The green devil

After warming up, players from both sides returned to the locker room to prepare for the upcoming Champions League play-offs.

home team locker room

The Espanyol coach Sergio, who had been very gentle before, finally became serious.

"The first and crucial game of the season is about to start.

I believe that everyone must be as excited and nervous as I am.

Needless to say, the opponent Monaco is very strong, maybe he is the strongest opponent we have faced besides Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

We have played against a Ligue [-] team for the first time, and we are not familiar with the opponent's skills, style of play, and tactics.

In this game, we may encounter difficulties that we have never encountered before.

However, as long as everyone goes all out, I believe that we can completely defeat our opponents and enter the UEFA Champions League, which we have never set foot in.

At this moment, I don't want to say anything more. We have done what we should do before the game. Everyone just remember to go all out regardless of victory or defeat. "

Sergio was not very good at words, and he didn't make a long speech. He boosted morale with a short speech, and when he heard the referee blowing his whistle outside, he let the players go out.

In the tunnel, the Monaco players had already come out and stood up. The players from both sides met at close range and looked at each other, sparks sparked immediately.

The three referees noticed that the atmosphere was a bit strange, but they didn't care. It was like two boxers meeting before a boxing match. This kind of staring was actually putting pressure on them, trying to overwhelm their opponents in momentum and gain a psychological advantage.

The players walked out of the mixed channel, and their feelings were also mixed.

The players of the Espanyol team got overwhelming cheers from the Espanyol fans.

The Monaco players were greeted with boos from the visiting team fans, and even some debris was thrown over.

Knowing that this is the opponent's fans putting pressure on him, but the Monaco players are still young and cannot bear the anger in their hearts. Several young people secretly raised their middle fingers to the fans.

On the court, after the routine handshake, photo taking, exchanging team flags and badges, and picking sides, the players of both sides stood in their own half, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle to start the game.

The stands gradually fell silent. Fans from both sides put down their snacks and drinks, left their phones, and turned their attention to the stadium.

Taking advantage of this gap, the commentators introduced to the fans the starting lineups of the two sides, the possible tactics of the two sides, and the situation of the absent players.

"On the starting list, Zhao Yang is a forward, but judging from his position, Zhao Yang's position is behind the two forwards Moreno and Caicedo. He probably plays the position of the second forward or the midfielder."

"Monaco's Falcao did not start, which is a big loss for them. Falcao, like Zhao Yang, is a player who can change the game."

"However, there are many talented players in Monaco this time, and the Spaniard must not underestimate the enemy."

"The Spaniard's players are all nervous, or excited! Veteran Diego Lopez looks very relaxed. Indeed, such a game is a child's play for him."

……

The referee Rossi from Italy looked at his watch and blew his whistle.

The first kick-off is the home team Espanyol.

Caicedo and Moreno in the middle circle turned their feet and passed the ball to Zhao Yang who was standing a little behind, and then quickly inserted into the opponent's hinterland.

The Monaco players were young and played very vigorously. After the Espanyol team kicked off, their three forwards Silva, Gilman and Dilar quickly ran across the half to press Zhao Yang.

Although Yigao is bold, but after all, Zhao Yang is playing at the Champions League level for the first time, and it is still a knockout round, so he is also uneasy.

The opponent came over, Zhao Yang passed the ball back to Diop very steadily, and ran sideways by himself to meet his teammates.

Silva went to Zhao Yang, Gilman and Dilar and continued to move forward, approaching Diop who received the ball.

Diop habitually passed the ball to Zhao Yang, but Dilar pressed forward too quickly. In order to avoid him, Diop passed the ball farther away from Zhao Yang's body.

Silva saw it clearly and rushed to the ball quickly, trying to break it off.

Zhao Yang has the advantage of stature. If it was a La Liga match, Zhao Yang might have tried to defeat Silva.

But now Zhao Yang is still more cautious, he took the first step to poke the ball to the full-back Ruben.Duterte.

Silva had already reached Zhao Yang's side, but Ruben didn't dare to pass to him, so he passed to central defender Oscar.Duterte.

Oscar wanted to move to another side, but the opponent's striker Gilman pressed the side, and Oscar passed the ball to the midfielder Diop.

Diop glanced at the frontcourt, the two forwards were submerged in the opponent's defenders, he did not open his feet, and passed the ball to Jurado who came to meet him.

The Spaniard was too slow to play the ball in the backcourt. At this time, Monaco's overall formation was almost pressed to the middle circle.

As soon as Jurado got the ball, Fabinho rushed over at the fastest speed.

Jurado dunked the ball and swung past Fabinho, who had jumped too hard.

But Fabinho seemed to be prepared, and after an emergency stop, he quickly chased him from behind.

Jurado failed to get rid of the defense completely, so he had no choice but to make a long pass to find the striker.

Monaco's two central defenders, Glick and Jamerson, are both in their prime. Glick is 1.9 meters tall and has excellent air control ability. Such long passes simply cannot pass his interception.

The ball was intercepted by Glick and passed to teammate Lemar.

Lemar quickly dribbled the ball forward along the left lane, crossed the center line, and went straight to the Spaniard's bottom line.

Monaco is very good at attacking on the wing. They have two excellent wingers, Lemar and Silva.

When Lemar took the ball forward, full-back Mendy followed closely, and Bakayoko in the middle also advanced to meet Lemar.

Piatti quickly and full-back Alvarez went to intercept Lemar, and the midfielder Diop also moved to the right to mark the forward Bakayoko.

Piatti was going to flank Lemar with Alvarez, but the two did not think of going together. Alvarez was a little nervous when he played in the Champions League play-offs for the first time. Facing the aggressive Lemar, he went directly to meet him.

Lemar crosses the ball to Bakayoko and advances himself.

Bakayoko made a pass to the wall and back to Lemar, a two-on-one against the wall, and easily got rid of Alvarez.

Alvarez quickly turned around and chased back, and Piatti also ran decisively to the penalty area to prevent Lemar from crossing.

Central defender Gonzalez filled in the fastest to prevent Lemar from cutting.

Lemar went to the side of the penalty area. Seeing Gonzalez who was making up, Lemar swiped the ball sideways and rushed directly to the opponent.

Gonzalez pushed Lemar sideways, trying to push Lemar to the baseline.

Lemar is a player with very delicate skills, and his left and right feet are balanced. He was on the baseline, and he pushed and pushed past Gonzalez like a black whirlwind.

Gonzalez panicked and tripped Lemar.

The referee Rossi has followed the penalty area line. He saw it clearly, blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot.

Less than 2 minutes into the game, Monaco preemptively won a penalty kick.