Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions-Chapter 602 - 409: This time with his solo run, Tang Long’s way of breaking through made Bony feel ashamed!
Chapter 602: Chapter 409: This time with his solo run, Tang Long’s way of breaking through made Bony feel ashamed!
Who can say that 35-year-old Eevee is old?
After Eevee’s left-footed strike, the fans at Prince Park erupted into cheers!
His name resonated through the night sky of Paris.
But only Eevee himself clearly felt that he was indeed aging.
As early as the first time he stylishly bypassed Serie A old rival Ranocchia with a brilliant move, Eevee felt a tug at the center of his knee.
This was his aging cruciate ligament warning him—your dribbling has exceeded the body’s limits!
Standing at 195 cm, Eevee’s muscle mass dramatically increased after the age of 30.
Tall and strong, imposing and intimidating, at one point weighing nearly 100 kilograms.
But his knees were no longer as agile as when he was 25.
However, after passing Ranocchia, Eevee had his eyes only on the goal, paying no heed to his knee’s reaction.
Under the rush of adrenaline, he bypassed Kolarov with a shoulder feint.
Bypassing with a shoulder feint is also a method that places strain on the knees.
Before he could feel the second warning from the medial collateral ligament of his right knee, Eevee’s right foot was already acting as the supporting foot, firmly planting into the ground, supporting his 100-kilogram weight, and unleashing a powerful left-footed shot.
Since the shot was from the left aiming for the far right corner, when Eevee’s right foot landed as the supporting foot, there was a rightward twisting motion in his toes, attempting to twist his whole body in the air—
This once again added pressure to his already overburdened knee, and this time the warning came from the lateral ligament!
The ball went in, although.
But the piercing pain surged through his mind like the tidal wave of cheers from the Paris fans at the scene.
Eevee gritted his teeth, smiled, trying hard not to let others see his pain, and then spread his arms to celebrate with his teammates.
At that moment, he saw on the big screen of Prince Park, the Paris leader Nasser was applauding with joy, smiling.
"Zlatan, you’re already 35, you must fight hard, if you don’t win the Champions League this season, there really won’t be another chance!"
Recalling the in-depth conversation with Nasser at the start of the season, Eevee could only grit his teeth and continue to fight.
Prior to this match, Nasser had given the entire team an inspiring speech, encouraging them to bravely advance in the Champions League and seize victory;
he even offered a 10 million euro advancement bonus for the team per match!
This is why, not only Eevee, but the other players also gave their all.
From their running, it could be seen just how hard they were fighting!
In the first 30 minutes, excluding the goalkeeper, the average running distance of the Paris players reached 4.3 kilometers, 300 meters more than that of Manchester City.
It’s important to know that the average age of Paris is higher than that of Manchester City, with veterans like Eevee, Diego Silva, Motta, and Maxwell in their thirties, whereas Manchester City had more young players.
So when Manchester City, trailing by a goal, arrived at the halftime break.
In the locker room, Pellegrini appeared confident.
"They’ve run too much, their stamina distribution is unreasonable, they will certainly face issues in the second half. Guys, conceding one goal doesn’t mean much, the next 45 minutes are your chance!"
Tang Long chimed in, "Exactly, we must equalize before they substitute in the second half, by the latter half, they’ll collapse."
Captain Kompany nodded, telling Agüero and Sterling, "Their center-back Silva pushed forward from defense at the start, consuming probably a lot of energy. Generally, teams don’t substitute center-backs. Use your dribbling advantage to target Silva when you have the ball, and there will surely be opportunities!"
...
Paris Saint-Germain’s coach Blanco surely knew that the team had expended too much energy in the first half?
As early as before the match started, when CEO Nasser came to the locker room to deliver an impassioned speech and announce the 10 million euro advancement bonus, Blanco’s heart tightened.
Although the players’ cheers were still ringing in his ears, Blanco believed this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Especially when facing a strong team like Manchester City!
The management’s morale-boosting isn’t bad, but it depends on the timing.
On the football field, passion cannot overcome everything. At critical moments, staying calm and composed is the key to overcoming difficulties.
Like in the first half, while the team took the lead with a 1:0 score, suppressing Manchester City on the field to the point where their proud passing control was disrupted by relentless challenges, all this came at the cost of excessive energy consumption.
Football is a 90-minute game. Poor energy distribution may allow the team to dominate in the first half;
but in the second half, it’s impossible to maintain the first half’s intensity, due to the physiological limits of the players, which no one can change.
So at the beginning of the second half, Blanco made a decision to substitute early in this half, with his first substitution point between the 55th and 60th minutes.
Both Pellegrini, Tang Long, and Kompany precisely anticipated Paris Saint-Germain’s response in the second half.
The first to experience a stamina collapse was the towering Eevee.
As PSG’s target man, Eevee’s role was to hold the ball, draw defense, and then distribute, acting as a sharp blade near Manchester City’s penalty area.
But the faint pain from his knee made Eevee, even though he was not afraid in spirit, reluctant to make any moves due to instinctive body reactions.
Back when he was with Inter Milan, Eevee’s medial collateral ligament had suffered a severe injury that sidelined him for a full two and a half months.
As he aged, the impact of old injuries on his body gradually began to manifest in the second half.
He could no longer wrestle with Ranocchia, opting instead to make frequent one-touch passes to quickly shift possession.
Eevee couldn’t hold onto the ball in the center, and trailing players couldn’t follow up, so Paris had to focus their attacks on the wings.
In the 54th minute of the second half.
Eevee and Ranocchia contested a high ball.
As he landed, Eevee’s knee made a heavy cracking sound!
He was instantly stunned, squatting on the ground, not daring to react at all.
The ball flew over to Maxwell on the wing, the Brazilian full-back breathing heavily as he sped forward.
Seeing Eevee motionless on the ground, he hesitated for just a second before Sagna inched closer!
This was a specific instruction from Pellegrini to the French full-back during halftime, to press the 35-year-old Brazilian full-back tightly.
Maxwell, coming from Brazilian street football, was full of dribbling skills.
Faced with the French full-back, he instinctively performed a Marseille Spin in place trying to get past him.
However, Sagna, a long-time renowned warrior at Arsenal and the main right-back at Manchester City, found Maxwell’s move was slow as if in slow motion due to his declining stamina~
With a single step, he blocked the position, pushing Maxwell aside, and dribbled forward.
To prevent Sagna from dribbling directly to face his team’s defensive midfielder, Maxwell, who lost his position, had to pull Sagna down from behind.
Taking advantage of the dead play due to the foul, Eevee stood up, moved slightly, and signaled to his teammates that he was okay.
The head coach Blanco on the sidelines was extremely tense at this moment!
He looked at the stadium’s big screen, noticing it was already past the 55th minute of the second half, and immediately conferred with the assistant coach to prepare for a substitution.
Just as Blanco turned his head, signaling for Kimpembe on the bench to get ready to replace the exhausted Maxwell, Manchester City swiftly took the free kick!
Sagna’s quick release caught the opponents off guard!
This move even deceived other Manchester City teammates, with only Tang Long being on the same wavelength!
In a previous league match this season against Manchester United, Tang Long also executed a quick free-kick. Sagna was on the field in that match, so he learned by example this time.
The Paris defenders originally intended to take advantage of the pause to conserve energy, especially the central defender, 33-year-old Thiago Silva.
Hands on his knees and panting, he blinked, and before he knew it, Tang Long was in front of him with the ball, ready to take him on.
"Pro-protect me!" Thiago Silva exclaimed in shock!
Tang Long passed the ball to Agüero, who returned it without hesitation, allowing the two to perform a simple one-two, leaving Thiago Silva helpless.
Tang Long then broke into the penalty area!
Facing the advancing goalkeeper Trapp, Tang Long executed a light chip, just enough to let the ball glide serenely over Trapp’s head and slowly roll into the net!
"Wow! You can score with a chip too!"
Agüero, feeling surprised, laughed and ran to hug Tang Long.
Tang Long indeed learned this trick from Agüero.
Though as an attacking midfielder, Tang Long rarely had such opportunities, he never missed an opportunity to learn on the field.
From Agüero, Tang Long learned this teasing chip shot.
All the Manchester City players on the bench jumped up, shouting with passion!
Captain Kompany ran to the sideline with a smile, high-fiving Pellegrini.
The team finally equalized the score!
More importantly, they secured a valuable away goal!
Substitute striker Bony also rushed to the sideline but had a complicated expression.
At that moment of Tang Long’s chip, Bony even pictured himself in Tang Long’s position.
He devised two ideas: cut inside from the left to beat the goalkeeper and shoot into an empty net, or aim for the far corner.
Tang Long’s chip was completely unexpected for Bony!
However, after seeing Tang Long finish in such a neat way, Bony had to be full of admiration.
The timing, height, and smoothness of those chips were exquisite.
For a goalkeeper who could fall anytime, such chips were indefensible, with a higher success rate than aiming for the far corner or dribbling the goalkeeper.
Bony had also observed Agüero’s shots, witnessing such chipped goals several times, but whenever Bony faced a one-on-one, whether due to technical limitations or a mental block, he could never think of it!
This also resulted in his one-on-one scoring rates being far inferior to Agüero’s.
Watching this scene, Bony sighed quietly, feeling sour inside.
"Sigh, this Tang, he can pass, he can score in one-on-ones, how is he better than me at everything!"
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