Chapter 251: Chapter 251

This goal went in, and the Sevilla players were collectively dumbfounded!

They couldn’t understand why they just couldn’t defend against Inter Milan, or rather, they couldn’t defend Tang Long.

The first goal that tied the score was Bonazzoli’s header flick, everyone moved to the center, yet Tang Long appeared ghostly at the far post.

And just now, everyone thought Tang Long was going to shoot with his left foot, even their teammates had made moves to dodge.

But Tang Long chose to let the ball slip, allowing Medel who was unmarked behind him to take a more advantageous shot!

Sevilla players began to blame each other.

Center-back Caliso ran furiously to Mbia, the defensive midfielder.

"What the hell is going on? Did you not see Medel coming up from behind? Giving him such a comfortable shot opportunity, are you blind?"

Mbia was stunned and retorted defiantly:

"Isn’t it you and Krehojavik who lost your positions? Two people blocking one, there’s bound to be space behind, can you blame me? My match-up was with Gualin!"

Caliso knew he was at fault, "Can you blame me? Anyone would have shot, who the hell expected this kid to let the ball slip, damn! Those Chinese just don’t play by the rules!"

Off the field, Sevilla’s head coach Emery was also sweating profusely!

Before the game, the first-team coaching staff had prepared thoroughly for Inter Milan’s tactics.

They practically watched every minute of Inter Milan’s last ten matches without missing any.

Several matches were even rewatched repeatedly to understand each Inter Milan player’s characteristics.

They knew that in the Inter lineup, the most threatening long-shot taker and the one who liked to push forward, was only midfielder Gualin.

The Chilean Medel was purely a midfield sweeper, a weakened version of Gattuso.

This season at Inter Milan, he hadn’t scored a goal, and only made three shots in total.

Even in attack, Medel usually positioned himself in the central defensive area rather than pushing forward.

So, Sevilla’s first-team coaching staff didn’t plan any tactics for Medel pushing forward and shooting.

Not even the coaches thought of it, let alone those players who were highly tense on the field.

"What the hell is going on, yes, what’s going on? What kind of tactical information did you provide? Didn’t you notice Medel has a shot?"

"Useless! All useless! Why did Sevilla hire you guys?"

Emery began venting his anger at his assistant coach.

This assistant was also dumbfounded.

He dared not argue with the head coach, silently cursing in his mind:

"Bullshit! What does it have to do with me, you clearly said before the match not to worry about Medel, just keep an eye on Gualin, why are you shoving the blame solely on me now?"

This assistant coach has been with the team for five years.

Medel played for Sevilla from 2011 to 2013 for two and a half years.

The assistant coach was also puzzled: "This Chilean didn’t show any capability of late shooting when he was with us, how did he get better at Inter Milan?"

Actually, neither head coach Emery nor the assistant wanted to admit a fact.

The key to Inter Milan’s goal was Tang Long’s amazing let-slip!

The open situation suddenly provided ample space for shooting to Inter players coming from behind, catching them off guard.

Medel is a sweeping midfielder, poor at shooting, not aggressive, that’s a fact.

But he’s still playing for Inter Milan, right?

And played in the World Cup for Chile, a regular for the national team.

As a professional player, taking a long shot to score isn’t that unusual, is it?

At that position, scoring or not is just a matter of the player’s technique and ability.

Despite Sevilla winning UEFA Europa League multiple times and being last season’s champions.

The La Liga team falls short of the legacy of the luxury club, Inter Milan.

Especially in terms of playing from behind, Sevilla is not as mature as Inter.

Inter Milan, after conceding first, scored two consecutive goals to lead the score, in a way that left the opponent helpless.

Instantly, Sevilla players’ psychological defenses began to crumble.

The players on the field started breaking down!

Originally focusing on passing control, as the match progressed deeper, after 70 minutes they still saw no sign of equalizing.

They started abandoning elegance, rolling up their sleeves, and began a "logging" game.

La Liga has many players from South America, it’s the same with Sevilla’s lineup.

Don’t look at the South American players’ great foot techniques, many of them come from the streets, and they’re not shy about playing rough when necessary.

On the field, Sevilla players started making bigger moves.

Especially against Tang Long, since they couldn’t stop him, they frequently fouled him to drain his energy.

But amusingly, in the 78th minute, during a fierce press by two Sevilla midfielders, not only did they fail to hurt Tang Long, they ended up hurting each other!

Tang Long, Inter Milan’s midfield core, was calmly controlling the ball in midfield, ready to launch an offensive.

Attacking midfielder Banega chased all the way back, while defensive midfielder Mbia charged ahead, both turned red-eyed!

At that moment, two white figures like lightning struck towards Tang Long with sliding tackles attempting to intercept him.

Pursued from behind, blocked ahead!

Just as their feet nearly tackled Tang Long’s ankle, Tang Long lightly flicked the ball, which seemed to have gained life, leaping into the air, and he also jumped on the spot like a graceful deer, leaping over two wolves.

In mid-air, Tang Long flipped, barely landing, when his ears filled with two deafening "crack" sounds.

Once he landed steadily and turned to look back, two harrowing "ouch!" cries followed.

Tang Long couldn’t help but take a sharp breath...

The sound was just too tragic, like the call of a cold crow in the night, making one’s heart tremble.

Nubia and Banega, like charred leaves in a fire, painfully curled up on the ground.

It turned out that during that nerve-racking tackle, because of Tang Long’s miraculous dodge, Mbia and Banega’s cleats ended up striking each other’s bodies!

Mbia was somewhat lucky, thanks to his agile reaction, he twisted his body and let Banega’s cleats only scrape his backside, purely causing flesh pain;

Banega wasn’t so lucky!

With his shorter stature, Mbia’s long legs landed right on his chest, rendering him completely incapacitated.

Seeing that he had accidentally injured his team’s core, Mbia felt a surge of fear and simply stayed down, continuing to wail.

The two mourned and whimpered, taking a long time to get back on their feet.

Tang Long saw this and simply kicked the ball out of bounds, then walked smilingly to the sidelines to drink some water.

"Sigh, I’ll let the two of you take a breather, we are leading anyway, I’ll drag the time a bit!"

Witnessing this scene, Emery from Seville’s sidelines was instantly filled with despair.

Two minutes earlier, unable to see a way to equalize the score, Emery had gambled everything and used up the team’s third substitution slot early.

Soon, the feedback from the team doctor extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Emery’s heart completely!

Banega’s ribs were severely bruised, unable to continue the match, carried off the field on a stretcher.

Well, that’s just great!

Trailing 1:2, playing one man down at 79 minutes, forget Emery, not a single one of the 11 Seville players on the pitch believed there was any chance left to defeat the opponent.

Ball possession was firmly controlled by Inter Milan.

An interesting little episode happened at the 85th minute.

Podolski received a precise through pass from Tang Long, ran diagonally into the penalty area, faced the goalkeeper with a cut, and his supporting leg was taken down by a defender.

Inter Milan won a penalty!

Podolski got up from the ground, squatted down, clenched his fists, and performed a sumo wrestler’s celebration pose facing Tang Long, with a roar!

He knew this match was secured!

The former Prince of Cologne was overwhelmingly excited.

This was Berlin Olympic Stadium!

He could finally win the UEFA Europa League championship in front of his German compatriots.

Such a triumphant return, how could it not make the now over-thirty Podolski’s heart race!

He wanted to hand the ball to Tang Long, who was the team’s primary penalty taker.

But to his surprise, Tang Long just waved his hand, "You take this penalty."

Podolski stood there holding the ball, stunned.

"Go for it! In front of your fellow countrymen, score this match-winning goal!"

Tang Long patted Podolski on the shoulder and walked away without looking back.

With the situation in favor, Inter Milan had an extra player on the field.

The defending champions had already lost their fighting spirit!

As the match was coming to an end, Tang Long decided to offer this chance to shine to his teammate Podolski, after all, this was his home ground!

Inter could enjoy Meazza-like treatment in distant Berlin, all thanks to this German teammate.

Under the enthusiastic cheers of the entire German crowd, Podolski cradled the football in his arms, walking step by step towards the penalty spot.

When he placed the football steadily on the white spot on the ground, Podolski suddenly remembered his debut goal for the German national team was scored at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

Though it was just a friendly against Belgium.

But the inspiration from that national debut goal benefited him throughout his professional career spanning over a decade!

Time flies, over a decade has passed in a blink...

Tears welled up in Podolski’s eyes.

"The camera is zooming in on Podolski!"

"Wow, we see tears actually welling up in his deep blue eyes!"

"At this moment, in front of thousands upon thousands of fellow countrymen, standing at the penalty spot, Podolski must be feeling very emotional!"

"The former Prince of Cologne is already 30 years old."

"He’s not young anymore, the years have left visible crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes."

"Once upon a time, the German trio staged the Tank Country storm at Inter Milan, in Serie A."

"But since then, in over 20 years, German players have almost disappeared in Serie A!"

"Podolski’s arrival has once again directed the German fans’ attention towards the familiar yet unfamiliar Serie A!"

A signature Podo powerful strike!

When the ball struck the back of the net, Podolski couldn’t hold back anymore, tears streamed down uncontrollably.

He rushed forward with blurred vision from tears, performing a passionate knee slide with a shaky gait.

Behind him were his teammates from Inter Milan rushing towards him!

Meanwhile, Tang Long was called urgently to the sidelines by Mancini for a quiet conversation...