Team Spirit

Chapter 288 Fierce Battle Against the King of the European League

With a whistle, the game officially began.

In the second minute, Modric was fouled during a one-two pass with Vardy in the attacking third, resulting in a free kick.

Modric lofted the ball into the penalty area, Fazio headed it away but not far enough, and Lu Kai controlled the ball with his chest before chipping it towards the goal before it hit the ground.

He hit the target too squarely and was caught by Palop.

In the fourth minute, Sevilla launched a counter-attack.

Thiago Silva knew that his position was too far forward, putting him in danger of being caught out, so he took the initiative to try to slow down Fabiano's advance.

Fabiano was indeed blocked, but he turned and flicked the ball with his heel.

The center forward, Kanoute, receives the ball on the sidelines.

Undeterred by Motta's charge, he fought back and completed the split.

Alves on the right received the ball and ran off at an extremely fast pace.

Last season, Dani Alves won the UEFA Cup Player of the Season award for his outstanding performance, marking the beginning of his prime.

Barcelona are very keen to acquire him, and his Transfermarkt value has already reached 40 million euros.

He is another newly emerging world-class winger after Maicon.

Ashley Young: He is far superior to my Lord Young of the East City!

Alves dribbled the ball at breakneck speed, creating a one-on-one opportunity and breaking into the penalty area.

Cech strikes.

The two met on a narrow path, and Alves' shot was just touched by Cech's toe.

The football deflected off the post and bounced back.

Just as the two sides were about to engage in a fierce battle, the linesman raised his flag.

Alves was offside, and possession went to Dartford.

The blame for this goal lies with Alves for running too fast.

In the eighth minute, the situation suddenly changed.

Hinkel's long-range shot from outside the penalty area struck Thiago Silva's arm, and because it increased the effective defensive area, the referee awarded a penalty.

The Pizjuán Stadium erupted in cheers.

The Green Gunners were dumbfounded. Although they tried to appeal to the referee, they knew that there was nothing they could do about the penalty.

Ten seconds later, Fabiano charged toward the corner flag.

"GOAL! Fabiano scores from penalty!"

"One to zero!"

"Cech guessed the right direction and almost caught the ball, but unfortunately this is Sevilla's home ground. Luck was on Sevilla's side today."

Before being called the King of the Europa League, Sevilla was more famously known as "the washbasin".

Sevilla leveled the aggregate score at 1-1, boosting the team's morale and making them even more aggressive in both attack and defense.

In the eleventh minute, Green Guns seized the opportunity to launch a counter-attack.

Modric connects with Vardy with a long ball.

The latter outpaced Navarro with his speed, but his subsequent low shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by Palop.

Duff followed up with another shot, but Fazio got to the ball first, creating a back pass to the goalkeeper.

The goalkeeper then passed the ball back to Upson, who was making a defensive recovery on the right.

"Oh! Dartford is very lucky."

"Lady Luck is clearly on my side today."

"Hey, Sevilla has launched a counterattack too!"

Upson passed the ball to Alves, who was slightly ahead.

The latter suddenly dribbled the ball and launched a sudden attack.

Modric and Motta immediately moved to defend.

But Alves had anticipated this, passing the ball laterally to Kanoute, who had dropped back to receive it, before making a rapid forward run himself.

Kanoute played a through ball after hitting the wall.

Alves outmaneuvered Thiago Silva and created a one-on-one opportunity.

Fabiano slowed down to block Vidic's pursuit route.

Alves took the opportunity to adjust his position and went through the middle, directly into the penalty area.

Cech remained unmoved and engaged in a contest with Alves.

The latter slowed down and adjusted, putting pressure on Cech.

After Vidic and Thiago Silva caught up, Alves finally found Cech's weakness and fired a shot with the outside of his right foot into the right side of the goal.

The player chasing back from the Green Gunner was on Alves' right side, so Cech relaxed his vigilance on that side. After all, to attack from that side, Alves' right foot would need to shift his body to the left to create space for his leg swing... But due to the influence of the pursuer, his leg swing space was insufficient, and the accuracy of his shot would also be affected.

To everyone's surprise, he was quite skilled at using the outside of his foot.

Brazilian players truly have no weaknesses in terms of skill; it's just a matter of whether they like it or not, not whether they can do it or not.

Cech misjudged the situation and was a fraction too slow in making the save.

"GOAL! Two to zero!"

"Alves! That was a solo run from the right-back!"

"That's why I say Alves is the best right-back in La Liga."

"In comparison, Cicinho, whom Real Madrid brought in from Green Gunners, is still somewhat lacking in absolute ability. However, Cicinho can play on both the left and right wings, making him a versatile player."

"At this stage, among the new generation of players, only Maicon, who Inter Milan acquired from Green Gunner, and Lahm from Bayern Munich can truly rival him."

Ashley Young, dressed in a suit and watching the game from the stands, gritted his teeth: "Despicable Sevilla, they deliberately injured me so that a nobody like Alves could become famous."

"If I were there, I would volunteer to go to the left wing, and I'd definitely get him jailed!"

"Going to jail" is generally used to describe a player being severely restricted, such as Haaland, who frequently went to jail while at Manchester City.

But Alves... actually went to jail.

There are several major cases involving Ronaldinho, Alves, Robinho, and other big-name Brazilian football stars who have been imprisoned.

In the 18th minute, Modric's cross from the right was cleared.

Sevilla midfielder Mati received the ball just outside the penalty area, but Lu Kai immediately poked the ball away and dribbled into the penalty area, firing a low shot amidst three defenders.

Unfortunately, the angle was too narrow, and Palop blocked the ball with his body.

Dzeko's follow-up shot hit Fazio's leg and bounced away.

Green Gun gets a corner kick.

After the corner kick, Dzeko headed the ball across, but Sevilla's center-back Fazio got to the ball second and headed it away.

Modric controlled the ball outside the box and then chipped it back into the penalty area.

Duff, at the far end, held off Hinkell and volleyed a shot.

It wasn't suppressed.

The football flew into the stands.

In the 24th minute, both sides continued to battle it out in midfield.

Hinkel passed the ball back to Navarro.

Lu Kai immediately pressed forward to snatch it.

Navarro made a feint, not receiving the ball directly, but moving away from the direction of the ball, trying to shake off Lu Kai, but he underestimated Lu Kai's determination to intercept.

Lu Kai did not eat the food.

Navarro panicked and quickly used his body to block Lu Kai.

At this point, the ball was no longer under Navarro's control.

Lu Kai was prepared and suddenly exerted his strength, knocking Navarro over.

The Sevilla coaching bench erupted instantly, with everyone complaining that Lu Kai had committed a foul, but the referee waved his hand to indicate that there was no foul.

When the ball is not under the player's control, the intensity of the physical contact increases.

Therefore, even in the same game, the leniency of the referee's calls can vary depending on whether the officiating is fair.

However, before Lu Kai could accelerate, Fazio made a sliding tackle, ruining the excellent opportunity. The referee hesitated briefly before ultimately showing Fazio a yellow card.

"No, no, no, that's a red card offense!" Modric quickly stepped forward to argue with the referee. "Fazio is Sevilla's last player besides the goalkeeper."

"That foul definitely warrants a red card!"

The referee then pointed to Sevilla's left-back, Puerta.

This means that Puerta's position was similar to Lu Kai's. Although they were far apart, Lu Kai did not have a one-on-one opportunity in a parallel position.

Between millimeters.

Green Gunners were naturally unhappy with the ruling, but what the referee said was true.

In this situation, any card can be given, but the impact on the game will be very different.

Green Gunners then used this set-piece opportunity to threaten Sevilla's goal once again, with Vidic's header going over the crossbar.

This attack served as a wake-up call for Sevilla.

Despite the coach's prior reminders to the players to focus on defense, the Sevilla players, caught up in their frenzy, had forgotten about the "Vili" of the Green Gun counterattack and had transformed into Saiyans, attacking with incredible ferocity.

After nearly receiving a red card, Sevilla regained their composure and switched to defensive mode.

In the 32nd minute, Lu Kai received the ball from Marcelo and passed it to Duff.

After feinting left and right, Duff delivered a brilliant cross.

Dzeko leaps and kicks the ball.

Unfortunately, Navarro's reckless header resulted in a last-ditch clearance.

Dzeko had no choice but to stop.

Otherwise, they might have been sent off before the Seville players.

Thirty-five minutes in, Duff had another chance to break through on the left. He crossed from the byline, finding Vardy at the far post.

Unfortunately, Puerta was constantly marking Vardy, and under his interference, Vardy's header didn't turn into a shot on goal; it was more like a clearance.

In the 38th minute, Modric also crossed from the right.

Lu Kai's header went over the crossbar despite interference.

In the first half stoppage time, Green Guns were practically on their last possession.

Lu Kai broke through the middle and ran past Dzeko into the edge of the box, but the ball was poked away by Navarro.

Fortunately, Lu Kai turned around and blocked Navarro in time, chasing back for the ball.

Upson attacked from the side, forming a double-team with Navarro.

Lu Kai turned and passed the ball to Duff.

Marcelo made a run down the wing, received a through ball from Duff, and swept the ball across the penalty area with his left foot.

The ball was moving very fast. Sevilla midfielder Matti, near the penalty spot and facing his own goal, instinctively stretched out his leg to intercept, but failed to completely stop it.

The ball changed direction and slowed down, more like a Green Gun player passing the ball to the right from the penalty spot inside the opponent's penalty area.

Vardy followed up with a powerful shot, as if it were a shooting drill.

A goal from a tight angle in football!
"GOAL! 1-2! Dartford have pulled one back with a hard-fought goal!"

"Vardy, who had wasted several opportunities before, has finally redeemed himself this time."

"The Green Gun's left wing launched a series of attacks and finally posed a threat."

"This makes the aggregate score 2-2, with Dartford having an away goal, giving them a slight lead!"

The first half ended immediately.

Inside the locker room, Guardiola gave an analysis and report.

Green Gunners didn't play well in the first half, partly because they didn't capitalize on their chances and had a low conversion rate, which was partly due to bad luck.

On the other hand, they were also unprepared for the intensity of the opponent's tackles.

"But if Sevilla plays like this, their stamina might not be able to keep up later," Guardiola said. "My suggestion is to hold on in the early part of the second half and then overturn the game when they're fatigued!"

Lu Kai adopted his suggestion.

After all, the Green Guns still have a score advantage.

Duff and Vardy are both excellent counter-attacking players. If Sevilla tries to force an attack, the score might change before they even tire themselves out.

The second half started quickly.

Sevilla indeed entered attack mode.

In the 49th minute, Sevilla took a corner kick.

Kanoute flicks the ball on with his head.

Fabiano pounces on the loose ball and shoots.

But Li Weifeng made a crucial defensive play, gaining a better position.

Fabiano's shot hit Li Weifeng's leg, but the ball didn't take much force.

Cech caught the ball immediately.

The referee blew his whistle and showed Fabiano a yellow card for an offensive foul.

Li Weifeng lay on the ground for a while, but was not injured.

In the 53rd minute, the counter-attack opportunity that Green Gun had been waiting for finally arrived.

After Dzeko made a defensive interception, he backheeled the ball to Lu Kai, who then dribbled forward and charged across the midfield.

Duff and Vardy fired their arrows simultaneously, charging ahead.

Just as Lu Kai was about to enter the top of the arc, Duff suddenly accelerated and cut diagonally from the left to the middle.

Earlier, Vardy had pulled to the right at Lu Kai's signal, leaving Lu Kai with an open space to his right, which allowed the FIFA legend to showcase his individual skills.

As a result, Lu Kai sent a short through ball to the right front.

Duff's oblique cut is to go to that area.

The teamwork this time was excellent.

However, Duff tripped and fell to the ground when he crossed paths with Navarro during the diagonal cut.

Navarro also collapsed.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

"What do you mean by this? Duff fell in the penalty area, and it looks like it's related to Navarro, but... the referee's perspective might not be clear."

“Navarro is very experienced. He definitely took down Duff on purpose, but it’s hard to tell whether it was through normal physical contact or dirty tricks.”

Sure enough, before the referee could make a ruling, the players from both sides started arguing.

Navarro directly berated Duff, telling him to stop pretending and if he wanted to jump into the water, he should go back to the Thames.

Duff stood up angrily, shoving Navarro aside and saying, "You bastard, you dragged me down, and now you're afraid to admit it?"

"Besides these dirty tricks, can you defend against me?"

"I scored against you in the last game, have you forgotten?"

Navarro immediately shoved him back.

A large-scale shoving and standoff ensued between the players from both sides.

Ultimately, both Duff and Navarro received yellow cards.

The referee did not penalize Duff for falling, believing it was within the normal range of contact, just as Lu Kai had previously knocked Navarro down.

Because neither side had control of the ball, the intensity of the confrontation was high enough.

On the sidelines, Guardiola also received a yellow card, because he was afraid the referee wouldn't understand, so he greeted the other player in Spanish.

"Although Sevilla escaped a close call, or rather, although they thwarted a dangerous attack by Green Gunners, their situation is actually worse."

"Both of their center-backs have yellow cards."

"If Sevilla wants to continue attacking, they still need to make players pay the price of yellow cards. If the center-back who is at the back cannot get a yellow card, then someone else has to be substituted. This results in an extra person in the backfield, which in turn affects the attack."

"Besides, it's hard to say about others, but Lu Kai's on-field intelligence is terrifying. He is fully capable and conscious of targeting players with yellow cards during counter-attacks."

On the sidelines, Sevilla's head coach is indeed facing this dilemma.

Is it a substitution of a center-back who gets a card?
However, their current substitute center-backs are far inferior to their two starters in terms of ability, which makes it difficult to feel at ease.

(End of this chapter)