Chapter 317 Conflicting Feelings
The game did not develop as Mourinho feared.
Perhaps because of the two red cards shown by the referee just now, the players of both teams on the court restrained their actions a lot. Although they still made small movements frequently, there had not been any highly dangerous defensive actions such as tackles from behind for a long time.
For a professional player, being sent off during a game is a very serious punishment. Moreover, if the action is too big, it is very likely that he will be suspended for several games. Especially for many players who have not yet established themselves in the team and cannot guarantee their starting position, every minute of the Champions League game is extremely important to them.
As for the Porto players, even if they lose the game, they may still reach the Champions League finals. If they are suspended, they will not be able to participate in the important finals. This is something that many people cannot accept.
In this state of mind, the game returned to its original state, but the difference was that Porto's form became extremely passive, while Chelsea launched a fierce bombardment on Porto's half.
At this time, Wang Li's role in Chelsea's offense was reflected.
When he was not on the field, Chelsea relied on this semi-substitute lineup to tie with Porto, but after he came on the field, Chelsea's offense became much sharper and the players' responsibilities were distributed more evenly.
At this time, the field was 10 vs. 10. William Gallas, who was good at attacking in the backcourt, changed his position to winger. In this way, Chelsea changed to a 333 formation. Although it was a little weak in defense, it was not reflected in the actual game.
There is a difference in mentality between the two teams
In the UEFA Champions League Group H match, Chelsea had already secured the ticket to the knockout stage by winning all five games and accumulating 15 points. However, it was different for Porto. For them, as long as they could keep one point in this game, they would be able to qualify. A rash attack might very well create gaps for the opponents and cause them to lose the ball, so they tried their best to defend.
In this situation, the situation became one-sided, and the Porto fans in the audience kept expressing their dissatisfaction. For most fans, the result is important, but the process is also very important. In the Dragon Stadium, Porto's territory, the game was played like this and made them feel that the team had seriously "lost face". When Chelsea had the ball, the routine "booing" had long disappeared. This might be because the fans who had "booed" the entire game were tired, but more importantly, the situation on the field made them have no confidence to "boo" their opponents.
Seeing this situation, Jose Mourinho on the sidelines felt relieved, but Porto coach Mr. Fernandez became secretly anxious.
The Spaniard kept his eyes on Wang Li. He was afraid that while he was distracted, this kid would score a goal.
Fernandez knew very well that if the game continued like this, Chelsea would score, and the goal would most likely be scored by the black-haired boy. Only with the foul tactics just now, Porto would have a better chance of keeping a draw, but this idea could not be made public. He could only think silently in his heart, pacing back and forth on the sidelines, which reflected his current anxiety everywhere.
BBC TV commentator Mr. Small couldn't help but joked: "The Spaniard looks very anxious. Under Chelsea's attack, it is not easy for Porto to defend until the end of the game."
"Chelsea is indeed the best team in the Premier League right now. Their offensive ability is too strong... Oh?" Lineker changed the subject and said, "It seems that the opponent's head coach is going to change tactics. What is he going to do?"
On the sidelines, Fernandez watched Chelsea's smooth attack and the shots that threatened Porto's goal time and time again. He hardened his heart and finally couldn't help but walk to the sidelines, wanting to instruct his players to continue with the previous tactics.
The European Champions League is too important. Even if we cannot win the championship, reaching the finals is directly related to the club's income and the team's influence. Even if some players are injured, it is definitely worth it.
But it's too late
Just as Fernandes walked to the sidelines, Chelsea scored again
This time it was Wang Li. After receiving the pass from his teammate near the penalty area line, he met the rolling ball with a powerful long shot, which directly blasted Porto's goal. Although the opponent's goalkeeper Nuno tried his best to save the ball, the angle of the ball was too tricky. The ball flew in front of Nuno's fingers and into the King of Football, which made Porto's efforts of dozens of minutes come to nothing.
"Gooooooal Allen" At the same time, BBC commentator Mr. Small also slammed the table---
"Alan Wang scored a wonderful long-range shot to help Chelsea reverse the score. This is also his 10th goal in the Champions League."
"According to data, since joining the Premier League in Wolverhampton last year, Alan has scored in every game, whether he is starting or coming off the bench. This efficiency really makes all opponents tremble with fear. There is no doubt that he is now the top scorer in the whole of Europe."
At this time, Lineker was also unwilling to be lonely. He could not help but comment: "I am very optimistic about him. In the Premier League, he has scored 33 goals. Maybe in a few days, the Premier League's single-season goal record will be broken. He only took half a season. If he can maintain this efficiency, I think English football will rely on this young man."
"However, it's a pity that the Swede still didn't call him into the national team." When talking about this issue, Small's words were obviously a little disappointed.
Lineker smiled and said jokingly: "If I were an official of the English Football Association, I would definitely ask Eriksson to step down. It is the biggest joke in world football that a striker like him cannot play as a starter in the England team."
………
At the same time, at the Parc des Princes in Paris, the last round of Group H between Paris Saint-Germain and CSKA Moscow was also underway.
A French roar came from the headphones, which to Paris Saint-Germain head coach Halilozic even drowned out the shouts of the fans in the stadium.
Obviously, this is the roar after the goal
This cheered him up, and he breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, and while watching the game on the court, he slightly turned up the volume of his headphones.
"The goal was scored by Chelsea youngster Alan Wang. He scored his 10th goal in this UEFA Champions League. There is no doubt that this young player will become the top scorer of this year's Champions League..."
'God bless you,' Haliloziqi couldn't help but feel secretly happy at this moment.
In Group H, Porto has three more points than Paris Saint-Germain, which means that if Porto loses this game and Paris Saint-Germain beats CSKA Moscow, then Saint-Germain will be able to tie the points. According to UEFA regulations, in the Champions League group stage, if the points are the same, the qualifying seats will be determined by the head-to-head results, the goal difference in the head-to-head match, the away goals scored in the head-to-head match, the group goal difference and the group goals scored.
In the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Porto, the home and away scores were 1:2 and 2:0 respectively. Paris Saint-Germain has an away goal advantage, which means that if the two teams have the same points, Paris Saint-Germain will definitely qualify.
This season, Paris Saint-Germain's performance in the French Ligue 1 is really terrible. For Halilozzi, the Champions League has become his last straw.
"Thanks Alan"
Thinking about these situations in his mind, Halilozhi couldn't help but blurt out that he had completely forgotten the arrogant blue figure at the Parc des Princes two months ago.
Just as Halilozic turned around with a smile on his face and was about to share the good news with the team's assistant coach Perdo, there was a burst of "boo" from the audience, which scared him. The moment he turned around, he saw the football was already bouncing in the Paris Saint-Germain's goal.
"Oh, Batard (Shit)" Halilozich jumped up in shock
But this could not change the situation on the field. The bright red number on the scoreboard of the Parc des Princes had turned into '1?:1', which made Halilozhi's mood fall to the bottom again. He hurriedly sat down again, watching the game on the field with a gloomy face. Of course, CSKA Moscow was already celebrating the goal at this time.
What the Bosnian didn't notice was that when the assistant coach Perdo next to him saw his action, a look of disdain flashed across his face, and he muttered: "Waste!"
There was a brief silence in the Dragon Stadium after Wang Li scored. It was obviously difficult for Porto fans to accept the fact that their team went from leading to falling behind. So, when the ball really flew into the goal, the whole stadium was silent. Then the Blues fans who reacted started cheering loudly. Although there were only more than a thousand people cheering, it was obviously loud in the quiet stadium. The Porto fans put their heads in their hands and sighed.
Many Chelsea fans spontaneously opened the beer they had prepared to celebrate the goal, and many nearby fans hugged each other and cheered.
Wang Li's goal made them see the team's prospects, a bright future and the hope of winning the championship.
Throughout history, Chelsea's performance has not been outstanding. Many people have been fans of the Blues for more than ten years or even decades. They have experienced many things with this team, but the Premier League title and the Champions League title are always out of reach. Last season's third place in the league was Chelsea's best result in the past 50 years.
But with the team's strength and achievements this year, Chelsea seems to have touched the league championship trophy that it has not won in 50 years, and they are also making great strides in the UEFA Champions League.
Now, many Blues fans have even begun to imagine how to celebrate after winning more championships.
Premier League Champions
UEFA Champions League winners
These were almost a dream for Chelsea.
"Champions, champions, Chelsea will become champions, goal, goal, Chelsea can always score," the Blues fans began to chant in the stands.
………
After the game resumed, under the anxious command of coach Fernandez, Porto tried to score a goal through offense, but Chelsea's offensive ability was simply not comparable to that of Porto. You know, the current Porto is not the championship team of last season.
Porto players knew that Chelsea had strong offensive capabilities and great momentum, but they never knew that they were so powerful and could maintain the same offensive intensity even when leading. This approach seemed a little incredible to them.
On the field, Porto striker McCarthy had just completed a cold shot, but the ball was firmly held in Thomas' arms. Last season, McCarthy played 29 times for Porto and scored 19 goals. The South African player is undoubtedly the top scorer in the entire Portuguese league. He was a little annoyed that the ball didn't go in. He held his head with both hands and ran back slowly, but at this time, Thomas had already quickly thrown the ball out.
Lampard received the pass from Gallas and then passed it to Wang Li. After Wang Li ran forward two steps with the ball, he spotted a loophole in Porto and made a long pass to the front of the penalty area. Drogba received the pass, turned around and broke into the penalty area to shoot with his physical advantage, but unfortunately the ball was too high.
But this shot also made Porto coach Fernandez on the sidelines break out in a cold sweat.
The attack was very fast this time. Thomas, Gallas, Lampard, Wang Li and Drogba, five people connected and passed the ball four times in only about 10 seconds to threaten Nuno's goal. This is a real quick counterattack.
This kind of speed counterattack has become a hallmark of Chelsea.
Although Mourinho's 433 defensive counterattack formation did not play a big role this season due to Chelsea's strength, in fact, almost all teams that have studied Chelsea will notice their defensive counterattack speed. This may also be the impact brought by Wang Li's coming to Chelsea. Of course, this is a good impact.
After many games and regular tactical training, Wang Li has become more and more adapted to the position of attacking midfielder. This adaptation has also allowed him to have a greater influence on Chelsea's offense, and the team's style is also developing towards a more offensive style.
In fact, Chelsea has no inherent style of football at all.
Due to the huge amount of funds invested by Abramovich, Chelsea has been spending money like crazy in the transfer market. The entire team's main lineup has been almost refurbished. Even if there was any style before, it is gone now.
Therefore, as the core of the attack, Wang Li's playing style in the front midfielder position has a great impact on the team. For Chelsea now, it is not Wang Li who is adapting to the team, but the whole team is adapting to Wang Li. This situation seems incredible to others, but it is actually the case.
If it is in a small club, such as Wolverhampton, the head coach will definitely consider changing tactics, because the club cannot guarantee that it can still keep such a player next season, so after he leaves, the impact on the team will inevitably be far-reaching, but Jose Mourinho obviously will not consider these. In his opinion, if a player like Wang Li will leave Chelsea, he will definitely leave as well, and then everything after Chelsea will have nothing to do with him.
On the field, under Chelsea's sharp attack, Porto's offense quickly lost its edge, and they had to consider the problem of defense more, so the intensity of the attack naturally decreased.
Now, they can only hope that Chelsea will make mistakes to get opportunities.
………
In fact, Porto coach Fernandez on the sidelines is the most confused.
On the one hand, he had just heard from the assistant coach that another game had ended in a tie, which made him feel a little relieved. On the other hand, the game was changing rapidly, and the feeling of not being able to control the game made him feel uncomfortable.
So, Fernandez stood on the sidelines, hurriedly directing the team's offense.
But at the same time, he had to ask the team to strengthen its defense, which was really busy. Even many Porto players on the field didn't know what to do.
In the 85th minute of the game, Chelsea's continuous attack finally paid off.
Wang Li dribbled the ball across the center line and passed it to the left side of the penalty area. William Gallas, who came forward to assist, received the ball and cut into the penalty area, but was knocked to the ground by Jorge Costa. This time, the referee did not hesitate to award a penalty.
This penalty aroused dissatisfaction among Porto players. Veteran Maniche kept explaining to the referee and insisted that Gallas was diving. However, the referee obviously only insisted on his own opinion. Although Gallas did not fall to the ground, he saw it clearly just now. It was indeed a serious foul. He even felt that not giving Costa a red card was lenient enough.
In many people's minds, a penalty kick almost means a goal.
Who should take the penalty kick became a topic of discussion among Chelsea players. In fact, the team's current first set-piece taker is Wang Li. After the referee's decision, everyone in the team turned their eyes to him.
But obviously, Wang Li didn't want to play this ball. He felt that he had scored enough goals in his daily life, and one more Champions League goal was nothing. But it was different for other players. This was very important to them. If this opportunity was left to his teammates, at least he could get along well with them. One goal was really nothing to Wang Li.
The relationship between Chelsea players was really good. Even though everyone wanted to take the penalty, no one rushed to do it. Instead, they were polite to each other and finally pushed it to captain John Terry. Terry did not refuse and he walked directly to the penalty spot with the ball, ready to take the penalty.
Standing in front of the penalty spot, at the referee's whistle, Terry took two steps and kicked the bottom of the football.
For such a close-range shot, the average goalkeeper cannot predict the direction and can only rely on his feeling to dive in one direction. Nuno did the same. He chose the left side, and the football flew into Porto's goal from the middle.
The score became 2:4.
………
After the game resumed, although Porto players were still attacking, the whole team had lost their fighting spirit. Even they themselves did not believe that the team had the ability to score two goals against Chelsea in the next few minutes.
On the other hand, Chelsea is still full of fighting spirit. In this game, the team performed well on all fronts. Damien Duff, Wang Li, Scott Parker and John Terry, it can be said that players on all three fronts have scored goals, but now, they are still looking for scoring opportunities.
Perhaps, now the Porto players can only pray that God will help them.
Unfortunately, they still lacked luck.
Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, the extra time sign was raised on the sidelines. The bright red '4' on it indicated that the game would be extended by 4 minutes.
In the 93rd minute of the game, McCarthy got another good chance. Scott Parker was intercepted during Chelsea's attack. Then, he received a pass from his teammate near the penalty area. Maybe Chelsea played too easily in the second half, or they didn't care about the opponent's counterattack at all because they were two goals ahead. There was no one defending McCarthy at the time, but the South African shooter kicked the ball over the crossbar...
Seeing that the ball did not go in, McCarthy held his head in his hands again, with a very troubled look on his face, but in fact, this ball was no longer important to the overall situation.
The Chelsea fans in the stands have already stood up, waiting for the end of the game to celebrate their victory, while many Porto fans have already left early. For them, today's game is not a good memory.
Compared with last season, Porto's performance this season is really far from enough.
On the court, the referee looked at his watch, waiting for the second hand to point to the last moment. After a while, he decisively blew the whistle to end the game.
"At the end of the game, Chelsea won. They advanced to the next round of the Champions League with a perfect record. This result is undoubtedly brilliant."
"Congratulations to them and I hope they can go further in the Champions League finals"
At the end, Lineker did not forget to joke: "Maybe we can go to the end, I hope so, although I am not a Chelsea fan."
………
At this time, the big screen on the field pointed to Porto coach Fernandez.
The strange thing is that facing Porto's defeat, the Spaniard's face seemed very calm. Yes, calm, and even revealed some joy, which made everyone in the audience a little puzzled.
After a while, the commentator on the scene announced a piece of news, which relieved everyone's doubts and made the disappointed Porto fans excited again---
"Oh my god, in another group match, Paris Saint-Germain lost 1:2 to CSKA Moscow at home"
There is no better news for Porto.
In Group H, Porto had 3 more points than Paris Saint-Germain and advanced together with Chelsea. Undoubtedly, this exciting game became completely meaningless, which made Porto coach Fernandez happy but also depressed.
Because in the game, the team's new player Diego was injured, which was absolutely a meaningless loss.
At this point, Fernandez didn't know what expression to show to the public. The feeling of losing the game but winning the qualification was indeed contradictory.
Perhaps, Mr. Fernandez should thank CSKA Moscow. When there was no possibility of qualifying, the Russian team's perseverance not only won face for itself, but also brought hope to Porto.
………
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