Chapter 371 I’m here again!
Moscow, Russia in late May is at the turn of late spring and early summer. The climate is pleasant, with temperatures ranging from 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, warm but not hot. There are occasional showers, but the bright sunshine after the rain shines through the sparse clouds across the city, bringing a sense of comfort and vitality.
As the capital in the forest, Moscow at this time is a sea of flowers. Tulips, hyacinths, roses and other flowers are competing for beauty, and the air is filled with intoxicating fragrance.
In this world-famous ancient city with a history of 800 years, Red Square, the Kremlin, Gorky Park, the Bolshoi Theatre, Kolominsk Manor and other attractions are crowded with tourists.
The upcoming 07/08 Champions League final will set this Russian political, economic, cultural, financial and transportation center with a population of more than 1400 million ablaze; this comprehensive international metropolis seems to be immersed in a warm and exciting football atmosphere...
On May 5, Sir Alex Ferguson led his disciples to Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport by flight, preparing for the big battle with Chelsea three days later.
Manchester United's 24-man expeditionary team for the finals included all the main players, including backup defender Pique, who has already confirmed his transfer to Barcelona, and Saha and Silvestre, who are confirmed to leave the team in the summer. However, there was no Chinese star Dong Yuanchao, although he also arrived in Moscow with the team and had the opportunity to receive the award together...
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Before the Champions League final, major European leagues and cup competitions also came to an end one after another.
The Premier League finale was the first to take place, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool ranking in the top four, while Reading, Birmingham and Derby County were relegated.
However, five days after the Premier League finale, the day before Manchester United set off for Moscow, the 5th FA Cup final was also held at Wembley Stadium, with Portsmouth beating Cardiff City 127-1 and winning the tournament for the second time in history.
Shortly after the FA Cup ended, the 07/08 Bundesliga season came to an end, but the top three teams in the Bundesliga were already locked in three rounds ago:
Champions Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen beat Schalke 04 to qualify directly for the Champions League, while the latter ranked third and had to start from the qualifiers; relegated were Nuremberg, Duisburg and Rostock.
It is worth mentioning that goalkeeper Kahn, after lifting the silver plate of his eighth Bundesliga championship, bid farewell to the stadium and fans in tears, announcing the official end of his career.
After the Bundesliga, the finale of Serie A followed. Inter Milan relied on Ibrahimovic, who returned after 50 days of injury, to beat Parma, who needed three points to avoid relegation, 2-0 away, overpowering Roma to win the Serie A for the third consecutive time, which is also the 16th Serie A championship in the team's history.
Juventus and Fiorentina ranked third and fourth, behind Roma, and advanced to the Champions League qualifiers next season, while AC Milan ranked fifth can only challenge the UEFA Cup next season. The three relegated teams in Serie A are Empoli, Parma and Livorno.
Immediately after the end of Ligue 5 is the finale of La Liga: Real Madrid and Villarreal also locked up the championship and runner-up three rounds in advance. Among them, Real Madrid won 2-20 at home in the final round to defeat Levante, who was relegated five rounds in advance, and won a record-breaking score of 85 points, the highest since La Liga expanded to teams.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid ranked third and fourth respectively and qualified for next season's Champions League qualifiers; while Sevilla, who had the same points as Atletico Madrid, could only luckily continue its legendary journey in the UEFA Cup because La Liga paid more attention to the win-loss relationship rather than the goal difference.
The other two La Liga teams to be relegated were Zaragoza and Murcia.
The dust has settled on Europe's major leagues, so all of Europe will focus on the Champions League final this weekend...
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When Ricardo received the news that Julian had arrived safely and checked into the same hotel, he was doing the final warm-up with his teammates before the game.
The Luzhniki Stadium, located at the bend of the Moskva River in downtown Moscow, is the largest stadium in Russia with a total of 84745 seats. It is also the first Eastern European stadium to host the UEFA Champions League final.
However, due to its latitude, Luzhniki Stadium is one of the few famous stadiums in Europe that uses artificial turf.
However, artificial turf will make ground passes and shots faster and more stable, which is good news for Manchester United, which is better at passing, cutting, control and football skills.
Tomorrow's final will be the first English civil war in the history of the Champions League final, but it is not the first time that it will be won through a league civil war. Before the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A have both achieved the feat of winning the Champions League championship and runner-up.
However, in the previous two Champions League finals in the same country, the side with a lower ranking in the domestic league won in the end. Real Madrid in 2000 and AC Milan in 2003 eventually became the Champions League champions.
Manchester United and Chelsea are old rivals. The two sides have played against each other 150 times in history, with Manchester United having the upper hand with 65 wins, 44 draws and 41 losses. The two sides have met twice in the cup finals, both in the FA Cup in England, with each side winning one game.
However, it is worth mentioning that in the Abramovich era, apart from penalty shootouts, the Red Devils Manchester United have never defeated the Blues Chelsea at a venue other than Old Trafford...
Shortly after the training session ended, both sides released the starting and substitute lists for tomorrow's final.
Manchester United's veteran captain Gary Neville and defensive jack-of-all-trades John O'Shea will be absent from the final 18-man squad.
Sir Alex still fielded a similar formation to the one used to eliminate Barcelona, but Wes Brown returned to replace Park Ji-sung in the starting lineup, with the latter on the bench with Tevez, Anderson, Giggs, Fletcher, Pique and Kuszczak.
The 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation:
The goalkeeper is No. 1 Van der Sar;
The back four is No. 6 Wes Brown, No. 5 Ferdinand, No. 15 Vidic and No. 3 Evra;
The three defensive midfielders are No. 16 Carrick, No. 18 Scholes and No. 4 Hargreaves;
The double attacking midfielder is No. 7 Cristiano Ronaldo who is responsible for attacking and No. 17 Ricardo Liqi who is responsible for forward penetration and organization support;
The single arrow is No. 10 Rooney.
There is nothing much to say about Chelsea. With a fully staffed team, Grant directly took out the only routine and the strongest starting lineup. However, the African buffalo Essien played as the right back, obviously to assist the midfield in limiting Manchester United's double attacking midfielders Cristiano Ronaldo and Li Qi.
There is no longer any secret to the 4-3-3 formation:
The goalkeeper is No. 1 Cech;
The four defenders are No. 5 Essien, No. 6 Carvalho, No. 26 Terry, No. 3 Ashley Cole;
The iron triangle in the midfield is No. 4 Makelele, No. 13 Ballack and No. 8 Lampard;
The forward trident is No. 15 Malouda, No. 10 Joe Cole and No. 11 Drogba.
The battle between the two sides is about to break out, and the players on both sides are on standby!
However, Ricardo Richie, who had just done a great thing like a secret agent, was very excited. Before going to bed in the hotel, he couldn't help but rub his hands and said, "Here I go again!"
I don’t know if he was talking to the Champions League final, or to Julian, who had just finished her shower and was wearing a white bathrobe in the presidential suite…
……
[Yesterday at noon, I was so busy with the revision of the previous chapter that I was too late to make the second update.
I can only make up for it later when I have the chance.
Today's second highest probability is in the evening, and the daytime will be very busy. 】
