Chapter 358: All Premier League Teams Defeat

After the league, the one-week gap between February 13th and 20th is the national team's match day. Many Chelsea players will go to their national teams to participate in international competitions.

However, Wang Li did not have to participate, because the Swede Eriksson, who was described by the media as "brain-dead", still did not call him up for the national team. However, this did not arouse too much dissatisfaction among English fans. Before the big battle between Chelsea and Barcelona in late February, the national team's games were relatively unimportant, although they were related to whether England could enter the World Cup finals.

These days, Wang Li is still training non-stop. In addition to training, he will also go to head coach Mourinho to discuss some practices in the game, etc.

Although Mourinho has no experience in playing football, this does not prevent him from being a top tactical master. His understanding of football is definitely much more thorough than that of ordinary football players. He can always make some suggestions that give Wang Li a feeling of enlightenment.

Apart from this, Wang Li has been training his free kick techniques.

On the national team's match day, since almost everyone in the Chelsea club left, daily training could not proceed normally. Even if assistant coach Clark wanted to organize an intra-squad match, he had to go to the reserve team or even the youth team to recruit people. But this did not hinder Wang Li's own training. In fact, during non-tactical training time, he had been training on his own.

No one knows Wang Li better than him. He knows exactly where his strengths lie and how to maximize his advantages on the football field, which is the quickest way for him to improve his strength.

Physical training, recovery training, free kick training... this is Wang Li's life in the club. Apart from that, in his spare time, he still lives a life between the club and his residence. This seems incredible to ordinary people. It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine that the life of a big-name star with such a high income would be so boring. But this is the fact. If you want to gain, you must pay. Even though Wang Li has abilities that are difficult for ordinary people to achieve, he has slowly grown up through such hard work.

"Alan, join our team." On the first-team training ground, the team's training match had just started for 10 minutes when a defender from the youth team pleaded with a pitiful expression.

In fact, this training match was only temporarily organized by Clark and did not have much significance. Wang Li also participated in the confrontation after an irritating training. However, the strength of the opponent was too poor. Since most of the first-team players went to participate in national team competitions, most of the players on the training ground at this time were Chelsea youth team players.

Facing these young players, Wang Li didn't need to cooperate with his teammates at all. In just 10 minutes, he made two smooth breakthroughs and scored two goals. This huge gap in strength made the defender of the other team deeply desperate.

These young players finally understood a truth while being "*ed": taking photos with superstars is happiness, but playing football with superstars is tragedy.

"Alan, you should go practice free kicks. I don't think this kind of competition is suitable for you."

Assistant coach Clark did not expect the situation on the field to become one-sided. In fact, his purpose of calling Wang Li was just to let these young men experience the feeling of playing football with the card-playing star and give them some confidence, but now it is obviously counterproductive. Wang Li failed to increase their confidence, but made them very desperate.

"Okay, good luck to you guys." Wang Li chuckled, waved to the young people in the stadium, picked up a football, and took his 'little follower' John to another small training ground to practice free kicks.

In this boring training life, time passed quickly. In a blink of an eye, Chelsea's players had returned to London. However, at the same time, there was also a piece of bad news that cast a gloomy shadow on Chelsea before the war.

Irishman Damien Duff is injured.

The doctor's examination result was: a strained foot muscle, and he would have to rest for at least two weeks.

This meant that Duff would definitely miss the remaining three games in February, which caused Mourinho to lose his temper in the office. He cursed the Irish national team fiercely, but to no avail.

Losing Damien Duff before the big battle is definitely not good news. It means that Chelsea's powerful sideline attacks on the left and right sides are directly missing a corner. At least for now, Duff's role is unquestionable. Without him, even Arkin Robben can play a much smaller role. Even if Joe Cole and Duff are about the same level, there is still a big gap between the two, at least in terms of cooperation and Mourinho's tactics.

On February 20, in the Football Cup round of 16, Chelsea will challenge Newcastle United away.

The date of this game is indeed a headache for Mourinho. After Damien Duff was injured, the main lineup was already missing, and there is a match against Barcelona three days later. As a result, Chelsea cannot send out all the main lineup in this FA Cup knockout match that must be won.

Fortunately, the opponent is only Newcastle United. This team has changed a lot this season. The old coach Robson has retired from the football world, which has led to Newcastle United's not very good results. Various conflicts often arise within the locker room. Even the team captain Alan Shearer has more say than the head coach.

For Chelsea, there is also a great psychological advantage against Newcastle United. Since last season, Chelsea has achieved a good record of 10 wins and 1 loss in the two teams' encounters, with a winning rate of over 90%.

In the match analysis of The Sun, they still believe that "the Magpies' defense has improved significantly, but it is still a long way to go."---

"Three days after this game, all Chelsea players will go to Spain to challenge Barcelona away. Now almost all fans are waiting for this battle of the century. In fact, this game is also very important for Chelsea, because as long as they still want to win the FA Cup, they have to pay attention to this game."

"Now, Duff's injury is a disaster for Chelsea. On the other hand, Newcastle United is not in good shape either. Central defender Baumsong continues to recover from injury, Dale has been suffering from a cold, and Newcastle's main lineup is not complete. Although they have only conceded two goals in the last four games and their defensive ability has improved significantly, it is unrealistic for them to defend the goal in the face of Chelsea's offensive ability. Even if Chelsea will send out half of the substitute lineup, Allen will definitely be the starter, and Newcastle United is still in danger."

The Sun's analysis was well-reasoned, casting a shadow over Newcastle United before the game. Perhaps to give the team more confidence, captain Alan Shearer said in an interview with the media: "Winning the FA Cup is an important way for Newcastle to advance into the European arena next season. We will strive to win the game at all costs."

It can be seen that this legendary England star is indeed full of confidence and is full of fighting spirit before retiring.

However, at the pre-match press conference, Wang Li, who was present with head coach Mourinho, said bluntly: "I don't think they have a chance of winning because I will start in this game."

This simple sentence ignited the passion of all the media reporters. Wang Li is always so cute in the hearts of the English media.

The round of 16 knockout match of the Football Cup kicked off with a tense clash between the players of the two teams.

Mourinho did not send out all the main players, which was obviously unwise before the big battle with Barcelona. In this game, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and William Gallas all got a rest, while the Dutch wonder boy Arjen Robben got a chance.

On the offensive line, the powerful forward line of Wang Li, Robben, Joe Cole, and Gudjohnsen made the Newcastle United defenders look timid. It was obvious that with the incomplete backcourt players, Mourinho wanted to fight a real offensive battle to win.

The script of the game was also proceeding according to Mourinho's ideas. Facing the massive attack led by Wang Li, Newcastle United's defense, which was definitely called "improved" before the game, collapsed directly like a broken dam.

In just the 40th minute of the first half, the score shown on the scoreboard had turned bright red 1:3, which allowed all the fans who came to watch the game to once again experience Chelsea's crazy killing.

In the end, the game ended with a score of 4:2 and Chelsea advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

After the game, Wang Li, who scored a hat trick, was named the best player of the match. However, he did not accept interviews from reporters, but quickly returned to Stamford Bridge with the team. In fact, the entire Chelsea team has already been shrouded in the next match. The confrontation, which was called the "Battle of the Century" by the European media, has added a lot of pressure on Chelsea players.

…………

Just like the unexpected surprises that often come to people on the football field, on the 21st, Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho also made shocking remarks when predicting the results of the Champions League round of 16. He not only believed that Barcelona would 100% eliminate Chelsea and advance to the quarterfinals, he also boldly predicted that all four Premier League teams would be blocked from the quarterfinals.

"First of all, I can be sure that Barcelona will enter the quarterfinals." Ronaldinho said in an interview with the Daily Mirror. In his opinion, it is impossible for Chelsea to beat Barcelona. "In my opinion, the teams that enter the quarterfinals will be AC ​​Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern, and Inter Milan should also be able to advance, but I think all four Premier League teams will be eliminated."

"Chelsea is in good form, but I am still 100% confident that Barcelona will reach the quarterfinals. Our team is stronger, and I am sure we can score in the game the day after tomorrow." Of course, Ronaldinho also admitted that Chelsea is a worthy opponent: "Their young player Alan Wang is very strong. I am looking forward to playing against him. However, this is not a fair confrontation. I hope to make him realize his shortcomings."

In the eyes of many media, Ronaldinho's words were like an elder advising a younger one. Judging from their ages and experiences, Wang Li could only be said to be Ronaldinho's junior. However, before the big battle between Barcelona and Chelsea, such words were quite provocative.

In contrast, Ronaldinho's teammate Eto'o was more rude to Chelsea. In the transfer market last summer, Mourinho "abandoned" Eto'o and chose Drogba when choosing a center forward. This made Eto'o, who won the African Footballer of the Year for two consecutive years, feel angry from the bottom of his heart. He has already had a big grudge with Chelsea and vowed to make Chelsea pay the price.

"We will score a lot of goals, and I hope one of them is me. We have made all preparations. They will use failure to realize that at least they will not succeed at Camp Nou." In an interview, Eto'o further said, "For me this is revenge. They treated me like that, and I will make them pay the price. Mourinho will definitely regret it after this game. He will find that I am better than many of his players."

There is no doubt that the speeches of Ronaldinho and Eto'o directly ignited the passion of the supporters of the two teams. Before the start of this long-awaited game, the collision between the English media and the Spanish media was definitely very intense.

Many media believe that the key figures of this game are Ronaldinho and Wang Li, because they are the offensive core of the two teams. The competition between Chelsea with a strong English style and Barcelona with a Spanish style is more about which team can score more goals. In this regard, Wang Li has a slight advantage because the number of his goals has always been talked about by many media.

However, when it comes to "criticality", Wang Li is not as good as Ronaldinho. The latter is the engine of the whole game in Barcelona and his importance is greater, while Wang Li relies more on personal skills. In this regard, Ronaldinho obviously has an absolute advantage, so the outcome of the two teams is full of suspense.

Since the game was held at Camp Nou and Chelsea announced Duff was injured before the game, many fans are still optimistic about Barcelona.

In this situation, many veterans in the football world have also come forward to express their opinions. The most representative one is the legendary star Cruyff. When commenting on this season's Champions League round of 16, Cruyff talked about the match between Chelsea and Barcelona. He said: "Chelsea has great potential. The Premier League title is already firmly in hand. Their match with Barcelona is exciting. This is a confrontation between two completely different types of football. I don't know who will win in the end, but I know that this game will be a battle of restriction and counter-restriction. Whoever suppresses the opponent's style and rhythm to the lowest level is more likely to win."

"Barcelona emphasizes forward more, and now they emphasize this more than any other Barcelona in the past, while Chelsea's three lines serve defense. The two teams have the same formation, 433. Three players are spread throughout the midfield, and the three forwards act as defenders in the opponent's half. The only difference between Barcelona and Chelsea is that the defense line is advanced by 10 to 15 meters. One is more offensive, and the other emphasizes defensive coordination. I am more optimistic about Barcelona in Camp Nou, because Chelsea lacks Drogba's speed and Duff and Robben's interweaving and movement, which is precisely Barcelona's strength."

Cruyff's comments were much more professional. He analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams in terms of formation, style and personnel, and talked about the injury problem.

In fact, although Drogba also caught a cold and did not play in the match against Newcastle United, it was just that Mourinho kept him in the bench in order to get him into the best shape. He was not unable to play as the media said. This made Chelsea players slightly happy, because with one more card that the opponent does not know about, the chances of winning are definitely greater.

Faced with the bombardment of outside media opinion, the Chelsea team did not make any effective counterattack. In fact, from the 21st to the 22nd, the whole team was doing closed training. Mourinho did not want to let the players have more contact with the media before the war.

However, Chelsea's lack of counterattack does not mean the collective silence of the English media. In the contest between Chelsea and Barcelona, ​​they certainly stand on Chelsea's side. Especially in the face of Ronaldinho's "Premier League defeat theory", these media launched a strong counterattack. In their view, this is simply a serious insult to English football.

In the British Football newspaper on the 22nd, reporters talked about the comparison between Ronaldinho and Wang Li. They emphasized: "The World Footballer of the Year's performance this season is not worthy of his reputation. His number of goals and assists are far behind Allen. Maybe they always find more excuses for this, but in fact, the data shows that the difference between the two is obvious."

"…Ronaldinho arrogantly declared that all four Premier League teams would be eliminated. I think the first one to be eliminated will be Barcelona, ​​just because they have a big-mouthed Brazilian. Many people say that Alan is arrogant, but in fact this Brazilian is much more arrogant than Alan. Alan did everything he said, but what about him?"

The Sun, which has a wider influence, has always been a supporter of Wang Li. Faced with Barcelona's aggressive attitude, they directly stood up and "cursed". On the 22nd, they directly used "Prediction of the first round of the top 16, Barcelona's defeat is certain" as the headline on the front page---

"…Perhaps, Barcelona, ​​which has failed to win the La Liga title for six consecutive seasons, is very motivated this season, but unfortunately they met Chelsea in the Champions League. At least so far, Chelsea has not suffered a defeat in either the domestic league or European competitions. It can only be said that Barcelona's luck is not very good. When they were eager to succeed, they found that standing in front of them was an untouchable giant. They could only jump around like clowns."

At the end of the article, The Sun mentioned the score prediction: "...For this game, football professionals predicted that the score would be 0:3 and Chelsea would win."

In fact, no one knows who the so-called "football-related professionals" are. It is estimated that they are most likely the reporter who wrote this report...