"Oh my god! Look at what happened... Zlatan Ibrahimović actually elbowed Varane to the ground, this is simply unbelievable!"
"We don't know what communication there was between the two, but Zlatan Ibrahimović's elbowing action is definitely a malicious foul, and he should theoretically be sent off with a red card."
"This is a football field, not the NBA!"
"Now it's time to test the Main Referee... Does he dare to show Zlatan Ibrahimović a red card in front of tens of thousands of AC Milan fans?"
Main Referee Howard Webb first separated the opposing players who were gathered together, pushing and insulting each other.
His mind was also racing.
According to the rules, Ibrahimović's action was an unquestionable red card offense.
The kind with no room for discussion!
But considering this is AC Milan's home ground, plus the fact that the home team is already trailing by a large margin of 1:3.
In this situation, if he were to send Ibrahimović off, AC Milan would completely lose their attacking edge...
Since this match was the most watched focal point of the Champions League Round of 16 this season.
Howard Webb had also received hints from UEFA before the match, asking him to try and make the game more closely contested...
Now, if he were to send the Swede off, this match... no, it could even be said that this round of knockout matches, would have no suspense whatsoever.
This is certainly something that UEFA, including the sponsors behind the Champions League, are unwilling to see.
Thinking of this, Howard Webb, enduring the murderous glares of the Arsenal players, showed Ibrahimović a yellow card.
As soon as the yellow card was shown, a burst of cheers erupted from the stands at San Siro, as if they had already won the match.
Wenger on the sideline saw this scene and quickly ran to the Fourth Official, putting immense pressure on him.
"What kind of joke are you playing?"
"That damn Swede openly elbowed my player, and you only showed a yellow card?"
"If this kind of murderous act is only a yellow card, then I don't know what situation would warrant a red card... Does the opposing player have to hold a knife on the field and openly threaten someone's life to get a red card?"
Facing Wenger's pressure, the Fourth Official just kept giving official answers, basically refusing to give a concrete explanation.
Main Referee Howard Webb also ignored Wenger on the sideline; after all, he knew this call was quite outrageous...
Later, he could only try to find a way to compensate Arsenal, to appease their anger.
Varane saw that Ibrahimović only received a yellow card and knew there was no point in continuing to lie on the grass, so he pretended to be in great pain and climbed up.
Fly knew that Varane was sticking up for him, so he walked over to him and asked with concern: "How is it? Can you keep going?"
Varane chuckled and gave Fly an "OK" gesture.
"Alright... If you feel uncomfortable, just raise your hand to signal to come off. We still have two substitutions left, don't worry."
"Don't worry, I know..."
On his way back to the front field, Fly made eye contact with Ibrahimović. Looking at the Swede's defiant face, Fly gave him a "just you wait" look and then jogged slowly to the front.
Ibrahimović, on the other hand, was full of resentment. He would absolutely not lose to that damn American in this match, absolutely not!
Even if the team lost, as long as he scored two goals personally, he could still tell the media after the match, "Fly and I are fifty-fifty."
As for why they lost the match?
That was purely because his teammates were terrible, too damn bad...
In the 73rd minute of the match.
Wenger glanced at the situation on the field and felt that Arsenal's advantage was already quite significant.
So he substituted Nasri for defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
Leaving San Siro with a 3:1 lead was a massive advantage for Arsenal in the second leg!
Wenger was well aware that Arsenal's home win rate this season was outrageously high!
As long as they could defeat AC Milan at San Siro, he was ninety-nine percent sure of advancing to the next round of the Champions League knockout stage.
In the 75th minute of the match.
Fabregas's through ball sliced through AC Milan's defense. Van Persie, while tangled with Thiago Silva, forced a shot, and the ball went just over the crossbar.
In the 77th minute of the match.
AC Milan launched a counterattack. Ibrahimović headed the ball back to Gattuso, who took a long shot that went directly into the stands.
In the 80th minute of the match.
Wilshere, Fabregas, and Clichy exchanged a series of short passes, which ultimately led to Clichy's through ball behind Antonini.
Fly started his run in time, chasing the ball with long strides. After catching up, he glanced towards the center and found that AC Milan's defense was not in disarray.
So he faked a pass and used his speed to forcibly get past Nesta, who was positioned inside, and then, before Antonini could close in to double-team, he passed the ball back in a cutback towards the edge of the penalty area.
Wilshere, who was timely positioned at the edge of the penalty area, met the rolling ball and took a first-time curling shot. The ball curved around Thiago Silva's body and arced directly towards the right post of the goal.
Abbiati stretched his body to the limit, barely managing to tip the ball with his fingertips.
"Bang——"
The ball struck the right post of the goal, making a metallic sound.
Because the ball hit the inside edge of the right post, it did not bounce outwards but instead dropped directly to a position less than 30 centimeters from the goal line.
Seeing the ball so close, Abbiati forcefully reached out with his right arm, attempting to push the ball away from the dangerous area.
But just then, Van Persie, who had been hidden for a long time, suddenly burst out and slid towards the ball two steps away.
When Thiago Silva realized this, he also threw his body out, trying to block Van Persie's close-range slide tackle.
But he was ultimately a step too late...
Before Thiago Silva's body hit the ground, Van Persie's slide tackle was already completed.
Abbiati was helpless against this slide tackle that occurred almost on the goal line and could only watch as Van Persie slid into the goal with the ball.
Arsenal 4:1 AC Milan, basically ending the suspense of this match.
"Fly's cutback cross... Wilshere shoots!!!"
"Oh no, what a pity, that shot hit the goalpost."
"But the danger is not over yet..."
"Van Persie, shoots!!!"
"Goal!!!"
"Van Persie's quick-witted slide tackle in front of the goal, hitting the net with both himself and the ball, Arsenal scores again!"
"4:1, the score of this match has reached 4:1, the Serie A giants, the Rossoneri, are three goals down at home."
"Oh my god, viewers in front of your televisions, could you have imagined before the match that Arsenal would score such a high score against AC Milan?"
"It's truly unbelievable..."
"How long has it been since a team scored four goals against AC Milan at San Siro!"
"But Arsenal did it today... It must be said, Arsenal is indeed the invincible team that has swept everything in the Premier League this season, killing gods and destroying Buddhas."
"Even on the Champions League stage, they are fully displaying their dominance!"
"I feel that this season's Champions League champion might really go to Arsenal!"
Dulin and Side character, in the commentary box at hanger TV Station, had already gone wild.
Real-time reports of Arsenal's 4:1 victory over AC Milan also spread throughout Asia, and many fans who were watching the live broadcast began discussing.
[My god... Arsenal 4:1 AC Milan? Am I seeing things? This is too outrageous... Is Arsenal that strong?]
[Upstairs, what do you think? Arsenal has only drawn two matches in the Premier League this season, winning all the rest, leading second-place Manchester United by a whopping 20 points! Leading the second-place team by 20 points in the world's top League, do you know what that means?]
[Sigh, I originally thought that my AC Milan, being the top team in Serie A this season after all, should have a chance against Arsenal, but I didn't expect that when we actually played, we were directly swept aside. The gap is just too big...]
[Damn it, I saw the news before the match and found that AC Milan was quite confident, especially that Ibrahimović, who kept saying he would destroy Fly. Is this the result? He's really slapping his own face hard...]
[Ibrahimović, a Champions League weakling, is not comparable to Fly in the first place. He just lives in his own world, proclaiming himself god every day, but in reality, he's nothing!]
[I just want to ask one thing, who else can stop Arsenal in the Champions League this season? Even Dream Three Barça couldn't beat AC Milan 4:1 at San Siro, right?]
[Nothing to say... I hereby announce, the winner of the 2010-2011 Champions League is Arsenal!]
[The person upstairs is really daydreaming. Isn't it just beating an AC Milan team that is old and young? Is the current AC Milan a very strong team? Wait until they face Real Madrid or Barcelona before claiming the Champions League title...]
[Exactly... Barcelona and Real Madrid's squads are much stronger than Arsenal's. If they really meet, Arsenal is basically destined to be eliminated!]
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