcelona could not keep its golden body intact in Chelsea's crazy attack.

This may be the first time that Pellegrini has intuitively realized how fast Chelsea's sharp knife is. He has always attached great importance to Lin Yi, but compared with his importance, the boy's madness is really amazing.

"So far, more than half of Chelsea's attacks have come from Lin Yi's feet. Even the crosses from the two wingers are often planned by him in the middle. He has made more than 20,000 people in the Love Song Stadium witness his existence."

Andy Gray, who is responsible for the English broadcast signal, did not hesitate to praise Lin Yi even if Lineker, a loyal fan of Lin Yi, was not around this time. There is no way, that kid has completely conquered Andy Gray.

Not only was he, the English commentator, conquered by Lin Yi's performance, but even the Spanish commentator also admitted with a helpless look that Lin Yi was the engine of Chelsea, and his performance did put Villarreal in a passive position.

But Pellegrini's team is not useless. In such a crazy attack by Chelsea, Riquelme still maintained his usual rhythm and consistently controlled the team's offensive rights. His performance was also very eye-catching.

Lin Yi led Chelsea's attack to be very fierce, but Villarreal was just like Chelsea last season. They would not shoot more than a dozen times in every game, but an occasional attack could break the opponent's goal.

Riquelme's biggest help to Villarreal's offense was to make their offense more accurate.

Villarreal may be the most efficient team in La Liga this season. Even Barcelona is a little worse than them. They can rank third in La Liga, relying on this super high level of accuracy.

Lin Yi's breakthrough brought Chelsea an offensive opportunity. Similarly, Riquelme used his rich game experience and his dribbling action with a headache of rhythm changes in the contest with Makelele to frequently tear open Chelsea's defense. Chelsea did not set up a double defensive midfielder to strangle Riquelme in this game, which was a very risky gamble.

Mourinho didn't know whether Makelele could contain the opponent, but he believed that Chelsea's attack could score first, so although Villarreal had few offensive players, they could always win shooting opportunities under Riquelme's guidance. In the first 30 minutes, in addition to his long shot, Riquelme passed the ball to Fran and Jose Mari four times to create suitable shooting space, but Cech's performance was perfect and saved all the shots.

But Riquelme's performance made Mourinho hesitate on the sidelines. Chelsea's crazy attack failed, but the opponent's attack always threatened Chelsea's goal. If the opponent accidentally attacked successfully, it would be a big loss.

However, just when Mourinho was still thinking about whether to limit Riquelme, the slow Argentine received a pass from Tacchinardi again. Makelele was very close this time, and Riquelme had no chance to turn around smoothly.

But soon the Argentine made the Villarreal fans at the Estadio degli Amor cheer loudly for him, because he turned his back to Makelele, knocked his heel through the opponent's legs, and turned like a ghost.

"Perfect pass! Riquelme used his superb skills to trick Makelele, he used his body to block the opponent's position, pass! Beautiful! Fran and Riquelme made a ladder-wall cooperation in tacit understanding, Riquelme once again shook off Carvalho's tackle, he has entered the penalty area! Prepare to shoot!" The commentator at the scene finally caught an opportunity to show his volume, but his roar was not over yet, and this attack was over. At the moment when Riquelme was about to shoot, a foot flying from the side and back kicked the ball away first.

When the Argentine stabilized his body and raised his head, he saw a black-haired boy wearing the No. 22 Chelsea jersey, who was breathing heavily with his head down, appearing in front of him.

The core players of the two teams met head-on for the first time. . .

(The most comical match yesterday might be the one in Qatar. It was really weird. There were only 5 players who could play, and 4 of them were sent off in the end. Okay, you guys are really strong!)