Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Chapter 460 Wenger's Regret

After the first leg of the Champions League matches, fans from various countries had mixed feelings of joy and sorrow.

Both La Liga giants are in a good position to advance, so La Liga fans are generally optimistic. Some have even started discussing the scenario of Real Madrid and Barcelona both defeating their opponents in the semi-finals and meeting in the Champions League final.

Bundesliga fans are worried because their only representative, Schalke 04, is about to fall to Barcelona, ​​which means that the Bundesliga will once again be absent from this year's Champions League semi-finals.

As for Premier League fans, they are paying close attention to the match between Real Madrid and Chelsea. If Chelsea is eliminated, the Champions League semi-finals this year will most likely be a battle between the two La Liga giants and the two Premier League giants.

Of course, it's also possible that they had terrible luck and drew an internal battle result.

Because the interval between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final is very short, Mourinho chose to forgo a league match and take his key players to Stamford Bridge three days in advance to prepare for the second leg on April 9.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Villas-Boas led Real Madrid's reserves and young players promoted from the youth team to the away game against Mallorca.

Given that Mourinho has taken almost all of Real Madrid's key players with him, he doesn't have any performance requirements for this match. It would be best if they could get points, but he would accept a loss by a small margin if they couldn't get points.

Although Mourinho did not take this match seriously, Villas-Boas himself did not give up easily.

Having long harbored the idea of ​​independence, he needed such an opportunity to increase his coaching experience.

Therefore, it starts with gathering intelligence before the game, studying the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and then developing specific tactics based on the characteristics of the players in the team.

Villas-Boas performed every step meticulously, but unfortunately, he was a bit unlucky.

In the match against Mallorca, Real Madrid took the lead in the first half, but failed to withstand the pressure in the final moments and were tied by their opponents.

After the match, Villas-Boas looked dejected, feeling that he had messed up.

If Mourinho were on the field, he would never have given the opponent a chance to equalize.

Real Madrid's strategic abandonment of the league presents an opportunity for Barcelona.

But Barcelona wasn't so lucky; their opponent this round was Getafe, another of Real Madrid's smaller allies.

Playing away from home, Getafe parked the bus in their own half from the start, leaving only one striker to wander up front, annoying Barcelona, ​​while the rest of the team retreated to their own half to defend tightly.

Barcelona were thoroughly frustrated. In the first half, they deployed multiple players, including Messi, Eto'o, Henry, and Iniesta, to take turns attacking the opponent's defense, but they just couldn't score.

With Barcelona set to face Schalke 04 at Camp Nou in two days, Rijkaard had to substitute Messi and other key players early in the second half.

The early departure of key players completely deprived Barcelona of the ability to break through the opponent's defense.

Ultimately, Barcelona, ​​playing at home, and the away team played to a goalless draw, resulting in a frustrating end to the game.

After this match, it seems that Barcelona's chances of closing the 13-point gap behind Real Madrid in the remaining 7 league matches are now only theoretical.

However, unlike in the league, Barcelona has a chance to go further in the Champions League this season.

Instead of continuing to rely on luck in the league, it would be better to be decisive and place your bets on the Champions League, which might yield unexpected results.

……

Mourinho has terrible interpersonal relationships!
Real Madrid arrived in London ahead of schedule to prepare for the match, originally intending to use Arsenal's Colney training ground.

But Wenger immediately refused when he heard that Mourinho was coming.

The two had a deep-seated grudge in the Premier League, so deep that they almost came to blows on the field.

If you were to ask Wenger which Premier League manager he dislikes the most, Mourinho and his Chelsea would definitely be on the list.

While there are many teams in London, there are very few training bases with excellent geographical locations and complete supporting facilities. Arsenal's training base is the best solution after comprehensive consideration.

You can't exactly send Real Madrid to Chelsea's training ground to train, can you?

So after being rejected, Real Madrid contacted London teams such as Tottenham and Crystal Palace while continuing to work on Wenger's mindset.

Embarrassingly, teams like Tottenham and Crystal Palace rejected Real Madrid's request to use their training ground.

This surprised Real Madrid. When did Premier League teams become so united?
Real Madrid manager Jorge Valdano suspects that Mourinho's poor interpersonal relationships are what dragged Real Madrid down.

Otherwise, given Real Madrid's reputation and the good network of relationships they maintain in the football world, they wouldn't have been rejected by so many teams.

There was no other way but to use that move!

Ultimately, Wenger reluctantly agreed to lend the training ground to Real Madrid after they agreed to increase the rent.

The Real Madrid players, having been thoroughly harassed, looked at Mourinho with a different expression.

They've seen people with bad interpersonal relationships before, but they've never heard of anyone as bad as this!
They really wanted to ask: Coach, do you really have any friends in the football world?
……

Wenger really dislikes Mourinho; he wouldn't even greet him if he saw him on the street.

But he was very interested in a certain person in the Real Madrid team, and Wenger often stood by the window of his second-floor office to peek at him during Real Madrid training sessions.

"What a great player! So talented and creative! How did he end up in Mourinho's hands!"

Wenger gets angry just thinking about it.

Mourinho's extremely pragmatic style of play, which treats players as mere tools, is simply stifling Lin Feng's talent.

What a pity! If I had been the one to discover him and bring him to the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal might already be winning the Champions League by now.

Moreover, with such strong players in the team, Henry wouldn't choose to leave just because he couldn't see any hope of winning the championship.

Thinking about this, Wenger was filled with regret.

How could he, who is always good at discovering young players, have missed out on such a gem as Lin Feng?
……

Not only is Wenger very interested in Lin Feng, but his players are also very curious about him.

Arsenal's young captain, Fabregas, was very interested in Lin Feng, a young player who was a full year younger than him but had achieved success in two different teams.

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Ever since he put on the captain's armband, Xiao Fa has felt so much pressure that he can't breathe.

Last month, in particular, Arsenal were hampered by competing on two fronts, suffering consecutive draws and even losses in the league, which caused them to fall further behind Manchester United.

When the team faced the familiar scenario of collapsing at the end of the season once again, he, as the captain, seemed somewhat at a loss, unsure of what he could do to help the team.

Therefore, he admired and respected Lin Feng, who was younger than him but was able to lead Inter Milan to the top of Europe.

Now that he's joined Real Madrid, a team packed with star players, he's still able to lead Real Madrid to success in both the league and the Champions League.

His ability to lead a team was something he truly envied.

"This is last year's Ballon d'Or winner? I don't think he's anything special!"

Just as Xiaofa was lost in thought, an untimely voice came from the side.

Turning his head, he saw it was Theo Walcott, nicknamed "Little Tiger." Standing next to Walcott was a somewhat green young player, whom Fabregas recognized at a glance—it was Wilshere, the youth team prodigy who had just signed a professional contract with the team in February.

It seems that these people, like myself, were attracted by Lin Feng.

This is not surprising, after all, there is only one case of a Golden Globe winner who is under 20 years old.

Looking at the entire football world, achieving such success at this age is truly astonishing.

It's not surprising that these young players would be interested in Lin Feng.

Walcott and Wilshere were still young and didn't know their own limitations.

So when he saw Lin Feng, he felt an urge to try it out, thinking that if the other could do it, so could he.

But having experienced the harsh realities of society, Fabregas has long lost that arrogance.

He is now clearly aware of the enormous gap between himself and Lin Feng.

……

Stamford Bridge, April 9.

When Mourinho returned, he was greeted not by boos and jeers from the fans, but by applause and cheers from countless Chelsea supporters.

Some fans even displayed banners and signs that read "José, welcome home!" to pay tribute to Mourinho.

Real Madrid players who witnessed everything in the players' tunnel overturned their previous assumptions:
"It seems the coach isn't completely friendless; at least Chelsea fans respect him."

Chelsea fans treat Mourinho this way mainly because it was under his leadership that the Blues gradually transformed from an ordinary team into a rising force and even a powerhouse in the Premier League.

Previously, there was no such thing as the BIG4 in the Premier League. It was only after he led his team to break Manchester United's monopoly for two consecutive years and snatched two Premier League titles from the Red Devils that Chelsea was able to join the BIG4.

While Abramovich's big spending is important, the coach is even more crucial. Before Mourinho's arrival, the Italian Ranieri was unable to help Chelsea achieve their title dream.

Mourinho opened his coat, put his hands on his hips, and surveyed the entire stadium, just as he had done countless times before.

Stamford Bridge remains as beautiful and charming as ever, as if nothing has changed.

But Mourinho knew very well that things could never be the same again.

He once fought for Chelsea here, but today he comes to challenge Chelsea as an opponent.

When the match ends and Chelsea loses their chance to advance to the semi-finals, I wonder if these fans will resent themselves.

Compared to the previous match, Real Madrid made slight adjustments to their lineup for this game.

Robben was dropped by Mourinho, and young Higuain made his first appearance in the Champions League starting lineup.

In midfield, Diarra, who was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, was replaced by Pepe, while there were no major changes in other positions.

For Chelsea, Essien replaced Makelele in the starting lineup, while Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukrainian striker they bought from AC Milan for a hefty sum, was relegated to the bench.

The Ukrainian was unlucky. Just as he was recovering at the end of last year, he suffered an injury and was sidelined for four months before finally returning to the court.

However, having been out of action for a long time, he is out of form and will need a long time to regain it.

Since joining the team, he has scored fewer than 10 goals for Chelsea.

The €5000 million Abramovich spent to bring him in now seems like a complete waste.

With that much money, you could easily buy both Torres and Aguero from Atletico Madrid!

Sheva was clearly aware of his difficult situation, so much so that he began to regret his initial decision.

If he hadn't left AC Milan, perhaps he wouldn't be in this predicament now!
If he were still in Milan, perhaps Milan wouldn't have lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League last year, and he could have lifted the Champions League trophy with his teammates again.

Unfortunately, there's no going back in life, so what's the use of regretting it now?
……

After the start of the match, Real Madrid did not choose to attack aggressively, but instead focused on consolidating their defense and played cautiously.

Chelsea, under immense pressure to score, pressed forward without hesitation, attempting to break through as early as possible to boost team morale and complete a dramatic comeback.

Time is their biggest enemy. The longer it drags on, the lower the team's morale will become, and the more impatient the players will become, making a comeback increasingly impossible.

Therefore, it is necessary to do it as early as possible.

Perhaps realizing that their attacking approach in the previous match was flawed, Chelsea changed their strategy in this game, starting to utilize Drogba's strong physique and relentlessly attack him.

Neither of Real Madrid's two center-backs are the tall, muscular type.

Faced with Drogba's relentless attacks, they gradually found themselves unable to withstand the onslaught.

In the first 30 minutes of the first half, Drogba had already taken three shots, including two headers.

Drogba is already close to 1.9 meters tall, and with his excellent jumping ability and strong physique, he is virtually invincible in positioning and aerial duels in the penalty area.

Although we haven't scored yet, if we let the opponent continue to play so comfortably, they might score in the next second.

From the stands at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea dominated, completely suppressing Real Madrid.

Chelsea fans were incredibly excited, with applause and cheers that were exceptionally enthusiastic.

In the past, Mourinho would have found these sounds pleasant and even wished the fans would raise their voices even higher.

But now, he only feels that the fans are too noisy.

There were no goals scored, so what's there to be happy about?

Sensing the immense threat posed by Drogba in the penalty area, Mourinho turned his attention to Real Madrid's bench.

There are two other defenders on the bench, one of whom is Metzelder, who is 1.94 meters tall and excels in physical confrontations and aerial duels.

Another player is Miguel Torres, a young player developed by Real Madrid's own youth academy, but he is only 1.84 meters tall and weighs only 75 kilograms.

Compared to a giant like Drogba, who is 1.89 meters tall and weighs over 90 kilograms, Torres is as thin as a stick.

Therefore, Mourinho ruled him out as an option in his mind. As a result, if he wanted to replace the center-back, only one option remained – Metzelder.

The Germans have the height and weight, but whether they can stop Drogba, this beast, is still hard to say.

Therefore, passive defense is a dead end, and Real Madrid's key to victory lies in attack.

The key to the attack lies with Lin Feng.

(End of this chapter)