Chapter 328 Chelsea

If life is a road of no return, then the Champions League knockout stage is a single-plank bridge.

When the hand that draws the lot puts the two teams together, it is as if they are placed at the two ends of the single-plank bridge. Going forward, only one of the two teams can successfully pass the single-plank bridge, and the other team is destined to be pushed down halfway.

Rijkaard said before the game that he had played many such games, and he knew very well how cruel such games were, so he knew very well how the game should be played, and he firmly believed that he and the team could take a good ending from Stamford Bridge.

But in fact, he not only overestimated himself, but also underestimated the cruelty of the game.

Ronaldinho was injured and absent, it didn't matter, there was Joe Cole.

Maicon failed the pre-match physical fitness test, it didn't matter, there was Sun Jihai.

Chelsea's huge bench lineup gave Ye Qiu a lot of rotation space, but Rijkaard didn't seem to learn any lessons from the first round of knockouts. He didn't seem to understand where Barcelona's 433 lost.

After the start, Chelsea did not press forward as aggressively as before, but adopted a cautious tactic. Ye Qiu had extraordinary confidence in his team's defense, and Barcelona was also not proactive in the away game, but wanted to adopt the ball control tactics that they were good at, and slowly tear open Chelsea's defense.

But the problem was that Ye Qiu did not have the leisure to play a game with Barcelona slowly.

In the 15th minute, Lampard retreated to the midfield to intercept the ball and passed it directly behind the right side. Rooney quickly inserted the ball and advanced to the front of Barcelona's penalty area with the ball. He passed it to the back point. Drogba followed up and stopped the ball. After suppressing Puyol with his body, he turned and shot.

In this way, Chelsea broke Barcelona's goal in the most direct and cruel way!

But before Barcelona could adjust, 2 minutes later, Joe Cole got the ball on the right side of Chelsea and made a breakthrough. He used his skillful ball control to cleverly get rid of Belletti and dribbled the ball horizontally. This English boy who replaced Ronaldinho in this game seemed to be addicted to volleying with his right foot on the left side of the penalty area. He shot again here.

It must be said that Joe Cole scored a total of three goals here. For Joe Cole himself, the goal was indeed very sure and confident, and this volley was indeed very powerful and accurate, but Valdes reacted very quickly, made a save, and got the ball, but Lampard inserted and shot it, 2:0!

Chelsea is like a sturdy and strong man, while Barcelona is a weak and fragile scholar. When the scholar wanted to talk to the strong man slowly and logically, discuss the Renaissance, and talk about governing the country and pacifying the world, the strong man directly knocked him down with a punch, and did not forget to turn around and spit.

Just when Rijkaard was about to make adjustments, Chelsea attacked again. Joe Cole quickly cut into the middle and made a wonderful pass in front of the penalty area after getting the ball. Rooney got the ball and formed a single shot. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Valdés, Rooney calmly pushed the ball and scored, 3:0!

This goal completely destroyed Barcelona's will to resist. With a total score of 5:0 behind, their morale has dropped to the bottom, and there is no hope of counterattack and reversal. After scoring goals in succession, Chelsea also consciously stabilized the situation.

If Chelsea was more like warming up in the first 15 minutes of the game, then in the short 7 minutes from the 15th minute to the 22nd minute, Chelsea thoroughly taught Barcelona what the world's sharpest attack is!

It doesn't reason with you, doesn't give you opportunities to prepare, and makes it impossible for you to resist. As long as you have loopholes, you can only wait to die!

Ye Qiu is not the kind of conservative who is content with a small fortune. Even if Barcelona has no will to counterattack, Chelsea still firmly controls the situation of the game and is not prepared to give Barcelona any chance. Chelsea is still constantly organizing and planning attacks, but not as fierce as at the beginning, but saving some strength.

What about Rijkaard?

He was completely stunned. He was dizzy and powerless by Chelsea's crazy attack after the opening.

In fact, whether it is now or in Ye Qiu's previous life, many people are skeptical about Rijkaard's coaching ability, because the only time he proved himself was when he worked with Ten Cate in Barcelona.

After Ten Cate left Barcelona, ​​Rijkaard's team entered the collapse period of the Dream Team II, and then Rijkaard himself was dismissed. After that, Rijkaard coached other teams one after another, but none of them achieved satisfactory results. Even though they did not have too dazzling results, Ten Cate was more popular than Rijkaard.

Now, Ten Cate was dug up by Ye Qiu to Chelsea and joined his coaching team. Rijkaard did not have this assistant, and his shortcomings and deficiencies were completely exposed. At least in the two rounds of knockout matches, he did not show the tactical qualities that a first-class European head coach should have.

Even Cruyff himself said that Rijkaard's team spent too much time and energy on unnecessary ball control and the pursuit of excellence, lacked deadly and sharp offensive means, and the input and output were completely disproportionate. On the contrary, Chelsea may not be as gorgeous as Barcelona, ​​but it is more efficient and has better game quality.

And Rijkaard's ability to respond on the spot has always been a weak point criticized by everyone.

In the first half, the two sides tacitly chose to end the game with a score of 3:0. In the second half, Barcelona wanted to counterattack, but Chelsea used three sharp counterattacks to warn Barcelona, ​​don't provoke me again, or I will destroy you!

Perhaps Rijkaard really didn't believe in evil and continued to strengthen the attack, while Chelsea made a quick counterattack. Joe Cole got the ball on the left and passed it. Drogba didn't get a header, and Puyol headed it out of the baseline.

Joe Cole sent a corner kick, and Terry headed it in the penalty area, 4:0!

This time Barcelona was completely confused. They found that they had no way to face Chelsea's almost iron wall defense. Instead, it was their weak defense that exposed the goal to Chelsea's artillery fire again and again.

Perhaps it was because they were worried about losing again, or perhaps it was because they were behind 6:0 in the total score, which led to Barcelona's complete retreat. In the end, they did not muster up the courage to attack again, but chose to sit and wait for death.

In the end, the game ended with 4:0, and Chelsea defeated Barcelona with a total score of 6:0 in two rounds, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

While Chelsea eliminated Barcelona, ​​the other matches of the round of 16 knockouts were also decided one after another. The eight teams that finally entered the quarterfinals were Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus, Lyon, Ajax, AC Milan, Porto and Bayern Munich.

Among them, Mourinho's Porto still performed as well as last season, but this team still won more by defensive counterattacks on the field. They met Inter Milan in the knockout round, and the two sides scored 1 goal in the two rounds. Porto beat Inter Milan 1:0 away and finally eliminated the Italian giants in two rounds.

Looking at this season's Champions League, Porto has scored a total of 3 goals, including this goal in the knockout round, which can be said to be the team with the weakest offensive ability in this Champions League.

But the problem is that no one dares to underestimate this team, because Mourinho's team is the most rough team in this Champions League.

After the Champions League round of 16, UEFA began to draw lots for the quarter-finals and semi-finals the next day.

Chelsea was divided into the upper half, and its opponent was Bayern Munich, a giant team from the Bundesliga. In the upper half with Chelsea were Porto and AC Milan, both of which were very difficult teams. Ancelotti's AC Milan also played very well this season and was indeed not easy to mess with.

The lower half was Liverpool vs. Juventus, and Ajax vs. Lyon. After two seasons of reorganization, Van Basten's team gradually recovered, especially after selling three stars of Van der Vaart, which received transfer income of over 100 million euros, which increased Ajax's investment in all aspects.

Several stars that Eliza Moon placed in Ajax have performed well. The arrival of Di Maria and Chilean player Sanchez has strengthened Ajax's wing strength. Together with Marcelo, this group of young players in Ajax is extremely strong.

However, due to their age, they have not yet been able to play as absolute main players. They are more of rotation players, so they are not well-known.

On the contrary, central defender Thiago Silva failed to play as a main player in his first season at Ajax, but this season he quickly adapted to Ajax's tactics and environment, showed his strength, and became the core of Ajax's defense.

The gradual maturity of a group of young players such as Mascherano, Yaya Toure, De Jong, Maduro, Heitinga, Babel, etc., have all contributed to the improvement of Ajax's strength this season, and also contributed to Ajax's rise in the Champions League in addition to its dominance in the Eredivisie.

However, it is still difficult for this team to make a difference in the Champions League. It was just a lucky draw. They met Monaco in the round of 16 and Lyon in the quarterfinals. Both teams are from Ligue 1. This paved the way for Ajax to move forward. If they can get through the semifinals, they may not be out of luck and enter the finals, or even win the championship.

Returning to England from the Champions League, Chelsea ushered in the FA Cup quarterfinals, away to challenge Tottenham Hotspur.

This is definitely a tough battle, especially since the game was held at White Hart Lane. Tottenham, also a London team, will naturally not be soft on Chelsea. Dutch head coach Jol and technical director Frank Arnesen both ambitiously shouted the slogan of beheading Chelsea at home and striving for the FA Cup championship.

Especially Arnesen, this guy can't wait to eat Ye Qiu's meat and gnaw Ye Qiu's bones. If there is a chance to meet again, anyone can see the anger in his eyes. Before the game, he frequently accepted media interviews and made comments.

But in the game, although Chelsea still rotated, including Messi, Fabregas, Van Persie and other players who started, Tottenham still couldn't do anything to Chelsea, because Ye Qiu's attitude was clearer, you go all out, I will play with the young lineup, so I play defensive counterattack.

In the end, Ribery's goal helped Chelsea beat Tottenham 1:0 away and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

But what made Ye Qiu depressed was that the opponent in the semi-finals was Ferguson's Manchester United, and the other match was between Arsenal and Blackburn.

With little hope in the league, it was obvious that neither Wenger nor Ferguson wanted to end the season empty-handed, so they both began to put a lot of effort into the cup competition that was not valued before, and both reached the semi-finals.

The 28th round of the Premier League, which was postponed because of the League Cup final, was also scheduled for March 15 after the FA Cup. The opponent was West Bromwich Albion. Chelsea played at home. Ye Qiu still played with half the main force and half the substitute, and defeated West Bromwich Albion 1:0 at home.

In this way, with the same number of games, Chelsea's lead quickly expanded to 17 points. With 9 rounds left in the Premier League, this almost means that Chelsea will win the Premier League championship in advance.

So, after the make-up game, all Chelsea fans were like a holiday, and the whole of London turned into a blue ocean. Chelsea fans took to the streets and started their championship celebrations in advance.

Four days later, Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 4:1 at home, while Arsenal beat Blackburn 1:0 away. The gap between the two sides remained unchanged, but there were only 8 games left. As long as they continue to maintain this advantage, Chelsea will undoubtedly win the championship in April.

After the 30th round, two weeks of national team match days came. National teams from all countries welcomed the World Cup qualifiers and some international A-level events. Because Chelsea had negotiated with the national team coach before, Chelsea's situation was very good this time, so Ye Qiu did not hesitate to recruit the national team.

This person needs to give each other face. You helped me before, and I must show my appreciation now.

During the national team training, Ye Qiu only went to the United States once, and stayed in London for the rest of the time to accompany Huang Chu, a pregnant woman. Even the task of watching the national team games was given to Ten Cate and Roland.

Two weeks later, Chelsea ushered in the 31st round of the Premier League and defeated Southampton 3:1 away.

But Arsenal was clearly not ready to give up, beating Norwich 4-1 at home and maintaining a 17-point gap, while Manchester United was tied 0-0 by Blackburn.

Three days later, Chelsea, who was ready for the match, welcomed Bayern Munich, their opponent in the Champions League quarter-finals, at home.

Because of the previous national team match, Ye Qiu did not give his all when playing against Southampton, but in this match against Magath's Bayern Munich, he did not hold back at all, and played his signature attack from the beginning of the game.

In the second minute, Chelsea made a quick advance. Deco made a long diagonal pass and accurately found Drogba in front. The Ivorian used his body to hold up Bayern Munich central defender Robert Kovacs and headed the ball to Ronaldinho. The Brazilian cleverly made a diagonal pass to the right. Rooney made a sudden stop and knocked back after inserting into the penalty area. Lampard followed up with a direct shot, and the ball went into the net!

After the first goal, Chelsea still did not relax its offensive, and took strong pressure on both sides of Bayern Munich. The midfield also directly pressed forward, adopting a high-position defense and front-court pressure tactics to suppress Bayern Munich.

In the 18th minute, Makelele intercepted and passed to the right. Maicon took the ball to the middle circle and made a long pass behind the Bayern Munich defense line. Ronaldinho inserted and successfully countered the offside. After getting the ball, he explored the penalty area and faced the attacking Kahn. He calmly pushed the ball into the net, 2:0!

After that, Chelsea always maintained a strong offensive. Ye Qiu had a deep understanding of the Germans' tenacious fighting will, so he kept calling on the players on the sidelines to continue to attack.

In the 32nd minute, Deco inserted the ball to the frontcourt and passed it diagonally to the gap behind Lucio and Lizarazu. Lampard inserted the ball and stopped the ball with his chest, turned around, and volleyed with his left foot. The ball went into the net again, 3:0!

Chelsea's strong offensive pressure made Magath's team unable to resist and fight back. Bayern Munich was almost suppressed by Chelsea in the first half, and was very passive on the field. In the second half, Bayern Munich launched an attack to save the face of the giants, and midfielder superstar Ballack shot a long shot and penetrated Van der Sar's goal, 1:3!

But soon, Chelsea made another attack. Ronaldinho got the ball in the frontcourt and used his personal skills to shake off the defender. He gently passed the ball to the front of the penalty area. Lampard headed the ball into the penalty area. Drogba shot in front of the goal and broke Kahn's goal again, 4:1!

Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge were crazy!

No one expected that Chelsea would launch such a fierce and surging offensive against the giants Bayern Munich, and even suppressed the Bundesliga giants without temper. Even though the Bundesliga teams have declined in recent years, Bayern Munich is still powerful. When has it been suppressed so badly in the European arena?

As the season gradually entered the final sprint stage, Chelsea gradually showed strong stamina. The team's strong bench depth, coupled with Ye Qiu and the coaching staff's effective rotation mechanism and scientific adjustment of the players' physical fitness, made Chelsea's performance show no signs of decline in the second half, but became more and more in shape.

After the match against Bayern Munich, the German Bild newspaper published a shocking headline on the front page.

Who can stop Chelsea?

The football player also expressed his sincere convincingness of Chelsea's 4:1 victory over Bayern Munich at home, and believed that European football would fully enter the Blues Dynasty and the Chelsea domination period.

"We are witnessing the rise and peak of a great team with our own eyes!"

The Times also published a headline on the front page, "Chelsea, the Giants", saying that after defeating other giants this season, Chelsea has also entered the ranks of giants. If the team can become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League after the reform, then Ye Qiu's Chelsea will achieve greatness!

But just when everyone thought that Chelsea would continue this strong momentum and rush to the end, Chelsea encountered a wake-up call. After the game, Ye Qiu shouted in an interview with the media, "I hate that damn Ferguson the most!", which triggered a new round of hype in the British media.