Chương 313: Breaking Through
After Trezeguet's goal, he sprinted towards the corner flag, closing his eyes and letting out a triumphant roar. His teammates rushed to him, all aware that this moment had fundamentally shifted the match's dynamics. Millwall, initially at a slight disadvantage, now found themselves even on the scoreboard, but still facing the struggles of playing away from home.
However, this goal pushed Monaco directly into a corner. Even if they managed to equalize at home, it wouldn't be enough. On top of needing to score, they still had to hope that Millwall remained scoreless.
Aldrich watched the goal unfold, his right hand emerging from his pocket to punch the air in front of him with determination in his eyes. The other coaches and players celebrated the goal, marking a crucial step towards Amsterdam.
In the pre-game preparations, Aldrich had made a bold decision by pulling Shevchenko from the starting lineup, opting for Gronkjaer instead. Many coaches were puzzled by this, viewing it as a risky move. After all, it was well-known that Gronkjaer's scoring ability could not match Shevchenko's.
Even if there was a need for a player with high individual skill, the coaching staff leaned towards starting Ronaldinho. Yet Aldrich stood firm in his choice of Gronkjaer.
When Aldrich selected a player, it was not merely about individual brilliance; he sought someone who would serve the team's strategy rather than relying on one person to dominate the game.
Ronaldinho's overall skill set had indeed surpassed Gronkjaer, but where he fell short was in the unseen attribute of team chemistry.
Creating a cohesive unit where the individual skills of 11 players add up to an unexpectedly powerful performance hinged on solid teamwork.
Millwall's fluid and cohesive attacking play, along with their solid defense, had developed through two or three years of teamwork, especially their persistent and intricate attacking style that required long-term synergy on the pitch.
Gronkjaer performance was impressive, and Aldridge didn't disappoint. His individual skills forced Monaco's defense to compress, attracting their attention. He executes every decisive pass without hesitation. He is already much better than the classical winger Gronkjaer in history. In this game, he really deserves the starting position.
After the celebration, Aldrich made a downward gesture to calm his players. Even in joy, he wore no smile; he wanted to convey one single message: "Now is not the time to relax!"
Nedved dropped deeper into midfield, making quick runs during counterattacks to support his teammates, focusing primarily on strengthening the defense.
With this strategy, Millwall solidified their commitment to playing defensively and controlling the game's tempo with a steady mindset.
"Now, we can take our time!"
After losing the ball, Tigana's face was gloomy, and he realized that he might have underestimated the strength gap between Monaco and Millwall.
Before their semifinal clash, he hadn't believed Monaco and Millwall were on the same level, firmly convinced that Millwall was the stronger side. If Monaco had faced a group with Millwall, lacking their talent, they surely wouldn't have performed well, and a matchup with Juventus could have ended their journey.
However, the outside world has a different view.
Monaco's players don't think so either.
Millwall was a young, dynamic team comprised of fresh talents, and Monaco, too, boasted numerous young stars highly praised by outsiders.
Furthermore, they had faced Manchester United, a traditionally strong team that had established dominance over Millwall in the league. Having eliminated United, could they really fear Millwall?
Playing conservatively away and securing a draw, they knew they needed to push forward at home to take their opponents down decisively.
Tigana rubbed his forehead in thought; what if from the start, Monaco had adopted a stricter counter-attacking strategy, even if it meant playing conservatively at home? Perhaps their chances of advancing would be higher. They had misjudged the teams' strengths, and now, on such a critical stage, Millwall was leveraging a more experienced strategy, pushing Monaco to the brink.
Learning from their overly aggressive start in the previous home match, Millwall came into this one with a quiet demeanor and a highly targeted approach. With their wingers cutting inside and collapsing the midfield, there was a vast space on the flanks. In the beginning, Monaco's full-backs were hesitant, yet Millwall's full-backs refrained from taking risky advancing positions.
Nevertheless, Millwall's tactical design was certainly calculated.
Defend, then counterattack - attack using four players.
Defend, then counterattack - attack using four players.
Defend, then counterattack - attack using four players.
...
For the first twenty minutes, this was Millwall's rhythm, but then they suddenly shifted gears!
During the attack that led to the goal, Millwall sent an additional midfielder and full-back sprinting into the danger zone. Capdevila drew Monaco's defense back rapidly, while Pirlo advanced near the penalty area, forcing Monaco's defense forward, which created a critical gap for Trezeguet to capitalize on Pirlo's masterpiece of a pass.
Tigana glanced at Aldrich. Despite being younger, he felt deep admiration. The Aldrich he remembered from two years ago, watching the European Championship, had matured beyond most French coaches who tended to look at rising stars with a syllabus mentality. Now, Aldrich was sharper than many established tacticians!
Now, Monaco was trapped in a corner, leaving Tigana with a single option: aggressive offense and relentless pressing!
The strategy for the team was to stifle Millwall's rhythm and go for the goal.
There was still an hour left in the match, and Monaco needed two goals, leaving no room for slacking off.
On personal skill levels, Millwall stood on par with their opponents across the board. Even with Monaco's mounting pressure, Millwall maintained control over the match.
Millwall didn't engage in pointless passing to waste time but increased their lateral passes, forcing Monaco to struggle to maintain balance. No matter how fast they moved, they couldn't quite catch the ball.
Each time Monaco exerted themselves fully, becoming tired, Millwall capitalized with another dangerous push, creating even more threatening opportunities!
When Monaco finally transitioned from defense to counter, they faced difficulty in building momentum due to fatigue, missing the opportunity to transition quickly and instead resorting to positional play, exactly what Millwall relished in—greed had them dancing into Millwall's hands.
The first half swiftly concluded with Millwall leading by one goal as they retreated to the locker room.
At the end of the half, Aldridge focused on the defensive tasks in the second half. With 45 minutes left in the game, they were just one step away from reaching the finals. This means that even an all-out defense for the entire second half is a strategy worth considering.
Tigana visibly adjusted his team's tactics during the break and rallied the players' spirits.
In the second half, Monaco shifted their play from rapid-fire offensive strategies to maintaining a steady rhythm, organizing cautious penetrative attacks through patient passing.
However, Millwall intensified their defenses. Nedved nearly became a defensive midfielder, pushing Pirlo forward, while he and Makelele formed a robust double pivot to watch over transitions and let Pirlo orchestrate.
Monaco struggled to penetrate, prompting them to resort to long-range shots as a way to threaten their opponents and try to draw Millwall's defenders out.
Millwall was unbothered by these attempts, remaining calm in the face of potential long shots. If their opponents could rely solely on two world-class strikes to turn the game around, it would truly be a lucky day for Monaco.
As the game hit the sixty-fifth minute, Tigana decided it was time to gamble.
He subbed a striker for a defender, opting for a more straightforward, aggressive style.
With this, Millwall saw their opponents' defense become disjointed. Aldrich replaced Pirlo with Ballack, adopting a three-defender system, attacking through the flanks.
In this exchange of offense and defense, Monaco's attacks began to threaten. They patiently organized their plays forward but found that once within thirty yards of the goal, they either had to shoot from range in hopes of capitalizing on a rebound, like when Butt mishandles a save, or opt for crossing the ball—although today's crosses couldn't truly threaten Millwall's goal, as Materazzi's aerial prowess was undeniable.
Millwall's counterattacks gained momentum, and as their opponents began to push their formation forward, their threat grew. The disconnect between midfield and defense provided Millwall with the opportunity to exploit individual matchups.
In a special counterattack, Gronkjar charged from the right wing, and an excellent opportunity was about to be created. He only waited for the forward to move into place. However, Trezeguet was tightly defended by the opponent's center back and could not arrive in time.
Aldrich identified the problem and substituted Trezeguet with Shevchenko. In terms of speed, Shevchenko was quicker than Trezeguet!
The switch paid dividends immediately as Shevchenko entered the fray. Gronkjaer received the ball on the right when an opponent shadowed him closely from behind. This time, he opted not to try to dribble past, but instead executed a direct through ball. Shevchenko broke into the right channel, charging forward with the ball. Monaco's defense scrambled to recover, but as Shevchenko reached the edge of the penalty area, he positioned himself on the right, opting not to force a shot and instead delivered a low pass into the center, where Larsson was streaking in from the left.
Barthez rushed out to challenge. Larsson faked a shot, deceiving Barthez, sidestepped the keeper, and easily slotted the ball into the empty net!
"Larsson seals the deal! He calmly dances past the goalkeeper and fires into an empty net. Millwall leads 2-0 over Monaco with less than ten minutes remaining; unless Monaco scores three quick goals now, they'll be denied entry into the finals!"
After scoring, Larsson pointed at Shevchenko with a beaming smile. They embraced and then jogged toward the away fans, both of them waving in jubilant unison.
The Lions' supporters erupted in excitement, arms frantically waving back at Larsson, their faces flushed with joy.
Aldrich turned to Jensen, embracing him tightly.
**2-0**
**2-0**
"We are definitely heading to Amsterdam, and we shall set foot on the highest stage of continental club competitions!"
This goal definitively crushed Monaco's spirit. The possibility of scoring three in quick succession now seemed highly improbable, particularly considering that if they continued playing like this, they might not be able to withstand the next offensive surge from Millwall.
Two minutes later, Aldridge replaced Larson with Gattuso, further strengthening the defense.
As time went on, Monaco's offensive threat gradually weakened,Unable to achieve any results, Millwall slowed down the pace and consumed the remaining time.
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