Chapter 197 Season League Cup Championship, Part
The UEFA Cup final will be held at 2007:5 on the evening of May 16, 19 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, the core city of Scotland. The two Spanish teams, Sevilla and Espanyol, will stage a civil war to compete for the final championship.
It is the first time in history that a Spanish civil war has been staged in the UEFA Cup final, but this is the fifth time that Spanish teams have met in the final of a European competition. The previous four times included a Champions League final and three Fairs Cup finals.
The meeting between Espanyol and Sevilla in the UEFA Cup final not only allowed La Liga to create the highest score in a single season in UEFA, but also ensured its advantage in the competition with the Premier League. If Real Madrid has won the Champions League nine times so far, it can be said that La Liga is the "UEFA Cup lover", because from the birth of this event to today, La Liga teams have always performed wonderful and classic performances on the UEFA Cup stage. In the past four seasons, La Liga teams have won the UEFA Cup three times, Valencia won the UEFA Cup in 9, Sevilla won the championship in 4, and this season La Liga teams have formed a siege on the trophy again.
And Li Qi knows even more that if he is not affected by his own butterfly effect in the future, according to old Li Qi's data, by 2024, that is, in the next 17 years, La Liga teams will win 9 of the trophies, 5 of which will be Sevilla's, 3 will be Atletico Madrid, and 1 will be Villarreal... Especially Sevilla's three consecutive UEFA Cup titles, which completely established its reputation as the king of the UEFA Cup.
However, this season's UEFA Cup is the second time for both Sevilla and Espanyol to reach the UEFA Cup final in their history, and Sevilla has reached the final for the second consecutive year. Last season, Sevilla swept Middlesbrough of the Premier League 4-0 in the final to win the championship and won many awards including the best player of the season and the best player of the final.
Espanyol has reached the UEFA Cup final again after 19 years. The Espanyol hopes that their second UEFA Cup final can wash away the bad memories of the last defeat.
1987至1988赛季，当时联盟杯的决赛还是两回合赛制。西班牙人在决赛第一回合主场3比0大胜德国的勒沃库森，然而到了客场却在首回合大比分领先的大好形势下被对手翻盘。先是在90分钟的比赛中被对手将比分追成3比3，随后又在点球决战中失利。悲剧性的决赛上演19年后，西班牙人如今终于再次获得了为自己正名的机会。
In order to motivate the team, the Spanish club promised the players before the UEFA Cup final that the Spanish club was ready to spend nearly one million euros to motivate their players to fight hard in the final and win the first UEFA Cup trophy in the club's 107-year history: as long as the Spanish team beat Sevilla in the UEFA Cup final, the club would reward each player with a BMW Mini car worth 2.4 euros. Last season, when the Spanish team won the King's Cup, the players received a watch worth 7000 euros each.
Similarly, Sevilla also offered a high price for winning the UEFA Cup. As for the specific figures and plans, Ricardo did not pay much attention to them. Anyway, it seemed to be a lot...
Both teams flew to the final venue 2 days in advance to prepare for the match. Glasgow, Scotland will be mostly cloudy and rainy for the next two days; according to the weather forecast, it is likely to rain on the night of the final.
The Espanyol team stayed in a hotel converted from an old castle outside Glasgow; soon after arriving in Glasgow, Espanyol coach Valverde led the team to train in the rain at the training ground of a Scottish third-tier club. The entire training process was mainly for relaxation, with the players mainly doing stretching exercises and also doing some ball training, but there was no training match or tactical practice, after all, they had just finished the league, and the most important thing at this stage was to recover their physical strength.
Valverde only brought 23 players, two of whom were from the second team. However, the best news for the Spaniard is the return of midfielder De La Pena, who has missed four games.
De La Pena is one of the players with the most European competition experience in the two teams in the final. Like Espanyol head coach Valverde, the 31-year-old De La Pena has also played for both clubs in Barcelona (that is, Barcelona and Espanyol, not Espanyol and Espanyol B as everyone imagines...).
小佛爷德拉佩纳个人的荣誉室里包括1997年和1999年欧洲优胜者杯奖杯、1997年的国王杯奖杯，1998年和2006年欧洲超级杯冠军。
However, if we talk about the number of championships in major tournaments, there is also someone on the Sevilla side who is not afraid of De La Pena at all, and can even be said to have completely crushed the other players on both teams, that is Ricardo Richie: U17 World Cup champion, U19 European Championship champion, U20 World Cup champion, 04/05 La Liga champion, 05/06 Spanish Super Cup champion, 05/06 La Liga champion, 05/06 Champions League champion, 05/06 European Super Cup champion, 2006 World Cup champion...
But no matter what, maybe De La Pena was not valued at a certain period of his career and his number of championships is not as many as Li Qi, but he has experienced many big scenes after all. In this week's showdown, the Spaniard needs his experience to stabilize the morale of the troops.
Therefore, when he returned from injury in time, which was the most crucial moment, Foye was regarded as the best bargaining chip to defeat the enemy, and was also a key link in the Spaniard's dream of winning the UEFA Cup.
In addition to De La Pena, Tamudo and Riera were also benched by head coach Valverde in the last round's 3-4 defeat to Real Madrid. In addition, several main players also did not play the full game to ensure their physical strength.
On the other hand, the Sevilla delegation had more than 100 people, but their flight was delayed for more than 4 hours, which disrupted Sevilla's training plan. Fortunately, Juan Ramos led the team to a training session at the home stadium Pizjuan before flying to Glasgow.
In addition, the city of Glasgow is not unfamiliar to Sevilla, as they played a warm-up match here at the beginning of the season; and for Li Qi, they also played a key World Cup qualifier here last season...
In the league match between the two sides this season, Sevilla lost 1-2 to Espanyol away, but won 3-1 at home; historically, both sides have won and lost in the past few seasons, and neither side has a clear advantage in the mutual confrontations.
If Sevilla can beat Espanyol in the UEFA Cup final, they will become the second team in history to defend the UEFA Cup, and this may only be the first step in their success this season.
Juan Ramos's team is the fourth team to defend its UEFA Cup title, but only Real Madrid have done it before, winning it in 85/86 and 86/87. If Sevilla can be as heroic as they were in last year's final against Middlesbrough, then they will be hard to beat.
In the UEFA Cup final held in Eindhoven last year, four goals from Fabiano, Maresca and Kanoute helped Sevilla beat Middlesbrough from England and won the club's first major championship since 1948, bringing great joy to the fans. This year, Sevilla's goal is very clear, which is to add another championship trophy to the trophy room and gradually move towards the ranks of European powerhouses.
Sevilla fans will also flock to Glasgow to cheer for the team. In order to cater to the needs of a large number of fans, so that Sevilla fans can also enjoy the beer of their hometown as if they were in their hometown; there is even a Sevilla fan organization composed of young fans, which uses various channels to transport the beer produced in Seville to the venue of the UEFA Cup final, which was Eindhoven in the Netherlands last season and Glasgow in Scotland this season. This beer brand in Seville is called "Cruzcampo", which is deeply loved by local residents and fans. Fans believe that when watching Sevilla's games, they should drink beer from their hometown. Last season, this fan organization transported 1600 bottles of beer to the Netherlands. This season, the number of beer has simply increased to 10 times, reaching bottles.
Looking back, this Andalusian team did not have a smooth journey in this season's UEFA Cup, but this team has become stronger and stronger, showing its maturity. The team's stability is the key. In the second leg of the semi-final against Osasuna, 7 players were on the field in last year's UEFA Cup final.
But stability is not the only guarantee of success. Fortunately, Real Madrid succeeded in 1987 and became the first team to defend the UEFA Cup, setting a good example and model for Sevilla today.
"I only know how to win. Our hunger for titles will never be satisfied. We must win the UEFA Cup and other titles." In an interview before the game, Sevilla club president Del Nido made such a bold statement, but he has the capital to be arrogant. The outstanding players under his command are the strongest guarantee for Sevilla to launch an impact on various honors.
For example, Kanoute, the Mari striker is now Sevilla's top goal machine. Although he is about to turn 30, Kanoute has found a real scoring feeling in Sevilla. This season he scored 19 goals in the league, which is almost the total of his goals in Tottenham Hotspur in the previous few years.
In an interview before the game, Kanoute also vowed: "In Sevilla, I performed very well. Here I regained my confidence and the coach also trusted me. Even I couldn't believe that I could score so many goals."
However, injuries do not seem to be kind to him. After an explosive performance in the first half of the season, Kanoute was frequently tortured by groin injuries at the end of the season; therefore, head coach Juan Ramos had to arrange for him to rest frequently, which also resulted in him only scoring 11 league goal in the last 1 league games.
But no matter what, Kanoute is likely to start in the UEFA Cup final against Espanyol. In fact, in addition to Kanoute, there are many other players in the Sevilla team worth mentioning.
Alves is one of the best players in La Liga this season. Many European giants are looking to buy him. His assists on the right are a problem for any opponent. Many of Sevilla's goals come from this side where he is active. He has assisted 11 times this season, making him the assist king in La Liga.
Alves is physically fit and is a versatile player on the field, with both excellent defensive and offensive abilities. He has both speed and technique and was the best player in last season's UEFA Cup.
Midfielder Maresca is in surprisingly good form recently. He and Li Qi form a very tacit Italian twin combination. In the last two rounds of games, Maresca scored very beautiful goals. His form came at the right time. In the UEFA Cup final last season, it was Maresca's double goal and excellent attacking power that helped the team win the final crown.
However, Maresca not only scored goals and made assists, but more importantly, he was able to infect the team with his fighting spirit.
When mentioning Maresca, we have to mention the other one of the Italian twin stars, the Italian genius Ricardo Ricci. As a player on loan from Barcelona, he is Sevilla's biggest discovery this season.
Li Qi has played 41 games for Sevilla in all competitions this season, scored 25 goals and had 11 assists; especially in the last 7 games, he scored a goal in every midfield and scored 9 goals, which is the biggest contributor to Sevilla's ability to maintain the championship on three fronts at the end of the season.
As for Sevilla's opponent in the final, the Spaniards have a solid defense, fierce fighting, and sharp offense. However, when it comes to strong stars, the opponent, the Spaniards, are also not short of masters.
The Spanish domestic trident is well-known: the triangle combination of Tamudo, Luis Garcia and De La Pena is the main weapon of the Spanish offense and a source of threat that opponents fear.
In addition, there is another person in the Spanish team that cannot be ignored: Uruguayan rifler Pandiani. In the last round of the match against Real Madrid, Pandiani scored a hat trick in just 34 minutes at the Bernabeu, almost causing Real Madrid to capsize at home.
But in fact, Pandiani's greatest contribution to Espanyol is in the UEFA Cup. He has scored 11 goals in the UEFA Cup this season. Now the only one who can compete with Pandiani for the top scorer is Li Qi, who has quietly scored 10 goals in this season's UEFA Cup.
However, Espanyol coach Valverde is still hesitant about whether to let all four offensive players start in the final...
And coming to Glasgow, Scotland to play in the final of one of the most important cup tournaments in Europe, how could Ricardo's family and girlfriend not come to join in the fun? Oh no, they came to cheer for Ricardo?
However, Ricardo adhered to the lesson of the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands two years ago. Family and friends are one thing, but he must not gather his girlfriends together. So he continued to find various reasons to decline Chiara, Eva and Julian. After that, there will be the King's Cup final, the U21 European Youth Championship and the summer vacation...
As for Sarafina in London, it was hard to refuse, and she had capital, connections and channels. Anyway, according to Pimenta, Sara had already arranged the itinerary, tickets and VIP boxes for the girlfriends' group; as for the price, it was said that she got the scalper tickets at 10 times the price through connections.
Having reached the UEFA Cup final again, Sevilla fans almost came out in full force, and together with the fans of Espanyol, the quota of tickets allocated by UEFA to each club was simply not enough. Each club manager wanted several tickets, the players wanted even more, and the rest of the staff, sponsors and ordinary fans also wanted tickets.
However, this also gave the scumbag Li a good excuse to evade Chiara, Eva and Julianne, saying that it was all because of the difficulty in getting tickets...
