Chapter 374 Why Chelsea?
The King of Aerial Combat!
When Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich in the round of 16 and advanced to the quarterfinals, the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo published this report on the front page the next day, praising Su Dong who was selected as the best player of the game.
"Before the game, Rijkaard once said that football should never be a one-man show, but a team show."
"But unfortunately, the final result of the game is still a one-man show between Su Dong and Bayern."
Mundo Deportivo said that from the first minute of the game, Sudong performed extremely well. Just four minutes into the game, he scored a wonderful goal to open the scoring for Barcelona and reversed Bayern Munich.
“That goal was crucial, it made the rest of the game much easier!”
Mundo Deportivo believes that Barcelona did not play smoothly against Bayern, and did not have the skillful passing and receiving coordination they usually had. They were more likely to bypass Bayern Munich's midfield, pass the ball to Su Dong, and then launch an attack in the frontcourt through Su Dong.
"This kind of tactical play is very rare in the Barcelona team in the past."
Barcelona's mouthpiece believes that this is mainly because they were suppressed too badly by Bayern Munich in the first round, especially in the midfield. It was difficult for Deco and Xavi to perform normally against Bayern Munich's iron wall.
Ballack reminded Barcelona before the game, "We won't give you that much space in the second half of the first leg!"
This is equivalent to forcing Barcelona to play faster and the players to move more flexibly.
"Su Dong plays a completely new role. He is no longer the center forward of the team. Instead, he serves the whole team, grabs the first point for his teammates around him, and quickly organizes and plans the offensive in the front court."
Mundo Deportivo said this was why UEFA selected Su Dong as the best player of the match.
Although he only had one assist and one goal, which was not as good as Ronaldinho's two goals, anyone who watched the game would be deeply impressed by Su Dong, because he once again made everyone feel his versatility.
"Even if he plays as a tactical center, he is still world-class!"
…
Daily Sports also praised Su Dong's performance, believing that Su Dong's role change was the key factor in Barcelona's reversal.
“He once again amazed everyone!”
Barcelona's mouthpiece revealed that whether in the Portuguese Super League or in La Liga, Sudong has always given people the impression of being an efficient scorer, but in the game against Bayern Munich, Sudong broke his usual habit and let everyone see his tactical center side.
"In the past, many people said that Su Dong was the second Kluivert. I believe that after watching the game against Bayern Munich, no one will question this anymore. In fact, his performance is not inferior to that of Kluivert at his peak."
The Daily Sports stated that Su Dong took on all the pressure alone. He won almost every high ball competition. In terms of physical confrontation, even facing Lucio, Su Dong was not inferior. Not to mention facing Kovac and others, he was simply crushing them.
After the game, Su Dong's performance score stood out from the crowd, and he got the highest score of 10 out of 10, the only one of his kind.
In an interview with the media after the game, Su Dong still modestly stated that without the team, he was nothing.
"I'm sure a lot of people will talk about Ronaldinho. He was an amazing player. We were all mesmerized by his performance and his goal helped the team win."
The Brazilian superstar's two goals were all due to Su Dong, but in the interview, Su Dong never mentioned himself, but praised Ronaldinho instead, which also won him unanimous praise from the media and fans.
…
Barcelona godfather Cruyff continued his past harshness on Barcelona and bluntly pointed out Barcelona's biggest problems.
"Defense has become the biggest obstacle holding the team back."
"The three goals conceded in the first round forced the coaching staff to bet on Su Dong, but such a risk is definitely not a long-term solution."
Cruyff blasted the team's defense, believing that Barcelona's back line was as fragile as a piece of thin paper that could be broken with a slight poke and was simply vulnerable. If Barcelona wanted to go further in the Champions League, Rijkaard must find a way to solve the team's defense as soon as possible.
"In the Champions League knockout stage, good defense is the key to a team's success, but Barcelona's biggest problem right now is defense."
Cruyff said that relying on the offense led by Su Dong, Barcelona can break the goal of any team, but the biggest test for Barcelona is how to ensure that the defense line does not concede a goal.
"In the quarter-finals, the biggest test for Barcelona is still defense!"
…
Bayern head coach Magath expressed regret for the team's tragic reversal in the post-match press conference.
"Normally, we are very strong defensively, but I didn't expect this to happen today. We had problems dealing with high balls in this game, whereas in the past, we were always able to handle high balls well."
The German head coach's implication was clear. Barcelona's tactics of specifically targeting Sudong's strong point was very troublesome for Bayern Munich, and they couldn't even find an effective response.
Midfielder Michael Ballack said in an interview with German media, "Barcelona's high balls broke us down. They were always able to grab the second penalty and create opportunities behind the defense."
Ballack revealed that the key point of Barcelona's tactics lies in the Soviet Union.
"Actually, I think our whole team played well, but Su Dong used his head to fight for everything. He caused us real trouble, and we had no idea how to defend him."
Ballack even expressed regret that someone of Su Dong's height should play basketball.
"When I see him competing for the ball, I always feel that he is grabbing the rebound with his hands. He is always able to grab the ball from the opponent's head at a height that no one expects, which makes our defensive players helpless."
Bild believes that Barcelona's tactics in this game were not so successful, because their three lines were obviously disconnected, especially the midfield, which was almost completely submerged in Bayern Munich's stranglehold.
"The key to Barcelona's victory is Su Dong's strong personal ability. He won almost all the high ball confrontations for Barcelona. Without Su Dong, it is hard to imagine how Barcelona would lose tonight."
German media revealed that Magath's tactics worked against Barcelona, but unfortunately, they ran into a powerful Su Dong, "who completely destroyed the efforts of everyone in the Bayern Munich team!"
…
The defending champion Valencia performed poorly in the group stage of La Liga this season, and only got third place in the group and failed to break through.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were the only two La Liga teams that entered the round of 16, but it was very surprising that Real Madrid, which was full of superstars, was eliminated in the round of 16.
Real Madrid's defeat caused wailing throughout Spain.
Now, only Barcelona is left struggling, but they are playing so badly that many people doubt whether Barcelona can hold on and continue the brilliant record of La Liga in the Champions League in the past few years. Even AS and Marca said that Barcelona has become the last hope of La Liga.
But among the latest odds offered by many bookmakers, Barcelona's odds are not favored. The reason is simple: the team's defensive problems are too serious.
Instead, Ancelotti's AC Milan became the number one favorite, followed closely by Chelsea of the Premier League.
Mourinho is also ambitious and hopes to continue the Champions League results he achieved when coaching Porto last season, and even make a breakthrough in the final to help Chelsea win the first Champions League in history.
As for Barcelona, their odds of winning the championship are only about the same as Juventus, who qualified as the second in the group.
To quote William Hill’s comment, “If the defensive problem cannot be effectively solved, Barcelona will stop in the quarterfinals!”
Because there are no weak teams among the teams that have made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
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After all eight games of the Champions League round of 16 were played, UEFA drew the lots for the quarter-finals at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, and each of the eight teams that qualified this time was quite strong.
Barcelona's luck was not very good either. Although they did not draw the strongest AC Milan, they drew another equally troublesome team, Chelsea from the Premier League, coached by Mourinho.
This is the strong team with the second highest odds of winning the championship!
When the draw results were reported back to Spain, many La Liga media expressed despair about Barcelona's luck in the draw.
How great would it be if we met Lyon from Ligue 1?
Why Chelsea? Mourinho, who is far away in London, England, was extremely excited. In an interview with the British media, he said that he was satisfied with the result of the draw because he was confident that he could beat Barcelona.
"Not only do I know, but the whole world knows that this team has very obvious weaknesses and shortcomings."
Mourinho said that Rijkaard's transformation of Barcelona has not been completed, especially on defense, and this will be Chelsea's opportunity.
Mourinho expressed his fear of Su Dong, but he believed that Chelsea was not Bayern Munich.
"I am different from others. I know the threat posed by Su Dong better than anyone else. I will not be complacent with him."
"Besides, we have Terry in our back line. I believe he can defend against Su Dong."
Mourinho also mentioned Drogba, believing that the Ivorian's high balls would also pose a deadly threat to Barcelona.
"Believe me, at Stamford Bridge, he will see how good we are!"
Rijkaard said that he was not opposed to drawing Chelsea, and he firmly believed that Barcelona had the strength to cope with the challenge from any team.
“I believe we will win in the quarterfinals!”
Chelsea striker Drogba expressed satisfaction with being drawn against Su Dong. The belligerent Ivorian Elephant King revealed that he had competed with Su Dong during his time in Marseille, but he lost that time.
"I told him that I will continue to challenge him, and this time is a great opportunity. I hope to defeat Su Dong myself!"
(End of this chapter)
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