Buffon: I Practiced Hundreds of Penalties Before the Match, Why Was I Still Played by Tang Long!

Manchester City, with a one-man advantage, led 2-0 after more than 70 minutes. Pellegrini felt like a miracle had happened, and Juventus had no chance of a comeback.

He began preparing for the weekend's league match.

Exhausted, Yaya Toure was substituted at halftime again, replaced by the young Delph.

Despite his tireless running throughout the match, Kolarov was substituted by his counterpart, Klich.

As for Tang Long, Pellegrini showed no intention of replacing him.

Since they're in such good form, they should put on a great show for their home fans!

Moreover, Pellegrini was aware of the feud between Tang Long and Juventus.

As a former Inter Milan player, nothing gives Tang Long more satisfaction than personally thrashing Juventus!

Some grudges and rivalries will permeate a player's entire professional career and will not be erased from their heart by a transfer.

Who knows when Manchester City will face Juventus again!

Pellegrini decided to let Tang Long play and fight to his heart's content, and let him vent his hatred for Juventus.

With two of his three substitutions already used, Nasri on the bench was getting restless.

He mustered his courage and walked up to Pellegrini.

"Boss, if I may ask, do I have a chance to play in this match?"

Pellegrini was still completely unaware that the once-promising France player's career at Manchester City had already been sealed.

Seeing Nasri's expectant look, Pellegrini nodded.

"Don't worry, if no one is injured after 80 minutes, I'll substitute you."

"Alright, boss!"

Nasri, eager to try, immediately turned around and went to the sidelines to stretch his legs and loosen his ankles as a warm-up.

With a 2-0 lead after just over 70 minutes, is the game over?

No, there isn't!

Tang Long had already outmaneuvered Chiellini once, but he clearly had more to say about Buffon and wanted to have a deeper conversation with him.

Tang Long knew that Pellegrini hadn't substituted him, which meant that Manchester City had no intention of calling it quits in this UEFA Champions League group stage match against Juventus.

Then let's keep working hard while we still have time!

The other teammates were also fully aware of the situation.

Youngster Sterling, in particular, was running incredibly aggressively!

He knew that Inter Milan and Juventus were bitter rivals in Serie A, and seeing Tang Long's triumphant expression after scoring against Juventus, he realized that Tang Long had truly made an enemy of Juventus.

As a staunch supporter of Tang Long, the young Sterling decides to help Tang Long give Juventus a sound beating.

Sterling thought to himself, if I could help Tang Long score another goal for Juventus and make him happy, he might teach me more positioning and receiving skills, or give me a few more assists so I can perform well.

My starting position is practically guaranteed for next year's UEFA European Championship!

Sterling gritted his teeth as he recalled being reprimanded in front of everyone by Fernando, the Portuguese-speaking Faction, at Kompany's house a few days ago!

Milner bullied me before, but who do you think you are Fernando, to dare to shit on my head Sterling?

Am I, Sterling, some kind of pushover that everyone can bully?

I am a true England player, a rising star in England's attacking future!

My boss Joe Hart, is always very polite to me and never scolds me.

You, Fernando, are just relying on being older than me and having played two more years at Manchester City? What's so great about that!

Once I establish myself at Manchester City, gain recognition and prestige, I will never tolerate anyone in this team speaking to me in that tone!

Heaven rewards those who persevere.

Sterling's tireless running finally paid off in the 83rd minute.

Tang Long's through ball tore apart Juventus' defense like a scalpel;

Winger Sterling, like a motorcyclist, wiggled his hips and flicked his pinky finger as he dodged several Juventus defenders and charged towards the ball.

He passed Chiellini!

Chiellini chased after him with all his might!

This seasoned Italy defender kept his left hand on Sterling's shoulder, constantly interfering with him before Sterling even entered the penalty area.

If the referee hadn't been watching right behind him, Chiellini would have loved to tackle Sterling to the ground, pin him down, and tear a chunk of flesh from his shoulder with his gaping maw.

You should have bitten me last time!

Although Sterling is not tall and not as strong as Chiellini, he is fast!

Despite being constantly hampered by Chiellini's arm movements, his advance did not slow down at all.

Seeing that Sterling had already entered the penalty area, the experienced Chiellini immediately released his grip and began to slow down.

He knew that once inside the penalty area, Sterling could fall to the ground at any moment, and if his hand was still on his shoulder, it would undoubtedly be a red card!

But Sterling was being very cunning this time.

After seeing Chiellini slow down behind him, he didn't accelerate to get past the onrushing Buffon. Instead, he suddenly stopped and stomped the ball under his feet!

Tang Long realized that Sterling was deliberately letting Chiellini knock him down from behind, creating a penalty kick by committing a foul inside the penalty area.

Just as Tang Long was secretly applauding Sterling's clever scheme, Chiellini also realized something was amiss.

He slammed on the brakes and then deliberately spread his arms out to show the referee.

"I didn't touch him, I didn't..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chiellini, who had slowed down and was almost at a smooth stop, suddenly bumped into Sterling from behind and knocked him over!

"Ju--"

The referee, who had been watching closely, promptly blew his whistle and pointed with one hand towards the penalty area.

He then pulled out a red card, sending Chiellini off the court!

Red Dot Package!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh--

The Manchester City fans in the stands were all smiles, clapping and celebrating.

This is UEFA Champions League match, against Juventus! Two consecutive red cards – Manchester City fans haven't seen anything like this in years.

"Holy crap, another red card? That's it, now the other team has nine players!"

"Juventus has absolutely no memory! One Marchisio wasn't enough, now they've got Chiellini too! It's hilarious!"

"I told you long ago, when we were down to ten men, Allegri still brought on a striker. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?"

"That's right, Juventus deliberately came to their deaths, don't blame us, hahaha~"

"With two key players suspended for the next match, Juventus has lost both ways. Why did they do this?"

Chiellini looked up at the bright red card the referee was holding up to him, as if he were looking at a death sentence announced by a judge.

He stood there, dumbfounded.

At that moment, his mind went blank.

The Italy defender remembers it clearly; he had already stopped the car!

When he regained his footing, he was at least 50 centimeters away from Sterling, so there was no way he could have bumped into him.

I've been playing in Italy for over a decade or two, and I'm a key player on the national team. How could I make such a basic mistake?

Chiellini wants to file a complaint against Sterling for flopping.

However, he also clearly felt that the moment Sterling fell to the ground, he had indeed bumped into him hard again, knocking him down from behind.

That's very strange!

Even though when I was standing still, Sterling's back was at least an arm's length away from me, I still bumped into Sterling, and quite badly at that, knocking him over.

So exactly where did I bump into Sterling?

It wasn't until Sterling wiggled his shapely hips and hopped onto Tang Long in celebration that Chiellini finally realized what was going on!

"Damn, I knew it was bouncy when I bumped into him, turns out I bumped into his butt!"

Looking at Sterling's somewhat deformed, hump-like buttocks;

Chiellini covered his face with his hands in despair.

At the moment he braked, his gaze was level, and he didn't notice Sterling's protruding buttocks at all, so his knee slammed into it hard.

Tang Long stands in front of the penalty kick again!

This was the fourth time in his career that he faced Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from the penalty spot.

Inter Milan twice, Manchester City twice.

In the first two instances, Tang Long used two Panenka penalties to outmaneuver Buffon, leaving the goalkeeper, who was known for his penalty-saving prowess, utterly humiliated!

The third time was in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

That time, Tang Long used an unconventional shooting motion with his supporting foot, which completely baffled Buffon!

Not only in UK, but also in Italy, many media outlets ridiculed the 37-year-old goalkeeper, saying he was too old and useless, and that a 19-year-old player could outmaneuver him three times in a row.

Fortunately, Buffon was spurred on by his defeat and rallied to his former glory!

These days, he's spent a lot of time practicing penalty kicks with the team's penalty kick specialists.

Moreover, the success rate of the saves was extremely high, which surprised Juventus' assistant coach!

Buffon understands that if Manchester City doesn't have a penalty, things are fine, but if they do, and he can't save it, he'll be too embarrassed to show his face and might as well retire at the end of the season!

Buffon, Pogba, Morata, Mandzukic, and others practiced all sorts of penalty kick techniques hundreds of times, including the Panenka penalty, the supporting foot touch, the eye deception, the half-hop step, and the sudden slowing down on the last step!

Buffon also watched various penalty kick tricks used by excellent penalty takers on video websites.

The purpose of this dedicated study is to completely shut down Tang Long's penalty kicks!

Therefore, Buffon, well-prepared, stood confidently on the goal line.

This time, Buffon decided to strike first!

He deliberately stood on the left side of the goal, then pointed to the right.

"Hey, I knew you'd kick to the right because there's more space there, right?"

Tang Long smiled at him and made an arc diving motion with his palm.

"I'll take another Panenka penalty, and complete a Panenka hat-trick, because you love eating spoons, right?"

Buffon was taken aback upon hearing this.

He didn't expect that Tang Long would deliberately reveal his plan before the penalty kick was taken.

Buffon thought to himself, "If Tang Long really kicks out a spoon, should I move or not?"

If it really were a spoon, I should be standing still on the ground.

Then I thought again, no, no, no, I can't believe him, he's trying to distract me. Sigh, what am I thinking!

Buffon jumped on the goal line, waving his hands. Standing over 1.9 meters tall, he could touch the crossbar with one hand.

This is using body language to distract Tang Long.

"Come on, kid, stop talking nonsense!"

As the referee blew his whistle, Tang Long slowly took a run-up and charged towards the football!

During his run-up, Tang Long first took four short, quick, and small steps;

Then, his stride suddenly quickened, and at the moment of contact with the ball, he even added a small hop.

Buffon was overjoyed!

This jump step move was already in my prepared materials.

According to Buffon's assessment, Tang Long's jump was intended to allow him to move first and make the first save;

The best approach is to stand still and wait for him to kick the ball before making a judgment.

Buffon knew that players who use a short hop to hit the ball don't have much power in their final shot because they lose the momentum from their run-up.

As long as you get off the ground quickly enough, you'll definitely be able to catch their ball, and at that point, it's very likely to be a ground ball!

As expected, Tang Long's last step of the small hop approach was slow, and the ball rolled very slowly when he hit it.

"Haha, I saw right through you, kid!"

Buffon's eyes were like an eagle's, fixed on the direction in which the football was rolling.

Left or right?

What happened next startled Buffon—

The ball's speed is slow, but it's way too slow!

Tang Long's foot was weak and powerless when he touched the ball; it barely grazed it.

The ball wobbled and rolled slowly to the left.

Given the force of that shot, Buffon wouldn't have been able to make a save. Even if he had stood still, the ball would have stopped rolling in front of the goal long ago due to the friction of the grass!

The Juventus defenders standing outside the penalty area were completely bewildered.

What on earth is that kicking?

Soon someone realized--

Haha, Tang made a mistake in hitting the ball. He tried to use a small hop to get past Buffon, but he didn't control the rhythm of the last step well, so the ball he kicked was weak and powerless.

Now you've finally made a fool of yourself.

"They're here!!"

In the blink of an eye, a loud shout rang out, startling everyone!

Suddenly, Ivory Coast striker Bony darted into the penalty area like African Cheetah.

Almost the instant Tang Long touched the ball, Bony started his run!

Facing the ball slowly rolling towards his left, Bony, who was unmarked, controlled the ball well and even had the opportunity to take a step forward before steadily pushing it into the near corner of the goal.

It wasn't until this moment that Buffon on the goal line finally realized what was happening!

Tang Long did this intentionally. This seemingly weak shot was not a shot at all, but an assist to Bony!

Buffon's mind went blank for a moment.

I never expected Tang to do this!

An oversight was made.

However, such a complex design is clearly pre-planned and deliberately done to mess with me.

Why, why!

Why did Tang trick me again? Why is he keeping an eye on me?

An unprecedented sense of shame surged through Buffon's heart like a tidal wave.

He completely broke down...