Super Marshal

Rickon's red card seemed to be the last straw that crushed Dortmund.

After Dario Srna used a direct free kick to open the scoring for Atletico Madrid, the Sheets became more and more courageous. Coupled with the number of people on the field, they almost overwhelmingly overwhelmed Dortmund.

Summer didn't make substitutions and adjustments immediately, but changed the team's style of play, hoping to stabilize the situation.

But unfortunately, Atletico Madrid did not give him such an opportunity.

After the first record, the Sheets Corps quickly broke again.

This time, taking advantage of a corner kick, Lehmann took the ball out. There was a melee in the penalty area, and the ball fell to the front of the penalty area. The unguarded Xavi Alonso volleyed and broke Dortmund again. goal.

With a two-goal lead and one more player than the other side, Atletico Madrid is already winning.

But the Sheets didn't seem to be satisfied and continued to chase Dortmund fiercely.

The Hornet's rhythm was completely disrupted, so they could only choose to retreat and defend at halftime.

In the 44th minute of the first half, Atletico Madrid once again organized an effective offensive. After receiving a pass from Villa on the left, Jankulovski made a cross from the bottom.

Torres stepped in behind and scored with a header ten meters in front of the goal, rewriting the score to 3-0!

This goal completely made Dortmund desperate.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Summer had to adjust the team's tactics, replacing Everton to strengthen the team's midfield defense.

In the frontcourt, two forwards, Jan Kohler and Amoruso, were left cruising, playing a four-three-two formation.

Obviously, Summer still refused to give up, he also wanted an away goal.

Gao Han had a very thorough understanding of Sammer, and Atletico Madrid played more steadily, firmly controlling the ball possession advantage on the court, and did not give Dortmund the slightest chance.

When the game progressed to the 76th minute, Kaka made a wonderful pass from the center and went straight behind him. Torres received the ball from the bottom line and crossed the goal. The ball was sent into the goal guarded by Lehmann again.

Four to zero!

No one expected that the first round of the UEFA Cup semi-final would turn into a one-sided massacre!

At this point in the game, Summer also completely lost hope, and could only choose to strengthen his defense in desperation.

The UEFA Cup has already been lost, he can only hope to lose less and keep the morale of the team.

Only in this way can his team continue to bite Leverkusen tightly in the Bundesliga.

The score was finally fixed at four to zero, and Atletico Madrid beat Dortmund at home.

This also greatly exceeded the expectations of all the Sheets fans, so the entire Calderon Stadium turned into a sea of ​​joy when the whistle sounded.

Gao Han was also very fortunate that Kaka was only injured on the skin, and there was nothing serious about it, so after hastily bandaging it, he returned to the arena. After the game, he retested and confirmed that there was no problem.

In addition, after Ricken calmed down, accompanied by coach Sammer, he came to Atletico Madrid's locker room in person, apologized to Kaka in person, and was forgiven by the Brazilian.

Therefore, at the press conference after the game, Gao Han expressed his understanding of Riken's red card.

"Football is changing rapidly, and it's normal to be overwhelmed for a while, and he has already paid the price for this and apologized to Kaka himself, so I think there is no need to continue to dwell on this foul."

At the same time, Gao Han also said that Ricken is a very capable star and a very rare technical player in German football. He believes that Ricken can quickly get out of the shadows and regain his state.

Dortmund coach Sammer also did not criticize Rickon's foul, but on behalf of Rickon, he apologized to Kaka in public.

"We all know that Lars is a very kind person, but when a professional player walks on the football field, he is often easily induced by the atmosphere and tension on the field, and then loses control of his emotions. guilt, so I don't think we should blame it."

For the UEFA Cup, the head coach of the Hornets clung to the second round and refused to let go.

"The score of zero to four is indeed desperate, but I don't think we have lost. We still have a second round. Back at home, we are not incapable of reversing Atletico Madrid."

"Of course, we will not consider these now, we will only concentrate on playing well."

Summer's statement is also very in line with his character, and he refuses to admit defeat.

Not only is Sammer very tolerant of Ricken, but even the German media have expressed their understanding of Ricken and regret for Dortmund's fiasco.

Kicker believes that Rickon's red card certainly rewrote the trend of the game, but Summer's formation is also questionable, especially when the defense faces Villa, Torres and Kaka with outstanding personal abilities. It is really inappropriate to use man-to-man tactics.

Bild also believes that Dortmund has done its best, but Atletico Madrid is even better.

Der Spiegel quoted Dortmund general manager Zorko as defending Ricken.

"We can't put the blame for all the failures on Rickon."

"The defeat is painful, but we have given our best. I believe that all Dortmund fans will still be proud of the team's season."

Zorko's remarks quickly received a response from the fans.

A week later, when Atlético de Madrid visited the Wiesle Stadium, the fans of the Hornets made horrible noises throughout the game, creating an unparalleled momentum.

But in the end, after 90 minutes of fierce confrontation between the two sides, Atlético de Madrid took away a victory 1-0 by virtue of Kaka's lore, and then successfully advanced to the final with a total score of 5-0.

In another duel, in the two Milan derbys, AC Milan first relied on Cordoba's own goal to narrowly beat Cooper's Inter Milan 1-0 in the away game. Goals from Zaghi and Shevchenko led early to 2-0.

Although Inter Milan rallied in the second half, Zanetti and Caron scored successively to help Inter Milan equalize the score, but in the end, Cooper's team still failed to reverse the city rivals.

AC Milan finally eliminated Inter Milan with a total score of 3 to 2 and entered the final.

The UEFA Cup final is scheduled for May 8th at Feyenoord's De Kuyp Stadium in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

…………

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In the Milanello Sports Center, the conference room on the second floor of the two-story building was completely silent.

Just now, coach Carlo Ancelotti asked the coaching staff present a question.

How to beat Atletico Madrid?

This is not only a problem faced by all La Liga teams this season, but also the biggest obstacle facing AC Milan today.

As the most prestigious giant team in Serie A, AC Milan's honor room is full of championship trophies.

There are sixteen Serie A titles alone, five Champions League titles, two European Cup Winners' Cup titles, three European Super Cup titles, and countless other domestic and intercontinental cup titles.

But in the huge room of honor, there is only one League Cup missing!

In the history of AC Milan for more than 100 years, it has won all kinds of championships, except for the UEFA Cup.

In recent seasons, the team's performance was poor and they were forced to play in the UEFA Cup. This disappointed the Rossoneri fans, but the team's ability to eliminate rivals in the same city and reach the UEFA Cup final rekindled the enthusiasm of the fans. hope.

Perhaps, in this sluggish season, it is not a bad thing to make up for a major shortcoming in the club's century-old history.

Club chairman Berlusconi and general manager Galliani both called Carlo Ancelotti, hoping that the team could make persistent efforts to win the UEFA Cup and make up for the team's poor performance this season.

As for the league, AC Milan is currently ranked sixth, and the club's performance requirements are the top four and the qualification for the Champions League.

For AC Milan, the requirements are not harsh.

It's just that the opponent in the UEFA Cup final is Atletico Madrid, which is tricky.

"Atlético de Madrid this season is indeed very strong. This team not only has excellent ball control ability, but also has excellent high-position pressing and oppression. Positional warfare is very threatening, and quick counterattacks are even more sharp."

The chief assistant coach Mauro Tassotti said this, glanced at several members of the coaching staff in the conference room, and sighed helplessly, "This team is not easy to deal with."

"Mauro is right, but I think the scariest thing about this team is their physicality."

Giovanni Mauri, the team's chief fitness coach, also said, "I got a piece of statistics. Atletico Madrid's average running distance of more than 100 kilometers per game this season, there are players with an average running distance of more than 10 kilometers per game." Eight."

Giovanni Mauri's words made many people present gasp.

If it is a single game, 10 kilometers is not outrageous. Even Beckham ran an astonishing record of 16.1 kilometers in the World Cup qualifier against Greece last year.

But it is simply impossible to achieve this data in every game.

Even in the AC Milan team, Gattuso may not be able to run a player who averaged 10 kilometers per game in one season, but in Atletico Madrid, there are as many as eight players with this running ability .

The average running distance of the whole team has exceeded 100 kilometers, which is simply a staggering statistic!

"Cruyff said that only smooth running can bring skillful ball control. This statement has been best cited in Atletico Madrid." Mauro Tassotti said with a frown.

Although the running distance does not mean that you can win, it can well illustrate the horror of this team.

The stars can defend in a targeted manner, and their tactics can also be restrained in a targeted manner, but no team can prevent the opponent from actively running, and as long as they run, gaps, passing opportunities, and even threats will follow. Come.

Ancelotti used to be the best professional player. He has coached Serie A for many years, so he naturally knows the key to this.

Looking at the assistants in front of him, Fatty An, who started to gain weight after retiring, took a deep breath.

"Then what do you mean?"

Mauro Tassotti also looked at the crowd and sighed inwardly when he found that no one was willing to take the initiative to reveal the answer.

"I think, to play Atletico Madrid, you can only rely on defense!"

These words made Ancelotti's eyes twitch, but they didn't surprise everyone present.

They all know it, they just can't say it.

The majestic AC Milan, facing a newly promoted La Liga, can only rely on defense?

If this word gets out, Ancelotti, who has been criticized by fans for his conservativeness this season, may be drowned by fans' saliva.

But, this is a big truth!

Ancelotti himself understands, it's just...