Chapter 467 Messi, I'll protect you!
Seeing Drogba again, this center forward from Côte d'Ivoire has become a famous star in Europe.
Su Dong still clearly remembers that after the encounter in the Champions League group stage, Drogba once made a harsh remark, saying that he must defeat Su Dong when they meet again. At that time, no one thought that the next encounter would be in the Champions League final.
Drogba has also risen from a little-known center forward in Ligue 1 to a well-known figure in world football, although many people are now controversial about him and think that his footwork is too rough.
Especially when compared with a superstar like Su Dong.
Drogba met Su Dong during the pre-match training. The Ivorian was smiling, showing his white teeth.
The two of them didn't have time to walk together until they finished their pre-match training and walked towards the locker room.
"I heard that you threatened to kill me in the media. You have been quite bold recently." Su Dong pretended to be intimidating.
Drogba was not to be outdone and nodded provocatively, "What do you think?"
They both laughed at the same time.
It’s really strange. Su Dong has met many extremely powerful forwards over the years, but he just happens to get along best with Drogba.
In terms of technical characteristics, Su Dong is actually more similar to Ibrahimovic of Juventus, but the Swedish center always acts like a big shot, and Su Dong doesn't have a very good impression of him.
But Drogba is different. Although the two only played twice on the court, Drogba left a very good impression on Su Dong.
This may have something to do with Drogba's style and personality.
The fate between people is sometimes so strange.
Just like Carvalho and Ferreira, when they saw Su Dong, the expressions on their faces were obviously unnatural. They were frightened and quickly quickened their pace and walked away, fearing that they would have to say a few words to Su Dong.
As early as the Portuguese Super League, the two of them had suffered many setbacks at the hands of Su Dong, so naturally they didn't want to have much contact with him before the game.
But Su Dong still waved at them from afar and greeted them with a smile.
Carvalho and Ferreira avoided Su Dong as if he were the plague, and walked even faster.
When Su Dong saw them like this, he couldn't help laughing and looked at Drogba again.
"Remember Senderos?"
"certainly."
"He said he played against you three times. You had the upper hand in the first two games, but he taught you a lesson in the last game."
"Bullshit!" Drogba was a little annoyed. "That kid's legs go weak when he sees me now. I just missed a good opportunity and didn't score a goal. How can that be considered a lesson?"
"I think so too, so I'll teach him a lesson for you. I think he'll learn his lesson in the future."
When Drogba heard this, he was a little puzzled. Why did he feel that Su Dong was not so kind?
Sure enough, Su Dong quickly changed the subject, "If you encounter something like this that you can't handle in the future, just tell me, and I'll find a chance to help you out and let others know that you are not someone who can be bullied."
Drogba stopped immediately and pointed at Su Dong with a mixture of anger and amusement. This is too shameless! Look, is this something a human would say? I’m asking you to help me because I can’t handle it?
Do I need to do this? Su Dong looked at Drogba's expression and laughed out loud, as if to ask for credit. Look, I'm a good brother, right? Drogba managed to hold back his laughter, pointed at Su Dong, nodded and said, "Originally you were only half disabled, but now, you're dead!"
After saying that, Drogba simply stopped talking to him and just left.
Now he finally understood why Carvalho and Ferreira were avoiding Su Dong.
If you talk to this guy, you will be pissed off to death! Is there anyone who is so arrogant and takes advantage of others?
…………
…………
The referee for this Champions League final is Terje Hauge from Norway.
Hauge had some grievances with Chelsea, so Mourinho made those remarks specifically before the game, hoping to put some pressure on Hauge and let him show some leniency when officiating the game.
But judging from Hauge's response during the media interview before the game, he is still impartial.
Of course, the specific situation depends on the progress of the game.
Being a referee in a match is actually an art, and often one has to consider balance and the excitement of the match.
…
Barcelona's starting lineup in this game still uses a 4-3-3 formation.
The goalkeeper is Valdes, the defense is Van Bronckhorst, Marcos, Puyol and Belletti, the midfield is Marcos Senna in the back, Deco and Iniesta in the middle, and the front court is the combination of Ronaldinho, Sudon and Messi.
Although Xavi has returned from injury and started, it can be seen from the game that Xavi has not fully recovered to his best condition, which makes Rijkaard dare not hastily arrange him to start. He just put him in the 18-man list as a substitute.
There are basically no changes in other positions, and they are all Barcelona's regular main lineup.
Chelsea's starting lineup also adopted a 4-3-3 formation.
The goalkeeper is Cech, the defense is Gallas, Carvalho, Terry and Ferreira, the midfield is Lampard, Makelele and Essien, and the front court is the trident combination of Robben, Drogba and Duff.
Chelsea's starting lineup can be said to be star-studded, but the bench also includes European stars such as Crespo, Wright-Phillips, Maniche, Gudjohnson, Joe Cole, etc., so the overall strength is very strong.
It is not difficult to see from the starting lineup alone that Barcelona still wants to maintain its traditional advantages, relying on passing and controlling the ball to gain an advantage in the game and suppress Chelsea.
Mourinho wanted to deal with Barcelona with defensive counterattacks, and even deployed a combination of strong men such as Lampard, Makelele and Essien in the midfield.
Not only that, on the defensive line, Ferreira on the right has always been mediocre, and with Gallas on the left instead of Del Horno, it can still be seen that Mourinho is still quite wary of Barcelona's two flanks.
This also brings up a question, can Messi do it? …
When the players of both teams walked out of the locker room one after another and came to the exit of the player tunnel, waiting to enter the stadium, Su Dong noticed something strange in Messi's expression, especially after he took a look at Chelsea's lineup, his eyes fell on Gallas.
"What's the matter?" Su Dong reached out and held Messi's head.
The Argentine boy's hair is getting longer and longer, and his hands are getting better and better to touch.
Messi turned around, looked at Su Dong, and smiled, "Nothing."
But Su Dong noticed it.
This is the first time Messi has started in a Champions League final, having been a substitute last season.
Not only that, last season he was just a fledgling boy and AC Milan did not pay much attention to him. But this season is different. From the fact that Mourinho let Gallas play on the left, it is not difficult to see that Chelsea attaches great importance to Messi on the right.
This will undoubtedly make it more difficult for Messi to play on the right.
"I have competed with him." Su Dong said suddenly.
Messi was a little surprised. When he looked at Su Dong, he found that Su Dong was looking at Gallas. He immediately realized that his thoughts had been seen through by Su Dong.
"He's very strong!" Messi said.
Su Dong nodded, "He is indeed very strong, but I think you are stronger than him!"
Messi was very surprised to hear this.
Will he be better than Gallas?
"Don't think I'm deliberately saying nice things to coax you. Nuno Cruz told me that your physical fitness is already excellent. Although you are not tall, you are able to adapt to the intensity of professional football games. This is very difficult for you with a weak foundation."
Messi, Iniesta and Marcos Senna, the three players who trained with Su Dong have one thing in common, that is, they are hardly injured.
The reason is simple. Su Dong's personal coaching team attaches great importance to this aspect.
When Su Dong first joined the team, Messi was still a sickly, short and thin boy. But now, Messi’s physical confrontation cannot be said to be very strong, but at least in this kind of top-level competition, he has no problem protecting himself and will never be bullied by the opponent.
"Meeting an opponent like Gallas will be a very valuable experience. Don't think about anything else, just focus on the game. Play the same way you usually do, play to your strengths and beat him!" Su Dong encouraged.
Macy took a deep breath and nodded heavily.
"Don't worry. After the opening, we must stabilize ourselves first. Just find the rhythm and feeling."
Barcelona is a passing and controlling team. Generally speaking, the first thing they do after the start of the game is to control the ball and the rhythm, and then slowly look for opportunities to attack the opponent.
This is why Barcelona can maintain a high ball possession rate in every game. It is not only due to the team's strength and player abilities, but also because of the team's tactical philosophy.
But precisely because of this, Barcelona rarely launches that kind of opening attack.
Even most games start with the opponent attacking.
"I've got your back, just go for it, you can do it!" Su Dong touched Messi's head and encouraged him.
…………
…………
Amid the cheers of 80,000 fans, Hauge blew the whistle to start the game.
As expected, although Barcelona kicked off first, Chelsea's opening attack was more determined.
Just over a minute later, Chelsea created a free kick opportunity on the left side of the frontcourt with Robben, who quickly cooperated with Lampard, who broke into the left side of the penalty area and shot high.
A minute later, Barcelona launched a counterattack and Deco passed the ball to Su Dong.
After Su Dong stopped the ball with his back, he turned around to get rid of Carvalho and made a straight pass.
Messi quickly got in, but due to the interference of Gallas, he barely kicked a long shot and failed to pose a threat.
Su Dong ran over to meet Messi who was walking back, smiled and high-fived him, "Well done."
Messi also smiled.
"Take your time to find the rhythm, don't be anxious, don't be nervous!" Su Dong encouraged again.
Messi exhaled heavily and nodded in agreement.
He was always trying to find a rhythm.
After catching up with Su Dong's straight pass just now, his dribbling pace was a bit messy, which led to him being caught up by Gallas.
This is indeed a pity.
But it also proves what Su Dong said, that Gallas is not actually that scary.
Chelsea was not intimidated by Barcelona's long-range shot and continued to launch attacks.
Drogba fell into Barcelona's offside trap twice, which made the Ivorian a little annoyed.
Instead, Lampard quickly seized the opportunity and kicked another long shot.
The English midfielder took all of Chelsea's shooting opportunities after the opening. He is also one of Chelsea's top scorers this season, having scored 16 goals in the Premier League.
This is quite amazing for a midfielder! And anyone can see that Chelsea played very actively after the opening.
Barcelona, on the other hand, was a bit conservative and continued to control the ball.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
