I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 331: The King of Passing! The Dark Horse of the Champions League! The European Transit Station! Yang, let's go for it! [Subscribe]

Barcelona is old!

After the 1-5 defeat to Bayswater Chinese at the Prudential Stadium, the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo published its post-match commentary immediately.

Very disappointed with Barcelona's performance in London.

In a two-round match, we completely lost the first round!
"This is not the Barcelona we expected!" commented Mundo Deportivo.

What's the problem with Barcelona?
Head coach Luis Enrique said in the post-match press conference that the gap between the two sides was not actually that big.

"We did a good job in the early stages and even created a goal with our first shot."

“We should have extended our lead further but we didn’t do it well.”

where is the problem?

Luis Enrique believes the team's biggest problem is defensive errors.

"We have to accept the fact that there are always teams stronger than us in European football."

“That’s the Bayswater Chinese!”

"They played really well, better than us."

Luis Enrique believes that Barcelona should learn from this game rather than dwell on the game itself.

"I am the head coach of the team. I can feel that, in fact, our players had problems with their mentality when we were 1-2 behind."

"We used to be a team with very strong psychological qualities, but when facing Bayswater Chinese, we had no advantage, and in fact, we were not as good as them."

Regarding the game itself, Luis Enrique said that the team still hopes to control the situation.

"Gareth Bale's absence has a big impact on our opponents. Of course, we don't mean to underestimate other players, but a player of Gareth Bale's level who can't play in the game will greatly increase our chances of winning."

"But at Prudential Arena, Yang Cheng's deployment and on-the-spot command really surprised us."

"Especially after losing the ball just three minutes into the game, they still didn't panic at all."

"They deserved such a victory!"

Mundo Deportivo agreed with Luis Enrique's words.

The Bayswater Chinese also performed very well indeed.

But Mundo Deportivo holds a different opinion about Barcelona itself.

"Luis Enrique clearly has a lot to say."

What words?

They are the four captains of the team.

Xavi, 35, Iniesta, who will soon be 31, Busquets, 26, and Pique, 28.

If we add in the fact that left center back Mathieu is already 31 years old, right back Alves will soon be 32 years old.

Obviously, Barcelona is old now!

This Barcelona can no longer see the shadow of the Dream Team III under Guardiola that swept across Europe.

The fact is, even the Dream Team III at its peak could not gain even the slightest advantage from Yang Cheng's Bayswater Chinese.

What can this old and weak Barcelona do now?
Mundo Deportivo believes that at the Prudential Stadium, everyone saw Barcelona getting older.

The average age is close to 30 years old.

This is the most deadly!
"While we lined up Pique and Mathieu, a central defender with an average age of nearly 30, our opponents lined up 32-year-old Pepe and 23-year-old Van Dijk."

"When our midfield was the aging Xavi and Iniesta, with the 26-year-old Busquets, our opponents were the 29-year-old Modric, with the 25-year-old Toni Kroos, and the 23-year-old Casemiro.

Mundo Deportivo believes that in the world of football, experience is of course important.

"But we can't always be immersed in the memories of the past. Our future still needs to rely on younger players."

Mundo Deportivo believes that the disastrous defeat in this game was ultimately due to the serious problems caused by Barcelona's aging population.

"We need to bring in a group of younger and more energetic players!"

……

Marca, also from Spain, believes that this game at the Prudential Arena in London completely stripped Luis Enrique of his underwear.

"Barca's coach needs to reflect on this stupid, suicidal behavior."

Why suicide?

Marca believes that over the years, Barcelona has always been proud of having the world's top midfield.

But this time, in London, they had to admit that their midfield had nothing to be proud of in front of the Chinese in Bayswater.

Even their ball control.

Because the two teams had equal ball possession.

But the Chinese in Bayswater are far superior to Barcelona in terms of efficiency and rhythm.

"When a typical fast-paced Premier League team has the same amount of possession as Barcelona, ​​you can imagine the consequences."

Marca believes that this game is worth studying by Real Madrid.

Because Barcelona completely exposed their poor performance without the ball.

"In the Guardiola and Vilanova era, Barcelona's possession was more of a horizontal transfer of the ball. Luis Enrique has injected more depth into the team."

"To do this, they brought in Lewandowski who has the ability to play with his back to the goal."

"But in this game, we still saw that this Barcelona team made many mistakes."

"This is an undoubted, all-round defeat!"

"Enrique and his players must be held responsible for this defeat!"

The British newspaper The Times gave the honor of the team's victory to head coach Yang Cheng.

This authoritative media believes that before the game, Gareth Bale's injury made everyone worry about the Chinese in Bayswater, because the Welshman is so important!
"When everyone was assessing the risks of Gareth Bale's absence, Yang Cheng quietly came up with another solution."

"Instead of Walcott, who is so fast, he put Sterling with Hazard."

“This is an amazing combination!”

The Times also released a heat map of the game between the two short players in its report, and found that the two players' activities were mostly in the flanks, but their range of activities was large, and they were both actively returning to defense.

Especially Sterling.

The three midfielders were lined up in a row, with Hazard and Sterling playing more like wingers, which made the Bayswater Chinese appear to be playing a 433 formation, but in fact it was a 4321 formation.

The benefits are obvious, that is, both full-backs are very active in moving forward and participating in the attack.

Hazard and Sterling are also able to move flexibly and adapt to circumstances, playing either in the middle or on the wing, which gives Barcelona's defenders a headache.

Especially with Giroud, whose range of activities is also quite large.

"At the Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng gave Luis Enrique a vivid lesson!"

"Gareth Bale is indeed important, but without Gareth Bale, Bayswater Chinese are still Bayswater Chinese!"

"Over the years, it has been proven time and again that there is only one person who is indispensable in this team!"

The British Guardian praised Hazard and Sterling highly.

The media believes that in the absence of Gareth Bale, the two players completely defeated Barcelona.

"Yang Cheng is like a magician. He can always turn stones into gold and bring surprises to all of us."

Hazard is the best performing player in the Champions League so far this season.

Maybe not even one.

He continued his dribbling performance during the group stage and performed as well as always in the knockout stage.

"He played a great game at the Prudential Arena!" The Guardian praised it highly.

Stirling has become the biggest discovery for the Chinese in Bayswater.

"In the crucial games, he took on the pressure and filled the void left by Gareth Bale."

The Guardian even jokingly mocked Walcott.

"The little tiger must be full of tension and anxiety when he sits on the bench."

"Because Sterling's rise is bound to affect his position in the Bayswater Chinese."

In the past, Walcott and Hazard were both good at their own games and worked together.

But now, Sterling's rise has undoubtedly made the competition within the team more intense.

"At the Prudential Arena, Bayswater Chinese played a great game!"

"They used this victory to tell everyone that even without their star player Gareth Bale, they are still the strongest team in Europe!"

"Because Bayswater Chinese never rely on a single superstar, they rely on the close cooperation of the entire team!"

Germany's Kicker magazine also reported on the match in its midweek Champions League special issue.

But apart from reporting on several Chinese football stars from Bayswater, the Germans focused more on Toni Kroos.

In this match against Barcelona, ​​the German midfielder once again contributed some seemingly plain but actually very eye-catching data.

That is, he won the honor of "Passing King" of the game in front of Xavi!

There were 97 passes in the game, 96 of which were successful.

This is Toni Kroos!

In this direct dialogue, he completely suppressed Xavi, Iniesta, and even Busquets.

This is outrageous!
Because the whole world knows that passing has always been Barcelona's forte.

Who can pass the ball with Barsa?

But now, Bayswater Chinese, Toni Kroos has done it!

Kicker magazine believes that Toni Kroos has strong coordination ability and is very precise in defense.

He may seem non-aggressive, lack personality, and even a little soft, but he is actually very stable.

"After losing the ball in the first three minutes, Toni Kroos immediately stabilized the situation, continuously instigating attacks on the left, supporting Marcelo and Hazard to continuously create threats in the frontcourt."

"He was never the most eye-catching player on the pitch, but he was the most important core of the Bayswater Chinese midfield."

Kicker magazine also took an in-depth look at the changes that Toni Kroos has undergone since moving to the Premier League.

In the Bundesliga, Toni Kroos simply failed to bring out his strengths and characteristics.

But in the Premier League, under the leadership of Yang Cheng, he put in a dazzling performance.

And a very important point here is that Modric is standing next to him.

The two people's characteristics are very complementary, and they cooperate very well and always think together.

"Both Toni Kroos and Modric have mentioned more than once in interviews that the other is the partner with whom they understand each other best on the court."

In order to better unleash the capabilities of the two midfielders, Yang Cheng always arranges deep-lying midfielders such as Matic, Javi Martinez and Casemiro behind them, allowing them to put their worries aside.

Kicker magazine admitted that Toni Kroos was right to choose the Bayswater Chinese.

"Yang Cheng is the head coach who understands him best in world football today!"

……

How much trouble is it to get from London to Enschede?

Heathrow doesn't have flights to Amsterdam, so you'll need to go north to Luton, or south to Gatwick Airport in Crawley.

After about an hour and a half, we arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and drove west.

The fastest is 2 and a half hours, and sometimes even up to 3 hours.

Enschede actually has its own airport, Twente Airport in the north of the city, which was originally a dual-use military and civil airport.

But the airport was declared closed ten years ago.

Currently, many airlines send their scrapped aircraft here to dismantle the parts for repairs.

Therefore, this place is also called the aircraft graveyard.

Yang Cheng came this time at the invitation of Enschede Mayor Honor van Wildhausen.

The Enschede City Government is currently the largest creditor of Twente Club and has had contact with Yang Cheng's team before.

After playing against Barcelona, ​​the team will prepare for the FA Cup match against Arsenal.

Yang Cheng really doesn't have much time.

But Mayor Honor van Wildhausen called him personally.

So, he had to find time to come here.

This was his first time in Enschede.

From Amsterdam, follow the A1 highway eastwards and exit at Hengelo, a small town west of Enschede.

Twente's training base is located in the Wildwijk Sports Park in the east of Hengelo.

This is the sports center of Hengelo, which brings together some indoor gymnasiums, tennis clubs, rugby clubs, etc.

There are two football clubs.

Twente's first team and youth teams are all here, including the comprehensive stadium Wildwijk and two and a half of the four and a half football fields on the east side of the stadium.

The reason why there is half a piece is because that piece of venue is a small venue, not a standard venue.

The other two football fields are used by Hengelo's local amateur team Barbaros.

In other words, Twente, from the first team to the youth team, has only two and a half football fields in total, plus the comprehensive stadium.

Their training building was also converted from the space behind the stands of the comprehensive sports stadium.

When Yang Cheng arrived, Twente's God of Wealth Hennie ten Hag was already waiting there. He took him on a quick tour and Yang Cheng kept shaking his head all the way.

This makes Henni ten Hag feel ashamed.

In their eyes, these were very good conditions, but in Yang Cheng's opinion, they were simply not up to standard!

Continuing east from Wildwijk Sports Park, the straight-line distance is about 2.5 kilometers, but due to the obstruction of the railway line, you have to take a detour and walk about 4 kilometers to reach the Gerols Castle Stadium.

The stadium is surrounded by river tributaries on the southwest and southeast sides. It is also adjacent to Enschede's largest sewage treatment plant on the southeast, and to the northwest is an entertainment center with an ice rink, bowling alley and shopping center.

To the north is a railway, and beyond that is the world-famous University of Twente.

As everyone knows, only three stands have been added to the Grols Castle Stadium in the past few years.

In fact, space for added coverage has been reserved in advance between the northeastern stand and the railway line.

It’s just that Twente has never had any money.

From the training base to the Grols Castle Stadium, Yang Cheng and his party just took a quick look around.

The group then went to the Dickmann Sports Park in the south of Enschede.

This is an old football field that has been abandoned for many years, and the surrounding area is overgrown with weeds.

But this is also the densely populated area of ​​Enschede citizens.

According to Henni ten Hag, the stadium was planned to be demolished as early as 98 when Twente moved into the Gerols Castle Stadium, which was then called the Aker Stadium, to build a sports park.

But later it was temporarily shelved due to various reasons.

The specific reason is actually very simple: no money.

Although the city of Enschede is not big, there are many football clubs in the city center, and all of them occupy a large area.

This also reflects from another perspective the importance the Dutch government places on football.

Twente's God of Wealth now seemed to have accepted his fate, knowing that they could no longer keep Twente, so he told Yang Cheng another thing.

The city government actually has another plan.

If no agreement can be reached with Yang Cheng, the city government will step in, take out the Grols Castle Stadium and raise funds from the public, which is expected to raise around 3500 million euros.

Of this, 2000 million euros will be used to repay the 2000 million euro municipal loan owed to the city government when the stadium was expanded.

The remaining 1500 million euros will be used to alleviate the current financial difficulties faced by Twente.

But the price of doing so is that Twente will have to pay a considerable amount of stadium rental every year.

Therefore, all parties involved in the financing set up a stadium management foundation to jointly be responsible for this business.

Yang Cheng's eyes lit up when he heard this.

If he guessed correctly, Twente in its previous life was able to survive for 18 years because of this trick.

What Hennig ten Hag said proves that not only Twente has no money, but the city government also has no money.

It’s really interesting!
Enschede Town Hall is in the old town north of the Dickmann Stadium.

It can be said to be the core area of ​​Enschede tourism. In addition to the town hall, there are also two old churches.

It attracts many tourists every year.

But the new mayor, Honor van Wildhausen, does not work in the city hall. Instead, he rents an office building in the north of the old town, near the train station.

It is said that there are plans to build a brand new municipal building nearby.

This also shows the courage of Honor van Wildhausen!
When Yang Cheng passed by, he just looked out the car window and saw that the old city was indeed quite old.

When we arrived at the mayor's temporary office building, Honor van Wildhausen came out to greet us.

There were also local media reporters taking photos at the scene.

For them, Yang Cheng’s arrival is a big event!
There were quite a few people involved in this conversation.

On Yang Cheng's side are Xia Qing, Adam Crozier and Chris Hunter, as well as two lawyers and an assistant team.

Honor van Wildhausen also called over all the decision-makers from the Enschede City Government.

But as parties involved, only two people came from Twente, Henri ten Hag and an interim chairman.

Monsterman has become an ex.

After the two sides officially entered into the talks, Van Wildhausen first introduced the situation in Enschede and Twente.

Although he cursed Twente harshly behind closed doors, he still said a lot of good things about Twente in front of Yang Cheng.

But some things really cannot be covered up.

For example, the accident on July 2011, 7.

How serious is it?
It directly prompted the Dutch government to revise its building safety regulations!

It is no secret that Twente has been in debt and close to bankruptcy every year in the past few years.

The total debt currently exceeds 9 million euros, but the main creditor is the Enschede City Government.

In addition to direct government borrowing, there are more guaranteed bank loans.

After listening to it for a while, Yang Cheng basically understood it.

To put it bluntly, the city government is under tremendous pressure and can no longer cope with the situation.

If he remembered correctly, Twente was relegated and went bankrupt in the previous life, which was during the past two or three years, which happened to be during Van Wildhausen's term.

The difference is that no one came forward in the previous life.

Van Wildhausen said that the Enschede city government agreed in principle to Twente's introduction of investors. As long as it complies with EU and Dutch laws and meets the requirements of UEFA and the Dutch Football Association, the city government will have no problem.

But the prerequisite is that he must ensure the interests of the citizens of Enschede and even the fans in the surrounding areas.

This is of course an official statement.

In fact, what the Enschede city government means is that the Dickmann Sports Park should be built and the last stand of the Gerols Castle Stadium should also be expanded.

This actually involves a competitive relationship between Enschede and Hengelo.

In fact, Hengelo has always hoped that Twente could expand the local training base, so the two sides signed a long-term contract.

There are actually solutions to things like this.

It's very simple. Hengelo will continue to serve as the team's training base, while construction will begin on Dickman Sports Park.

After Dickman's side is completed, the other side will start to expand and renovate, and will be used as one of the youth training bases in the future. Wildvik Stadium can also be directly used as the home ground for the second team and the youth team.

The Dickman Sports Park project is huge and the investment is definitely not small.

According to previous assessments by Chris Hunter and others, the total investment in the three locations is approximately 7 million euros.

This is really nothing to Yang Cheng and the Chinese in Bayswater.

But for the Enschede city government, this is truly a major project that has not been seen in many years.

The real point of conflict between the two sides lies in the debt issue.

Twente's current player lineup is actually not worth much, and the qualification to participate in the Eredivisie is not worth much either.

The most valuable thing in the entire Twente is the Gerols Castle Stadium.

The stadium was built in 1998 and according to later exchange rates, the investment was approximately 3500 million euros.

In 2008, the Southwest Stand was expanded at a cost of 5000 million euros.

It was expanded again in 2011 at a cost of 1500 million euros.

That is to say, the stadium has cost about 9000 million euros so far.

What Yang Cheng meant was that he would take on all of Twente's debts and the club would sell it to him for a symbolic 1 euro.

The confidence that Yang Cheng has in doing this is exactly what Hennie ten Hag said just now, that the city governments of Twente and Enschede are out of money.

Van Wildhausen also wanted to build a municipal building north of the train station, which would also require money.

If Twente is not sold, it will become a financial black hole.

If sold to Yang Cheng, Yang Cheng can directly repay the 2000 million municipal loan owed to the city government.

"In addition, I can guarantee that in the next two years, we will begin to expand the northeast stand, increase the capacity of this stadium to 45000, and invest funds to build a training base at Dickman Sports Park."

The ticket prices in the Netherlands are quite reasonable.

The average ticket price in Twente is currently around 25 Euros.

According to Chris Hunt's estimate, the expansion will cost around 6000 million euros and increase the capacity to 45000 people, 14000 more than the current capacity.

The estimated additional revenue per game is 35 euros.

That’s 630 million euros a year.

This is just the ticket revenue.

There are also VIP boxes afterwards.

The Enschede city government focuses on the University of Twente, mainly on innovation and investment, so the surrounding area is now very vibrant and becoming more and more lively.

The interior of the stadium will be renovated to accommodate restaurants, hotels, conference centers, etc., which will provide a large source of additional income.

In addition, Henni ten Hag told Yang Cheng that the reason why the Grols Castle Stadium was named this way was because it was named after the largest local brewery, the Grols Brewery, in 2008.

The contract signed at that time was 8 years.

Over the past period of time, the two sides have actually been in dispute, mainly over the issue of naming fees.

Grols Brewery had been acquired long ago and was unwilling to pay the additional naming fee.

According to Chris Hunter, after the contract expires in 2016, there is no need to renew it and he will change sponsors.

This is another income.

Overall, this business is still worth doing.

The deal is also worth making for the Enschede city government.

As a result, the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

After Yang Cheng and Van Wildhausen formally signed the agreement, all that remained were the formalities and processes.

But all of these are left to the people below to take charge of.

……

Except for leaving relevant personnel to be responsible for the connection and promotion, Yang Cheng and his team returned to Amsterdam without stopping.

On the way, Yang Cheng also talked about his positioning of Twente.

Twente's positioning is actually equivalent to that of the Eredivisie.

This is actually quite interesting.

The Netherlands has no restrictions on foreign players. Although it has been declining in recent years, the players it has introduced are actually quite diverse.

There are players from South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

They all love landing in the Eredivisie.

But there is one country that many people overlook, and that is Northern Europe.

Players from Nordic countries such as Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland actually also like to come to the Netherlands.

For example, Ibrahimovic played for Ajax.

Whenever Yang Cheng thinks of Northern Europe, the demon Buu Haaland immediately comes to his mind.

There are also players from Belgium.

Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Vermaelen and others all came from the Eredivisie.

Why is Dutch football now like Wang Xiaoer's New Year, getting worse every year?
In terms of population, the Netherlands has 1700 million people, more than Portugal, and its economy is also very good.

But look at the Portuguese Super League, it is becoming more and more competitive.

Of course, the Portuguese Super League has the whole of South America behind it, and the natural advantage of Portuguese makes it easier for them to attract South American players.

But don’t forget that Ronaldo, Romario and others all landed in the Netherlands as their first stop.

How to explain this?
The bottom line is that the managers of the Dutch league and clubs cannot keep up with the times.

Especially in recent years.

With the Philips Group as its backer, Eindhoven has some shelter under a big tree, and all it needs is for it to dominate the Netherlands.

Ajax and Feyenoord have also been having problems of their own.

Especially Ajax.

As a pioneer of Dutch football, Ajax has tried before.

As early as the beginning of the century, they actively developed overseas markets, for example, establishing a Cape Town Ajax club in South Africa.

However, due to poor management, Ajax's first step towards internationalization failed.

In recent years, Ajax itself has been in deep trouble, so how can it care about anything else?

With the continuous evolution of European integration, especially in the football industry, information has become more and more transparent. Wherever young players emerge, teams from the five major leagues will rush over immediately.

The Portuguese Super League is dominated by South American players, the Bundesliga has begun to absorb Eastern European talents on a large scale, and the French Ligue 1 is based in Africa...

All these have caused the Eredivisie, as a transit point for the top leagues, to lose its competitive advantage in competing for young talents.

More importantly, youth training in the Netherlands seems to have reached a bottleneck.

Have there been any outstanding young players from the Netherlands in recent years?
The answer is obvious.

At a time when European football is increasingly pursuing globalization, the self-contained Netherlands is clearly unable to keep up with the times.

But in Yang Cheng's view, the Eredivisie has very unique advantages.

That is to cultivate young players who conform to the concept of modern football!

Moreover, the geographical advantage also makes the Netherlands very attractive to players from the Nordic region.

"Man's calculation is not as good as God's calculation."

In the car, Yang Cheng sighed softly.

"What's the matter?" Xia Qing asked with concern.

"I didn't expect that the acquisition of Twente would come so soon. If I had known earlier, I should have let Ten Hag stay to coach Twente." Yang Cheng smiled bitterly.

Ten Hag's coaching of Twente is definitely a killer move.

"I don't think so." Xia Qing objected. "Think about it, with their family's connections and influence in Enschede, and with his father's personality, if Ten Hag succeeds in coaching Twente, it will certainly bring a lot of convenience, but there will also be a lot of trouble in the future, maybe even more."

"That's right, I don't support Ten Hag coaching Twente either." Adam Klose also expressed his opinion.

Yang Cheng didn't deny it, he was just thinking about it casually.

After the acquisition of Twente, there is no need for the Twente 65 Foundation to exist anymore, and Hennig ten Hag is also leaving.

Yang Cheng handled the rest of the matter behind closed doors.

As for the head coach, Yang Cheng actually doesn’t need a Ten Hag.

In terms of players, Twente will definitely focus on players from Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America.

By the way, in recent times, the Netherlands has been buzzing with the news that Abramovich has invested in Vitesse, a Dutch Eredivisie team.

They believe Abramovich is the mastermind behind Vitesse.

Yang Cheng found it funny when he thought of this.

This investigation will take a long time.

Later, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, when Europe was imposing sanctions on Abramovich, the Dutch Football Association was still trying to determine the relationship between Vitesse and Abramovich, but had not been able to find strong evidence.

By the same token, they will not be able to find Yang Cheng and Twente this time.

……

Travel between the Netherlands and the UK in one day.

Afterwards, Yang Cheng began preparing for the FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

With Frick, Yang Cheng's pressure was obviously reduced a lot.

But Gareth Bale was injured in the away game against Arsenal, and the team had to play Chelsea and Barcelona in a week, and then play Barcelona again, so the Chinese in Bayswater had to make major rotations.

The Gunners were also distracted by the Champions League, and Wenger made appropriate rotations, but key players including Sanchez, Fabregas, Cazorla, Koscielny and Mertesacker all started.

In the 39th minute, it was Fabregas who assisted Sanchez and broke through the goal guarded by Robert Green.

But after the second half, Harry Kane assisted Sterling to score against Arsenal and equalized the score.

Then the two teams once again engaged in a close combat.

The score remained 1-1 until the end of the game.

According to the rules, there will be no make-up match for the second round, and the game will go directly into overtime.

Both teams were stuck in a stalemate.

It was not until the 115th minute that Sanchez scored again, helping Arsenal beat Bayswater Chinese 2-1.

Wenger's team finally won the game and successfully advanced to the FA Cup final!

"Now it seems that you have really given up on the Champions League!"

After the game, when Wenger came over to shake hands with Yang Cheng, Yang Cheng did not take the defeat to heart.

Wenger arranged so many main players to play, and then saw him let these players play the whole game.

Even in the 72nd minute, when the attack had failed for a long time, Benzema and Nasri were replaced one after another, which clearly reflected Wenger's mentality.

When Wenger heard what Yang Cheng said, he revealed a bitter smile.

In the Champions League quarter-finals, they lost 8-1 to Manchester City at home in the first leg.

How to play in the second round?
Wenger's strategy is to first keep the FA Cup that is in sight.

In any case, the FA Cup is more important than the League Cup.

……

On the evening of April 4, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals began.

Bayswater Chinese team visited Camp Nou to challenge Barcelona away.

Before the game started, when Luis Enrique saw the starting lineup of the Chinese players in Bayswater, he was so angry that he wanted to curse.

Why?

Because Yang Cheng's starting lineup has been adjusted again.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;
Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, Van Dijk and Piszczek;

Midfield: Casemiro drops back, with Toni Kroos and Modric in the middle;

Forwards: Hazard, Giroud and Walcott.

When Luis Enrique saw this starting lineup, the first thought that came to his mind was Yang Cheng's sinister grin: Hey, come here, I'll hit you back!
This made Luis Enrique really feel like breaking down.

Can we have some spirit of a strong and powerful team?
Can we attack like we did in the first leg at home?
Barcelona felt the pressure as soon as the game started.

It still has the familiar taste.

Midfield suppression!

In the first leg, the three midfielders of Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi did not run well enough, so Luis Enrique made adjustments in the home game and let local youth player Sergi replace Xavi in ​​midfield.

This player now plays as a midfielder, but in Yang Cheng's previous life, he later changed to play as a right back and performed well for a while.

Pedro replaced Mahrez in the frontcourt in an attempt to strengthen the attack.

As a result, just 14 minutes into the game, Sergi made a pass error under heavy pressure. After Modric successfully intercepted the ball, he made a straight pass that hit Alba directly behind him.

Walcott's speed fully demonstrated its threat at this moment. He went straight behind the defense line, received the ball, dribbled into the right side of the penalty area, and shot alone, breaking through Barcelona's goal.

1 is better than 0!

After the little tiger scored a goal, he excitedly rushed out of the court to celebrate.

The first round of the match between the two sides really made him feel suffocated!
On the contrary, Barcelona had not yet finished their opening attack when their goal was stolen again.

Now the total score is 1 to 6, how can we continue playing?
But before the Barcelona players could regroup, the Chinese in Bayswater seized another chance 20 minutes later.

It was still a quick counterattack from the right. Piszczek made a straight pass, Walcott passed the ball alone, forcibly shook off Alba, and rushed to the right side of Barcelona's penalty area with the ball.

This time, the little tiger really used his speed threat to the extreme.

After dribbling into the right side of Barcelona's penalty area, Walcott made a low pass to the back post facing Mathieu who was returning to defense.

Hazard quickly followed up and shot into the goal from close range.

Giroud, who followed up in the middle, looked aggrieved!
Looking at himself, then at Walcott, and then at Hazard celebrating after scoring the goal, the Frenchman felt like crying.

There was clearly no one defending my side, why didn't they pass the ball to me?

Do you have to go the distance and pass the ball to Hazard?

Walcott pointed at Pique, implying that I have to avoid Mathieu and pass the ball to you because I'm afraid Pique will snatch it away.

When Giroud ran to the sidelines to celebrate the goal with Hazard, he did not forget to put one hand around Hazard's neck and the other hand around Walcott's shoulders, "I don't care, you have to give me one anyway!"

“I want to score a goal!”

There was an obvious signal that proved that Luis Enrique was still too immature, that was that he directly replaced Sergi with Xavi during the half-time break.

The midfielder played for just 45 minutes before being substituted.

Barcelona's midfield returns to the combination of Havertz and Bailey Buffon.

Interestingly, Bayswater Chinese also played more calmly in the second half.

Barcelona firmly controlled the ball, but found it difficult to organize an effective attack.

Time keeps passing like this.

Giroud ultimately failed to get the goal he desired.

In the first half, Bayswater Chinese defeated Barcelona by two goals thanks to Walcott's pass and one shot.

The total score was 7-1, and we successfully advanced to the Champions League semi-finals!

……

After the game, media and fans from all over the world reported on the match.

He was particularly generous in his praise for the Chinese in Bayswater who were making great progress.

Instead, it was Barcelona that was criticized by the media, including those in Catalonia.

The 7-1 defeat almost made Barcelona lose all face!
At the same time, it also completely exposed the problem that Barcelona's defense was too weak.

In the other three Champions League games, the winners and losers were also decided one after another.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that Nice, coached by Ronald Koeman, lost 0-1 to Juventus away in the first leg, but returned to their home court and defeated the Zebras 2-0.

Young forwards Martial and Mane each scored a goal.

Another winger, Salah, contributed an assist.

This season, Nice's front trident has performed very well, especially the talented young player Martial.

Many people compare him with Henry, believing that he has the potential to become the next Henry.

In the match against Juventus, Martial pulled to the left side, cooperated with Mane, suddenly broke through with the ball, cut into the left side of the penalty area, and shot into the goal.

Driving the ball into the penalty area from the left is also Henry's forte!
Mane also performed very well in this game and scored the crucial second goal for the team.

The assist was provided by Salah.

This dark horse of the Champions League narrowly defeated Juventus with a total score of 2-1 and once again entered the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Their opponent is Guardiola's Manchester City.

After defeating Arsenal 3-1 away in the first leg, the Blues returned to their home ground and beat Arsenal 2-0, with Reus scoring twice!

The German winger has been very impressive for Manchester City this season.

Guardiola's team is strong and powerful this season.

Although Arsenal eliminated Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup, they tried their best but failed to turn the situation around in the second round of the Champions League.

In the last game, Real Madrid returned to the Bernabeu Stadium after a 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid away from home. With Di Maria's goal in the 88th minute, they defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

As a result, according to the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City will face Nice.

Bayswater Chinese will play against Real Madrid.

As soon as the Champions League semi-final match list was released, major European bookmakers refreshed their odds.

Bayswater Chinese continue to top the list, followed closely by Manchester City.

The odds of the two teams are actually not much different.

The main reason is that both teams have performed at an extraordinary level in this season's Champions League.

As for Real Madrid, they will face Bayswater Chinese in the semi-finals. If they want to advance to the final, they will have to put in a better performance.

When Nice faced Manchester City, almost everyone concluded that the French Ligue 1 team was just accompanying the prince to study.

When Ronald Koeman faces his "junior brother" Guardiola, there will definitely be a fierce battle.

……

After the Champions League quarter-finals, the 8th round of the Premier League will be here this weekend.

Bayswater Chinese host West Ham United at home.

Due to the FA Cup semi-final, the 33rd round of the make-up match was postponed to Wednesday. Next weekend will be the 35th round, away to Liverpool, followed by the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, away to the Bernabeu Stadium to challenge Real Madrid.

After playing against Real Madrid, the 36th round of the league will be held this weekend, with an away game against Manchester City.

For Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, the schedule during this period can be described as devilish.

Having already lost the FA Cup, if there is any further mistake, it is possible that they will lose the league and the Champions League and end up empty-handed.

And it happened at Prudential Field on the afternoon of April 4th.

Facing the tightly defended West Ham United, the Chinese players of Bayswater could not find an effective way to break the opponent's goal.

(End of this chapter)