After several days of targeted training, on May 2, Inter Milan arrived in Spain two days in advance to begin preparations.
As for Barcelona, they also sent out substitutes from the previous domestic league and also conducted targeted training against Inter Milan.
Mourinho is using Cambiasso's tackling ability to train new tactics, and Barcelona is also strengthening passing and control training based on Cambiasso's tackling ability.
Everyone believes that Mourinho, who tasted success in the last game, will definitely move Cambiasso to the forward position again in the second round to intercept and steal the ball from Barcelona's backcourt.
Sure enough, Cambiasso was on the starting list announced by Inter Milan on May 3.
As for Barcelona, except Iniesta who was absent due to injury, all other players were the main players in the first round.
This is a life-and-death battle between the two sides.
Because Barcelona drew in the first leg away and scored an away goal.
As long as Barcelona draws 0-0 in this game, they can advance through the away goal advantage.
Therefore, it can be imagined that Barcelona will still adopt an extreme ball possession and defense method in this game to try to drag the score of 0-0 to the end of the game.
Inter Milan must attack from the first minute and try to score early.
As long as Inter Milan scores a goal and leads the aggregate score, Barcelona will not be able to defend by controlling the ball.
They have to attack, so mistakes will inevitably increase, and Inter Milan will have more offensive opportunities.
At 20:45 on the evening of May 4, with the referee's whistle, the second leg of the 2010/2011 Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Inter Milan at home officially began.
During the pre-match scrimmage, Barcelona got the right to kick off again.
Sure enough, after the kick-off, Barcelona passed the ball back and handed it to central defender Pique, and Barcelona started their ball control defense again.
Eto'o and Cambiasso rushed forward quickly, and Cambiasso used his abundant physical strength and superior positioning, intercepting and stealing abilities to counter-steal the ball from Barcelona's backcourt.
However, Barcelona had obviously conducted targeted training and was prepared for Cambiasso's interceptions, and was not caught off guard like in the first round.
Barcelona increased the speed of passing the ball, and except for Messi, other players in the midfield and frontcourt also retreated slightly to strengthen the support to the backcourt.
Moreover, when there are good opportunities, Barcelona does not just defend, but will still use Xavi's passes and Messi's breakthrough ability to try to score.
If we could score more goals, it would obviously be safer than a 1-1 score.
On the Inter Milan side, after several days of targeted training, Lu Wenbin, Sneijder, Stankovic, and even Zanetti and the two full-backs have provided much stronger support for Cambiasso, and the threat of interceptions to Barcelona has also increased compared to the first round.
Therefore, although Barcelona's ball possession rate was still as high as 70% within the first 20 minutes, it was not as terrible as in the first round.
Within 20 minutes, Inter Milan did have a counterattack through Cambiasso's active counter-attack in the frontcourt, but Eto'o's shot went wide of the goal.
Barcelona got a free kick, but Messi's free kick went over the crossbar.
Time passed minute by minute, and in the 24th minute, Cambiasso finally fell to the ground and blocked the ball that Mascherano passed to Puyol by predicting the outcome.
However, it was too late for him to stand up and pass the ball, because Mascherano and Puyol had already rushed over and were only two or three meters away from him.
Therefore, Cambiasso, who was lying on the ground, could only sweep the ball to Eto'o who was closest to him.
But Eto'o was also closely guarded by Pique and was unable to turn around and shoot.
At this time, Sneijder rushed from the middle to the restricted area, shouting: "Eto'o, this way!"
Eto'o looked up when he heard this, then passed the ball to the middle while guiding Pique.
However, Sneijder was not unguarded, as he was accompanied by the famous Professor Busquets.
As long as Sneijder raised his foot to shoot, Busquets could block his shooting line by falling to the ground.
Sneijder raised his foot while running, Busquets took a step forward beside him and made a diagonal tackle, swinging his body out to block Sneijder's shooting path.
If Sneijder really shot, the ball would definitely hit Busquets and be cleared.
However, Sneijder didn't really shoot.
His raised foot didn't even touch the ball, and it slipped between his legs.
Following the direction of the ball's roll, everyone saw Lu Wenbin rushing in from the wing.
"Danger!"
"Lu—"
“Shoot!”
Lu Wenbin used his off-ball running to accurately reach the ball path and reached a tacit understanding with Sneijder.
Sneijder's missed ball and Lu Wenbin's running were just right. Lu Wenbin didn't even stop the ball and shot directly from the corner of the penalty area.
Xavi and Pedro, who were chasing hard behind Lu Wenbin, couldn't even interfere. Compared with Lu Wenbin, Xavi and Pedro were too slow.
Lu Wenbin's shot went to the far corner without any interference. Although it was a shot without stopping the ball and the angle was not that tricky, Valdés was shaken by Sneijder in the middle and hurriedly rushed to the near end. At this time, his center of gravity was reversed, and he was unable to do anything about Lu Wenbin's shot to the far corner.
The ball went into the goal in front of 100,000 people at Camp Nou.
The Italian commentator in the commentary booth roared: "Goooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball goes in, the ball goes in! Lu finally scored a goal!"
"Mourinho's tactic of using Cambiasso as striker worked!"
"Barcelona are behind in the aggregate score!"
Cambiasso's steal, Eto'o's pass and Sneijder's exquisite pass finally allowed Lu Wenbin to seize the opportunity and scored the first goal of the two-round match, helping Inter Milan to overtake the total score.
Now, Inter Milan leads 2-1 in the aggregate score, and also has an away goal, so the initiative is back in Inter Milan's hands.
Barcelona fans all held their heads and sighed in pain.
Now, the situation has turned unfavorable for Barcelona.
Barcelona had to attack when they were behind in the overall score. However, when they attacked, they might be intercepted by Inter Milan and counterattacked, especially by Lu Wenbin who was fast and good at dribbling.
Whether it was Lu Wenbin's own breakthrough and shooting or his dribbling that caused Barcelona to foul, Inter Milan posed a greater threat than Barcelona.
But they had no choice.
They must attack.
Just as Barcelona kicked off from the center circle and were preparing to use their skilled passing and control skills to play offensive football and return to their tradition, Cambiasso, who was originally playing as a striker, did not rush to the front court like Eto'o, but played as a defensive midfielder with Zanetti, acting as a barrier in front of the back line.
Cambiasso finally did his job: defensive midfielder!
Inter Milan changed their formation to 4231, returning to their familiar defensive counterattack formation, and because of the configuration of double defensive midfielders, their defensive strength became even stronger.
Mourinho has taken various situations into consideration, and the situation where Inter Milan scores first and leads in the aggregate score is naturally within his expectations.
Therefore, after taking the lead in the total score, it is not surprising that Cambiasso retreated to his defensive midfielder position and partnered with Zanetti as a double defensive midfielder! (Seeking monthly tickets)