Chapter 166
After the game, the entire Chelsea team left Paris without stopping.
The players, coaches and even staff, including Li Lei, were fed up with the noise of Paris fans.
They will definitely regain the face they lost here today in the next game back in London.
Li Lei sat on the plane, looking at the night view of Paris through the small window, thinking secretly in his heart.
This away defeat is indeed a heavy blow to the Blues, but the ridicule of their old rivals will only make them more eager to return to their home court, show their true strength, and fight for the glory of the team.
More than an hour later, the plane landed smoothly at London Airport.
Walking out of the boarding bridge, all the British media reporters who had been waiting here rushed up.
Compared with the scene of being sent off by the fans before departure, the current Chelsea players are somewhat embarrassed.
Faced with the reporters' probing questions one by one, all the players chose to avoid them and hurriedly left the airport under the escort of security personnel.
At this moment, no one knows better than the Chelsea players themselves how bad their performance on the away field today is.
After a fierce battle, the players just want to return to the training base as soon as possible, reflect and adjust their status, and prepare for the next life-and-death battle.
Even if the media and the outside world are helpless about the future results, for the team and the coach, adjusting their mentality and regrouping are the current priorities.
They have no time to pay attention to the criticism of the outside world, because only by focusing on preparation can they usher in the dawn of victory in the next game.
The next day, all major European media published detailed information about the Champions League quarter-finals.
《Daily Mail: Chelsea lost 1:2 to Paris in the away game, and their schedule for the Champions League semi-finals is worrying.
The report said that Chelsea was completely passive, the players were in uneven condition, and Mourinho's tactics did not work. The first-round defeat put the Blues' schedule for the semi-finals in jeopardy.
《Daily Mirror: Paris beat Chelsea, Lampard is too old.
The report pointed out that Lampard was too old and made many mistakes, which hindered Chelsea's attack. The article also analyzed the poor performance of other Chelsea players.
《The Sun: Mourinho is the biggest failure of the Blues in the European Cup. Chelsea should hire a new coach.
The article fiercely criticized Mourinho's tactical mistakes that led to Chelsea's defeat and called on the team to change the coach as soon as possible to save the team.
《L'Equipe: Paris beat Chelsea at home, veteran Ibrahimovic performed heroically.
The report said that Lavezzi and Ibrahimovic each scored a goal, helping Paris beat Chelsea 2:1 away, accumulating a huge advantage for promotion.
《Agence France-Presse: Paris beat Chelsea with home court power.
Analysts said that Paris relied on home court refueling and timing of goals to successfully beat Chelsea.
In April, major European leagues entered the sprint stage.
The situation of the three giants in La Liga is stalemate. Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are very close in points. The championship is hard to decide and must be decided after the last round.
Paris Saint-Germain, who defeated Chelsea at home, is firmly at the top of the Ligue 1, far ahead, and basically locked the championship. In the Bundesliga,
Bayern leads Dortmund by a large score, and the situation is obviously advantageous.
The declining Serie A is still dominated by Juventus.
The champions and runners-up of major leagues have basically been determined, and the remaining suspense mainly focuses on who will win the La Liga championship.
Barcelona relies on Messi's return to form, Real Madrid relies on the strength of a giant, and Atletico Madrid relies on defensive counterattacks. The strength of the three teams is equal, and the final championship is likely to be divided in the last round of confrontation.
In the next Champions League knockout match, whether Chelsea can reverse Paris at home and advance calmly is also waiting to be seen.
At the same time, in addition to paying attention to the Champions League, Chelsea also has to take into account the Premier League.
Although the Blues are currently 6 points ahead of Manchester City in second place, any possibility exists in the remaining rounds.
More importantly, Manchester City, which is ranked third, has an excellent record of 5 wins and 2 draws in the last 7 rounds, and is catching up.
And those teams struggling on the relegation line are also trying their best.
For Chelsea, no matter facing strong enemies or weak teams, there can be no slackness in every game.
It is a huge challenge for the Blues to prepare for the Champions League in two-front battles and continue to consolidate the league ranking.
In this tense and fierce atmosphere, Li Lei and his Chelsea team ushered in the challenge of the 33rd round of the Premier League and faced Stoke City at home.
At present, Stoke City ranks 9th in points. It has no hope of winning the championship and has secured enough points for relegation, which seems to be relatively undemanding.
In contrast, Chelsea's competition for the top four is severe and must win every game.
In addition, the next Champions League battle is imminent, and the Blues are under great pressure both in terms of points and competitive state.
Under this heavy pressure, Chelsea lost to Stoke City 0:1 at home and lost the game that they should have won.
However, Manchester City also lost to Liverpool 1:2, which allowed Chelsea to continue to lead the standings with a 5-point advantage, while Liverpool surpassed Manchester City by 1 point and rose to second place.
In this game, Chelsea was obviously impatient and played out of form, but fortunately Manchester City also lost at the same time, which did not cause Chelsea to lose ranking.
Despite this, the two consecutive defeats still sounded the alarm for the Blues. With the Champions League life-and-death battle imminent, Chelsea must adjust its state as soon as possible and regain its fighting spirit, otherwise the Champions League is likely to suffer a Waterloo.
It is fortunate to temporarily maintain the advantage in the standings, but Chelsea must face the problem, cheer up, and face the Champions League war in the best competitive state. This is the key at the moment.
The next morning, head coach Mourinho was called to the office by the team owner Abramovich, and Marina and technical director Emenalo also participated.
At the high-level meeting, Marina was the first to attack and said to Mourinho:"Mr. Head Coach, the club is very dissatisfied with your performance in recent games. Do you have anything to say?" Mourinho looked at Abramovich first, and seeing that the boss did not express anything, he had made up his mind.
"I understand the concerns of the team management. Mourinho said,"The performance in the last two games was indeed not good. It was mainly due to the players' mentality and condition. I did not handle it well."
"But please give me time until the end of the season to adjust the team."He continued,"As long as the players adjust, I am confident that I can lead the team to achieve the final goal. Please give me another chance!"
Although Mourinho's words were firm, there was a hint of cowardice and humility in his tone. He obviously did not want to be replaced by the management at this critical moment. The team was only one step away from the league trophy and the Champions League trophy, and he did not want to be kicked out at the last moment.
However, the management obviously did not intend to let him go, Marina continued to ask:
"You mentioned the players' condition. As a head coach, isn't it your job to solve the players' condition problem? This is your most basic and most important job."
"Give you another chance? We have given you enough chances. If you can't grasp them, it means your ability does not meet the club's requirements."
