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"No way, playing Leicester City is harder than playing Barcelona?"
At the end of January, right after Lance received the Ballon d'Or, La Liga welcomed the challenge from Barcelona.
Compared to last season's thrilling battle with Barcelona, playing Barcelona this season was a bit dull.
The entire Barcelona team's performance was just like in the Spanish Super Cup, timid and hesitant.
They had been completely suppressed by Lance.
The record of zero wins against Lance haunted the Barcelona players like a nightmare.
Even though Atlético Madrid didn't perform that well and gave away many chances throughout the match, Barcelona simply didn't dare to attack and missed many great opportunities.
Lance seized a set-piece opportunity and scored with a Crescent Blade, and in the second half, he coordinated with left winger Gaitán to launch a beautiful counterattack.
Receiving Gaitán's cut-back pass inside the penalty area, he struck the decisive blow!
Ultimately, they defeated Barcelona 2-0 at home, making up for the regret of the team's loss to Barcelona during the first half of the season when he was out with an injury.
After defeating Barcelona, Lance believed that as long as Atlético Madrid fought hard, they still had some combat effectiveness.
After all, most of the players in the midfield and defense were part of the main lineup of the sextuple.
However, facing the high-tempo impact of the Premier League, coupled with his teammates' contempt for the opponent, Atlético Madrid fell into an absolute disadvantage!
They spent most of the first half struggling to defend and didn't create any decent chances.
Leicester City 1-0 Atlético Madrid, they temporarily returned to the locker room with the lead.
"It feels like Atlético Madrid has lost their hunger for glory; their pressing isn't as aggressive as last season."
Instructor Zhang saw the problem with Atlético Madrid, and in fact, this problem had existed all season.
This is a common challenge faced by many teams that have won the Champions League.
Atlético Madrid was no exception.
"Leicester City is entering the Champions League for the first time, and their performance has been surprisingly good. They played well in the group stage, and after reaching the quarter-finals, they are making things very difficult for Atlético Madrid."
"It all depends on God Lance's performance in the second half! Can God Lance himself perform another miracle today?"
Jian Jun could only smile bitterly.
It was only the Champions League quarter-final knockout stage, and they were already expecting a miracle from Lance?
Then what would they do when facing strong enemies in the future?
This season, Real Madrid had swept away their slump and were dominating La Liga. They were currently 7 points ahead of Barcelona, leading by a wide margin in the league.
Furthermore, they achieved a great result of 15 points in the Champions League group stage and demolished Bayer Leverkusen 8-0 in the round of 16 knockout stage, and just now had a massive 4-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the quarter-final knockout stage.
They were frighteningly strong!
Jian Jun was a bit worried that if the current Atlético Madrid met this undefeated Real Madrid, even if Lance was even more god-like, he might not be able to save Atlético Madrid.
Soon, Jian Jun found his worries were redundant, in a different sense.
Leicester City's intense pressing made Atlético Madrid very uncomfortable, leading to players being knocked over in the second half and the game being frequently interrupted.
"A foul by Leicester City, Ndidi gets a yellow card."
"Despite losing Kanté, Ndidi's defensive aggression is also very strong. Today, he has intercepted many passes from Atlético Madrid players to Lance, limiting Lance's teammates..."
A fierce tackle forced the only available defensive midfielder, Tiago Mendes, to leave the field injured.
For an already injury-riddled Atlético Madrid, this was adding insult to injury.
Simeone was worried sick, and quickly subbed on the backup defensive midfielder, the Ghanaian midfielder Partey.
"The time has reached 77 minutes; there isn't much time left for Atlético Madrid. It remains to be seen if Lance can..."
While Jian Jun was still speaking, Atlético Madrid had already quickly taken a free kick from the center circle!
Gaitán broke through one person on the left and sent a long diagonal pass to the right!
Ángel Correa received the ball and originally intended to break through, making Leicester City's left-back Fuchs retreat a few steps.
Who would have thought Ángel Correa would suddenly pass horizontally!
The football went into an open space in front of the penalty area!!
"Was that a misplaced pass?"
While Jian Jun was still doubting, a figure suddenly charged out from the shadows!!
"Lance!!! God Lance got it!!!"
Space Perception showed its power once again!!
Lance anticipated in advance, saw the position of the "puzzle piece," rushed up and fiercely knocked the ball forward, completing an "Elastico" at the limit of his right toe's reach!!
Shaking off center-back Huth with the fastest speed!!
"Fuck!!"
The tall center-back Huth was very slow to turn. By the time he looked back and saw Lance, he was already two body lengths behind!
"God Lance!!! Shoots!!!"
Inside the penalty area, Lance didn't hesitate at all!
He directly took the shot!
Fierce Tiger!!!
Bang!
Carrying the unwillingness of being behind and a perverse desire for victory!
Lance's shot was full of powerful penetration!
The goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel wished so much at this moment that he could inherit the abilities of his father, Peter Schmeichel.
But compared to the Manchester United legendary goalkeeper Schmeichel, he was slightly inferior.
The football pierced through the goal with immense force!
"The ball is in!!! God Lance himself shows his power!! Atlético Madrid equalizes the score in adversity!!!"
"1 to 1!!!"
Jian Jun applauded in admiration!
Sure enough, one still has to look to Lance to create miracles!
When the entire Atlético Madrid team couldn't be counted on, only Lance could still perform consistently!
1-1, aggregate score 2-1, plus an away goal, which meant, as long as Atlético Madrid held the score, even if Leicester City equalized the aggregate score, they would be eliminated by Atlético Madrid!
Simeone quickly made a substitution adjustment.
Replacing Ángel Correa with substitute center-back Savić.
Forming the ultimate 5-4-1 "park the bus" formation!
Leicester City is good at counter-attacking, but breaking down a defense is not their specialty.
Atlético Madrid's defensive intensity could theoretically guarantee the elimination of the opponent!
"It's secure!!"
Simeone secretly pumped his fist in celebration, while feeling lucky to have Lance in the team.
Otherwise, Atlético Madrid would really be finished.
After the substitution, Atlético Madrid's defense was indeed solid as a rock, giving Leicester City few chances.
Leicester City surrounded the penalty area but struggled to create any real danger.
"Mahrez!! Tries to break through!! Teammates are asking for the ball... he didn't give it!! Takes a shot himself!!"
"It hits the side netting; the shot was too forced."
"...Still Leicester City's attack, this time on the right, Albrighton, very fast!!"
"Double-teamed by Lance and Saúl at the same time, he can only pass back."
"Leicester City lacks the ability to break through a dense defense."
After all, in the Premier League, Leicester City plays on the counter-attack; no one uses a dense defense against them.
Against a Premier League underdog team, using a dense defense is somewhat beneath them.
But Simeone only cared about advancing, regardless of how it looked.
"But... Atlético Madrid is relying a bit too much on defense; even Lance is helping out in the penalty area..."
Instructor Zhang was a bit worried; under tactical requirements, Lance was staying more in the backfield.
With no one threatening the frontcourt, it inevitably allowed the opponent to be reckless.
Sure enough, retribution came!
In the 87th minute of the match, Leicester City threw caution to the wind, frantically crossing balls into the penalty area.
Giménez had originally secured his position and was ready to jump for a header.
As a result, in the aerial duel with Shinji Okazaki, he misjudged and missed the header!
"Ah! This ball!!"
Seeing the ball unexpectedly fly towards the back post, Vardy gently completed a poked shot in front of the goal!
"The ball is in!! Vardy!!!"
"Leicester City leads 2-1 at home, aggregate score equalized at 2-2!!"
"Although they are still behind by one away goal, Leicester City's morale has clearly risen."
Including injury time, there are about 5 minutes left.
Atlético Madrid's path to advancing in the Champions League is back in suspense!
Hiss...
Lance's vision suddenly went dark.
He immediately had an ominous premonition.