"Oops, that was a miscalculation!"
Sitting in his office, Li Shiguang suddenly regretted lending out Vardy and Dzeko. If he had kept either one of them, he wouldn't be in such a tight situation now.
The Champions League group stage kicks off the night after tomorrow, and Li Shiguang has to lead the players to the Netherlands early tomorrow morning. However, with so many players injured, he is having a hard time choosing his lineup.
When Li Shiguang was sitting in his office strategizing.
There have been numerous predictions from the outside world regarding the upcoming Champions League.
Leeds United and Chelsea are the first two Premier League teams to play.
Chelsea recovered quickly after their shock defeat to Middlesbrough in the second round of the league. It's unclear whether Mourinho took his frustrations with the media off to the players, but the players have been in excellent form in the last two league matches, securing two consecutive victories with ease.
Moreover, Chelsea's first group stage match was at Stamford Bridge against Werder Bremen. With their superior strength on paper, Chelsea also had ample time to rest and did not have to endure the torment of travel. This led the media and fans to believe that Chelsea taking all three points was a sure thing.
On the other hand, strange titles such as "victims of international match days" and "concentration camp for the elderly, weak, sick and disabled" were attached to Li Shiguang and Leeds United after the last match.
Therefore, the outside world is not optimistic that Leeds United can escape the Netherlands unscathed in this match.
It's important to understand that PSV Eindhoven is no pushover in European football. Last season, they dominated the Eredivisie, securing the league title early on, and also advanced to the Champions League Round of 16 as the runner-up in their group. Their only blemish was their 5-0 aggregate defeat to Lyon in the Round of 16. Furthermore, after winning the Eredivisie title last season, PSV didn't make significant changes to their starting lineup, maintaining a strong competitive edge this season.
Amidst this noisy chorus of doubts.
8 PM on September 13th.
Li Shiguang stepped onto the Champions League stage for the first time after starting his coaching career.
Struggling with a shortage of players and playing away from home, Li Shiguang fielded a relatively conventional 4-4-2 formation today.
The goalkeeper remains relatively consistent, with Kasper Schmeichel.
In defense, Cannavaro, Silva, and Lahm, who had a good rest in the first half, started together. Surprisingly, Maicon, who was predicted by the media not to start this game, was still in the starting lineup.
In fact, Li Shiguang had been struggling with the personnel arrangement on the right flank for a long time before the match. Maicon's stamina reserves on the system panel had dropped to 55%. Based on Li Shiguang's past experience, this value was quite dangerous. If the intensity of the match was high, the probability of Maicon getting injured would increase significantly.
Unfortunately, Leeds United are short-handed on the right flank, and after much hesitation, Li Shiguang still included the Brazilian in the starting lineup.
In midfield, the unchanging duo of Alonso and Modric remained unchanged, but Li Shiguang made a slight adjustment to the two wingers. Ribery was moved to the left wing, while the right wing position was given to the young De Bruyne today. Li Shiguang hopes that he can help Maicon relieve some of the defensive pressure.
The two forwards were Ibrahimovic and Torres, who were brought on by Li Shiguang to warm up near the end of the last match.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, I am your old friend, Eddie Gray! It is an honor to be with you all on this special night to watch the game!"
"Next, let's take a look at the starting lineup that Lee fielded for Leeds United in his Champions League debut!"
As the live broadcast began, Eddie Gray's voice came through the televisions of most Leeds United fans who could only watch the game at home that night.
In the far east, it was already past midnight, but there were still countless living rooms in houses emitting a faint glow.
Countless shirtless men were sitting in their living rooms, watching the television in front of them.
On the coffee table in front of them were beer, sunflower seeds, and braised chicken feet, but the shirtless men ate and drank quietly, not daring to make too much noise for fear of waking their wives and children who were already fast asleep in the bedroom.
A moment later, a familiar voice came from the television.
"Hello everyone! This is the sports channel of China Television. Welcome to the first round of the 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League group stage. Today's match is between the Dutch Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven, playing at home, and the challengers from afar, Leeds United from the English Premier League. I am your commentator for this match, Su Tao."
Hello everyone! I'm Wang Lu.
"Tonight, Mr. Wang Lu and I will be providing live commentary on this match."
After finishing his opening remarks, Su Tao didn't waste any time and turned to Wang Lu next to him to ask, "Coach Wang, which team do you think will win tonight's game?"
"Uh...actually, I'm more optimistic that PSV Eindhoven will win this match."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Seeing that Wang Lu gave the answer without even thinking, Su Tao was a little surprised.
"Injuries have had a significant impact on Leeds United. In fact, we could see some signs beforehand. Li Shiguang really wanted to win this game, so even with a large number of injuries in the team, he still chose to rotate most of the key players a few days ago. But we didn't expect to lose to a weak team. With injuries and a loss, this has been a huge blow to the team's morale!"
After Wang Lu finished speaking, Su Tao nodded: "Yes, Coach Wang's words make sense. Alright, we see that both teams' players are ready to enter the field. Now let me take a look at today's starting lineups..."
The morale issue that Wang Lu just mentioned does exist, but it's not as significant as he described. Leeds United has lost games before!
In fact, Li Shiguang had already checked the system. The team status column clearly stated that morale was low. In order to win the game steadily, he activated the card as soon as the players took their positions on the field.
About 2 or 3 seconds later.
The team is now in a high-spirited state.
Li Shiguang also felt a faint sense of anticipation.
Come on, let me see just how effective this morale card really is...
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