On the sidelines, Bergkamp, contrary to his Ice Prince persona, was chattering incessantly next to Frank de Boer.
"We can't go on like this; we have to do something!"
Frank de Boer thought the same, and decisively arranged for Bojan to replace Sean.
After coming on, Bojan immediately prepared for the kick-off, stepping on the ball and looking at Sean with a slight smirk. "Kid, I still have to come and save the day, huh?"
"Can you?" Sean said coldly.
"Uh~"
Bojan was choked.
He had come on as a substitute in several matches, and now he was coming on again, claiming he could save the team from crisis.
Tsk tsk~
It seemed a bit much.
But~
'This kid looks down on me?!'
Just as Bojan reacted, the referee had already blown his whistle, so he could only glare at Sean and push the ball out.
As soon as Sean received the ball, Red Bull forward Soriano had already rushed over.
It was understandable that Red Bull, having just scored, was in high spirits and full of drive.
But, you've been rushing for half the field, do you really not need to recover your stamina?
Sean calmly dribbled past Soriano, not rushing forward, but passing the ball to De Jong, who had found open space.
Red Bull still habitually pressed.
Indeed, why change a tactic that has proven successful?
De Jong was pressed as soon as he received the ball.
"Here!"
Bojan was very familiar with this routine; as long as he was willing, he could always run to the right position.
At this moment, he was very eager to let Sean know if he could do it, so he was happy to do more running.
Of course, passing and controlling the ball is not a one-man job.
Bojan took a step forward and, before his opponents arrived, timely passed the ball to Sean.
As Sean moved towards the ball, Red Bull's Alan also rushed over.
Sean stopped the ball at his feet, slightly bent his knees, braced against Alan, and his body involuntarily surged forward a step, but his foot timely pulled the ball back, still keeping it under control.
There was no other way; he hadn't found a suitable passing target before receiving the ball, and Alan was actively seeking physical confrontation, so he had to take some risks.
Alan entered a stiff state, and even if it was only for one second, it was enough for Sean to create distance.
Mane timely intercepted Sean.
However, Sean did not continue to take him on alone, but timely passed the ball out and then continued to run to support.
Ajax was not immediately pushed back near their own penalty area, and the players gradually sobered up, finally stabilizing the situation.
Sean continued his efforts, and the situation on the field gradually fell into a stalemate.
Perhaps the Red Bull players had expended too much stamina, and their pressing was not as effective as before, causing their overall formation to gradually retreat under Ajax's pressure.
In the 73rd minute, Sean again took the ball on the left side of the front field, subtly flicking it with his left foot to face the right front.
Red Bull's Kampl hesitated slightly, not daring to aggressively tackle; if he kicked Sean's foot and conceded a free kick, it would not be good.
Leitgeb and Ilsanker rushed over together, actively surrounding Sean.
Sean decisively struck the ball with his right foot.
The ball passed between Leitgeb and Ilsanker, glided past the Red Bull center-backs, and went along the ground directly towards the right flank.
Bojan carried the ball into the penalty area.
Red Bull players quickly defended, with center-back Ramalho blocking Bojan, and Hinteregger also rushing towards the goal.
Goalkeeper Gulacsi quickly moved towards the left goalpost.
Bojan struck the ball with his right foot.
Ramalho slid to intercept, and Gulacsi also widened his defensive area.
But Bojan twisted his ankle, and the tip of his foot scooped the bottom of the ball.
The ball sailed gracefully into the air, flying over everyone and heading towards the far post.
Sean surged forward, bending down to head the ball into the goal.
"Boom!"
The ball successfully entered the net!
Red Bull 3-1 Ajax.
Sean rushed into the goal with the momentum, scooped up the ball, turned, and ran.
However, on his way back to the center circle, he simply raised his hand to the away team stands as a form of celebration.
Bojan caught up to Sean. "Did I do well?"
Sean grinned, "Not bad. If we catch up on the score, I'll treat you to a meal."
Bojan pouted, what did he mean, if they didn't catch up, there would be no meal?
On the sidelines, Frank de Boer jumped up, constantly urging Bergkamp, "Quick, quick, has the substitution list been submitted? We have to push harder now!"
The demand was not high, just one more goal to catch up.
As long as they could get two away goals, they would definitely still have a fight on their hands when they returned home!
Bergkamp had regained his composure. "It's already arranged; Lucas and the others have finished warming up."
"That's good!" Frank de Boer breathed a sigh of relief.
Ajax made two consecutive substitutions, using all three of their allocated changes.
After Salzburg Red Bull kicked off again, Ajax took the initiative, actively pressing all over the field.
Sean was even more relentless, constantly moving back and forth, left and right.
The non-stop running and collisions made Sean increasingly excited.
Any lingering frustration and fatigue completely disappeared; Sean felt as if he was full of energy again.
Rushing towards the edge of the penalty area again, Sean turned and charged towards the opposing center-back Hinteregger.
Just as Hinteregger was about to influence the ball, Sean had already slid in with a flying tackle.
However, Hinteregger dared not stop the ball at all and hastily kicked it directly towards the sideline.
Sean subconsciously tried to pull back his strength, but unfortunately, he couldn't fully stop his foot and brought Hinteregger down.
"Beep~"
The referee blew his whistle, signaling Sean's foul, and showed him a yellow card!
Sean didn't care at all, springing to his feet and bending over, clenching his fists, roaring at his teammates: "Come on!"
"Come on!"
The Ajax players responded in unison, their morale soaring again.
The referee frowned inwardly, "F***, showing a yellow card was originally to deter them, but now it seems to have had no effect at all!"
The game continued.
The Ajax players indeed intensified their tackling, with constant sounds of muscle collisions and frequent scenes of players falling over.
Several TV commentators exclaimed, "It's too brutal!"
"Ajax has transformed into a Premier League team!"
"If they had played like this during the Champions League group stage, they might not have ended up in the Europa League."
"Oh, even just this match, if they had fought like this from the beginning, they might not have conceded three goals in a row."
"The Europa League is also a European competition; a faster pace and more confrontations are to be expected."
"Ajax's reaction is a bit too late now, after all, the players' energy and stamina are mostly depleted, and their speed, strength, and concentration are greatly weakened, limiting the effectiveness of their pressing."
"Salzburg Red Bull, as long as they patiently maneuver, will most likely be the one to have the last laugh…"
...Amidst the cheers of the home fans, Salzburg Red Bull's players also seemed to react, gradually increasing their running and passing speed.
Ajax's efficiency in winning the ball through pressing became lower and lower, and a few times they were even caught out by Red Bull's counter-attacks; if not for timely defending, they would have conceded goals earlier.
Sean remained unmoved, constantly waiting for an opportunity.
After forcing the opposing right-back to pass back to the goalkeeper, Sean finally spotted an opportunity and slowly moved towards the opposing center-back Hinteregger…
...
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