The Metz players who returned to the locker room were very happy. In addition to the little trouble in the middle of the first half, the game was in their control. If it weren't for bad luck, they should have led at least 2:0 in the first half.

Menez also regretted that he didn't score the ball. At that time, he saw that there was no defensive player around him, and there was a huge goal ahead, with only Palop alone, so he relaxed, thinking that the ball had just reached with just a foot.

When he thought about it, his ankles did not tense up. The speed of the football pushed out was worse, and it was too straight. Palop, who was guarding the door, rushed forward.

Ribery scored all the goals, and he himself didn't want to be content with others.

It has been nearly two seasons since he joined the team, and his relationship with Ribery is no longer as tense as it was at the beginning, but it is incorrect to say that the two are friends. To be precise, they are more like competing with each other. No one wants to perform worse than anyone else.

Ribery is a French international. He played in the World Cup, which has already made Menez very excited. If everything is being compared in the club, he will not be able to accept it. So as long as Ribery performs well in the club, Menez also wants to perform well and become the focus of everyone's attention.

Ribery scored the goal in the League Cup final, which was passed by Menez. Later, Ribery returned him an assist, but he was not sure.

This made him feel uncomfortable.

The other players didn't know what Menez thought. Seeing that he was silent, he just thought he was just upset about not scoring the goal. Someone came up to comfort him: "It's no big deal! As long as we have always played like this, winning this game should not be a problem!"

"Yes, yes, Jeremy. That bonus check is coming!"

"I have won the bonus, I have to be more casual!"

Menez didn't appreciate it, and he continued to sit there and feel his anger.

Especially when Ribery was proud of his first goal in the League Cup final, he was even more dissatisfied with the fact that he had wasted that scoring opportunity so easily.

Most players are talking about the first half, they have the advantage and the future is bright.

Chu Zhongtian was on the side of the examination by team doctor Tang Ji. Tang Ji wanted to see if Chu Zhongtian's strain worsened after a forty-five-minute game. The results of the examination made him very satisfied.

"There is no sign of relapse," he told head coach Jean Fernandez.

Fernandez nodded with satisfaction.

Chu Zhongtian smiled when he saw the head coach feeling relieved: "Sir, are you relieved now?"

Fernandez shrugged: "The game is not over yet, so it's too early to say that you can rest assured. Be careful, Paulson rarely restrains himself after receiving a yellow card, so you don't have much pressure. But as time goes by in the second half, I believe he will not be polite to you all the time. Try to avoid confronting him head-on."

Seeing that Chu Zhongtian didn't answer, he said again: "Has the practice you have done over the past season been wasted? Don't encounter tough opponents and always think about colliding with him head-on, and use your skills to deal with them!"

Seeing the head coach scolding him, Chu Zhongtian nodded quickly to agree.

"You did something very well in the first half, Chu." After training Chu Zhongtian, Fernandez took the opportunity to praise him. "It's done well to use our wing attack to suppress their wing attacks."

Fernandez head coach, team doctor Tang Ji and Chu Zhongtian discussed his injury on the side, which naturally attracted the attention of other teammates. Everyone was actually very concerned about Chu Zhongtian's injury and hoped that he would be fine.

Later, when they saw a smile on Chu Zhongtian's face, they all breathed a sigh of relief and knew that Chu Zhongtian's injury was fine. So everyone shifted the topic to the championship trophy that they were about to win.

Overall, the atmosphere of Mays' midnight break was very relaxed because they had the advantage from the result to the scene in the first half, which gave them great confidence.

※※※In Seville, it’s a different atmosphere.

Juander Ramos did not scold people, and he was not the coach who was used to shouting at the players in the locker room. In fact, he was not as angry as everyone thought, because he had already expected the team's current situation.

Teams that can reach the finals do not have weak teams. Even if they are lucky, at least they are very strong in terms of luck.

In the final of the League Cup last season, Sevilla was able to easily defeat Middlesbrough with a score of 4:0 because Middlesbrough from the Premier League underestimated Sevilla. He did not want his team to become a victim of underestimating the enemy. So he has always attached great importance to Metz, especially their core Chu Zhongtian.

"Okay, okay." He clapped his face. "We all expected this situation in advance. Before the game, I told you that the final was not an ordinary game. Now I think no one will doubt my statement, right? Does anyone think Mess is easy to deal with?"

The players didn't say anything.

Alves kept clenching his fists, and he was unwilling to accept his performance in the first half. He was a very strong player. He and Navas took turns to fight against Metz's No. 8, which made him very unhappy. He admitted that he had some contempt for his opponent before because he had injuries on his opponent. But he secretly promised in his heart that he would definitely get serious in the second half.

"We were a little relaxed in the first half of their core defense." Ramos glanced at Paulson. "Paulson, you should be more aggressive when defending Chu in the second half, don't think about yellow cards."

Paulson raised his hand and raised his question: "The eighth in the first half always hid in their backcourt, and I couldn't run to that place to defend him, coach."

"If he doesn't come up in the backcourt, you don't have to worry about him. As long as he crosses the center line, you can go up." Ramos ordered. The farther away from the penalty area, the smaller the threat. This is Ramos' opinion. So if Chu Zhongtian has been in the backcourt and can only launch an attack with long passes, the team doesn't have to pay much attention to him. Only when he plans to personally forward and participate in a further offensive organization can he pose a substantial threat to Sevilla's defense line.

"Also, in the second half we continued to attack and put pressure on their left side."

Ramos did not give up his tactics because of the setbacks the team suffered here in the first half.

"But we need to make some adjustments. Marti, your position is on the side in the second half, come here to support Navas. Alves' assists in the second half should be weakened. When we open up the situation, we should return to defense as soon as possible after the assist."

"Okay, coach."

Although Marti is a midfielder, he can occasionally play a guest appearance on the right forward to get him closer to the wing, in order to use his technology to support Navas, share Alves' tasks, and avoid the Brazilians from frequently intervening in assists, resulting in empty space behind him.

※※※The intermission time was very short. Chu Zhongtian untied the cold compress bag, stood up from his position, and then kicked his legs to see if his thigh muscles still felt.

The other teammates also stood up and walked out of the locker room.

The players of the two teams met in the corridor. Everyone did not miss the water, and no one ignored each other. After all, Sevilla and Metz had no intersection, and the players of the two teams had no friendship. Naturally, they would not hug each other's necks at this time and chatted with each other to express "friendship first and game second".

Only Chu Zhongtian met Paulson and Alves when he came out, and both of them looked at him with malicious intentions. In a sense, these two people can be regarded as his enemies.

Chu Zhongtian looked at him with hostile eyes at them, not at all surprised.

If the other party comes up and shakes hands and greets him, he will be surprised.

The other party didn't say anything, but just glared at Chu Zhongtian and walked quickly past him.

Chu Zhongtian shrugged.

At the same time, he thought about the situation he might face in the second half. Judging from Paulson's expression, he would not be easy in the second half.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian guessed correctly, he was indeed not at ease in the second half.

In the second half, Metz kicked off. Chu Zhongtian originally planned to organize an attack well. As soon as he crossed the center line, he was targeted by Paulson.

Unlike the remaining period in the first half, Paulson regained his aggressiveness and vitality in the second half.

Chu Zhongtian changed direction when he dribbled the ball, and made a move to continue dribbling, while observing the situation around him. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Paulson touched up. Chu Zhongtian could only turn his back to the attack direction to protect the football, but at the same time he also lost the opportunity to pass the ball forward.

Paulson suddenly came from behind and poked the football under Chu Zhongtian's feet with his legs!

Chu Zhongtian neglected that the opponent broke the ball. His reaction was quick. He did not stop and raised his hand to signal the referee to the foul, nor did he fall to the ground to pretend to be injured. He also rushed out like a cheetah and caught up with Paulson.

Then he used a very precise tackle to break the football from behind with a kick.

But the referee's whistle also sounded - Chu Zhongtian made a foul and Sevilla received a free kick in the frontcourt.

Hearing the whistle, Chu Zhongtian thought there was something wrong with his ears. His tackle was clear and neat and impeccable. Why should I be sentenced to foul?

Chu Zhongtian jumped up from the ground to argue for himself - my tackle was very precise and beautiful. You can't subjectively think that I was a foul just because it was from the tackle behind him... But just as he was about to do this, Paulson, who was lying on the ground with a look of pain, suddenly got up quickly from the ground.

Chu Zhongtian glanced at Paulson's abnormal behavior from the corner of his eyes. He didn't react at first, but when he saw Paulson holding the football with both hands, he suddenly understood what this kid was going to do - send a free kick quickly!

He didn't bother to appeal to the referee, and threw the referee and rushed towards Paulson.

It was too late, soccer was kicked to the wing by Paulson, and the person who caught the ball happened to be Navas!

Chu Zhongtian is more than ten meters away from Navas. Unless he is a special person who can move instantly, he will not be able to catch up with Navas.

Sevilla's free kick was almost fired, and Messe caught off guard.

Originally, when Chu Zhongtian lost the ball, the players of Metz were nervous and were all ready to return to defense. But then Chu Zhongtian used another foul to stop the opponent's counterattack. They relaxed, and the players who were already sprinting back desperately also slowed down and walked back slowly without any rush.

They thought Sevilla would definitely wait for them to return to defense before kicking off the ball because they had to wait for the referee's whistle. It was impossible for the referee to whistle without waiting for half of Metz's men to whistle in the frontcourt.

But they all ignored that sometimes the referee does not need to roar the whistle.

For example this time.

When Paulson sent the free kick to Navas, the players who stayed near the penalty area had only three defenders and one midfielder - central defenders Sammy Traore and Rodriguez, a full-back Signorino, and a midfielder Proman.

Sevilla's players are only Fabiano and Navas. Sevilla is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, but their offense is very sudden. When Navas received the ball, several of Metz's defensive players had not yet set up their defensive formations, and stood on the court casually, with loopholes.

After receiving the ball, Navas dribbled forward quickly, attracting the attention of Signolino and Traore. Then, he did not continue to break through, but chose to pass the ball!

The football passed horizontally to Fabiano who inserted into the penalty area from outside!

Chu Zhongtian and other Metz players are still desperately returning to defense, but no matter from any perspective, they cannot stop Fabiano.

Rodriguez was ahead of Fabiano, and the Brazilian shooter had already stopped the ball and was ready to shoot. The Mexican defender could only make a sideways blocking action, and he had no choice but to do anything else.

Chu Zhongtian is still chasing him back.

Proman rushed in.

The next second, the football was not shot out by Fabiano because he was hit to the ground by Proman who had caught up from behind!

The referee's whistle finally rang, but this time it was not a whistle that signaled Sevilla to take the free kick, but a death sentence for Messe.

"Proman knocked Fabiano!"

"Hell... this is a foul..."

"Punishment! Look at the referee... He blew the whistle, then ran to the penalty area, pointing his finger at the penalty spot!"

"It's a penalty kick! This is the best news for Sevilla who is behind!"

"Can there be any better news than this? No...wait..."

On the court, in Metz's penalty area, Fabiano was lying on the ground, holding up his fists, and he already knew what the result was. Although he did not score the football in the first time, he got a penalty kick, which was only one step away from the equalization score.

Navas and other Sevilla players also raised their hands and rushed into the penalty area. They pulled Fabiano and hugged him to celebrate.

After hitting Fabiano, Proman also fell to the ground. Now he was kneeling and knew that he had given the opponent a penalty kick. He kept shaking his head, feeling helpless and annoyed.

The only thing he can comfort himself now is that the penalty kick rate is not 100%.

At this moment, he saw the referee running to his side and reaching his butt pocket. As a professional player who has experienced many battles, he knew what that action meant, because it was not the first time he met him.
To be continued...