Turin? No, tonight is the Night of Istanbul!
[Report! Two enemy fortresses have been breached by our forces!]
- [Report again!]
Buffon was stunned; the way Agüero spread his arms when he shot looked just like Rose on the Titanic!
- [Report again!]
Pogba is arguing with the referee again; he received a yellow card for his foul language!
- [Report again!]
[Juventus fans once again waved Diletta's poster and chanted, Tang Long put his hand to his ear, signaling them to shout louder!]
-[Anything else?]
My roommate is AC Milan fan, and he says he's a little panicked right now!
But I'm a Liverpool fan, so I'm not worried at all!
Manchester City launched two sharp attacks within the first 10 minutes of the second half, pulling the score back to 2-1!
This completely turned the tide of the game!
Although Juventus are still leading, they are now on edge and uneasy.
Manchester City's offensive pressure remained unabated, with the ball firmly under their control, and the game returned to Manchester City's familiar rhythm.
In the studio, Materazzi rubbed his face, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"My goodness, Tang Long's shot was beautiful, Agüero's shot was even more thrilling! This combination of the two is simply invincible!"
In high spirits, Diletta quickly added, "But Agüero sat in the first half for 45 minutes, and it was only because of Dom's appearance in the second half that he was fully utilized."
"That's right, that's right, whatever you say is correct." Materazzi smiled meaningfully at Diletta.
Trezeguet, watching from the sidelines, was terrified, but as a striker himself, he couldn't help but admire the chemistry between Tang Long, Icardi, and Agüero.
Trezeguet is a striker known for his finishing ability and finishing touches.
Whether at Juventus or the France national team, he had never seen Tang Long such a wild passer.
That's right, Trezeguet's definition of Tang Long in his mind was [wild]!
Whether it was his first assist to intercept Pogba or his immediate, high-speed Low-trajectory Curve Shot, he was unstoppable.
He made a long, sweeping forward run from the defensive midfield position, feigning a powerful shot, but then delivered a last-minute, offside-beating lob pass.
Tang Long's two assists in this match were both executed with wide, open shots!
All of these brilliant passes were delivered amidst fierce competition and running.
Trezeguet has commentated on many Juventus matches before. Pirlo, also playing in the defensive midfield position, is more refined, unlike Tang Long who is more straightforward.
Although Tang Long's appearance made some of his teammates unhappy, including Silva, who had been eager to make a name for himself in the attacking midfield position.
However, the team rallied to score two goals in a row, boosting their morale in the first half. At least on the surface, they remained united!
As a Premier League team, Blue Moon players consider themselves to represent the highest level of Britain football;
Arriving on the Apennine Peninsula to challenge the Serie A giants, neither side is willing to admit defeat; they both want to win!
Therefore, Silva's running became more active than in the first half.
He even comforted himself by thinking, "My evasive cover also fooled the Juventus players. Without my evasion, Tang Long's lob pass wouldn't have deceived the opposing defender."
Juventus is Juventus after all.
They are the Serie A, boasting the most luxurious squad in all of Italy, and the strongest fan support!
Having dominated Serie A for four years, they also have extensive experience in European competitions.
They knew that the key to stopping Manchester City's attacking momentum was to stop their passing and possession!
Although Manchester City's passing game improved significantly after Tang Long came on, it was not as good as in the first half.
However, Juventus can still disrupt their passing rhythm by committing fouls.
With Pogba already on a yellow card, his two midfield teammates Marchisio and Sturaro took turns physically interfering with Manchester City.
Between the 55th and 70th minutes, Juventus received three yellow cards in the next 15 minutes!
The players became more aggressive, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
In terms of midfielders and forwards, Juventus players are generally taller than Manchester City players, which gives them an advantage in terms of rough fouls.
In the 73rd minute, Tang Long was struck in the eyebrow by Chiellini's arm during a header challenge in the penalty area, causing him to fall to the ground!
This foul was difficult for the referee to call. He might call it outside the penalty area, but he would never dare to call it inside the penalty area, because it would result in a penalty kick. So Chiellini escaped a penalty kick.
Tang Long frowned and lay on the ground for a long time without getting up.
Seeing the bleeding, Ranocchia quickly waved to the sidelines, beckoning the team doctor Gracie, to come onto the field, "Little girl, come on up!"
Gracie, wearing soccer cleats and carrying a first-aid kit, rushed over to check Tang Long's injury, and the two exchanged words.
In the studio, Diletta couldn't hear what the two were saying. She just looked at Tang Long's hand, which was covering his brow bone and was bleeding. She felt both distressed and anxious and quickly asked Materazzi if Tang Long's brow bone was broken.
"It shouldn't be that, even if he's disfigured, it'll still hurt him for a while. Damn it, Chiellini's elbow is still so dirty!" Materazzi cursed.
"Aren't you the same? I got elbowed in the temple by you in the 2006 World Cup final, and it almost made me pass out from the pain," Trezeguet retorted.
Then, deliberately teasing the anxious Diletta, he said, "Marco is right. Don should be alright, just that his face will be disfigured and he'll bleed. At worst, his eyebrows will grow crooked."
Gracie told Tang Long that he had a cut on his brow bone and asked if he wanted to take a break.
"Go and rest, kid!" Chiellini, who had overheard their conversation, called out with a grin.
As the most cunning center-back in Italy, Chiellini is adept at testing the referee's limits, employing all sorts of underhanded tactics. He is confident that he can easily outmaneuver Tang Long.
Ranocchia shoved him away, "Get out!"
The two glared at each other angrily. They had been at odds since their time in Serie A, and now that they were facing each other again in the UEFA Champions League, they had nothing nice to say to each other.
"It's nothing. Last season when I was playing Juventus at Inter Milan, I headbutted the post to score the equalizer. That was much worse, but I still managed to hold on. You stitch it up for me."
Gracie quickly took out a medical stapler from her bag, but hesitated for a long time before striking Tang Long's brow bone.
During her childhood, she hunted and slaughtered wild boars with her father.
I dissected cadavers during my university years;
But when it came to simply stitching up Tang Long's brow bone wound with a stapler, Gracie's hands trembled and sweat beaded on her forehead; she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Don't waste time!"
Tang Long reached out and, with a snap, pressed himself down!
A sharp pain shot through my head!
The bleeding stopped, Gracie quickly wrapped a bandage around his forehead.
Tang Long pondered in his mind how to teach this arrogant Chiellini a lesson.
This delay took another few minutes.
In the 77th minute, Juventus made two substitutions.
Pogba and Sturaro, both carrying yellow cards, were substituted, replaced by Naimiller and Pereyra to further strengthen physical pressure in midfield.
"Juventus is about to launch a midfield stranglehold!"
"A player won't stop playing unless he gets a yellow card!"
"It seems the experienced Allegri is going to wage a brutal war in this match!"
"The situation was somewhat tense during this period!"
"The connection between Tang Long and Agüero seems to have disappeared again."
"Manchester City can't afford to relax. Juventus are still in the lead, and they need at least another goal to secure a point!"
Seeing the situation gradually stabilize, Allegri breathed a sigh of relief and quietly glanced at Pellegrini.
He knew that because of the two substitutions at halftime, even if some Manchester City players were running out of energy, Pellegrini would not easily make the final substitution before the 80th minute;
Therefore, as long as they can hold on until the 80th minute, Allegri is confident that he can defeat Manchester City at home, take all three points, and overtake their opponents to top the group standings!
At this point, Tang Long's and Ranocchia's experience came in handy again.
As the only Manchester City players to have faced Juventus last season, these two know Juventus team all too well.
Juventus is an arrogant team.
During Serie A four consecutive Serie A titles, the squad remained largely stable, and the players developed extremely high confidence.
This leads them to have an arrogant attitude when facing any team!
Don't be fooled by Juventus' tight defense; they're far from satisfied with this score.
For them, seizing the opportunity to counterattack and score another goal to completely kill the game is what the Serie A champions should do at their home ground, so as not to lose face!
In addition, goalkeeper Caballero, who replaced Hart, has outstanding footwork.
So, taking advantage of a Juventus corner kick, the three of them quickly discussed and decided to use a luring pass in their own half to draw Juventus players into pressing them.
Caballero readily agreed, saying, "No problem, this is what I do, footwork is my forte, bring it on!"
Given Juventus' current strength, if all 11 of their players stay in their own half, it would be quite difficult to break through their defense.
Therefore, Tang Long slowed down his advance.
He kept his distance from Ranocchia, while forming a triangle with Caballero, and then called out to his good friend Kolarov on his left.
The group started turning the ball over.
Bang bang bang--
Bang bang bang--
Then a strange thing happened.
With the match approaching 80 minutes, Manchester City, still trailing by one goal, were in no hurry to attack, instead passing the ball back and forth in their own half.
This made Materazzi, who was in the commentary booth, very anxious!
Dude, no way! We're not in the lead, we're lagging behind.
If you want to score, pass the ball forward! Why are you always passing it around at the back?
But as you keep going back and forth, the effect comes out.
The newly substituted young player, Naimiller, watched the ball being passed around in Manchester City's own half without moving forward. Feeling itchy to get the ball, he rushed out to try and win it back.
Marchisio called out to him, telling him to calm down, but Pogba, who had been substituted and was sitting on the bench, couldn't stand it anymore and jumped to the sidelines.
"Naimiller! Listen to me, go for it! Go for it with the strikers and beat them to a pulp!" Pogba was clearly unhappy about being substituted, looking like he hadn't had enough of the game.
Upon hearing Pogba's shout, Naimiller acted impulsively, ignoring Marchisio's instructions, and charged forward in a flash.
Morata and Mandzukic, who remained on the field throughout, are players known for their running and tackling skills;
Seeing Naimiller coming to steal the ball, they were overjoyed and decided not to stay in midfield anymore, charging forward all at once;
On the other side, winger Cuadrado, with the attitude of "either don't press, or press together," also moved forward.
Juventus launches a four-pronged attack!
But this charge led them into the trap Tang Long had prepared for them, a classic case of luring someone into a trap.
Naimiller eyed Tang Long, Morata snatched Ranocchia, Zhukic pressured Caballero, and Cuadraro grabbed Kolarov. Originally, these three had each assigned their own items to fight over.
Unexpectedly, Tang Long and Ranocchia suddenly switched positions while running, with Tang Long moving to the center-back position and Ranocchia moving forward to the defensive midfield position!
This change left Juventus somewhat bewildered, especially young player Naimiller.
He thought to himself, "I'm supposed to be a midfielder, but now I'm following Tang Long into the opponent's penalty area. Am I overdoing it? Who's going to cover the gaps behind me?"
In that moment of hesitation, Ranocchia, who had made a diagonal run into the defensive midfield position, received a pass from Caballero and created an opening.
Naimiller turned around and shouted that he was in a bad position because his defensive position was open. He then abandoned Tang Long and chased after Ranocchia.
But as he chased back, Ranocchia a foot pull to get past him and then passed the ball to Tang Long, who was making a forward run!
With just one pass and two steps, Manchester City's defensive formation began to push forward.
In this attack, left- Kolarov, who hadn't had much impact on the left flank, played a crucial role!
After Tang Long passed the ball to him, Kolarov subtly pointed to the wing with his hand, then cut inside and began dribbling towards the center.
Kolarov is a powerful striker who once scored a spectacular goal from 36 meters out while playing for Manchester City;
His cut inside immediately put Juventus' defenders on edge!
Kolarov feigned a shot, drawing the attention of two Juventus defenders, before passing the ball back to Tang Long, who was making a run down the wing.
The Serbia full-back is tall and has long legs, but he is not fast and his dribbling is average.
Fortunately, they had already locked eyes with Tang Long, otherwise they would have been dispossessed if they had been a step slower.
"Wow, Kolarov actually split the ball to the side!"
"Tang Long has the ball on the left wing!"
"Evra has pushed forward!"
"Tang Long, Tang Long! What will he choose?"
"Cut inside, cross!"
"Ah... he pulled it back!"
"He dodged Evra's outstretched leg!"
"Sneaking into the penalty area from the baseline!"
"Sweep through the middle lane!"
Who's there?
"It's in!"
Goal!
"My God, Manchester City have equalized!"
"Tang Long came on and delivered three assists in a row!"
"I didn't see who scored that goal..."
"Haha, it's Sterling!"
"Sterling charges at Tang Long! Everyone charges at Tang Long!"
"Tonight, Turin is not Turin, it's Istanbul!"