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Chapter 251 Back on track
The live television broadcast was replaying the slow-motion replay of Amadou Tutu's clearance play.

The frame freezes the moment Tutu kicks the soccer ball, then transitions to an animation of the goal-line detection technique.

Although what just happened looked very dangerous, the goal line animation showed that the ball was actually more than half a ball away from the goal line.

The actual situation wasn't as dangerous as everyone thought...

Nevertheless, many Atlético Lille fans were still quite frightened.

Because they weren't intimidated by Tyne's attack this time, but by the many attacks Tyne launched during this period.

They danced on the edge of a knife time and time again, putting their hearts to the ultimate challenge.

Who knows which of Tyne's attacks will lead to another goal?

At this point, they stopped mocking Tyne for being an uncultured country bumpkin...

Instead, the Tyne fans in the stands started mocking them.

"Looks like Atlético Lille isn't all that great after all... We were quite intimidated before the match, with all that talk about being last season's Ligue 1 runners-up and a regular in European competitions... Now that I think about it, it was all just hype. If they were really that good, would they have been relegated to the third tier?"

Harry Collins crossed his arms and sneered.

Then he turned and glanced at the Lille Atlético fans in the distant stands.

They haven't yelled at Tyne fans and given them the middle finger through the police for a while.

They became much quieter and more polite.

While the Lille fans were quiet, the Taine fans started singing.

Although fewer than three thousand people were able to attend the away game, their singing was still very clear when the Lille Atlético fans quieted down.

They were singing "Newcastle upon Tyne," a song that all Tyne fans know and love.

Both Harry Collins and Jon Berger raised their hands, pulled up their blue and white striped scarves, and sang along with the others:
"...The River Tyne, the River Tyne, the ever-flowing River Tyne...and the towering chimneys, and the flickering fires in the furnaces...this is my hometown, Newcastle—! Newcastle on the River Tyne—!!"

They sang very loudly, over and over again.

Previously, they could only sing this song in England.

Now, however, they can make the songs resound in other stadiums across Europe.

Just as Wang Lie said, this season, their footsteps will traverse all of Europe, and their songs will resound throughout Europe!
※※※

The chants of Tyne fans filled the air above Asker City Stadium, practically turning the stadium into their home ground.

Lille have indeed been in a very difficult situation lately.

But many people seem to have overlooked one point – facing the aggressive and relentless attacks of Tyne, and against the outstanding Wang Lie and Vitini, Lille only conceded one goal.

After conceding a slightly unexpected goal, Lille really withstood Tyne's attacks!

Many people only saw Lille's disarray, but they didn't expect the score to still be 1-0.

Lille's head coach, Youssef Chapchet, applauded from the sidelines, giving them a thumbs-up and praising them:
"Well played! Well played! Keep it up!"

He knew that Tyne couldn't maintain this intensity and pace indefinitely, and as long as his team didn't concede a goal before then, they would have a chance.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

After Vitini's shot forced Lille's left-back Amadou Tutu to make a last-ditch clearance, Tain's attack began to slow down.

No team can maintain this level of offensive intensity indefinitely; the players' physical condition can't keep up, nor can their mental state.

It's like unleashing a powerful special move; special moves have time limits and cooldown periods after use.

This is why experienced professional players allocate their energy wisely.

Starting the game by charging in aggressively and exhausting all your energy in the shortest amount of time, followed by a long period of slow mana regeneration, is something only amateur players and rookies do...

When Tyne slowed down the pace and reduced the intensity due to fatigue, Lille Atlético, having gained a breather, stopped retreating to their own half and began to attack.

Fu Xiaofeng can finally return to his role as an attacking midfielder—previously he had basically become a defensive midfielder.

Thanks to his continuous improvement in physical confrontation and defensive ability this season, he did not become the weak link in the team's overall defense during the period when he was suppressed by Tyne.

However, he is still better at offense, and he can better utilize his strengths in the team's offensive plays.

In the 33rd minute, Tyne attacked, reaching the vicinity of Lille's 30-meter line.

When Isala attempted to pass the ball forward to Wang Lie in the middle, his intention was too obvious and was anticipated by Lille Atlético's center-back Yassin Meyer, who decisively rushed forward and poked the ball away before Wang Lie could reach it!

The football landed right at Fu Xiaofeng's feet.

However, Tyne's striker Ribeiro reacted quickly, immediately turning around to press the ball.

Fu Xiaofeng stepped forward and, before Ribeiro's foot could reach him, pulled the ball back to his body with his right foot. Then, he turned around with the ball, using his body to block Ribeiro behind him.

He completed the ball control, ball protection, and dribbling out in one fluid motion.

Then he dribbled forward with the ball.

Fu Xiaofeng, who is not known for his speed, did not continue to dribble forward.

He simply dribbled past Ribeiro, broke through the densest area of ​​the crowd, and then swung his right foot to send a long diagonal pass to the right flank.

There was a huge gap there because Tyne's left-back Anderson Nova rushed up to join the attack and didn't get back to defend in time!

Although Nova had seen it and was desperately trying to get back to defend, he had rushed too far forward and had been playing like a left winger instead of a full-back.

Even if he excels in speed, he can't possibly outrun a football in flight!
"Fu Xiaofeng made a long diagonal pass to his striker teammate Miranda... Beautiful! A precise long pass!"

Thiago Miranda, the Portuguese striker for Lille, was originally in the middle when he saw Fu Xiaofeng pass the ball to the right wing, so he immediately ran diagonally to receive it.

When he reached his position, the ball landed right in front of him, perfectly within reach, and he could easily stop it with a simple step.

Precise and easy-to-receive long passes saved Lille a lot of time during counter-attacks.

It also created opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

Miranda received the ball and dribbled diagonally into the penalty area.

This prompted Tyne's center-back, Maje Katic, to pounce on him.

After drawing Katic over, Miranda crossed the ball.

By this point, the cheers from the Lille Atlético fans in the stands were like a storm, completely unstoppable!

Because in the middle, there's a huge gap!

Now, Lille's other striker, Younis Perat, is sprinting towards that opening!

At the same time, Tyne goalkeeper Elliott Goetz also rushed out of his goal, trying to clear the ball before Perat could reach it!

"Lille's counter-attack! Cross! Chance!"

The stadium erupted in cheers. Perat ran to the landing point first, then swung his right leg to shoot as the ball rolled towards the goal!

Despite Elliott Goetz's quick dive to his side, the ball rolled past his hands...

Then, under the collective gaze of 50,000 fans in the stadium, and even more fans watching on television, it rolled into the net!
"Ahhh! Younis Perat! Perat! Finally! Thirteen minutes after conceding, Atlético Lille has equalized!"

"Oh dear! Tyne's formation pushed too high, and as a result, Lille launched a quick counter-attack... This was a defensive mistake by Tyne. Look where Anderson Nova is? When Perat shot, he had only just crossed the halfway line..."

"Fu Xiaofeng! He accurately found Tyne's fatal weakness in defense! This is the kind of performance that Lille's midfield core should be delivering!" Luo Jin shouted excitedly.

As a Chinese commentator, Luo Jin's stance in this match can be described as very neutral.

Both teams have Chinese players, and they are all key players and core members of their respective teams.

He has absolutely no need to favor any one person.

Even if he himself had deeper feelings for Wang Lie, he would not show it.

In Luo Jin's mind, the best outcome for this match would have been a draw, but both Wang Lie and Fu Xiaofeng performed exceptionally well.

A draw isn't an unacceptable result for Tyne, who are making their Champions League debut. A home draw is certainly not good for Atlético Lille, but between two evils, choose the lesser; a draw is better than a home loss…

※※※

Aske City Stadium seems to have come back to life.

Lille fans were elated and cheered wildly.

The striker who scored the goal, Younis Perat, ran towards the corner flag to celebrate with the fans in the stands.

His teammates ran up from behind to celebrate the goal with him.

Fu Xiaofeng was among them.

When he ran up, because Perat had already been grabbed by others, he first went to find Thiago Miranda, who was on the wing receiving his long pass.

Miranda turned around and saw Fu Xiaofeng. She opened her arms to him, smiling happily, but also with a hint of doubt: "Well done, Fu! Your long passes are like precision-guided homing! How come I didn't notice how accurate your long passes were before?"

Fu Xiaofeng chuckled: "Because we didn't need it before."

He was telling the truth, but only half of it...

Previously, his position was attacking midfielder, and he could complete his tasks well by making short to medium-distance passes of about 20 meters.

He certainly has no motivation to improve his long passing skills; enough is fine, no need to be an expert.

This is also Fu Xiaofeng's consistent attitude; he will not do anything if asked to put in more effort to improve aspects that do not yield much benefit.

For example, his physical strength is sufficient to withstand the impact of defenders when he has the ball on offense. He doesn't need to train extra strength to fight physically with opponents in defense.

But why didn't he need to use long passes before, but now he suddenly needs to?
After all, his position in the Chinese national team is more flexible, and he might even play further back, but at his club, Atlético Lille, he doesn't have such tactical flexibility.

Head coach Youssef Chapchet mostly used Fu Xiaofeng as a forward midfielder.

So he didn't need it before, and actually he doesn't need it much at the club now either.

As for the real reason that made him start practicing long passes more, Fu Xiaofeng never revealed it to the public.

This is not something to be told to outsiders...

※※※

While Lille celebrated their goal, the Tyne players on the field were clearly devastated by the conceded goal.

This feeling is actually quite normal, after all, they dominated the game for the ten minutes after scoring, completely overwhelming their opponents on the field.

And to be honest, a ten-minute lead isn't long at all; in fact, Lille equalized very quickly.

They had just taken the lead, bombarded the opponent with attacks but couldn't score, and then the opponent scored on a counterattack.

It really dampened morale.

As captain, Wang Lie encouraged his teammates after conceding the goal:
"It's alright! It's alright! This was expected!"

But it's hard to say how many people actually listened to him.

After the game restarted, it was Tyne's turn to be affected by the conceded goal.

Meanwhile, the home team, Atlético Lille, performed brilliantly, dominating Tyne amidst the thunderous cheers of their home fans.

Tyne was forced to switch to all-out defense.

But they still couldn't hold on completely.

Just six minutes after Lille equalized, Tyne's goal was breached again.

In the 39th minute, Atlético Lille won a corner kick.

Fu Xiaofeng took the corner kick to the far post, where Lille's center-back Yassin Meyer headed the ball towards the goal.

Tyne goalkeeper Elliott Goetz made a diving save to block the ball.

But he didn't manage to push the ball out of bounds.

The ball landed in the penalty area!

Tyne's midfielder Pisano was near where the ball was landing and cleared it with a long kick.

As a result, the ball he kicked hit Lille Atlético's defensive midfielder Samuel Adrani, who was rushing to shoot, and then bounced into the goal!
Just like that, Lille took the lead!

"Ahhhhh!! Samuel Adrani! Atlético Lille is in the lead!" The French commentator, who was giving a live commentary on the match, excitedly raised his arms and shouted.

British commentator Connor Cowley sighed, "Taine still couldn't hold on... Actually, there were some signs before this goal was conceded - it came from a corner kick, which in turn came from Lille's consecutive attacks... After the score was equalized, Taine was clearly a bit flustered... After all, it's his first time in the Champions League, and he lacks experience!"

After Tyne took the lead, he thought the team wasn't nervous at all.

Looking at it now, it's not that he's not nervous, but rather that he hasn't felt the real pressure yet. After all, both sides played rather calmly after the match started, and Atlético Lille didn't put any intensity on Tyne.

Now, when they encounter difficulties in the competition, tension naturally arises.

After the ball flew into Tyne's goal, Cesar Varo let out a heavy sigh, then turned to McNeil beside him and said:

"Wouldn't it have been better if we had stabilized our defense after taking the lead, instead of continuing to intensify our attack?"

It's understandable that he would think that way, because it was Tain's continuous attacks that gave Lille the opportunity to equalize.

After equalizing, Atlético Lille's morale soared, leading to this second goal that put them ahead...

McNeil shook his head: "I don't think so. Taking advantage of the situation to extend the lead was the right choice. If there's any problem, it's that I underestimated Atlético Lille's resilience..."

He certainly underestimated Lille's defensive capabilities.

Based on his understanding of his team's attacking firepower, he knew that ten minutes of relentless bombardment should have resulted in a goal.

But surprisingly, Lille managed to hold on.

In particular, Amadou Tutu's clearance in front of the goal line greatly boosted the morale of the entire Atlético Lille team.

But this escape involved an element of luck.

This kind of luck is hard to predict before the game.

He could only say that there are too many moments in football matches that are determined by luck, and these moments often determine the course of the game, or even the final result...

Although Lille is currently leading Tyne, it seems like Lille is performing better.

McNeil, however, felt that if Vitini's shot had gone in, the game would have taken a completely different turn.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with his decision at the time.

The current scoreline further confirms the correctness of his previous choice:
Taking a one-goal lead is definitely not a safe bet...

Next time, we should try to turn a one-goal lead into a two-goal lead, or even a larger lead.

This time it was just bad luck, but I don't believe I'll always be unlucky!

McNeil thought to himself through gritted teeth.

Then he said to Varo, "Let the team take cover, don't concede another goal before the end of the first half..."

Varro turned to the sidelines to give instructions, while McNeil sat motionless in his coaching seat, staring at the field like a silent statue.

In stark contrast to him is Atlético Lille's head coach, Youssef Chapchet.

When the team tied the score, he remained relatively calm and did not celebrate. He simply clapped his hands to encourage the players to keep up the good work.

Only now, with the team taking the lead, have they finally released all their pent-up emotions:
He first jumped up excitedly from the ground, raised his arm and punched the ground, then hugged the assistant coach, and then high-fived every colleague in the coaching staff.

Not just him, everyone on the coaching staff had a smile on their face.

This should be the normal rhythm of a match between them and a Champions League newcomer... instead of being overwhelmed and pressured by the opponent after falling behind, as they did before.

The game is finally back on track!
(End of this chapter)