Soccer: Maxed-out ball control, the skill is too overpowered.

"Kick Barcelona, ​​kick Barcelona, ​​kick Bayern Munich—"

"My factory has collapsed!"

When I used to watch football, I would hear this melody, and it would accompany my favorite team's knockout stage matches.

It will definitely be incredibly tense.

The fear is especially intense when the opponent is very strong and the odds of winning seem slim.

Now, as a professional player, standing center stage, in front of the spotlight and more than 5 fans,

He will personally face Arsenal!

Lu Xiao was also a little scared after the start of the performance.

What he feared wasn't how strong Arsenal was, but rather that his teammates would make mistakes in the backfield, handing Arsenal a huge gift!

"Keep an eye on him! Keep an eye on him!"

"Pass the ball!"

"WTF?! Don't just stand there, get back on defense!!"

"Run!!"

The game had just started, and two minutes in, everything was proceeding as planned.

This is the first time the two sides have faced each other recently.

It's difficult to see any problems just by watching videos; you can only observe the details of the opposing players when you're on the field yourself.

Therefore, Arsenal played relatively cautiously at the start of the game.

Arsenal, who had possession of the kickoff, carefully passed the ball around in their own half before slowly advancing through the opponent's half.

Arteta controlled the tempo and didn't rush to make through balls.

Ramsey, Arteta, Cazorla, Özil,

All of them are skilled passers and have a certain level of technical ability.

Lu Xiao, along with Lars Bender and Rolfes, attempted to limit [their activities].

However, under Arteta's command, Leverkusen's pressing was not very effective, and they could only try to stabilize their defense.

It seems that the beginning should be a blitzkrieg by the bearded man—without any major incidents.

Faced with Leverkusen's cautious defense, Arsenal only managed one tentative attack.

Walco pulled to the wing and crossed the ball. Giroud's header, under pressure from center-back Toprak, was slightly central and easily caught by goalkeeper Leno.

Logically, with Arsenal's attacking round over, it should be Bayer Leverkusen's turn to try their luck.

Leno made a short pass to Spahic, who then passed it to defensive midfielder Lars Bender.

Lars Bender is a versatile player with a certain ability to organize and distribute the ball in the midfield and backfield. He is usually the engine of Bayer Leverkusen.

Originally, Lars Bender wanted to find Lu Xiao's location.

However, Lu Xiao was closely watched by Arteta, Ramsey, and Mertesacker, making it difficult for him to get past.

Meanwhile, Özil and Walcott came up to block their positions.

To be on the safe side, Lars Bender passed the ball back to his teammate, allowing the center-back to move to the wing and attack from Son Heung-min's side.

Son Heung-min's ball control and movement are quite stable.

The scene in my imagination was good, but when Lars Bender passed the ball back, Spahic, whether out of nervousness or something else, miscontrolled the ball!

Giroud reacted quickly, poking the ball away and carrying it into the penalty area!

"Giroud!! That's dangerous!!"

Zhan Jun's shout instantly woke up many drowsy fans, their hearts pounding in their throats!

"Girou—just attack!"

With Giroud's powerful shot, it looked like a goal was about to be scored, and Arsenal got off to a dream start in just two minutes away from home...

clang--

With a crisp sound, the football hit the post and bounced out. Toprak quickly cleared the ball out of bounds!

"Corner kick!! Arsenal get a corner kick just 2 minutes into the game. Leverkusen's defensive mistake was fatal! Giroud almost scored!"

Lu Xiao's heart almost convulsed at that moment.

Thankfully, the goalpost saved the day.

A group of players, still shaken, returned to the penalty area to join the defense.

Spasic looked ashen-faced and needed Captain Rolfes to comfort him.

"Don't worry about it, let's focus! Give it our all, we can do it!"

With Bayer Leverkusen's strong performance in the Bundesliga

Many German media outlets have already started to praise Leverkusen.

They praised Lu Xiao, praised Son Heung-min, praised Kiessling for regaining his form, and praised the solid performance of Rolfes and Lars Bender as the two defensive midfielders.

However, few praise the defense; instead, they often criticize Leverkusen's defense for dragging down the entire team.

Spahic, a center-back for Pochettino, is a powder keg. He performs well for the Pochettino national team, but he often acts erratically in defense at his club and frequently clashes with his teammates.

The other center-back, Toprak, is tall and strong, and excels at frontal interceptions and aerial defense.

He was the main force limiting French striker Giroud today, and just now he successfully defended against the record-breaking header.

However, Toprak is slow to move and turn, and often exposes his positional problems when facing small, quick, and agile players.

This central defensive pairing, including the two full-backs who are prone to pushing forward and not easily tracking back,

Bayer Leverkusen's defense has always been a weak point criticized by the media.

The defense almost had problems today against Arsenal.

"Arteta takes this corner kick, crosses it to the far post! Giroud!!! Heads the ball into the goal!"

"Leno reacted quickly and saved the ball!"

"Ramsey follows up with a shot—"

"Rescued by Lu Xiaomen's intervention!!!"

"It's not over yet!! Özil controls the ball outside the box, cuts past Toprak, and tries to shoot again? No!! He passed it!!"

"Give it to the ribs! Walcott!!!"

"Oops!! That shot went wide!"

Zhan Jun's passionate and rapid commentary, coupled with the several dangerous moments just now, made Lu Xiao's fans break out in a cold sweat and dare not breathe.

Arsenal's relentless attack was temporarily thwarted only when Walcott's shot went wide.

Wow, that was a close call! Arsenal's corner kick just now was really dangerous!

If Lu Xiao hadn't been standing on the goal line, they would have conceded the goal!

"That's right, Lu Xiao was positioned near the goalpost to defend the corner kick, and he headed out that shot... Ramsey's angle was already very good, but luckily it wasn't high enough, and Lu Xiao headed it away."

"Arsenal came out strong today! They seem determined to turn their Champions League slump around and achieve something this season."

In previous seasons, Arsenal were often eliminated in the round of 16, at best reaching the quarterfinals, where they would inevitably face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

The saying goes, "Three years at Barcelona, ​​five years at Bayern Munich."

Arsenal's Champions League record is not good against these tough opponents.

This year, we finally drew Bayer Leverkusen, an "easy target," so why can't Arsenal crush them?

"Come on!! Arsenal!!"

"Hell Yeah!!"

Outside the BayArena, in the fan plaza beneath the large screen.

Many Englishmen, sipping beer and feeling tipsy, were raising their arms and cheering for Arsenal.

English football hooligans are notorious, and the Germans around them can only temporarily avoid them.

Meanwhile, pubs of all sizes in North London were already packed with people.

A group of Brits were excitedly screaming at the television screen.

Arsenal look to be in great form today!

"After 15 minutes, the away team Arsenal took the initiative and controlled the pace of the game with their strong midfield advantage."

Bayer Leverkusen could only temporarily retreat to their defensive perimeter around the penalty area, using a white iron wall to withstand Arsenal's relentless attacks...

Lu Xiao played for 15 minutes, but didn't have many attacking opportunities; he mostly assisted in defense.

He felt that the whole team seemed to be intimidated by Arsenal.

In addition, the nervous mistakes at the start of the game caused Leverkusen's teammates to be on edge and unable to show the composure they display in the league.

If we continue to be so passive, Arsenal will eventually break through our defenses.

Falling behind is a minor issue; conceding an away goal would be much worse.

However, what Lu Xiao feared most came to pass.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Arsenal seized an opportunity and executed a beautiful combination play.

"Ramsey, Arteta, Özil..."

"Hey, here's the ball!! I've got it!"

Coach Zhang chuckled, and Özil suddenly delivered a brilliant backheel pass in front of the penalty area!

Giroud's perfectly timed diagonal cut went right past Toprak!

Everyone thought Giroud was the king of the skies?

Even at his peak, he was still adept at passing, running, and shooting in front of goal!

A powerful blast sent the ball into the goal!

"Girl!!"

"Heavenly King covers the Earth, only I, Great Gilru, reign supreme!"

"In a crucial Champions League knockout stage match, Giroud stepped up! He sealed the victory with a brilliant pass from Özil!"

"0-1! Bayer Leverkusen are temporarily behind!"

The director also gave a close-up shot to Lu Xiao, this Chinese-American prodigy!

Perhaps he truly is Leverkusen's hope for a comeback!