Chapter 200: Entering the semi-finals
How can we tell that Juventus is impatient?
Very simple, look at Buffon!
The game is less than 80 minutes old, but Buffon has already started to rush out of the penalty area, actively asking his teammates to press forward and start attacking. Juventus also plays a life-threatening style almost every time they attack. Everyone can see it. It's life-threatening to leave Juventus.
But sometimes, risking your life may not scare your opponent.
When Mascherano passed the ball from Nedvěd to Sneijder, Sneijder passed the ball over the top and accurately found behind Thuram and Montero. Ibrahimo Vicci forced a bloody path between the two Juventus central defenders, got the ball and ran all the way, bringing it into the 30-meter area of Juventus.
Buffon saw that the one-shot was done, and it was too late to return to the goal line. He could only make the mistake and attack directly.
The Swedish center's next shot was very light. With a slight flick, the ball lightly passed Buffon, crossed an arc gently, fell gently into the goal line, and rolled gently into the bottom of the net. , after Zambrotta ran all the way to chase, he couldn't hold back, and his whole body crashed into the bottom of the net. He turned around and kicked the ball towards the Ajax half to vent his anger.
3:0!
The number on the red scoreboard of the Arena Stadium immediately changed from 2 to 3. This means that the remaining ten minutes of the game have become completely useless. No matter how hard Juventus plays, is it possible that they can still do it? Scored 4 goals for Ajax?
This was a game that was not competing at the same level from the beginning. From the beginning, Juventus was in a very passive situation. Ajax won away from home and scored two away goals. These two major factors seemed to be The Sword of Damocles hanging over Juventus made it inevitable for them to avoid it.
The situation of the game was more like Ye Qiu, who had taken the initiative, used his advantages to achieve maximum results. He was also at a disadvantage, but Juventus, who fought hard, still couldn't get rid of the tragedy of nightmare in the end.
It’s not that Juventus didn’t fight in this game. On the contrary, they stood up and fought bravely, but they lost!
"There is no doubt that Ajax won an almost perfect victory. Juventus was led by Ajax from the beginning to the end at the Arena. Ye Qiu used this game to He has proved his coaching level and tactical strength, even if he is facing the cunning Lippi, he can play with the silver fox. "
The on-site commentator was very impressed by the performance of Ye Qiu and Ajax in this game. In his opinion, Ye Qiu was fully capable of making himself one of the top coaches in Europe with his performance in this game, because He had an overwhelming victory, and Lippi had no threat to him.
Ajax should also rely on this game to get rid of the title of dark horse and unpopular, and truly win everyone's recognition. They should even be listed as a strong contender for the Champions League this season.
"Lippi and Juventus may have lost sadly, but they can't blame anyone because all of this was doomed in the first leg at the Alpstadion, coming back from Ajax away and winning With two away goals, Juventus’ away game is already destined to be very difficult.”
"But no matter what, the score of 3:0 definitely cannot represent the whole game. Lippi and his Juventus lost this game in the most regrettable way, but their performance is worthy of everyone Especially Lippi, who decisively replaced Salas and Di Vayo in the second half and fought back almost crazy. "
"We can regard Lippi's midfield substitution as the madness of being forced into desperation, but it also represents Lippi's courage to give it a try. It's just that when Ye Qiu took control of the game, he showed his With a maturity and stability that is inconsistent with his age, he completely turned Lippi's madness into a loser's stubborn resistance."
As the referee blew the whistle to end the game, at this moment, the entire Arenal Stadium fell into unprecedented madness. Fans rushed out of their seats, stood behind the fence, and some even climbed up directly. He climbed over the railing and cheered loudly to celebrate the team's promotion again.
Many Ajax fans are chanting the names of the players, from Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben to Ibrahimovic, to Arteta, to Lucio, to Van der Sar... Finally, they were calling Ye Qiu.
For this match, the Arena Stadium was packed with more than 50,000 Ajax fans shouting for Ye Qiu. The momentum was so intense that it could shake the sky and tear the earth apart. , to completely destroy the Arenal Stadium that was imprisoned around them, to vent the excitement and excitement in their hearts.
No one knows better than them the pain Juventus has brought to Ajax. This Serie A giant is definitely a powerful witness to Ajax's decline, because in the 1995/96 season, Ajax, who had the aura of defending the Champions League, Jax drew 1:1 with Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, but ultimately lost to the Bianconeri in a penalty shootout.
Since then, Ajax has been in decline, while Juventus has reached the peak of reaching the Champions League finals for three consecutive years. Especially in the 1996/97 season that followed, Juventus even reached the peak in the middle of the season. They defeated Ajax 2:1 and 4:1 in the finals, completely sending the Eredivisie giants out of the Champions League and ruining Ajax's dream of reaching the pinnacle of glory again.
It was also at this time that everyone knew very well that the Ajax team that swept across Europe no longer existed. Therefore, more and more players chose to flee Amsterdam for their dreams and to make their career peak more brilliant, which also opened the darkest period of Ajax's history.
After that, Ajax never met Juventus in the European arena again, and the hatred of the Zebras in the hearts of Ajax fans could never be vented. But now, the opportunity has come. After defeating the Zebras 2:1 away, they slaughtered their opponents 3:0 at home almost perfectly, and then kicked Juventus out of the Champions League with an amazing total score of 5:1, which made them feel a kind of revenge.
The fans are not fools. They also understand football and analysis. They also understand that the reason why Ajax can have today and have the opportunity to compete with top teams such as Juventus, Manchester United, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, and fortunately not lose to their opponents, all this is due to who brought it.
Perhaps in normal times, due to the low profile of the head coach, the fans have no chance to express their gratitude and love for the head coach, but now, there is a chance. At the Arena Stadium, more than 50,000 fans shouted Ye Qiu in unison, and the momentum was enough to infect everyone at the scene.
Ye Qiu was very moved by the shouts from the fans. He walked all the way from the home team coaching seat to the visiting team coaching seat, waving to the fans. After arriving at the visiting team coaching seat, he shook hands with Lippi politely and courteously, and then shook hands with several of Lippi's assistants and said hello.
The revenge that should be taken has been taken. Now it is time to show his friendliness and demeanor. Ye Qiu is very clear about this.
When walking back, Ye Qiu was stopped by his own players. Then, I don't know who lifted Ye Qiu up and carried him directly to the middle of the stadium. He didn't put him down, and let him look up at the night sky of Amsterdam from the blank space in the middle of the roof covering the surrounding stands of the Arena Stadium.
In early summer, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and the weather is good.
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"From the beginning of the game, we fell into the rhythm and process arranged by the opponent. We kept fighting and working hard, but we could only follow the opponent's script. We were in a very unfavorable situation throughout the game, which made us feel very awkward and unable to play our due strength."
In the press conference after the game, Lippi could not hide his disappointment in being eliminated from the Champions League. His expression was very painful. Obviously, this tragic defeat was a great blow to him. After returning to Italy, he will inevitably have to face accusations from fans and the media. It may not shake his position as coach, but the impact will be very large.
"We studied our opponent for a whole week for this game, not to mention the preparations for the first round. We made very careful preparations to deal with any unexpected situations, but we never played out what we prepared in the game, and there was no room for us to show our skills."
"Before the game, I told my players not to think about advancing, not to think about the first round, and we only needed to focus on this game, but it was obviously impossible. From the first round when we were reversed by our opponents to this game, we were always affected by our opponents."
Lippi's heart-wrenching analysis also made all the reporters present feel his frustration after the failure.
"Ajax still has a lot of room for improvement, but they are already a world-class team. They have a group of very good players who can attack from all positions, which makes defense very difficult, and they must be fast to deal with them. We didn't do well in this regard tonight."
Anyone with a little tactical literacy can see that Lippi's meaning is not that Juventus is not fast, but that Juventus is not fast enough when it should be fast, which directly leads to the team not being able to keep up with the rhythm and pace of Ajax.
When a reporter asked about the lack of physical fitness of some Juventus players, Lippi took advantage of the issue and found an excuse for his loss.
"You all know that after the winter break, we kept fighting on multiple fronts, and during the period when we encountered Ajax, we played against a strong enemy like Inter Milan. In addition, the fierce competition environment of the league made our players not excited enough in terms of physical fitness and state."
"But unfortunately, this is the Champions League. The schedule will not accommodate anyone, so we have to bear the cost ourselves."
It is human nature to find excuses for one's failure. After finding an excuse, Lippi did not mention Conte's mistakes. He believed that Conte had shown his due strength and level and made contributions, and should not be blamed.
When facing the interview with reporters, as the host and the winner of this game, Ye Qiu also showed his demeanor. He said that Juventus has always been an important benchmark for Ajax, and the team's goal is to catch up with Juventus in the Champions League.
"There is no doubt that this game is a great victory for us because we finally caught up with the goal we have been chasing in the past. I once said that we are a young team. We lack experience and long-term stable performance. This is why everyone is not optimistic about us."
Ye Qiu's words also made many reporters present admit that a large number of people are not optimistic about Ajax because this team is too young, with an average age of early 20s. Such a team is even better than Van Gaal's back then. The youth army is still young.
"But I have always felt that youth is our disadvantage, but it is also our advantage. Because we are young, we have enough motivation. We are not afraid of losing because we can afford to lose. If we lose this year, we can do it again next year. If we lose next year , we can try again next year, we are never afraid of failure!”
"Because we are young, we must pay more than our opponents. We need to rely on more overall and stable tactics to make up for the ups and downs caused by lack of experience. We need to rely on the power of teamwork to resolve the differences in individual abilities. We will try our best to close the gap between ourselves and our opponents.”
"Also because we are young, each of us is eager to succeed, everyone is full of desire for victory, and full of expectations for honor. We are more willing than our opponents to do our best to win a game. We Cherish the opportunity of every game more than anyone else.”
"We are able to get to where we are today just because we are young!"
Ye Qiu's words are a bit intended to overturn all the media's previous judgments about Ajax, that is, youth does not mean that a team is not good, and it does not mean that Ajax does not have the fighting capacity to compete with powerful opponents.
There are never absolutes in this world, only relativeities. Everything and everything has two sides.
It was obvious that the group of reporters present were convinced by Ye Qiu's words. Even if they were not convinced, who could give a strong argument to refute this in the face of a bloody victory like the 3-0 massacre of Juventus?
Regarding the team's victory and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year, Ye Qiu feels that this is a good refutation of the evidence of some media, making those who think that Ajax's reaching the semi-finals last year was luck or a coincidence Everyone can clearly see the strength of Ajax.
"I'm very proud to reach the semi-finals again. We have to face Barcelona, which will be very difficult because Antic has successfully brought this team out of the shadows. Eliminating Arsenal and entering the semi-finals is The strongest evidence, but we will not be afraid, we will bravely face the challenges of any opponent.”
The day before Ajax played Juventus, Barcelona eliminated Arsenal in the Premier League 2:1 in two rounds and successfully reached the semi-finals, meeting Ajax in the top half.
In the second half, Real Madrid eliminated Manchester United with a total score of 6:5, which also allowed Del Bosque's team to reach the Champions League semi-finals again, while his opponent defeated them with a total score of 2:2, but with the help of With the advantage of away goals, Inter Milan eliminated Valencia, Ronaldo met his old club, which also became an interesting talk in the media.
Ajax played Barcelona and Real Madrid played Inter Milan. The two semi-final matchups can be said to be full of weight. Fans in La Liga are beginning to look forward to the showdown between the two heroes. They are even waiting for the Champions League final to be staged. Their derby of the century.
Although Juventus stopped in the quarterfinals and Lippi was ashamed of the disastrous defeat at the Arena, he still had a favorable impression and expectations for the future of Ajax, believing that this team was completely ignored by the outside world. underestimated.
"Many people think Ajax is too young, but I think Mr. Ye Qiu is absolutely right. Youth is sometimes a disadvantage, but it can also be an advantage. Any opponent who underestimates Ajax is A very fatal mistake. I think this Ajax team is fully capable of breaking through from the semi-finals and even reaching the end.”
Lippi was defeated by Ye Qiu. Of course he hoped that Ye Qiu could reach the end. At least it would make him feel better.
Ye Qiu also responded to Lippi's kind blessings.
"Mr. Lippi is a very good top coach. I have always admired him because when he led Juventus to win the championship, I don't know where he was. He has extremely rich coaching experience. I firmly believe that he is better than anyone else." Everyone needs to know how to win games, so I think this year’s Serie A champion must be Juventus.”
Although the mutual praise between the two head coaches was not something that all reporters and media at the scene wanted to see, they could not stop the cooperation between Ye Qiu and Lippi. The two obviously did not want to hurt the harmony.
Outside the press conference, the celebrations of the Ajax fans were not over yet. They did not leave the Arena. They were either in the stands inside the stadium or in the commercial areas around the stadium. They were all going crazy. celebration.
Evariste Mutla accompanied a middle-aged Spaniard in a suit and tie out of the Arena Stadium.
This Spaniard has the most typical Catalan character. He seems shy and introverted, but deep down he is full of blood and passion. Therefore, when he walked out of the Arena Stadium, he saw that the surrounding area was like a vast ocean. When there was a sea of people, he didn't feel annoyed at all because of the crowd that was jostling him. Instead, he was a little excited.
Only Evariste Mutla, a well-known playboy in Barcelona's wealthy circles, always frowns. He is also wearing a suit and ties, but he has a completely different expression from the Spanish middle-aged man.
"It seems that this Ye Qiu is still very capable. No wonder Mr. Cruyff thinks so highly of him." The middle-aged Spanish man said with a smile. He was completely impressed by Ye Qiu just because of this game.
Evariste Mutla actually doesn't know much about football. If you talk to him about women, he can list all the beautiful stars and supermodels in Barcelona and even Spain. But if you talk to him about football, he doesn't understand. He only knows two things: spending money and trusting his best friend, the person next to him.
When he mentioned Ye Qiu, he thought of the extremely beautiful agent, and a glimmer of brilliance and desire flashed in his eyes.
"In that case, let's find a chance to arrange a meeting for you?" Evariste Mutla smiled.
The Spanish middle-aged man glanced at him and laughed, "It's better not for you to arrange it, otherwise you will definitely arrange a lot of women!"
Evariste Mutla laughed immediately, not taking it as an offense, but taking it as pride.
Let's go! Brothers, smash the monthly ticket! ! ! !
