This Cart, the Old Man Didn't Push It! The Two Limped On, the Second Half's Suspense Reignited!

Robben's unrestrained celebration seemed to ignite the passion of the entire Allianz Arena.

The team was already pushed to the brink of defeat, and his stunning inside cut and shot was like a ray of light in the darkness, leveling the score for Bayern early in the first half.

In this situation, how could he not be extremely excited?

Bayern's players are all seasoned veterans with a deep UEFA Champions League background.

They weren't like Tang Long imagined, getting all cocky and preparing to pop champagne to celebrate halfway through the game.

In this crucial match, after scoring the equalizer, they showed no signs of complacency; instead, they devoted themselves wholeheartedly and seriously to the rest of the game.

This is nothing!

The score is only 1-1; for them, this is just the beginning.

Bayern's players have even grander goals in mind; they not only want to equalize, but also to quickly take the lead and even score a third goal as soon as possible.

Only in this way can they successfully reverse the situation against the powerful Manchester City in these two intense matches.

Manchester City, on the other hand, naturally dared not relax in the slightest and were on high alert.

In the first 20 minutes or so, both sides traded goals, and after each scored a goal, the pace of the game gradually slowed down.

That's just how football matches are; there are fast-paced, high-octane attacks, and there are also leisurely, slow-paced stalemates.

After all, the players' stamina is limited, and they simply cannot sustain a full 90 minutes of continuous, relentless attacking play.

At this point, Manchester City, who were still leading on aggregate, became the team that controlled the tempo and slowed down the pace of the game.

The young Tang Long displayed a maturity and experience far beyond his years in this match.

During positional attacks, he would proactively drop back from the left wing position to the midfield, working closely with Gündoğan, Thiago, Ranocchia, and others, weaving an invisible net that connected the exquisite passing in the midfield.

As Tang Long retreated, Gündoğan understood and also moved back, forming a double defensive midfield with Ranocchia.

They erected a barrier for Manchester City's midfield and defense.

The purpose of this series of actions is to firmly control possession of the ball in the midfield and backfield!

The football bounced and spun at the feet of several Manchester City players.

From left to right, and back from right to left, it constantly stretches the wide width of the Allianz Arena.

Looking back at last season, when Guardiola was coaching Bayern, he steadfastly adhered to the possession-based tactics he used at Barca, and even widened the Allianz Arena by one meter.

This season, Bayern did not change the width of the stadium back to what it was before; the Allianz Arena remains as spacious as it was during Guardiola's tenure.

This is exactly what Manchester City, who excel at possession-based football, wanted.

Bang bang bang--

Bang bang bang--

Manchester City's players in the back, midfield, and defense coordinated seamlessly.

On average, each player holds the ball for only about a second. They never crave possession, but instead skillfully control the rhythm of the game through precise and rapid passing and control.

"Remember to keep the formation compact, and absolutely do not rush to challenge for the ball in the backfield!"

On the sidelines, Ancelotti keenly sensed the danger and shouted loudly to the players.

What kind of big scenes hasn't this battle-hardened Italy coach seen?

He knew perfectly well that Manchester City deliberately slowed down the pace for two reasons: firstly, to allow the players to recover their energy and prepare for the intense competition in the second half;

Secondly, they are attempting to repeat their old tricks, just as they did with Ranocchia, to lure Vidal, Lewandowski, Muller, and others into pressing forward relentlessly.

Once they push forward, gaps will inevitably appear behind them, which will become excellent opportunities for Tang Long, Agüero, and others to attack.

However, unlike before, Ranocchia was acting alone, while this time Manchester City planned as a team.

The Bayern players, having received instructions from their coach, appeared remarkably calm and composed.

Manchester City tried to lure them out, but they didn't fall for it and steadily retreated into their safe haven.

The formation became increasingly compact and well-organized, with the three defensive lines tightly packed together, leaving no gaps or weaknesses.

The match thus reached a tense stalemate, with both sides cautiously probing and searching for each other's weaknesses.

Occasionally, a few Bayern fans who had been watching intently would get up and go to the restrooms in advance, otherwise the stadium would be overcrowded during halftime, with long queues.

However, just when everyone thought the first half would end in a 1-1 draw, the situation suddenly changed in the 44th minute!

The fourth official was about to raise the stoppage time sign when a sudden threat loomed large.

It's Robben on the right wing again!

The Netherlands the Flying Dutchman once again became the focus of the competition.

Young Robertson, having learned his lesson from his previous experience, deliberately kept a distance of about three meters from Robben, not daring to approach him easily.

Looking at Robertson's trembling appearance, Robben couldn't help but recall his own days playing for Chelsea in the Premier League, facing those young and inexperienced England full-backs.

A cold laugh suddenly welled up in his heart, and he thought to himself, "Heh, you think you can hide? Not so easy. Just wait and see how I deal with you!"

Having already experienced their previous encounters, Robben had a general understanding of Robertson's strengths and weaknesses.

He knew this guy wasn't slow, he just lacked defensive experience;

If I force myself to take a roundabout route to break through him, I will not only miss the opportunity, but also greatly deplete my physical strength.

After all, I'm already 33 years old, no longer the lightning-fast young man I once was.

So, he cunningly chose to slowly approach Robertson with the ball.

When the distance between the two players was less than a meter, Robertson finally couldn't resist and instinctively stretched out his foot to try and intercept the ball.

His outstretched foot played right into Robben's trap.

Robben lightly touched the ball with his left foot, his body swift as a swallow, easily passing Robertson, and then without hesitation began to cut inside with the ball.

"They're using this trick again!"

Seeing this, Thiago knew he was in trouble and had no choice but to rush forward to help defend.

He and Robben were close teammates last season, and he is very familiar with Robben's playing style.

They knew that once Robben got going, defending against him would be incredibly difficult.

"Get out of my way!"

Robben laughed and shouted as he skillfully pushed Thiago behind him with his left foot.

Thiago watched as his former teammate so easily passed him, and he felt extremely anxious. He instinctively reached out to grab Robben's clothes.

This was something Guardiola specifically instructed before the match: it would be better to commit a foul and give away a free kick than to allow Robben to cut inside and shoot.

Robben was sweating profusely from his intense run; his jersey was already sticky. When Thiago tried to grab it, he only caught a handful of sweaty sweat, but nothing else.

This time, as Robben cut inside, he glanced up at Bravo.

Bravo was already on high alert, his body slightly lowered, his eyes fixed on Robben, his gaze revealing determination and focus.

Their eyes met in mid-air, Robben instantly understood that Bravo was fully prepared to make a save.

But how could that possibly deter his determination?

He thought to himself, "This time, I'm going to shoot from the far corner again, and from the same angle. I'm going to completely shatter your confidence!"

Robben stared intently at Bravo, not even glancing at the ball at his feet.

Because he had absolute confidence in his skills, during his high-speed sprint and cut inside, although he was extremely fast, the ball seemed to be guided by an invisible thread, always remaining within his control, thanks to his superb dribbling skills and ingenious footwork control.

At the perfect moment, he didn't hesitate to lift his foot and shoot!

"Ouch!!!"

A scream pierced the air above the stadium.

Robben's kick missed the ball, but instead struck a hard object with a loud "thud," which landed squarely on his toes.

The immense impact caused him to lose his balance instantly. Like an out-of-control spinning top, he did a front flip in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Wow, that's unbelievable!" The commentator's voice was filled with astonishment.

"Robben's cut-in shot was actually tackled by Tang Long!"

"I really don't know where Tang Long came from; he wasn't even in the camera's view just a second ago!"

"This is Tang Long's first tackle of the game."

Robben lay on the ground, waving his hands and loudly signaling to the referee that he had been fouled.

But the referee could clearly see that Tang Long had made a precise tackle from the side to steal the ball, and Robben's swinging foot had only hit Tang Long's shoe.

Therefore, the referee raised both hands and decisively signaled for the game to continue.

Tang Long didn't even glance at Robben lying on the ground, and quickly dribbled the ball forward.

Robben's kick was incredibly powerful. Although Tang Long had thick kangaroo leather shoes to protect his feet, he still felt a dull ache.

However, the pace of the game was extremely fast, and Tang Long didn't have time to feel the pain. He only had one thought in his mind: attack!

He quickly sprinted forward two steps, then accurately passed the ball to Ranocchia was coming to receive it.

Ranocchia delivered a brilliant pass at the start of the game, which greatly boosted his confidence.

At this moment, although he received the ball with his back to goal and Vidal was tightly marking him from behind, he was fearless. With his tenacious fighting spirit and excellent skills, he forced a turn and passed the ball to Agüero at the far end.

Agüero the ball fly towards him from afar, his keen eyes already spotting Sterling making a run down the middle and quickly cutting to the offside line.

Agüero had a flash of inspiration. Before the ball even hit the ground, he rushed forward like the Cheetah, leaping high into the air and drawing a beautiful arc before heading the ball powerfully towards the center.

"The pace of the offensive and defensive transitions is astonishingly fast!" the commentator exclaimed excitedly.

"Agüero headed the ball directly to Sterling!"

"Hummels is still on the other side, Sterling is going one-on-one with Martinez!"

"Sterling, Sterling!"

"His body was writhing exaggeratedly, like a nimble eel!"

"He nutmegged Martinez! He actually nutmegged Martinez!"

"Neuer rushes out, Sterling shoots--"

With a thud, Sterling's powerful shot struck Neuer squarely on the head as Neuer launched his attack with his arms outstretched.

The immense force propelled the football high into the air, like a soaring bird.

Hummels, who had quickly tracked back, headed the ball away before it hit the ground, sending it flying towards the stands on the sideline.

"Ju--"

With the ball going out of bounds, the referee promptly blew the whistle to end the first half.

Sterling, utterly dejected, stood there blankly, his eyes filled with disappointment and self-blame.

A moment later, he braced himself with his hands on the ground, slowly knelt down, and pounded the ground with his fists, muttering repeatedly:

"Damn it, damn it!"

He missed this one-on-one opportunity, squandering a golden chance to help his team take the lead before the end of the first half.

Sterling was filled with frustration, constantly blaming himself, feeling utterly useless for wasting his teammate Agüero's exquisite pass.

He felt a mix of emotions, and his eyes even reddened slightly; he had an urge to cry.

He couldn't help but ask himself: Why haven't my one-on-one skills improved at all after all these years? Am I not working hard enough, or am I going in the wrong direction?

At this moment, the Manchester City die-hard fans behind the goal on this side of the stands, seeing Sterling miss a golden opportunity, began to jeer and shout at him.

These strange cries, like sharp blades, pierced Sterling's heart, making him even more frustrated, and he knelt on the ground for a long time, unwilling to get up.

It wasn't until Tang Long ran over from a great distance, reached out his hand, and pulled him up forcefully.

"Sterling, pull yourself together and keep up the good work in the second half!" Tang Long's voice was firm and powerful.

Tang Long pulled Sterling along, heading towards the players' tunnel.

Sterling lowered his head, his face full of guilt, and said:

"I'm sorry, Tang, I couldn't score that goal..."

As Tang Long comforted Sterling, he inadvertently looked up and saw Robben limping past him.

"Ouch~ Ouch~"

"Hiss..."

Robben grimaced, his face contorted in pain.

His shot just now saw his big toe hit Tang Long's foot squarely, drawing blood from his toenail and soaking the socks inside his shoe.

Tang Long then felt a sharp pain in his ankle.

He was also kicked hard in the ankle by Robben.

He hadn't felt the pain before because of the intense competition, but now, hearing Robben's cries of agony, the pain surged into his heart instantly.

"Hiss..." Tang Long couldn't help but gasp, and his gait became unsteady. To maintain his balance, he put his hand on Sterling's shoulder.

Robben heard Tang Long inhale and turned to look at Tang Long.

He saw that Tang Long was also limping, and his face immediately darkened.

"This guy is getting the better of me and then acting innocent. Is he deliberately imitating me? Fine, in the second half I'll show him what I'm really made of!"

Robben's intense pride was instantly ignited. He gritted his teeth, then raised his head and straightened his slightly hunched back, enduring the sharp pain in his toes. Suddenly, he accelerated, his arms flailing rapidly, flashing past Tang Long and running deeper into the players' tunnel...