mtl008 Chapter 1973 - 518: Burger King’s First Experience
Chapter 1973 - 518: Burger King’s First Experience
"Champions!!!"
"What champions?"
"All the champions!!!"
"Come on, come on, come on!"
Schweinsteiger folded his arms and looked over at Milan, then turned and asked: "Manuel, are they always this energetic?"
"You’ll find out later, Milan is not easy to deal with."
Neuer said seriously.
He wasn’t quite used to the Italian culture.
Plus Hummels also wanted to leave, so he chose to transfer.
Now seeing Buffon winning the UEFA Champions League, he felt a bit uneasy.
Competing as goalkeepers was simpler.
They just used a ball launcher to let them compete in saves and high balls.
This kind of match was more advantageous for Buffon and Neuer.
What’s important for Valdes was his footwork and coordination with Barca players.
The Barca goalkeeper was always part of the team on the field.
And Valdes had the same weakness as Ferdinand, which was sometimes losing concentration.
"Can Gigi win?"
Inzaghi asked while holding Huang Kaiwen’s shoulder.
Huang Kaiwen shook his head and said: "I don’t know either."
Though Buffon was strong, Neuer and Valdes were no pushovers.
Today Valdes’s form was average, but his quick reactions masked the problem.
Fortunately, in the second round, Valdes made a mistake.
It became a one-on-one between Buffon and Neuer.
Buffon, already sweating, took a sip from his water bottle, staring at Neuer.
This young goalkeeper was more formidable than he had thought.
After all, he was Milan’s first-choice keeper before.
That’s why Buffon couldn’t allow himself to lose to Neuer.
"Come on, let’s continue!"
Buffon threw the water bottle aside and shouted.
This was the most earnest he’d been since joining Milan, aside from the UEFA Champions League final.
Soon, Sky TV contacted the two teams’ top brass.
The ball launcher still had some flaws, its fixed trajectory could be easily figured out by these top-tier goalkeepers.
After discussion between the top brass of both teams, they decided to have the players go up for a penalty shootout.
And Huang Kaiwen was excluded.
Gagliani explained to Huang Kaiwen: "Rummenigge said that you standing at the penalty spot might affect the goalkeeper’s mindset, so you’re not allowed to participate in the penalty shootout."
Huang Kaiwen nodded with a wry smile.
In terms of penalty shootouts, the Germans were indeed strong.
He couldn’t participate, which put a lot of pressure on his teammates.
As the other Ballon d’Or Winner of the team, Kaka was the first to stand at the penalty spot.
Milan taking the first shot was compensation for him not being able to play.
You could tell that the Germans were quite confident in their penalty skills.
Because without so many injuries, his good buddy Kaka hadn’t turned into "Point-Kaka".
Huang Kaiwen awaited the result from the sidelines, not expecting Kaka’s shot after the run-up to be weak, getting saved by Neuer’s dive.
The excited Neuer got up and raised his arms.
Huang Kaiwen shook his head.
Thomas Müller ran up and shot to the left, Buffon misjudged.
Bayern led by one goal.
Seeing Ramos at the penalty spot, Huang Kaiwen gave a thumbs up.
But after Ramos’s run-up, he simply kicked the ball over the crossbar.
Huang Kaiwen nearly lost his balance.
Both were usually great at penalties, what happened now?
Buffon’s expression was quite something.
Damn!
He didn’t even need to compete with the opponent on penalties, his teammates were about to take him out.
Fortunately, this time he saved Gomes’s penalty.
The third, Toni Kroos, facing his old club, daringly chipped a Panenka, tricking Neuer and successfully scoring.
"Not bad, the score is 2-2, but since AC Milan goes first, let’s see about Schweinsteiger, if he can score, Bayern will still lead,"
Zhang said with a smile.
He didn’t expect such a contest during a summer transfer window.
"Schweinsteiger runs up, oh dear, missed. Both sides are back to square one, seems like there’s some argument over at AC Milan, van Persie wants to take the fourth shot, but Torres doesn’t want to give up the spot, Huang Kaiwen went over to mediate it, van Persie took the fourth spot, ran up, a powerful shot, van Persie’s strike was beautiful."
"Next up is Ribery, Ribery is a very skillful player, he and Robben together form one of the strongest flanks in Europe, though both are often injured and seldom paired, it’s in, Ribery!"
After scoring, Ribery raised his arms and ran towards his teammates.
Robben, off to the side, pursed his lips.
Ibrahimovic stood at the penalty spot, after his run-up he blasted the ball towards the goal.
This time Neuer misjudged, but Ibrahimovic aimed straight down the middle, Neuer managed to deflect the ball away mid-air with a foot.
When Buffon walked to the goal, he pointed at Ibrahimovic.
The message was clear: you guys keep saying you’re skillful, now you’re just acting up at the crucial moment?
Huang Kaiwen looked toward Buffon, gesturing hard to the right with his mouth.
A few seconds later Buffon noticed.
He quickly nodded.
When Robben took his stance, he was standing to the right and behind the ball.
Left-footed players usually took that stance.
Beep—
After the whistle, Robben ran up and blasted the ball to the right side of the goal.
Trusting Huang Kaiwen, Buffon didn’t extend fully, focusing on saving the right side of the goal, easily blocking Robben’s shot.
After getting up, Buffon pounded his gloves forcefully and roared.
His teammates kept acting up against him, yet he still competed to this point.
Looks like not all teammates are actors.
Huang Kaiwen smiled and clapped, then walked over to Rakitic and said: "Don’t think about faking him out, it’s difficult, this guy is strong, he can save corner shots without extra movement."