Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

"Navas breaks through... Corner kick! Facing the double-team defense of the opponent, Navas doesn't have the energy to pass the ball again, and can only reluctantly ask for a corner kick..."

"The referee is already looking at the watch. The game has reached the 94th minute. This corner kick is probably the last attack. Some fans of the home team are already celebrating the victory..."

"Oh! Sevilla's old goalkeeper Palop rushed into the Miners' penalty area to participate in the attack!"

"Alves will be responsible for taking the final corner kick... The entire Sevilla team rushed into the home team's penalty area, leaving only Li Qi outside the penalty area. He might also be prepared to let Li Qi take a long shot in case the ball bounces out..."

"Alves raises his hand, runs forward..."

"Middle! Header!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"In the last minute of the game! Sevilla equalized the score! It was a last-second tie!"

"Oh my god! Let's see who scored the goal?"

"The one who seized the opportunity was the old goalkeeper Palop who rushed into the opponent's penalty area!"

"He miraculously found the ball's landing point and headed it into the net from 7 yards in front of the goal, tying the total score to 4-4!"

"He's the goalkeeper. The Shakhtar team didn't have anyone specifically guarding him, so they completely missed him..."

"It's amazing! The whole Sevilla team is so excited, and Palop's face is full of disbelief!"

"Who could believe it? The goalkeeper became a hero not by saving the ball but by scoring the equalizer!"

"Sevilla beat Barcelona 2-1 in the La Liga clash not long ago. Palop saved Ronaldinho's penalty kick. He saved the team again tonight..."

Seeing Palop's goal at the last minute of the game, not only the players and coaching staff of Sevilla were excited, but also the fans went crazy. Eva even forgot about Sofia who was still resting her head on her legs, and she jumped up with joy and rolled Sofia to the ground...

Fortunately, the floor was covered with thick carpets. Sophia opened her eyes dazedly, looked at her mother with a flushed and apologetic face, and didn't know what to say. Then she turned over and continued to sleep...

After Palop scored, the referee ruled that the goal was valid and blew the whistle to end the 90-minute game; and because the two teams had the same number of away goals and the total score was also a tie, the game was directly dragged into overtime.

At this time, the visiting team Sevilla was in high spirits and looked very strong.

At this time, Juan Ramos still had the third substitution quota, so he replaced Kanoute with Escude, completed the defense line, and returned to the 4-4-2 formation.

After entering the overtime, both sides were running out of energy. After all, they had been fighting for 95 minutes. Sevilla also made some adjustments. Renato and Navas, who were exhausted, retreated more to protect the team. Li Qi and Korzakov, who came on as substitutes in the second half and still had energy, were more responsible for attacking the opponent's defense line.

The home team Shakhtar wanted to defend until the end of the game. After all, they had been on the passive defense, which put a lot of mental pressure and physical energy consumption. They had already used up their three substitutions early, and there were only a few attackers left on the field. Almost all of them were players with strong defensive and physical attributes, which made it very disadvantageous for them to play overtime. Therefore, the home team wanted to adopt a more defensive tactic and drag the game to a penalty shootout.

But Sevilla certainly doesn't want to leave the outcome to the goddess of fate. It's not impossible to take a penalty kick, and with Palop's current high-energy form, there probably won't be any problem. But if they can win early, they should try to end the battle in overtime.

Li Qi didn't like penalty kicks, so he was thinking, if he scored the ball like this, the opponent would obviously be unable to run, so there should be gaps and opportunities...

XJBT was definitely not good in the final period of the second half, and the effect was not very good. They still used the previous tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, constantly pulling the home team's defense to create gaps, and targeting the home team's arrangement, feinting on both wings and completing the final kill from the middle.

For this purpose, Li Qi specially arranged a tentative attack on the left and right wings to attract the attention of the home team's defense.

In the 94th minute, he and Maresca played a pass-cut match on the left wing, and the Italian twin stars connected successfully. Li Qi sent a straight pass from the ribs, and Maresca rushed into the penalty area with the ball. Although he was disturbed by the defender of the Miners along the way, Maresca still bumped into him and completed the shot, but the final shot hit the Miners' central defender who was returning to defend and shoveled and bounced out of the baseline.

Then in the 98th minute, Li Qi pretended to repeat the same trick with Maresca to connect with the Italian twin stars, but his ankle shook in the middle, and he made a dribble, a pull, a flick, and a long pass to the slightly open right wing on the other side.

After Alves stopped the ball, he made a direct pass to the penalty area. Korzakov made a diagonal run to receive the ball, stopped the ball and pulled it with his feet, and then he dodged the defender who was following him. However, the latter's shot from the corner of the small penalty area hit the side net again...

Li Qi saw that the two feints did not intend to pose a threat, but he did not expect that the Miners really could not run anymore and they easily broke through the defense and completed the shot. It seemed that the time for the winning goal had come.

However, Li Qi still cautiously deployed two or three rounds on both wings again, continuing to wear down the home team's physical strength and attention. But when the first half of the overtime was about to end, when the Miners' defense was the most relaxed, he suddenly attacked!

After settling Sofia down, Eva half-lay on the sofa, hugging an oversized coffee cat pillow, and continued to watch the broadcast of the second round of the UEFA Cup round of 16 knockout match.

"Alves... Navas... Li Qi... Renato..."

"Sevilla passed the ball back and forth in the midfield. After the overtime started, Navas and Renato did not make much progress. The responsibility of attacking should be given to Li Qi and Korzakov, two substitutes with plenty of energy..."

"Li Qi... Maresca... Fabiano hasn't touched the ball in the front line for a while, and the penalty area is a bit too crowded..."

"Li Qi, pass! Fabiano!"

"Overhead pass! Li Qi! Shoot!"

"Ditch oooooh! Ditch oooooh! Ditch!"

"Before the end of the first half of extra time, Li Qi broke into the penalty area and shot low into the dead corner to score!"

"We watched it through slow motion. Li Qi first made a hand gesture, and then suddenly played a wall-like match with Fabiano who was pulling out of the left corner of the penalty area. Fabiano brought out a central defender. Then Li Qi rushed straight into the gap in the home team's penalty area defense line from the middle, and Fabiano also sent a direct pass over the top in time..."

"Li Qi stopped the ball with his chest, and without any adjustment, he calmly pushed the ball into the near corner with his left foot from the corner of the penalty area!"

"It's obvious that the players of Shakhtar Donetsk can't run anymore. The defensive midfielder can't keep up with Li Qi's advance, and the other central defender is too slow to make up for the deficit. Shakhtar Donetsk can't do anything about Li Qi's goal..."

So, in the 105th minute of the game, after receiving a pass from Fabiano on the left, Li Qi, who was making a forward run in the middle, shot low into the near corner near the small penalty area and scored the winning goal for Sevilla.

In the following games, although the Miners wanted to fight back, they were already powerless and were fooled by Sevilla. Li Qi almost stole another goal. Moreover, the goals scored in overtime were also counted as away goals, so the Miners' idea of ​​taking a penalty kick was shattered. To overtake, they had to score at least two goals in the second half of overtime; but even grabbing the ball made it difficult for the Miners...

In the end, the ball was basically under Sevilla's control in the second half of the extra time until the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Sevilla turned the tables and defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 in extra time, eliminating their opponent 5-4 on aggregate and advancing to the next round of the UEFA Cup.

At the post-match press conference, the coach of Shakhtar Donetsk said with a little regret: "I am proud of my players. They have tried their best tonight. The goal conceded at the last moment of regular time was really amazing. Who would have thought that the goalkeeper would be the one responsible for the header? We were only a dozen seconds away from advancing... Congratulations to Sevilla, they are one of the best teams in the world."

Sevilla coach Huramos was also somewhat relieved to have survived the disaster: "It was a miracle to equalize the score in the last few seconds of regular time, but the game should not have been so difficult. We wasted seven or eight scoring opportunities in the first half... Fortunately, my players worked hard and did not let the victory slip away again; but our opponents are indeed very tenacious. It is not a good treatment to meet them in the UEFA Cup knockout stage for two consecutive seasons. I hope that we will have good fortune in the future after surviving this disaster..."

After the game, Li Qi, who scored the winning goal, did not receive much media attention except for congratulations from his girlfriend and family, because the focus of the media interviews after the game was the best player of the game - Sevilla goalkeeper Palop.

Palop, who scored the equalizer in the countdown of regular time, was still very excited after the game: "I once told Ricardo Richie that I would score a header, and I didn't expect it to really happen, in such an important game tonight, and in the injury time. Oh my god, I am so excited..."

After the game, Marca immediately reviewed the goalkeeper who scored in the UEFA Cup and Palop's career: "If penalties are not taken into account, Palop is the second goalkeeper to score in this UEFA Cup. Previously, on November 2006, 11, in the UEFA Cup group stage, Italian goalkeeper Amelia also scored a header before the end of the game to help Livorno equalize the score.

In previous UEFA Cups, goalkeepers often scored goals. Former Regina goalkeeper Taibi, former Dortmund goalkeeper Lehmann (now playing for Arsenal), former Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel, etc., have helped their teams score goals at the last minute. It is worth mentioning that Schmeichel scored a header against Volgograd in the UEFA Cup in the 1995-1996 season, helping the team to a 2-2 draw at the last minute.

Speaking of goalkeeper goals, the most famous one is the goal scored by Inter Milan goalkeeper Toldo against Juventus in the 02/03 Serie A season. In the melee in front of the goal, Toldo shot, Vieri touched the ball into the net, breaking Buffon's defense. But the goal was finally counted on Toldo.

Palop, 34 years old this year, can be described as a late bloomer in his career. He was unknown before the age of 25. After playing as a main player in Villarreal for two seasons, he joined Valencia. Half a year later, his position as the first goalkeeper was replaced by Cañizares.

However, Palop, who was nearly 01 years old, seized an opportunity to attract the attention of all of Europe. He was called upon to take charge of the match between Valencia and Arsenal in the 02/ Champions League group match. Facing the double-digit attacks from the gorgeous Gunners throughout the game, the iron-willed Palop turned Highbury into his own training ground. Whether it was Bergkamp's flying header or Ljungberg and Kanu's close-range shots, Palop resolved them all in incredible ways.

Although he failed to win back the starting position from Cañizares in one game, Palop still made his name remembered by the whole of Europe that winter. From Valencia to Sevilla, Palop's performance in the past two seasons has gradually made this unpolished gem of many years shine. His outstanding performance in the league has helped Sevilla rank behind Barcelona in the current La Liga only by goal difference.

For Palop and his teammates, the treble is not just a dream. After this magical March, everything becomes possible..."

在欧洲联盟杯进行的其他比赛中，西班牙人主场4比0完胜海卡马卡比，总比分4比0晋级。纽卡斯尔客场0比2负于阿尔克马尔，双方总比分战为4比4，纽卡斯尔因客场进球少出局。本菲卡主场3比1击败圣日耳曼，总比分4比3晋级。

另外，勒沃库森在主场3比0完胜朗斯，以总比分4比2晋级。不来梅则在主场2比0力克塞尔塔，也以总比分3比0昂首晋级8强。

还有奥萨苏纳凭借着主场1比0的小胜，以2比1的总比分淘汰格拉斯哥流浪者晋级。最后托特纳姆热刺也在主场获胜，以3比2的比分力克布拉加，并以6比4的总比分晋级。

So the list of the top eight teams in this UEFA Cup has been released. Defending champion Sevilla, Osasuna and Espanyol form the largest La Liga team in this draw.

Sevilla still has the hope of replicating Real Madrid's 1986 UEFA Cup win, while Basque team Osasuna made it to the quarterfinals for the first time. Bundesliga's Bremen and Leverkusen took two seats, while the other three seats belonged to Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur, Eredivisie's Alkmaar and Portugal's Benfica.

Perhaps Palop's miraculous equalizer also indicates that Sevilla will be able to escape the iron rule that it is difficult for defending European champions to defend their titles. In the European Cup, there has been no defending champion for 17 years, and in the UEFA Cup, the last defending champion dates back to the 1985-86 season. Coincidentally, the champion at that time was also a Spanish team, Real Madrid. In the 84/85 season, Real Madrid defeated an unknown Hungarian team, and in the 85/86 season, Real Madrid defeated Cologne to win the championship again.

Then, on the day after the game, at noon on March 3, the draw ceremony for this season's UEFA Cup quarter-finals was held at the City Hall in Glasgow, Scotland.

In the draw for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the principle of not avoiding teams from the same country was adopted. Last season, the Bucharest derby was drawn, but in this year's draw, the three La Liga teams and the two Bundesliga teams did not fight; however, the defending champion Sevilla encountered Tottenham, which had won the championship twice, in advance, and Bremen faced Alkmaar, the Dutch Eredivisie team that eliminated Newcastle.

The specific draw results are as follows (the former will play at home first):

AZ Alkmaar vs Werder Bremen;

Leverkusen vs Osasuna;

Sevilla vs Tottenham;

Espanyol vs Benfica;

四分之一决赛两回合分别于4月5日与12日进行；半决赛两回合分别于4月20日与5月3日举行；决赛于5月16日在格拉斯哥汉普登公园球场举行。

Before the next stage of the UEFA Cup begins, Sevilla still has to deal with the King's Cup make-up match. Ricardo almost forgot about it...