Chapter 490: Chapter 490
Far away in China, the Chess Saint Nie Weiping was also watching this match.
Ever since he sent Tang Long a folding fan with "Divine Kick" on it, Elder Nie has been following the young Chinese player’s performance on the European stage, tracking him from Inter all the way to Manchester City.
Nie Weiping is straightforward by nature, and once said in an interview that in his life, there are three major hobbies: soccer is first, bridge is second.
As for his primary work, Go, it can only be ranked third.
With his health not being great in recent years, he often needs oxygen and has no chance to play soccer himself, so all his love for the game is poured into watching matches.
"Ladies and gentlemen, look! Allegri is so cunning. Although my chess skill isn’t as good as my Go, I can see at a glance that he is using the chess tactic of exchanging pieces!"
"He’s willing to let Marchisio detach from the entire team system to mark Tang Long, pinning him down completely!"
"This is an exchange of one person for another, but Allegri clearly knows that Marchisio’s role for Juventus is nowhere near as crucial as Tang Long’s for Manchester City. From this move, Allegri has succeeded."
The Chess Saint Nie Weiping is watching this late-night Champions League match at home together with several Go friends who also love soccer.
"Isn’t this what we often call Tian Ji’s Horse Racing? Elder Nie, you’re knowledgeable, and you’ve watched more matches than us. Tell us, how can Manchester City break this move?"
Nie Weiping smiled slightly, with a "swoosh," he opened the folding fan in his hand, which had the words "Serenity yields transcendence" written on it in calligraphy.
"Beginners in chess always think about exchanging pieces, using your chariot to exchange for theirs."
"But the exchanging pieces tactic can only be used tentatively once or twice. Have you ever seen someone chase exchanges throughout the entire game?"
"With Tang Long’s intelligence, if Marchisio continues to chase him trying to exchange pieces, I dare say, in the end, he won’t succeed in the exchange and will instead be captured by a bishop flying in!"
After the entire first half of tangling with Marchisio.
Tang Long gradually figured out the defensive habits of this Italian midfielder.
Marchisio is a very versatile player.
Skilled with excellent fundamentals, whether in positioning or in judging the situation on the field, he is first-class across Europe.
In the Italian national team, he also serves as a primary midfielder, the same role as with Juventus.
However, after this encounter with Marchisio, Tang Long discovered a fatal flaw in Marchisio!
In regular defense, he moves swiftly, keeping up with Tang Long’s pace;
But once Tang Long shakes him off, Marchisio opts for extreme measures to avert danger, appearing overly desperate.
Like when he mimicked Ranocchia in the first half and used that retreat step interception.
Tang Long has seen Ranocchia use this move often in training and matches.
The tall center-back executes this trump move decisively, fearlessly, as if always having a plan in mind.
It’s probably because the 1.95 meters tall Ranocchia has particularly long legs, he doesn’t need to resort to extreme interceptions, just leaning back his leg, and if the position is right, his retreat step interception always becomes an obstacle for the opponent’s advance!
But Marchisio is clearly not .
He is more than ten centimeters shorter than Ranocchia, using the retreat step move rather stiffly, evidently for the first time in this match.
Tang Long has to find a breakthrough on him.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, Manchester City, following Pellegrini’s pre-match deployment, pressed a little forward.
After several passes, the ball came to Tang Long’s feet.
Tang Long pretended to pass the ball back to Yaya Toure, but as the arch of his foot touched the ball, he suddenly retracted!
Quickly twisting his ankle, switching to the outside of his foot, following the side of the rolling ball, he flicked it behind, slipping past Marchisio!
Seeing Tang Long trying to toy with him once more, Marchisio resorted to his previous tactic, once again using the retreat step interception he learned from Ranocchia in the national team.
Upon seeing this move, Ranocchia, watching the game on TV, slapped his thigh angrily and couldn’t help but complain to Agüero:
"Ugh, I should never have taught him my trump move!"
But what Ranocchia didn’t know was that Tang Long had long anticipated Marchisio using this move!
So when he used the outside of his foot to send the ball back smoothly, it was handled delicately and skillfully.
He didn’t rush to increase the ball’s rolling speed, but once he saw Marchisio extend his foot, he suddenly accelerated, with a bang, his left foot hit Marchisio’s outstretched back toe, and he fell to the ground!
Tang Long feigned a painful expression, clutching his own ankle and rolling on the ground, continually slapping the ground with his right hand.
Seeing the referee firmly running towards him and blowing the whistle, Marchisio’s heart skipped a beat and panicked!
Just at the beginning of the second half, he was shown a yellow card.
Agüero clapped and laughed, saying to Ranocchia:
"Looks like Marchisio hasn’t fully mastered your trump move, to be honest, did you secretly hold back a bit!"
Also watching the live broadcast, Nie Weiping swiftly closed the fan with a snap, tapping the table.
"Marchisio’s attempt to exchange failed, and now that he received a yellow card, I guarantee he won’t dare to make another move!"
"Elder Nie, are you saying Juventus’s exchange tactic is over?"
"No, Marchisio’s exchange tactic is over, but Juventus will have others come up to continue the exchanges."
Marchisio looked aggrievedly at the referee, complaining for a moment, full of unwillingness in his heart.
He remembered Allegri’s earnest advice during halftime not to get a yellow card too early, and if he had to, delay it until after the 70th minute!
Because Allegri knew very well that his exchange tactic was best executed by the smartest Marchisio, and anyone else wouldn’t be as ideal.
Now, Allegri had no other choice;
He let Marchisio retreat, bringing another midfielder without a card, Sturora, to replace Marchisio’s position, continuing to closely mark Tang Long.
However, could Marchisio escape if he wanted to?
Tang Long wouldn’t let him go!
This time, it’s Tang Long’s turn to chase Marchisio.
In the 62nd minute of the second half, the broadcast camera focused on Tang Long, pushing with the ball!
Sturora’s close marking wasn’t tight enough, his interference on Tang Long was far from Marchisio’s, the defense was paper-thin, allowing Tang Long to slip past him like a nimble butterfly with a light feint~
Tang Long turned around, his eyes as sharp as a hawk’s, directly targeting Marchisio not far away.
At this moment, Marchisio was anxious and dared not recklessly step forward to intercept. He knew very well that if he committed another foul, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Someone come and protect me, help!"
Marchisio shouted in panic towards Pogba.
He was leisurely strolling back from the midfield, like an old man taking a leisurely walk in the park.
"Hold on for a bit, I’m coming right away!" Pogba said nonchalantly but still didn’t speed up.
Pogba was known as a B2B all-round midfielder in the outside world, but in his heart, his attacking talent was his true pride!
He didn’t want to waste his energy on such "trivial" matters as defense.
He dreamed of becoming the king of the football world, scoring goals relentlessly, unstoppable in long-range shooting, and dominating with powerful headers.
"Go past him, go past him!"
Agüero and Ranocchia both stood up in front of the TV, cheering for Tang Long.
As if their shouts could really travel along the internet cables and be amplified by the speakers at the Etihad Stadium!
Tang Long unleashed his signature move, Ronaldo’s Pendulum!
His left foot took a big step to the left, his left shoulder simultaneously dropped quickly to the left, and Marchisio instinctively shifted his center of gravity to the left;
But just halfway through, Tang Long’s right foot darted a small step to the right like lightning, instantly shifting his center of gravity in the opposite direction of Marchisio!
For the first two steps, Marchisio managed to stabilize himself without falling thanks to his fairly solid defensive skills;
But on the third step, Tang Long moved left again, this move was simply overwhelmingly deceptive!
Not only his legs, knees, arms, and shoulders moved, but even Tang Long’s neck swung to the left like a nimble snake.
Marchisio finally couldn’t hold back and stretched out his foot!
On the final move, Tang Long shifted right!
"Boom!" A loud crash resounded!
Tang Long fiercely drove the ball forward with his right leg, having already calculated, and collided heavily with Marchisio’s shin!
The sound of the shin guards clashing was ear-piercingly loud, like two meteorites colliding fiercely! Dıscover more novels at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
Tang Long rolled on the ground several times, tightly clutching his shin with one hand, his face showing a painful grimace as if suffering immense pain;
The other hand slapped the ground heavily—it was something he learned from Agüero.
Seeing Tang Long in pain, the referee promptly blew the whistle, and amidst the nervous gazes of the Juventus players, he immediately took out the second yellow card for Marchisio, then followed with a red card—two yellows turning into a red, Marchisio was sent off!
The Italian midfielder looked incredulous, covering his mouth with both hands, squatting on the ground, eyes wide open looking at the referee, making his final desperate appeal:
"Referee, I didn’t mean to block him, he deliberately ran into my shin!"
Such an appeal seemed so childish and ridiculous.
"I saw it clearly, you didn’t touch the ball, you directly tripped Tang Long!"
A round of enthusiastic applause erupted at the Etihad Stadium.
This applause was for the referee!
It was the loudest since the start of the match!
"Good call, Artkinson!"
"You’re finally not blind tonight!"
"Well done, that bastard Marchisio should have been sent off long ago!"
"He’s still learning our Ranocchia’s retreat step, but does he really think his skills can handle it?"
"I’ve heard that Ranocchia can’t even defend against Tang in training with his retreat step, let alone Marchisio!"
"Haha, now it’s our turn to slaughter Juventus!"
When Marchisio was leaving the field, Tang Long kindly went over to comfort him with a few words.
"Your bow retreat step is strong, but you need more practice. I’ll have Ranocchia teach you more later."
Off the field, Allegri looked dazed.
He never imagined that the team would have to face a 10 against 11 situation.
The score was 0:0 and there were 30 minutes left in the match; how should they play now?
Allegri was so lost in thought that when Marchisio walked off the field with his face covered, he even forgot to offer his star player some consolation.
This made Marchisio even more dejected: I was strictly following your tactics, and now that I’ve been sent off, are you not even going to say a word to me?
"Argh, this pisses me off! It’s that rascal Tang again; he’s left Inter for Manchester City, why does he still keep opposing Juventus!"
Allegri had lost count of how many times his team had been frustrated by Tang Long.
Thinking that if they couldn’t defeat Manchester City in this match, Juventus would completely lose hope of fighting for first place in the group;
After pondering for a moment, he simply waved his hand and made the craziest move of his coaching career!
He swapped out full-back Lichtsteiner for striker Sturora, changing Juventus’ formation to a 333!
Allegri would not be content with taking home a draw.
Seeing Juventus, one man down, sending on a striker to strengthen their attack, Tang Long smiled knowingly, thinking that Allegri must be having an epileptic fit!
It was his time to shine.
You’re the fish, I’m the knife-wielder. Now, it’s just a matter of how to delightfully slaughter Juventus in the last 30 minutes!