Chapter 2166 - 557: The Complete Guide to Human-Assisted Play
Terry shouted again in a loud voice: "Even if we don’t win, we’ve got to show something, let our families and fans feel our determination!"
"Doesn’t this feel familiar?"
Cech suddenly spoke up.
"What?"
Terry turned around and asked.
He didn’t understand what Cech meant.
"I’m saying this scene looks really familiar. Back when Kevin was at Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, they all got hammered by us. Gerrard, Neville, Giggs, those guys always had to remind their teammates to perk up. It was always that same crap about ’for the family, for the fans’ blah blah blah..." Cech waved as he spoke.
Terry froze for a moment.
It really did sound about right.
He had just worked himself up, but after Cech’s reminder, his fighting spirit instantly dropped by more than half.
Damn it.
Being on the opposite side of Kevin really is unbearable.
Even though Mourinho left an indelible mark on this team, Chelsea, five goals down, still couldn’t avoid a collapse in morale.
Especially after Huang Kaiwen left, their competitiveness in the Premier League and other competitions was still strong, which gave them a lot of confidence.
But facing Huang Kaiwen’s Milan, Chelsea finally realized.
You can still fight for the Premier League without Huang Kaiwen.
But the UEFA Champions League is nothing more than an unreachable dream.
Messi, fresh from scoring four, was pressing like a madman.
The Chelsea players didn’t really want to get on the ball anymore.
Modric became the busiest man on the pitch.
Meireiles carried the ball for a couple of steps and immediately ran into Messi’s press, so he quickly played a hospital pass back.
Kaka pounced on it right away.
If Modric hadn’t reacted fast, hooked out a foot and turned at once, the ball would’ve been gone.
"Chelsea’s main problem going forward is at full-back."
"Right, because Huang Kaiwen and Messi exert huge pressure on the flanks, Ashley Cole and Essien have to put more energy into defending. But modern football demands a lot from attacking full-backs; without those two, Chelsea’s attack is suddenly missing a key link."
"Exactly. Aside from defending, Ashley Cole’s attacking ability is pretty good too. Today, apart from getting beaten by Messi that first time, he’s hardly put a foot wrong, but as soon as he leaves his zone, Messi instantly finds a chance, and Huang Kaiwen’s passes are always ready. Now Ashley Cole doesn’t really dare to push up."
"Another long ball. They’re basically asking Drogba to scrap for something up front."
Drogba, with his back to goal, nodded the ball back, and Bale, who had run into the middle, took a little touch and then swung his left foot.
Ambrosini turned, leapt, and managed to block the ball.
The ball dropped back into the middle again.
Drogba, after taking the ball, noticed what was happening behind him and rather gloomily knocked it out over the touchline.
The AC Milan team doctor came on with the stretcher and took Ambrosini straight off.
Gattuso, hardly warmed up, was already standing on the touchline.
That alone showed how satisfied the Milan coaching staff were with the current scoreline.
Old Maldini put an arm around Gattuso and said: "Once you’re on, tell Kevin, Messi and the others to ease off a bit. This game is basically over; we need to think about what comes next. You lead the whole team in doing a good job defensively, understand, Gennaro?"
Gattuso nodded hard and charged straight onto the pitch.
Even if he was just playing a fringe role, coming on to defend with a big lead.
Gattuso still wanted to put in a good performance.
Milan gave the ball back to Chelsea.
But as soon as Cole threw in the ball, Huang Kaiwen muscled Meireiles aside and won it.
Huang Kaiwen, with the ball, laid it forward to Ramos and immediately burst upfield.
Just as he was about to hit the halfway line, Ramos played a straight pass into Huang Kaiwen’s feet.
Huang Kaiwen turned and nudged it on.
With a classic knock-and-go, he split man and ball, slipping between Modric and Meireiles’s pincer.
They’d gone nuts!
The Chelsea players still back in their own half completely lost it.
Mikel, almost without thinking, sprinted to the flank and launched into a sliding tackle, not even bothering to keep his ankle down.
If that had connected, his studs would’ve gone straight into Huang Kaiwen’s flesh.
The Sky Sports commentators were all using words like "lost it" to describe Mikel.
If Mikel had caught Huang Kaiwen, his Chelsea career would’ve been over.
But at that moment, Huang Kaiwen’s long legs turned over even faster; in full stride he simply nudged the ball forward again and, not even bothering to jump, stepped right over Mikel’s leg.
He successfully avoided that flying tackle.
Chelsea’s central channel was wide open, and players from both sides were charging into the penalty area.
The sprint was so fast that Huang Kaiwen only just managed to keep his balance after hitting the byline, then twisted his body and lofted the ball high into the box.
By then quite a few players had already flooded into Chelsea’s penalty area.
But no one expected the ball to drop outside the Big Penalty Area.
Van Bommel came barreling on, dropped his head, and powered in a header; Cech, renowned for his lightning reactions, didn’t even have time to move his hands before the ball smashed into the back of the net.
The excited Milan Players sprinted straight toward the corner flag.
Huang Kaiwen still had no intention of celebrating.
Yet even so, the Chelsea fans felt a twinge of desolation.
Compared to those Chelsea fans.
Bolt, sitting in the away end, had a grave look all over his face.
This was probably Huang Kaiwen’s fastest sprint of the night; Bolt suspected Huang Kaiwen might have dipped under 9.6 seconds.
Damn.
He’d put a lot of pressure on Huang Kaiwen.
But the pressure Huang Kaiwen was putting on him was just as big.